Honestly, if you’re in the US, please vote.

jz.tusk

Voting that way in Dem primaries sends that message.

I'm not a Bernie guy, but I'd argue that Bernie guys/gals/folk did move the D's left by their participation in 2016 primaries, and the 2020 Biden administration was more to the left because of that.

Voting that way in November main elections is cutting off your head because of a zit on your nose.

Raccoon at TechHub :mastodon:

@benroyce @Kierkegaanks @baconandcoconut @gwm @fiberologist @WAHa_06x36 @firebreathingduck
Trump and his allies, including Netanyahu, are going to do what they can to get him elected, and many of them are willing to use all sorts of violence to force it, but I don't think Netanyahu would want the situation of the US government becoming so unstable it can't defend him against Iran anymore. (Or maybe he would: he is literally insane)

Harris will be an opposition to Netanyahu's policies, and he is definitely aware and reacting, but I don't think his influence goes as far as people say it does.

Raccoon at TechHub :mastodon:

@firebreathingduck @benroyce @fiberologist @gwm @WAHa_06x36 @baconandcoconut
> "Harris says she wants a cease fire *now*, right before election day, but without needing to prove she intends to follow through."

I know I already said this, but to be clear, it isn't "now": she's been saying this in public speeches for the past year without anyone reporting on it, and the "proof" offered is that Netanyahu publicly threw a tantrum where he said that Biden was withholding munitions and making demands. It's not a new policy, or a hollow claim, just not as aggressive as we'd like.

jz.tusk

@firebreathingduck @benroyce

Oh, also: You not voting for the Dem candidates in November gives Liz Chaney more of a voice in the direction of the Democratic party than you. As the kids say, weird flex on your part.

(And if you're thinking of going the "democrats are already more aligned with Liz Chaney" route, either you are very, very left, or lying for dramatic effect.)

Raccoon at TechHub :mastodon:

@jztusk @firebreathingduck @benroyce
Non-participation by the "Left" is what's moving the Democrat party to the right. I worked in politics for a while, and I had multiple candidates tell me that they would push for more policies the "Left" if they thought they could get away with it, but they'd seen other politicians attempt that and fail so many times that it wasn't considered viable. What IS viable is getting moderate Republican voters to decide you're not a threat to whatever issue they're concerned about, which is why Harris and Walz keep talking about how they own guns.

Conversely, neo-nazis always vote, regardless of how non-racist their candidate is, and that has put the Republicans squarely in their pocket.

And if we don't win this election, we may not get another shot at turning things away from Conservative Authoritarianism. We need to make changes to make third-party candidates viable, but we need Harris to win this one to do that.

csgraves

@Raccoon @jztusk @firebreathingduck @benroyce

*DEMOCRATIC PARTY. it's not the DEMOCRAT party. Please stop using right wing nomenclature.

Raccoon at TechHub :mastodon:

@csgraves @jztusk @firebreathingduck @benroyce
Sorry, I have a lot of conversations with conservatives and other anti-Democrat people, and I've gotten used to it since 2016...

But you know what? You're right: in this election, they really are the DEMOCRATIC party, as in, "The party that supports DEMOCRACY."

nicdex 🇨🇦 🇺🇦

@Raccoon I'm curious as I don't follow every aspect of Trump policies, what exactly would him and Musk do with free speech?

Ben Royce 🇺🇸🇺🇦 Don't Boo: Vote

@Raccoon @csgraves @jztusk @firebreathingduck

i thought we were called the demonrats

(/s)

spieldings

@Raccoon @Gargron so funny, this is a 1 of 1 copy here in Germany. Traditional mindset with normal behavior is a threat to democracy. It is the same here to the point.

Raccoon at TechHub :mastodon:

@benroyce @csgraves @jztusk @firebreathingduck
Don't worry, I'll start calling them that again in November if Harris wins.

This alliance between the nonpartisans and the Democratic party only happens in the leadup to an election, and most of us tone it down, simply because if we had to pick one party to have to deal with in power, it'd be the Democrats by far.

Raccoon at TechHub :mastodon:

@spieldings @Gargron
I'm not sure what you mean by "Traditional" or "Normal", considering how absolutely craven Trump's behavior as a muli-millionaire who is above the law has been, and how absolutely bizarre Vance and his other syncophants' behavior is, but let's be clear: this is not about who is or isn't "normal".

Trump and his crew are Fascists because they are 1) Anti-Democracy, 2) Anti-Free-Speech, and 3) scapegoat minority groups to distract from their terrible policies.

But as someone from Deutschland, I don't expect you to have a firm grasp on what is going on in American politics, and how wildly the claims of the Republicans differ from the reality of "normal" American life.

Raccoon at TechHub :mastodon:

@nicdex
The FCC and SEC are the two agencies that regulate Twitter, thus the main opposition to what Elon Musk does. He is currently hanging out with, and directly backing Donald Trump, who has openly said he will give Elon favors if he wins. The favors will be heavy influence over the FCC and FEC... which will be able to come after the Fediverse, which is currently both in-line with the laws and beneath their notice either way, on his behalf. At the very least, they are the organizations that prevent him from banning people for linking to Mastodon accounts on Twitter.

This is a bit of a jump, but this is on top of the general hostility to the first amendment, diverse speech, and democratic principles in general.

I really do think that a Trump presidency would be a threat to the fediverse though.

Raccoon at TechHub :mastodon:

@gwm @Beachhart @benroyce @Amoshias @barney @firebreathingduck @GreenFire @fiberologist @WAHa_06x36 @Gargron
This was before he learned, through a presidency, how to subvert the systems meant to protect us from him.

It was before he made the inroads and allies to get rid of his political enemies, and give himself a zero-opposition situation.

It was before he lost an election, and became vengeful and violent against the system that rejected him: democracy and the American people.

It was before plans (his people are part of Project 2025, but it's not the only one) were put together to dismantle democracy and civil rights from day one should the republicans retake the presidency.

His first presidency was a nightmare for marginalized groups, a wave of bigotry and policies driven by it. A second Trump presidency will be a nightmare for everyone.

He was mildly dangerous in 2016, but he is VERY dangerous now.

This is not the election to sit out. This is the most dangerous candidacy in US history.

Raccoon at TechHub :mastodon:

@QueenValhalla @benroyce @GregArcus @gooba42 @whknott @NZedAUS @gwm @WAHa_06x36 @baconandcoconut
...what?

Raccoon at TechHub :mastodon:

@gwm @benroyce @mrpinkly @statsguy @Mourioche @WAHa_06x36 @baconandcoconut
> "the Democratic Party lacks the spine to stand against Israel's ongoing genocide of the Palestinians, but instead enthusiastically funds it."

FALSE. 2/3rds of Democratic Legislators in Congress and the Senate actively oppose Netanyahu, to the point where when Republicans invited him to speak before congress, they made up the 1/3rd that boycotted it to go attend the protests.

Read what ACTUAL PALESTINIANS have said about this situation...

Kamala Harris 'Only Official' to Call Palestinian-American Who Lost 150 Family Members in Gaza

Rashida Tlaib's guest for Netanyahu's address was an UNRWA USA staffer who says his "bloodline is being eliminated" by Israel

(zeteo.com)

Just a moment...

(znetwork.org)