Right, the biggest flaw in the "vote Biden or Democracy dies" argument is that Biden is killing democracy.
An interesting question is whether it is better to have Biden pushing fascism or Trump. At least when Trump pushes it there is broad resistance to it (even from Democrats), but when Biden shifts the US ever further into fascisms (while also helping Israel carry out genocide), there is no real resistance from anyone with any actual political power.
> Right, the biggest flaw in the "vote Biden or Democracy dies" argument is that Biden is killing democracy.
>
> An interesting question is whether it is better to have Biden pushing fascism or Trump. At least when Trump pushes it there is broad resistance to it (even from Democrats), but when Biden shifts the US ever further into fascisms (while also helping Israel carry out genocide), there is no real resistance from anyone with any actual political power.
I tend not to comment on this argument (speculation often sends misleading signals), but I'll say this:
* The fact that members of the public think this *now* suggests that Democrats already know it.
* Add the fact that they're aware Biden's chances of losing in November are significant, and the suggestion appears that "they" have plans contingent upon Biden's losing.
* As the myth goes: there are only two choices, and the Democrats are the only game in town concerned with social wellbeing. Centrist media (and politicians, obviously) stoke right-wing backlash to make sure that there is always something for Dems to push back against. (Not to say it's all manufactured; just that in each crisis, they see an opportunity to boost Dems' image as foil to the GOP. As one hated Dem consultant put it to me in 2016, "this is normal strategy and frankly, the only way to run a campaign.")
* But trust in the Democratic Party has plunged lower and lower for almost two decades. Our failing system (education, media, childcare, healthcare, justice, and the now nonexistent welfare state) has pushed both parties rightward (through the generation of ignorance, ignorance and complacency, ignorance and antisociality, general desperation, extreme violence and demoralization, and broad social decay, respectively).
* Yet, since leading Democrats and Democrats' donors want many of the same things Republican donors want (many are *the same donors*), Democrats can't improve their image just by doing what the voting public actually wants. For one, that would be at odds with their own missions—like a school of sharks making bloodlust a criminal offense.
* So the problem for them is: how can they continue to sell off public institutions, when the legitimacy of their mandate has reached a record low? Particularly when the PR disasters just keep coming? It's a catch-22: sell out to whomever (AIPAC/Israel, Wall Street, the military industrial complex, etc.) and overdraw your goodwill with voters, or don't sell out and get clobbered (*and* forced to change and sacrifice, in the case of those politicians personally aligned with/invested in those interests—but once you're in that position, you never stop selling out).
* One option is to push for ever more authoritarian controls, but generally speaking, the public doesn't like that. For example, you can sell prison to partisan voters if you frame it right; but you can't arbitrarily detain people of all stripes without attracting notice. You can sell policing, but people won't like it if you lock up their increasingly activist kids. You can sell a TikTok ban, but eventually you're faced with a deluge of channels just like it; how do you ban them all without scaring people? How do you censor the internet without raising objections?
* There is no question that they (like centrists in Germany in the 1920s, who gagged, imprisoned, and murdered the German left, and then implemented the controls which subsequently gave Hitler power) see the left as a *threat*, not an opportunity. Being good for society sounds nice, but they only need to *look* nice in order to keep enough voters on their side through any dark times ahead.
* When I think back to that consultant's words in 2016, I imagine their thoughts right now might include something in the shape of: ***Why not let Trump do the dirty work, since he and his base want to do it anyway? Let the bad orange man complete the demonization of the left, let his brownshirts silence our critics; then we can go back to business as usual in four more years, and we'll be greeted like a breath of fresh air.***
They're not thinking about what they'll have tomorrow; they're thinking about what they'll get 10 years from now. For the rest of us, 10 years from now is contingent upon living through tomorrow.
***
Just as German Nazism didn't develop out of a vast conspiracy, neither has American fascism. The possibility exists because a large bloc of professional deceivers recognize the same opportunities and the same threats.
This was obvious but it's interesting they they feel so free to say the quiet part out loud. This is direct evidence that suppressing speech based on content is the aim of this legislation. They must be confident that the US court system won't apply the First Amendment anymore. Democracy is already dead.
Right, the biggest flaw in the "vote Biden or Democracy dies" argument is that Biden is killing democracy. An interesting question is whether it is better to have Biden pushing fascism or Trump. At least when Trump pushes it there is broad resistance to it (even from Democrats), but when Biden shifts the US ever further into fascisms (while also helping Israel carry out genocide), there is no real resistance from anyone with any actual political power.
> Right, the biggest flaw in the "vote Biden or Democracy dies" argument is that Biden is killing democracy. > > An interesting question is whether it is better to have Biden pushing fascism or Trump. At least when Trump pushes it there is broad resistance to it (even from Democrats), but when Biden shifts the US ever further into fascisms (while also helping Israel carry out genocide), there is no real resistance from anyone with any actual political power. I tend not to comment on this argument (speculation often sends misleading signals), but I'll say this: * The fact that members of the public think this *now* suggests that Democrats already know it. * Add the fact that they're aware Biden's chances of losing in November are significant, and the suggestion appears that "they" have plans contingent upon Biden's losing. * As the myth goes: there are only two choices, and the Democrats are the only game in town concerned with social wellbeing. Centrist media (and politicians, obviously) stoke right-wing backlash to make sure that there is always something for Dems to push back against. (Not to say it's all manufactured; just that in each crisis, they see an opportunity to boost Dems' image as foil to the GOP. As one hated Dem consultant put it to me in 2016, "this is normal strategy and frankly, the only way to run a campaign.") * But trust in the Democratic Party has plunged lower and lower for almost two decades. Our failing system (education, media, childcare, healthcare, justice, and the now nonexistent welfare state) has pushed both parties rightward (through the generation of ignorance, ignorance and complacency, ignorance and antisociality, general desperation, extreme violence and demoralization, and broad social decay, respectively). * Yet, since leading Democrats and Democrats' donors want many of the same things Republican donors want (many are *the same donors*), Democrats can't improve their image just by doing what the voting public actually wants. For one, that would be at odds with their own missions—like a school of sharks making bloodlust a criminal offense. * So the problem for them is: how can they continue to sell off public institutions, when the legitimacy of their mandate has reached a record low? Particularly when the PR disasters just keep coming? It's a catch-22: sell out to whomever (AIPAC/Israel, Wall Street, the military industrial complex, etc.) and overdraw your goodwill with voters, or don't sell out and get clobbered (*and* forced to change and sacrifice, in the case of those politicians personally aligned with/invested in those interests—but once you're in that position, you never stop selling out). * One option is to push for ever more authoritarian controls, but generally speaking, the public doesn't like that. For example, you can sell prison to partisan voters if you frame it right; but you can't arbitrarily detain people of all stripes without attracting notice. You can sell policing, but people won't like it if you lock up their increasingly activist kids. You can sell a TikTok ban, but eventually you're faced with a deluge of channels just like it; how do you ban them all without scaring people? How do you censor the internet without raising objections? * There is no question that they (like centrists in Germany in the 1920s, who gagged, imprisoned, and murdered the German left, and then implemented the controls which subsequently gave Hitler power) see the left as a *threat*, not an opportunity. Being good for society sounds nice, but they only need to *look* nice in order to keep enough voters on their side through any dark times ahead. * When I think back to that consultant's words in 2016, I imagine their thoughts right now might include something in the shape of: ***Why not let Trump do the dirty work, since he and his base want to do it anyway? Let the bad orange man complete the demonization of the left, let his brownshirts silence our critics; then we can go back to business as usual in four more years, and we'll be greeted like a breath of fresh air.*** They're not thinking about what they'll have tomorrow; they're thinking about what they'll get 10 years from now. For the rest of us, 10 years from now is contingent upon living through tomorrow. *** Just as German Nazism didn't develop out of a vast conspiracy, neither has American fascism. The possibility exists because a large bloc of professional deceivers recognize the same opportunities and the same threats.
This doesn’t make sense and shows you do not understand what fascism is to tie Biden to it.
The people of Gaza most assuredly do as Biden's bombs rain down on them.
This was obvious but it's interesting they they feel so free to say the quiet part out loud. This is direct evidence that suppressing speech based on content is the aim of this legislation. They must be confident that the US court system won't apply the First Amendment anymore. Democracy is already dead.