Democrats need to pull themselves together and remember: Biden is still better than Trump

On nearly every single issue, not only is he "better than Trump," he's actually good. On the environment? Actual progress in the form of a massive infrastructure bill that invests in green energy sources and tamping down on pollution. On education? He's made student loan forgiveness a central tenet of his policy agenda. On the economy? He's gotten inflation under control and the economy is actually doing great now.

The elephant in the room is Israel and Palestine, of course, but I wish people would pause and think before knee-jerk reacting to... not even his policies there, just headlines about his policies.

The fact of the matter is that the Middle East is a fucking mess and Israel is currently run by a government hell-bent on making it ten times worse, but Israel actually falling and the conflict overtaking the entire region would be a global catastrophe. Biden is doing what he can to pressure Netanyahu over the insane and genocidal treatment of Palestinians while not giving Iran and others the sense that they have free rein to invade. (And for FUCK'S sake, can we stop pretending Iran is suddenly the good guys? They're supplying arms to Russia.)

This is a nuanced, complex, and fragile situation, and like it or not, Biden is exactly the right kind of person for the presidency at a time like this. Not only that, Trump would make it ten thousand times worse on purpose, because it would please Putin to see Russia's influence in the Middle East overtake that of the United States.

There is literally only one sane choice on the ballot this year.

There is literally only one sane choice on the ballot this year.
Which is the real problem, has been a problem since before I could vote, and is a problem that cannot be fixed.
- I actually think it can be fixed, but doing so is hard work. It requires:
  Full and unreserved repudiation of Trumpism/fascism.
  Codifying the norms and standards he violated (and continues to violate) into law.
  Creating federal legislation that clarifies exactly what "emoluments" are to prevent the office of the presidency from ever being used for self-enrichment again.
  Going after every single Russia-compromised politician. Make politicians scared to get in bed with Vladimir Putin.
  Figuring out a way to cut off the sewage pipeline leading from Russian troll factories to our TV and computer screens.
  Implement ranked-choice voting at all levels.
I just like to think that we're currently playing the Weimar Germany game. Let Trump win and you'll have given the Republicans decades of power if not more. They've been planning for years to control the government through the supreme court, you think this is the worst they can do?
For those wanting acceleration towards collapse, that's not guaranteed, and will cause many deaths in the process if it does, and there probably still won't be any guarantee or high likelihood of some sorta takeover by the proletariat or what have you. Seeing as how most of the militant groups in the US are likely to be right wing, all you'll have is a right wing take over after a collapse.
THANK YOU. This is what I was wanting to say.
The Middle East is a mess. Israel is hated by literally everyone around them, and I guarantee you that Russia is waiting in the wings for us to do the stupid thing and stop backing Israel. It would solidify Russia's ties with Iran, weaken America's stance in the Middle East, and make us look bad internationally. I guaranfuckingtee you that if Israel gets glassed by its numerous opponents in the Middle East because America held up aid over Gaza, that shit will be spun WORLD WIDE as America giving in to Antisemitism, which will be hung STRAIGHT on the Global Left's shoulders. It's fucking transparent. And calling Biden a genocidal Zionist just plays RIGHT into Russia and the Global Right's agenda. Again, if you're saying that bullshit, you're either part of the Right-Wing attack on the Left, or you are a useful idiot being leveraged by the Global Right as a weapon to hit the Left with.
Oh, if I only had more Upvotes to give you, kescusay. :)

You're ignoring the big elephant in the room. This whole "lesser evilism" schtick that the bootlicker Dems have been relying on since 2016? It's inevitably going to hit rock-bottom - and soon, too.

The two party system always comes down to who runs the least shittiest candidate.
For me. That's not always who wins.
- And as soon as the shittiest one wins, the bar for "least shittiest" drops a whole lot lower - it's a race to the bottom.
  Of course, none of this affects policy - the class who benefits from the status quo will get what they want irregardless of who is in the Waffle House.
This whole “lesser evilism” schtick that the bootlicker Dems have been relying on since 2016?
Since 1948 at least.
- No. Obama didn't have to rely on it to get into the Waffle House. Back then, the Dems could still promise some kind of "progressivism" (even though they never had any intention of delivering it).
  Now look at them.
Tell me you're not a student of history without telling me you're not a student of history.
- Regardless of the two party systems race to the bottom, 2016 saw the formal introduction of the Pied Piper strategy by the DNC during Hillarys campaign. Formally boosting the other parties evil factor by supporting trump and making the "vote for us, we arent them" the whole schtick.

Most of your grievances are things the POTUS has no unilateral authority over.

Not sure about his direct authority on drug classifications to enable OTC birth control. Also seems weird to focus on since this has been a hotly debated item for decades.

He has zero authority over abortion rights. The SCOTUS made this massive mess, and were enabled by Trumps appointees. This is trumps mess, and checks and balances explicitly prevents the POTUS from dictating this.

Trump prosecution is out of his hands. It's Garland's job. I'm not sure how much influence the POTUS can have here, but more to the point, the POTUS should be staying out of it, particularly since the plaintiff is his political rival. I don't know what his authority is here in the technical sense, but it is appropriate to not have direct influence over the investigation.

Seems like there's a lot of resentment towards Biden because of a general lack of understanding of the power structure of our government.

But what is he doing, then? He could be taking a firm line against the genocide in Palestine, but instead he is giving public and material support to the perpetrators. He could be rallying the electorate by using the "bully pulpit" to pressure congress with popular policies the public wants. He doesn't do that kind of thing, because they are antithetical to his neoliberal politics. He (and those around him) would rather lose to the right than concede anything to the working class.
Most people understand that the potus is largely a figurehead, but Biden isn't even doing that right. Don't keep blaming the electorate when the problem is with the shitty fucking leadership.
- I know this is a reddit link which makes it bad but I don't know where else there is such an easily accessible list: https://www.reddit.com/r/WhatBidenHasDone/comments/1abyvpa/the_complete_list_what_biden_has_done/
  He's not a saint and there's a lot more I'd like him to do but for someone who has had a largely opposition Congress he's done a lot.
- Don't worry dem shills will keep doing exactly that, blaming the electorate.
It's telling that you left Gaza out of your comment. That is the #1 reason this president is facing a loss. If he would stop sending arms today, he would win in a landslide. You disingenuous shill.
- If he would stop sending arms today, he would win in a landslide.
  ... this the same American electorate in which under half of the Democratic Party is in favor of reducing aid to Israel?
  It's fucking insane how some people pretend that the US electorate agrees with all of their opinions, very conveniently.

I’ll be one of the first to admit, I don’t like Biden. But, if you need to be convinced that he’s better than Trump, you’re an absolute buffoon!! Trump is worse than the shit you stepped on, on your walk. Trump is the worst thing to ever happen to the American presidency. He’s the closest we’ll get to Adolf Hitler and he relishes in that. He thinks it makes him “a bad boy” or someone moving against the curve…and he’s right, he’s moving against the curve. He’s moving against it in 4 straight lines that will bend consecutively in 90° angles to the right. My point is, TRUMP IS NAZI SCUM WHO’S WORSE THAN THE SHIT ON YOUR HEEL

Yeah, there are some leftists that try drawing the line at silly points like "oh I won't vote for someone who supports genocide" but really what's the big deal? Genocides happen, I think they're kind of fun sounding. I'm thinking about moving to Israel and helping the IDF finish their extermination of the barbaric "human animals"/natives that have infested their holy land. Biden has self-identified as a Zionist many times before, and I think that's a beautiful thing. I bet he'd take up arms with me against the parasites if he was still fully sentient. He's definitely trying his best as president to help them finish cleaning up the trash.
Oh, and yeah only Trump is a fascist. None of the above sounds anything like fascism, don't worry.
/s
- Show me proof of Genocide or stop claiming it's happening. Just because you can use the word doesn't mean it's true. No one has deemed what the IDF has done to be genocide at this point.
  Only three genocides in history have been officially recognized under the definition of the term in the 1948 Genocide Convention and led to trials in international criminal tribunals: one against Cham Muslim and ethnic Vietnamese perpetrated by Khmer Rouge leaders in Cambodia in the 1970s, the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and the 1995 Srebrenica Massacre in Bosnia. (The Holocaust occurred before the adoption of the 1948 Convention.) The mass killings of the Yazidis by ISIS in Iraq and of the Rohingya in Myanmar have been recognized as genocide by the United Nations as a whole. Though the US called the killing of Black Africans in the Sudanese region of Darfur between 2003 and 2005 “genocide,” a UN investigation ruled it was not genocide.
Biden is actively supporting Nazi style Genocide right now.
But not the figurative one. Literal Nazi Genocide.
- And you think Trump would be doing…what, exactly? Let’s not forget Trump Heights

Biden may be better than Trump, but the system is fucked to make those the only two options. If he wins, after the election I'm going to actively criticize everything about the Democratic party I can so that we have a chance to get a progressive candidate in 2028. For now I'm giving him a pass so we don't take another step towards fascism. Republicans are going to use absolutely everything they can to squeeze their orange dictator into office.

I agree that we need more than 3 choices, but I disagree with you on being more progressive. Biden has been the most progressive democrat that I could remember.
after the election I'm going to actively criticize everything about the Democratic party I can so that we have a chance to get a progressive candidate in 2028.
That's how it's supposed to happen.
You won't get the option if the other side wins.
- Well we've had that option for over three years and for over three years Biden has told us to go fuck ourselves. If that's how the system is supposed to work then the system isn't worth defending for me. I'll leave that to the people who actually benefit from it.
This is a very fair approach. Stop Fascism now, then right after the vote is won, start pushing the party Left.
- I will almost certainly be voting for Biden, but why on Earth do you think we can push the DNC to the left? "Stop fascism now, then right after the vote is won, start pushing the party Left" has been the calling action for progressives and leftists for decades and the US has gotten more right-wing with time.
  Why is this time any different? Is it finally time to realize that you cannot vote the DNC to the left at the scale required to make actual change?

Thanks. Just needed to hear the same shit again from another liberal. I so love election season.

We care a whole lot about not having another Trump presidency and unfortunately many here don't seem to have figured out how first past the post voting works yet.
- We understand how it works perfectly fine, thanks. The Democrats just can't seem to get that if you constantly run on nothing but "Hey, the other guy is worse," while supporting unconscionable policies, failing to deliver on popular policies and being yet another in a long line of disappointments for significant parts of the population, eventually people will say "You know what? If you want to lose this bad, fine."
  The Democrats will never actually change and improve if they keep managing to squeak by with more of the same. Unless they genuinely fear losing an election and take action to address it, we're going to be in the exact same position in another four years, complete with liberals screeching at everyone who doesn't fall in line, "Don't you understand, this is the end of democracy! The other guy will be so bad, and we promise not to suck this time, scout's honor."
Get wrecked. If you don't want to hear opinions in a politics sublemmy, don't visit a politics sublemmy. Also, regarding opinions: just like assholes, everyone has one, they think theirs is the best, but they all stink.

A rabid racoon would make a better president than Cheeto Benito..

If given the choice, between Donald Trump and a random citizen, I would roll the dice.
- That’s true, but tbh I would do that for Biden too…

I don't really see the Dems as "not being together" when you compare it to the other side of the isle and they are throwing shit at the walls and talking about a fictional reality.

I think the 100k that voted 'uncommitted' in the Michigan primary shows that there is a level of discontent with the current administration. Now I would hope that those who made that protest vote, which in my primary here I also made that same type of vote, would still vote for Biden and not vote for a Nazi or sit the vote out but let's be real, Democrats aren't like Republicans where they will almost always vote for the hard 'R'.
So I'm my opinion, it's a valid concern, maybe not a huge one but given how stupid our electoral system is, it's still a valid concern.

Gotta stop lumping all the players in one side together. Biden is not doing anything by himself and neither is the fat orange. Gotta pull out the microscope to see who is who and where and why rather than hitting on a single name. The house and senate are the major string pulling yoyos in everything that comes out of washington

Biden is not doing anything by himself and neither is the fat orange.
That is a big part of the problem. If Biden's camp was full of Green New Deal Dems and peaceniks and Justice Party economic reformers, I'd have a lot easier time supporting him.
Instead, he's surrounded himself with corporate flacks, banksters, MIC ghouls, and evangelicals, hoping to peel off the moderate Republican wing of the conservative party one more time.
The house and senate are the major string pulling yoyos in everything that comes out of washington
I would say that the donors are at the end of the strings, while House and Senate simply dance to their tunes. And when you consider how much influence a guy like Sam Bankman Fried had with "blue state" senators like Gillibrand and senior white house advisers like Steve Ricchetti, I gotta say I'm not thrilled to see the direction this party went in his first four years.
Even before you get to the Palestinian Genocide or the continued US blockade of Cuban ports or the migrant prisons lining the US border or the rapid domestic increase in carbon emissions under a President who claimed to acknowledge climate change, it seems like liberals cannot bring themselves to see the naked mismanagement, graft, and cowardice of the current President.
Boeing airliners are literally falling out of the sky and Biden's FAA is still dragging its heels, for fear of upsetting one of the nation's most well-financed lobbying teams. No federal prosecution of the Trump Administration is scheduled to move forward before November.
By any standard, this Presidency has been a failure.
- By any standard, this Presidency has been a failure.
  Yep so let's help elect an actual fascist that says he'll finish the job in Gaza, has never seen a corrupt dollar that he didn't want deposited in his bank account, wants to shoot protestors, extrajudicially executed antifa in the Pacific Northwest with federal goons, wants to be a dictator "only on day one", and has already attempted to overthrow the government because he didn't like the way an election turned out.
  Also, nevermind the fact that in a global pandemic the fucking guy wanted us to inject disinfectant, said the disease would go away like magic, had store shelves so empty we were wiping our asses with our hands, and had his administration steal crucial supplies from frontline workers to auction off around the country.
  Also set aside that he will let Russia steamroll Ukraine and will probably try to get the US out of NATO.
  And that he's been indicted with something like 90 criminal counts and a dozen or more civil cases, some of which have already rendered judgements against him.
  And nevermind the non-stop craziness of the general population when he was originally elected in 2016 who while flying his flag ran over protestors with their cars, screamed at people on airlines, went to pizza places with weaponry demanding answers.
  Biden didn't singlehandedly turn everything around from it being a country on active fire in four years, so let's put Trump back in to finish the job both abroad and here at home.
  We'll be a nice smoldering pile of rubble by next election season.
  -- 💩🔥🇺🇸
- By any standard, this Presidency has been a failure.
  https://www.edf.org/blog/2022/08/12/biggest-thing-congress-has-ever-done-address-climate-change

Democratic strategists, liberal pundits are making a living off doubting President Joe Biden's viability in the 2024 presidential election. Why?

Because they need it to be a horse race to get keep people's attention. They write those things because they get clicks and views and comments.

Notice how they're not writing about how our system is failing everyone by being this way. That's because they like the system this way because it keeps them on top.

If you think the system is failing us now, you must have been asleep from 2017 through 2020, especially for the part where unmarked, literally secret as in unknown, police came in and abducted people protesting the murder of a Black dude, and beat the shit out of them before releasing them. The system REALLY failed us then.
I get it. You think the Democrats don't represent your issues in the Congress. I don't agree with that, as a good half of the achievements listed here benefit the little guy in one way or another, but yeah. Biden answers to the moneyed class, and that is bipartisan. But you only get 26 out of 100 people in the room to flat out come out and say "Yeah, I'm with that guy," pointing to you. In the polls, you might net another 25 people, and 49 people vote for the R in this accursed D and R duopoly we call our government. But pay attention to those numbers. You can't afford to lose a lot of people. If Jill Stein picks off 3 of your 51 people, it's 49 Trump, 48 Biden, 3 Stein, and all 51 of the anti-Trump voters suffer with Trump. Those are the rules the game is played by.
As I said to the other person arguing that it's wrong to expect people to vote for people who don't give them exactly what they want, I agree. We need better choices. But there are smart ways to go about doing this, and dumb ways to go about doing it. And allowing the authoritarian jerk in isn't just a dumb way to go about doing it. It's a dumb and cruel way. And understand if you're a White Liberal choosing to vote Third Party or stay home and not vote Joe Biden the Genocidal Monster: you are benefiting from your White Privilege. You, like me, can keep your head down and pretend to be a Loyal Member of the Race, a Good American who pays your taxes and salutes the flag. You can scrub your Social Media posts and hide behind your anonymity on places like Lemmy, and go about your life. You will not be the first put into the cages by the Trump ICE. You will not be the first rounded up and deported to a foreign land with no citizenship. You will not be the first detained by the military during protests. Many, many people will pay the price for your privilege of voting third party or staying home because you won't vote for no 'genocider'. But remember two things First, you will have brought the genocide you say you oppose onto American shores. Second, once they are done with the migrants, the transgender people, the gays, the 'sinful' women protesting their rights to get a safe abortion, and so on, there'll be nobody left to protect you when they turn their attention to you.
Again. Biden ain't no bed of roses. But one of two people will win in 2024, just like one of two people would win in 2020, and one of two people would win in 2016. I consider you all who voted Stein or Johnson in 2016 or stayed home in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania to be responsible for what Trump did in 2017 through 2020, and if Trump wins in 2024, I'll hold you all accountable for what happens in 2025 and beyond.
- tl;dr - The system is broken but we still have to pretend it isn't because otherwise its brokenness will allow terrible things to happen and the people who do those things will face no repercussions.

There is a struggle to understand that not everyone who isn't a partisan of your rival party, systematically a member of your own party

Why is it every single day I'm being inundated with posts of "biden's not that bad" "if you don't vote for Biden you'll get Trump" Wouldn't the messaging be much better if it was "Hey, you may not like Biden, but it's easier to form progressive coalitions under liberal governments" stop trying to make him look good. He's still a genocide enabler, much like every other president would be, I can admit that. Liberals really need to give up on getting people to like him.

Are we really in a world where the march of 40 years of fervent evangelical christian nationalism is just "Trump and his goons"?

Trump could both die and go to jail today and that ideological shift is going nowhere but onward.

He's gonna die sooner than later. While I don't disagree that the evangelical fascist movement will continue, they sure have latched onto Trump hard. Who's your bet for his eventual replacement? Has to be someone with a big media reach with a history of pandering hard to that audience. No need to be qualified for the position. Alex Jones, maybe? Or is he old news/dead meat at this point?

Democrats should get over themselves and push through ranked choice voting in each state they control. Republicans gaining control of the nation is a existential threat, and we should be using every tool to keep them out. This means getting rid of FPTP voting and the spoiler effect inherent in it.

OP, you seem very concerned with how people vote. Have you worked to start an electoral reform campaign in your state? you can entirely solve the spoiler effect that you're concerned with! What are you waiting for?

They would never do that. Then you wouldn't vote Democrat anymore.

And the Democratic Party needs to pull its head out of its ass and embrace its base, rather than smugly scheme in ways that are ruining lives.

I have no problem with Biden’s job as president. In fact, I got into a big argument with someone a few weeks ago because they keep parroting anti-Biden propaganda from astroturfed pro-Palestine social media groups.
Biden has been doing a great job for the most part, on a number of fronts.

But I’m sort of bittersweet on that, because the harder I look, the more I see the illusion of choice, and an intentional effort to barely keep up with the will of the people.

2016, Bernie vs Clinton. He had the votes, but the party pulled some superdelegate shenanigans to give it to Clinton. And with the same confidence of someone who had just been handed a layup in the primary, she managed to smugly fumble the presidency by a tiny margin.
Post 2020 - Democrats had a majority, and instead of doing things the populous wanted, they wrung their hands about two candidates the Democratic Party had helped elect - Sinema and Manchin - and whether or not they were going to block bills.
The other day I did a deep dive into Elissa Slotkin - a candidate so unlikeable she had to move to a much more certain democratic district when districts were redrawn. When the senate seat came up, the Democratic Party cut deals with more liberal candidates who are vastly more likable, to get them to not run in the primary. So now Michigan is going to wind up with an unwanted centrist that used to be an ‘analyst’ for the CIA during the Iraq war. She’s going to pretend to be a democrat while being the same sort of heel the Sinema or Manchin was.

That’s just the people. In their post 2020-majority they could have done so much legislatively that they didn’t even bother considering - like campaign finance reform or expanding the courts, or even changing the rules around judicial nominees to prevent future shenanigans, but that would impact their bottom line or their ability to inspire panic at election-time. They could have strengthened the ACA, but that hurts some of the corporations that donate to them. Or do things to help people so that their rights wouldn’t be at risk - like codifying Roe, instead of allowing it to continue to be a wedge issue that destroys lives, but gets people to vote.

The Democratic (and Republican) Party is playing us all.
I’m not disaffected with Biden. I’m disaffected with a political party that nakedly fucks around to preserve the status quo, rather than embracing their base and winning with an encouraged and engaged populous. They lack the mandate to lead because they only desire to govern. (In contrast to the Republicans which lack the mandate to lead, are unable to govern, and only desire power and to abuse the government for personal gain.)

So go ahead, give me the downvotes.
This wouldn’t be an issue if we had ranked choice and a coalition government instead of this ‘winner take all’ nonsense that just incentivizes entrenchment rather than inspiration. But, you know, that doesn’t help the businesses that are political parties, so they ain’t gonna vote on it.

You make valid points and we ultimately agree that we should change our voting system. But that happens from the ground up, voting for a third party in the presidential election does nothing.
What are they going to do? "Oh no, people are unhappy with the two parties...well we better dilute our power and give them ranked voting."
Never going to happen. But you can work locally to get the changes and encourage that elsewhere. Voting third party is worse than slacktavism, as it's both pointless and counter productive.
Don't try to play the game you want to be playing, play the one you're currently playing.
- Circling back - I initially did not respond because I thought that my response would be caustic and catty.
  It seemed that the first two paragraphs you wrote were in response to me, but the rest were just the same canned responses that get shared with everyone who throws out a ‘voting is pointless’ message. And that’s not really my stance, or my comment. It kind of upset me, so I felt that I couldn’t have responded politely at the time.
  It is a reasonable conclusion to draw from my statements, but I don’t believe people should refrain from voting. I just believe political parties should deliver on their promises, and if they don’t deliver, then they should stop making those promises, or make way for parties that do.
  What are they going to do? "Oh no, people are unhappy with the two parties...well we better dilute our power and give them ranked voting."
  Yes.
  It’s not ‘the norm’ as far as beliefs go, but I do kind of think that should be exactly what they do. They are here to lead and govern. That is what public service is. It is service to the public.
  If they behave in protectionist ways for the sake of their party’s over the public interest, then they lack the mandate to represent the public.
  Leadership is sometimes sacrificing the power of your party for the good of the people. But that’s also irrelevant as an argument. If democrats represent the ideals they claim to represent, then next time they have a trifecta, they should move towards expanding democracy at a federal level, rather than leaving it to states. Leaving it at the state level guarantees the sort of gridlock that holds back local organizing - only certain kinds of ballot initiatives are even seriously considered at a state level because it’ll harm that state’s power on the national stage. In terms of ideology, more U.S. citizens align with democrats than republicans (but huge numbers of left leaning folks don’t vote due to lack of representation). Their political aims would see more progress with a better represented (and presumably more engaged) populous in a coalition government where their ideas can enjoy broader support.
  But they don’t run on ideas or by providing better governance. They’re a business that relies on laws and marketing campaigns to succeed in a given ‘business cycle.’
In their post 2020-majority they could have done so much legislatively that they didn’t even bother considering - like campaign finance reform or expanding the courts, or even changing the rules around judicial nominees to prevent future shenanigans, but that would impact their bottom line or their ability to inspire panic at election-time.
This conspiracy theory is so weird.
How exactly are legislative Democrats supposed to accomplish these things when their bare-bones Senate majority depends on Manchin and Sinema? I mean really, specifically, how are they supposed to get things done?
Y'all are always like "they should do more" but you won't give them the numbers to do it. In a 60/40 Senate we can make wonderful things happen, but you just won't give it to us.
- When the Democratic Party did have a 60-40 in 2009 they did not act. Where they did they self imposed compromises with the GOP or simply didn't pass legislation they ran on. For example: codifying Roe v Wade with Freedom of Choice Act went from Obama's alleged first sct in office to "not a top priority." Then they got annihilated in 2010.
  We know from precedent that when Democrats are elected there is no indication they will even promote what they or the party ran on.
  Recent example: John Fetterman. Ran as a progressive, immediately said he wasn't progressive once in office and now pushing for right wing immigration laws.
  Republicans get what they vote for. Democrats do not. Which is why these threads are so ignorant and frustrsting to read.

Democrats need to pull themselves together and figure out what people actually need and want. The bogeyman isn't a sustainable thing.

.... that's the Republican playbook. Try again.

Cmon guys! He's slightly better than a human pile of shit. Go vote! If you don't vote for our babbling, senile, old man it will be 100% your fault if we get stuck with the other shit bag for 4 more years. We carry zero responsibility for proping this senile old man up, it is 100% on you, the voters.

Good thing the Republicans are all idiots, it lowered the bar so fucking low we can do whatever we want. Because we can't possibly go the other way and do something better. We have to take advantage and get away with whatever we can.

-The DNC probably.

Someday the DNC will realize Republicans fall in line, democrats fall in love. Forgetting that gave us Trump over Hillary. The only hope that we don't end up with Trump is us being fueled by hate. I am going to vote, but counting on people to take time off work and wait hours in line to vote only because they are so scared of another possible outcome is the worst reality. But here we are.

babbling, senile, old man
It's true. He's old. We don't need to be ageist, though. The question is can he do the job, and he's proven for the past 4 years that he can. I'd like younger, but the time for a younger candidate was 4 years ago, not now, when the Primaries are about wrapped up.
He does have a gaffe problem, but that's not a function of him being senile. Are you ableist on top of being ageist? He's not good with speech, but nothing, and I mean NOTHING indicates the man isn't aware of what's going on around him and can't communicate.
the Republicans are all idiots,
Do you really believe that? That party managed to put a stamp on this country that will last long after I'm dead unless we hit LEV and I live to be a thousand years old. They managed to do what the Left couldn't do and put their differences aside long enough to get 6/9 out of the Supreme Court, 28/49 Legislatures, 57/98 Chambers, and 4022/7386 legislators. It was their idea to "Vote for the best candidate in the Primary, and the winner of our Primary in the General" first, and that strategy has secured them several big wins, including overturning Roe V Wade.
take advantage and get away with whatever we can
Welcome to adulthood in America! Glad you could join us! It's been this way forever and yes, I'm 100% behind you with the whole "Dems are shitty for using the bad behaviour of Republicans to cover for their own." And guess what! I once believed as you did. Al Gore v Bush? My vote was 'none of the above'. And then I saw the consequences of that vote, the utter shitshow that Bush the Younger visited upon the United States, and his utter mismanagement of the economy and Hurricane Katrina and of freedoms and liberty (do you remember "Free Speech Zones"? I do...) and leading us into a war based on nothing but lies and the fallout of that war and the crazy gas prices of 2004 and 2005 and 2006 and the economic collapse that took a good 2 years of unrecognised hard work as Obama had to stop and fix all the shit Bush 43 broke. I too was pissed when Obama cowtowed to Republicans and Insurance Companies and gave us RomneyCare repackaged as ObamaCare, but I recognise that that's the way the game is played, and I look at my wife and my friends and all the people I don't know like migrants that are just trying to escape a hell in their own country that Trump promises to unleash the military on when (not if in his mind, when) he's returned to office and I realise a fact. The solution never HAS been and never WILL be to just stay home and let the Fascist takeover of our country happen. Like the Democrats know that they never have to change if you don't show up in the election, the Republicans know you WON'T show up, so they can edge to the Right counting on you to stay home.
Like I KEEP saying. There is the smart option, of showing up faithfully every year, voting for the Progressive in the Primary and for the Democrat (however much you have to hold your nose to do it), year after year, accepting the proper amount of change in your direction given you represent a quarter of the American electorate at BEST, and there's the stupid way of doing it, which is to stay at home and let the avowed Fascist win, and watching the protests get swept up on 20 January 2025 by military people and literal unmarked vans with Federal officers who are wearing no identifying marks at all, just like what happened in 2020 during Floyd's protests. And if you advocate for the stupid way, I'm going to minimally call you stupid, if not outright callous and cruel, doing Russia and the Republican's dirty work for them.
- "It's true. He's old. We don't need to be ageist, though. The question he do the job, and he's proven for the past 4 years that he can."
  He can't do the job. He can just do it slightly less badly than the last guy. The country and inflation is shit. Some of that is his predecessor, but he has done nothing to change shit. His cronies still dodge taxes, and I still pay nearly a 1/4 of my income to feds alone. He tried to pretend to forgive student debt by executive order knowing exactly how it would be shut down so he can pander. Kamala called for legalization of pot a month ago when their polls are low. Yet nothing will come of it. Because they are just pandering. He has done nothing, and since our previous president was so abundantly horrible, that actually seems like a good thing. I get it, "choose the less of two evils, welcome to adulthood" I am fucking 50. I've been an adult plenty long enough. I have never not voted because I didn't like who was there. But I will fucking bitch about it online and I am not going to shill for shitbags. Yeah, I am all the ists if that is what you have to call everyone you disagree with, he used to speak ok, now he struggles getting a sentence out.
  If thinking someone who was born a decade and a half before we sent and object into space is too old to make decisions on the governance of AI is agist.... than I am agist. Trump, Biden, Bernie, all too old for the world we live in. So are all the senators that don't give up their seats.
  I get it is what it is and maybe some people just accept it. I won't. I'll vote but I won't smile while I do it.

No thanks.

I will never vote for Joe Biden again. Party for Socialism and Liberation at the national level this year.

Then I guess you're happy with subjecting non-Christian, Gay, Transgender, and Minority friends to Team Twitler.
- No. You’re not gonna convince me I’m responsible for how other people treat minorities.
  I don’t have to choose between the lesser of two evils.

Dude. This USA Today blog post is from December 2023. It doesn't even mention Israel.

The key word in the title is Democrats. Leave those of us that are not Democrats or Republicans out of the conversation.

Hey, pal, I didn't write the headline, so don't give me crap about it. But here's a fact you miss with your "not democrat or republican" nonsense. Do you claim to care about Non-Christian, Gay, Transgender, or Minority people? Then you must vote for the Democrat. Because come November, one of two parties will win the election. That's just how the American system is designed currently, and it's going to take LOTS of hard work to fix it, and there are gonna be LOTS of people who will fight you tooth and nail to stop that from happening. But until it happens, either a Democrat or a Republican will win that seat, like one has every year from 1860 until the present. That's even more likely if the only time you're pushing for an alternative is during the General Election and not, say, during the Primary or for local elections.
And to remind you, the two men who have a lock on that office in January consist of:
A man who is admittedly old, who has a speech impediment and a history of engaging mouth before brain throughout his adult lifespan, who is a bit stuck in the past and thinks that solutions that worked on problems back in 1980 will work on problems today, and who is too friendly with Israel as a nation to recognise that Israel's leader is more akin to his opponent than anyone on his side of the political aisle.
A shithead who is only 3 years younger than the other guy, who doesn't have a speech impediment to explain away his word salads, who once famously bragged that he could take any woman in the world he wanted despite her thoughts on the matter because 'he's a star' and 'he's allowed to do that', who mocked and denigrated disabled people willingly and openly, who quoted Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini freely and pridefully, and who encouraged shitheads to run down Americans protesting shithead policies, and who has a plan to double down on all that bullshit come DAY ONE and he promises to be a dictator "only for a day!" if he wins.
One of those two will be in office come January. Nobody else. Your third party or no-vote won't change that. If you stay home or vote third party in 2025, you should be fucking ashamed of yourself if you even begin to think you're a friend to any of the issues the Left stands for.
- I'll start with democrats are not left. They are to the right of people like Reagan and Nixon. Your party doesn't give a fuck about Non-Christian, Gay, Transgender, or Minority people either, talking like they do then doing nothing to protect them makes them no different than their Republican counterparts. Using marginalized people as human shields to defend shitty politicians and their shitty policies doesn't make you an ally, it makes you an enemy of their progress and keeps them further subjugated.
  Cant change a system if no one has the balls to actually challenge it and refuse to keep propping it up.

Just vote for other people?

This is more of a political meme, Biden and friends have no other talking point than"not trump" well so is any random person on the street. Dumbass reason to vote for Biden. Need another Bernie Sanders, progressive and not gonna fund random wars lobbied by MIC

Problem is, we have to unite behind somebody, because everyone who votes red isn't going to vote anyone but Trump.
If we don't decide to unite behind one person, we lose to an actual fascist.
- Funny how the person we always end up having to unite behind is someone who would have been a republican 20 years ago, and not someone who'll actually try to make change

pretty much anyone is better than trump

The palestinians seem to disagree with you

Sarcastic thumbs up

when the bar is on the floor its easy to jump over it. Biden is also better than being boiled alive that doesn't mean I am voting for him

So if you were voting in a first past the post system, and the two leading candidates were Biden and 'everyone gets boiled alive', you would not vote for Biden?
- A large number of these people would abstain, and then unironically complain about being boiled alive.
- did ‘everyone gets boiled alive’ materially support a genocide? If no, then I would vote for ‘everyone gets boiled alive’.
Biden is also better than being boiled alive that doesn't mean I am voting for him
If "Everyone gets boiled alive" was on the ballot and had the tiniest chance of passing, you would be an idiot to not vote.
- choosing your master doesn't make you not a slave, you would be an idiot to vote

Alright guys, get your Lemmy Political Retard bingo card out! Let's see how many we can hit! I already got the system is fucked and are we really reduced to these choices?. Oh! I just got democrats need to pull their head out of their ass!

Okay. Vote for a literal Nazi or don't vote for anyone and let a literal Nazi tale office, again.
Either way, I don't really give a flying fuck what you get on your political bingo card, you enabled a literal fucking Nazi tale the office, again and I'll think you're an abject idiot so I guess we'll all good.
- what does "literal" mean?
- Vote for a literal Nazi
  I was going to vote for a third party who was neither a Nazi nor a geriatric buffoon.
  you enabled a literal fucking Nazi tale the office
  My guy, you need to sit down and look up what the Electoral College is. No single person is in any way remotely responsible for Donald Trump's presidency, except maybe the 304 electoral college delegates who had the privilege of being in the majority in January of 2016.
  Trying to blame individual voters in a system that deliberately disempowers individual voters is ignorant and foolish.

"Yeah I voted for Hitler because he subsidized the industry and improved the economy significantly. We can deal with his genocidal tendencies later, he's the better candidate right now who can stabilize the system"

Are you comparing Biden to Hitler?

Biden is currently pulling us into World War 3 by supporting Genocide. He is actively pushing for Republican style immigration laws.

At this point there is no difference between Biden or Trump.

If you think Trump is going to stop Israel from killing Palestinians or make immigration easier for brown people, you are very mistaken.
- Sooooo is Biden doing any of those things?
  ???
Trump would be focused on destroying our institutions rather than other countries. There is definitely a difference.
- Would you rather have the mass murder millions of innocent brown people in foreign countries than have negative consequences for the precious white Americans?

Hahaha no he's not. Hahahahaha. Leftist stupidity strikes again