Lmaooo what a stupid thing for an American president to say
So…
Since Biden went around Congress to supply weapons to Israel they’re using to genocide the people of Gaza…
Biden is now claiming personal responsibility for the genocide in Gaza?
Like, has anybody honestly checked on Biden lately? Does he not understand what he’s saying or is he really leaning into “what are you gonna do, vote trump?” Strategy this hard already?
Because the danger is depressing turnout enough trump may win, not Dem voters voting trump.
And this shit show of a comment is going to depress turnout for Biden…
I really think Trump will win again. Regardless of my opinion, I see that Republicans are focusing mainly on “look how good our guy is” and Democrats are only saying “look how bad that guy is” . The Democrats don’t seem enthusiastic about their candidate.
The thing is they’re half assing it.
They want voter to believe at the same time:
-
If trump is president he can do anything he wants.
-
If Biden is president, the president has no power.
Only Republicans and neoliberals are used to dealing with that level of cognitive dissonance.
It’s why 1/3 of eligible voters don’t vote.
I’ll probably get eaten alive by this comment section, but I’ll try anyway. I think there is more nuance here.
Trump has no respect for the rule of law, checks and balances, or the intended role of the executive branch. Trump at president will do anything possible to achieve his goals, no matter what he tramples along the way.
Biden isn’t that type of president. He does respect checks and balances and the idea of a powerful, but constrained presidency. He’s not going to go slam through a blatantly unconstitutional EO every time he doesn’t get his “wall”.
Much like before Trump, if you want change, you have to vote for more than the presidency, unless you’re willing to trample everything about the three branches of government. And maybe you’re also looking for an unleashed sort of populist presidency, but that’s not going to fly with the majority of democratic voters who still want to return to some degree of governmental normalcy.
Biden isn’t that type of president. He does respect checks and balances and the idea of a powerful, but constrained presidency
Cough cough
The Biden administration went around Congress on Friday for the approval of an emergency weapons sale to Israel that includes “projectiles and related equipment,” per the Defense Department.
Why it matters: This is the second time in December that the administration has done so, and the move comes as Israel continues its war against Hamas and faces criticism for its military actions in Gaza.
https://www.axios.com/2023/12/30/blinken-biden-administration-emergency-israel-weapons-sale
You were saying?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_Export_Control_Act
You would be absolutely correct if Biden gave weapons to Israel or if the narrative the White House pushes wasn’t that Israel is defending itself.
I don’t think that Israel is defending itself, I think that it’s intentionally trying to commit genocide, but the law doesn’t explain who gets to determine when a country is acting in self-defense. Claiming Biden circumvented Congress is inaccurate, as the President has had the sole authority to do this since the '70s. Biden, like the other commenter said, isn’t that type of President. Trump would have actually circumvented Congress by straight up giving stuff to Israel, rather than merely authorizing a sale.
To be clear, I don’t like that Biden did that either.
the law doesn’t explain who gets to determine when a country is acting in self-defense
Literally the same exact reasoning Trump used to declare an “emergency” and divert funds to a border wall. Words are meaningless so I can do whatever I want!
gave
Yes…
It’s sooo much different that they used some of the over billion of taxpayer dollars that we give them annually to “buy” them…
And reality isn’t just whatever the current administration says it is…
The Act of Congress requires international governments receiving weapons from the United States to use the armaments for legitimate self-defense. Consideration is given as to whether the exports “would contribute to an arms race, aid in the development of weapons of mass destruction, support international terrorism, increase the possibility of outbreak or escalation of conflict, or prejudice the development of bilateral or multilateral arms control or nonproliferation agreements or other arrangements.”[2]
For fucks sake, by your logic all of Trump’s ridiculous claims he made as president were true because he said it was.
It’s really getting old seeing Biden defenders act like trump supporters
Selling and giving are absolutely different, regardless of where the money comes from. I see what you mean, in that it is effectively giving, but that’s just now how the law works. It should, I think Biden shouldn’t even be able to override Congress in this regard, but that’s just how it is. Congress can change that at any time.
The situation in Gaza is gray for many people, it’s not easy to claim it’s objectively defense or offense without proving it in court. I’m not trying to debate the morality of this context, I’m saying that Biden did not circumvent Congress.
It’s really getting old seeing Biden defenders act like trump supporters
Bruh come on, you know that’s a bad faith ad hominem. Someone isn’t acting like a trump supporter because they call out a blatantly false argument lmfao. If anything, it’s the other way around, attacking a person by baselessly comparing them to the other political side.
Biden’s had no more regard for the intended role of the executive branch than Trump, he’s just less openly antagonistic about it. Trump openly derides the system, while Biden just quietly whips it into line.
I disagree. If Biden was anywhere near that level, we’d be seeing him use much more power to at the very least earn some political capital he needs going into a contentious election. Most of the time this gets brought out, it’s for transferring arms to Israel. Regardless of your opinions on the transfer itself, which I also disagree with, it’s at least arguable those transfers are legal. Someone else in this thread linked more info. If it’s not that, I’m going to need to see some examples of overreach that come anywhere close to the Trump admin.
But we’re constantly reading about Biden bypassing Congress to supply more weapons it Israel that are being used to kill children so maybe Biden could use these powers for something decent instead?
We already know exactly what voting for Biden accomplishes, Trump is more popular than ever and the world is now on the brink of WW3.
-
It is because they aren’t. Biden is a “not Trump” candidate. That’s it. We are voting against Trump, not for Biden.
maybe try voting for something? Let’s not be feckless.
I would LOVE to vote FOR something. It’s been many years since that has been an option.
What, pray tell, would you suggest that we vote for then?
There are some fantastic primary contenders on the dem side, but Biden and the DNC have been working overtime to remove them from state primary ballots or cancel state primary elections altogether. Similar kind of brazen corruption we saw from the DNC in both ‘16 and ‘20 to steal the nom from Bernie, now they won’t even risk a challenger getting the primary votes to begin with.
So, you could start by contacting your state DNC committee and ask why they think primaries aren’t necessary, despite Biden’s historic unpopularity going into an election year.
There was no Democratic incumbent president in 2016 or 2020.
Unless your president is wildly unpopular…like, tried and convicted of child molestation unpopular…it’s generally considered very unsafe to primary them.
Thats generally speaking. Given the state of the GOP and their no-holds-barred disregard of law and tradition, the DNC has to play it as safe as possible. Primarying an incumbent who is comparably not very unpopular within your party is not playing it safe.
Especially when the RNC front runner is Trump. He’s incredibly unpopular among the left. And Democrats aren’t going to pull any votes away from him no matter how hard they try.
They know that the only people they might be able to pull votes from are the near edges of the Trump camp. Moderates who don’t hate Trump, but don’t exactly like him either. To them, Biden is the lesser of two evils. They may not feel the same of an unknown, especially one that’s far to the left of Biden.
The real thing to be concerned about in the general is the far left. Any spoiler candidates that’ll appeal to them. My biggest fear is that 2024 will be lost because of some well-intentioned people voting for far-left third parties because of a distaste for Biden.
In other words, I think it’d be far easier to get the far-left to fall in around Biden, then it would be to get the slight-rights to move away from Trump, and certainly to get the party to coalesce around someone new and progressive at this current time.
I’m bitter about Bernie too. But I’m more bitter about Gore, and the hundreds of Nader voters in Florida that cost 2000. Bush 43 won FL by a margin of 537 votes. Nader had 97,488 in FL.
To be a fly on the wall in that alternate timeline. I bet the weather is nice.
Well, as a leftist who will not be voting for Biden, it’s getting pretty old watching the Dems repeatedly insisting they have to pander to moderate fascists, losing, then blaming the left.
Especially when there are plenty of issues that appeal to both the centre and the left; the overturning of Roe v Wade basically gave Biden a free election win if he wanted it, but instead the Dems are more interested in bombing foreigners and reviving McCarthyism.
Isn’t playing it safe literally what got us into this mess?! I say no, the time for sincere, meaningful, and drastic change is NOW. We’re on the titanic cruising towards that iceberg, and we need to change course quickly or our democracy will be lost. We have to root out the corruption in DC before it’s too late.
Biden claims that democracy is on the line in this election. So why is he working so hard behind the scenes to ensure there isn’t even a primary debate, or primary elections held? If he is so deserving of a second term, wouldn’t he naturally come out ahead in those? And if not, wouldn’t the platform for the emerging candidates give them the national boost they need to clinch the win? He doesn’t care as much about democracy as the non-MAGA 2/3 of us like to think. The truth is Biden’s ego is telling him he deserves a second term, and not his record, which is an incredibly dangerous game for this absolute dinosaur to be playing with our democracy.
I hear you on Gore, the world would be so different. We could be leaders in renewable tech and have ushered in a new age of prosperity free from the fossil fuels which are wrecking our ecosystem. But let’s be clear - Nader voters did not cost Gore the win. After several recounts, it was proven that Gore did in fact win FL. The Supreme Court at the time decided to give the win to W Bush, because the corporate news media had already called the elections, and they didn’t think it was worth causing too much of a ruckus. A court which Biden has left incredibly biased at a time where they’re stripping away women’s bodily autonomy - he should be pushing to resize it, remove corrupt justices, etc and he’s done none of that.
Biden’s only promise he truly delivered on was to his donors - “nothing will fundamentally change.” I’m telling you, that’s not good enough to “save democracy”. Not by a long shot.
In New Hampshire Biden wasn’t even on the ballot and won handily by write in against his primary opponents. I’ve only heard that there are 3 states in which Biden is the only candidate - and that’s because other candidates didn’t qualify.
Also, I’ve not seen any fantastic primary contenders step forward anyway. What makes you think Biden is “historically unpopular” enough to be the incumbent and be voted out in the primary?
Well, when the DNC pulled delegates making the primary pointless and Biden simultaneously pulled his name from the ballot, it would keep and have been a waste of money for a primary challenger to keep campaigning there…
Meanwhile Biden spent campaign funds to drive a “write in” campaign for a literally meaningless election so people would think it was a sign a non progressive could actually still win in NH to make them feel more confident in Biden’s chances.
Like seriously, you didn’t get that?
Biden is polling in the low 30s, as an incumbent. Nobody in the history of US federal elections has ever come back to win with such a disastrous approval rating going into election year. Not once, ever.
Biden is not that guy. He’s not going to make history here, and the DNC foisting him upon us is the establishment handing the presidency to Trump.
Keep in mind that most of the people in this instance of Lemmy that are going to reply to you are actively hoping for Biden (and for that matter, America) to lose.
While it’s absolutely your right to research and find a candidate that aligns with your beliefs, I hope you take most of the replies here with a grain of salt.
Oh absolutely. I always pay attention to who I’m voting for and what I’m voting for.
Not only supplying Israel is the direct reason why US soldiers are being targeting but also it bace the way to radicalized the new bin laden and the new ISIS. Who would target US individuals and interests every where.
While in the past the attacks are mostly is happening in middle east, there are no guarantees to fight will affect civilians in the US.
No one talk why bin laden became anti-usa eventhough he studied in western university and from a wealthy family. It is the US foreign affairs in supporting Israel that resulted in 9/11 directly or indirectly.
He’s really leaning in already, and the damn fool is going to lose the election because of it. Absolutely disgraceful.
It’s not going around congress when you literally don’t have to
If he literally didn’t have to go around congress, why did he?
Just for a laugh?
Just to show he could if he wanted to?
Did he fucking forget that he could.
deleted by creator
So he’s taking responsibility for Gaza?
Not just Gaza, USA is the biggest arms dealer in the world.
I think that’s a good, fair way of treating arms dealers. Let’s apply that to everyone then yeah?
Lets apply that to everyone.
deleted by creator
Q Mr. President, do you hold Iran responsible for the death of those three Americans?
THE PRESIDENT: I do hold respon- — them responsible in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it.
Cool. Now do Israel.
deleted by creator
So they’ll sue gun shops owners when there’s a mass-killing going on, right?
Do you sue car dealerships when a drunk driver kills someone?
Bars certainly can be held liable for drunk drivers they served.
I wish
Not dealerships, but 43 US states plus DC, have dram shop laws that allow a drunk driver to sue the establishment that overserved.
That is horseahit
deleted by creator
Hello pot, meet kettle.
Now do Israel
Israel: Now do Hamas.
Whataboutism is stupid. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Hamas: Israel funded us. Now do israel.
deleted by creator
Pot, kettle, eejit !! 🤡
deleted by creator
Pot screams out that the kettle is black.
deleted by creator
Funny how that works.
This is going to be the reason we get fascism.
Well, technically 5 decades of neo-liberal economics and the systematic destruction of the left will be why we get fascism, but this won’t help either.
I can’t for the life of me distinguish neoliberal economics from fascist economics.
deleted by creator
Agreed. Progressive president when?
Literally never with the way the USA currently works.
US already has fascism
If electorate are that dumb then we deserve it
It’s not even the electorate, the DNC is pushing Octogenarian Joe and his zionist sympathetic ideology. While they are also hiding any real alternative.
Yeah it’s the electorate. Dnc didn’t push shit. He’s the incumbent that was picked clearly in primaries. If the voter is voting on his Israel stance they’ll have a rude awakening with trump in charge. Not to mention how stupid it is to make a single issue vote
Hence it’s 100percent on a dumb electorate that can’t to basic if else logic
I disagree, the DNC favors the incumbent, which I believe is a poor decision electorally. Moreover, the electorate should feel informed on the choices of candidates.
I don’t like the argument “DNC didn’t push shit” they are an organization with an agenda, just like all organizations. They maintain support for Biden and sweep any other candidates under the rug away from the visibility of voters.
It’s my belief that people on the left who would have voted from Biden, independents & moderates who support Palestine, will stay home based on single issues. I don’t think it’s smart of them to vote that way but, it’s an uncomfortable truth about the voting population that the DNC should understand.
Should have picked a less genocidal candidate I suppose.
misleading headlines are misleading:
Q But directly responsible?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we’ll have that discussion.
This is from the same President that slurred “womenofamerica” at a rally, so I guess it’s understandable he would confuse being responsible for being responsible.
that last statement you made sounds wierd. He said what has been the status quo. Those selling are somewhat responsible but not directly responsible. Thats why the us gets so much flak (well and the actual do things we do)
That means Canada’s done some bad shot too. We actually sell a shit-tonne of weapons.
Why did no one ask a follow-up question about that remark?
