Obviously to target those that are politically inconvenient to you. Or perhaps as a favor / quid pro quo for one of your rich buddies. Or maybe as revenge for pissing him off. You could pretty much guarantee these scenarios if Trump had this ability. And honestly he doesn’t even need to care about any of it, he just needs some conservative think tank to give him a hit list.

If it were the same ratio it would be 70%. 35% is if the death count doubled with zero additional women or children killed.

Harris got a huge spike in popularity initially because she was NOT Biden. She then spent the remainder of her campaign explaining how she would be Biden exactly but less old, as well as trying to reach to the right. Her polling steadily trailed off as people realized it would be more of the same. If she had the courage to differentiate herself publicly in any way, (ESPECIALLY with respect to Gaza) we might be having a different conversation.

I think that’s a great way to look at it. I’m hoping we can get some better leadership in the democratic party willing to listen to people and offer fresh ideas instead of taking the “if you don’t vote for me then you’re hitler” approach.
Leaning to the right didn’t work for Harris. We need someone to energize the base by offering meaningful change.

Good analysis. You also should understand that Americans are HEAVILY propagandized, since most of our major media outlets are also captured by the same corporate interests that bribe our politicians. Critiques of capitalism are de facto not allowed, because that would be bad for business. (Not to mention the previous decades of cold war era “red scare” nonsense the older generations grew up with) As a result, many democrats don’t know how to receive criticism from the left, and can’t even conceive that there might be a different path besides “status quo” and “conservative hellscape”.

100% correct, dude’s a huge narcissist

Pretty big assumption that “leftist” concessions would only appeal to self-identified leftists. Leftist policies happen to be massively popular. Ask any senior citizen if they want to give up their social security and medicare. Also, you’ll notice that Harris had her biggest boost initially in polling when everyone was excited for the nominee to be NOT Biden. She has since continued to talk about how she’s going to be Biden exactly, but less old, and her numbers have been steadily declining. It’s clear that Biden’s policies, (and not just his age) are important factors. People are eager for change - which almost always comes from challenging the status quo from the left.

I think everyone who is being intellectually honest knows full well that Trump would be worse. The problem seems to be that the Democratic party has decided it can take the votes of the left wing of its party for granted. If the left is not willing to actually follow through and withhold their votes, then the Democrats know that they never have to appease them. It’s really a lose-lose situation until the Harris campaign shows some moral courage or takes seriously the possibility of losing votes over this issue.

I’d prefer not to write an entire essay and nitpick points, but here’s a decent article I found: https://www.axios.com/2023/11/04/us-israel-aid-military-funding-chart Key points I’m seeing:

• 80%+ of their weapons over the last 70 years come from the US
• we are funding about 15% of their total military budget
• 50 billion in annual trade between US and israel

More importantly, the US is the world hegemon, and is committed to protecting Israel. Do you think Iran would be so restrained against Israel if US retaliation wasn’t guaranteed? The US moved an aircraft carrier into the region following Oct. 7th, do you find that irrelevant too? And to reiterate, the US provides diplomatic cover to Israel by vetoing (a power that Israel does not possess) any attempt by the international community to hold it accountable.

Stopping weapons sales is not the “final” card the US can play. The US could also stop vetoing UN resolutions that seek to hold Israel accountable, it could stop providing economic aid, it could even divest funds tied to Israel or go as far as sanctioning them until they stop committing genocide. Israel cannot exist in its current state without the aid and protection the US provides it. The US holds the leverage in this situation to get Israel to comply with any demand, but Joe Biden would rather lie to the media (who happily and uncritically repeat the lies) via his State department and allow Netanyahu to continue slaughtering civilians unchecked. If the US actually wanted Israel to stop murdering civilians, it could have it done tomorrow.

Thanks for clarifying, I had a feeling the context might be something like that.

Nah, let’s not pretend Biden is going to do anything cool. I think we all see him for what he is.

American “justice” system at work. This really makes my blood boil to read. I hope this law is overturned, it’s beyond absurd - its also malicious.

I think the implications are pretty clear when you read between the lines of painting your political enemies as pedophiles. It’s a very easy way to rile people up into a lynch mob. Here’s the fascist playbook on this: target a minority (LGBTQ in particular) as some kind of deviant or predator, legitimize vigilante violence against this group, extend that to the next group or anyone who tries to defend the first group. Rinse and repeat until you are able to consolidate power and successfully kill or imprison your political enemies with impunity.

Your mistake is in framing landlord as a job.

Couldn’t agree more. “Economy” is just code for rich people’s stocks at this point.

I love this take on religion.
Parallels with the “stupid or evil” assessment I always have to do for conservatives in general

Ah, this must be so they can “legally” keep killing aid workers. Truly, the most moral army in the world.

Give me a fucking break if you think Hillary Clinton losing is because of Jill Stein

Gonna need some clarification here… are you saying that seeking an arrest warrant for Netanyahu is “stupid antics” or the Biden administration’s defense of him is?