I read this lib "how to" about Gaza - How To Speak To Voters Who Say They Can't Support Biden Because Of Gaza. The substack is co-run by George Takei and he's built himself into a super-popular lib brand. I wanted to know what he was promoting.

Most of it was exactly what I expected. But a surprising word stuck in my craw - "dealbreaker". As if there can be a "deal" made on morality. And - of course - the "deal" is we must change 100% and see things the lib way while they don't change an iota. Quite a deal!

Most of us know someone on the left who is dug in against voting for Joe Biden because of U.S. policy toward Israel and Gaza. For them, the continued support of Israel and the flow of weapons is a dealbreaker, and they say they can’t support a president for reelection who would back a genocidal campaign against the Palestinians.

  • kristina [she/her]
    ·
    2 months ago

    i skipped through this dogshit article to find the actual arguments. here is what they suggest:

    Say you feel conflicted, too. Forming a bridge of understanding with those who are suffering anguish at the role our country and this administration are playing in Gaza is foundationally critical to having any kind of productive discussion. Expressing your own emotions—whether it’s frustration, horror, pain, sorrow, confliction—will open a patch of common ground on which real dialogue can happen. It is an invitation to share more, not shut down. And talking with someone who also hates what’s happening in Gaza but arrives at a different result on how to act on it can be illuminating.

    Talk about other issues that matter to you. This is a key point. When someone is stuck on the narrative that “Joe Biden is bad,” you should move away from talking about the candidates (Biden v. Trump) and talk instead about all the issues that matter to you. This election is about Gaza, yes. But it’s also about many other things:

    Ask them what else matters to them. You won’t be able to convince voters that they are wrong for standing on the Gaza issue and not supporting Biden. How they ultimately vote is something they will have to arrive at in just over six months, and each journey will differ. All anyone can do now is seek to expand the discussion beyond the war to include all of the other things that also matter to progressive voters. From there, they’ll have to make up their own mind, but you will have left an opening. Let them say aloud what else they care about, and then let them make their own decisions.

    so the advice is to deflect and emotionally manipulate people

    • Moss [they/them]
      ·
      2 months ago

      talking with someone who also hates what’s happening in Gaza but arrives at a different result

      The different result is being pro genocide

    • Egon [they/them]
      ·
      2 months ago

      Oh hey I remember when some lib tried to do that here, and then got all pissy and whiny about the fact I wouldn't call them comrade. They were shocked when I told them that their rhetoric would result in them getting their ass kicked, if they tried it in IRL leftist orgs (or at least the ones I've frequented).
      "I'm still a comrade, I just disagree on Palestine. I share your pain, I understand it, I sympathise with the pain of the Palestinian people! I'm still a comrade and I'll call you comrade even if you won't call me one! I respect your opinion though! Why won't you respect mine?"
      Something like that. Incredibly transparent. I hope they got their head dunked in a toilet.

    • NewLeaf
      ·
      2 months ago

      They act like all of our problems with Biden exist in a vacuum so they can call us single issue voters. If the single issue is genocide, and they can't see how that's a red line, I wish them endless mental anguish when trump wins in November and nothing fucking changes.

      • Egon [they/them]
        ·
        2 months ago

        Leftists: "There's a lot wrong with Biden. He's assaulted women, he's anti-abortion, he oversaw the overturning of Roe v. Wade, he's doing essentially nothing to mitigate climate disaster and is in fact making things a lot worse, he mishandled COVID, he's clearly not taking future pandemic risks seriously, the us infrastructure is falling apart but he's more focused on arming forced conscripts in Ukraine so he can support a neo-nazi government, he's increasingly beliggerent towards Russia and China, he increased funding for police, he's overseen incredible attacks on LGBTQ+ people that he's done nothing about, he more or less completely lied about what he'd do in office - I mean he's not 'trusting the science' and he's not 'listening to his constituents' he hasnt really fought to alleviate student debt... Christ in not even close to going thru the list of issues. I really wish the dems would put forth another candidate, however it is clear they're not willing to do this. It sucks, but Trump is so terrifying to me that I'd honestly be willing to vote for Biden despite all this, if he just didn't actively support a genocide. However since he is, I don't really see any difference between him and Trump anymore, but if he stops supporting the genocide I'll probably still vote for him."

        Dems: "smh at these single-issue-voters" calls SWAT on young people practicing their constitutional right to protest "why won't the kids vote for Biden? There's only one thing he does that they disagree with! Don't they see that trump will make America fascist?" Makes it illegal to critique Israel

        • NewLeaf
          ·
          2 months ago

          smuglord "Biden won't give you a free pony. The adults in the room have to make all those unpopular tough decisions™ because you don't know how politics works. Don't let perfect be the enemy of the 'good' (read: genocide, mass poverty and civil unrest)"