Trump is already kidnapping leftists using unmarked vans and federal goons who refuse to identify who they work for. Literally the only reason you run that sort of operation is so that – if you decide you want to – you can indefinitely detain or even disappear someone.
Please spare me the argument that Biden, who was the VP when Obama disappeared American citizens, ran secret prisons, and helped the authorities crack leftist skulls at Standing Rock and Occupy Wall Street, would respect the Constitution™ and not use strongarm tactics against BLM protesters.
He is literally telling you while running for president that he will round these people up and arrest them. What more do you need to tell you that he's indistinguishable from Trump on this issue?
How is that (and what it is obviously setting the stage for) less of an obstacle than whatever Biden would do?
Because you've localized it to one issue where you argue (erroneously, IMO) that Biden wouldn't use fascist measures where Trump is.
In reality, the Dems are the much bigger obstacle to the left organizing. The Dems are squatting on the "opposition party" and positioning themselves as "the left", and then not doing anything "left" and enabling the right.
They are a dampening agent on the left. They are occupying the only weapon we have in terms of electoralism, and rendering it useless. Putting them in power does nothing to stop Republicans, as they thirst to work with them to oppress the people. And it normalizes "the left" being right wing, as Biden's corpse starts more wars and imposes more austerity, and the Republicans move to the right to keep their Nazi street cred. Pushing us further right off the cliff to oblivion. We've repeated this cycle a dozen times; this time is no different.
If you want to argue that electoralism is meaningless and we should ignore it, that's fine. That's another thread. But if we are starting with the premise that electoralism has any worth at all, then it has to start with unseating shitty Democrats. And handing Biden the keys to the White House is going to set that process back a decade.
Absolutely this. It is clear that every president since (and obviously including) Reagan has been a proponent of the same Neoliberal dismantling of the public sphere. I used to think our only chance was for the Republican party to become untenable, but that isn't going to happen with the way rural states are disproportionately represented. The Democrat party must become untenable when running the same old shit, it is the only way to get them to change. I'm not sold on electoralism, direct action is clearly working better, but you can't argue that motherfucking Biden, a literal segregationist and author of the 1994 crime bill (which he still supports) is any type of real harm reduction.
edit: I also love that Trump destroys our international reputation, hurting the US hegemony more than anything I could ever have imagined.
when Obama disappeared American citizens, ran secret prisons
Big difference between doing that in Iraq and doing it in Oregon. Legally it's an entirely different world, and it's similarly night-and-day in terms of media coverage.
helped the authorities crack leftist skulls at Standing Rock and Occupy Wall Street
The local police are generally who's cracking skulls, and the president doesn't control the local police. Big difference between the NYPD -- who Obama had zero control over -- breaking up Occupy and Trump creating a federal police force on the fly that's answerable to him.
He is literally telling you while running for president that he will round these people up and arrest them.
This is no different from libs breathlessly believing that Trump will do everything that pops out of his mouth. Big difference between wanting to arrest the protesters who break windows and wanting the military to massacre protesters en masse.
Big difference between the NYPD – who Obama had zero control over – breaking up Occupy and Trump creating a federal police force on the fly that’s answerable to him.
Big difference between 500 people sitting on blankets, vs. police cars being overturned in a dozen cities and people wheeling out guillotines, too. Hence the bigger authoritarian response. The billionaires are getting more nervous, and the president does what the billionaires want.
If you think Biden wouldn't do exactly what Trump did if he faced the same set of circumstances, you are Charlie Brown running 90 MPH at a football.
This is no different from libs breathlessly believing that Trump will do everything that pops out of his mouth.
Oh yeah, nope, no reason whatsoever to believe Biden will throw people into unmarked vans... except for the fact that Biden was the VP under a president who literally broke the Constitution and infringed upon civil rights daily, and walked away after 8 years completely clean, with people going "he never had a scandal except a tan suit".
Big difference between wanting to arrest the protesters who break windows and wanting the military to massacre protesters en masse.
You have now devolved into right wing talking points to defend Biden. It's ok, he'll just strongarm and arrest the ones that deserve it!!
Highlighting the difference between a small-c conservative and a fascist is not a right-wing talking point. You're not even bothering to read what I'm writing in good faith, so I'm not going to bother with the rest of your nonsense.
Please spare me the argument that Biden, who was the VP when Obama disappeared American citizens, ran secret prisons, and helped the authorities crack leftist skulls at Standing Rock and Occupy Wall Street, would respect the Constitution™ and not use strongarm tactics against BLM protesters.
He is literally telling you while running for president that he will round these people up and arrest them. What more do you need to tell you that he's indistinguishable from Trump on this issue?
Because you've localized it to one issue where you argue (erroneously, IMO) that Biden wouldn't use fascist measures where Trump is.
In reality, the Dems are the much bigger obstacle to the left organizing. The Dems are squatting on the "opposition party" and positioning themselves as "the left", and then not doing anything "left" and enabling the right.
They are a dampening agent on the left. They are occupying the only weapon we have in terms of electoralism, and rendering it useless. Putting them in power does nothing to stop Republicans, as they thirst to work with them to oppress the people. And it normalizes "the left" being right wing, as Biden's corpse starts more wars and imposes more austerity, and the Republicans move to the right to keep their Nazi street cred. Pushing us further right off the cliff to oblivion. We've repeated this cycle a dozen times; this time is no different.
If you want to argue that electoralism is meaningless and we should ignore it, that's fine. That's another thread. But if we are starting with the premise that electoralism has any worth at all, then it has to start with unseating shitty Democrats. And handing Biden the keys to the White House is going to set that process back a decade.
Absolutely this. It is clear that every president since (and obviously including) Reagan has been a proponent of the same Neoliberal dismantling of the public sphere. I used to think our only chance was for the Republican party to become untenable, but that isn't going to happen with the way rural states are disproportionately represented. The Democrat party must become untenable when running the same old shit, it is the only way to get them to change. I'm not sold on electoralism, direct action is clearly working better, but you can't argue that motherfucking Biden, a literal segregationist and author of the 1994 crime bill (which he still supports) is any type of real harm reduction.
edit: I also love that Trump destroys our international reputation, hurting the US hegemony more than anything I could ever have imagined.
Big difference between doing that in Iraq and doing it in Oregon. Legally it's an entirely different world, and it's similarly night-and-day in terms of media coverage.
The local police are generally who's cracking skulls, and the president doesn't control the local police. Big difference between the NYPD -- who Obama had zero control over -- breaking up Occupy and Trump creating a federal police force on the fly that's answerable to him.
This is no different from libs breathlessly believing that Trump will do everything that pops out of his mouth. Big difference between wanting to arrest the protesters who break windows and wanting the military to massacre protesters en masse.
Ummmmm
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/29/fbi-coordinated-crackdown-occupy
Big difference between 500 people sitting on blankets, vs. police cars being overturned in a dozen cities and people wheeling out guillotines, too. Hence the bigger authoritarian response. The billionaires are getting more nervous, and the president does what the billionaires want.
If you think Biden wouldn't do exactly what Trump did if he faced the same set of circumstances, you are Charlie Brown running 90 MPH at a football.
Oh yeah, nope, no reason whatsoever to believe Biden will throw people into unmarked vans... except for the fact that Biden was the VP under a president who literally broke the Constitution and infringed upon civil rights daily, and walked away after 8 years completely clean, with people going "he never had a scandal except a tan suit".
You have now devolved into right wing talking points to defend Biden. It's ok, he'll just strongarm and arrest the ones that deserve it!!
Highlighting the difference between a small-c conservative and a fascist is not a right-wing talking point. You're not even bothering to read what I'm writing in good faith, so I'm not going to bother with the rest of your nonsense.