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.

  • FunkyStuff [he/him]
    ·
    6 months ago

    CW SA, genocide

    spoiler

    No amount of “but he’s a good man” or “the alternative is an even worse nightmare” reasoning seems to move them from their position.

    Joe Biden is a rapist.

    I replied that I have the pleasure of serving on the board of an organization devoted to human rights, and we had just held lengthy, internal discussions about what the best approach is when the subject of Gaza and Joe Biden comes up. Here are some key takeaways.

    George Takei is a rapist

    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:

    • Reproductive freedom and a right to abortion that was stripped away from millions of women overnight;

    Joe Biden is practically pro-life and Roe was overturned in his administration

    Threats to democracy and rule of law from autocratic leaders and their enablers in the Republican party;

    Joe Biden's administration continues a pattern of undermining Haitian autonomy and rule of law.

    Reducing the use of fossil fuels and addressing the global threat of climate change;

    Joe Biden is sending us off the cliff

    Show

    Supporting our allies in NATO and Ukraine fully against Russian aggression;

    The Ukrainian armed forces are rapists

    An economy that focuses on the needs of the people at the bottom and the middle, not those at the very top;

    Joe Biden is a stooge of the bourgeoisie

    Reducing gun violence and the need for sensible gun safety legislation, all currently opposed by Republicans;

    Joe Biden has had somewhere in the order of 200,000 Palestinians shot, bombed, starved, crushed in rubble, and shelled

    A humane and functional immigration policy that doesn’t demonize vulnerable migrants;

    Joe Biden's administration continues to operate concentration camps at the US Mexico border

    Compassion and full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, particularly trans youth in need of gender-affirming medicine;

    Joe Biden's administration has seen an all out assault on trans people with absolutely no substantial action from the federal government to stop the disintegration of trans rights

    Show

    Ask them what else matters to them.

    That you stop lying.

    • NoLeftLeftWhereILive
      ·
      6 months ago

      It's so chilling to realize that basically every single person this shit system of ours raises to the "top", actors, politicians, managers etc. is a shit tier person. It just is revealed over and over again. And these are the people that mediate everyones understanding of the world, that get to dictate what is or isn't done. The people who "curate" our reality.

      How this becomes a system that just re-enforces exploitation and misery is just so easy to understand. There isn't any "few good men".

      • FunkyStuff [he/him]
        ·
        6 months ago

        It all goes back to the power of blackmail IMO. It's a lot easier to manipulate public figures if the intelligence apparatus and the state department has access to a red button that destroys the credibility for any public figure. It's not so much that there's a big conspiracy, like Epstein, to get all the celebs to be doing heinous things to be used for blackmail; instead, all the institutions that are supposed to prevent abuse instead have been shifted to providing accountability or enforcing a punishment on those who are exposed as abusers. It goes both ways too, like with Takei, if you bend the knee and didn't offend too greatly the media forgives and extinguishes fire. That way, the media and the surveillance state ultimately have the power to make your career and end it, and they make sure there is still a culture for people to incriminate themselves on their watch before they get big. If 80% of the celebrities people pay attention to have skeletons in their closets, and we have an all knowing panopticon, it becomes a billion times easier for that panopticon to flip those celebrities into working in favor of the state dept's agenda.