I don’t even care who fucking wins the presidency this year look at this

Very important & informative article about developments in the Middle East peace process.

The key takeaway is that Saudi Arabia is close to being ready to offer Israel something they've wanted for a long time--normalization of relations between the two countries--in return for "meaningful steps toward a Palestinian state."

If you're in the US and thinking about the November elections, a key takeaway here is that Biden's strategy of trying to stay on Netanyahu's good side is still yielding some progress.

And it's absolutely vital to remember that it is a strategy: you can disagree about whether it's the right strategy, but he isn't just doing nothing. Biden has a lot of experience in middle-east diplomacy, and he thinks he'll get more results with soft power than with saber-rattling. I frequently have my doubts, but I certainly know a great deal less about it than he does, and every so often something like this story filters up into public knowledge, and shows that he is getting somewhere and isn't necessarily crazy to remain committed to this strategy--even though saber-rattling would get him some cheap publicity.

For everyone in general, who is trying to keep up with this topic, in all its complexity, what's under discussion here is the two-state solution, which both international experts and Palestinians who are not extremists generally agree is the most realistic path to peace.

"From the river to the sea" is not going to happen--it just isn't; there are whole books about how and why it isn't going to happen--but there could be an internationally-recognized country of Palestine, probably small, but completely separate from Israel. The US would presumably be involved, with some kind of agreement to enforce the agreed-upon borders: that is, if either country tries to grab more territory, the US will take the other one's side.

The two-state solution has seemed close before; what usually happens is that extremists on one side or another throw a fit and derail the process. With the US and Saudi Arabia involved, there are actually four separate countries whose extremists might decide that peace in the middle east would be bad for their personal brand--so, watch for that to happen, and pay close attention to who started it, if it does.

okay political rambling at 4am:

i see soooo many nihilist posts on my dash about how both sides of us politics are evil, about how biden is doing a bad job, about how the us government is evil and theres so much corruption. and yes, while that may all be true (i try not to spend long amounts of time reading into So Much negative stuff) it doesnt change the fact that This. is the situation we're in.

the us government is overwhelmingly corrupt and right winged. the left is far more right than most of us would prefer. and unless you are actively PHYSICALLY/MONETARILY protesting (not just reblogging posts), you as an individual do not have the power to do things like changing the democratic candidate or absolve the electoral college or make the government stop accepting bribes.

a lot, a LOT of things in the government are fucked up. they always have been. and i think its VERY fucked up that peoples right to protest is being infringed upon again and again. and i think biden isnt the angel that will save us.

by all means, protest, do what you can/will/must to fight for your rights. *and also*, this is the most important part, ALSO VOTE.

as much as you dont like biden youll like trump even less. as much as you dont like biden it will get worse if its not him. as much as you dont like biden its far too late for the democratic candidate to change. as much as you dont like biden you need to vote.

im so serious.

sidenote! the government isnt entirely dictated by the president. checks and balances and all that. voting for your state government is just as important. a lot of things that happen under any given presidents administration arent necessarily under the presidents control. keep that in mind.

Nebraska’s first out gay senator gave an emotional speech in support of trans kids across the state and the wider US. Senator John Fredrickson gave a tearful speech during a Friday (5 April) legislative session, telling the people of Nebraska that he would fight for their rights. “I stand here today, confidently, to tell you if you love your kids unconditionally for who they are, and if they know they’re loved, you can weather a lot.” His speech came during a debate in Nebraska’s state capitol on a bill that would bar trans students from facilities that correspond with their gender identity.

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How am I still getting people in my notes insisting that the loss of Roe v Wade is "proof that voting doesn't matter because it happened while Democrats are in office". How do so many people have the reasoning ability of a goddamned four-year-old? Unable to reason out the most basic cause and effect of what happens when Republican presidents appoint lifetime judges, of which the next president will likely get to do at least two?

I also constantly get people insisting that both parties are the same because Biden "promised to cancel student loans and then didn't" (he tried but the Republicans sued to stop it, and then he cancelled billions anyway) and "the Dems haven't done anything to protect trans rights" (he just strengthened Title IX protections for trans students and Republicans are suing to stop it). And as always, the difference between blue and red states in terms of civil rights, health, and education remains extremely stark, because local elections are fucking important.

I don't know if these people are intentionally lying to push an agenda or if they're just people who consider themselves experts on politics despite very obviously never having read a newspaper but jesus christ can they at least stay out of my notes with their bullshit

Why are we afraid of a Trump presidency? Well, here's the beginning of political historian Heather Cox Richardson's daily writeup:

April 30, 2024 (Tuesday) This morning, Time magazine published a cover story by Eric Cortellessa about what Trump is planning for a second term. Based on two interviews with Trump and conversations with more than a dozen of his closest advisors, the story lays out Trump’s conviction that he was “too nice” in his first term and that he would not make such a mistake again. Cortellessa writes that Trump intends to establish “an imperial presidency that would reshape America and its role in the world.” He plans to use the military to round up, put in camps, and deport more than 11 million people. He is willing to permit Republican-dominated states to monitor pregnancies and prosecute people who violate abortion bans. He will shape the laws by refusing to release funds appropriated by Congress (as he did in 2019 to try to get Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky to smear Hunter Biden). He would like to bring the Department of Justice under his own control, pardoning those convicted of attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and ending the U.S. system of an independent judiciary. In a second Trump presidency, the U.S. might not come to the aid of a European or Asian ally that Trump thinks isn’t paying enough for its own defense. Trump would, Cortelessa wrote, “gut the U.S. civil service, deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, close the White House pandemic-preparedness office, and staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.” To that list, former political director of the AFL-CIO Michael Podhorzer added on social media that if Trump wins, “he could replace [Supreme Court justices Clarence] Thomas, [Samuel] Alito, and 40+ federal judges over 75 with young zealots.” “I ask him, Don’t you see why many Americans see such talk of dictatorship as contrary to our most cherished principles?” Cortellessa wrote. No, Trump said. “‘I think a lot of people like it.”

I’ll be honest, when one party’s aiding and abetting the genocide and the other’s outright gonna kill all my friends, I don’t really care if the fascists “win”. They’ve won already.

You know who would be delighted to hear that? Trump and Putin. The US far right and the Russian government have poured lots of time, effort, and money over the last decade+ into convincing US leftists and liberals that things are hopeless, there's no point in even trying to make things better, and the Democrats and Republicans are functionally interchangeable. They do this because one of the easiest ways for them to win is if the left gives up and stops trying. Every person on the left they can convince to give up in despair brings them closer to complete control. Defeatism on the left actively supports victory on the right.

I think your statement is wrong on a number of levels, both factual and emotional. It comes from not understanding what the actual options are for the US government and the President specifically, either at home or abroad. And it will allow actual fascism to flourish and make the world far worse than it is now.

On an emotional level, the way to address this is to stop doomscrolling. Stop focusing on the worst things happening in the world. Don't ignore them! but don't let them consume you. Start looking for the things that are going well. Find places in your community that you can get involved in making things better. Even if it's only on a small scale like volunteering in a soup kitchen or homeless shelter, it will help you realize that you aren't helpless, that there are things that can be done to make the world a better place. Stay informed about things on a local, national, and international level, but limit how much time and attention you give to things that depress you that you can't affect. Instead of sitting there thinking about all the ways the world sucks and how awful things are, look for things you can do that are productive, and then do them. You'll feel better and you will have made your corner of the world a little better. And you will be a lot less likely to unintentionally fall into the despair, nihilism, and passivity that the fascists want you to be consumed by.

Always remember that the worlds problems are not resting solely on your shoulders, or solely on America's shoulders, and neither is the hope of fixing them. Everyone has things that we can do to make the world a better place, but there are also things that are beyond our control. We can control what we do; we cannot control what others do. We can and should try to make the world a better place, but focusing on the things we can't change has no positive benefits. Focusing on things we can't change accomplishes two things: it makes you feel bad, and it stops you from doing the things you actually can do to make things better. Neither of these things is good for you or anyone else. Look for things you can do and do them. Keep informed on the things you can't change, but don't focus on them.

On a factual level, let's look at "aiding and abetting genocide," shall we?

First, it's important to remember that the US President is not the God-Emperor Of The World. The US government has limits to what it can and can't do in other countries, and both legally and practically. If the US wants to intervene in a problem in another country, there are a variety of things we can do that boil down to basically four categories. It's a lot more complex than this in practice, of course, but in general here are the categories of things we can do:

Send in the troops. Invade, either by ourselves or as part of a NATO or UN operation. (Or maybe just send in a CIA wetworks team to assassinate the head of state.) I hope you can see the moral problems with this option, and also, we've done this a shitton of times over the course of the 20th Century and pretty much every time we've done it, we've made an already awful situation worse. On a moral level, it's pretty bad, and on a practical level, it's worse. Sure, we could stop the immediate problem, but what then? Consider Afghanistan and Iraq. We got rid of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban, and everything went to shit, we spent twenty years occupying Afghanistan with pretty much nothing to show for it. (The Taliban is back in control of Afghanistan.) Things were worse when we left than when we arrived. So this option is pretty much off the table (or should be).

Diplomatic pressure. Now, the thing is, they're a sovereign nation, they don't have to listen to us if they don't want to. We have a lot of things we can leverage--including financial aid--but the only way to force them to do what we want is to invade and conquer, and that only works temporarily. Since we can't force, we have to persuade. This requires us to maintain our existing relationship with the country in question, and possibly strengthen it, because that relationship is what we're leveraging to try and influence them to do what we want them to do. If we do not maintain our relationship, they have no reason to listen to us.

Cut ties and go home. Break off any existing relationship and support, loudly proclaim that they're awful and doing awful things and we wash our hands of the whole situation. This keeps our own hands lily-white and pure, but it also means we have zero leverage to work on any kind of a diplomatic solution. They have no reason to listen to us or care about what we think. We can pat ourselves on the back for doing the right thing, but we destroy our own ability to influence anything. Not just now, but also in the future. Let's say the current crisis ends, and then ten years later there's another crisis. If we want to have any effect then, we would have to start from square one to start building a relationship. Cutting ties would be great for making Americans feel better about ourselves, and there are times when it's the only option, but it should be a last resort. If there is any hope of being able to influence things for the better this will destroy it at least temporarily.

Cut ties and impose sanctions. Break off any existing relationship and support, loudly proclaim that they're awful and doing awful things, but also use the might of the American economy to isolate and punish them. We've done this a lot over the 20th Century, too, and it has never actually resulted in the country in question buckling down and toeing the line we want them to. What happens is the sanctioned country has an economic shock (how long it lasts and how bad it gets depends on a lot of factors) and then pulls themselves back together economically, except this time they're more self-sufficient and less reliant on international trade and financial networks. They tell themselves that America is evil and the cause of all their problems, and so not only do they not listen to us, they actively hate us. And they have fewer international relationships, so fewer reasons to care about what the international community thinks about them. So they're most likely to double down on whatever it is they're doing that we don't like. This one is completely counterproductive and utterly stupid. It's great for making Americans feel better about ourselves, but if we actually care about being able to use our influence for good (or, at least, to mitigate evil) this option shoots us in the foot. It encourages other nations to do the very thing we're trying to stop them from doing.

So, with those four options in mind, both option one (invasion/assassination) and option four (sanctions) are off the table for being immoral and counterproductive. That leaves "breaking our relationship and going home" and "using diplomatic pressure" as our only two viable options.

Biden has chosen option two, diplomatic pressure. Yes, he and our government have continued financial support for Israel ... but with strings attached. They have put limits on it that have never been put on any US foreign aid before. They have taken legal steps to lay the groundwork to target Israeli settlers (i.e. Israeli citizens who confiscate Palestinian homes and businesses). We've been hearing reports for months that Benjamin Netanyahu (Israeli Prime Minister, and a far-right-wing demagogue) hates Biden's guts, because Biden is pressuring him to stop the genocide and work towards peace. Biden is maintaining the relationship, and he's using that relationship to try and influence things to curb the violence and pave the way for a just peace settlement of some sort. Biden has also mentioned the possibility of a two state solution where Palestine becomes its own completely separate country. That's huge, because up until this point the US position has always been that Israel is the only possible legitimate nation in that territory. If Biden stopped US support for Israel, it wouldn't force Israel to stop what it's doing ... but it would let them ignore us. It would remove any leverage or influence we might have.

Biden's hands aren't clean. But the only way for them to be clean would be to also give up any chance of influencing the situation or working to protect Palestinians now or in the future. Only time will tell if it works, but I personally would rather have someone who tried and failed than someone who didn't even try. You might disagree about whether this is the right course of action, and there's a lot of room for honest disagreement about the issue (there's a lot of nuances that I'm glossing over or ignoring). But please do acknowledge that Biden isn't supporting Israel because he supports genocide; he's doing it so that he can continue to maintain diplomatic pressure on Israel to stop the violence.

Which brings us back to "aiding and abetting genocide." Trump is not like Biden. Trump is good friends with Netanyahu and backs Israel to the hilt. Trump thinks that all Arabs are terrorists (and all Muslims are terrorists) and genuinely believes the world would be a better place with them dead. Biden is continuing to support Israel, but using that support as influence to get them to stop or slow down. Trump would be using that influence to encourage them.

And those are the two choices. Someone who is trying to curb the genocide, and someone who actively supports it.

I really hope you can see the significant and substantial difference between those two positions.

But let's say that you're right and Biden's policy towards Israel and Palestine is every bit as bad as Trump's would be. If there was nothing to choose between them on foreign policy grounds, there would still be a shitton to choose between them on domestic policy grounds. You admit that the right wants to kill your friends, and yet you don't seem to think that stopping them from killing your friends might be a good thing to do.

"We can't save Palestinians, so we might as well let Republicans destroy the rights, lives, and futures of LGBTQ+ people, women, people of color, people with disabilities, poor people, non-Christians, and anyone else they don't like." "We can't save Palestinians, so why bother to try to save the people we might actually be able to save." "We can't save Palestinians right now, so there's no point in trying to build up a longer-term political bloc that might drag US politics to the left over the long run."

Do you get why there's a problem with that line of thought?

If you abstain from voting for Biden over a stupid useless app that lowers your attention span, then you’re unbelievably droolingly stupid.

In other words, a MAGA voter

Don’t ever give conservatives an inch, they’ll take a mile; especially out of your rights.

Vote Biden, vote Blue in 2024

The AZ Senate had the votes to repeal the ban last week, so a repeal seems likely. While this would simply put a newer 15w ban in place, this is an immediate benefit to a lot of people who are pregnant and don't want to be, and an indication that the GOP is unable to stand in the face of how pissed off people are.

If you live in AZ, especially, but even if you don't, you need to read the whole article, bc I guarantee that the GOP where you live is going to try to pull bait-and-switch tactics similar to those being tried in AZ, where a pro-reproductive-freedom item is on the ballot. GOPers there are going to try to confuse the vote into failure.

If you abstain from voting for Biden over a stupid useless app that lowers your attention span, then you’re unbelievably droolingly stupid.

In other words, a MAGA voter

Smack down anybody talking about RFK Jr. as a serious politician. He's a longtime anti-vaxxer who plays footsie with the fringe right. He's currently trying to attract low information voters who know his name but who are unaware of his record.

As for that Kennedy name, he has been politically disowned by the rest of the extended Kennedy family. I'm unaware of any blood relative of his who is supporting him. Most of his siblings and cousins have endorsed Joe Biden and some have appeared in ads for Biden.

RFK Jr.'s position on abortion is dubious.

An abortion-rights group is attacking Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as extreme and unfit to serve over abortion rights, as the health issue takes focus in the presidential election. Reproductive Freedom for All Freedom Fund put out an ad Monday in Michigan and Wisconsin — two battleground states — looking to portray the independent candidate as indecisive and potentially threatening to a woman’s right to choose. The ad, which is targeting young voters, is set to run in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Madison, Wis., cities in two important swing states where Kennedy is angling to compete against President Biden and former President Trump. Both cities are home to major public universities, as well.  “He doesn’t know whether he’d support a national abortion ban, and he’s picked a vice president who won’t even protect IVF from MAGA attacks,” the ad says.  The spot also criticizes Kennedy’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, who has been outwardly skeptical of IVF.

Only one candidate is campaigning to restore Roe.

Biden Blames Trump for Florida's 'Nightmare' Abortion Law

"Blah blah blah, Biden can't win, blah blah blah, he's too old, blah blah blah progressives won't vote for him..." oh hey Trump just lost more than 16% of the vote in a key swing state's primary to Nikki Haley, who dropped out two months ago.

Trump's losses in PA were nearly as great as the much-hyped defections from Biden in Michigan's primary- and this much later in the primary cycle. Meanwhile, in tonight's Pennsylvania primary Biden is currently looks to be getting around 93% of his party's vote, to Trump's 83.5.

There continues to be an enthusiasm gap, and it continues to favour Democrats.

The FTC just banned ALL noncompete agreements for American workers, except for an exemption for when a business is sold, and ended all existing agreements, except those for senior executives.

The vote was 3/2, with all Democratic appointees voting yes, and both Republicans voting no. The current chair is a Biden appointee.

This is a GIGANTIC win for workers, and it WOULD NOT have been possible without Joe Biden as President.

It is likely to be challenged in court, however, which means this could be struck down by SCOTUS. But Federal judges are nominated by the President and approved by the Senate, so if you're tired of seeing good shit like this get struck down in the courts, you know what you need to do: elect Democrats to the Presidency, and a Democratic majority in the Senate.

sometimes I feel like non-Americans expect us to like. stage a military coup and enact an entirely new system of government

my lord seeing all the posts talking about not voting for joe biden like...

im not even gonna push my personal opinion. i just want people to take the time to earnestly reflect about what they're deciding to do

as in. just think "what is the impact of my decision?" think about what would come about if you voted for biden, or against biden, or third party, or (likely the most popular other option ppl want to pursue) didn't vote AT ALL.

then reflect on the actual issues that matter enough to sway your vote. think about palestine. think about queer liberation & disability advocacy. think about the writer's strike and the actors strike and unionizing. think about the environment. the fucking economy. basically anything that's defined the political landscape of the 2020s.

and then circle back to "what is the point of making this specific choice?" in regards to voting in the 2024 election. if you want to make any of these issues better, ask yourself if those changes will be easier to make under a trump administration or a biden administration. would trump be better for palestine than biden? the environment? the economy? even if he's worse than biden in a lot of areas, is there one special issue that could push him over the edge? what are you trying to accomplish with this vote (or lackthereof)?

the reason i felt compelled to lay it all out in this specific manner is quite simple. i want to emphasize something important.

i feel like a lot of people planning to protest their vote for Joe Biden see themselves as possessing a moral high ground with respect to our corrupt political system. by refusing to participate and play the game, you're avoiding complicity in a machine designed to grind people up and spit out their bodies for the sake of profit. i get it. i know exactly why you don't want to take part in something so horrible.

but you DO.

even if you don't want to. you are a part of this system.

withholding a vote isn't exempting you from anything. you are still making a decision. a decision that impacts your life, the lives of those around you, and of course the lives of people overseas caught up in our country's colonialist bullshit

i promise you nobody is keeping score. you won't get extra woke points in heaven because you didn't vote for someone who does bad things. say hypothetically we lived in a country like australia with compulsory voting, and protesting your vote was literally not an option. what would people say then? would the anti-genocide crowd encourage you to vote for trump? vote third party? do these choices make sense??

because at the end of the day, we have 2 choices. we can continue sucking ass. or we can bring in someone else to suck ass EVEN HARDER.

i'm not sure what i can say beyond this much. i get how easy it is to turn off your brain and rail against anyone challenging an opinion that, from your perspective, feels beyond the realm of criticism. these people do not have bad intentions. our brains can't think in terms of stupid political games. we see a man encouraging a genocide running for re-election, and the LAST thing we want to do is reward him.

but the system is illogical by design. (see electoral college for more info.) you can't make it make sense. these people in power aren't gonna buckle to your pressure based on morality or shame because they have none. they know exactly what the fuck is going on. they know what they're doing, and they're doing it on purpose.

if republicans can accept that holding your nose and playing the bs voting game can make the system work in their favor, why the fuck can't college educated socialists come to the same conclusion?

whatever you decide to do come november, just be honest about why you're doing it. whether it's about gaza or trans people or even just the prices of groceries always increasing, it doesn't matter. i know what change i want to see in the world, and i'm doing what i can to help move the needle in that direction.

Drag Party~

A concerning percentage of our population simply doesn't understand how our voting system works and we're all the worse for it

By that I mean people who vote or advicate voting for

•the 3rd candidate

•NOTA (none of the above)

•Not voting at all