But you’re stifling Democrats who are criticizing Biden by claiming that they’re all actually Russian bots
Which, actually, is exactly what a Russian bot would do - convince lefty Dems that mainstream Dems are out of touch elitists who don’t care about their concerns and will dismiss any criticism of Biden as foreign interference rather than disagreement with policy choices like genocide support. Which, of course, will cause those lefty dems to resent the Democratic Party and decrease the likelihood they vote for Biden
So you’re doing Russia’s work for them by continuing this line of attack. You need the votes of young people/zoomers/lefties. You lose parts of that vote by acting like their criticisms are foreign disinformation. Which helps Putin.
But you’re stifling Democrats who are criticizing Biden by claiming that they’re all actually Russian bots
I haven’t personally accused anyone of being a Russian agent and will continue that way.
I’ve simply concentrated on the illogical nature of the arguments seen in the meme. While I continue to be surprised at how hard it is for some to understand first past the post voting systems, I just think those people aren’t bright. Not Russian, necessarily.
Ironically, during the “basket of deplorables” snafu, the left on Reddit were saying things like “if an insult made you vote for Trump, you were probably never voting for Hillary anyway”. And I think that holds true.
Because if you know how FPTP works and you believe one of the two people who are going to win this race is better than the other - you have your vote figured out already.
But if you know you need all the votes you can get, then your strategy should be to acknowledge and assuage the concerns of your base. Your strategy should not be to tell your base to shut up, to call them Russian agents, and to stop publicly talking about how the United States is arming and funding a genocide, for example
Biden has significant weaknesses that need to be acknowledged and addressed. Ideally through policy changes. But if not that, then through significantly better rhetoric than his admin/team/PR agencies are currently using.
Insulting your critics is the worst possible move, especially when their criticisms are real and valid. We’re not talking about people who believe Hunter Biden was the mastermind behind Pizzagate - We’re talking about the majority of registered Democrats who believe that Israel is committing a genocide with American money and bombs. And we’re also talking about the median American family who can no longer afford to keep up with the increases to the cost of living - let alone buy a house for the first time without parental support. These are real concerns and Biden deserves criticism for them - and, ideally, he needs to deliver policy that addresses these concerns
and to stop publicly talking about how the United States is arming and funding a genocide, for example
This right here is why I don’t see value in arguing those facts and just concentrating on the fact that we have 2 real choices and one is clearly better.
There is absolutely nothing I can say to you that will convince you that what’s going on in Gaza isn’t a genocide. It’s literally not worth trying. I’ve seen people say shit like, “You know what we mean, even if we don’t mean literally genocide”. People either just like using the word to mean “murder” or “killing” or actually think there’s a literal genocide happening right now.
Either way, I’d rather just try to get people to see the simple, straightforward logic:
Either the Dem or Rep nominee will in.
Thanks to the voting system we’re subject to, if you vote for a 3rd party which better aligns with your ideals, you run a real risk of allowing the worse of #1 to be elected. This is a worse outcome for you and me.
Given 1 and 2, you’re better off throwing weight behind the better of #1.
No matter what you or anyone else says next, 1 and 2 are true. That should lead you to 3, if you’re a logical person. If it doesn’t lead you there, you either still don’t understand the logic or you’re not all that concerned with his dictatorial comments, what that might mean for women, minorities, atheists, him getting MORE SCOTUS appointments, Ukraine/Russia, etc.
We’re talking about the majority of registered Democrats who believe that Israel is committing a genocide with American money and bombs.
Again, nothing I or anyone else say is going to disabuse those people of that notion. We’ll just be called genocide deniers. Why try?
If a meme like this makes someone who claims to be “left” not vote for the (unfortunate) only person on the ballot that will keep whatever little semblance of democracy we have in tact, then I don’t think they are as “left” as they claim to be.
I just personally wouldn’t waste my time. I get that there’s a lot going on, and a lot of it very bad, but at the end of the day, the bigger picture is crystal clear to those of us who actively lived through Trump’s awful years in office.
If a meme is what gets you to vote against yourself, then you were going to do that anyway, just with extra fluff.
But you’re stifling Democrats who are criticizing Biden by claiming that they’re all actually Russian bots
Which, actually, is exactly what a Russian bot would do - convince lefty Dems that mainstream Dems are out of touch elitists who don’t care about their concerns and will dismiss any criticism of Biden as foreign interference rather than disagreement with policy choices like genocide support. Which, of course, will cause those lefty dems to resent the Democratic Party and decrease the likelihood they vote for Biden
So you’re doing Russia’s work for them by continuing this line of attack. You need the votes of young people/zoomers/lefties. You lose parts of that vote by acting like their criticisms are foreign disinformation. Which helps Putin.
I haven’t personally accused anyone of being a Russian agent and will continue that way.
I’ve simply concentrated on the illogical nature of the arguments seen in the meme. While I continue to be surprised at how hard it is for some to understand first past the post voting systems, I just think those people aren’t bright. Not Russian, necessarily.
Ironically, during the “basket of deplorables” snafu, the left on Reddit were saying things like “if an insult made you vote for Trump, you were probably never voting for Hillary anyway”. And I think that holds true.
Because if you know how FPTP works and you believe one of the two people who are going to win this race is better than the other - you have your vote figured out already.
But if you know you need all the votes you can get, then your strategy should be to acknowledge and assuage the concerns of your base. Your strategy should not be to tell your base to shut up, to call them Russian agents, and to stop publicly talking about how the United States is arming and funding a genocide, for example
Biden has significant weaknesses that need to be acknowledged and addressed. Ideally through policy changes. But if not that, then through significantly better rhetoric than his admin/team/PR agencies are currently using.
Insulting your critics is the worst possible move, especially when their criticisms are real and valid. We’re not talking about people who believe Hunter Biden was the mastermind behind Pizzagate - We’re talking about the majority of registered Democrats who believe that Israel is committing a genocide with American money and bombs. And we’re also talking about the median American family who can no longer afford to keep up with the increases to the cost of living - let alone buy a house for the first time without parental support. These are real concerns and Biden deserves criticism for them - and, ideally, he needs to deliver policy that addresses these concerns
This right here is why I don’t see value in arguing those facts and just concentrating on the fact that we have 2 real choices and one is clearly better.
There is absolutely nothing I can say to you that will convince you that what’s going on in Gaza isn’t a genocide. It’s literally not worth trying. I’ve seen people say shit like, “You know what we mean, even if we don’t mean literally genocide”. People either just like using the word to mean “murder” or “killing” or actually think there’s a literal genocide happening right now.
Either way, I’d rather just try to get people to see the simple, straightforward logic:
No matter what you or anyone else says next, 1 and 2 are true. That should lead you to 3, if you’re a logical person. If it doesn’t lead you there, you either still don’t understand the logic or you’re not all that concerned with his dictatorial comments, what that might mean for women, minorities, atheists, him getting MORE SCOTUS appointments, Ukraine/Russia, etc.
Again, nothing I or anyone else say is going to disabuse those people of that notion. We’ll just be called genocide deniers. Why try?
If a meme like this makes someone who claims to be “left” not vote for the (unfortunate) only person on the ballot that will keep whatever little semblance of democracy we have in tact, then I don’t think they are as “left” as they claim to be.
Then why bother rebutting the type of posts contained in the OP image?
I just personally wouldn’t waste my time. I get that there’s a lot going on, and a lot of it very bad, but at the end of the day, the bigger picture is crystal clear to those of us who actively lived through Trump’s awful years in office.
If a meme is what gets you to vote against yourself, then you were going to do that anyway, just with extra fluff.