cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18919702
The US presidential election is a toss-up between a ‘soft-on-Palestine’ Democrat whose boss has armed Israel’s genocide and an unabashedly pro-Israel Republican who doesn’t like war or war budgets.
This has led to the loss of crucial constituencies, including young voters, Arab and Muslim communities, and many progressives. Additionally, many younger and left-leaning Jewish voters “no longer see unequivocal support for Israel as a litmus test.”
While the Democratic party is well aware of this vulnerability, many wonder whether its candidate, Kamala Harris, can win back disappointed voters and bring a new approach to policy toward Gaza – at this late date.
Wow, great point, Harris, who as VP has zero actual authority over national policy, should stop the bombing and funding of Israel. Also, I’m sure that, even if it were possible for her to do that herself right now, it’ll definitely have no negative repercussions on the outcome of the elections that AIPAC is throwing metric fuckloads of money at.
For real dude, pull your head out of your ass. I am 100% on board for taking people to task for their policies and actions when warranted. It’s not warranted here vis a vis Harris, because she has specifically not articulated her position on Gaza in detail because she doesn’t want AIPAC to give all of their money to Trump and thus lose the election. You are ignoring (admittedly infuriating and undemocratic) systematic constraints. Pretending that a system isn’t subject to the constraints that it operates under is a great way to ruin said system.
And before you say “maybe we should ruin the system”: no, that’s accelerationism, and it’s a stupid idea. It is possible, though difficult, to evolve the system. And that’s what good and rational people are trying to do. Maybe try to adopt some pragmatism and be part of the solution instead of just shitting on Harris before you actually have a reason to shit on her and her policies. Like, oh I don’t know, call your congresspersons and emphasize your emphatic support for stopping the genocide. Go to protests that you think will make a difference. There are plenty of ways to pragmatically move the needle in the right direction without trying to sap enthusiasm and misrepresent the policies of the presidential candidate that is, to be crystal clear, probably our last, best hope at this point for avoiding descent into fascism. Not to mention: if you want money (from AIPAC, as well as all PACs and megadonors) out of politics, your best shot is Harris, not some 3rd party candidate who will absolutely, definitely not win.
Stop being a part of the problem.