Oh wow… ngl I am looking forward to hearing more from her. I know this is partially me being silly, but my vibe is weirdly slightly similar to 2008? Like, I know I'm probably just being overly optimistic, but at the same time… if she is now taking the gloves off because she’s gonna be the top dog… this is gonna be really interesting and potentially awesome to watch.
Protests themselves often tend to be less popular than the causes they promote. Politically it can make sense to distance from a protest, but still align with a cause itself that is more popular
It's strange, but ultimately the cause itself is what matters here
She could've easily just ignored that protest, because it doesn't have anything at all to do with her. The only reason this is still getting democratic backing is because of institutional reasons. The rhetoric about, desert rose, shining star of democracy in the middle east, rings hollow when israel has done jack shit as a strategic ally for us for the past 70+ years other than get us wrapped up in multiple conflicts, use us as a weapons manufacturing base to keep the military industrial complex spinning constantly, and train our cops more and more poorly. I don't think your average democratic voter wants to keep hearing about this shit, I think your average voter wants to ignore this, or has bigger fish to fry in their immediate future, and I don't think outside of the republican party, which is swamped by doomsday cult evangelical zionists, there are any real hardline make or break "support israel or bust" guys in the democratic voter base. Maybe your super extremist brainbroken libs, but you're pretty much guaranteed to have their vote anyways, I think. It's that phantomic undecided voter that they always come back to. Real Hotelling's law shit, but they're like, stuck in a fucked up version of the centrism from the 80's, eternally, only changing the window dressing.
This is purely an institutional concern, and the more this comes up, the less time she has to actually show anything substantive to people. She doesn't understand how tenuous and ethereal her meme momentum is. People are satisfied with her now because she's not joe biden, and because she actually has a chance to beat trump, maybe, but after that satisfaction evaporates and the coconut tree and brat memes fall off with their half life of like, probably two weeks or less, she's gonna need something better than just "vote blue no matter who or else fascism will destroy democracy", or else it's just going to fucking beam us with the exact cynicism that's been the case for like the last two elections. She could even just fucking lie, and say as president she'll appoint more people to the supreme court, and reverse the reversal of roe v. wade, and even if she doesn't do that, the issue would probably still be a huge winner for her and help get her elected. But the more time she spends on israel's fuckups the more she's going to tread water, and if you're not moving forwards, you're sliding backwards.
I'm committed to posting this MLK quote as often as it is relevant:
First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season."
Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
I'm at the point that I find this quote whenever I need it by opening my profile and sorting by controversial.
to all the people saying talk is cheap, calm down champs. she is not the president yet, she is still a part of the Biden administration and anything she does likely needs to be vetted by them. by saying such she accepts losing the support of certain lobbies which will give her more independence and leeway during her presidency I think. words matter more than you think, especially at the brink of an election, when pretty powerful organizations expect you to say things in a certain way.
But I have multiple friends who weren't, solely because of Israel-Palestine (they weren't voting trump either, they were either going to abstain or write-in...useless)
But this has turned them around and, at least in my small circle, is meaningful.
Yeah, no one had ever even heard of Kamala Harris before a week ago, and she has no track record to speak of, so all we know about her are platitudes from the past few days /s
She didn't attend Bibi's Congressional political rally (it was mainly for the majority of Israelis who want Bibi gone), which is unusual for her. Then she punctuates her meeting with Bibi with this. Maybe it's just rhetoric. She will need to outline what sorts of consequences she's willing to impose on Israel.
God damn she might actually start to regain the trust of the Arab American Midwest communities that have recently been crucial to winning the election. It’s nice to have someone with a more modern and balanced stance. It’s not perfect, but it’s a LOT further in the direction of good than Biden on that point.