• Zink@programming.dev
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    5 months ago

    Is it really the criticism of Biden that gets the cries of disinformation, or is it the conclusion that you shouldn’t vote for him that does it?

    Those are very different things, and they keep getting mixed together.

    • electric_nan@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      I mean, either way? How is it disinformation if I say I’m not going to vote for Biden? If you think everyone who says they aren’t voting for Biden is doing disinfo you are deluding yourself. You don’t have to like it and you are certainly free to argue with people, but don’t pretend that real people haven’t come to their own positions honestly.

      • Zink@programming.dev
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        5 months ago

        Seems like a bit of a straw man, because I wasn’t talking about you or others sharing who they plan to vote for.

        I’m talking about all the rhetoric about not voting for Biden because X, but which doesn’t mention that the alternative to Biden’s X is X^2 from the other side. There often isn’t any compare and contrast of the actual choices, just FUD about the one choice while leaving out how much worse the other choice is on the exact same issue.

        • electric_nan@lemmy.ml
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          5 months ago

          This whole discussion is about people criticizing Biden. It isn’t “rhetoric” to criticize a sitting president who is actively supporting a genocide. I understand your anxiety about Trump, but I think it is blinding you to the current reality. I know what a piece of shit Trump is, but he isn’t the guy that right now can do something to end this genocide. When I say “fuck Biden for this genocide” and you say “Trump would be worse!” I feel like you’re missing my point completely. I feel like you are just accepting an ongoing genocide because you don’t want to hurt Biden’s electoral chances. He’s the politician, let him figure out how to get elected. He’s got 5 months.

          • Zink@programming.dev
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            5 months ago

            Current politicians can and should be criticized, all of them. Biden most of all, being the President. When American weapons are used to kill innocents, even moreso.

            My criticism is how on much of Lemmy this has been extended to “vote for Biden = personally and enthusiastically approve genocide.” You even managed to reach this conclusion in your reply. And that’s how it tends to come up in discussions. People reaching pragmatic conclusions about how best to direct this country with our little meager votes, including reducing genocide and other harm, get met with cries of genocide support. It’s not productive and it shuts down reasonable discussion. And it’s always cries of genocide, not genocide mixed in with another hundred issues. I hope you can see how that makes it seem like a disingenuous talking point. It reminds me of “think of the children” how it uses a very obvious moral stance (genocide bad, or children good) to steamroll any nuance or complexity in the situation.

            I agree with the rest of your points though. Like I said, of course he should be criticized. He’s probably the most criticized person on earth, and that’s what he signed up for.

            • electric_nan@lemmy.ml
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              5 months ago

              I didn’t say you enthusiastically support genocide, but I did say I feel like you are accepting it. Or rather that the argument that I see constantly on Lemmy “do you think Trump would be better on genocide?” contains in itself an acceptance of genocide. To be clear, I haven’t (and won’t) tell anyone how/whether to vote. I will absolutely represent my own point of view and convictions, including commenting when I see stupid memes like this one.

      • Platypus@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        Because the stakes of this election are so very, very high. Trump genuinely and explicitly wants to create a fascist state; it’s borderline incomprehensible that somebody would choose to sit out and let that happen just because they don’t like Biden.

          • Platypus@sh.itjust.works
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            5 months ago

            Just to be entirely clear–are you taking the position that given the choice between (a) the world where you don’t vote and Trump wins and (b) the world where you vote Biden and Trump loses, you would take (a)?

            • electric_nan@lemmy.ml
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              5 months ago

              Just to be entirely clear-- real people are dying right now because of things Biden could directly control. Trump has nothing to do with that. Biden has a crackerjack team of experts that are obviously doing political calculations that currently don’t require my vote for him to win. I wouldn’t stress about it if I were you.