THERE IS NO WAY THE AVERAGE CITIZEN CAN PUSH A POLITICIAN IN ANY DIRECTION IF THAT POLITICIAN KNOWS THOSE PEOPLE ARE GUARANTEED TO VOTE FOR THEM NOMATTER WHAT.
THE ONLY WAY IS TO COMMUNICATE DEMANDS EN BLOC, THREATEN TO WITHHOLD VOTES IF IGNORED, AND FOLLOW THROUGH ON IT.
The carnage caused by Israeli bombings of Beirut was regularly highlighted on the nightly news, causing reactions within the Reagan administration that cut across the usual conservative-pragmatist divisions. The speechwriters were appalled; one of them, Landon Parvin, refused to write remarks for Reagan when Begin visited the White House for a chilly visit in June. On August 12, after Israeli planes had bombed Beirut for eleven consecutive hours, Deaver told Reagan he couldn’t continue to be part of “the killing of children” and intended to resign. Shultz and Clark had been sending similar signals to Reagan, albeit more diplomatically.
Reagan, also disgusted at the bombings, took the unusual step of calling Begin. “Menachem, this is a holocaust,” he told him.
In a voice that the aide who monitored the conversation said was “dripping with sarcasm,” Begin replied: “Mr. President, I think I know what a holocaust is.” But Reagan persisted. Begin called back twenty minutes later to say he had given the order to stop the bombings. After he hung up the phone, Reagan said to Deaver, “I didn’t know I had that kind of power.”
As Biden’s colleagues “grilled” Begin over Israel’s disproportionate use of force, including by targeting civilians with cluster bomb munitions, Begin said Biden “rose and delivered a very impassioned speech” defending the invasion. Begin said he was shocked at how passionately Biden supported Israel’s invasion when Biden “said he would go even further than Israel, adding that he’d forcefully fend off anyone who sought to invade his country, even if that meant killing women or children.”
“Put your big boy pants on”. What a time to be alive.
Biden is génocidaire. I will not vote for him.
Yes, that doesn’t fit your equation. But then again - people who think as I do and will not be pro-génocidaire are not the problem.
No one has their ideal candidate on the ballot. Put your big boy pants on and vote for whoever you think will move the country in a positive direction.
Isn’t there an option for “write-in candidates” in the US? How does it work? Could everyone vote for somebody else to clearly say they wanted to choose, but didn’t like the choices being offered?
It’s amazing the way all these silly vote rationales collapse the moment you apply the logic from the other side or even just follow the logic beyond the exact rhetorical cul-de-sac they’ve convinced themselves is the whole world.
Not voting for a candidate just tells them they won’t ever get your vote, so why bother changing.
So what does voting for them unconditionally do?
It… umm… well… ensures they rely our your vote instead of going to the right. Which gives you power… somehow
Power I can use by threatening to withhold my vote?
No, because then they know you’re not reliable and can and will ignore you.
So my choice is to vote against my interests and morals and be ignored, while supporting a monster. Or not do that, be ignored, and focus on something else.
Uhm no. I mean yes. But no because something something Trump, something something you can’t come to my dinner party
![Saying you will not tolerate genocide is bad because.... [Check notes] This will push Biden to the right. Wait. What?](https://hexbear.net/pictrs/image/c8fd4473-8ae1-4f7f-8531-281ba29f58d9.png){kind=link}
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