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this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2024
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"Don't vote for a rapist" is a fine platform to run on at this point, where conservatives are ready to vote for a rapist.
Biden is getting way too much shit for explicitly saying that voting for him is better than voting for a rapist.
This is not his fault, go call your grandma names for voting into the two party system, this dichotomy had been perpetuated for decades.
Biden is the better presidential candidate, and by far the better president, running as a contrast to a rapist traitor is an understandable salient facet of his platform.
It isn't all of it, but if a large minority is ready to vote for a rapist, saying "I don't support rape, if you don't support rape vote Dem" is a good starting campaign point to let the majority know where you stand.
You aren't voting for two rapists.
You're voting for trump, a rapist, or Biden, a center politician who has made several responsible ethical and moral policy decisions in his first term that have benefited the majority of the country.
"Insurrectionist" is too long a word for most Americans.
I think "don't vote for a rapist" works quite nicely.
That's so funny, I'm literally looking up other words for insurrectionist right now because I completely agree, haha.
Maybe traitor, but that's a little nationalist for me and the piece of crap doesn't believe in anything anyway.
Benedict Donald, it has that historical ring to it.
(Unfortunately history is illegal anywhere MAGA lives)
I almost used that! But assumed the same stumbling block.
They voted for a rapist last time, and the time before, why would that stop them now? These allegations aren't new, and we've known since epstein was caught that Trump frequented the lolita express, and trump himself said epstein was a 'good friend'.
Why would that change any of these peoples minds now? They've had ample time to educate themselves, if ever they wanted to, and I doubt they're voting based on trump anyway as much as 'muh elephant better than ur donkey'.
You're not trying to change everyone's minds, you're trying to repeat what happened four years ago, when he lost, even before he was found liable for rape and insurrection in courts.
They didn't vote for a rapist, they voted for a bully.
He was, in 2020, in a better position than he is in now, and now if you debate anyone, you can mention that Trump is a rapist, committed direct election fraud and insurrection.
Which makes him a poor candidate.
Nothing has changed other than the government killing trumps 'good friend' epstein to hide his client list
Non-sequitir and unsubstantiated, but I'll agree that your theory is very entertaining and forcefully circumstantial.
I'll add more to the theory: Given the number of times epstein met with the former prime minister of isreal in his personal home stateside (and specifically never at the island), it's extremely likely that the reason epstein was killed is because he was working with the CIA and Mossad to run a blackmail ring of the richest and most influential people in the world.
Don't misunderstand my reticence to imply that these things cannot happen, conspiracies obviously often occur and have tons of historical substantial weight, I just prefer my conspiracies incontrovertible.
Why do you believe that the CIA and mossaf specifically were running this pedophile ring with Epstein?
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200106-jeffrey-epstein-was-blackmailing-politicians-for-israels-mossad-new-book-claims/
https://consortiumnews.com/2019/08/23/long-before-epstein-sex-traffickers-spy-agencies/
https://www.mintpressnews.com/shocking-origins-jeffrey-epstein-blackmail-roy-cohn/260621/
https://www.mintpressnews.com/cia-israel-mossad-jeffrey-epstein-orwellian-nightmare/261692/
the following aren't directly related to epstein, but just evidence of what's happened in history: https://www.activistpost.com/2017/07/largest-sex-trafficking-ring-western-us-busted-children-openly-sold-plain-sight.html
https://gizadeathstar.com/2016/10/arrests-us-sex-trafficking-ring-leaders/
https://humansbefree.com/2019/10/is-the-mormon-church-behind-a-worldwide-child-sex-trafficking-ring-operating-out-of-arizona.html
Okay so like circumstantial, proximal attribution.
I get it, I just don't think it helps to assert suspicions as fact until those facts are less malleable.
I have not read that first book, have you read that book?
I did specifically note the word "theory" when I posited my assertion.
Additionally the book is called "Epstein: Dead men tell no tales" and I can't make a 100% confirmation that the books integrity has been maintained as I read a translated version (overview here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48720807-epstein), the overview presented by the book is, in my opinion, extremely watered down and appears to have been censored, either in context or content, to provide a minimally invasive view of what happens behind closed doors.
The book could be used as a foray into questioning authority, but not as a reason to riot or scream, more as a thought provoking and reflecting work to allow others to look more seriously at those they've allowed into power.
It's not as though it's terribly 'eye opening' as I've worked with various governments and government related organizations so not a lot phazes me any more, but it isn't something I would recommend against reading.
Yea, fair.
If any circumstantial conspiracy deserves to be looked at, it's the one where the multi-millionaire friendly with presidents is arrested for his private island pedophile ring, put on suicide watch, and still commits an unrecorded, unwitnessed suicide before he has the opportunity to make any statements.
So, why do you believe this to be true?
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200106-jeffrey-epstein-was-blackmailing-politicians-for-israels-mossad-new-book-claims/
https://consortiumnews.com/2019/08/23/long-before-epstein-sex-traffickers-spy-agencies/
https://www.mintpressnews.com/shocking-origins-jeffrey-epstein-blackmail-roy-cohn/260621/
https://www.mintpressnews.com/cia-israel-mossad-jeffrey-epstein-orwellian-nightmare/261692/
the following aren't directly related to epstein, but just evidence of what's happened in history: https://www.activistpost.com/2017/07/largest-sex-trafficking-ring-western-us-busted-children-openly-sold-plain-sight.html
https://gizadeathstar.com/2016/10/arrests-us-sex-trafficking-ring-leaders/
https://humansbefree.com/2019/10/is-the-mormon-church-behind-a-worldwide-child-sex-trafficking-ring-operating-out-of-arizona.html
Thank you for the reading material. I'm not judging. Just because something seems like it shouldn't be correct doesn't mean my perception of the topic is right. Could just mean I'm ignorant. Same goes the other way around though. I feel we all need to be a bit more open.
"the other guy is worse" is not an argument to vote for somebody. it's an argument to not vote for the other guy.
there are lots of people who are not trump, and all this astroturfing from biden is really doing is making sure a shitty candidate (Biden) is running.
We can and should do better, and the DNC is going to be hard pressed to get a Biden victory where anyone more progressive than a stick in the mud is likely to win without even trying.
"The other guy is worse" is a valid reason, especially if the other guy is actually far worse, like here.
The better candidate is who you want to vote for.
Also, Biden is a good candidate. His administration rejoined climate agreements, had made actual investments in green technology, American manufacturing, paying off student debt, the usd is stronger than it's been in decades.
vs. a rapist who personally committed election fraud.
These are not similar candidates.
Trump is a rapist who personally committed election fraud, Biden is a career-middle executive-left president who has made real-life policy decisions that help people
There are lots of people who are Not-Trump.
By you’re argument…. There’s hundreds of millions of people that are both eligible to be POTUS and who are not Trump.
Including myself. Trump is awful. Vote for me.
Seriously, I’m much, much better the. Trump.
Saying “Trump is awful” is not a a legitimate argument for why you should vote for me (you shouldn’t. I’d be an awful POTUS and I’m not nearly corrupt enough for it anyhow.)
Similarly, it’s not an argument for Biden, no matter how not similar they are.
Now let’s get into you’re actual arguments for Biden;
Climate agreements; bullshit promises to try and do something with no real effort to actually get there
Climate investment: corporate pork for things those companies were largely going to do anyhow.
Counter-argument; Biden opened up the willow project- personally approving it. Under his presidency, oil production has continued to increase and his leadership has seen more oil reased from the strategic reserves than all other presidents combined.
American Manufacturing: tax incentives to subsidize corporations, maybe this is good, I’m Meh. The people who are most going to profit are the corpo overlords, though.
Students loan debt: the loan forgiveness that he has done all should have- as a matter of contract- been forgiven years- frequently decades ago. It hasn’t been because of rampant fraud by the loan servicors. He’s done nothing to combat that. (Gee look whose fraudulently profiting off Americans… corporations…)
Counter argument: he has done nothing to fix the core problem: excessive tuition costs that have- and continue- to skyrocket.
Economy: the USD being stronger is a double edged sword; and in any case the economy is only great for the extremely wealthy. For the vast majority of Americans, this economy objectively sucks, and he’s done very little to actually combat that.
Biden has already proved himself to be a good leader, good policy maker and good president.
You have not.
And yes, no matter who the candidates are, voting for the better one is a good strategy.
It would be nice if you had better candidates, but ever since voting started, people have not always had the choice of the perfect candidates.
So you have to choose the one that will be better rather than the one that is perfect.
In this case, the choices are: trump, a rapist who says he wants to be a dictator, or Biden, a left leaning president who's invested in sustainable technology and actually helped people's lives with the policy decisions has administration has gone forward with.
Your arguments are vague, cynical conservative talking points that don't reflect reality.
We can look at just one of Biden's sustainability acts, which has:
" Achieved a record five-fold increase in light-duty zero-emission vehicle purchases from the previous year;
Announced the intent to buy clean electricity through the first-ever 24/7 100 percent carbon-free electricity tariff in the United States;
Established the first-ever Federal Building Performance Standard to drive building electrification;
Issued a plan for major suppliers to publicly disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risks and set science-based emissions reduction targets;
Secured $5 billion through the Inflation Reduction Act to catalyze markets for American-made, lower-carbon construction materials;
and Launched the COP27 Net-Zero Government Initiative to extend U.S. international climate leadership. "
These are concrete changes from just one piece of legislation among many Biden has enacted.
300,000 buildings are being renovated and 600,000 vehicles are being updated to these guidelines.
Your other comments are similarly misleading, lowering the unemployment rate and improving the worth of the US dollar are not "double edged swords", they are specific achievements brought about by direct policy changes.
Biden is investing in American manufacturing to counter how ignored that industry has been for half a century and how far it's fallen behind, especially now that chip technology is becoming so crucial to the future of technological progress.
Tuition costs? Besides the direct 5 billion of student debt relief, The Biden administration hasn't acted legislation that protects low income earners from unsustainable tuition loan debt, there's still trying to eliminate tuition for State colleges entirely, trying to give out more direct student that relief, and are trying to increase the amount given out by grants and scholarships.
Trump, a rapist, committed direct election fraud and spent hundreds of millions of tax dollars playing golf and taking vacations when he wasn't making absolutely terrible policy decisions.
The biden administration has made multiple tangible beneficial strides forward for the United States.
Cyincal? Certainly. Conservative? LoL. the reality I live in is the one where [most of my friends struggle](most of my friends struggle) to afford a place to live and raise a family. the one where the average American worker is having to choose between taking their kid to the doctor because it might be RSV or COVID or something; and paying for food the next month.
I have 2 full time jobs, just to be able to not run the risk of losing my home. Most Americans work that or more, and are still living pay check to pay check. Healthcare. Food. Energy. Childcare. All of them remain inflated, and all of them affect average americans.
credit card debt in '23 has also skyrocketed, as well as people defaulting on home and auto loans, and evictions.
What fucking reality are you living in? no seriously. What reality? the one where you don't actually have to work? Unemployment is one aspect of an economy; but that economy is not working for the average American- in fact, the average American is a wage slave to that economy. Unemployment being at record lows is meaningless when the reality is that most people are working and still can't afford the shit they need to survive. the US is facing record-setting homelessness; families are burdened to the point of breaking, but you expect us to believe an economy that is siphoning off wealth to very few people at the top is... a good thing?
you talk about the economy like it's some fucking sterile thing; you do not live in reality. the reality is we're talking about lives. people's lives.
Climate change, too. MOST of the actual climate-things passed by biden are tax breaks for things companies are doing any how....Speaking of things people are going to do any how, all those renos in federal buildings... those were things that were being planned for and begged for... years. It has nothing to do with climate change, though. It has everything to do with lowering the cost of maintaining and operating those buildings. is it a reasonable thing? sure. But it's hardly something laud as action on climate change.
putting words in my mouth. I never said the unemployment rate was a double edge sword. I said the improved dollar was. My criticism of the unemployment rate is that it's a shit metric used to try and convince people on the verge of homelessness that things are actually better, when clearly, they're not. which just says you- and eveyrbody else waving it around think we're too stupid to understand basic math and budgeting skills.
But as to the second... LOL. Most people on all sides of the issue agree that it cuts both ways. Exporters and companies that operate internationally (more specifically receive foreign currency as payment for goods and services, to then exchange to the dollar), as well as local US economies that rely on tourism are hurt in equal measure to importers and US tourists traveling abroad.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/051415/pros-cons-strong-dollar.asp
https://www.npr.org/2022/09/27/1124284032/strong-dollar-euro-pound-foreign-exchange-fx-inflation
https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/the-journal/the-pros-and-cons-of-a-strong-us-dollar/20ab6b53-95c5-4c25-95eb-f755e9300bf7
"I plan to ask people to do this thing... that they're all starting to do anyhow because their investors want it." ... aka... taking credit for things other people are doing.
the US has been sending people to climate summits since before I've been in high school. You remember the Kyoto accords? call me when they actually do something other than blow smoke up everyone else's asses.
Nothing he as done (increasing pell grant maximums, forgiveness,) actually solves the problem. In fact, the pell grants may make the problem worse (by subsidizing tuition, which, for profit colleges are just going to increase their fees to accommodate the new subsidy... and pay their board of directors more bonuses)
for the Public Service Forgiveness program... You do realize that the people being forgiven have effectively been getting robbed this entire time? with loan servicers screwing them over. This is the fraud I'm talking about. Contractually, they did the time in public service and should have had their loans forgiven ages ago. the servicers did not do that, because... money. "oh my bad. that loan is forgiven now. good luck" is not enough for people who've been paying that loan for ages that they should not have been. (and lets not forget the whole point of it is to attract educated people into the public sector.)
coming back to my original point, once again: This is not an argument to vote for Biden. This is an argument to not vote for trump. There are hundreds of millions of americans that are both eligible to be POTUS and are not trump. "I'm not the bigest piece of shit" isn't the same thing as "I am a good person."
You are throwing a tantrum because the solutions aren't already finished, rather than being happy that there are actual steps being taken that are improving people's lives.
The things that you're railing against, that everybody else agrees with and nobody argued against, are the result of corporate corruption, not presidential policy. Except for Trump's presidential policies, which were obviously and explicitly biased toward corporate greed.
You ask for concrete action by Biden and then are ignoring the appointed and confirmed federal judges, veterans benefits, 2 trillion dollars in covid relief, 1.2 trillion for bridges, rail, waterways, public transport, 5 million American jobs, hundreds of thousands of vehicles and buildings renovated for energy efficiency, ignoring the money invested in sustainable technology, ignoring the energy grids being renovated, ignoring the eV charging network built the last four years, ignoring the money for students, ignoring the Pell grants.
So yea, you're ignoring literally every physical, tangible result of legislation passed by Biden, but crying out for that evidence you are ignoring.
And yes, not being a rapist is a good running point when people are swayed by that point.
You seem to incorrectly think that Trump being a rapist wannabe dictator is as impressive as directly helping people for four years of Biden's first term.
This is wrong.
As much as you enjoy the rapist, Biden is an objectively better president and candidate, and the fact he died not rape people is salient since the leading opposing candidate is a rapist.
These are not two similar candidates. There's one rapist who directly committed election fraud and made terrible domestic and foreign policy decisions, and one career middle executive left leaning president that has tangibly helped hundreds of millions of Americans and is investing in the country and its citizens.