“What’s going to happen in this next election? I’m terrified about what could possibly happen, because our leaders matter. Who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit, it affects us in ways sometimes I think people take for granted,” Obama told Jay Shetty on his podcast “On Purpose.”
“The fact that people think that government — ‘eh, does it really even do anything?’ — and I’m like ‘Oh my God, does government do everything for us, and we cannot take this democracy for granted.’ And I worry sometimes that we do. Those are the things that keep me up,” she said.
“The bars are different for people in life. That I’ve learned,” she said.
Without naming Trump, she continued: “Other people can be indicted a bunch of times and still run for office. Black men can’t. You just learn to be good. And in the end, you benefit from that extra resilience.”
I feel like this is so understated in this context it is almost physically painful:
Who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit, it affects us in ways sometimes I think people take for granted
Stop talking about trump like he’s just another bad candidate. Jesus Christ.
If they acknowledge the depth of his depravity then they go too far in tarnishing the office. They desperately want to maintain prestige so they’ll never go as far as they ought to.
If you talk about it in the way that you should, you will sound alarmist.
The Dems need a candidate who will annihilate Trump.
Oh, finally Big Mike chimes in!
Your sexism and misogyny is showing.
Lol, Americans…
I’m terrified of the outcome no matter who wins… Our system is seriously broken if these are the best candidates we, the supposed bastion of freedom and democracy, can come up with.
We ShOuLd LiStEn To hEr GuYs, ShE iS a MaN aFtEr aLL
deleted by creator
It seems like most Americans are gonna vote for trump and he might win. Democrat voters have to blame their side if trump wins. They’ve run such a dog shit pr campaign. Biden has done good on the policy front but you’d never know because the media doesn’t cover it and the right-wing media only covers his mistakes.
I don’t understand why you think that. The last election wasn’t even close and Trump had the post office in shambles.
Most Americans didn’t vote for Trump in the previous two elections.
It seems like most Americans are gonna vote for trump and he might win.
The problem is the electoral college. We have dipshits, but not enough of them will vote for Trump for him to win the popular vote.
Democrat voters have to blame their side if trump wins. They’ve run such a dog shit pr campaign.
This is true every time. Not disagreeing with you. When Dems win nationally it’s usually in spite of all the ways they tried to fuck it up.
Yeah it wasn’t even close in the end. They even lost fucking Arizona and Georgia I never thought I’d see the day…
I’m fucking convinced you guys are going to vote that chud in again. Or let him be voted in again. There is nuance but it’s the same outcome.
Blame everyone who thinks the democrats should run Biden again.
deleted by creator
The people who want to spite Biden’s genocidal support by not voting for him don’t realize that the alternative is a fascist dictator who actively relishes in the prospect of killing brown people. If you think Biden’s treatment of the Gazan war is bad, wait til you see Trump.
Same with the Ukrainian war. If Biden is milquetoast, Trump will guarantee your toast is forever black and inedible.
People like you want to have your cake and eat it too. During the primaries you swear up and down we should be okay with Biden winning the primaries because we can push him to the left. Then when that turns out not to be true you say we need to vote for him anyway.
You can’t keep doing this. You’re liars. You’re gaslighters. You’re enablers of the Republican party. You are the bad guys. You need to change.
Why don’t democrats just play it safe and run just about anyone who isn’t Biden?
The vast majority of conservatives will never vote for a democrat. The best democrats can do is try to retain support of independents who have no problem voting 3rd party or even conservative if they feel disenfranchised by the democratic party.
They won’t, because they have an entire presidential term in two vice presidential terms worth of relationship with him. They’ve got a lot invested in him and they’re not about to just walk away from that.
Why don’t democrats just play it safe and run just about anyone who isn’t Biden?
Gods I wish they would. The DNC represents progressives like North Korea represents democracy
deleted by creator
I mean yes they have always had the support of the US government, they’ve also historically not been quite as openly genocidal.
deleted by creator
Well aren’t you a ray of sunshine. Did you actually read my post or did you just decide I needed to be attacked for things I didn’t say?
If you go back and read the context, I’m saying we have had bipartisan support for Israel for many years, but this year they’ve gotten significantly more genocidal than they normally are.
I didn’t say a fucking thing about what we did or didn’t do in the 1800s. Jackson was also a strong proponent of slavery, He was a well well-rounded bell end… Just because we were fuck wads in the 1800s doesn’t mean we need to openly support other people by giving them boatloads of money and guns so they can go and exterminate all the civilians they don’t like.
If you decide you still want to come at me I’m just going to block you.
I’m gonna ask my parents, both lifelong Republicans, if they’ll vote Trump again. I’m pretty sure after Jan 6 they won’t. Prior to that I would have agreed with you but I’m not sure now
It’s because those people that think that don’t actually care about brown people. Nobody who actually cares about Palestine is trying to vote Trump in. Not a single one. It’s all a smoke screen. We’ve seen it before same thing happened in 2016. Same players same game.
By the time the election comes we might already be in WW3 😒
I hate all these articles, it’s like people want that asshole again.
“Man, wouldn’t it be CRAZY if this criminal won in 2024? He might ACTUALLY do it! It could happen! The courts might let it!”
Like bro, stop. Stop jinxing us. You are going to will it to happen. Stop giving him airtime. Don’t give him mindshare. Treat him like any other criminal and then drop interest. Focus on corruption or feeding the poor, anything else.
As much as I share the same concern with Michelle, I would selfishly respond to her that if she just fucking ran for president she would win in a landslide and put an end to fucking Trump. Barack can spend the entire 4 years ridiculing the orange bezoar as first man.
Michelle would not win in a landslide.
Every election that is just an extension of the Clinton lineage is a bad play for democrats.
No she would not win. I guess you just don’t realize how many Democrats are just as racist as Republicans. There is still to much racism amd sexism in our country.
And if you point to Obama I point to how many Democrats I know said Obama wasn’t to bad because he was at least half white and raised by whites.
Sick as that is its the truth and something we are long way from changing.
Plus she isn’t as popular as you think neither is Obama. I loath his neoliberal ass and is partly to blame for where we are now. Because he bailed out the banks instead of the people and turned a lot of blue couler workers into maga fanatics that Trump used to turn our country into a hell hole.
Apologies for my ignorance, but just why hasn’t she run for office?
Thanks! I appreciate the information, and I apologize. I guess I could’ve looked it up.
I can’t blame her, but damn. Is it too cliche to say that’s why she’d be a great candidate?
In terrified that these people support Genocide.
deleted by creator
Yeah that’s a great fact so maybe stop voting for those guys
Which people?
Better question, which not?
Answer the damn question and don’t waste our time playing childish games trying to turn shit around on others.
Genocide Joe and Orange Man both support Genocide. Read my statement again.
Russian troll fuck. One called for a Christofascist task force today. Not the same, you tiny prick
So in other words, you don’t have an answer. Figured as much
The dumb nickname thing is straight out of the right-wing playboook.
If you’re not a troll you’re getting played like a fiddle.
No right wingers call him J*w Biden.
Genocide Joe is a nickname given to Biden by leftists that actually oppose genocide.
The only one getting played is you.
deleted by creator
“Well, well, of it isn’t the consequences of my actions.”
I’d be concerned whatever the outcome.
You reckon Jan 6th was a one off?
yes, if the next leader doesn’t sell conspiracy as hard as maga.
Me too and I’m not even American, dissolution of NATO, serving Ukaine on a platter to Russia, possibility of more war in Europe with Putin getting bolder.
No pressure Americans but your elections are kind of important for the future of the world.
You’re spending too much time on Reddit and Lemmy. Republicans will always support Ukraine (they hate Russia too!). The issue isn’t about support, it’s about limits. We have to have checks and balances when financing a war, this isn’t a free for all. The Republicans are just making sure the money is being spent how it’s supposed too. All of a sudden, they’re called “traitors” and “ass-kissers.” Which is just ridiculous. How soon we forget Ukraine was once considered one of the most corrupt countries on Earth.
That’s not what Trump’s actions suggested the last time in office, I have no doubt republicans hate Russia, maybe even more than Democrats, it’s Trump specifically I’m worried about.
Trump won’t pull support for Ukraine, that’s just a scare tactic from the Left. The entire government is united on the issue of stopping Russia, Trump alone can’t do much about that. If anything, he’ll just crack down harder on how/where the money is spent. Again, I hate this “just give them what they want!” mentality coming from the Left. There should always be questions, concerns, limits…etc…when giving billions of dollars to any country.
I’ll be voting, and getting as many people as I know to vote. If there was ever a time to vote, it’s this one (at least since the civil war era).
US meddling on the rest of the world only goes well if its white europeans. I’m not thrilled about the US being “strong”.
Of course, cuz black Europeans are immune to bombs and bullets
I dunno how it is in europe, but if its anything like the places I know you wouldn’t get as much attention thats for sure.
Yeah but a bunch of white college kids who don’t even know what Mer7aba means have decided that the way to serve the Palestinian cause is to let the guy who handed Jerusalem and the Golan Heights to Netenyahu back into office to teach the establishment a lesson so we’re fucked.
I’m starting to think they’re actually just right wingers who know that saying what they ACTUALLY want will get them dumped by all their cool allies club friends. Probably why they keep insisting on dumb fuck takes like “bErNiE wOuLd Be A cEnTrIsT iN pOlAnD!” and “AmErIcA hAs No LeFt!!!”
deleted by creator
Ok but really objectively consider that statement though.
Policy by policy the Dems flank left of most of Europe’s old guard of social democratic and socialist parties. Dems tend to be more in favor of new and expanded welfare programs compared to their European counterparts, they’re less likely than said counterparts to adopt right wing policy and talking points to try and appease alt-rightified voters, and on social issues there is no contest, just say the word “Roma” and watch Europeans range from saying that pulling that card isn’t fair because “that’s different” to saying that what the fascists did wrong was lose before they finished the job on the Roma.
The metric by which America has no left is one by which the western world at large has no left, and at that point what value is gained at all by insisting on it?
Policy by policy the Dems flank left of most of Europe’s old guard of social democratic and socialist parties.
In what bizzaro world!!? We don’t have basic singles payer health care like all other major western nations. Not to mention millions of other things.
Dems tend to be more in favor of new and expanded welfare programs compared to their European counterparts,
Not even. They’ve passed maybe one thing in nearly the last century that approached it. As flawed as it was. And on top of that. Large amounts of Dems have happily voted for eligibility exclusion on even pre existing social welfare programs. Making them more and more useless.
they’re less likely than said counterparts to adopt right wing policy and talking points to try and appease alt-rightified voters,
Hello, last 40 years? Hello, third way Democrats? Hello, bipartisanship over principles. Even to this day Biden still waxes poetically about how we need Republicans and how they are good.
and on social issues there is no contest, just say the word “Roma” and watch Europeans range from saying that pulling that card isn’t fair because “that’s different” to saying that what the fascists did wrong was lose before they finished the job on the Roma.
There are multiple groups who would elicit similar reactions throughout the United States. Including black, Muslims, trans, gays, and even Democrats. Oh and by the way those fascists and Nazis you were talking about. They got their start by checks notes oh, they literally got their start by emulating the United States. Not only that, around topics of which the United States still hasn’t resolved properly yet to this day. You’re batting 0 here.
You seem to have mastered the art of using many words to not say a thing, except maybe for how little you understand European politics compared to American other than “but their actual fascist parties that have elected seats have healthcare.”
You seem to have mastered the arts of deflection and not being able to address a single point made. I’ll take my skills over yours any day.
at that point what value is gained at all by insisting on it?
Make this argument in the other direction to prove your sincerity.
The value gained in there not being a fascist for president because white college kids decided not to vote strike?
There’s no economically left wing party, but it is pretty left wing about a lot of social things. Gay marriage and marijuana legalization happened in some states before much of the rest of the world for example.
yeah, shame on them for opposing an active genocide.
removed by mod
m starting to think they’re actually just right wingers who know that saying what they ACTUALLY want will get them dumped by all their cool allies club friends.
So you all lost the 2016 general election all on your own then?
The absurdity of your perspective is that you believe there is a large group of voters who didn’t show up for HRC while also apparently believing not one of them is sharing their reasons why in anonymous forums.
The absurdity of yours is that you’re pretty obviously one of those people who thinks a millions of votes lead in the primary race is “the DNC establishment shoving her down our throats” and not “we have to be dragged kicking and screaming to even vote for the guy we supposedly support!”
I mean it’s either that or “a bunch of selfish pieces of shit voted for Biden specifically to fuck over progressive or leftist efforts”. You sound like the kind of person who would do just that.
Imagine the worst outcome you can think of on the issue that’s most important to you, and that’s probably likely no matter who we elect. Both parties rule as conservatives, and conservatism in recent memory has meant a slow-burn of lost liberty.
Don’t worry though. No matter who we elect they’ll still run us further into debt in order to fund the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, because it’s making our legislators and their backers obscenely wealthy. War is one of the shitty things for which there’s always bipartisanship.
You’re part of the problem.
There is no ‘both sides are bad take’ here.
There’s Biden who at worse maintains the status quo and then there is Trump who will become a literal dictator.
No I’m not exaggerating. You fucking centrist morons can’t see you’ll be on a train for the gas chambers if he is elected again and will be shocked when it happens.
Did any of the 2 sides really pushed for actual healthcare? Or did anything substantial about any of the pervasive cost of living problems? Or yknow, stopped bombing other people around the planet? Or did anything about the growing nazi problem?
Its a good cop bad cop shtick, both sides are pretty bad. Not only in the US, mind you.
LOL
I’m a Green.
Though you’re partly right. It is the centrists who truly paved the way for fascism in this country. 40 years of lesser evils really added up.
Then I hope you’re voting for Biden if you are eligible to.
Centrists will be the death of all of us.
They’re not the centrist though. They want someone to the left of Biden. You want someone to the left of Trump.
You’re the centerist here. And yes you will be the death of the Democrat party and probably the entire country along with it.
I can’t vote for the American president.
But if I could I would still have to vote for Biden because of first past the post voting. Third way candidates are a wasted vote.
Would I want to vote for Biden? Of course not.
Do you live in the U.S.?
If America pulls out of NATO, I wonder if NATO would disband and if the EU militarizes.
You made me wonder if Trump would pull out of NATO and ask a few NATO members to move to Russia-US alliance instead.
I think this is coming. Trump and Putin will invite the world to a Friendship Union. We can call it “FU World”…
There was a rider attached to one of the latest appropriations bills (which is now law) that restricts how future Presidents can pull the US out of NATO. It can’t happen now unless Congress passes an act authorizing the President to do so, or with a 2/3 vote of the Senate (the same mechanism as ratifying a treaty).
So at least on this issue, we’ve put in some safeguards in case we elect an idiot again.
Because rules and laws stopped him before
Yes, they did. He’s not in office right now because of those rules and laws
Huh? How is that why he’s not in office? I would say that, in spite of all those things, he still received the second highest vote count in presidential election history.
He just happened to lose to the person who got the highest.
They stopped some of his bullshit, but they also failed to stop a lot of it. If he’s allowed to run for president again, that will be a huge example of rules not stopping him.
This is where states rights are again shown to be fucked. States rights to include insurrectionists on the ballot this time.
He did a lot of illegal things that got overturned. But the problem is while it’s being overturned it can still do a lot of damage.
I may argue he’s not in office because the coup attempt didn’t succeed.
Though maybe that’s just me.
Michelle said a thing
Oh brother…her and her elite inner circle will be fine. When I say BOTH sides are guilty of using scare tactics to get votes, this is what I’m talking about. Democrats and the Left want to scare people into thinking the world will end if a Republican becomes President. They all said the same thing when Trump became President in 2017.
“Both sides” is a tired old argument that doesn’t hold water. If you haven’t seen the damage Republicans have done in the past 8 years on the Federal and State level, you need to look harder, my dude. The Democrats aren’t amazing, but they aren’t actively stripping people’s rights away and trying to erase minority groups from existence. There is no Democratic “Plan 2025”.
It’s a balance. I don’t agree with everything that the Republicans do, just like I don’t agree with everything the Democrats do. However, both parties are flawed and both parties are doing things in the interests of different groups.
Im gonna be real with y’all. Fascism in the US is already here and it’s only getting worse. Whether you vote Democrat or Republican you are voting to maintain a system that actively harms and kills millions. These days voting Democrat only means minorities in the US get a little more rights if they’re nice while everything else stays the same or gets worse and honestly I can’t tell if it was ever any better. It makes me genuinely sick that I have choose between two of the worst people I’ve ever had the displeasure of observing and any consideration of an alternative is met with active hostility or dismissal. I cannot fathom how people can accept being forced to choose between two genuine evils
My vote will accomplish nothing because there is no one to represent me
I understand that. Neither option is ‘good’. But one of the options will (in my opinion) have a bloody good go at removing your ability to have the option at all in the future.
So one of the options is objectively good, then. Maybe stfu and stop pretending this is a difficult choice.
I cannot fathom how people can accept being forced to choose between two genuine evils
The word forced is right there in your sentence, what’s hard to fathom? A third party vote is effectively a vote for Trump. I’m not going to argue with you if you still feel morally compelled to vote third party - but let’s not pretend otherwise.
What makes this time in America’s history so terrifying is that the difference between Democrat and Republican has only been greater one other time and it resulted in a civil war. You can’t say “both sides are evil” because it’s not even close. Democrats haven’t really changed and that’s not the progress they claim to represent. However Republicans have abandoned the concept of the US as a whole and are actively attempting to corrupt our voting and end democracy state by state. Republicans are so close to crossing a line that cannot be uncrossed and it will result, at best, in states operating as independent nations. In other words, a fucking disaster.
There is only one “evil” side right now.
I mean, we’re still caging children at the border and a genocide is happening right now and we have given the ally who is perpetuating that genocide more weapons. Both sides are evil.
You are correct of course. As has played out historically, the liberals have been utterly ineffective at combating the rise of fascism.
It was not until what, about 12 to 6 ish months ago that finally, you could actually tell a liberal that Trump and the Republicans /are fascists/ without a bunch of hoity toity himming and hawing about tone policing and catastrophizing accusations.
A sad, sad joke.
We are a historically ignorant country, still high on our own supply of American Exceptionalism, unable to grasp that It Can In Fact Happen Here.
We ruled by geriatric politicians who have not been able to connect with the actual politics or material concerns of anyone under the age of 40 in a way that would effectively improve their lives. The mechanics of our political system are ossified and incapable of being changed to even /allow/ for changing into a system that would allow for more effective representation of the many, many poor. We will never have ranked choice voting on a large scale, nor reform to the electoral college, nothing like that. Not that those things would even work in a society where over 50% of possible voters have the literacy level of 7th graders.
We are ruled by corporate overlords who do not give a functional damn about any social justice issues and only feign it as a brand and marketing strategy to lull those who might otherwise actually do something useful to address those issues in society into inaction, as they can pay for the conspicuous consumption of media and more animal friendly foods or eco friendly cars or whatever to allow them to /feel/ like they are helping to solve the problem, when in reality they are just continuing to fund it.
I hope I am wrong and some actual good change will happen. But I do not think it likely at this point.
This sounds an awful lot like a the old ‘both sides’ boogaloo.
Fuck that.
America under the democrats is a vile bully that pokes its nose in where it doesn’t belong and causes a great deal of suffering across the planet.
I grant you that, but America under MAGA unleashes the true evil in the hearts of men. The malady caused by four years under Trump lingers on in so many aspects of life.
Comparing the two is a massive mistake.
I’ll give you that republicans are genuinely worse yes. I do not doubt it. However, there is not a single Democrat president in my lifetime I would not also deem to be a war criminal
That’s because basically every president we’ve had is a war criminal to one extent or another.
Eh, the problem is that people think they’re making progress with establishment democrats in office.
The lesser-evil is still evil. A slow loss is still a loss.
I think voting, while important, is ineffective for fixing a political system. One man having the correct idea can’t change anything by one vote.
I’m climbing my career ladder and starting to control good portion of company resources. At least, it has more potential than a single stupid vote. How to make use of that power I need to figure out, but as nobody knows the solution, the only route is to think while trying.
in that case you have to vote to at least make sure that you get a dog instead of a wolf
I shouldn’t have to choose between evil and slightly less evil. My vote is already useless in the state I live in because it’s been gerrymandered into dysfunction so it’s hard to even find a reason to bother
What should be and what is are not the same thing, and if you spend all day crying about how it shouldn’t be like this, you’ll never change how it is.
It is not possible to change the system through voting. Not to the extent it needs to be changed
And who cares how much worse you make it because you wont even try to make it better? The system sucks, so lets burn it down! I can’t wait until we get the handmaiden’s tale because the system isn’t changeable enough.
You think I am not trying to make it better? I do and I am, just not through voting. The most direct way you can affect the world around you is through volunteer work and organization. Voting is the least efficient way to change people’s lives
.Voting is the least efficient way to change people’s lives
It’s also how you make sure you get the dog not the wolf in the short term. A lot of your other action is going to get a lot harder if Trump takes the whitehouse and never leaves.
That’s good to hear, but please, do not pretend that ignoring the presidency wouldn’t set back the good you’re working towards at the local level.
Voting is the least efficient way to change people’s lives
You’re only correct in the positive direction. The relationship is inverted for negativity, and not voting is the most efficient way of making lives materially worse, given the shitheads that end up in office when you let those with an authoritarian bent control who holds national office.
At the very least, your vote lends credence to gerrymandering or electoral college reform, if it is part of popular vote showing different results from actual vote
Gerrymandering does not affect Senate and Presidential elections.
Gerrymandered districts elect state governments, and state governments get to make their own election laws.
I am aware of this and probably shouldn’t have mentioned it considering the topic is primarily the presidential election. The electoral college is more of a factor in this case. Regardless I live in the most red state possible
In this case, people accepting being force to choose between two genuine evils is because one of the two evils plans to make it so there is no chance at change and would likely turn to slaughtering people who don’t fall in line with the regime
Well you only think Biden is one of the worst people ever because you got tricked. He’s actually not that bad.
Biden is a career politician who has backed a lot of shitty decisions in his time. He’s cutting blank checks to Israel while they are commiting a genocide.
Despite all this, he is unequivocally better than trump right now. It’s not even close. That’s how fucked up it is. I would abstain from voting if literally the fate of LGBTQ, non-Christians, Migrants and women were not hanging in the balance on this election.
You also need to remember no one agrees exactly so every politician will have done decisions you disagree with ……
So, you’re saying you disagree with one foreign policy decision (that is supported by politicians and popular vote) and you’re balancing that against literal human rights for citizens?
