Americans have a long history of backing friendly dictatorships. The entire history of the Saudi Monarchy is predicated on support from the US and the UK. Same with the military dictatorships in Egypt and Turkiye, as well as the newly installed dictatorship in Syria.
We have beef with Venezuela because it's socialist not because it's dictatorial.
It's in a bad state because it's under heavy sanction and periodic military attack.
Honduras, by contrast, is a dictatorship with very friendly US trade relations and little to no risk of being bombed by American jets. So their economy is outperforming.
Both are true. Oil is the incentive but "socialism"="communism"="America's greatest threat" is the "reason."
The same is true about the history of Israel and U.S. relations following WWII. We needed unite against the dangers of "socialism" so we claimed to have Israel's back when it came to Palestine, but actually just needed an alliance in the middle east to keep a grip on oil. Tale as old as time. Or at least as old as post WWII when the OSS faded out and the CIA was being established.
Who would have thought that the same men secretly sneaking Nazi war criminals into the U.S. had some kind of ulterior motive when it came to their public support of Israel?
If you look at Chavez’s regime toward the end of his life, you’re honestly going to find a lot of shit that is analogous, or identical, to what Trump is doing. Authoritarian populist demagoguery, but wrapped in North american conservatism instead of South American socialism.
"You call that guy a dictator? Pfft, does he even blatantly fuck little children, or protect paedos? Has he ever been a confirmed rapist? That guy's a rookie!!"
Trying to get the middle in the most boring way possible.
I mean, it was a lot of things. I don't know about boring.
Harris found one of the most universally reviled (ex-)House Reps and did Girl Power brunch interviews with her so that everyone would know the number one issue for a Harris Presidency was sucking up to neocon ghouls. If you have to ask how Donald J. Trump became the "Peace President" candidate in the year of our lord 2024, this was how. Jeff Flake, Bill Kristol, Cindy McCain, and the Cheney Cartel did spirit fingers at her on public TV on multiple occasions, while her own VP was confined to the cuck chair to just watch the trainwreck of a campaign flare out.
Catastrophic failure in Democrat campaign strategy doesn’t make it right wing propaganda, it can just mean Dems (and their long-standing paid consultants) are bad at politics.
Sometimes, your opponent is correct (or has knowledge to be gleaned from their propaganda, even if the outward conclusion is incorrect) and it's an opportunity to learn and improve. Not for liberals though, with the reactionary drive to get "back to normal" or "make america great again".
How's that been working out for Dems? That's the exact approach they've taken and have gotten humiliated at the ballot box. This isn't about how far left they court, it's about bold policy that actually helps the middle if they want their vote. Instead it's vague platitudes and "we're not as bad as the Republicans" without anything to back it up. So while it gets them points in opinion polls, it doesn't translate to votes
I didn’t say it was working. I’m not defending it, but it made sense on paper.
To be fair, I think the Dems could have run Jesus himself and would have still lost. There was literally no good candidate on the face of the earth that would have placated progressives whilst also being someone moderates would have considered. And you need both to win.
e: propaganda hasn’t only worked on the right – it’s also gone a long way to dividing the left into near-irrelevancy.
Yes, because courting Dems is like herding cats. Leftists turn their noses up at a moderate, and moderates spook at the slightest whiff of leftism. Yet the right congeals like old yoghurt around whatever rotting mass says the right buzzwords.
I'm not sure we're on the same page. I'm not claiming she needed to move further left, I'm saying that using words to court the middle rather than policy doesn't excite anyone and doesn't get them to come out and vote. So doing talk show rounds, getting endorsements, etc at best move opinion polls but don't impact votes and at worst only appeals to politicos who were already going to vote for her while turning off others
using words to court the middle rather than policy.
Not sure what this means, since words are what you have when running for office. It’s not like she was president before (unlike the other guy, who we did have policy to look at, and still that wasn’t enough).
Tankies might hate Ukraine but most of the left is very supportive. My point around Cheney and Kamala campaigning together was that it only went for the middle but absent policy proposals that bring some energy, at best you get a bump in the opinion polls but don't actually bring people to the ballot box.
Tankies might hate Ukraine but most of the left is very supportive.
"Tankies" were anti-war and staunchly opposed injecting heavy weapons systems into Ukraine back when Trump was doing it in 2018. Liberals ignored Trump's repeated efforts to stoke tensions between Ukraine and Russia, because it didn't fit the "Trump Cheeto Suck Putin Dick" narrative they'd fed themselves. Neoconservatives were the most supportive of the Ukraine conflict, because those fuckers never saw a war they couldn't jill off to. And the apex of this insanity was outed genocidal fascist Yaroslav Hunka getting a standing ovation in Canadian Parliament.
The neocons were so bullish on their war that they openly cavorted with the last living Nazis in order to sell it.
My point around Cheney and Kamala campaigning together was that it only went for the middle
There was no "moderate" voter who supported Kamala after Liz Cheney (a woman who couldn't hold her seat in the safest Republican state in the country) endorsed her. What Liz Cheney offered Kamala was money from the Oil & Gas industry. She was a nine-figure bribe to abandon climate change policy. If Liz changed anyone's vote, it likely cost Kamala winnable swing states.
The fact that she is a black woman didn't help out either with the left or right flank of the party I still think Biden would have beaten Trump a second time.
It was weird, but pivoting to poll tested messages, and refusing to shit on Biden, is probably what really sunk her. She was doing well early on when she was being fast and disruptive. Then she reverted to the boring old playbook.
IMHO, the stupid bean counters got to her and they stared obsessing about messages, positions, and tactics that will give you a percent here and a percent there.
He's emboldened to do this shit because he thinks he's unstoppable, seeing as he's gotten away with so much already. He has his judges, his soldiers, his rigged elections, and his admin lackeys. Opinions from world leaders and the American public don't matter anymore.
74 Comments
FireRetardant@lemmy.world · 195 pts · 204d
Trump: we must free Venezuela from this dictator
Also trump: sometimes you need a dictator
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world · 72 pts · 204d
Americans have a long history of backing friendly dictatorships. The entire history of the Saudi Monarchy is predicated on support from the US and the UK. Same with the military dictatorships in Egypt and Turkiye, as well as the newly installed dictatorship in Syria.
We have beef with Venezuela because it's socialist not because it's dictatorial.
hitmyspot@aussie.zone · 22 pts · 204d
Yes, and the exact reasons Venezuela is in a bad state is because it's dictatorial, not because it's socialist.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 204d
It's in a bad state because it's under heavy sanction and periodic military attack.
Honduras, by contrast, is a dictatorship with very friendly US trade relations and little to no risk of being bombed by American jets. So their economy is outperforming.
tempest@lemmy.ca · 19 pts · 204d
Socialist is a weird way to spell oil
AcidiclyBasicGlitch@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 204d
Both are true. Oil is the incentive but "socialism"="communism"="America's greatest threat" is the "reason."
The same is true about the history of Israel and U.S. relations following WWII. We needed unite against the dangers of "socialism" so we claimed to have Israel's back when it came to Palestine, but actually just needed an alliance in the middle east to keep a grip on oil. Tale as old as time. Or at least as old as post WWII when the OSS faded out and the CIA was being established.
Who would have thought that the same men secretly sneaking Nazi war criminals into the U.S. had some kind of ulterior motive when it came to their public support of Israel?
Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 204d
If you look at Chavez’s regime toward the end of his life, you’re honestly going to find a lot of shit that is analogous, or identical, to what Trump is doing. Authoritarian populist demagoguery, but wrapped in North american conservatism instead of South American socialism.
D_C@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 204d
"You call that guy a dictator? Pfft, does he even blatantly fuck little children, or protect paedos? Has he ever been a confirmed rapist? That guy's a rookie!!"
FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 203d
Trump using force to try and quell protests while condemning Iran for doing the same
SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world · 99 pts · 204d
But Harris campaigned with the Cheneys so she would have been as bad or even worse.
SippyCup@lemmy.ml · 92 pts · 204d
What an absolutely insane campaign strategy that was.
lps2@lemmy.ml · 51 pts · 204d
Trying to get the middle in the most boring way possible. Dems will never learn that being the 'safe option' doesn't get people out to the polls
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 204d
I mean, it was a lot of things. I don't know about boring.
Harris found one of the most universally reviled (ex-)House Reps and did Girl Power brunch interviews with her so that everyone would know the number one issue for a Harris Presidency was sucking up to neocon ghouls. If you have to ask how Donald J. Trump became the "Peace President" candidate in the year of our lord 2024, this was how. Jeff Flake, Bill Kristol, Cindy McCain, and the Cheney Cartel did spirit fingers at her on public TV on multiple occasions, while her own VP was confined to the cuck chair to just watch the trainwreck of a campaign flare out.
SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world · -1 pts · 204d
Leftists regurgitating right wing propaganda like this also helped Trump win and us get in the position we're in now.
crusa187@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 204d
Catastrophic failure in Democrat campaign strategy doesn’t make it right wing propaganda, it can just mean Dems (and their long-standing paid consultants) are bad at politics.
Ruxias@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 204d
Sometimes, your opponent is correct (or has knowledge to be gleaned from their propaganda, even if the outward conclusion is incorrect) and it's an opportunity to learn and improve. Not for liberals though, with the reactionary drive to get "back to normal" or "make america great again".
Walk_blesseD@piefed.blahaj.zone · 4 pts · 204d
Suggestion: die! 🥰
LillyPip@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 204d
I know I’ll get hate for this, but politics is often about playing a safe numbers game, and courting leftists is like herding cats.
If you want to start winning elections, maybe be less like a herd of cats. Stop sniping at compatriots and form coalitions.
lps2@lemmy.ml · 11 pts · 204d
How's that been working out for Dems? That's the exact approach they've taken and have gotten humiliated at the ballot box. This isn't about how far left they court, it's about bold policy that actually helps the middle if they want their vote. Instead it's vague platitudes and "we're not as bad as the Republicans" without anything to back it up. So while it gets them points in opinion polls, it doesn't translate to votes
LillyPip@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 204d
I didn’t say it was working. I’m not defending it, but it made sense on paper.
To be fair, I think the Dems could have run Jesus himself and would have still lost. There was literally no good candidate on the face of the earth that would have placated progressives whilst also being someone moderates would have considered. And you need both to win.
e: propaganda hasn’t only worked on the right – it’s also gone a long way to dividing the left into near-irrelevancy.
SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world · -3 pts · 204d
Even when dems lose it's by a fraction of a percent which is also how many votes progressives get.
OptimalHyena@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 204d
LillyPip@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 204d
Yes, because courting Dems is like herding cats. Leftists turn their noses up at a moderate, and moderates spook at the slightest whiff of leftism. Yet the right congeals like old yoghurt around whatever rotting mass says the right buzzwords.
lps2@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 204d
I'm not sure we're on the same page. I'm not claiming she needed to move further left, I'm saying that using words to court the middle rather than policy doesn't excite anyone and doesn't get them to come out and vote. So doing talk show rounds, getting endorsements, etc at best move opinion polls but don't impact votes and at worst only appeals to politicos who were already going to vote for her while turning off others
LillyPip@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 204d
Not sure what this means, since words are what you have when running for office. It’s not like she was president before (unlike the other guy, who we did have policy to look at, and still that wasn’t enough).
Tempus_Fugit@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 204d
It's the last time I fall for that.
SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world · -17 pts · 204d
It's amusing that the left hate the Cheneys and Ukraine like the right does.
lps2@lemmy.ml · 20 pts · 204d
Tankies might hate Ukraine but most of the left is very supportive. My point around Cheney and Kamala campaigning together was that it only went for the middle but absent policy proposals that bring some energy, at best you get a bump in the opinion polls but don't actually bring people to the ballot box.
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world · -6 pts · 204d
"Tankies" were anti-war and staunchly opposed injecting heavy weapons systems into Ukraine back when Trump was doing it in 2018. Liberals ignored Trump's repeated efforts to stoke tensions between Ukraine and Russia, because it didn't fit the "Trump Cheeto Suck Putin Dick" narrative they'd fed themselves. Neoconservatives were the most supportive of the Ukraine conflict, because those fuckers never saw a war they couldn't jill off to. And the apex of this insanity was outed genocidal fascist Yaroslav Hunka getting a standing ovation in Canadian Parliament.
The neocons were so bullish on their war that they openly cavorted with the last living Nazis in order to sell it.
There was no "moderate" voter who supported Kamala after Liz Cheney (a woman who couldn't hold her seat in the safest Republican state in the country) endorsed her. What Liz Cheney offered Kamala was money from the Oil & Gas industry. She was a nine-figure bribe to abandon climate change policy. If Liz changed anyone's vote, it likely cost Kamala winnable swing states.
Nobody liked this bitch.
SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world · -12 pts · 204d
The fact that she is a black woman didn't help out either with the left or right flank of the party I still think Biden would have beaten Trump a second time.
fedupwithbureaucracy@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 204d
You believe in horseshoe theory? If so, then we can just ignore what you say.
crusa187@lemmy.ml · 7 pts · 204d
This is a known troll and turbolib. Do with that info what you will.
SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world · -3 pts · 204d
It isn't about what I believe in or not go into any community in .ml and ask them about Ukraine and the Cheneys.
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 7 pts · 204d
The tankies on .ml aren't proof that the far left is like the far right.
They're proof that being in the same space on the authoritarianism axis causes overlap between otherwise disparate oppression enjoyers.
SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world · -3 pts · 204d
I pointed out two things that the left and the right agree on.
Proof on this thread.
Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 204d
It was weird, but pivoting to poll tested messages, and refusing to shit on Biden, is probably what really sunk her. She was doing well early on when she was being fast and disruptive. Then she reverted to the boring old playbook.
Archangel1313@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 204d
Yup. Pivoted to the right, too soon.
Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 204d
IMHO, the stupid bean counters got to her and they stared obsessing about messages, positions, and tactics that will give you a percent here and a percent there.
They were playing way too fucking safe.
SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world · 4 pts · 204d
I know she should have ran as a McCartneyist-Lennonist.
cattywampas@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 204d
"All you need is love"
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 204d
Pretty sure she's NOT the Walrus, though 🤔
floofloof@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 204d
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 204d
~ George W. Bush
UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 204d
"We need a Republican party that is principled and strong" - Joe Biden
Strong enough for you yet Joe?
samus12345@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 204d
But her emails!
kbobabob@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 204d
Buttery Males
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 0 pts · 204d
danekrae@lemmy.world · 54 pts · 204d
Trump again vows to be a day-one 'dictator' in Iowa town hall - Jan 11, 2024
But he wouldn't just lie like that, surely people would rise up...
thatradomguy@lemmy.world · 35 pts · 204d
Sometimes, pieces of shit need to be guillotined. Just a fact of life I guess. 🤷♂️
dhork@lemmy.world · 26 pts · 204d
Well, he has the first half of "Dictator" down....
Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de · 23 pts · 204d
He'll never get our potatoes though
shittydwarf@piefed.social · 3 pts · 204d
What's dick taters precious?
PistolPete@lemmy.ml · 23 pts · 204d
Guys, let's not overreact. We all know he meant this.
Corngood@lemmy.ml · 21 pts · 204d
You have to admit this is fucking hilarious, in addition to being terrifying.
FenderStratocaster@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 204d
There is one thing dictators are good for and it's dying.
BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 204d
Watering the tree of liberty if I recall correctly.
muxika@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 204d
He's emboldened to do this shit because he thinks he's unstoppable, seeing as he's gotten away with so much already. He has his judges, his soldiers, his rigged elections, and his admin lackeys. Opinions from world leaders and the American public don't matter anymore.
jim@lemmy.org · 8 pts · 204d
Me: Trump is going to try to be a dictator
Trump: I wanna be a dictator
Lemmy Libs: you’re banned for inciting violence.
Redditsux@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 204d
lol oh god.
z3rOR0ne@lemmy.ml · 6 pts · 204d
Oh Donald...it's so obvious you know nothing of history and how dictatorships end. But hey, you're well in the fuck around phase right now...
MuskyMelon@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 204d
It's like listening to a crazy homeless guy wandering the streets near Port Authority, screaming at the sky.
FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 203d
I wish the Swiss would have arrested him on the spot
Gullible@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 204d
Heil Caesar
samus12345@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 204d
Pronounced "Kai-zar," of course.
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 204d
He actually meant "diaper", not dictator.
Considering how many of them he goes through in a day, you'd think he'd have the pronunciation down by now 🤷
AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 204d
Sometimes you need a dictator, sometimes you need a blood clot...