There are two reasons why Talib and all those smug, ignorant, campus protesters are dead silent. Snow and Shame. It was convenient to "party up" all summer and romp in the fall foliage with their made for tik tok signage. But I was on a highway that they shut down for hours and was terrified (I have a medical condition that makes long car drives unbearable). And now, these domestic terrorists must OWN the fact that when millions of "their people" are marched into deportation, disease, and death that this part of the genocide is completely at their hands. We'll never forget the "none of the above" voting campaigns they led. I especially seethe at all the LGBTQ protesters, oblivious to how LGBTQ people and women were treated in Palestine before 10/7. Try asking a domestic Gaza protester any of these questions. Do you agree with honor killings? What's the reasoning behind strict dress codes for women? What rights do women have to reproduction, sexual agency, employment and education? Why are there so many children in Gaza? They can't even process these thoughts because they see Gaza as an exotic transference of US race issues -- white oppressors versus dark victims. But ask how many people in Israel have darker skin? All you'll get is an F and a U. Let's hope such a colossal tragedy in Gaza reminds people of what you write about here today Julie -- you can't protest vote. You must pick a side and stick with it.
Nobody with good sense thought Bernie Sanders was more qualified than Hillary Clinton.
Even Tom Hayden endorsed HRC on left.
Anyone stupid enough to boycott Kamala Harris due to Biden’s policy on Israel when Trump was the only other choice makes me furious.
Sometimes adults have to make choices between imperfects. How many of those abstainers or Trump voters are demanding Congress do something now to correct for the easiest thing they could have done. Vote
Tlaib and her posse are just as stupid as the Hamas terrorists they support and the Bernie Bros who got Trump elected the first time.
Hamas got their military wing annihilated and a box of rubble where the “seaside paradise” or “open-air prison” (as Hamas called Gaza depending on the spin du jour) used to be.
Bernie bros got two terms of Trump for their trouble as a result of their Clinton Derangement Syndrome.
Yeah, I tangled with a couple of the people who excoriated Biden for supplying Israel, and, notwithstanding that they KNEW that Trump would be worse, they hated Biden so much that they stayed home or actually voted for Trump. Great way to SHOOT YOURSELF IN THE FUCKING FOOT, assholes, and ensure that the rest of us have to watch Trump decimate and destroy Gaza.
I am just BOGGLED by the performative BS and stupidity that took place among these otherwise intelligent folks.
>> “I don’t write this merely to castigate Tlaib or the people who spent last year undermining the Harris campaign on behalf of a cause in which they deeply believe.” <<
Tlaib clearly believes in her cause (so much that she harms it) but the *vast* majority of the rest don’t at all. To them it was just a chance to be self-righteous and stroke their own egos.
Vastly more important to them to be seen protesting than to actually improve anything for the people they claim to support but truthfully don’t give a damn about.
“Virtue signaling” while making things worse for the Palestinians.
I appreciate the general sentiment of this piece, with one vital pushback. The stringency of your conclusion about Trump ("If you oppose him, there is no equivocation, no parsing, no collaboration. There is only opposition — to him and to every single thing for which he stands") is closer than you seem to realize to the *idealism* you warn against.
The reality, for most people, is that equivocation, parsing, and compromise are not only practically necessary to govern, but also more reflective of what's really true: for example, federal government agencies really are extremely wasteful and inefficient. The political "binary" you're advocating, and the total rejection of nuance and ambiguity, is closer to an ideal or principle.
All this to say, there are clear political risks in adopting an uncompromising stance, as you illustrate with Tlaib et al. But don't discredit that there are also grave risks in failing to do so, which you seem to acknowledge, perhaps inadvertently, when you conclude here with your own uncompromising stance.
I feel a lot of the protest votes, particularly from those not directly affected or connected to the genocide, were an attempt to psychologically separate themselves from complicity. Almost as if they could wash their hands of the horrors by “not participating.” No matter how much anyone tried to tell them that it didn’t work that way and no action or third party action was in itself a form of self sabotage, they would not hear of it. And now they are silent…except when we point out the obvious folly of their actions, at which point they are quick to accuse us of being “divisive” and promoting infighting. Classic DARVO.
Ridiculous man. He talked about how Gaza was rubble standing next to the other war criminal Bibi. This is Kushner and Huckabee’s wet dream. Kushner for money and religion, Huckabee because he wants to bring on Armageddon.
The reason uni students may not be protesting is because trump has signed an EO to deport any student protesting but I don’t know why others aren’t.
The damage to the Palestinians is not going to come directly from the U.S. Trump won't take any action, his words today will be forgotten by most. The problem is that he legitimated and promoted the cause of the right wing in Israel. They very well may move forward with some form of ethnic cleansing in the future, and this is a helpful push.
Or…Arab states will reverse their decades-long policy of refusing to take people leaving a war zone (while at the same time using them for propaganda purposes and calling it a genocide), and a large % of people will finally be able to leave, and the world (which has no problem with the idea of 6m Ukrainian refugees leaving that war zone) will spin that as “ethnic cleansing” anyway.
The 6m ppl driven out of Eastern UKR by RU is in fact ethnic cleansing and decent ppl in the West have recognized it as such. MAGA cheers RU along with the far right of Europe
Arabs & Turkey have often been generous in accepting war refugees. I assume you understand why Palestinians are a special case. The abuse of the Palestinians is a deep wound that has been festering for 80 years. The Arabs aren't going to participate in ethnic cleansing.
BTW, I'm not anti-Israel. The Arabs really want the Palestinian issue to go away, they want to establish relations with Israel. It's not simple.
I hope protesters are holding, as in, "Hold the line...hold the line!" for now. So far, Trump has been mostly bluster. Tariffs? After all the noise, it seems we only need to confront 10% tariffs from China, not exactly enough to get people on the street. Elon Musk? That's a problem for elected Democrats right now, and they need to step up. Executive orders mean almost nothing, evidenced by Trump's undoing of Biden's and issuing his own. These orders mean nothing until things start happening on the ground. Gaza, Greenland, Panama Canal... and the list will go on... there is nothing to protest until Trump decides to put boots on the ground.
We need to consider the Trump voters (not the ones in the travelling rally sideshow). If and when tariffs drive up costs, they will feel it the most. If Trump invades Gaza or Panama, their children will be sent there. If Musk stops social security payments or messes with Medicaid, much the same result. We need to form a wider coalition which will come together when real effects are being felt. Otherwise, MAGAville will simply label the protests as being a bunch of whiny, woke libs. If those protests include people who, for example, voted for Trump (and hopefully attended a rally!) then show up on TV denouncing him, that will carry much more weight and make it much harder for Trump to decide on a rash response to the protests. Which will happen.
That would surely be ideal but so far all the right wing people I know are still all in. It will take a complete collapse for them to see the light and then it’ll be too late. And the religious ones will be like, “This is all part of God’s plan.” They are probably rooting for our military to be on the ground in Israel because it means the Lord is returning. Their mass delusions are harming the entire world.
There are two reasons why Talib and all those smug, ignorant, campus protesters are dead silent. Snow and Shame. It was convenient to "party up" all summer and romp in the fall foliage with their made for tik tok signage. But I was on a highway that they shut down for hours and was terrified (I have a medical condition that makes long car drives unbearable). And now, these domestic terrorists must OWN the fact that when millions of "their people" are marched into deportation, disease, and death that this part of the genocide is completely at their hands. We'll never forget the "none of the above" voting campaigns they led. I especially seethe at all the LGBTQ protesters, oblivious to how LGBTQ people and women were treated in Palestine before 10/7. Try asking a domestic Gaza protester any of these questions. Do you agree with honor killings? What's the reasoning behind strict dress codes for women? What rights do women have to reproduction, sexual agency, employment and education? Why are there so many children in Gaza? They can't even process these thoughts because they see Gaza as an exotic transference of US race issues -- white oppressors versus dark victims. But ask how many people in Israel have darker skin? All you'll get is an F and a U. Let's hope such a colossal tragedy in Gaza reminds people of what you write about here today Julie -- you can't protest vote. You must pick a side and stick with it.
This is what happened when Bush ran against Gore and 3rd party Nader ran. He got that protest vote and Bush won. Americans are so stupid.
Btw Biden held up weapons to Israel. He didn’t just finger wag.
I’m tired of handing the presidency to Trump.
Nobody with good sense thought Bernie Sanders was more qualified than Hillary Clinton.
Even Tom Hayden endorsed HRC on left.
Anyone stupid enough to boycott Kamala Harris due to Biden’s policy on Israel when Trump was the only other choice makes me furious.
Sometimes adults have to make choices between imperfects. How many of those abstainers or Trump voters are demanding Congress do something now to correct for the easiest thing they could have done. Vote
Tlaib and her posse are just as stupid as the Hamas terrorists they support and the Bernie Bros who got Trump elected the first time.
Hamas got their military wing annihilated and a box of rubble where the “seaside paradise” or “open-air prison” (as Hamas called Gaza depending on the spin du jour) used to be.
Bernie bros got two terms of Trump for their trouble as a result of their Clinton Derangement Syndrome.
When what you are motivated by is solely Jew hatred, things tend not to work out well. Usually not this quickly, but still.
Yeah, I tangled with a couple of the people who excoriated Biden for supplying Israel, and, notwithstanding that they KNEW that Trump would be worse, they hated Biden so much that they stayed home or actually voted for Trump. Great way to SHOOT YOURSELF IN THE FUCKING FOOT, assholes, and ensure that the rest of us have to watch Trump decimate and destroy Gaza.
I am just BOGGLED by the performative BS and stupidity that took place among these otherwise intelligent folks.
>> “I don’t write this merely to castigate Tlaib or the people who spent last year undermining the Harris campaign on behalf of a cause in which they deeply believe.” <<
Tlaib clearly believes in her cause (so much that she harms it) but the *vast* majority of the rest don’t at all. To them it was just a chance to be self-righteous and stroke their own egos.
Vastly more important to them to be seen protesting than to actually improve anything for the people they claim to support but truthfully don’t give a damn about.
“Virtue signaling” while making things worse for the Palestinians.
I appreciate the general sentiment of this piece, with one vital pushback. The stringency of your conclusion about Trump ("If you oppose him, there is no equivocation, no parsing, no collaboration. There is only opposition — to him and to every single thing for which he stands") is closer than you seem to realize to the *idealism* you warn against.
The reality, for most people, is that equivocation, parsing, and compromise are not only practically necessary to govern, but also more reflective of what's really true: for example, federal government agencies really are extremely wasteful and inefficient. The political "binary" you're advocating, and the total rejection of nuance and ambiguity, is closer to an ideal or principle.
All this to say, there are clear political risks in adopting an uncompromising stance, as you illustrate with Tlaib et al. But don't discredit that there are also grave risks in failing to do so, which you seem to acknowledge, perhaps inadvertently, when you conclude here with your own uncompromising stance.
I feel a lot of the protest votes, particularly from those not directly affected or connected to the genocide, were an attempt to psychologically separate themselves from complicity. Almost as if they could wash their hands of the horrors by “not participating.” No matter how much anyone tried to tell them that it didn’t work that way and no action or third party action was in itself a form of self sabotage, they would not hear of it. And now they are silent…except when we point out the obvious folly of their actions, at which point they are quick to accuse us of being “divisive” and promoting infighting. Classic DARVO.
Same with the 90 million non-voters - "You can't blame me, 'cause I didn't vote for any of them!"
These idiots have a lot to answer for. They have done both us and the cause and future of Palestinians incalculable damage.
They’ve done plenty to harm themselves. That is on their leadership, not on millions of innocent people.
Have the Palestinians ever done anything that harms their own cause and future? Or do they exist above any notion of agency and responsibility?
Ridiculous man. He talked about how Gaza was rubble standing next to the other war criminal Bibi. This is Kushner and Huckabee’s wet dream. Kushner for money and religion, Huckabee because he wants to bring on Armageddon.
The reason uni students may not be protesting is because trump has signed an EO to deport any student protesting but I don’t know why others aren’t.
The damage to the Palestinians is not going to come directly from the U.S. Trump won't take any action, his words today will be forgotten by most. The problem is that he legitimated and promoted the cause of the right wing in Israel. They very well may move forward with some form of ethnic cleansing in the future, and this is a helpful push.
Or…Arab states will reverse their decades-long policy of refusing to take people leaving a war zone (while at the same time using them for propaganda purposes and calling it a genocide), and a large % of people will finally be able to leave, and the world (which has no problem with the idea of 6m Ukrainian refugees leaving that war zone) will spin that as “ethnic cleansing” anyway.
The 6m ppl driven out of Eastern UKR by RU is in fact ethnic cleansing and decent ppl in the West have recognized it as such. MAGA cheers RU along with the far right of Europe
Arabs & Turkey have often been generous in accepting war refugees. I assume you understand why Palestinians are a special case. The abuse of the Palestinians is a deep wound that has been festering for 80 years. The Arabs aren't going to participate in ethnic cleansing.
BTW, I'm not anti-Israel. The Arabs really want the Palestinian issue to go away, they want to establish relations with Israel. It's not simple.
I hope protesters are holding, as in, "Hold the line...hold the line!" for now. So far, Trump has been mostly bluster. Tariffs? After all the noise, it seems we only need to confront 10% tariffs from China, not exactly enough to get people on the street. Elon Musk? That's a problem for elected Democrats right now, and they need to step up. Executive orders mean almost nothing, evidenced by Trump's undoing of Biden's and issuing his own. These orders mean nothing until things start happening on the ground. Gaza, Greenland, Panama Canal... and the list will go on... there is nothing to protest until Trump decides to put boots on the ground.
We need to consider the Trump voters (not the ones in the travelling rally sideshow). If and when tariffs drive up costs, they will feel it the most. If Trump invades Gaza or Panama, their children will be sent there. If Musk stops social security payments or messes with Medicaid, much the same result. We need to form a wider coalition which will come together when real effects are being felt. Otherwise, MAGAville will simply label the protests as being a bunch of whiny, woke libs. If those protests include people who, for example, voted for Trump (and hopefully attended a rally!) then show up on TV denouncing him, that will carry much more weight and make it much harder for Trump to decide on a rash response to the protests. Which will happen.
That would surely be ideal but so far all the right wing people I know are still all in. It will take a complete collapse for them to see the light and then it’ll be too late. And the religious ones will be like, “This is all part of God’s plan.” They are probably rooting for our military to be on the ground in Israel because it means the Lord is returning. Their mass delusions are harming the entire world.
I hope the price they pay they will never forget.
Stupidity at the highest level. Political malpractice.
100%!