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oneflewover's avatar

Cat hello: When you say that the left "undercut" Harris over Gaza what does that mean? The Biden/Harris administration undercut itself by colluding with and financially backing a government that was and is flagrantly committing war crimes against humanity in Gaza. Some of us do see what's going on. Perhaps you should check out the Combatants for Peace (CfP) website and some other Palestinian/Israeli organizations that are working for Peace in the Middle East. So no - the "left" did not undercut Harris - she competently did it to herself.

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Cat Russell's avatar

By undercut I meant that some single-issue voters on Gaza let the perfect be the enemy of the good and decided to sit this election out. We have the worse of the two candidates on many, many issues, including Gaza, partly as a result of their choice. As a multi-issue progressive voter who cares deeply about climate change, gun control, voting rights, civil rights, bodily autonomy, democratic institutions, Ukraine, AND peace in the Middle East, I am saddened and frustrated that our work is now so much harder, if not impossible, on all those issues.

But my point was actually that the Left does have an outrage-fueled ecosystem like the Right, but unlike the candidate of the Right, who pushed the outrage buttons effectively, the candidate on the Left did not. This was partly her centrist strategy that failed, and partly IMO the fault of the left-leaning media coverage, which focused all Gaza all the time, while other progressive issues got lost. The result of both failures is that the better candidate also lost. WE lost.

All of us on the Left lost the outrage battle to the Right, but not because we have less to be outraged about. We need to do better! In the future, I’d like to see more variety of progressive policies from the Democrats to play to justified outrage on the Left and I’d like effective use of the alternative outlets on the Left to support rather than undermine the better candidate… there are plenty of good policies to choose from, including climate action, gun control, Medicare for all, etc. that actually have majority support and underlying justified outrage for fuel.

Let’s use them for good… let’s use them to win so we can use power for good, including pushing the better candidate to do more on the issues we care about…

if we get the chance, after this catastrophic loss to the forces of fascism.

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Dec 18
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oneflewover's avatar

Vel Santic: She did not advocate for a change in stance from the Biden administration's collaboration with and funding of the Netanyahu government that is committing war crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza. She does not get a pass.

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Sherry Daniels's avatar

She may not have advocated passionately, but we still needed to support her/ give her a pass because the alternative was trump. Trump's ambassador to Israel said there's no such thing as a Palestinian. All of Gaza and other land belongs to Israel and Samaria. Trump's going to take "everything" from the Palestinians.

Might not love Harris' ideas about the Middle East, but she wouldn't let the fox into the henhouse. She would have advocated for more change than trump.

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oneflewover's avatar

Sherry - the fox is already in the henhouse. Since I admit I am not a mindreader, your comment that she "would have" advocated for "more change" than Trump leaves me a bit bewildered. Maybe you're correct or you "would have been" correct if she had won. Guess we'll never know. 🙄

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Dec 18
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oneflewover's avatar

Excuse me. How do you arrive at the unfounded conclusion that I defend what happened on Oct 7. This tragic event - for which there is no excuse - did not happen in a vacuum. The creation of Israel also did not happen in a vacuum. It is convenient to push the delete button on what the expulsion from the newly-formed state of Israel meant to the people who had been living on that piece of real estate for centuries. I support the group Combatants for Peace (CfP) - a coalition of Palestinians and Israelis - searching desperately for a way to work together toward peace.

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Dec 19Edited
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oneflewover's avatar

Yes the hostages were totally innocent victims of a terrorist attack. You obviously ignore the history of inhumane activities of the Israeli government supporting settlers in their illegal criminal activities against Palestinian civilians. And the Israeli government supporting decades-long inhumane actions by the IDF itself - again documented by whistleblowers themselves from within the IDF. These actions have been documented and disseminated on platforms accessible to those wishing to inform themselves. True - I am not a Zionist in that I am not of the belief that the Jewish people are entitled to a homeland at the expense of the civil rights of other individuals occupying the same territory. Yes, Israel exists. But it must abide by international laws. It has not done so and for that it must be held accountable. The United States exists. It was founded on territory upon which existed a Native American population that was decimated by the incoming population to ensure the ongoing existence of the settlers. O well. One of those inconvenient truths. These brutal lessons have been perpetrated historically throughout the ages and continue to be pursued by whatever regime - in collaboration with its allies - wishes to dominate a region.

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Dec 19Edited
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oneflewover's avatar

I am busy also. And you are the one who felt the need to comment on my response to Cat. Report all you want. Goodbye.

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