The Pennsylvania Democrat recalled his time serving as a Hillary Clinton surrogate in 2016, even after he supported Bernie Sanders in the primary.

  • Zoidberg@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    It’s almost midnight. You just got out of your job, a restaurant in a somewhat seedy location in old downtown. You leave through the backdoor into an alley and suddenly notice you’re not alone. The metal door just closed shut behind you.

    You look to your right. There’s a guy with a knife. He’s looking at you and smiling in a weird manner. He starts walking towards you menacingly.

    You look to your left. There’s a well known old drunk there. He smells bad and likes to hug people who are passing by. If you go that way, you will be hugged by him.

    What do you do?

    If you go right, you’ll get stabbed and killed. If you do nothing and stay put, you’ll get stabbed and killed. If you go left, you will be hugged by the stinky guy. It’s disgusting and not ideal, but you’ll not be stabbed and survive.

    What do you choose?

    I see people all the time with the dumbest arguments to not vote. “He’s not progressive enough”, or “he’s part of the system”, or even “he didn’t do enough for X” (insert your favorite minority here).

    It’s all true. But the universe is not a perfect or ideal place. Not voting for the imperfect guy gets us a true horrible alternative. It’s a choice between bad and awful.

    Please vote bad and keep the awful away.

    • Enkrod@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      Gotta move the Overton Window from the far right back towards the center right before you can start moving it to the left.

    • mommykink@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      There’s a well known old drunk there. He smells bad and likes to hug people who are passing by. If you go that way, you will be hugged by him.

      Lol did you do this on purpose?

    • AeroLemming@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      The United States is not a democracy. In 2016, a man who lost the general election was illegitimately installed as president under the guise of some imaginary lines having more meaning than the actual, objectively factual will of the people as measured through a democratic vote. Unless you’re in a swing state, who you vote for doesn’t matter at all.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        There are many types of democracies, and we live in a representative democracy which is very much a democracy.

        There is exactly 1 direct democracy on the planet. Costa Rico is close but not quite.

        • AeroLemming@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Even ignoring how your vote doesn’t matter if it’s not a swing state, your vote is also worth many times more or less both for legislators and the president depending on which state you live in. That’s not a democracy. In order for weighted votes to count as a democracy, you would also have to count much more strongly weighted votes, like if for example, billionaires’ votes were worth a million times that of the average Joe.

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            That’s like saying your vote doesn’t matter if you have a minority opinion so democracy doesn’t exist at all. It’s a bullshit line of reasoning.

            Also your vote is extremely important at the local level. Our housing crisis is entirely a local voting issue.

            • AeroLemming@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              I feel like you skimmed my message instead of actually reading it, so I’ll give you a chance to reread it.

      • ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com
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        1 year ago

        I agree with your first two sentences and then the train just jumps the tracks and plummets down a ravine. There’s all kinds of ways who you vote for matters. Complete disengagement like what you’re suggesting puts us on the fast track to fascism and nihilism.

        • AeroLemming@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          Sorry, who you vote for as president* doesn’t matter. Local elections can still have a big impact on your life and you can influence them directly.

    • Jeremy [Iowa]@midwest.social
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      1 year ago

      Ah, the false dichotomy, neat.

      Abstaining is always an option. You can always just ignore either shady individual - you aren’t required to pick one.

    • SwampYankee@mander.xyz
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      1 year ago

      I choose neither. Instead, I jump, grab the bars of the fire escape overhead and climb up. Stinky hugs stabby, gets stabbed and dies. Then I jump down from the fire escape onto Stabby, knock him down and stab him with his own knife.

    • r9seng@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Your analogy does not work, as the situation presented requires you to either go to the left or to the right.

      In real life, there are many options and gray areas. One of those options is to refuse support to anyone who works against the populace, regardless of their political affiliation.

      The world would be much better off watching the US turn far-right and implode than it would be maintaining the status quo.

      I would rather watch the US die as a Nazi state than support the lesser of two evils. Remove them as a global superpower. Move out of the way and allow other states to bring better systems of government forward. Maybe something salvageable can be found in the wreckage.

      That’s the part Fetterman fails to realize as well: Right now is not okay. Continuing the status quo is not okay.

      Your analogy also equates the death of the nation with the death of the self, which is not even remotely true either.