It’s incredibly depressing how thoroughly whipped the Dems are by AIPAC and their allies. They all become the second coming of Kissinger whenever Israel is mentioned. I’d have expected more from Bernie. Glad to see Rashida hasn’t let them quash her spirit. Her and Ilhan are so important.
Kind of weird - is this because Blinken doesn't want to look like a nonce in front of Leather Daddies like Putin, Xi, et al, and thus using a euphemism is diplomatically better than the "C" word? But that doesn't sound right because I can't imagine Sanders would give a rat's ass about that kind of posturing.
So, I guess the question is in the verbiage: When did "ceasefire" become such a third rail that the non-UN diplomatic corps had to find a different word to describe the same thing?
Is . . . is this where we are now? That Literally Bernie Sanders isn't progressive enough? Also, Bernie's somehow catching heat for acknowledging the five-year anniversary of the Tree of Life shooting, because for some reason that's a bad thing to do?
Also, Liz Warren, Raphael Warnock, and Ro Khanna ALSO aren't progressive enough anymore? That, because they're not going as far as you think they should, that they're automatically lumped in with monsters who are actively aiding and abetting genocide? When did the Perfect suddenly become universally preferable to the Good?
Please, I'm begging, just take a breath. Yes, it is a scary time. It's scary for so many people, not all of whom are in Israel or Gaza. People here, in the United States, are scared. Some are being threatened. A Palestinian child in Illinois was killed by an old dude who took leave of his senses. Synagogues are getting graffitied. Jewish parents were afraid to send their kids to school on the day that a random dude in Qatar called for a global day of Jihad, and those like me who still sent their kids were beside themselves with worry all day. Protesters supporting Palestine are shouted down and harassed, sometimes even by police. Protesters are also targeting heavily Jewish neighborhoods, like Crown Heights in Brooklyn, for no reason other to intimidate its residents.
I know that a "humanitarian pause" is not a cease-fire, and it's not as good as one, and it's not a solution. But I can't imagine a world where broad swaths of influential politicians coming out in favor of a hard U-turn in our policy regarding Israel makes things appreciably better here at home. And I also can't imagine a world where vilifying John Fetterman and Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and Ro Khanna brings a vision of a truly progressive society any closer to a reality.
I saw this and prayed that you wouldn't come in here with your mealy-mouthed sanctimonious morally weak centrism and ruin this like you do every other post about this ongoing genocide yet here you are. Just no every time I read posts on this site I actively hope you aren't there in the comments
I take all this as more evidence that “progressive” is a largely meaningless term, and the little it does signify is the avoidance of taking actual left-wing positions.
And yes, by not calling for an unqualified ceasefire, these politicians are taking bad positions on the issues of genocide and apartheid (issues that have an obviously correct position: against). They should be called out for taking bad positions, if you put any stock in electoral matters. We’ll never have actual “good” politicians in our government, but they do occasionally have less-bad positions. Almost everyone has failed in this.
Hacks like Warren have always been useless at best. Bernie gave us some hope, but little generally and less on this issue. Tlaib, unsurprisingly, has the best position.
I think Bernie is dealing with something the rest of those mentioned are not. At 82 years old, he is older than Israel itself. He is old enough that he probably has some small memories of the day it was formed. He's old enough to have lived with the trauma of Holocaust survivors, and certainly old enough that he recognizes how bad the massacre Hamas perpetrated is to his community. We can lay blame in a lot of places for what happened on Oct. 7, but it's going to hit differently for him because of his age.
I would also add that, because he helped sell Biden to his base, and got unprecedented access in return, he's worried that he would be jeopardizing the gains his pet issues, like labor, have made in this administration, and he wants Biden to get re-elected so he can continue racking up W's while he's still around to do it. This has put him in a tough position, I imagine. I think every fiber of his being wants to cry out against this, but there's very real considerations he's thinking about, so if he breaks too sharply, and others get hurt, he'd blame himself.
Speaking out right now is hard. I grew up in a heavily Jewish community, and it's been extremely difficult to express how I feel. Friends and family have been so quick to jump on me for criticizing and wanting an end to this horrific bombing campaign, even when I use cautious language to do so. I cannot imagine the pressure he's facing.
It’s incredibly depressing how thoroughly whipped the Dems are by AIPAC and their allies. They all become the second coming of Kissinger whenever Israel is mentioned. I’d have expected more from Bernie. Glad to see Rashida hasn’t let them quash her spirit. Her and Ilhan are so important.
Every day he doesn't I lose more respect for him.
Kind of weird - is this because Blinken doesn't want to look like a nonce in front of Leather Daddies like Putin, Xi, et al, and thus using a euphemism is diplomatically better than the "C" word? But that doesn't sound right because I can't imagine Sanders would give a rat's ass about that kind of posturing.
So, I guess the question is in the verbiage: When did "ceasefire" become such a third rail that the non-UN diplomatic corps had to find a different word to describe the same thing?
Is . . . is this where we are now? That Literally Bernie Sanders isn't progressive enough? Also, Bernie's somehow catching heat for acknowledging the five-year anniversary of the Tree of Life shooting, because for some reason that's a bad thing to do?
https://twitter.com/benryanwriter/status/1718039922563580076
https://twitter.com/Daniel_Sugarman/status/1718328133701562504
Also, Liz Warren, Raphael Warnock, and Ro Khanna ALSO aren't progressive enough anymore? That, because they're not going as far as you think they should, that they're automatically lumped in with monsters who are actively aiding and abetting genocide? When did the Perfect suddenly become universally preferable to the Good?
Please, I'm begging, just take a breath. Yes, it is a scary time. It's scary for so many people, not all of whom are in Israel or Gaza. People here, in the United States, are scared. Some are being threatened. A Palestinian child in Illinois was killed by an old dude who took leave of his senses. Synagogues are getting graffitied. Jewish parents were afraid to send their kids to school on the day that a random dude in Qatar called for a global day of Jihad, and those like me who still sent their kids were beside themselves with worry all day. Protesters supporting Palestine are shouted down and harassed, sometimes even by police. Protesters are also targeting heavily Jewish neighborhoods, like Crown Heights in Brooklyn, for no reason other to intimidate its residents.
I know that a "humanitarian pause" is not a cease-fire, and it's not as good as one, and it's not a solution. But I can't imagine a world where broad swaths of influential politicians coming out in favor of a hard U-turn in our policy regarding Israel makes things appreciably better here at home. And I also can't imagine a world where vilifying John Fetterman and Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and Ro Khanna brings a vision of a truly progressive society any closer to a reality.
I saw this and prayed that you wouldn't come in here with your mealy-mouthed sanctimonious morally weak centrism and ruin this like you do every other post about this ongoing genocide yet here you are. Just no every time I read posts on this site I actively hope you aren't there in the comments
"Also, Liz Warren [...] ALSO aren't progressive enough anymore"
Anymore? LOL
I take all this as more evidence that “progressive” is a largely meaningless term, and the little it does signify is the avoidance of taking actual left-wing positions.
And yes, by not calling for an unqualified ceasefire, these politicians are taking bad positions on the issues of genocide and apartheid (issues that have an obviously correct position: against). They should be called out for taking bad positions, if you put any stock in electoral matters. We’ll never have actual “good” politicians in our government, but they do occasionally have less-bad positions. Almost everyone has failed in this.
Hacks like Warren have always been useless at best. Bernie gave us some hope, but little generally and less on this issue. Tlaib, unsurprisingly, has the best position.
it's a tough pill to swallow when a progressive liberal such as Bernie disappoints us lefties by supporting genicide, by spporting apathied.
Peace brothers and sisters
*where are the peacemakers*
It's fear.
I think Bernie is dealing with something the rest of those mentioned are not. At 82 years old, he is older than Israel itself. He is old enough that he probably has some small memories of the day it was formed. He's old enough to have lived with the trauma of Holocaust survivors, and certainly old enough that he recognizes how bad the massacre Hamas perpetrated is to his community. We can lay blame in a lot of places for what happened on Oct. 7, but it's going to hit differently for him because of his age.
I would also add that, because he helped sell Biden to his base, and got unprecedented access in return, he's worried that he would be jeopardizing the gains his pet issues, like labor, have made in this administration, and he wants Biden to get re-elected so he can continue racking up W's while he's still around to do it. This has put him in a tough position, I imagine. I think every fiber of his being wants to cry out against this, but there's very real considerations he's thinking about, so if he breaks too sharply, and others get hurt, he'd blame himself.
Speaking out right now is hard. I grew up in a heavily Jewish community, and it's been extremely difficult to express how I feel. Friends and family have been so quick to jump on me for criticizing and wanting an end to this horrific bombing campaign, even when I use cautious language to do so. I cannot imagine the pressure he's facing.