Steven BeschlossIt amazes—and alarms—me how much hatred some people express toward Joe Biden. You can disagree with his politics and worldview, but any normal person paying attention can grasp his empathy and decency. That hate is the outgrowth of propaganda.
Craig Froehle@StevenBeschloss That's something I've long respected about him: He's a truly decent human being. Nobody is perfect, but man, he tries his very best to truly care about other people.
George Liquor, American@StevenBeschloss That sounds reasonable, but I'm pretty confident that a segment of the population literally does not value empathy or decency, and actually resents those qualities in others.
It's an unrelatable mindset to the rest of us, but I think it's a mindset that would still exist independent of propaganda. There will *always* be miserable bastards !
Darwin Woodka@liquor_american @StevenBeschloss A lot of it is the propaganda. I've watched right wing media turn former friends into paranoid, selfish assholes and they weren't that way before they got hooked on Fox.
@darwinwoodka @StevenBeschloss If they were receptive to the propaganda, there was already something wrong IMO
rexi@darwinwoodka @liquor_american @StevenBeschloss
there seems to be a deep reward gratification syndrome in play with continuous streamed media, like rides home in their car with #AMtalkradio and #FoxNews on their La-Z-Boy.
loneliness or spiritual emptiness?
@rexi @liquor_american @StevenBeschloss
I think it just plays to their personal biases and then starts reinforcing the homophobia, misogyny, racism, etc. Trump in particular made it "ok" to be your real hateful, spiteful self for them. And then the idea that "the government" is the root of all their problems and right wing candidates will "fix" it all for them. Take care of "those people" and the "nasty women" and put THEM in charge again. Heh.
Steve Popovich@liquor_american @StevenBeschloss exactly; they see empathy and decency as weakness, and above all, the one thing they don't want to be seen as is weak.
Ramesh #NotGoingBack⬆️ Alarming, not just for #Biden smears, but how it affects #US national security and world security:
#Tlaib from battleground #Michigan is trying to subvert Election2024 with #Biden lies ➡️ https://mastodon.social/@rameshgupta/111352305821082802
#BDSHorseShoe sympathizers don't realize the scale of death and destruction that await #Muslims, #Jews, and entire humanity, regardless of race or ethnicity
It will pale in comparison to what has happened so far in #Ukraine and #MiddleEast ➡️ https://mastodon.social/@rameshgupta/111434223324480434
⬆️ @StevenBeschloss
>> It amazes—and alarms—me how much hatred some people express toward Joe #Biden
Now #Israel's #BenGvir joins the pantheon of Biden haters
"Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who supports #Palestinian ethnic cleansing, said that #Trump would allow more freedom"
By peeling voters away from Biden, #Tlaib will re-elect Trump & be responsible for any #ethnicCleansing of her #Arab #Muslim #Brothers & #Sisters
#QuoteToot @SteveThompson ➡️ https://mastodon.social/@SteveThompson/111874561879008281
TC Won't Give In To Lies@rameshgupta @StevenBeschloss @SteveThompson
I believe #Tlaib will ultimately work to elect Biden and #Democrats all down the ticket. But she's going to get some commitments from #Biden for it.
We're already seeing the initial impact with visa restrictions and sanctions on the most extreme "settlers". There will be more. That's how coalitions work.
#Biden2024
>> #Tlaib will ultimately work to elect #Biden
And #PigsWillFly before that 🙄
>> We're already seeing the initial impact with visa restrictions and sanctions…
Nice try giving credit to Rashida Tlaib for Biden sanctions. That's not a coalition, and that's not how things work.
Coalition is when she condemn #Hamas, stands up among her #Arab #Muslim #Brothers in battleground #MI, & tell them how Biden is infinitely better for THEM than Trump
⬆️ @TCatInReality
[Feb 2024] >> It's a plan. Let's check back in August. 👍
With both #Jewish & #Muslim groups holding #KamalaHarris hostage ➡️ https://mastodon.social/@rameshgupta/112851191648080504, this from @AP is encouraging.
#Harris has "the endorsement of one of the nation’s largest Muslim American voter mobilization groups… but many Muslim/#Arab American orgs have opted to support 3rd-party…"
Pigs might fly, and I will even eat crow if #Tlaib endorses Harris 🙂
Top Muslim-voter organization endorses Harris as Middle East conflict escalates
One of the nation's largest Muslim voter-mobilization groups is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential bid. The Muslim-advocacy group Emgage Action made the announcement Wednesday in a statement first provided to The Associated Press. The group said it recognizes “the responsibility to defeat” Donald Trump in November. Emgage Action operates in eight states including the key battlegrounds of Michigan and Pennsylvania. The organization will focus its voter outreach efforts on supporting Harris, in addition to down-ballot candidates. The endorsement follows months of tension between Arab American and Muslim groups and Democratic leaders over the Biden administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.
Wow, what a memory. 😁
I'm not surprised the endorsements are starting now that the primaries (eg prime negotiation time) have passed.
Interestingly, Tlaib may herself be toxic (nationally) and an endorsement could cause a problem. See this
Rashida Tlaib Refuses to Endorse Kamala Harris for President Due to Gaza Policy - Algemeiner.com
US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) refused to issue an explicit endorsement of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Thursday, instead encouraging voters to throw their support behind candidates who support a ceasefire in Gaza. While speaking on a panel at the Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, an event sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus
⬆️ @TCatInReality @AP @StevenBeschloss @SteveThompson
>> Pigs might fly, and I will even eat crow if #Tlaib endorses Harris 🙂
It's SLOWLY getting there, but #Tlaib has not endorsed #Harris yet.
Jay Kuo (@[email protected])
Attached: 1 image This is what gets underreported because it doesn’t fit the established narrative.
@rameshgupta @AP @StevenBeschloss @SteveThompson
Thanks for tracking this.
Dr. Flowers@AlliFlowers @StevenBeschloss @SteveThompson
>> Talk about not looking at the big picture!
One month after #Oct7 I was worried ➡️
https://mastodon.social/@rameshgupta/111376788032217265
It's not hard to imagine aligned and emboldened perpetrators engage in #ethnicCleansing all over the world if #US is in the grips of #ChristoFascist #FarRight, with a malleable character like #Trump as its #DearLeader.
This is why US #Election2024 is a #WorldSecurity issue
Adam Aaron@StevenBeschloss Hello handsome
OwenGranfield@StevenBeschloss and he is the same age as PaulMcCartney and Mick Jagger - don’t see folks drawing negative attention to their age
Jeff Strickland@StevenBeschloss - many of those people hated Biden before he took office, not because of who he is but because his election removed Trump and they were unable to stop it. For them it really doesn't have anything to do with Joe Biden - he's just the Democrat who removed their dear leader.
Arena Cops 🇺🇦✌@StevenBeschloss 👍👍👍👍 People need to hear this every day!
#AmericaWon #PresidentBiden #Compassion #Care #Constructiveness
Pankhurst2It's right wing b.s.
So sick of the complaints while true evil is on the doorstep clawing its way in. Trumpler and his handlers are as dangerous and diseased as Putin and Bashir.
@StevenBeschloss Empathy and decency? I would have been foolish enough to agree with you before, but he actively assisted a genocide that killed tens of thousands and is continuing to stand by it. And your takeaway from this is how empathetic and decent he is. He will lose and he can blame it on his own actions.
zilla@gazan @StevenBeschloss exactly. He is empathy is reserved for some and not others. If he losses it is on him.
RodneyPetersonTalentAgencyYou expect Christofascist right wing shitbags to be normal?
Kevin RussellThe hate is compleyely fake, completely drummed up, a lie. No one hates Biden, if you have seen someone say they hate Biden, you know they are liars, liars and hate farmers, jan6th'ists,
"I've covered extremism and violent ideologies around the world over my career. Have never come across a political force more nihilistic, dangerous & contemptible than today's Republicans. Nothing close.” - Edward Luce, Finanical Times, London
“I agree. And I was the CIA Director." - General Michael Hayden
@StevenBeschloss Ayup. Totally agree.
Matthew Daly@StevenBeschloss I'm not a USian but if I were I would vote for him if the alternative were Trump solely on the basis of him being an adult and not a spoiled toddler-man. If the only alternative is Trump that's the only quality anyone needs.
J.H.NoyesYeah, you can totally see the decency in his misinformation heavy *To The Wolves* pandemic response. Biggest criminal in the history of modern civilization.
Fergus Haughey@StevenBeschloss Is that the same Joe Biden who is facilitating Isreali genocide in Gaza ? Do you think that could be the reason millions of people don't like him ?
Ches 🎸@StevenBeschloss what world are you living in and how do I get there (other than being completely delusional of course)
@StevenBeschloss like you realize Biden was more racist than a REAGAN back in that era right? Show me some sources that demonstrate "empathy" and I'll show you 10 that show you he's a capitalist monster of a politician who does not care about you or I, and like most Democrats, will sell out the American population to fascism for money. Then again as an old presumably capitalist white man you're the kind of person he actually likes so yeah maybe he's kind to you
Humble Fan of Atty. WooHappy Thanksgiving, Steven.
carry on
Brian McGackin@StevenBeschloss this is extremely reductive and infantilizing. There are many who may hate blindly, or because of propaganda, but there are certainly legitimate reasons for people to be frustrated with him, and frustrated more broadly with the type of status quo approach that he represents, which has been unsuccessful in solving many of the issues people have been facing since the disaster of Reaganomics.
People are allowed complex motives & feelings beyond the red/blue duopoly
@StevenBeschloss No it is not propaganda, but his blatant disregard for innocent Palestinian people that drove people away from him. Hamas is evil but nothing justified the slaughter of innocents and Biden enabled that, supported it and called into question any support for them.
Audio Oblivion@StevenBeschloss I would encourage you not to use the phrase “normal person” or “paying attention”. Those are charged with condescension. We are all “normal” people paying attention. But we must learn to sit with the hate we feel (each of us, about anything), allow for a dialogue with it to determine its root, and then assuage it with reasonable, constructive work toward addressing this root. And to show others how.
“These people can’t” you might say. My answer: read this reply again.
Ton Chrysoprase@StevenBeschloss TBH, as policy choices go it’s really hard to find major things where he’s not super vanilla. His high disapproval ratings pretty much mean that median voter theory is dead and/or voters entirely go on non-policy issues like age.
@StevenBeschloss I think this is right.
Grandpa Don@StevenBeschloss the propaganda is rampant. Trump's ranting anout unhinged judge and prosecutor is yhe tip of the iceberg. All dems are painted as monsters. Baby killers, war mongers, blah, blah, blah. They feel sa out Joe as I feel about trump. Except I'm right.
joe•iuculano 
Steven, the key words are "..any normal person.."
Normal.
That kind of hatred is not "normal", and we must ensure it is never normalized
Juju&Baba&Yoyo🌈@StevenBeschloss
Biden has failed miserably with the pandemic.
Biden has failed miserably with the pandemic.