Dave Rahardja2d ago

People minimizing Orbán’s defeat in #Hungary through voting, and claiming that the same can’t be done to Donald Trump: Remember that Orbán was in power for SIXTEEN YEARS, that is, 2.5× LONGER than Trump. He had more than twice the time Trump has had to intimidate, corrupt, and destroy Hungary’s systems of voting. And yet, voting unseated him.

PLEASE do not preemptively give up on voting. Voting still works in the US, and it is quite likely that our voting infrastructure will far outlive Trump and his destructive party.

Authoritarians rely on a perceived popular mandate to continue their abuse. Voting can decisively deny them that mandate. Do not give up prematurely.

VOTE. VOTE. VOTE.

Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐1d ago
@drahardja I think most people's problem isn't that they think Trump won't leave office via an election, it's that the DNC doesn't have a democratic primary process and they are just going to run Gavin Newsom, who will win probably, and while better than Trump, we're looking at a marginally better rightwing president whether he or JD wins 2028, making it seem like voting doesn't matter -- the choice is oligarch-aligned rightwinger vs oligarch-aligned rightwinger at the end of the day as always.
Show threadDave Rahardja1d ago

@Emerson61 I will vote for Newsom if that’s the alternative I’m given.

Here’s my perspective: https://sfba.social/@drahardja/116377823558685082

Dave Rahardja (@[email protected])

People on the left have this bizarre trait of criticizing their candidates for not being left enough, when the current alternative is literally Hitler without a mustache. David Sedaris wrote this quip that stuck with me: “To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. "Can I interest you in the chicken?" she asks. "Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it? To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.”” A center-left candidate can be ahead in the polls against a literal Fascist, and leftists will will be like “yeah but they don’t support bike lanes” and be sad about it. Perfection is truly the enemy of the good.

SFBA.social
Show threadobscurestar
@drahardja @Emerson61 And Newsom is a fine example of why the primaries are so very important because we really do not want that used car salesman.
Apr 13 at 5:04amWeb
Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐23h ago
@obscurestar @drahardja the party will force him on us like Genocide Joe and Hillary before...
Show threadobscurestar23h ago
@Emerson61 @drahardja If you sit around sniveling for the next two and a half years, probably. But you could get off your ass and be part of a grass roots movement to work towards getting someone decent in. That's what I'm going to do.
Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐22h ago
@obscurestar @drahardja my sweet summer child... hold onto that idealism for when the left finally decides to ditch the DNC as their party so we CAN win... The only way Gavin doesn't win is a 2008-style internal intrigue situation among the party elites. But they are all boomers, so Schumer can't be the "young" upstart Littlefingering Obama as the ordained party candidate in 2028. It's going to be Gavin and if we are spitting into the wind, a third party is the better long term effort.
Show threadobscurestar22h ago

@Emerson61 @drahardja Sure and the establishment Republicans were desperately horny for Trump in 2016.

No wait, I know you're gonna tell me liberals aren't able to organize the same way. We're just not that good. Just accept defeat roll over and let the fascists win. it's what you want.

Let me guess, you're gonna be the Road Warrior when society falls and build a new world in your own image.

Nice you can punish minorities in the US until you get your way tho. Very privileged.

Show thread𐁂𐀑𐀐𐁐22h ago
@obscurestar @drahardja wow. That's a lot...
Show threadobscurestar5h ago

@Emerson61 @drahardja Truth often is for those who haven't heard it.

The system is busted. FPTP and corporate spending means its a 2-party system. A 3rd party would need just as much money and become just as corrupted by it.

Grassroots replacement is vastly more logical.

But what do you care if some trans people lose their civil rights and a few brown people get murdered as long as we learn our lesson for not having the power to provide YOUR no-compromises perfect candidate.