Biden seeks to "allow for the transfer of all categories of defense articles," his request states

Biden seeks to “allow for the transfer of all categories of defense articles,” his request states

The White House has formally requested the removal of restrictions on all categories of weapons Israel is allowed to access from U.S. weapons stockpiles in the country, as I reported in detail for The Intercept today. So you know I’m not exaggerating, here’s a screenshot of the request:

The request would also remove nearly all other limits on Israel’s ability to access the U.S. weapons stockpiles — permanently —by doing the following:

read more: https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/biden-moves-to-lift-restrictions?publication_id=7677&post_id=139155763

  • MarmaladeMermaid@lemm.ee
    506·
    1 year ago

    Yeah, it’s been “hold your nose and vote for the least insane” for a long time now, but more the choice is “the guy who supports genocide” or “the guy who really really supports genocide.”

    Fucking two party first post the post bullshit. This is going to get Trump elected when the people who cant bear to vote for genocide stay home or vote third party.

    • jordanlund@lemmy.world
      378·
      1 year ago

      If Israel is your issue, you’re going to have to find another differentiator… like how Trump wants to end democracy as we know it and Biden does not.

      • MarmaladeMermaid@lemm.ee
        101·
        1 year ago

        That’s what I’m saying. I’m just heartbroken that I’ll have to vote for someone unapologetically funding genocide with my tax money.

        What’s the fucking point of democracy if I still have to vote for genocide in order to avoid the end of “democracy.”

    • WHARRGARBL@beehaw.org
      81·
      1 year ago

      The Democratic National Convention of August, 1968 was in Chicago. It was marked by massive riots, after the April and June assassinations of the Rev Martin Luther King Jr and Democratic POTUS candidate Robert Kennedy, respectively. It was triggered by many issues, including anti-Vietnam War sentiment.

      Interestingly, the August, 2024 DNC will be in Chicago. Maybe it’s time for the people of the United States to come together for another “year that breaks America”, and fight for the need to eliminate the DNC/RNC corporate stranglehold and work toward establishing a ranked voting system.

      Or we could continue to choose between happy uncle fascist or bloated grifter fascist.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
      717·
      1 year ago

      Yup, I’ll be voting third party. I gave Biden my vote last election, but he hasn’t earned it this coming election. It doesn’t really matter though since my state is going to vote R regardless, but at least this way I don’t be supporting nonsense.

      • RGB3x3@lemmy.worldEnglish
        185·
        1 year ago

        Look, I hate the situation we’re in, but it’s Biden or a fascist that literally wants to destroy democracy in America. Read up on Project 2025. The Republicans are gearing up to destroy the IRS, Department of Education, FDA, EPA, make being LGBT illegal, ban abortion nationwide, and essentially bring back segregation in schools through education vouchers.

        Keep voting Democrat or we’ll no longer have any semblance of freedom.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
          313·
          1 year ago

          As I said, it doesn’t matter who I vote for, the R candidate will get >60% of the vote and the D candidate will get 25-35%. Even if every third party vote went to the D candidate, they’d still be short by like 20%. If it was close at all (say, within 10%), I’d get your point, but that’s just not happening in my state.

          So no, I’m not falling for that “a vote for X is a vote for Y” nonsense. I voted for Biden once because Trump was that bad and disliked in my state, but he won by >20%, which just proves how useless it is. So I’ll be voting third party again now that Biden has lost even my small, symbolic gesture.

          gearing up to destroy…

          I’m honestly okay with a bit of that, such as:

          • Dept of Education - complete nonsense, we should scale it way back; imo, Fed loans have just screwed people over and made education more expensive, and that’s just one example of where they’ve overstepped
          • FDA - should probably be an independent org, not an agency, at least for verifying drugs; it seems big pharma and whatnot have clogged up the system to prevent competition; I think they should set standards, but some other org(s) should do the actual verification
          • education vouchers - I live charter schools and think we should reform our school system around school choice, but I draw the line at private schools; we should instead be improving transit so kids in working class families can attend the school of their choice

          But I disagree with enough of it to matter:

          • abortion - should be legal and largely unrestricted during the first trimester as a privacy matter; I don’t think women should be harassed during the time when miscarriage risk is high, so it should remain between her and her doctor; anything beyond that first trimester should be a state issue
          • LGBT people - I’m not really sure what actual policies LGBT people want, but I’m totally in favor of anti-discrimination laws similar to what we have for race and age, and I’m absolutely in favor of same sex marriage; however, I not willing to go as far as Democrats in establishing positive rights
          • EPA - I’m generally a fan of the EPA, at least as a research body; I think some of our standards are a little ridiculous though, with some being too strict and some not being strict enough; we should review its scope, but I don’t see a point in dismantling it
          • IRS - I’m absolutely against cutting the IRS budget in any way, in fact, we should increase it; at the same time, we should be simplifying the tax code so enforcing it is easier; we should only cut it when enforcement stops being revenue positive (i.e. we’ve automated enough and simplified enough that tax fraud takes far fewer resources to detect)

          Regardless, voting for Democrats won’t solve any of that. My state will elect Republicans to every position that matters. That’s a fact of life, and it’s probably more likely for my state to flip to a third party than to flip Democrat. So voting Democrat only makes sense if the candidate is actually strong enough to pull Republicans voters, and Biden ain’t it.

          So no, I’m not voting Democrat because that’s not going to solve anything. I’ll vote Democrat if the candidate is good, otherwise I’ll be voting third party to signal to my state that I’d rather throw my vote away than vote for either major party, maybe they’ll actually care enough to pivot their platform a bit.

          • acceptable_pumpkin@lemmy.world
            82·
            1 year ago

            lol. Ok bud. You’re not voting Democrat because you’re a right wing nut. Gone are the days of “everyone is entitled to their opinion” when one party literally tried to overthrow the government and wants to bring an end to democracy. Do I wish it was another candidate more liberal than Biden? Heck ya, but voting for Trump or 3rd party is basically voting against democracy.

            • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
              12·
              1 year ago

              I don’t want a more liberal candidate than Biden, I want a better candidate. Biden doesn’t have the mental acuity to lead a country, and his VP doesn’t have his back. They were literally my two least favorite candidates on the DNC ticket in 2016 (Harris was dead last), yet they’re the ones who got nominated.

              That said, Trump is decidedly worse. But that doesn’t make Biden good by comparison, nor does it change who my state will vote for. Trump was last in the Republican primary in my state in 2016 (even Kasich beat him), and was challenged by an independent who got >20% of the vote, yet he still won by nearly 20% (I’m in Utah). In the perfect storm that was 2016, Trump could’ve lost my state if Dems voted for the independent, but there was no way those independent voters would’ve voted for Clinton (there was no mathematical way for McMullin to win since he wasn’t on the ballot in most states). In 2020, Trump won with a typical >20% spread (usually it’s ~30%, so his win was much narrower than usual). If 2024 is close, the R candidate will win by 10-20%. It literally doesn’t matter who I vote for, the R candidate will win.

              So no, Biden is not getting my vote because he hasn’t earned it. Trump is worse, but there’s no chance the R candidate is going to lose Utah, even if it is Trump, so I feel like the election won’t be so close that voting the lesser of two evils will mean anything. So I’ll probably vote third party again, but I’m not sure which party that’ll be (it doesn’t really matter, third parties get like 5% maximum combined). That said, my mind is never 100% made up until the election actually happens. If Biden gets meaningful immigration reform done (e.g. increased quotas, path to a visa for undocumented workers, etc), maybe he’ll earn it, but I think he needs to change his running mate because Harris is awful.

        • Sybil@lemmy.world
          422·
          1 year ago

          Keep voting Democrat and we’ll no longer have any semblance of freedom.

    • penquin@lemm.ee
      1024·
      1 year ago

      Yup. It’s getting more difficult every election cycle. I’m highly thinking of sitting it out this time. I can’t, with a clear conscious, vote for either of these two.

        • penquin@lemm.ee
          719·
          1 year ago

          Yeah, you sheeps are what’s fucking up this country. Go fall in line, shut up and vote. Fuck outta here with your bullshit.

            • penquin@lemm.ee
              19·
              1 year ago

              That’s the best idiots like you can do, poke fun of people’s grammar while the country is fucking burning. Take that grammer and shove it somewhere to boost your ego a bit more.

              • NOT_RICK@lemmy.worldEnglish
                71·
                1 year ago

                I was more laughing at you unironically calling people you don’t agree with sheep; it makes you sound like an angsty teen which your reply has just cemented. Baaaa

                • penquin@lemm.ee
                  19·
                  1 year ago

                  Ok cool. Now shut up, fall in line and vote like a bitch. Don’t waste my time.

        • Stowaway@midwest.social
          3·
          1 year ago

          To be fair I don’t know that I want to be clearly conscious for this election cycle, or for what come after.

        • penquin@lemm.ee
          25·
          1 year ago

          Yeah, fuck your grammar/English/vocabulary bullshit. It doesn’t add anything to the conversation nor does it fix the shit America is in right now. Take it somewhere where it matters, not here.

        • penquin@lemm.ee
          22·
          1 year ago

          I did vote for the green party last time. Might do it again, because fuck both Dems and Republicans.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
        33·
        1 year ago

        Just vote third party if neither major party suits you. At least that way you’re communicating that neither major party is acceptable, and if enough people do that, it’s possible the major parties will adjust their policies.

        Regardless, sign up for mail voting so you don’t have to wait in line. That way you can throw your vote away like me in the comfort of your own home, and then drop it off at a ballot box at your convenience.

        • penquin@lemm.ee
          33·
          1 year ago

          Might do that, but there is no fucking way I’m voting for Biden or Trump.

              • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
                23·
                1 year ago

                I’m the opposite, after reading a few profiles, I’m excited to see what Lars Mapstead has to say. He seems reasonably moderate compared to the rest running for the Libertarian nomination, so maybe he’d be okay. I hope Spike Cohen runs as well.

                I’m also interested to see what Marianne Williamson has to say, but I’m not a fan of several of her proposals, though I like a number of them as well. I want to watch her debate so I can get a feel for which proposals she’s going to base her campaign around.

                I’m not a fan of Cornel West whatsoever, though I’ll give him a chance to convince me. I think he’ll just steal votes from the Dem nominee (he’s running independent, no), which means Trump gets a better shot, but I guess we’ll see if that’s a thing.

                All in all, I’m not liking this year’s roundup. But as long as Trump loses, I’m happy.

                • penquin@lemm.ee
                  24·
                  1 year ago

                  How fucking dare you think and decide for yourself. The fucking herd is going to eat you alive. You HAVE to fall in line, shut up and vote for whatever democrat is the nominee, it doesn’t matter if they’re a terrible fucking candidate, they’re not a Republican and that’s all that matters, right?. They’re going to downvote you to death not knowing that downvoting doesn’t mean shit on Lemmy. Fucking good for you for having a god damn brain. I honestly have so much respect for people like you who are not sheep.

                  • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
                    22·
                    1 year ago

                    Yup, same happened on Reddit as well. It’s like me not wanting to vote for the Democrat automatically means I like the Republican. That’s stupid.

                    I really dislike both major parties, and the vote spread in my area is such that it really doesn’t matter who I vote for, so I see no point in voting for a candidate I dislike. If Democrats want me to vote for them, they need to improve their policies. It’s really that simple.