Only Our Cows are Sacred, Yours Should be Fed to The Machine

you are morally obligated to vote for hitler but 1% less bad

Now to be clear -  Biden is much much better than "99% as bad as Trump". Trump is way worse. And even if Trump isn't the candidate because he needs to spend more time with his criminal defense attorneys, all of the remaining GOP candidates are much worse than Biden. DeSantis and Ramaswamy are possibly worse than Trump - Haley and Christie are not really that much better.

So I agree that "not supporting Joe means you are indirectly supporting something much worse" is accurate and true. In fact, I am actually happy to say that - aside from enabling genocide - Joe Biden has done a great job as president. He far exceeded my expectations, and has arguably done more good in three years than even the good presidents have in two terms. I would personally place the IRA as being as significant as the ACA. The stewardship of the economy and navigating the pandemic have produced results better than anyone could have imagined. I believe this is the first presidential administration this century where the Gini coefficient has gone down. So even despite the billionaires extending their gap from the 0.1%, Joe's Administration has uplifted the bottom by enough that this gets smudged out. That's impressive.

So Biden has done a great job. Not merely clearing the low bar of "better than you could expect from a GOP president" - but actually great. A return to big government funded infrastructure projects. Real money being directed towards carbon and climate change. A reduction in inequality (or at least a slowing of the increase in inequality). Labour unions have reversed their plummet into irrelevance and are stronger now than they have been for as long as I can remember. Biden has restored at least some power to the people.

But I don't blame those who can no longer support him.

People have lines that they cannot cross. And for them, supporting a regime that enables, funds, and arms genocidaires is just too much. And this seems entirely reasonable to me. Genocide is their dealbreaker - and no amount of strategic voting cajoling will change their minds - and that should be seen as reasonable. It's fucking genocide we're talking about!

But the tut-tutters are out in force. "Don't you know that the genocide will be worse with Trump in the Oval Office?" I mean - maybe. Trump is worse on almost everything, except competence. At least with Trump in charge, there's a chance that Israel doesn't get as many bombs simply because Trump and the people he would put into his administration - are mostly incompetent boobs. But sure - this is a reasonable thing to suggest, that "Trump will be worse". However, I still agree that this is not enough to get someone to go against their principle of "no genocide".

Anywho - the example I go to as a dealbreaker issue is abortion. I've asked people to consider - what if Biden did an about face on abortion and pushed for a nation-wide 15 week ban? There are certainly GOPpers who have a worse position on it than this - so voting for hypotehtical forced birther Biden would still be voting for "hitler but 1% less bad" even only considering the issue of abortion. Would that be a valid reason to not go to the polls in November 2024?

The only answer to this is "well Biden would never." And this is also very probably true - but it does give the game away. Some cows are sacred, but others are not. Women having bodily autonomy is non-negotiable, but providing the weapons to keep a genocide continuing is just a bargaining chip.

Biden's now done an about face on immigration. He's looking to bring back Trump's worst immigration policies and possibly juice them up. So the belief that "Biden would never" might be misplaced. Immigrants are now just another bargaining chip.

Here's another point I need to be clear about. If someone has "I will never support a forced birther" as one of their principles - I think that's entirely reasonable too. If someone decides to sit out an election because they think none of the candidates are strong enough on women's health - that seems like a valid position to me. I agree that your cow is sacred. Abortion access keeps women from dying and also greatly improves their freedom and quality of life. Knowing that they have the option allows women to make better and more choices with their lives. That's hugely important - and disturbingly relevant right now.

But so is Palestine. Hundreds of people are violently killed every day. Millions are starving even though aid trucks are lined up at the border. 90% of the population of the Gaza Strip has been displaced from their homes. Shit is really fucked up over there - and it is ONLY possible because of Joe's unconditional support of the most right-wing and fascist government that Israel has ever had. It is reasonable for this to be a dealbreaker.