this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2024
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As the title states I am confused on this matter. The way I see it, the USA has a two party system and in the next few weeks they’re either going to have Trump or Harris as president, come inauguration day. With this in mind doesn’t it make sense to vote for the person least likely to escalate the situation even more.

Giving your vote to an independent or worse not voting at all, just gives more of a chance for Trump to win the election and then who knows what crazy stuff he will allow, or encourage, Israel to get away with.

I really don’t get the logic. As sure nobody wants to vote for a party allowing these heinous crimes to be committed, but given you’re getting one of them shouldn’t you be voting for the one that will be the least horrible of the two.

Please don’t come at me with pro-Israeli rhetoric as this isn’t the post for that, I’m asking about why people would make such choices and I’m not up for debate on the Middle East, on this post, you can DM me for that.

Edit: Bedtime here now so will respond to incoming comments in the morning, love starting the day with an inbox full 😊.

Edit 2: This blew up, it’s a little overwhelming right now but I do intent on replying to everybody that took the time to comment. Just need to get in the right headspace.

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[–] CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 5 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

The message would be that voting Americans are not okay with genocide. Harris is actually culpable, while the idea that Trump would be significantly worse for the Palestinians and Lebanese is just hypothetical. Trump is actually the lesser of two evils this time. The allegations against him don't amount to genocide by a long shot.

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 13 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

The message will be that Americans chose the guy who is complaining that the massacres are going too slowly

Remember that he was ardently supportive of the Saudi bombing campaign in Yemen when he was president. We have seen how he handles this situation. He is absolutely not a lesser evil here.

[–] coolusername@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 weeks ago

can you describe this in Marvel or Harry Potter terms though?

[–] CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 2 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

He's got a ways to go to prove himself more evil than Harris.

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 6 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Why is his backing of the Saudi campaign in Yemen not enough to you? The war has a far higher civilian death toll than Israel's current actions do, the Saudi forces in the area have a long record of likely war crimes including bombing a school bus full of children in Dahyan and declaration of an entire city of 50,000 people as a military target, Trump actually vetoed congress to prevent them from stopping arms sales to SA, and dozens of actual direct American drone strikes were carried out under Trump's presidency.

[–] CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Over a period of about six years and three US presidential administrations, the death toll in the Yemen war is estimated to have reached 377,000. In just over a year, solely under the Biden-Harris administration, 335,500 are estimated to have died in Gaza. Based on the death rate and the relative sizes of the affected populations, it's clear who has more blood on their hands. Furthermore, support from the Biden-Harris administration has continued even though Israeli leaders have come right out and admitted their genocidal intent. The MBS regime certainly did commit atrocities in Yemen with catastrophic effects, but in that case at least there's a shred of deniability regarding complicity to genocide. Harris has no excuse for continuing to support Israel, but the weapons and financing keep flowing. Therefore we have no excuse for supporting her.

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

So is your position that if the Saudis had killed Yemenis at the same rate as Israel is killing Palestinians, Trump would have reversed course? Bearing in mind that the war crimes weren't enough, and he supported it significantly more actively than Biden and Harris are supporting Israel

[–] CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

My position isn't based on counterfactuals. It is that Harris and the Democrats need to be held accountable, by at least losing the election, for complicity to the Palestinian genocide; that it is unconscionable to reward them with another term in the White House.

[–] Skua@kbin.earth 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

And your solution is to give it to the guy who did the exact same thing more actively and who is promising to do it harder? Right. Sure.

[–] CrimeDad@lemmy.crimedad.work 1 points 3 weeks ago

Solution? I never said I had a solution. I am just trying to explain why many people including myself think it is bad to vote for the genocide lady.