President Joe Biden hosted a small group of scholars and historians for lunch on Wednesday as he gears up for a speech framing the upcoming election as a battle for the nation’s democracy.
The discussion revolved around “ongoing threats to democracy and democratic institutions both here in America and around the world, as well as the opportunities we face as a nation,” the White House said in a statement.
Princeton’s Eddie Glaude Jr. and Sean Wilentz, Harvard’s Annette Gordon-Reed, Yale’s Beverly Gage and Boston College’s Heather Cox Richardson were among the attendees, as well as presidential biographer — and occasional Biden speech writer — Jon Meacham.
Attendees were tight-lipped about what was discussed at the gathering. One would only go so far as to say they “talked about American history and its bearing on the present — a lively exchange of ideas.”
Another person in the room, who like the others was not authorized to speak publicly about a private meeting, said the historians urged the president “to call out the moment for what it is.” In blunt terms, the academics discussed looming threats to the nation’s democracy and warned about the slow crawl of authoritarianism around the globe.
I think it’s important for Biden to call out this moment for what it is. It will be difficult to do, though, without alienating the people in the country who have incorporated Trump into their political identity. When you point out that their emperor has no clothes, they will feel exposed themselves and lash out at the truth teller.
Biden has to try and build a coalition of all sorts of people to meet this moment. Especially all the people who are disillusioned with the situation in Gaza right now. It amazes me how all those people would think Trump would be any better at that. Trump would sell out Gaza to build a resort if we let him.
Trump would gleefully see Gaza get destroyed. He would call on Israel to not slow down and allow aid to pass through, but do it faster. Like, “have it done by next Monday so I can take the credit for it”.
Then call on biden to act to stop the genocide and there wont be an issue.
Biden doesn’t control Netanyahu and Netanyahu would much rather have Trump back in power. Why the fuck would he do him any favors
Biden doesn’t control Netanyahu
Did Netanyahu force Biden to sell him weapons?
Hell did he force him to bypass congress to do so? Twice?
It will be difficult to do, though, without alienating the people in the country who have incorporated Trump into their political identity
They’re already alienated, there’s likely nothing Biden could possibly do that would earn him their votes.
The question is- can Biden afford to alienate the folks who are against US support of Israeli occupation and genocide? If they stay home, the GOP wrecking crew may get another 4 years of opportunity to dismantle American democracy. Is it safe to bet that they’ll hold their nose and vote against the greater evil?
I’m not 100% sure how much of the Democratic party (or independents) would find it to be a deal-breaker if Biden were to take a critical stance of Israeli occupation and genocide, nor am I certain of how many likely-democratic voters find it a deal-breaker if Biden continues to give Israel military support without conditions. It seems likely to me that if Biden doesn’t address this issue directly and clearly, he will lose one or the other of these groups and I worry he can’t afford that in 2024
The great part is that there’s nothing Biden can do that would be a deal breaker. I must vote for him because the way we vote is stupid. There’s nothing that can make me not because the alternative is objectively worse.
So it’s no wonder the DNC doesn’t care what I think.
Or and hear me out here we could allow them to see the consequences of their own actions.
Fucking fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me
We are just sick of supporting people that support genocidal actions.
You guys have fun with genocidin biden, if he’s on the ballot I’m just staying home and staying quiet for the next 4 years
No I don’t care about game theory or blah blah blah.
I care that I do not show support for anyone who is helping to kill innocent children.
You guys still have a chance to actually run a primary.
Straight up fuck anyone who is VBNMW
im voting for him regardless of his stance on israel/palestine. How is staying home going to help palestine??? Even for palestine, biden is the lesser evil on who runs the us.
Look at the username. Obstinate child.
lol
You’re killing trans children at home. Other out groups as well. Thanks. And thanks for sharing and encouraging others. This is helpful. I’ll remember your bravery and honor and this moment and the chair I’m sitting in, when they are separating my family at the gas chamber in 6 or 7 years. Bc you didn’t know how to read the room.
You’re already voting to support that, you just want other people to pay that price for you.
You think both sides are the same for trans kids? What are you, like 17?
Are you cause you’re working really hard to twist what I said
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice – Rush, Freewill
Not choosing equates to choosing the default. You may not care about game theory, but you and others cannot get away from the consequences of it.
In this election, not choosing = voting for Trump
I have a question, does that mean if a trump supporter doesn’t vote for him, then it counts as a vote for Biden?
Yes, but Trump voters are more likely to vote so the effect isn’t equal.
Modern Republicans are authoritarians, they do what they are told, Democrats are less so and as a party must form a coalition of sorts. It’s easier to convince subgroups of potential Democratic voters that voting is pointless, especially when that subgroup is themselves authoritarian (e.g. “tankies”) and not only are the Republicans putting out that message, but their own leaders are telling them that voting is pointless effectively throwing the vote to the right.
I’m pretty sure this position is intentional, most tankies I’ve spoken to are effectively accelerationists even if they won’t admit it.
This is a lie and false narrative. If people would have been voting third party since 1992, there might be viable candidates.
It’s 100% DNC fault for rigged system where they picked Hillary because she directly paid them millions. They are picking Biden because he’s directly funneling hundreds of millions to DNC.
Any healthy sane organization would have had a primary with a few strong candidates instead of an unelectable senile genocide supporter. Period. If people are worried about Trump, run a real candidate, don’t tell people you have to vote for whatever shitbag DNC has selected because they get salary and probably steal money from DNC.
Our voting system is “first past the post”, this means there are mathematical realities that are not ideal.
We live in a world with entrenched powers that take advantage of this voting system to maintain power. The fact of the matter is, third party candidates have little chance of winning in a normal situation, when it gets as heated and tribal as it is now, there’s no realistic chance of ONE third party candidate pulling enough votes to win the election. The result of this is diluting votes for the major two candidates. The one with more diluted votes loses.
I don’t like Biden, I don’t like Democrats, but I’m not going to risk a Trump presidency (which will undoubtedly be even worse, I mean, you don’t think that the guy that moved the embassy to Jerusalem is gonna end the genocide do you?) by voting third party.
If you want this to change, push for voting system reforms, there are mathematically superior systems out there (proportional representation, ranked choice, etc), we just need the political will to change the law, but too many people on the left-ish have become convinced that accelerationism and willingness to put others at risk for ideological purity is the righteous position.
Let me be clear, the righteous position NEVER involves harming innocent people or putting innocent people at risk.
We are trapped in this system, the way out is to bust the trap, not ignore it and expect to win.
I don’t blame the accelerationists. What’s the difference between killing a million people in ten years with a revolution or killing ten million people over a century by trying to use the trap to break the trap?
In a certain kind of way, NOT voting for the party you support in a two-party run-off does amount to a fractional vote in favour of your opponent.
I can’t draw a 2x2 table here, but I’ll try to describe it. In the population of voters, you have 20 supporters of party A and 20 supporters of party B. So, there is 50% support for each party in the population of 40 potential voters. During the actual vote, 10 people in party A vote and 15 people in party B vote. The vote spread is 5 votes in favour of party B. Using proportions, that’s 40% for party A and 60% for party B. Using these proportions on the original 40 people, this is the equivalent of a 16 people voting for party A and 24 people voting for party B, even though there are only 20 actual supporters of party B in the population! So, differential voting rates result in a higher proportion of votes going to the party with the higher voting rate, which means that staying home is not neutral. It is effectively a fractional vote for the other guy, where that fraction is a function of the differential voting rate among the two parties’ supporters.
Of course, if enough left-wing supporters stay home, it might go so far as to lead to a win for the radical right under Trump. If that happens, all those on the left who refused to show support for Biden will be just as guilty as the MAGA idiots.
I’ll give you that that is a fair point, but the impact of my action doesn’t outweigh my conviction.
Hopefully more people aren’t like me I guess?
There is no way Israel would’ve had the balls to go as hard as they did. If they did not have us sitting there to make sure no one else got involved.
We supported the bully, or at least someone it turns out it was just as bad as the fucking other guy, and then we continue to do it after we saw all the dead children.
I’ve said it before I’ll say it again, I understand where they’re coming from but they’re still wrong, they’re still the bad guys in this, it just turns out there’s no good guys, but they keep calling themselves the good guys.
Stupid troll
I wish I was, this is honest to God how I feel anymore
Okay, enjoy the genocide of your lgbtq+ and immigrant neighbors. You won’t vote but the MAGA crowd will appear in full force.
Democrats already jumped at the chance to support one genocide. Why should anyone trust them to not do it again at their earliest convenience?
Republicans also jumped at the chance to feed Ukraine to Russia. Whats your point? Feed Ukraine to Russia so that Trump will protect Palestine? The Republicans already cut so much of Ukraine’s funding that they are struggling. I really don’t see what this better alternative is. We can’t just say no. Too much of the country is okay with both parties.
Whats your point?
I made my point. You ignored it. You don’t get to act like Democrats will protect anyone from genocide while they’re actively supporting a genocide.
They’re not being shielded; they’re just another entry on the “then they came for” list.
And who will shield the needy and vulnerable? Who will come to their aide when the world simply stares? What is your alternative solution?
What the hell makes you think they’ll change in the future?
You’re kind of helping his argument, no? His choice is support genocide of his LGBT+ neighbors or Palestinians? Neither option presented sounds worthy of a vote.
And republicans are going to end the Israel-Palestine conflict? I don’t think so
You’re so hell bent on making it a Republican vs Democrat thing. We should be primarying Biden out. They’re both too old and need to go the fuck on.
Finally someone who gets it!
You guys have fun with genocidin biden, if he’s on the ballot I’m just staying home and staying quiet for the next 4 years
“genocidin Biden”? No wonder you’re not voting, you sound like you’re 12. Go to your room and think about what you just said, young human. It’s not as deep as you think it is.
The situation in Gaza is tragic, and can’t be solved with a soundbite. But anyone who thinks outcomes will be better with Trump in office is delusional. Trump has proven that he doesn’t really care about human rights, he cares about enriching himself. The Palestinians will be sold to the highest bidder. Is that what you want?
Browbeating is satisfying, and is less work than addressing the issue and trying to make progress toward a resolution. Do you suppose that your response made it more likely that the person you responded to will behave in the way you want?
Dismissiveness indicates an aversion to introspection.
I am not averse to introspection, I did a lot of it before I made my decision.
Morally, I can not support someone who wants to kill Gazans so badly that he did a run around around congress, twice.
He even confirms that he is not concerned about it, just the optics on israel.
I am not averse to introspection
I didn’t say you were. I was referring to your interlocutor.
Ah, my apologies then.
Also, my bad, it should be Genocidin’ Biden with a capital g and an apostrophe for proprieties sake
I’m 37 and voted blue from 18.
The party is officials are ignoring my concerns therefore, I no longer support them.
Feel free to do so if you’d like, I don’t intend on standing in your way.
You did not have my back, and now I won’t have yours
Cool, so you’re just a fucking idiot then, got it
Loyalty is a 2 way street. I fronted the party some and they fucked me when it came time to pay it back.
I’ll give you some good life advice, never give your loyalty to someone who ignores you.
I’ll tell you what, maybe you can go bypass congressional oversight to do what you want.
Maybe you can give unlimited support to him, but I won’t help a bad person.
I’ll give you some good life advice, never give your loyalty to someone who ignores you.
We’re talking about voting, not loyalty.
Maybe you can give unlimited support to him, but I won’t help a bad person.
Of course you will. Choosing to throw away your vote is a choice nonetheless.
I mean, if I really disagreed that much I could just vote for the other guy out of spite.
I support the rest of what y’all stand for enough not to help the enemy, I just can’t stand the thought of standing next to you anymore.
I like it more than genocide Joe, hell at least I still capitalize his name.
and staying quiet for the next 4 years
I doubt it lol
Nope, I hate motherfuckers who bitch about the president and then you find out they didn’t even bother to vote.
I can at least respect the opposition when they bitch they put in the time and effort to stand in fucking line or maybe even just mail in a form.
