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

  • penquin@lemm.ee
    797·
    11 months ago

    Dude is commiting a fucking political suicide. He’s determined to force people not to vote for him.

    • MarmaladeMermaid@lemm.ee
      506·
      11 months 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
        368·
        11 months 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·
          11 months 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
        8·
        11 months 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
        617·
        11 months 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
          176·
          11 months 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·
            11 months 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
              81·
              11 months 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·
                11 months 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
            421·
            11 months ago

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

      • penquin@lemm.ee
        923·
        11 months 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
            717·
            11 months 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
                18·
                11 months 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
                  61·
                  11 months 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
                    18·
                    11 months ago

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

          • Stowaway@midwest.social
            2·
            11 months 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
            24·
            11 months 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
            11·
            11 months 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
          23·
          11 months 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
            22·
            11 months ago

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

                • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
                  22·
                  11 months 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
                    23·
                    11 months 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.

      • penquin@lemm.ee
        1217·
        11 months ago

        He never will be, but I can’t vote for Biden either. Maybe the country DOES need to burn to the ground so people do something about it.

        • acceptable_pumpkin@lemmy.world
          106·
          11 months ago

          What a ridiculously stupid take. Are you in High School or something? Have you ever heard of the saying “cutting off your nose to spite your face?”

          • MiDaBa@lemmy.ml
            122·
            11 months ago

            It doesn’t matter if you think it’s a stupid take or not. Focusing on one person here won’t change the fact that enthusiasm for Biden is already low. Telling someone they are stupid because they feel this way certainly won’t change their mind and will more likely solidify their position. I think we should be more vocal now about pushing for a different candidate even at this late stage. The polls already show Biden will not get the numbers he did before. The choice between not good and doom just isn’t going to motivate the masses this time. The sad truth is that Biden as the nominee is Trumps best chance at a second term.

            • acceptable_pumpkin@lemmy.world
              51·
              11 months ago

              Polls also showed Hillary was a sure win. Polls don’t matter. VOTING matters. It’s posts like this, or apathetic posts, or posts calling for a 3rd party rather than. Keen that are the ones that cause more damage. Each and every one of these posts should be called out, and I’m sure a good number of them are Russian or Chinese funded disinformation and propaganda campaigns.

        • Uniquitous@lemmy.oneEnglish
          63·
          11 months ago

          That’s the most selfish shit. That’s people you’re talking about burning to the ground.