Obama tells Black men it’s ‘not acceptable’ to sit out election | CNN Politics
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Former President Barack Obama on Thursday admonished Black men who he believes have not adequately supported Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, telling them it’s “not acceptable” to sit out this election and suggesting they might be reluctant to vote for Harris because she’s a woman.

He then ends up suggesting the reason they don’t like Harris is because she’s a woman -

“Because part of it makes me think – and I’m speaking to men directly – part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.”

  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4915·
    21 days ago

    Making policies that help the community, and actually getting them passed, is what will make the difference.

    We can’t pass any policy anywhere in the country without bipartisan support and the blessing of the courts. Since the Republicans are in opposition and the courts are stacked with cranks, that means the best we can promise is that one day we’ll have a Democrat Supermajority capable of passing compromise legislation with its more right-wing members.

    Sorry, but these are just the rules, which are immutable and which we must abide by no matter how much pain they cause to our constituents.

    Also, please note that conservatives are fully unbound by these rules. They can and will inflict incalculable harm on you if any single branch is in their control. There is, unfortunately, nothing liberals can do about this because interrupting the harm caused by the rules-breakers would be against the rules.

    So the message we need to bring to black voters is that they only have themselves to blame if things get worse. It’s cake or death and we’re all out of cake.

    No one is on their side. Will Kamala change that? Honestly, probably not. Tim Walz has a better chance of that.

    Glances at Walz’s record during the Minnesota BLM protests

    Oof. I would not bank on it.

    • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
      215·
      21 days ago

      The answer when facing opposition isn’t to throw up your hands and declare it too difficult. Keep pushing, keep fighting, keep trying to improve the lives of marginalized groups. The fact that the Democrats aren’t willing to put in the effort is all you need to know for the lackluster support.

      Side note, don’t fucking blame marginalized people when things go sideways.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1110·
        21 days ago

        The answer when facing opposition isn’t to throw up your hands and declare it too difficult. Keep pushing

        That is, unfortunately, not the message that modern liberals seem to adhere to.

        Side note, don’t fucking blame marginalized people when things go sideways.

        But it’s the American Way.

        • kandoh@reddthat.com
          162·
          21 days ago

          Liberals know voters want to hear the message ‘vote for me and I will fix the problems’.

          They know voters would be turned off by the more accurate message: vote for me and we can turn the steering wheel of this massive machine slightly left for 4 years, and if we keep that up for a few cycles we can eventually solve the problems.

          • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
            159·
            21 days ago

            They know voters would be turned off by the more accurate message: vote for me and we can turn the steering wheel of this massive machine slightly left for 4 years

            That’s exactly the message they’ve been running on since 2008.

            Obama’s “the long arc of history bends towards progress” speech was this practically verbatium. And it was popular precisely because it was seen as modest and achievable. The problem is that Obama didn’t achieve it. He spent eight years treading water from the Bush Era, during which he normalized a bunch of the illegal, unconscionable, and ultimately detrimental practices of the Bush Administration before handing the reins over to… Donald Trump.

            History didn’t bend towards progress. It whipped directly back in the face of those enthusiastic moderates. But the only lesson it appears to have taught them is that even Obama was too ambitious and too extreme, despite bending over backwards to appease moderate Republicans. So Biden stepped in as an even more conservative version of Obama. Two years into office, he too gets hit with a backlash, which the party took to conclude they were too radical under Biden.

            Now we’ve got Harris, a candidate who has fallen fully in line with the Cheney family on litany of domestic and foreign policy issues. Will this turn voters off? Will it prove that the Cheneys are too left-wing for the American voter? Only time will tell.

            • kandoh@reddthat.com
              114·
              21 days ago

              Biden stepped in as an even more conservative version of Obama. Two years into office, he too gets hit with a backlash, which the party took to conclude they were too radical under Biden.

              Biden has been firmly left of Obama on economics, environmental, and foreign policy.

              What makes you say Biden has been more conservative? What aspects specifically

              • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
                118·
                21 days ago

                Biden has been firmly left of Obama

                He campaigned by co-opting a number of Bernie’s platforms in 2020 and immediately abandoned them on taking office.

                What makes you say Biden has been more conservative?

                He cut back a bunch of progressive social programs on the back end of COVID, then ratcheted up military and police spending and sent big financial kickbacks to a bunch of morbund corporate interests. His DOJ has fixated on drug crime and immigration crime, while going nearly blind to financial crime and civil rights abuses. O&G drilling surged on his watch, particularly on public lands. He’s been steadily privatizing everything from the post office to the space program.

                Dude’s to the right of Ronald Reagan.

                • kandoh@reddthat.com
                  65·
                  21 days ago

                  Okay and he’s also done:

                  1. Climate and Environmental Policies: Biden’s administration has pushed for significant investments in renewable energy and environmental justice, including provisions in the CHIPS Act for climate responsibility plans[1][4].

                  2. Social Equity Initiatives: Executive Order 13985 aimed at advancing racial equity reflects a focus on equal outcomes, aligning with progressive principles[1].

                  3. Healthcare and Social Programs: Biden supports expanding healthcare access through a public option and has backed student loan forgiveness, both progressive stances[2].

                  4. Labor and Economic Policies: The administration expanded overtime pay and introduced consumer protections against discriminatory practices, aligning with leftist economic reforms[4].

                  5. Gun Control Measures: Biden enacted significant gun safety legislation and established the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, advocating for stricter gun control[3].

                  Citations: [1] Funding Leftism, Making Power Grabs: The Biden Administration’s … https://www.heritage.org/budget-and-spending/report/funding-leftism-making-power-grabs-the-biden-administrations [2] Political positions of Joe Biden - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Joe_Biden [3] Joe Biden political stances: Where he stands in 2024 - NewsNation https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/2024-election/joe-biden-political-views-2024/ [4] 30 Things Joe Biden Did as President You Might Have Missed https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/02/02/joe-biden-30-policy-things-you-might-have-missed-00139046 [5] Democracy Policy Under Biden: Confronting a Changed World https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2024/02/democracy-policy-under-biden-confronting-a-changed-world [6] Opinion | Biden’s Democratic Party is to the left of Obama’s. Thank a … https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/07/13/why-progressives-winning-inside-democratic-party/ [7] Joe Biden’s surprisingly progressive agenda - Vox https://www.vox.com/21322478/joe-biden-overton-window-bidenism [8] Here’s what Biden and Democrats have gotten done over the last 2 … https://www.npr.org/2023/01/01/1143149435/despite-infighting-its-been-a-surprisingly-productive-2-years-for-democrats

                  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    103·
                    21 days ago

                    My guy, how do you post links to the fucking Heritage Foundation and the Carnegie Endowment with a straight face?

                    Environmental Radicalism. In a similar vein, Executive Order 14008 claims that America must achieve “significant short-term global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and net-zero global emissions by mid-century or before.” This approach to “climate change” and “environmental justice” will impose tens of trillions of dollars in costs on the economy, with much of the burden falling on the poor, farmers, and small businesses, lowering the standard of living for all Americans, with negligible environmental benefits.

                    Debasing Science. Not every government-spanning initiative by the Biden Administration has required an executive order. A memorandum from the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the White House Council on Environmental Quality in November 2022 called on the federal government to use Indigenous Knowledge (IK), which is associated with tribal communities and cultures

                    This isn’t evidence, its a right-wing screed.

                  • ᵀʰᵉʳᵃᵖʸᴳᵃʳʸ@lemmy.blahaj.zone
                    41·
                    21 days ago

                    Climate and Environmental Policies

                    Biden’s climate initiatives, such as the CHIPS Act and Justice40, are insufficient. They rely heavily on market-based solutions like tax credits and incentives, which fail to challenge the power of fossil fuel industries or enforce stringent regulations necessary for rapid decarbonization. The slow implementation and lack of aggressive action on carbon removal and methane reduction highlight a reluctance to confront corporate interests directly (McCarthy, 2023; Hsu, 2023).

                    Social Equity Initiatives

                    Executive Order 13985 focuses on equal outcomes but does not address systemic issues that perpetuate inequality. This approach lacks a transformative vision to dismantle entrenched structures of racism and economic disparity. True social equity requires redistributive policies that go beyond symbolic gestures and tackle wealth inequality, housing, and education access head-on (Gordon, 2021; Alexander, 2021).

                    Healthcare and Social Programs

                    Biden’s healthcare policies, including the proposed public option, fall short of the comprehensive reform needed. They maintain the dominance of private insurance companies instead of moving towards a universal single-payer system that guarantees healthcare as a human right. Similarly, student loan forgiveness initiatives are piecemeal solutions that do not address the root problem of skyrocketing education costs driven by profit motives in higher education (Klein, 2021; Friedman, 2021).

                    Labor and Economic Policies

                    While expanding overtime pay and consumer protections are steps in the right direction, they do not fundamentally alter the power dynamics between labor and capital. These measures fail to address wage stagnation, job insecurity, and the erosion of union power. A better approach would prioritize empowering workers through stronger labor rights, collective bargaining, and significant wealth redistribution (Bivens, 2022; Jacobs, 2022).

                    Gun Control Measures

                    Biden’s gun safety legislation is inadequate in addressing the systemic causes of gun violence. It focuses on moderate reforms like background checks without challenging the influence of the gun lobby or addressing deeper issues such as economic inequality and lack of community resources. A more appropriate approach would involve investments in mental health services and community-led violence prevention programs (Miller, 2021; Vanneman, 2021).

                    References

    • chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world
      167·
      21 days ago

      No one to blame but themselves? That’s a great message.

      “Hey, you’ve been marginalized your entire life by a system that has hated every generation of your family because of the color of your skin. I’ve got news for you, bucko, fix my problems, or I’ll just keep blaming you.”

    • Auli@lemmy.caEnglish
      75·
      20 days ago

      Isn’t the problem when the Democrats controlled the house and senate with Obama he did nothing with it.

      • havocpants@lemm.ee
        91·
        20 days ago

        I’m not an American, but didn’t Obama’s administration make an enormous positive change to healthcare in the US via the ACA?

        • farngis_mcgiles@sh.itjust.works
          42·
          20 days ago

          No, it was very similar to a 1993 republican backed bill. It still left millions of people without care and did nothing to curb the actual cause of runaway medical costs in the US. Obama campaigned on getting affordable healthcare for all Americans then in classic Dem fashion intentionally fumbled the plan because the same wealthy donors that fund republicans also control the Dems.

        • Olgratin_Magmatoe@lemmy.worldEnglish
          42·
          20 days ago

          They did, and shit like that takes years to make happen thanks to how slow the government was intentionally set up to be.

          But that’s a convenient fact that is often left out.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
        71·
        20 days ago

        Obama explicitly stated that his goal for immigration and climate reform was 70-80 “Yes” votes in the Senate. He spent months attempting to negotiate with Lindsey Graham, John McCain, and Susan Collins, who just ran him in a big circle to burn out the clock until mid-terms.

    • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.socialOPEnglish
      98·
      21 days ago

      So the message we need to bring to black voters is that they only have themselves to blame if things get worse. It’s cake or death and we’re all out of cake.

      Is that sarcasm…? Honestly, I can’t tell.

      If it’s earnest, then i would have to guess that what you’re after isn’t electoral victory but radicalization. I’m not sure how you expect to tell a marginalized minority ‘you have only yourself to blame’ and have them turn out for you, that’s just… Hopeless?

      It’s an excellent message to turn progressives into anarchists and revolutionaries, though, and I’m actually kind of here for it.