Gramsci wrote:

AdamN wrote: Thu Oct 24, 2024 3:09 pm Ian MacKaye has always said that he votes for the candidate that he thinks is less likely to start a new war.

So he's abstaining.

It’s DC so he has plenty of room for luxury opinions. Harris will win by 20%.

Gramsci wrote:

penningtron wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2024 6:51 am Can we also admit that Ian quote (from like.. 1995 btw) is kind of dumb?

Ah, the 90s… remember how simple life was…

Never mind that Ian MacKaye, admirable as his ethics and stances on many other things are, might be something like the Bono of punk rock. (I should know, b/c daily life in my own NYC cultural bubble also probably won't change a ton either way b/c of the presidential election.)

But I've always thought that heeding a rock musician's political advice is about as useful as caring about a sculptor or a plumber's take on same.

Or, as the late Will Shatter (whose political opinions I also had little faith in) once put it: "Rock musicians are even worse than your teachers and your priests/They suck up your dreams for sex and rebellion/You made them God and they give you back nothing." (Ok, not so much "sex" in ol' Ian's case, at least not back in the day, but... Heh.)

Then again, of course I'd say that. I'm a shut-up-and-play kinda dude at heart.

Anyway, Harris seems to either be losing most polls by a nose right now or tied w/Trump.

I'm also a bit concerned that Trump is doing actually better than we think, as both the 2016 and 2020 numbers underestimated support for him, probably b/c a lot of people aren't as keen on admitting that they dig him (or that they'd throw the whole fuckin' country away over a tax cut or not loving the migrant situation in their community).

I spent last Christmas in Beirut teaching a group of new friends how to bowl, their kindness in showing me around the downtown of the Middle East's claimed Paris puts me forever in their gratitude. I was coasting out to after hours bars with a bartender who explained to me how the city has changed after the explosion (the DIY scene collapsed and the money used to restore the riverfront ended up gentrifying the ~bohemian blocks of the city)

I have had to check in with these people after every major civilian strike committed by the US government with Israel as a proxy. What bothers me most is every number I didn't get, the faces and names who went unsung, kind interactions in service to nothing except our little universal karma. I hope those people are okay too.

I am supposed to pretend that I didn't notice the Democratic Party added "we strive for a Hezbollah-free Lebanon" to the party platform some two months back, prior to the strikes. This phrase did not appear in the 2020 platform, what a coincidence it manifests itself a short time prior to a new war breaking out with civilians in the line of fire yet AGAIN.

Kamala Harris will not get my vote, I do not have the luxury of distance from her horrific policies. Bully for you if you do, enjoy living inside of a bubble where the outside world doesn't matter.

Regardless as to who wins, I curse all of those who are utilizing an election year to enact their worst impulses, pointing to the opposition and guaranteeing that the carnage will be much worse under them. I have rarely thought of our democracy as functional, but to be in an election year with a heinous proxy war being committed by our favored Nazi puppet state and neither candidate will promise to end the senseless bombing of civilians - may the entirety of the United States government burn in hell.

zorg wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2024 10:50 am

Gramsci wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2024 6:57 am

penningtron wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2024 6:51 am Can we also admit that Ian quote (from like.. 1995 btw) is kind of dumb?

Ah, the 90s… remember how simple life was…

Dumb how? Dumb like they all want to start wars? Because otherwise opposing starting wars seems like a moral and sensible position unless you work for Lockheed Martin.

As in there are tons of other policies that can help or harm people right around you. Sorry, but as bad as an atrocity is half way around the world it will not override me trying not to let in an administration that wants to treat the women in our lives like Handmaids (among a ton of other examples I'm tired of pointing out to Internet contrarians).

The NatSec establishment in the US is bipartisan in the US, so you’re stuck comparing other differences.

If you (unfortunately) remove that, it’s Harris by a mile. If you know any women, immigrants. black, brown, gay, trans people and you’re thinking of sending the Dems a message because of policy positions they share with the GOP… you’re not helping.

OrthodoxEaster wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2024 11:06 am But I've always thought that heeding a rock musician's political advice is about as useful as caring about a sculptor or a plumber's take on same.

Or, as the late Will Shatter (whose political opinions I also had little faith in) once put it: "Rock musicians are even worse than your teachers and your priests/They suck up your dreams for sex and rebellion/You made them God and they give you back nothing." (Ok, not so much "sex" in ol' Ian's case, at least not back in the day, but... Heh.)

Then again, of course I'd say that. I'm a shut-up-and-play kinda dude at heart.

Very often, probably. But I do think Steve had the uncanny ability to listen, grow, apologize, and opine on these things in a way that reached people who would have otherwise not seen it. I'm glad he didn't just "shut up and play guitar".

But yeah.. especially with old school punk rockers these things can be simplified into an all authority sucks kind of stance and that's just being boneheaded.

gotdamn wrote:I am supposed to pretend that I didn't notice the Democratic Party added "we strive for a Hezbollah-free Lebanon" to the party platform some two months back, prior to the strikes. This phrase did not appear in the 2020 platform, what a coincidence it manifests itself a short time prior to a new war breaking out with civilians in the line of fire yet AGAIN.

Yeah, but that's actually not the worst idea in the world.

Many Lebanese I know agree and deeply distrust Hezbollah. They simply see that group as the result of a different foreign meddling, just not American foreign meddling.

That said, what's currently happening in Lebanon right now is not remotely justifiable as a means of eliminating Hezbollah. Not in any way, shape, or form.

Although as others have noted, I think, as an American, it's much more of a luxury to be able to focus on the Middle East and ignore the suffering down the street or a state or two away, where women no longer have the right to choose what they do w/their bodies.

penningtron wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2024 11:29 am

zorg wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2024 10:50 am

Gramsci wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2024 6:57 am

Ah, the 90s… remember how simple life was…

Dumb how? Dumb like they all want to start wars? Because otherwise opposing starting wars seems like a moral and sensible position unless you work for Lockheed Martin.

As in there are tons of other policies that can help or harm people right around you.

That sounds crazy. I guess since I live in a liberal blue state, in a fairly permissive city I'll just put on my blinders and let everybody else fend for themselves then. What are the exact square miles where I bear responsibility as a human being?

penningtron wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2024 11:47 am But I do think Steve had the uncanny ability to listen, grow, apologize, and opine on these things in a way that reached people who would have otherwise not seen it. I'm glad he didn't just "shut up and play guitar".

To some extent, yeah. (Even though I tend to think he erred on the side of overapologizing for his past conduct. And I disagree wholly w/his stance on not separating art from artist.) True.

But you know, even on those old Big Black records—w/their little manifestos and inserts explaining what the songs were about—Albini always struck me as having more of a (nonshitty) egghead journalist's personality type than that of the typical rock dude. Whereas the very young MacKaye liked Nugent (!) and getting into fistfights at hardcore shows.

OrthodoxEaster wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2024 11:55 am

gotdamn wrote:I am supposed to pretend that I didn't notice the Democratic Party added "we strive for a Hezbollah-free Lebanon" to the party platform some two months back, prior to the strikes. This phrase did not appear in the 2020 platform, what a coincidence it manifests itself a short time prior to a new war breaking out with civilians in the line of fire yet AGAIN.

Yeah, but that's actually not the worst idea in the world.

Many Lebanese I know agree and deeply distrust Hezbollah. They simply see that group as the result of a different foreign meddling, just not American foreign meddling.

That said, what's currently happening in Lebanon right now is not remotely justifiable as a means of eliminating Hezbollah. Not in any way, shape, or form.

Although as others have noted, I think, as an American, it's much more of a luxury to be able to focus on the Middle East and ignore the suffering down the street or a state or two away, where women no longer have the right to choose what they do w/their bodies.

I am not here to justify Hezbollah, I am here to say that the Dems gave away their own plot just prior to the civilian population of Lebanon being attacked. They would nuke The Beqaa and pretend they helped someone. It is unjustifiable, but since this is an election year, they do not even seek out justification. That's who you're voting for.

It was this current administration that failed to codify Roe v Wade, even after Americans handed them blue victory after blue victory in the general and the runoffs. Filibuster, procedural logistics, some jackoff from West Virginia, yadda yadda. Yet they almost instantly started fundraising after the Supreme Court decision, so I fail to see how they're concerned with the fate of women in the country unless it directly benefits their campaigning. The more civil rights we lose, the better their odds in the general - that's American politics for you.

gotdamn wrote:

OrthodoxEaster wrote: Fri Oct 25, 2024 11:55 am

gotdamn wrote:I am supposed to pretend that I didn't notice the Democratic Party added "we strive for a Hezbollah-free Lebanon" to the party platform some two months back, prior to the strikes. This phrase did not appear in the 2020 platform, what a coincidence it manifests itself a short time prior to a new war breaking out with civilians in the line of fire yet AGAIN.

Yeah, but that's actually not the worst idea in the world.

Many Lebanese I know agree and deeply distrust Hezbollah. They simply see that group as the result of a different foreign meddling, just not American foreign meddling.

That said, what's currently happening in Lebanon right now is not remotely justifiable as a means of eliminating Hezbollah. Not in any way, shape, or form.

Although as others have noted, I think, as an American, it's much more of a luxury to be able to focus on the Middle East and ignore the suffering down the street or a state or two away, where women no longer have the right to choose what they do w/their bodies.

I am not here to justify Hezbollah, I am here to say that the Dems gave away their own plot just prior to the civilian population of Lebanon being attacked. They would nuke The Beqaa and pretend they helped someone. It is unjustifiable, but since this is an election year, they do not even seek out justification. That's who you're voting for.

It was this current administration that failed to codify Roe v Wade, even after Americans handed them blue victory after blue victory in the general and the runoffs. Filibuster, procedural logistics, some jackoff from West Virginia, yadda yadda. Yet they almost instantly started fundraising after the Supreme Court decision, so I fail to see how they're concerned with the fate of women in the country unless it directly benefits their campaigning. The more civil rights we lose, the better their odds in the general - that's American politics for you.

Way I see it, you're assailing one side for a lack of convictions and for being incompetent.

Whereas the other side is outwardly, aggressively, and blatantly working against most of our shared interests here.

And procedural logistics are a pretty huge, unavoidable thing when it comes to how the U.S. government is set up, like it or not. (Those same logistics have also stymied a fair number of horrible conservative initiatives.)

Conversely, I'm sure there are some hard-right fuckers out there who blame the Republicans for not assuring a nationwide abortion ban, not going far enough (yet?), and not having their shit together. Still, it's not like a Democratic president appointed those damn Supreme Court judges or got that particular ball rolling.