• mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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    2 months ago

    As would like 99% of Lemmy as far as I can tell.

    Ehhh maybe 60%.

    I edited it down to 90%. I think there’s about 10% who misunderstand Biden’s domestic policies enough that they think he’s been destructive to unions or something, and so they feel reluctant to say they want him to win even against a clear catastrophe.

    Do you honestly think there are a bunch of people (40% or 4% or 0.4%) on Lemmy who like weapons shipments to Israel? What are you basing this on? I’ve seen one person on Mastodon who seemed like they’d bought into a lot of the propaganda that discredits news about what’s happening to the Palestinians, and honestly believed the IDF was fighting a normal lawful war against armed opponents. That one person represents probably about 0.1% or less of the accounts I’ve interacted with; I have not seen any other person who I think would be in favor of aid to Israel.

    But that is my experience; maybe I am missing something.

    • go_go_gadget@lemmy.worldOP
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      2 months ago

      Check my comment history where I’ve asked this question. You’ll see several examples of people:

      1. Dipping out and never answering.
      2. Making up a third choice.
      3. Telling me that real life doesn’t have such binary choices.

      Honestly I think because it’s just a sort of disorienting question. Ask “Do you want aid to Israel?” and I think you’ll see more of a unanimous consensus than you could achieve on almost any other issue.

      Fair enough that may be true. I’ll keep toying with the language and see if it makes a noticeable difference.

      • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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        2 months ago

        I mean, it is a counterfactual question in a way that makes people want to take a step back from it instead of just buying into the premise and giving a straight answer. The likely outcomes are Biden + aid for Israel, or Trump + aid for Israel, so separating Biden from aid to Israel sort of comes across like a non sequitur.

      • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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        2 months ago

        I’ll keep toying with the language and see if it makes a noticeable difference.

        Why not just ask, “Do you support aid to Israel?” What is the point of constructing this counterfactual and confusing choice? It’s not a language issue, it’s a “why is that the question you’re asking” issue.

        It’s like, do you want Biden but with the support for Israel taken out of the equation? You’re gonna get a whole lot of people who keep slamming the “yes” button until it breaks if you ask that. Why do you think that would be a difficult question or a gotcha or something?

        • go_go_gadget@lemmy.worldOP
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          2 months ago

          It’s establishing a priority. Their answer demonstrates if sending weapons to Israel is more important to them than Biden winning the 2024 election.

          Some people cannot answer this question. Prioritizing Israel opens them up to the same accusations of supporting Trump they’ve thrown at others. Prioritizing Biden winning means they’d have to vote for someone who isn’t doing what they want. Either way it casts doubt on their perceived self image.

          • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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            2 months ago

            Who is it that you think wants to prioritize sending weapons to Israel?

            It’s like “Do you want this scone, or for me to shit on your carpet?” The number of people outside of niche communities who have uncertainty about the choice is not gonna be real significant (although some may answer it by expressing confusion about the question in the first place instead of just saying, the scone.)

            I don’t know why I spent this amount of time on this bizarre conversation, but on the off chance that you sincerely hold these beliefs and think this is a relevant question, I hope you find the enlightenment about it that you seek.

            • go_go_gadget@lemmy.worldOP
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              2 months ago

              I’m telling you. Check my comment history.

              Who is it that you think wants to prioritize sending weapons to Israel?

              I’m not sure I understand what you mean. Most Republicans (except MAGA) I’m sure. And a good percentage of Democrat voters. I suspect lots of those Democrat voters voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 primaries.

              • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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                2 months ago

                Therrrrre it is

                After some extended conversation we’ve arrived at why you want to ask the question in this particular convoluted way: Because you want to imply a particular narrative, where having a more direct version of the conversation would instantly expose that what you’re trying to imply is a bunch of crap.

                I asked the straightforward version of your question, the answer to which you can check out, in the unlikely-to-me event that you seriously believe what you’re saying here.

                • go_go_gadget@lemmy.worldOP
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                  2 months ago

                  Because you want to imply a particular narrative

                  … Are you new to political discussions? That’s everybody.

                  • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
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                    2 months ago

                    Everybody who’s a phony, a big fat phony, maybe.

                    And one hallmark of the big fat phonies is that they try to claim everyone else is a big fat phony, too.