Activist says trans people can’t trust Democrats to protect them anymore

www.independent.co.uk Activist says trans people can’t trust Democrats to protect them anymore

In the face of ‘eradication’, one trans activist is preparing to fight – and she’s sick of silence and neglect from her supposed allies. Raquel Willis tells Io Dodds why Republican bathroom bans are everybody’s problem

In the face of ‘eradication’, one trans activist is preparing to fight – and she’s sick of silence and neglect from her supposed allies. Raquel Willis tells Io Dodds why Republican bathroom bans are everybody’s problem

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The difference is: to win you need as many people voting against the GOP as possible.
- Since there won't be a major election for another two years, now seems like a perfect time to criticize the hell out of Democrats.
  
  Those criticisms don’t disappear at election time. They get used as ammo by bad faith actors to convince voters to not vote/vote 3rd party/vote GOP.
  Giving the GOP more power
  
  So we're not allowed to criticize Democrats ever? How is that supposed to result in a functional political system?
  
  No one said ever. The more criticism there is for democrats the lower their chances of winning will be. That’s a matter of fact. Do with it what you want.
  
  Winning at the cost of our most fundamental values and freedoms is no true victory. As long as the Democrats continue to betray their progressive base for corporate donors they deserve all the criticism they receive. If your reason for voting is to keep the greater evil out of power then criticizing the lesser evil isn't going to change your mind. Only low-information voters might change their minds in response to hearing criticism of the Democrats, but no amount of finger-wagging is going to shield the Democrats from the consequences of their own actions.
  
  So when it comes to trans rights you don’t feel there is any difference between the GOP being in power vs Democrats.
  
  Of course there is a difference. The Democrats are a lesser evil by a pretty large margin, I don't dispute that. The point I'm making is that your constant chastisement of anyone who criticizes the Democrats from the left is counter-productive and betrays a deep insecurity in the merits of the party. When a party is unable to withstand criticism from its own base that's a problem with the party, not the base. You can blame voters all you want for the Democrats' loss, but it won't fix the problems the party has that led to this outcome. Criticism - and more importantly an adequate response to that criticism from the party itself - is necessary if the party is ever to recover.
  
  FUD exists as a strategy because it works. All you have to do is criticize to sow apathy and reduce voter turnout.
  
  Yes, the thing about FUD is you can't stop it, and by fighting it you only make it worse, especially when there are legitimate reasons to doubt. The best response to FUD is to make the criticism look stupid by proving it wrong with action. Trying to shut down criticism makes you look weak, and makes the criticism seem more valid, even when it isn't.
  
  That doesn’t work in this scenario because democrats need more than the trans community to win elections. So they have to also win over voters that are anti trans.
  
  So if nobody is saying that, when do we get to criticize Democrats? Be specific.
- I see we’ve learned nothing from the election. “I’m less shit than my opponent” is not a winning play.
  Instead why don’t we ask why over a third of the electorate doesn’t bother voting? For either side.
  
  I see we’ve learned nothing from the election. “I’m less shit than my opponent” is not a winning play.
  What does this have to do with inflation aka the reason democrats lost?
  Saying you need more votes than just the trans community and their allies to beat the GOP is not saying “I’m less shit than my opponent”.
  Instead why don’t we ask why over a third of the electorate doesn’t bother voting? For either side.
  I did, they said they don’t care about politics.
  
  Move the goalposts if it makes you feel you’re forming a better argument; the by-line from your and prior comments was about infighting and criticism of the party, and that they don’t represent the people the party claims to cares about. Inflation wasn’t part of this discussion, but it honestly reinforces my point. “Tariffs bad” yes tariffs are bad, what is the party going to do about the real economic harm that voters feel from rising cost of living? Gaslight them some more? Point to line going up on the S&P as ‘progress’ and then wonder why working poor stay home every cycle? Maybe that’s why they’re disinterested in politics?
  
  I haven’t moved the goalpost. The prior comments were talking about infighting and criticism of the party and your comment brought up the recent election specifically.
  Democrats lost the recent election because of inflation experienced during Bidens term.
  Infighting and criticism creates apathy that lowers voter turnout. It is a key component of FUD, an effective strategy that is used in online communities like this one.
  Both are true.
  
  Inflation is the prime reason cited by voters, not the electorate who registered to vote, and not the population as a whole.
  Look at how Trump managed to drive turnout amongst non/low propensity voters, even at the cost of the more traditional Republican voters. Populism wielded by an autocratic demagogue is a cancer, but you don’t beat cancer with yet another neoliberal bandage atop the gaping wound caused by unchecked capitalism.
  And it’s genuinely infuriating to see ostensible allies on the left bludgeon any criticism of the party as FUD - if I’m not permitted to post-mortem the DNC after a pathetic showing where they burned a billion dollars, with a B, and still lost all three (four even) branches of government, when will you accept any feedback? Are you seriously going to spend the next 2, 4, 6, etc years reinforcing a bubble devoid of criticism?
  
  What 4 branches are you referring to?
  Also, republicans won the majority of voters by constantly referring to democrats as being pro-lgbtq. To turn around and criticize the democrats for that is pretty shitty
  
  I like the speed downvote within under a minute, and nitpicking whilst ignoring the substance of my comment, top tier wit on display
  Honesty it’s a slip meaning the four houses (Senate, House, Executive, and Supreme Court) but given the way the media is fawning and exonerating Trump, the fourth branch also fits
  Edit: Changing your post to add more substance after being called out is weak af, get better rhetoric skills. Saving for posterity bc you wolnt:
  What 4 branches are you referring to?
  
  I like the speed downvote within under a minute, and nitpicking whilst ignoring the substance of my comment, top tier wit on display
  Did you forget to call timeout? Your comment had no substance to ignore. You’re making a lot of unfounded claims about what you think the entire population wants based on your feelings.
  Edit: Changing your post to add more substance after being called out is weak af, get better rhetoric skills.
  Don’t be dramatic. As soon as I posted I went back and added better wording. You’re acting like I changed something after you replied.
  Saving for posterity bc you wolnt:
  What 4 branches are you referring to?
  Ya you never answered my question. What 4 branches are you referring to?
  
  Don't be dramatic. As soon as I posted I went back and added better wording. You're acting like I changed something after you replied.
  You posted a half baked comment, then edited it after getting called out for having nothing but nitpicking. You got caught, and changed the substance of the comment from a reaction to one with an actual point after the fact - be an adult and own it; internet points have zero real world value, but rhetoric skills do matter offline.
  Ya you never answered my question. What 4 branches are you referring to?
  I already answered this, dw the link isn’t a rickroll you can click though on a citation:
  Honesty it’s a slip meaning the four houses (Senate, House, Executive, and Supreme Court) but given the way the media is fawning and exonerating Trump, the fourth branch]https//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth\_branch\_of\_government) also fits
  
  No I posted this:
  What 4 branches are you referring to?
  Then added this immediately after hitting post/ before you posted:
  Also, republicans won the majority of voters by constantly referring to democrats as being pro-lgbtq. To turn around and criticize the democrats for that is pretty shitty
  I didn’t edit anything after your response only before. So it seems you are lying about that to make it look like I’m ninja editing my post. That says something about you.
  You said this:
  if I’m not permitted to post-mortem the DNC after a pathetic showing where they burned a billion dollars, with a B, and still lost all three (four even) branches of government
  I asked which three (four even) branches of government are you referring to that were lost after “they burned a billion dollars” to stop fascism?
  You responded with a wiki link about “Fourth branch of government” which doesn’t answer the question.

132 comments