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In a representative democracy, the people being responsible for their government is kind of the point.
Yeah. But we are an oligarchy.
Except representative democracy is a myth… Majority rule ≠ representation. Non-majority groups are unaccounted for. Plus, while the people may vote for representatives, they ultimately have no control over what said representatives decide to actually do. They can campaign for and promise all they want, but once they’re in office, they’re there.
Citizens are not responsible for the actions of their government.
I don’t think most people realize that members of congress can’t be recalled.
As a legal matter, maybe not. As a practical matter I’m pretty sure it is evident.
You can’t simultaneously support democracy and say that the citizens aren’t responsible for their government.
Either democracy is a failure or it isn’t.
That’s what I’m saying. Most current democratic systems are a failure
Direct voting is the future.
How do I make this atrocity all about me, a westerner
Excuse me?
I feel like being nervous in response to blatant threats to my nation - and by extent its populous, including myself - is fairly reasonable
Are you American? No part of the article comes close to implying they want to target American civlians:
“To the Americans I say, focusing your threats on Hezbollah and the region are pointless,” Nasrallah said. The US said it “would not only attack Lebanon but will attack Iran.”
“Your fleets in the Mediterranean do not and will not cause us to fear. We have prepared for your fleet what it takes. You Americans remember your defeats from Lebanon (early 80s), Iraq, and Afghanistan… your humiliating retreat from Afghanistan. He praised the recent attacks by Iraqi Shia militias against US based in the region.
“If an all out war erupts your fleet will be no good, your warplanes will be pointless, you will pay a heavy price.”
They are clearly talking about defending against an American intervention. Hurting American civilians in Amrerica would be even more strategically stupid than cruel so I don’t know why you jumped to that conclusion. Maybe you are projecting the American tradition of imposing collective punishment on civilians as they do in cases of their interventions and economic sanction. Unless you want just to fantasise about Muslim hordes in which case you read it however you want.
That seems like a bad idea? I don’t know what antagonizing the US would help with in the current conflict. I’d think they want US support/compassion for Palistine to be higher not lower, and attacking is a sure way to plumit it.
That’s the thing. It literally does not matter how much the American people support Palestine because the American government is going to do whatever the American ruling class wants.
There is no chance in hell Americans would vote to send aid to Israel if it was a referendum.
I don’t think you’re wrong about the first part, but I disagree that Americans wouldn’t vote to support Israel. Many Americans support Israel for religious reasons, and many more see the nation as the only ally we have in the Middle East. It’s a dramatic oversimplification of the reality, but nobody ever lost an election underestimating the American voters.
Religion is poison
Will you see support? Yes, absolutely.
I don’t think there’s a snowball’s chance in hell that at least 50% of Americans will support sending aid to Israel if given the chance to vote on it.
The left won’t support it because they’re anti-war.
The right won’t support it because their constituency is anti-Israel, anti-Semetic, and follows the talking point ‘help Americans first’ religiously.
I think you’re giving the average American voter too much credit. First off, you wouldn’t need 50%, just 50% of voters. More than half of the American voting population does not understand the conflict. Whether it’s disinformation overload or apathy, too many voters simply do no have an opinion on what supporting Israel means. This is a nuanced conflict with a long history and complicated international implications. In the time it would take just to bring everyone up to speed, Israel could empty their arsenal of bombs.
Also, what makes you think the left is anti-war? For that matter, what makes you think there’s a functioning left? We have two parties, and while they are not at all the same, neither of them is pro-Palestine. At best, you have political leaders who are anti-genocide, and very few are willing to call the Israeli response to Hamas a “genocide.”
Now the right may be antisemitic, but they’re also anti-Muslim. Really any target for hate will suffice, but currently it’s the Islamic enemies they hate the most. Support for Israel is a proxy war against Islam, which is why you see strong support on the right. Israel can bomb all the civilians they want, and the military industrial complex gets to sell more weapons and vehicles. The Christian right would much rather see Jews and Muslims killing each other than have to get involved and do it themselves. Christian fundamentalists see support for Israel as good for America, because they can act like they are disappointed while watching two enemy religions try to wipe each other out.
I think if you put it to a popular vote, you’d see the public support Israel two to one. I don’t have polling on that, I’m just guessing and could be way off.
I’m looking forward to “War on Terror II: Electric Boogaloo”… The last one was a resounding, several-trillion dollar, success.
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So… should the Americans blame their government for Muslim retaliation?
Just like Gazans should blame Hamas for Israel’s retaliation?
Nah. That’s not gonna happen, lol.
Here is the full speech of Hezbollah Chief from Al Jazeera english : https://youtu.be/SsvgLuIaDgs?si=ESnMKscavqNPKhJv
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/SsvgLuIaDgs?si=ESnMKscavqNPKhJv
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
