this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2024
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Summary

In an emotional monologue, John Oliver urged undecided and reluctant voters to support Kamala Harris, emphasizing her policies on Medicare, reproductive rights, and poverty reduction.

Addressing frustrations over the Biden administration’s Gaza policy, he acknowledged the struggle for many voters yet cited voices like Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman, who supports Harris despite reservations.

Oliver warned of the lasting consequences of a second Trump term, including potential Supreme Court shifts.

Oliver said voting for Harris would mean the world could laugh at this past week’s photo of an orange, gaping-mouthed Trump in a fluorescent vest and allow Americans to carry on with life without worrying about what he might do next.

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[–] [email protected] 251 points 6 months ago (6 children)

Imperfection should not make the undecided voters give up on democracy, how can we have progressive policy when the people who want it don’t vote?

[–] [email protected] 109 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

Exactly.

We cannot afford to fall victim to the Nirvana fallacy.

We must work within the system to change the system or we risk being excluded entirely.

[–] [email protected] 73 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Nirvana fallacy, also know as "perfect solution fallacy" is suggesting that no solution is better than an imperfect solution. If I can't have nirvana, I don't want anything.

I see it all the time in online arguments. "Oh, you advocate for housing the homeless? Well then why do you have empty rooms in your house? Just fill it with homeless people." this is an example of the fallacy. It suggests that my solution, "house the homeless" should be discarded because it is not a perfect solution, which would be filling my house up with strangers. The goal is to make me say, "oh, I'm not willing to do that, so we should do nothing instead."

[–] [email protected] 31 points 6 months ago (6 children)

I don't think that's an example. People housing others in their own homes isn't an example of the perfect solution to homelessness. I don't know if we have a name for that fallacy but it's kind of a "put your money where your mouth is" fallacy. If you aren't willing to give up a lot for the solution, you must not really believe it is a problem/solution.

People being against the ACA because it isn't single payer health care is an example of the perfect solution fallacy. Or people being against a $15 minimum wage because it really should be $25 now.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 6 months ago (1 children)

It's a bad faith argument and a strawman. They don't actually think it's reasonable for anyone to do that or think the other person is suggesting that. They are setting a person up as a hypocrite despite that obviously being an insufficient and inefficient solution to the housing crisis.

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[–] [email protected] 55 points 6 months ago (1 children)

In the paraphrased words of an old white dude

Don’t judge her against the Almighty, judge her against the alternative.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 6 months ago

Alternatively: don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

By moderating our online discussion boards to better weed out posts, comments, replies, etc. from foreign interference and domestic Astroturfing that present themselves as far-left in order to convince people that perfect should be the enemy of better. I swear, nobody comes to the conclusion "Esteemed prosecutor Kamala Harris isn't as bad as convicted felon Donald Trump, but she still has flaws and isn't worthy of my vote in a competition for the most influential job in the world that will certainly come down to one of the two of them" on their own. That idea has to be planted by someone arguing in bad faith, and repeated in many forms for someone to begin to believe it.

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[–] [email protected] 185 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (6 children)

Not voting is an act of renouncing your voice and your rights. It's not a protest. It's at best complicity with the status quo, and at worst going to support a candidate that will be far far worse for the issues you are "protesting". You don't get to complain when you don't vote. All you get to do is sit down, shut up, and continue your inaction.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Individual politicians and political parties routinely use count a vote as approval. In that way, if no other, voting does serve to support the existing system.

But, even if you believe there must be revolution and the current system CANNOT be reformed, voting is still harm reduction, unless revolution will happen before the results of the election can influence the system.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Individual politicians and political parties routinely use count a vote as approval. In that way, if no other, voting does serve to support the existing system.

I don't think that tracks.

The highest turnout in any US election since 1908 was 62% in 2020, and at no point has a party won an election and been like 'look at all the people who didn't vote, I guess we don't have a mandate to govern'

Parties win elections and govern in power with less than 50% of voters backing them all the time, it's literally the standard. A low turnout will not change the way any party acts once in power.

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[–] [email protected] 105 points 6 months ago (12 children)

Living in the US as a person who grew up in Western Europe must be most masochistic way of life possible.

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[–] [email protected] 103 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I thought it was touching where he discussed his worries about using his last opportunity to speak before the election, and that he could be left wondering if there was something else that he could have said to change the outcome if it ends up going bad. I imagine there has to be a good bit of pressure when you have such a large platform.

For a show that points out so many wrongs with our country, it's easy to look at things negatively. But for now, at least, we are able to point out those wrongs and still have a hope we can do something about them. Not even 5 years a citizen, I imagine it could be scary as well that if a re-elected Trump goes for a type of "media reform," Oliver is likely going to be high on the list of people to be looked at.

I hope tomorrow goes well for America. I've been disappointed the last few elections that the comedians have been more critical than the mainstream journalists, but right now, I'm glad we've had them if nothing else, motivating us to still be our best.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Ukraine went and elected one of those TV comedians, and, while imperfect, he's been a pretty inspiring leader over the past few years.

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[–] [email protected] 75 points 6 months ago

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2015/01/29/from-the-archives-frederick-douglass-on-the-republican-party/

Frederick Douglas on voting at a time when both Parties had shafted Reconstruction.

[–] [email protected] 56 points 6 months ago

I suggest watching the entire video from GA State Rep. Ruwa Romman that is embedded in the article. Not so much for her reasoning about why she is voting for Harris, but for her comments of how to accomplish things politically in this country, how it works, how to actually move the country forward bit by bit. It's hard and takes work and time but it can definitely be done, and her thoughts about the Green party, how it doesn't do those things and thus never accomplishes anything.

[–] [email protected] 51 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

Oliver said voting for Harris would mean the world could laugh at this past week’s photo of an orange, gaping-mouthed Trump in a fluorescent vest and allow Americans to carry on with life without worrying about what he might do next.

This sounds like my dad. He's kinda a Republican, but doesn't like Trump, and asserted that Trump would just go away after the last election.

Trump and Trumpism are not going away. If Harris wins, even by a lot, it's only going to validate his follower's fears, if it doesn't start an all-out conflict.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Well, I dont think Trump can survive another loss politically. He basically only survived because he moaned about election fraud and refused to accept the results.

Truth is that, the older he gets, the less likely he'll be able to run and the less convincing his "charisma" will be. I think we already see this in effect today to some degree.

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[–] [email protected] 50 points 6 months ago
[–] [email protected] 38 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Imagine becoming a citizen only for the US to be destroyed by a shitbag reality tv cunt a few years later. Let’s not let that happen.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 6 months ago (6 children)

I have friends who will not vote for trump for obvious reasons but not for kamala as well, because they don’t vote for a cop!!!!!! Sad stuff

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 6 months ago (2 children)

C'mon you lazy people. I already voted by mail almost two weeks ago or three. Do that next time if you're going to be lazy like me. But now go out there and face the consequences of your inaction....bad weather, MAGA idiots, fake electors.....fake date if you are prepared to vote Jan 6th or some other date, etc.

Go now! Vote or we're going to have Trump as president again and he's gonna be crazier than before.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 6 months ago (15 children)

maybe he should tell kamala how important it is and to do everything possible to gain voters.

[–] [email protected] 82 points 6 months ago (37 children)

Either Trump will win, or Harris will win. Choose one to help.

Clearly, obviously, Harris stands a better chance of helping Palestinians than does Trump.

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[–] [email protected] 77 points 6 months ago (34 children)

https://psychology-spot.com/basic-laws-of-human-stupidity/?origin=serp_auto

Doing anything else other than voting for Harris in this regard is firmly in the stupid category. Trump would be worse in this regard. You are not only hurting yourself but others as well.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Stupid people really don't like being called stupid, and in my experience, will be stupid harder just to show you.... Something!

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[–] [email protected] 57 points 6 months ago (10 children)

We all know that she needs to do. They have the power.

Instead we're going to end up like the 2016 elections when there were these "Bernie or bust" voters that basically gave away the election to Donald Trump instead of voting for Hillary.

Except this time it'll be over Israel and their genocide.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 6 months ago (1 children)

What's even stupider is Trump would more than likely be worse in this regard.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 6 months ago

There's no need for "more than likely" in that sentence.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 6 months ago

I was one of those Bernie guys but I learned my lesson after 2016, I voted for sleepy Joe and I already voted for Kamala.

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[–] [email protected] 47 points 6 months ago (6 children)

I was going to bury this lower in the thread but I think this deserves a top line reply.

she could literally just pay lip service the day of the election where it can do the least amount of damage when it comes to moderate voters and that would gain the support of people like me; but she won't

So let's make this perfectly clear for everyone else: this person would sacrifice the rights of women/people of color/lgbtq+ people, accelerate genocide in Gaza/Ukraine/elsewhere, and completely doom any action on climate change.. because they want lip service on an issue they don't actually care about. Wonder why that is?

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 6 months ago (3 children)

How nice it must be to go through life blaming everyone else for your own stupidity and bad decisions

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