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LurkerJ on 17 March 2024
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Shtinamin_ said:
LurkerJ said:

The November election is fast approaching, and Biden is hurting badly with young voters and voters of color over his lockstep support of what half of Biden voters view as genocide. Now, the administration believes, is the time to change people’s information—rather than change reality. This is consistent with a Biden reelection strategy, as I detailed last week, premised on manipulating public perception rather than substantively changing policy. Conservative Democrats and Republicans, for the most part, have always been pro-banning TikTok over their lizard brain anti-China posture (though Trump has recently switched positions, either because his inner circle is being bought off, or just because he wants to do the opposite of what Biden wants to do, it’s not clear). Overall, the missing element in getting a TikTok ban through Congress has been Liberal-Left squeamishness with such an overt act of censorship. Gaza has radically changed this dynamic, and now the vast majority of congressional Democrats support the move because, clearly, the President doesn’t plan on ending his support for Israel’s ethnic cleansing plan any time soon. 

So if President Biden is hurting with young voters, why will he sign the TikTok ban bill if/when it arrives on his desk? TikTok has ~170M US citizens on it "daily" (if not monthly) and if that social media become unavailable that would just piss off the young voters even more. I understand that they are mad with his Israel/Hamas/Palestinian situation but don't give them another reason to be pissed at you (banning one of the biggest social media in America, unless sold to an american company which is a huge ask given how much TikTok is worth).

This is my thought personally, with why Trump switched positions, I think that if this ban bill were to pass, what is to stop the government from shutting down Truth Social (his social media), and any other social media that does not agree with the government or follows their agenda?
I understand that we talked about it, and the reasoning was that the government wouldn't do that to an american company (I dont see that reason being enough), but what is stopping the government from shutting down social medias, websites, videos, etc when something is posted that doesn't fit the agenda? 

If you believe the bottom of Israel's genocide barrel is still ways to go, and you don't intend to do anything to stop them from reaching the bottom, then it's easy to see why it's still not too late to take back control of some of the narrative. 

Moreover, you are pointing out that non of this makes sense, but nothing western politicians have done about this issue has had made sense, the left in the UK and the USA have been choosing to commit public electoral suicide for almost half a year now, Labour's only consolation is that the Tories are so bad no one is voting them for them anymore. A TikTok ban that potentially hurts Biden among young voters is just a continuation of that political suicide (or a preemptive measure if you believe the worst is yet to come). 

Also, "follow the money" is a good idea when things don't seem to make sense, on the surface. 

AIPAC Talking Points Revealed

MARCH 14, 2024

Documents show that the powerful lobby is spreading its influence on Capitol Hill by calling for unconditional military aid to Israel and hyping up threats from Iran.

This week, approximately 1,600 foot soldiers from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) congregated inside the garish yet functional Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, for the PAC’s annual policy conference.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed attendees by videocast, along with Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog. According to an incomplete speaker list, the entire Democratic and Republican leadership in Congress delivered remarks—Sens. Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell and Reps. Hakeem Jeffries and Mike Johnson. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) were both in attendance, among other representatives.

In past years, the conference has been a media spectacle, with a widely disseminated lineup of powerful speakers to showcase AIPAC’s enduring political influence. This year, however, it was locked down, with few social media posts and broadcast speeches, largely because of the threat of disruptions from anti-war protests. The goal of this year’s low-key gathering was to fire up attendees for AIPAC’s 2024 agenda, before sending them off to Capitol Hill to strong-arm Congress on supporting Israel.

The Prospect has obtained documents from the conference that preview the PAC’s lobbying blitz on Capitol Hill this week. The documents reveal AIPAC’s legislative strategy and the talking points it will use to support an unconditional $14 billion military funding package that has thus far been held up, among other policy changes. They also include numerous positions on aspects of the U.S. response to the war that have not previously been made public, from abolishing the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to opposing recent restrictions imposed by the Biden administration on Israeli settlers. There is no mention of a two-state solution. 

THOUGH THE PRIMARY MOTIVATION FOR THE CONFERENCE was lobbying, the event also informed members about the PAC’s congressional spending plans. AIPAC has pledged to drop over $100 million on campaigns this election cycle to defeat any congressional candidates critical of Israel.

This week, the PAC touted its prowess to members as “dollar for dollar, the largest contributor to candidates in the 2022 midterm elections,” via its super PAC United Democracy Project. One brochure even pulls quotes from critical articles in The Intercept and Slate as testaments to its pre-eminence as an electoral juggernaut.

But the talking points promoted at the conference for its members to use on the Hill tell a different story. They’re exclusively directed at combating rhetoric and policy from Democrats, Squad members, cease-fire advocates, and even President Biden, who has only recently mildly criticized Netanyahu’s handling of the war.

Despite being a longtime donor and supporter of President Biden’s, AIPAC’s talking point also goes on the attack against him for recent remarks that, however tepidly, indicate a shift in tone. Biden has distanced himself from Netanyahu, embracing the language (if not the full meaning) of cease-fire, and more recently indicated a potential red line, should Israel launch a ground invasion of the Gaza border city of Rafah.

AIPAC dedicates an entire section of its file for members to rebuke the president’s comments, under the subhead “Why is President Biden dictating to Israel how to fight this war,” while simultaneously demanding military assistance from his government.

It advises members to say “concerns about the conduct of the war against Hamas are best delivered privately,” and “public statements that show divergence … are unhelpful and could embolden Hamas and Iran.”

you can read more here :https://prospect.org/world/2024-03-14-aipac-talking-points-revealed/

This is not just AIPAC "interfering with our elections", this is them shoving up both hands up so far inside they end up dictating what politicians can and can not say in public. Pathetic, absolutely pathetic. 

Finally, I think Ro Khanna put it best:

"It shows how out of touch Congress is that of all the issues in the country that the only thing we can get done in 3 days is ban TikTok."

Give it time, I am sure we'll learn more about what went behind the scenes soon enough.