I don’t think this is the answer. I think the answer is to attack the questioner and talk about what they want (i.e. attacking warmongers and billionaire corporate interests). Say “fuck you for doing the bidding of the corporate media and Trump himself in order to divide people and distract from the profiteers, grifters, and your corporate masters that are robbing working people blind and destroying everything we hold dear”, or something to that effect. There’s no reason to cooperate with this dishonest media system that’s been created and has enabled Trump, his grifters, and his warmonger allies, for so many years.
The media is the enemy (in that it is largely a tool of billionaires and corporate interests). It has been for years.
And while he wasn’t pushed on it, he isn’t shy about talking about controversial issues.
So what happens when it comes up in debates? When they get asked “what do you think about school girls sports?” What happens when a reporter asks them? Someone yells it out at a town hall?
The idea I’m getting is that everyone here is that you want the dems to defend trans rights. But not really. Just on paper.
You can’t defend trans rights unless you talk about it. If you don’t talk about it then that’s just what the Dems have been doing.
This doesn’t pass the sniff test. What is the the idea? That Dems are putting in time, money, and energy just to have an opportunity to complain? It sounds like a criticism from a conservative, “All the Dems do is complain. They don’t want to do any actual work.”
The reality is that the parties and their platforms are asymmetric. It is not a decision of Coke vs. Pepsi where people just have different tastes. It is a decision between broccoli and ice cream. Broccoli is a much harder sell.
The Dems want a level playing field for everyone in America, including various minority groups (e.g. trans people and their advocates); they even include non-voters and non-citizens. The idea is if you make it better for each of us, then you make it better for all of us.
The Pubs (at least currently) want to make things better for a subset of Americans, but it comes at the expense of the rest. The subset is vague and actually doesn’t include all of the people that think they belong – hence the leopards eating their faces thread.
These platforms aren’t equally difficult to execute. It’s easy to get 40-50% of the voters to go along with what is best for them personally in the short term. Contrast that with how difficult the Dems job is. The majority of voters have not struggled with biases and -isms that the Dems are trying to address, and so it is harder for them to see why they should sacrifice to support it. The most extreme example of this is asking voters to advocate for non-voters (immigrants). It’s audacious.
It’s no wonder why the Dems look less effective; their job is way more difficult.
I don’t think there are many, but the pushback on ICE qualifies. Pushback on anti-vax or anti-science could qualify, but I don’t see it happening broadly.
More like gruel and toxic waste. The Democrats mainly care about the plutocracy, but don’t want to actively destroy everyone else. The Republicans are selling cruelty and bigotry, ignorance and irrationality - and the majority of voters looked at that big barrel of toxic waste and guzzled it down with gusto because that’s what they want.
Neither side is offering broccoli, much less ice cream. Just bare sustenance and poison.
Nearly every major Democrat celebrates and promotes trans day of visibility.
Also what does Mandami say when asked about girls sports? I did some googling and all I can find is Trump threatening to cut federal funding for some New York City schools among other schools around the country for letting trans students play sports based on their gender identity, policies which predtated him.
But if someone asked him? Do you think he’d talk about the price of fish? Or say, “Say 'fuck you for doing the bidding of the corporate media and Trump himself in order to divide people and distract from the profiteers, grifters, and your corporate masters that are robbing working people blind and destroying everything we hold dear”, or something to that effect?”
Or do you think there is a third option available? What would you suggest he say?
I’m saying attack, attack, attack. In a debate, attack Republicans and the moderator. In interviews, attack Republicans and the interviewer. In a town hall, attack Republicans. And in all cases, attack billionaires and corporate interests. Make absolutely everything about billionaires and corporate interests (because pretty much everything is!). The Democrats are decidedly not doing this.
Mamdani might not say “fuck you” – he’s much too slick for that. He’s much better at being diplomatic. The “fuck you” is not mandatory, as long as the sentiment is there.
Refer to the website, and then attack, attack, attack. “I stand for trans rights, and I’ve said so publicly before and on video, with the links and details on my website. Now here is why the dishonest corporate media and Republican warmongers want to spend time on this issue…”
Lost them the house, the senate, the executive and the supremes for a lifetime.
And has resulted in polling that now looks like this:
Which in turn supports the premise of some in this thread: because the majority of people think trans athletes should compete on teams that match their sex assigned at birth, then thats what the dems should support.
Its all interconnected. If you don’t push back on the propaganda, the propaganda wins. And that’s exactly what the numbers are telling us.
This leads to what you see in the UK. Where every political party bar one and the entire media apparatus are viciously anti-trans.
Bullshit. Since when have Democrats, in any kind of coordinated manner, focused their message on attacking billionaires and corporate interests? Altogether, with rhetorical savagery? Never. That’s the strategy, because that’s the real enemy. The propaganda is in even entertaining these bullshit distractions as a real issue. It’s not. Don’t give it legitimacy. That’s how they win. Fuck the transphobes and their corporate masters.
…I’m not arguing that the dems shouldn’t, in a coordinated manner, focus their message on attacking billionaires and corporate interests.
I was originally responding to this:
Bolding mine.
This is an approach that doesn’t even mention trans people. “I think all Americans deserve equal rights and respect” isn’t a defence of trans people. It’s a line designed to be as inoffensive as possible.
Then we get the pivot.
That’s what I’m talking about. What to say and do about addressing any questions about trans folks. I think a general statement then pivot is the wrong approach. I think a general statement followed by “check out our website” then attack is the wrong approach.
Because neither of these things are a defence of trans rights.
The dems are perfectly capable of doing multiple things at once. They can go on the attack. And they can defend trans rights.
The way to kill the propaganda is to go on the attack, and rightly, point out that this doesn’t matter (in the sense that it’s meant as a side issue to divide and distract), it’s just another old divide-conquer, stirrup up hatred to make a new enemy. It’s bullshit. Defend trans rights on your own terms, not on the media’s terms – defend them on your website and social media and such, and attack, attack, attack otherwise. That’s not what the UK parties did. They just gave in.
No, it’s the way to defuse the constant complaint that civil rights are special rights for minorities. It’s the way to get idiots to understand that these new protections protect everyone.
Trans women should be allowed to play sports. Trans kids should be allowed to access the healthcare they need. What’s wrong with saying that?
Tackle the propaganda head on. If you don’t refute it, people believe it. And people believe it now. That’s why public opinion has shifted. And thats why people in this very thread have argued that perhaps the dems should concede on sports, or at the very least, not say anything about it.
Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying. What exactly are you disagreeing with? I’m not saying don’t go on the attack. I’m saying do two things at once. In fact…you can actually do multiple things.
Oh, it’s much worse than that.
But what I’m suggesting is that the US is on the same path as the UK. Same with where I live. And almost everywhere else. The solution isn’t to pretend it isn’t happening.