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Be Excellent To Each Other [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-07-20  

I stopped my monthly contribution to the Daily Kos last night. It’s a desperate move to show how frustrated I am with the “Keep Biden” camp on this site.

Full disclosure: I’m in the minority on this site and think Biden needs to step down. This post isn’t to convince you I’m right, but to point out the many logical fallacies, bad faith arguments, and gaslighting by the “Keep Biden” camp and how that’s hurting everyone.

TL;DR: My ask is this: stop with the bad arguments, remember that we all have the same goal—electing Democrats—and understand that reasonable people can come to different conclusions based on the same information.

Here are my responses to many of the bad arguments I’ve seen:

I mention I was a monthly contributor because, according to at least one person’s analysis, accounts like mine (long-time registration, very infrequent poster) are most likely trolls and can therefore be dismissed. This is a textbook definition of the "Poisoning the Well" logical fallacy. I hope that I was a monthly contributor is enough to overcome that crap argument.

The last straw was a post yesterday claiming that the “Biden Must Go Camp” (BMGC) are really doing the bidding of the billionaire class. This is the classic "Horns of a Dilemma" logical fallacy. It’s the same argument anti-vaxxers use when they accuse me of being a government shill when I argue against them. My response to them applies here too: I can independently come to the same conclusion.

The argument that we must stay with Biden because he won the primary doesn’t hold water. I voted for Biden in the primary based on his State of the Union performance. Then I got new information from the debate and every public appearance since then. Based on this new information, I changed my mind.

In the same vein dismissing the concerns of people who have been uneasy about his age for years because “we knew he was old,” despite the debate and his every appearance since then confirming our doubts. All polls done long before the Debate showed people were concerned about his age.

I supported the State of the Union Biden. Based on new information, I’ve changed my opinion.

The argument that it’s being driven by the billionaires because Biden wants to raise their taxes is equally flawed. Making the rich pay their fair share should be a cornerstone of every Democratic candidate. Getting rid of Biden isn’t going to stop that.

Again, two things can be true at the same time: Billionaires could want to get rid of Biden because of his stance on taxes, and people can legitimately have serious concerns about his capability as a candidate.

Regarding the polls: Ok, I sort of agree that they might be overcorrecting based on the 2016 and 2020 results. But why is this race even that close at all? Biden being ahead by 2 or 3 points isn’t something to celebrate.

To me it comes down to this question:

Does the risk of replacing Biden outweigh the risk of staying with him? I think it does. Most here disagrees with that. Both responses are legitimate.

P.S. My contribution was only $5 a month—feel free to pick it up.

P.P.S. I didn’t cancel my monthly contribution to Biden.

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