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‘What are you implying?’: El-Sayed confronts critics head-on as attacks ramp up (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by to c/politics@lemmy.world
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As a candidate positioned at the center of what researchers say are the worst Islamophobic attacks seen since the aftermath of 9/11, many would expect Abdul El-Sayed to simply defend himself and move on.

Instead, the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Michigan has repeatedly demanded those who question his positions on Israel, the Muslim Brotherhood and his faith, explain the premise of their inquiry. Rather than let others put his loyalties on trial, he has tried to put their assumptions on trial.

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[–] 137 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

The "explain what you mean" tactic is always incredibly effective against conservatives. They never want to explain their bigotry

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  • [–] 40 points 2 weeks ago (1 child)

    "I'm sorry, I don't think I get the joke. Can you explain it to me?" Shuts down a lot of racist/sexist jokes in my experience.

    Bonus points if you can act like you genuinely don't understand (instead of intentionally challenging them).

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  • [–] 10 points 2 weeks ago

    Yes the whole game is “wink wink” with them. Feeling smart and turning the feelings they’re too ashamed to be open about into cherished little fun secrets they share with other elect. Often they just dispense with the humor entirely and exchange little codes like “88” It’s cring af.

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    • [–] 79 points 2 weeks ago (10 children)

    Another article about this ignoring that the shithead with the question refused to disavow trying to make his religious rules law.

    It's right at the end of the video of the exchange, dude just says "no" and walks out.

    But especially after finding out how connected this guy and his family are to Republicans, that needs to be what people focus on.

    Because it applies to everywhere, and can get better turnout all over the country from it.

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  • [–] 22 points 2 weeks ago (9 children)

    This is the real news story that's been happening in front of our eyes for 50+ years, and it needs to be called out. Unfortunately the corporate media would rather scaremonger about the existence of a high profile Muslim than call out the white fascists who want to literally turn America into a theocracy

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  • [–] 17 points 2 weeks ago (8 children)

    "I don't want Muslims in office because then we'll have sharia law" and also "I want to criminalize abortion and gay and science because of muh Bible" without even a hint of hesitation or reflection.

    And that's exactly what that interaction spelled out for anybody who had the attention span to watch all 3 minutes or whatever it was.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago (6 children)

    And the rest of your country just… allows them to continue to be that way rather than put them in their place.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

    I mean, the system is kind of rigged to give precisely the regions that skew conservative and heavily religious disproportionate influence on our government via institutions like the Senate and Electoral College. Short of a blue tsunami and Democratic administration that takes much more serious action than I expect of them, the only way we're excising that is a second Civil War that will make the first look like a quaint disagreement when it comes to casualties. The proverbial landed gentry amongst the US founding fathers were just as skeptical and hostile to the "degenerate" urban poors as modern US fundamentalists and conservatives are of what they see as degenerate, godless urban and coastal freaks, so the fundies and conservatives are reaping the benefits. Kind of a quintessentially Amercian situation we have here, with our collective bigotry of 250 years ago coming back to bite us massively in the ass, really.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 weeks ago (4 children)

    You have a fundamentally flawed understanding of what stops Nazis.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 child)

    Uh, historically it's been a shit ton of violence and death being inflicted upon them, as I alluded to with the whole Civil War 2 that makes the original pale in comparison. If I didn't make it clear enough, I view the whole blue tsunami followed by a Democratic administration that actually does what it needs to and quickly as a pipe dream that is nothing but pure cope.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 weeks ago

    You know what, this one’s on me- i read as far as what sounded the standard Americansplaning of how “the electoral college makes us helpless” and stopped there.

    I’ll leave my previous response there and take my lumps.

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    • [–] 51 points 2 weeks ago* (1 child)

    He answered and stated his position clearly then went on to question the motivations of the inquirer.

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  • [–] 35 points 2 weeks ago

    The inquirer then proceeded to verbally and mentally shit the bed. It was pretty damn funny. I recommend anyone who hasn't seen it go and find that town hall video. Some dipshit staffer of one of those conservative Congressmen went there with what he thought was a gotcha again, and got completely humbled. To the point where he just stood there not sure what to do next.

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    • [–] 59 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

    One thing that really pisses me off about the establishment dems and mainstream media attacking DSA is that the main thrust of DSA is, let's restore and strengthen the New Deal.

    Martin Luther King was a Democratic Socialist and it could be argued that FDR was, as well.

    People need to wake up to the fact that we're not in a left/right struggle as much as we're in a class struggle against the billionaires. And the billionaires control mass media and turn us against ourselves so they can more easily pick our pockets.

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  • [–] 20 points 2 weeks ago* (2 children)

    we’re not in a left/right struggle as much as we’re in a class struggle against the billionaires.

    This is just a reframing of the left/right struggle, though. The right has always been about maintaining the privileges of the ruling class since the terms were set when the Monarchists sat on the right side of the National Assembly.

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