Picking a fight with Hasan Piker while midterms are gearing up is the dumbest fucking idea. The consultant class really is a problem when it comes to meaningful change. (TikTok screencap)

Walter Masterson smiling on a sidewalk in NYC with the caption, “Democrat strategists deciding to manufacture outrage against a
Twitch Streamer that can mobilize young voters”

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[–] 75 points 7 months ago (9 children)

Any article, or does OP just imagine everyone here knows what the fuck this is about and who this person is?

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  • [–] 7 points 7 months ago (7 children)

    Considering how much American politics seeps through online spaces you'd have to be living under a political rock to not know who Hasan Piker is. He's one of the biggest leftist, like actually leftist not "neoliberal leftist", political commentator online. As for what the meme is referencing, it's this.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    I think I've heard the name a few times, but never bothered to watch or look up much about him. Only political "influencers" or whatever I watch are Big Joel and (I guess technically) Stephanie Sterling.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago* (2 children)

    I'm in a leftist group that regularly discusses politics. I know one guy who follows him, and regularly talks like this (he's the biggest happening thing, a huge voice on the left etc)

    Noone else thinks about or talks about him. I'm not here to trash on the guy, hes probably fine. It's more a point about the usefulness of twitch as a political project. It's a deeply insular place. Much like it's annoying when people act as though niche twitter stuff is world news.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (1 child)

    Just out of curiosity, who do you think are the big leftist political pundits? Who does you group regularly bring up?

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

    It's a fair critique. I suppose i personally dont really know many pundits that aren't of this type of another. I wouldn't say TV ones or YouTube or podcasts any other place would be a better (though my suspicion is YouTube has the greatest reach but I wouldn't assume any particular subculture from it was world changing or universally known or whatever, the culture is too deeply fragmented)

    As for the groups discussions, I suppose I don't think "pundits" as a concept is really that important to us. It's like asking what literary critics a writers group talks about a lot, we're more interested in the politics than talking about the people talking about the people talking about the...

    Kinda the whole point is that we want to think about the interesting problems ourselves and what we can do about it rather than having other people do that for us

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  • [–] 28 points 7 months ago*

    Hasan Derangement Syndrome. It's not just the consultant class that's to blame, the DNC is just as infested by corporate interest and PACs as the Republicans. The average Democrat rep's platform does not align with the average Democratic voter's priorities. Hasn't for a long time.

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  • [–] 9 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    I'm going to guess, and I may be wrong, that a lot of people who would vote for the US Dems have no idea who he is. I didn't until the last year, though I've lived outside of the US for a decade now

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  • [–] 19 points 7 months ago

    He's hugely popular with people under 30 as far as politics goes. He is turning on an entire generation towards politics while also acting as an alternative to Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate.

    So you can imagine the kind of threat he poses.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    Same, haven't heard of him and moved away for nearly a decade. Just the dog shocking memes.

    Good if he's mobilizing young people to vote I guess? But I don't really trust any of the political YouTube people in general - seems there's too much money involved to not be biased.

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago* (2 children)

    That's my take as well- the dog shocking thing is all I know about him, and that is alarming, because that has the hallmark of a typical right wing smear campaign, like, obviously that is a bad thing but now his whole thing and message is overshadowed by this one event and it's what being pushed. Getting your dick sucked in the oval office by an intern isn't a great look either, but does that really disqualify literally everything else a person does or has achieved?

    If we expect perfect morality of people or we reject them wholesale based on extremely narrow single issues then we can't trust anyone or listen to anyone, ever, which falls in line pretty well with right wing agenda because that's precisely what they want people to think: everyone is immoral, therefore it is ok for us to be immoral, and you should support us because it's all the same anyway.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    I mean, animal torture is pretty high there though.

    See, thing is the are not things I've heard of more prominent people who would be easier targets of smear campaigns, like Bernie Sanders or AOC.

    And then there's purity testing and holding any morals at all. Purity testing is completely dismissing AOC because of the railroad workers strike vote. Dismissing morals is supporting a talking head that financially benefits from saying things and tortures their pet for appearance purposes.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago*

    Not defending it, for sure. Still, though. It's a useful tool for a detractor to pounce on. So don't do that. Because don't hurt dogs , first of all, second that it's something that will be held against you and drown out what good you're trying to do.

    With you on the purity tests.

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  • [–] 31 points 7 months ago (34 children)

    Fucking purity testing bullshit, fully functional and operational at the highest levels. The left will purity test itself into extinction if it doesn't realize it's happening.

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  • [–] [S] 16 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Precisely. The right will vote for anyone no matter how terrible they are and we’re busy self defeating.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago

    Yeah, as soon as you say "look the Democrats suck but it's the best chance we have to not have a Republican in office right now, with how things are now" you get jumped by people going NO NEVER VOTE DEMOCRAT ONLY THIRD PARTY YOU'RE A SHILL BLUE NO MATTER WHO IS BULLSHIT BOTH SIDES ARE CAPITALIST AND THE SAME

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  • [+] -8 points 7 months ago (31 children)

    I don’t expect purity but I expect the ability to self-reflect and grow when personal behaviors are questioned by others who share a substantial amount of your world views. Instead of exploring his relationship with his dog (owner/accessory), he doubled down and his fanbase closed ranks to defend a behavior a lot of people find abhorrent. Treating animals like property and setting unrealistic expectations for their compliance while you use them as a backdrop is not a leftist virtue. A loyal audience is not there to normalize abusive behavior and run with the narrative “any questioning of what happened is a right wing attempt to undermine him”. A person can talk all the talk they want, if their walk doesn’t match the tone and they cannot accept that their views may occasionally need growth, fuck ‘em. We don’t need leftist demagogues, we need leaders and speakers with character who aren’t afraid to confront themselves and their beliefs.

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  • [–] 5 points 7 months ago* (30 children)

    Instead of exploring his relationship with his dog (owner/accessory)

    All of this comment points to you needing to gain some emotional maturity. You sound as if you've either never owned a dog or have only ever owned already trained dogs.

    I can grab a piece of paper loudly and my dog will crumple as if I've beaten her every day of her life. Never hit her once. Never shocked her with a collar, only ever used the beeps and vibration. All I need to do is pick up the remote and she will cower. Mind you, I shower this dog with love every day and again — I've never once hurt her besides maybe stepping on her tail.

    I think you need to exhibit some personal growth here, tbh. If your reasons for disliking Hasan stem from this one incident vs the blatant hypocrisy he'd already shown (like purchasing a mansion) — you need to rethink some things.

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  • [+] -7 points 7 months ago (29 children)

    It’s disappointing that you discredit criticism of harm to another living creature while considering materialism like a house a bigger hypocrisy. They’re not mutually exclusive.

    And you’re correct, I have never “owned” a dog. I’ve shared my life journey with many, but I didn’t “own” them. They’re not property even if the law and society view them as such. You conditioned your dog to cower at the sight of you picking up a remote? For fuck’s sake, you conditioned your dog to cower at a behavior that resulted in no physical consequence, just the idea it could result in physical consequence. What the fuck is wrong with you!?!

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (28 children)

    Yeah I would recommend getting back into an English class, maybe just like start all over from the beginning. Get a fresh start, refresh your brain. Maybe you'll be able to learn how to read.

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago (27 children)

    All I need to do is pick up the remote and she will cower.

    Oh, I read what you wrote. You never hit your dog. Instead, you figured out what she was afraid of and used it to create a trigger to gain compliance. It’s no different than a parent threatening to hit their kid if they don’t stop. Why, when she cowers and shows fear, do you not cease the action that causes her distress? Why don’t you redirect the behavior you want her to cease into a behavior you’d like and can reward with positivity? Because compliance through fear is quicker and easier. No wonder Piker’s got so many apologists. This is how we end up with kid fuckers in office, the support base is up to the same shit as their guy and will defend their worst behavior so they can justify it at home. You sicken me.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (26 children)

    Holy moly, you are nuts.

    I'm sure your dogs run rampant all over you, no I will not be taking any of your advice. By the way, the action I was referring to was picking the remote up off the table. Simply to move it. Much like crumpling the paper was to throw it away. The dog is a skittish dog, and you're fuckin nuts. You're the exact kind of nutjob that probably freaked out and virtue signaled all over when Alinity 'threw' her cat.

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago (25 children)

    Doubling down on the self-awareness that your action causes an irrational fear in your dog but that you would rather ignore the behavior than work her through it. She fears your tv remote because instead of taking the time to shape her behavior, you slapped a vibration collar on her to scare her when she behaved contrary to your expectations. The unintended consequence of a vibrate and beep collar is that now your dog is afraid of tv remotes and the sound crumpling paper.

    The dogs I live with behave because I defined my expectations and set boundaries with patience, repetition, and reward for compliance. Using fear and force will get compliance, but it’s hollow, and as you’ve found out creates skittish dogs. It’s the tired old mentality that a little “tough love” is the solution. But by all means, keep justifying scare tactics and discomfort as tools for dog training. Holy moly, you are cruel.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (24 children)

    No I think you're just delusional, I think you should revisit my previous comments.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (23 children)

    And I think you’re an abusive asshole that uses force to get a dog that otherwise loves you to comply because you’re either lazy, incompetent, or enjoy the power. Maybe all three. I think you should experience the same conditioning.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (22 children)

    Yeah I'm sure you think a lot of things with no grounding in reality.

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago (21 children)

    You’re the one who put a collar designed to elicit a fear response on your dog, then tried to justify her cowering whenever she sees a remote or hears a loud sound.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (20 children)

    Wait, is it that I use force on my dogs or I use a collar to exhibit a fear response?

    Maybe you want to add that I hit my dog, since you're already making whatever you want up?

    You know what, I'm no longer of the opinion that you need to go back to school. You need therapy.

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago (19 children)

    Your collar elicits a fear response (cowering), but also gets her to break off whatever behavior you found undesirable. The trigger (vibration/noise) isn’t in itself physically painful, but it startles her. You use psychological abuse (threat of being startled) to get compliance. Then, because vibration/noise isn’t in itself painful, you disregard the psychological effect that’s causing her to cower. You alternate this with “oh, but I love on her the rest of the time”. Alternating between love and fear is an abusive relationship.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (18 children)

    Yes continue making whatever you want up. You definitely do not seem like an unhinged person.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (17 children)

    I’d rather be the unhinged dude online criticizing using fear to get your dog to comply than the dude who boasts his dog cowers when he grabs a tv remote.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago* (16 children)

    You mean the unhinged dude making shit up, be accurate. Most of the problems you take umbrage with are things I've literally stated the opposite of. Your points amount to 'nuh uh, you're actually abusive'.

    Fucking delusional, genuinely. Work ok your reading comprehension and seek therapy.

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago (15 children)

    Abusers frequently do love their victims. I don’t doubt you love your dog, and that she loves you. Doesn’t change that you are aware she fears the remote and that you’re okay with her cowering. You make no effort to comfort her nor teach her why she shouldn’t fear a remote. The remote isn’t going to hurt her, it just reminds her of the time you used a remote to scare her. Actions speak louder than the words you type.

    Work on your understanding of classical conditioning and seek therapy.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (14 children)

    Actions speak louder than the words you type

    Oh I didn't realize you know me in real life and have seen me with my dogs.

    What's my dogs name, by the way? Who are you as well, seeing as you seem to know me so well?

    Ohhh, right right — you don't know anything other than what I've typed and are completely delusional. Either that or you're a bot, I'm actually inclined to believe you're a bot at this point.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (13 children)

    only ever used the beeps and vibration. All I need to do is pick up the remote and she will cower. Mind you, I shower this dog with love every day and again — I've never once hurt her besides maybe stepping on her tail.

    Of course I don’t know you, internet stranger. All I have to go off of is what you’ve typed, which is the cycle of abuse. You love, you use fear to gain control, you go back to love. Your dog is in an inescapable situation, she obviously wants to love you, you don’t always use aversive methods to scare her into compliance, but you’re willing to. And you know it scares her, but you minimize the impact because “it doesn’t hurt” and “I give her love”.

    Am I mistaken? Did you not say that you used a vibration and sound collar on her, that she’s now scared of a tv remote and the sound of crumpling paper? What’s the purpose of such a collar? Did you think startling her was a love language? Those things exist to spook a dog and get it to comply, not reward them for good behavior in a positive way.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (12 children)

    Am I mistaken? Did you not say that you used a vibration and sound collar on her, that she’s now scared of a tv remote and the sound of crumpling paper?

    Yes, you are mistaken you fucking moron. You can't even get the order of details I gave you correctly.

    You're a delusional troglodyte and your dogs likely dominate you on a regular basis. You're a joke of a human.

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago (11 children)

    I’m just going off what you wrote. Still would rather be a joke of a human than the guy who emphasizes he makes his dog cower.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (10 children)

    The point, you reprobate, is that some dogs are simply skittish. You can't even recognize that you've misinterpreted literally everything I've said and conjured up your own series of events without knowing any relevant details.

    You're a nutjob, and an idiot.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (9 children)

    So, you recognized that she was skittish, easily frightened, and still chose to strap a device designed for the purpose of startling a dog onto her? What exactly did you think was going to happen, that a skittish dog would respond positively to being buzzed and beeped by a strange device she couldn’t escape from?

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (8 children)

    She has narrow ear canals. We got her the collar because she can't hear us from the back acre and the beep/ vibration is more than enough to get her to run home.

    There are so many more details you're unaware of that I will not be disclosing. You're a fucking nutjob, you've earned your tag.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (7 children)

    Yeah, again, of course I don’t know because the only details you provide are “I buzz my dog, now she cowers at the remote”. And again, I will ask- since you know she’s skittish and fearful of remotes and crumpling paper, why do you allow the cowering to continue? Why do you not work through the irrational fear and just let her live in a fear state where non-threatening objects like a remote or crumpling paper frighten her?

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (6 children)

    Why do you not work through the irrational fear and just let her live in a fear state where non-threatening objects like a remote or crumpling paper frighten her?

    You are insane.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (5 children)

    And you’re lazy, and ignorant. Willfully on both accounts. If you’re going to bring a dog into your life, give it a good one. When it’s afraid of something that it has no reason to fear, teach it to not fear it. You claim to love and have trained your dog, yet you allow it to cower when you grab a remote control? Use some positive reinforcement and teach her to be comfortable in that situation.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (4 children)
  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (3 children)

    For the amount of time and effort you’ve put in to responding you could have gotten a couple of short, positively reinforced counter-conditioning sessions in. Instead you’ll just keep screaming about why someone else is wrong. At first I thought you were an asshole, now I’m realized that’s a mask and you’re just petulant and pathetic.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (2 children)
  • [–] 24 points 7 months ago (6 children)

    Hasan continues to be an effective litmus test.

    Like, if in 2026 you're responding to the call to actively take time and energy out to hate on Hasan, you're squarely an anti-leftist.

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  • [–] 17 points 7 months ago*

    Yeah, I've thought Hasan was a tankie for a while, but joining the shithead neo feudalists in dogpiling him is a terrible idea. Those fuckers are controlled opposition for the fascist oligarchs, and when it comes to fighting fascists you cannot be picky in your allies.

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  • [–] -4 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    I think it's a bit much to say that someone who doesn't like Hasan is an anti-leftist. I'll stand by my brothers and sisters in the fight for equality for all but I'm also of the opinion that Hasan is a bit of a douche who probably does more harm than good for the left in the US. I would encourage you to not box out potential allies because of a silly disagreement over a Twitch streamer

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  • [–] 12 points 7 months ago*

    More harm than good is crazy, that guy is probably one of the biggest influences in the country in terms of getting leftists to the polls. I think most legitimate criticisms of Hasan just come down to not liking his personality.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    You're agreeing with them. They said nothing about people who don't like Hasan. From what I've seen, I don't like him.

    They talked about people actively being against him. This is boxing out potential allies. This is what you're against, so you're agreeing with the comment above.

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  • [–] 4 points 7 months ago

    I will keep repeating this until the day I die: the democratic political machine cannot function as it exists today without it's not-so-clandestine marriage with capital.

    Piker being a massively-popular mobilizer of young voters does nothing to endear him to a party who's entire political infrastructure is directly at odds with his political views on capital, labor, and anti-imperialist geopolitics.

    The DNC will sooner drown in it's own piss, shit, and vomit than adopt or promote a political commentator that seeks to rip the party away from its funding apparatus by holding them accountable to their increasingly socialist voting base.

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago

    Liaison and Party Harmony: In the primary campaign your opposition is Jack Hopeful, a member of your own party. Never forget that you will need the support of all your party after the primary and never let your supporters forget it!

    This is a very touchy, difficult matter, particularly in a volunteer organization. You are certain to have loyal supporters who are simple souls, unable to think in terms other than black and white. To them Jack Hopeful is the ENEMY - they will commit excesses through misguided zeal. So also will some of Mr. Hopeful's supporters. Bad blood breeds more bad blood; in short order you can have a situation which is completely out of hand, which splits the party wide open, and which will render it impossible for your man to win in the finals.

    Since the nomination is valueless in itself, being merely a necessary means to an end, you must prevent this at all costs.

    --Robert A. Heinlein, Take Back Your Government

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    I follow politics closely, and I've NEVER heard of this guy.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    That's only true if someone loses. Cancel culture is gone, so outrage is just extra engagement and free advertising.

    I'm not saying it's a good thing, but it's a reasonable strategy in the cesspool of a cultural climate we have now.

    Not that I think this is actually strategic, just lookin on the brightside.

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  • [–] 8 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    What is going on in here? Most of the comments are blue maga.

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  • [–] 9 points 7 months ago (11 children)

    I don't like Hasan Piker and I think he was actively damaging in 2024 (not that he swinged the election, but he sure didn't help). However, shouldn't we be trying to build bridges right now since the left has been bulkanized so hard? The right can unify against the left but apparently the left can't do the same...

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  • [–] 28 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    He is trying to build bridges. But the establishment Democrats are terrified of more Zohrans popping up in the Democratic Party.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Upon reflection, I don't know if that's true. He certainly was the one burning the bridges during the 2024 election. Which is why I'm still conflicted and unconfident in this opinion. I'm just scared that we're allowing the far right to win by fighting amongst ourselves. If the right sweep these midterms like they did the 2024 election, then it's just over for America...

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago

    IIRC, he did a poll during the election stream, and around 80% of his viewers voted for Kamala Harris. The main point that he’s pushing is that he can’t endorse Harris because she’s going the blue MAGA route, and that’s not going to be resonating with the average Joe and Jane on the street. Just watch the video that Zohran did when he’s starting out during his political campaign, doing man-on-the-street interviews. But even Hasan voted for Kamala in the end.

    IMHO, there’s nothing wrong with demanding better from the politicians. Just see what Zohran is doing in New York right now. Most of the “difficulties” that the old-school politicians said are just them not giving a shit.

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  • [–] 24 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    The democrats aren't the left. And for God's sake you can't build bridges with people who want to kill or enslave entire demographics.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago* (2 children)

    The democrats aren't the left.

    The democrat politicians; right?

    After all, "Othering" the vast majority of working class people is the mentality of MAGA and fascism.

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  • [–] 0 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    Even if that was true, I hope you at least know going on a crusade against Democrats does nothing but aid the fascists and billionaires right now. Thus why I suggest we form a coiliation against them first. We're like the Muslim nations in Iberia during the Reconquestia, and we will meet the same fate if we also start fighting the Christians and ourselves at the same time

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  • [–] -3 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    hes a grifter though, thats why i dont think he represents the left, hes very wealthy as his family, and he was literally handed a job by CENK.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    I agree that he's a grifter, but the establishment attacking Hasan directly like this does nothing but divide the left more than we already are. How about we drive the fascists out of our government first before we do blood sports within our side? All this does is ensure Hasan's fans who would otherwise vote Democrat will probably consider not voting at all once again despite this being perhaps the most important midterms within our lifetimes

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  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    Why does anyone care what YouTube people say or think in the first place.

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