{"id":30696,"date":"2023-12-19T19:01:06","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T03:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=30696"},"modified":"2023-12-19T19:01:08","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T03:01:08","slug":"biden-takes-political-risk-by-ignoring-public-clamor-for-gaza-cease-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/12\/19\/biden-takes-political-risk-by-ignoring-public-clamor-for-gaza-cease-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Takes Political Risk by Ignoring Public Clamor for Gaza Cease-Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Demonstrator<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Demonstrators protest outside the United Nations while the General Assembly vote on a resolution to demand the cease-fire in Gaza on December 12, 2023 in New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Kena Betancur\/VIEWpress)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. president’s refusal to heed the will of the people seems outdated at best, authoritarian at worst.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

SHIRA LURIE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dec 18, 2023Toronto Star<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last two months have witnessed some of the largest anti-war protests in American history. Hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country have held rallies, marches, and sit-ins calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These actions aren\u2019t just indicative of the far left \u2014 they align with popular opinion. Polls regularly return a majority in favour of de-escalation and a permanent ceasefire, including a recent Data for Progress poll that revealed 61 per cent of all likely voters and 76 per cent of Democrats support a ceasefire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet Biden has remained unmoved. Last month, when questioned about the prospect of a ceasefire, he replied firmly, \u201cNone. No possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Dec. 8, the United States vetoed a United Nations resolution for an immediate ceasefire \u2014 the resolution was the product of an emergency security council meeting on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the United States was the sole vote against (the U.K. abstained). The following day, Biden issued an emergency order to sell Israel an additional $106 million of ammunition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, Biden\u2019s approval ratings have sunk. He is now polling at under 40 per cent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Democrats, especially Muslims, are pledging not to vote for \u201cGenocide Joe\u201d in November. This could have severe ramifications in the electoral college as several key states, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, have significant Muslim populations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The distance between Biden and the American people on this issue raises important questions about the nature of accountability in American politics. How responsive should officials be to their constituents once elected? What political power do citizens surrender through the act of election? Are elections a sufficient check on officials, or are other methods needed to secure political change?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The distance between Biden and the American people on this issue raises important questions about the nature of accountability in American politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are not new questions. Indeed, they are as old as American democracy itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the first generation of Americans had to make sense of their transition from subjects to citizens, they debated these very same ideas about the nature of elections and the appropriate responsiveness of officials. These disputes fuelled the major protests of the nation\u2019s early years and shaped important elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While protesters insisted on the importance of popular organizing to influence officials, those in power claimed that through the act of election, citizens deferred politics to their representatives. If constituents did not approve of their representative\u2019s actions in office, they should vote them out at the next election. But protests were illegitimate \u2014 they caused disorder and violence and challenged the authority of elected officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even Samuel Adams, a once ardent revolutionary, claimed that representative government obviated the need for popular political actions because \u201cas we now have constitutional and regular governments and all our men in authority depend upon the annual, free elections of the people, we are safe without them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this perspective did not sit well with many early Americans who looked to The American Revolution and other earlier crowd actions as endorsements of popular organizing\u2019s importance in determining political outcomes. And so, when President John Adams cracked down on protesters with the Sedition Law of 1798, which made it a federal crime to criticize or organize in opposition to the government, the voters confined him to one term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By refusing to adapt to popular opinion, Biden risks the same fate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His current attitude evokes the earlier generation who demanded that Americans leave politics to the politicians. And while their elitism may have been expected when the American experiment in self-government was in its infancy, Biden does not have the same excuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His refusal to heed the will of the people seems outdated at best, authoritarian at worst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conflict between Hamas and Israel \u2014 which operates with significant American military backing \u2014 has revealed the ugly implications embedded in the American electoral process and unearthed centuries-old arguments about the nature of the citizenry\u2019s political power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the while, the death toll and destruction in Gaza mounts and November creeps ever closer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 2023 TheStar.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SHIRA LURIE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shira Lurie is an assistant professor of American History at Saint Mary\u2019s University and author of \u201cThe American Liberty Pole.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Demonstrators protest outside the United Nations while the General Assembly vote on a resolution to demand the cease-fire in Gaza on December 12, 2023 in New York City. \u00a0(Photo by Kena Betancur\/VIEWpress) The U.S. president’s refusal to heed the will of the people seems outdated at best, authoritarian at worst…. Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30696"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30696"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30697,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30696\/revisions\/30697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}