A career State Department official resigned from her post on Tuesday, saying she could no longer work for the Biden administration after it released a report concluding that Israel was not preventing the flow of aid to Gaza.
Stacy Gilbert, who served as a senior civilian-military advisor to the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), sent an email to staff saying she was resigning because she felt the State Department had made the wrong assessment, The Washington Post reported, citing officials who read the note.
The report was filed in response to President Joe Biden issuing a national security memorandum (NSM-20) in early February on whether the administration finds credible Israel’s assurances that its use of US weapons do not violate either American or international law.
The report said there were reasonable grounds to believe Israel on several occasions had used American-supplied weapons “inconsistent” with international humanitarian law, but said it could not make a definitive assessment - enough to prevent the suspension of arms transfers.
Reading the report makes me feel like I’m from a different planet.
It clearly spells out Israel blocking aid to Gaza. It describes what we all would call blocking aid. If someone did what Israel does, to you, you would call it blocking. Israel blocks aid and the report makes it plain.
Just because they have a different definition of “blocking aid” doesn’t mean the report cleared Israel. I don’t get it. Can you really just say whatever you want, end it with “but it’s not what it sounds like” and that’s the takeaway everyone gets?
It’s one thing for a document to have arbitrary restrictions on what it can say. That happens. It’s another for people to take it so literally.
Edit: I don’t even know what definitions they were working with, I just got a “it’s not technically…” vibe. But I do know that the report describes blocking aid.
The purpose of not actually calling it what it is is because most people won’t read it. It let’s the media “accurately” say the thing they want them to say.
Biden, what the fuck are you doing!? Can you do the right thing when it comes to genocide, please? Just hand the election over to trump on a silver platter. How hard is it to… not support genocide? Wtf
The Democrat’s strategy to appeal to their base really seems to be, “Look, we’re not as bad at the other guys.” And they really aren’t realizing that that isn’t enough, because it’s not just about Israel/Palestine anymore. I really don’t think the people who are also repeating this party line (including the ones on Lemmy) are realizing how out of touch this sentiment is especially the younger Millennials/Gen Z.
I’ve seen my friends get attacked, arrested, and get criminal records from the university encampments and protests, and nothing was done to protect them. In their eyes, Trump would never protect them, but neither did Biden or any other Democrat in power. How can they be trusted to protect the people in the future? Seen from this lens, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that there might be people out there who find voting for Biden unpalatable.
Mother should I trust the government?
I’ve been saying for a long time that Democrats basically sell themselves on the idea that you should be afraid that the Republican might win, and vote for them to prevent that. Sometimes they get something done, often only after compromising heavily, but for the most part that’s not the message they’re selling on.
To put it another way, if someone asks you why they should vote Dem instead of third party, the answer isn’t about how great the Dems are and why they deserve your vote it’s about why you should be scared that the GOP might win. It didn’t work in 2016 because most didn’t actually think Trump might win and it did in 2020 because they knew he could.
It might work this time (I’d give it better than even odds, even given the Israel/Gaza stuff is going to hurt Biden some), but eventually it won’t and when it fails and we get another GOP president the Dems won’t win another election for a while - either we immediately fall into Christo-fascist super-Nazism and there are no more elections where we could vote for Dems or we don’t and Dems are at a loss on what to do for votes.
Democrats basically sell themselves on the idea that you should be afraid that the Republican might win, and vote for them to prevent that.
Pathetically, that’s what Republicans said for the 4 years Trump was in office. “Please overlook his faults, a Democrat would be worse!”
Our current political structure and the two party system makes even the best politician look feeble.
I’m not sure how to do it but represent.us proposes to fix it in the near future (if we all bought in, I suppose).One thing that sticks out on that sit is that whether all of voters agree or very few of us agree on a policy there’s about a 30% chance of the policy becoming law.
It goes without saying that the rich and corporations benefit from the current system. It will be tough to change. And makes our system pretty pathetic in practice.
It’s one of the first modern democracies and as a result, I think needs a major update. It’s way too hard to get things done, filibustering is too easy, money has an outsized influence on politicians and elections due to lobbying, there’s no real way to recall certain powerful leaders (from the President to Congressmen to judges), lifetime appointments were an interesting idea but terrible in practice, and all the compromises made for slave states, including the Senate and electoral college, need to go. When are the devs going to put out a new patch?
Oh, and gerrymandering needs to be stopped. Almost forgot that one.
At least take some kind of useful stance on fucking anything.
Wtf did you think Biden is? Dark Brandon?
It’s his job to do US policy - ie, enabling Israel’s genocide, just like all the other mass-murder US policy is responsible for.
He is facing a lot of resistance amongst his electorate for doing his job - therefore he will be handing over to a regime that can perform this sacrosanct aspect of US policy without meeting any resistance from it’s electorate.
It’s “liberal democracy” working the way it’s supposed to in all it’s pseudo-democratic glory.
You know when the ML’s say “scratch a liberal and …,” it’s that. That’s what you are seeing. Liberals will always defer to fascism in support of corporate interests.
What do ML’s say about Khmer Rouge and Xinjiang?
If you pressure them long enough they admit they consider them justified genocides
Wow, really? I certainly wouldn’t want to hang around people who consider the Khmer Rouge’s genocide to be justified, maybe I made an account on the wrong instance. I mean, assuming that actually happened.
In fact, I promise I will not only delete my account right now, but also never post on the fediverse again if you can provide a link to what you just claimed regarding the Khmer Rouge. Should be easy, right?
Sorry, I don’t want to be responsible for you leaving the Fediverse
Historically he never does the right thing when it comes to religious motivations.
More of this, for the love of god.
If anyone was confused by this poorly worded title, the Administration claims Israel has not blocked civilian aid, and this official believes they have blocked civilian aid. She’s leaving because she wants Israel to be held accountable for blocking aid to civilians.
I assume this title is poorly written because this article appears to be written by a bot… aka “By MEE staff.”
Not the first, and won’t be the last.
Article mentions 5 other State Department employees have left over Biden’s support of a genocide while pretending it’s not a genocide.
It’s not to late to ditch him for a candidate that represents the values of dem voters. And regardless of who it is, they probably have a better chance of stopping trump.
Sunk cost fallacy is a terrible way to run a political party, but especially when the stakes are this high.
Even if we win and get four more years of this, it’s not winning, it’s just losing less. Which is why Biden’s numbers are so bad, he doesn’t inspire voters due to his words and actions.
No, Biden has the brand recognition and is the party’s best chance to win. His administration does do a terrible job of selling the good things he is doing and he is shooting himself in the foot by not following through on his ‘red line’ with Rafah, but that isn’t enough of a negative to outweigh the lnown factor.
It sucks that winning a first past the post election based on the electoral college is how it works instead of something like ranked choice, but that is where we are at.
Biden isn’t going to win dude. He’s losing, hard L style right now.
Its not an issue with fptp, its not strategic voting.
He’s a shitty candidate that was always a comprise/ most-least preferred candidate and he’s not going to win.
Continuing to make the arguments that we need to stick with Biden is basically arguing to give the election to Trump.
So what’s your solution? Who has a better shot at winning the election in November if they started campaigning today? I want a specific name and why you think it would work. You know better than everyone, this should be easy for you (everyone else, watch for this sidestep and refusal to actually answer or back up anything).
You’re really good at claiming (almost to a point of preference) that Biden will lose and why we shouldn’t support them but not once have you provided anything of value that people can take action on. Everything you post appears to be designed to make people more apathetic and less likely to be involved, why is that?
Its not my job to give you a solution. I just need you to be real about the probability of failure of the strategy that you seem to be pot-committed to. And to be clear, we haven’t had a convention yet, so there is still time to change.
I’m offering you an analysis that makes a conclusion, that based on current polling, Biden can’t win this election. You might find it unpalatable, but that’s not my problem. Hope is a false
But this isn’t new news’. Biden has been struggling in this way for over a year, before Israel/ Gaza became hot. Biden’s chances have gone from “rough” to “very unlikely”. He’s actively working to distance himself from the positions of his base. Instead of rejecting Trump’s policy positions, he adopts them. Biden is catering to a non-existent center. It seems like he genuinely thinks that some republican voters are going to show up for him. There is 0 evidence from the previous three elections that any voters are convertible.
On the other side, maybe he gets laughed at, but Trump is going to the places that voters are and trying to get them (the sneaker thing, libertarian convention). Trump is trying to win this election. You win elections post 2016 by growing a base and driving them out to vote. It worked for Trump in 2016. It worked for Biden in 2020: Biden took on the most progressive platform in recent history to grow his base to include progressives.
Whats Biden’s platform in 2024? I don’t know about you but I have no fucking clue based on the campaigns messaging. Its all, just like you are parroting here, about how bad Trump is. And while you might find that convincing enough, there are obviously enough voters out there (about 12%) who don’t and that you can’t win the election without.
So I’m sorry. It hurts if he’s your hucklebee, but the guy can’t win right now. He’s statistically lost at this point. If beating Trump really is your goal, then you need to come up with a better candidate. Continuing to push for Biden when he can’t win dooms us all.
You keep saying Biden needs to be replaced but there’s literally no candidate to replace him with that beats Trump. If you’re so sure we need to ditch Biden, and you’re not advocating for Trump to win, it seems pretty fair to ask what you think should happen. Until you do that it’s pretty clear you’re just spewing bullshit in bad faith.
Until you do that it’s pretty clear you’re just spewing bullshit in bad faith.
Sigh… Just because some one is pointing out the flaws in your approach to electoralism doesn’t mean they are acting in bad faith. Pretending that everyone who has a perspective you disagree with is out to get you is a poor way to go through life.
Recognizing that Biden can’t win is step one. There really is no point in a discussion around alternatives until that point is accepted. We can’t turn this ship until collectively, people understand that this guy isn’t going to win the election. It has to show up in mass, in the polling, and in the collective conversation.
As far as determining an alternative, there is a straightforward mechanism for that. Its called a convention, and conveniently, there is already one scheduled. Supreme court decided post 2016 that Dem’s can do whatever the fuck they want. So delegates go to the convention unaffiliated and we figure it out there.
It really doesn’t matter who the nominee is, so long as its neither Biden or Hillary. Any generic Democratic governor or senator will do fine. Trump is deeply unpopular. The problem we’re up against is that some how, Biden has managed his presidency in such a way as to be more unpopular than Trump.
And I’m telling you, there is no viable candidate you can nominate that has a better chance than Biden. “Generic Democrat” isn’t a candidate. Who’s polling better and is willing to run?
See… this is the problem with discussing these things with people like you. You were asked a simple question as a rebuttal to your suggestion that people not vote for Biden, and you have no answer.
I’ve asked this same question to nearly every one of you that I’ve spoke with on the subject.
None of you can answer it.
Making a criticism doesn’t require that I have a solution to the problem that’s been set up by the insistence that Biden be the nominee. If that leaves you feeling incomplete, that’s your issue.
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Complaining about something while offering no solutions and expecting to be taken seriously is about as fucking stupid as not voting and expecting things to change.
You were asked a simple question, that for all the talk you people seem to do here- should be simple to answer…
But NONE of you can answer it. It’s litetally your shut down code. And I’m going to ensure that everyone knows it.
She’s not running. Try again.
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Yep. Predictably unbelievable. They think we don’t know what they’re up to and keep sticking to the bit. They’re like… bad telemarketers.
Do you sniff your own farts often or just frequently?
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You need to touch some grass.
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Gretchen Whitmer, plus she can win Michigan, which has been lost to the genocide.
ROFL! She’s not even running. My god man… you people really need representation. You’re al over the place. How on earth can you expect to be taken seriously when you answer a question about who can beat Trump in the 2024 election….
And your answer is someone that’s not even running?
Get someone to speak for you if you want to be taken seriously.
The question:
So what’s your solution? Who has a better shot at winning the election in November if they started campaigning today?
I answered it. Now, you’re moving the goalposts and they have to be running? And you want me to take you seriously? Lol
You’re mistaken, I never once said “if they start campaigning today.”
And even if she started campaigning, she STILL doesn’t have a chance.
Exactly this. Ask them every time. And none of them ever have an answer. They’re not here to support third party candidates- they’re here to sway votes away from Biden.
He’s a shitty candidate [who] was always a [compromise?]/ most-least preferred candidate and he’s not going to win.
Shitty compared to whom? To the leading republican? Are you high?
“Generic Democrat” polls 12 points higher than Biden.
You are leaving 12 points on the table with Biden. Interestingly, this is also the differential polling error associated with a Biden/ Trump head to head.
12 points is about the number Biden needs to be leading Trump to be ‘confident’ in victory. So quite literally “Any generic Democrat” is a less shitty candidate than Biden.
I’ve concluded and am pretty sure of my conclusions that in this context yes, people be high as FUCK
And suggesting people vote third party when it is well known that not one of them have a remote chance to win, is purposefully trying to give the election to Trump.
It’s not to late to ditch him for a candidate that represents the values of dem voters. And regardless of who it is, they probably have a better chance of stopping trump.
I’ve been saying this for months. Years even. If you want Trump to lose, its not going to be with Biden.
If you want Trump to lose, its not going to be with Biden.
…again. Trump has already lost to Biden once in 2020. If anything Biden has a 100% track record of beating Trump in presidential elections. Trump has a 100% loss rate against Biden in Presidential elections.
Biden wasn’t supporting a genocide of the Palestinian people in 2020.
Things are different for incumbents than they are for challengers, especially those without a recent track record.
In 2020, right now in terms of days till voting day, Biden had something like a 15 point lead on Trump.
Biden barely won going into election day with a massive lead.
Its 2024. Biden lags Trump by 3-6 points.
Its over. Biden loses. He can’t make up that kind of polling deficit.
Biden wasn’t supporting a genocide of the Palestinian people in 2020.
Trump is also a supporter of Israel. Trump (and GOP lawmakers) actively criticized Biden for stopping delivery of weapons to Israel. So Trump comes out looking no better than Biden on Gaza.
Things are different for incumbents than they are for challengers, especially those without a recent track record.
Biden was in the Executive Branch for VP for 8 years and was in the US Senate for 36 years. Trump has 4 years as an twice impeached President.
Its over. Biden loses. He can’t make up that kind of polling deficit.
Thats funny, that’s what people said in Hilary’s favor, and then Trump won. So which is it?
Thats funny, that’s what people said in Hilary’s favor, and then Trump won. So which is it?
You might consider that those were the same people who have been telling you to not worry about/ apologizing for Biden.
The world isn’t a monolith. There were plenty of people, myself included, saying in 2016 that Trump had a far better shot than they were being led to believe.
You might consider that those were the same people who have been telling you to not worry about/ apologizing for Biden.
No, they’re the same people saying the polls conclude Trump is a shoe in that you are citing yourself.
Bro you don’t know who I’m citing. I’ve been doing ground up analysis on polling data for years. Biden showed a 12 point polling deficit to Trump in 2020, and hasn’t led (unweighted) in 15 months.
Apparently what the Libertarians elected as their candidate is good for the Democrats
LOL it’s hilarious once you find out who and what.
Who is this candidate? Pick one and start saying their name! Would Sanders take the nomination? Whoever it is, you’ll need their cooperation at least, so find your duck and get it in the row.
I don’t mean to yell at you, it is frustrating and humiliating for the average citizen, and it’s going to get worse.
Losing less is still better than losing more and if we’re too late we have to accept that and look beyond the vote to damage control in the coming years. Yes, asking each other to “hold your nose and vote” sucks, but we’ve got to pair it with the idea that protest and disobedience and local government action is going to be an important factor for years to come, no matter who is president.
and if we’re too late
That argument worked in 2016, it’s been 8 years of trump…
If the party can’t find a single better candidate, than maybe there should be different people leading it?
But pick any of the 49 senators that caucus with Dems (I’m not counting Manchin, he’d probably be just as hard to elect as Biden) and they’d all have a better shot.
Hell, AOC would get every single Dem vote that can’t hold their nose for Biden. And while some “moderates” would campaign against her like they did Obama, as we saw back then increased turnout more than makes up for those conservatives who constantly claim compromise always means giving them exactly what they ask for Maybe less, but never more.
The main voter block this election will be under 40, we can’t keep catering to boomers because our politicians are so old they can’t realize their grandkids are now the biggest demographic.
We’ll always be little kids to an 82 year old.
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It’s strange that the founding fathers of the USA were mostly in their 20s at the time of the founding, but you can’t be a POTUS until you’re over 35(?) now.
They weren’t that young.
She turns 35 in October. She only has to be 35 before assuming the presidency.
Biden is part of the old boys club where all the monied interests hang out. If you think AOC will get their support you’re not thinking of the current USA. Politics in USA is owned by corporations and I haven’t seen her back corps, why would they back her?
If you think AOC will get their support
Bernie showed us you don’t need them if voters support you…
He ran a competitive race against Hillary and she had corporate donors and the full weight of the party. Hell, her campaign manager controlled DNC purse strings during the primary against Bernie.
Biden might have needed a billion last election. And he’s projected to need 2 billion this year
But that’s not how much it takes for a popular candidate to run a campaign, that’s how much it costs to convince Americans Biden is better than trump and they should hold their nose and vote Biden even tho he’s an 82 year old conservative genocide enthusiast who disagrees with most of his own party’s platform.
You don’t need corporate donations to convince Dem voters to vote for someone they agree with.
And the moderates tried to protest vote Republican against Obama for being “too progressive”. Do you remember how that worked out?
Progressives are the future of the party, and this election most voters will be Millenials or younger.
It’s cheaper if the people want what we’re selling
I remember this, but Bernie failed to get his own party to support him as a candidate, is that not so?
Pick 2016 or 2020.
But I’ve explained both already today, and I’m 90% sure it was in this comment chain…
So pick one or look at my post history for both.
Bernie is an independent, he caucuses with the Dems.
… Biden and Co. can’t lose any more credibility than this. Do they think there’s a portion of the world civilization that lives in some sort of simulation that is controlled by the powers that be? lol smh.
Biden and Co. can’t lose any more credibility than this.
Not without having to switch parties, they can’t. And that party has a candidate already.
“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”
George Orwell, 1984
But remember, we’re still supposed to vote for Biden even though his own cabinet members have lost faith in him. Because otherwise we get Nazi Trump.
Remind me again, is this what a functional, healthy, democracy looks like? The institutions that form our “political parties” are rotten to the core. The ideals don’t need to die, but the corrupt groups who stifle actual change and progress need to.
Yes you are. Because Trump will accelerate the genocide. He has been vocal about that. Neither have the right stance in this but one is clearly worse.
That’s how fptp and party politics work. Not voting is handing a bigger vote to whichever side you dislike more. This is just grade school civics.
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Mass protests. Civil disobedience. The kinda of things that ended slavery and helped raise women’s rights. The things we used to do instead of sitting down and just taking it. Look at the French: they stage months/years long protests. Now check their labor laws and compare it to the US. Where would you rather work?
It’s not going to end until people accept that this change won’t be easy and won’t happen taking the easy way. It’s going to be a shit ton of uphill battles. But that’s the only way to take power back from the oppressors: you demand it.
You think Biden could keep his course of actions up if a large percentage of citizens were out on the streets protesting? I’m asking you to hold your elected representatives accountable. And if they arent doing as they should, you should damn well make it known. Not go “well, he’s not gonna do what I want, but he’s not a Nazi”. DONT ROLL OVER AND TAKE IT.
Do you realize how much you can slow the government down just by calling your representatives? Even if you don’t talk to them, every secretary and assistant taking calls instead of doing other things slows them down. Keep calling. Don’t stop. Send in letters. Show up to meetings whenever possible. Be visible and make your voice heard.
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Mass protests. Civil disobedience.
I don’t expect to see that as an option when it comes to voting.
Because, if you go back, you’ll see that was the question. It was about voting. Voting is that thing you do where you choose between (currently) two options.
i hope these people are happy if they succeed in torpedoing biden and getting trump elected
Trump is a nightmare and must be stopped at all costs.
That doesn’t mean there can’t be calls for Biden to do better or call him out for blatant lies.
In what reality is the person refusing to lie to cover up human rights abuses the bad guy?
if biden wins the election, i’ll carry on shitting on him right along with everyone else.
at this point, people need to internalize the AT ALL COSTS part of of your first sentence. because drawing attention to biden’s problems does nothing but help trump
So Biden can do anything he wants up to the election? Why would he give a shit after the election?
Are you talking about the state department losing Biden the election? It would be amazing if they stopped lying to cover for Israel. That would increase Bidens chances of winning.
Presidential candidate Jill Stein condemns Israel’s genocide and has opposed US actions of sending them more ammunition. And before you type up that First Past the Post response, ask yourself if you support First Past the Post. Because she’s also campaigning on Ranked Choice voting.
Until ranked choice becomes law, everything you said is 100% irrelevant.
Not really.
Its plausible that Bernie might have been successful on his own in recent elections had he made his own party considering how much support he got in the DNC’s primaries despite being a technical independent.
It’s not impossible for a new party to compete successfully, just very difficult.
If it took Imran Khan 20 years to create a populist party worthy of rivaling the military establishment in Pakistan who runs an actual fraudulent election every season, surely America can create a grassroots party worthy of dethroning the GOP and DNC.
Repeatedly voting those two parties and expecting ranked choice voting to become a thing is the real fallacy here. Neither party would pass legislation that weakens their stronghold on elections.
It’s not impossible for a new party to compete successfully, just very difficult.
In the last 47 years Independent Parties have received a combined total of 0% of the electoral votes. The losers of elections don’t get to decide how the system changes, so you really do accomplish a precise mixture of jack shit and fuck all by voting third party.
In the last 47 years Independent Parties have received a combined total of 0% of the electoral votes.
And thats going so well for us as we get to choose between Joe “Im a Zionist” who uses emergency powers to bypass congress to fast track weapons to Israel to commit genocide, and Trump.
Lmao
Yes, to reiterate this for you one more time, we’re choosing between Joe “Don’t Cross this Line for Real this Time” Biden and Donald “Nuke the Region” Trump. You contribute more to death and destruction by voting third party than for Biden. These are your choices.
I don’t like it. I don’t expect you to like it. But this is it.
Alright if I can only possibly choose between Trump or Biden on the ballot in November you shouldnt have anything to worry about me choosing someone else whose name is gonna be on the ballot.
good luck getting ranked choice into law by voting against it.
All it will take is one more Turnip presidency to end all elections forever, and you’re toying with the idea. That makes you a fascist.
He gonna wave his magic end elections wand that only appears for a second term presidency.
Pretty sure the genocide is not irrelevant.
Did she give her reasons for disagreement with the report anywhere.
How can anyone say that we should vote for this administration in the fall? Its own staff are abandoning it!
It’s one thing for me to observe the machine from outside and say “gee, idk about this one, it looks to be going down the wrong path…” it’s entirely another for tactical and practical staff to come leaping out of various hatches and run the other way shouting “it’s ontologically evil!”
That vs a dude with 90 something felony charges who tried to overthrow the US government, and is currently conspiring to overthrow democracy.
Hmmmmm. You know, it really is a tough choice…
/s
Dang it’s crazy that you live in a place with only two options. Here in America there’s third parties and even if they’re not enumerated on the ballot you can just write in whoever you want.
There’s a viable third party running in America? One that gets more than a token share of votes?
Wowie! I live here and I didn’t even know that! Thanks, sport, I’ll definitely vote for them if they have a chance to win!
Classic bloodfart.
You got a problem with your Linux install? I do that kind of posting too…
And rottensausage? 2v2, gonna be a fair fight.
Voting is when you get to choose your opponent. Would you rather oppose the Democrats, who are clearly at least somewhat divided on the subject of Palestine, or the Republicans, whose only division is between “Bomb them” and “Nuke them”?
You’re not endorsing a government by voting for it. You’re just arranging the playing field in the way that is most tactically advantageous to you.
I’m not voting for either. The party for socialism and liberation has a platform of Palestinian statehood and an end to weapons shipments to israel among many other positions I align with.
My support for this party gives them material benefits and makes my position clear in no uncertain terms that the platforms of both democrats and republicans are unacceptable.
So… better vote for a group who is passionately wrong than on a team that to some extend has integrity
I’m voting party for socialism and liberation this November. Passionate integrity!
Oh i see…
