Amadi LovelaceMay 12, 2023
I find it fascinating that as Republican controlled legislature after legislature is tumbling down a path of criminalizing healthcare, and the existence of LGBTQ people in different ways, when the Republicans in charge of the US House want to make senior citizens and disabled people pay for their tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires we still have people saying that Democrats are failing to sufficiently demonstrate the difference between them and Republicans for disgruntled voters.
Show threadAmadi LovelaceMay 12, 2023

At some point, voters have to do the work. At some point, voters have to decide what they personally stand for, and they have to assess candidates and parties, and figure out which one is closer. They can’t be handheld in that process and pulled along one by one.

Having a society of 330 million people is complicated and messy, and voters have to be willing to step up and do the tiniest part, reading a voter guide or asking a question, talking to friends or even phonebank callers. Something.

Show threadAmadi LovelaceMay 12, 2023

Every candidate can’t give civics lessons as part of their campaign. Every candidate can’t provide answers to every individual question every individual voter in their district or state might have.

And honestly, at this point, when the differences are more stark than they have ever been in any of our lifetimes it shouldn’t be so difficult to make that case.

People who say they don’t see the difference between Democrats and Republicans don’t want to. It’s a lie and a copout.

Show threadAmadi Lovelace

I am not saying, by the way, that Democrats don’t need to do more where and when they can. Of course, there’s more that could be done. There’s always more.

But if, at this point, someone needs to be persuaded to see which of these two parties should have power in the system we are currently enduring, that’s a demonstrated failure on their part.

May 12, 2023 at 11:53pmWeb
Show threadE. Hatt-SwankMay 12, 2023
@amaditalks
Yes, yes yes! Thank you for talking about this. it drives me nuts how voters are treated primarily as *consumers* in the US, rather than active participants in a democracy, who have a responsibility to take that role seriously.
Show threadAmadi LovelaceMay 13, 2023
@ehattswank that’s exactly it. People are acting like it’s reasonable that voters choosing candidates are acting like they’re choosing between Ragu and Prego and they can’t choose between them because it’s all just spaghetti sauce. Meanwhile, the Ragu in this tortured analogy will cancel your social security, take away your insurance, kill your sister, imprison your queer kid and put your nonbinary grandkid in a reparative therapy center.
Show threadE. Hatt-SwankMay 13, 2023

@amaditalks

"It's all just spaghetti sauce" 🤣 That's perfect.

Show threadCynthia loves masksMay 13, 2023
@amaditalks At their core, Republican policies are designed to optimize violence in support of white supremacist patriarchal capitalism. I used to say the R's don't have any real policies, but I was wrong. It's all about the ability to deploy violence against anyone that gets in the way of those goals and the "right" to extract everything out of our planet to feed the system.
Show threadAmadi LovelaceMay 13, 2023
@cynthia1960 oof. That’s really succinctly and beautifully put.
Show threadCynthia loves masksMay 13, 2023
@amaditalks you inspired me, thanks