It's Biden or fascism.
Having trouble voting for Biden? Boost another ticket in the run up to 2028—when the incumbent is ineligible.
In 2024, a vote for ANYONE BUT Biden/Harris IS A VOTE FOR THE GOP.
Sit it out? That’s a vote for GOP.
Democrats are far from perfect. Change the system; but If you choose to destroy it, you may not see democracy again in your lifetime. Trust the collective history of third-party and other spoilers.
@DemocracyMattersALot You are right. And that, in a nutshell is all that is wrong with what masquerades as democracy.
Voting for the guy who has allowed the slaughter in Gaza, and dropped bombs on Iraq and Yemen, is the only way to stop something worse…
@Tattered @DemocracyMattersALot
Reading your thought, it occurs to me that it's probably your turn to make a system that works better. Please hurry! But in the mean time, I believe that Freedom, sadly, includes the certainty that a lot of stupid-thinking people, with a lesser number of bad actors, will continue to be how This Whole Thing works.
Hurry! Hurry!
(Thanks in Advance)
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@Tattered @DemocracyMattersALot How will that work, do you think? As far as a functioning system of government is concerned.
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@Tattered @DemocracyMattersALot As to 2nd point, our SCOTUS erased our ability to limit donor influences. If enough Democrats get in, maybe they'll manage to fix it. As to "laws," etc., your phrasing sounds like you're looking for some god-like figure (or dictator?) to fix these defective things. "How can we achieve...?" is the revised question directed to you. Maybe , here, we can come up with something?*🤨
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*Hard to believe, but you never know!😎
@Tattered @DemocracyMattersALot It's clearly easier to Critique things that work poorly; much-harder to find solutions. "How much choice" did I, as 1 of 330,000,000 people have? How do you change the math of that? Luckily, our system is no dictator/king. We vote more on someone whose values we like—but what comes first is ability to run things—according to our laws. I'd prefer an Obama, but our Biden is doing a bang-up job.
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@Gozo @DemocracyMattersALot In short, your two party system has been subverted by big money. Big money also doesn’t mind dictatorships, because it remains business as usual for bosses. Biden is caught in this balancing act; keeping the fat cats happy enough to prevent a fascist takeover.
Why do I care? Because there is no outside to an American hegemony.
@Tattered @DemocracyMattersALot I hear you. What I don't hear is functional, viable solutions. No offense, please: this is not just from you. It's from everybody. I think of Aesop's "Who Will Bell the Cat?" My limited efforts, here on SM, is to sidestep the relentless (but meaningless) insults, and work toward getting US to work together. You can keep grousing, comparing US presidents to Gen. Sec. Xi all you want. I see two sides: Freedom vs Organization. I prefer the former.
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@Tattered @DemocracyMattersALot
The Baudrillard book:
The Introduction says, "The central thesis of Baudrillard's essays appears to be directly contradicted by the facts." I can't assess before reading in the book.
Later: "Christopher Norris regards Baudrillard's Gulf War essays as [exposing] the...bankruptcy of postmodern thought and...ideological *complicity*...between...extreme anti-realist...doctrine and the crisis of moral and political nerve..."
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@Tattered @DemocracyMattersALot
Are you aware of "wordsmith" Frank Luntz's role in terms such as "Pro-Life"? The video related to the damage Fox has caused includes an interview with him: The Brainwashing of My Dad is the video, which now can be found streaming free, somewhere.
Meanwhile, I'll keep Baudrillard in mind: the term, "post-modern," seems to act/serve much as the word, "existentialism," did for us back in about the 1960s. Easier to use than to comprehend, in my case.
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@Gozo @DemocracyMattersALot I didn’t know about Luntz. I will look into him.
I like some of the “postmodern” thinkers very much; mostly for their focus on phenomenology and on language. You will find that they all have a suspicion of the State, because they lived through, or grew up immediately after, the Nazi period. They question the assumptions of Western culture; which must be a good thing!
@Gozo @DemocracyMattersALot Unlike you, I think the freedom is largely illusory. It is freedom for the wealthy, and the presence of freedom for the poor, which disappears very easily when health is poor, or a line is crossed.
Sadly, only time will prove which of us is correct. For all of our sakes, I hope I am wrong.
@Tattered @DemocracyMattersALot The most-important "freedom" is in the use of your head and your words.
I agree with your oligarch-related propositions. I don't know your age, but I speak from the 1960s: the Democrats were never like today's GOP. Consult a variety of pre-1980s histories to assess for yourself.
IT WAS NOT LIKE THIS before Reagan. We need to get that "pendulum" to swing back.
For all our sakes, Amen.😐
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@Tattered @DemocracyMattersALot
ALSO: If "you were not involved in the choice," how can you object to those who actually did do that work?😐
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@DemocracyMattersALot I will not vote for anyone who supports what Israel is doing. I will not support anyone who thinks social security is on the table, got Thomas on the court, lied about meeting Mandela, his class rank, anyone who left the post master in his job, who watched Roe overturned, who hasn't arrested seditionists, long list.
Hard pass on Biden.
I suggest replacing him, if you want a Democrat to win.
@Jon_Kramer @DemocracyMattersALot Who "watched Roe overturned"?
There are fair criticisms of Biden, but you're really reaching for something to blame him for. Do you think he's responsible for any bad thing he glances at?
@daylightatheism @DemocracyMattersALot he could be demanding federal law to put the protection of Roe back into force.
But he isn't.
That is his responsibility. His path. His legacy.
He should have anticipated Roe's overturn? Roe was overturned on June 24, 2022.
@DemocracyMattersALot @daylightatheism I'm realistic enough to blame the guys who refused to act to protect women's rights.
Biden will NEVER get my vote.
I will vote. I will never vote for anyone who was a republican after June, 2016.
If a candidate wants my vote, they must earn it. No exceptions. Not even if my one single vote decides the election somehow.
@otownKim @DemocracyMattersALot @daylightatheism I would hope people learned to not run a candidate who can lose to a shitstain like trump.
My hope seems to be in vain.
@daylightatheism @DemocracyMattersALot and then they gave up.
Not good enough.
@daylightatheism @DemocracyMattersALot understand, they had over 50 YEARS to do this, and didn't. Because it made for a better issue to campaign on.
This doesn't make them look better in my eyes. It makes it worse.
@Jon_Kramer @DemocracyMattersALot How many failed, doomed attempts to do the same thing would it have taken to satisfy you?
You can say America's governmental system is set up badly and gives too much power to obstructionists. But it's just absurd griping to blame Biden or the Democrats for not doing something they literally didn't have the power to do.
@daylightatheism @DemocracyMattersALot no failed attempts would satisfy me. Not one, not two, not ten thousand.
I demand success, and enough attempts to achieve that. Giving up is not an option.
@daylightatheism @DemocracyMattersALot my vote, my right to gripe. They have had 50 years to figure it out.
They didn't even try. Fuck 'em. Not all of them... they are still the lesser evil... they are not supporting a convicted rapist traitor like the GQP. But they are not good enough for me.
Not by a long shot.
@daylightatheism @Jon_Kramer @DemocracyMattersALot
Obama promised to codify Roe v Wade. When the time came and he had the majority to do it, he said it was "not a priority", and just didn't fucking BOTHER.
@Jon_Kramer @daylightatheism @DemocracyMattersALot
I swear they gave it to the GOP on purpose. They'd rather feed us to Republicans to terrorize us, than actually earn votes.
People who use fascists as attack dogs to terrorize us... are not our friends.
@violetmadder @daylightatheism @Jon_Kramer @DemocracyMattersALot
That's not true. JFC. If you were American or one vaguely paying attention you'd know healthcare was a fight the whole Obama presidency, abortion included.
https://web.archive.org/web/20170115221454/http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/07/the-real-story-of-obamacares-birth/397742/
https://archive.nytimes.com/prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/the-abortion-debate-a-primer/
Oh, and this was 2022: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/8/22/23306142/kaine-collins-codify-roe-abortion-congress
@cat_static @daylightatheism @Jon_Kramer @DemocracyMattersALot
"The first thing I will do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act," --Obama 2007
"The Freedom of Choice Act is not my highest legislative priority," Obama said. "The most important thing we can do is to tamp down some of the anger surrounding the issue" --Obama 2009
Oops, can't protect the bodily autonomy of women, it'll make forced birthers mad. So much for hope and change.
Demanding? From whom? Republicans control the House...
@daylightatheism
@CatDragon @daylightatheism @DemocracyMattersALot ya, those guys, the ones Biden helped get on the court, and didn't fight to impeach or didnt expand the court to mitigate the fallout, didn't fight for federal law... nothing.
Ya. Those guys.
@Jon_Kramer @DemocracyMattersALot Only 1 item on your list refers to Pres. Biden—at all. Every other item describes Mr. Trump.
No one in the world likes what's happening to the people of Gaza. But those who most-actively support Gaza show no care for any of the heinous activities on the other side. Why is Hamas let off the hook for their dark deeds?
Meanwhile, the Biden administration persists in aiding Israel in improving the situation. Mr. Trump sure made it Worse.😐
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@Gozo @DemocracyMattersALot come back to this post of yours in a few years, after the body counts are done.
I'll expect an apology then, not now.
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