Tony, Pretty MuchMar 2, 2025

Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and especially Kamala Harris all warned us of what was going to happen if Trump was elected. Continuously.

What do you want them to do now? The nation voted for this shitshow (I know Trump got a “plurality”- in the end it doesn’t change his win). The fuck are they going to do? Fake cry on TV?

It’s bad enough people are blaming Dems in office for Republicans’ shit. Stop blaming the ones out of office.

If this is hard for you, I question your motives.

Show threadJonChevreau 🇨🇦Mar 3, 2025
@TonyStark as I said earlier today, America and Trump are at the “Till death do us part” stage of their relationship. It’s just not clear which dies first.
Show threadWendiGoose 🇺🇦Mar 3, 2025
@JonChevreau You’re speaking as if America was a single person, and not all the millions who voted for Kamala Harris. We did not consent to this.
@TonyStark
Show threadKen Walker Mar 3, 2025
@wendinoakland @JonChevreau @TonyStark America is responsible for this shitshow and the catastrophe it is for the world. Americans can't believe in democracy and not be ashamed. If they claim to do both, their belief in democracy is flawed.
Show threadChristopher Walker

@kgw @wendinoakland @JonChevreau @TonyStark

I voted for Harris, am ashamed, and am no longer sure I even believe in democracy. Face it, even without the electoral college, this thing would’ve won this time. If that’s the result of letting the people decide, then the people just aren’t that bright. No, I don’t have a better plan, and the idea that government derives it legitimacy from the consent of the governed and from nowhere else still resonates with me. But, well, this sucks.

Mar 3, 2025 at 3:41amWeb
Show threadTony, Pretty MuchMar 3, 2025

@cswalker21 @kgw @wendinoakland @JonChevreau I am focused on trying to course correct and not that I am unable to face reality, but a little more of a swing and we’d be in a different place. I’m just not too certain we’ll be able to do it without a better buy in from non-Kamala voters.

I don’t blame anyone for feeling negative. Americans themselves really have to do some self reflection and accept some responsibility that they’re not.

Show threadRichard W. Woodley ELBOWS UP 🇨🇦🌹🚴‍♂️📷 🗺️Mar 3, 2025

@cswalker21 @kgw @wendinoakland @JonChevreau @TonyStark

The closest you can get to representative democracy the better. That means groups of representatives have the power not single individuals. And when people vote they vote for the representative not the party or party leader. But since parties do exist some form of Proportional Representation assuring assemblies not dominated by one party but requiring co-operation is more democratic. <<quick thoughts

Show threadToot Uncommon ΩMar 3, 2025
@the5thColumnist @cswalker21 @kgw @wendinoakland @JonChevreau @TonyStark Requiring proportional award of electors instead of anti-democratic mass-disenfranchising winner take all would fix the electoral college and be the best place to start. Gore and Hillary win. No Constitutional amendments needed.
Show threadKen Walker Mar 3, 2025
@opethminded @the5thColumnist @cswalker21 @wendinoakland @JonChevreau @TonyStark Yes but it wouldn't have helped this time
Show threadToot Uncommon ΩMar 3, 2025
@kgw @the5thColumnist @cswalker21 @wendinoakland @JonChevreau @TonyStark Perhaps. I still have to run those numbers. Unless you did. But he wouldn’t have won in ‘16. And so who’s to say this would necessarily be happening now.
Show threadHavyhh2Mar 3, 2025
@wendinoakland @the5thColumnist @JonChevreau @cswalker21 @kgw @TonyStark exactly....this is the reason the epically idiotic notion of "the unitary executive" for empowering presidents is so....epically idiotic! The Founders, among so many other critical issues, were very focused on preventing, avoiding circumstances that could lead to another monarch in America. The UE theory seems aimed directly at delivering that.
Show threadRichard W. Woodley ELBOWS UP 🇨🇦🌹🚴‍♂️📷 🗺️Mar 3, 2025

@cswalker21 @kgw @wendinoakland @JonChevreau @TonyStark

More organized thoughts here:

http://the5thc.blogspot.com/2018/10/ondemocracy-whata-better-way-to-restart.html

http://the5thc.blogspot.com/2019/01/is-american-democracy-fucked.html

On Democracy

What a better way to restart The Fifth Column than by a treatise on how to make our democracy actually democratic. Hopefully this will be...

Show threadKen Walker Mar 3, 2025

@the5thColumnist @cswalker21 @wendinoakland @JonChevreau @TonyStark

Thank you for sharing these two excellent pieces. The first, about electoral reform in #Canada is convincing. I voted no in the last referendum in BC because I couldn't understand how it would work which is essential if a system is to be credible.

Your second piece on the US situation is very well expressed in its closing sentence.

#demicracy #cdnpoli

Show threadRichard W. Woodley ELBOWS UP 🇨🇦🌹🚴‍♂️📷 🗺️Mar 3, 2025

@kgw @cswalker21 @wendinoakland @JonChevreau @TonyStark

One of the reasons I am starting to support Ranked Ballot Voting is because it is easier to understand and essentially does not change the Single Member Constituency system, only how votes are counted.

http://the5thc.blogspot.com/2024/11/why-i-dislike-ranked-ballot-voting-why.html

Why I Dislike Ranked Ballot Voting & Why I Support It

After four years studying Political Science at Laurentian University and over thirty years working for the House of Commons I tended to appr...

Show threadKen Walker Mar 4, 2025
@the5thColumnist @cswalker21 @wendinoakland @JonChevreau @TonyStark I do not favour any system which casually includes giving parties the power to select candidates not nominated by voters. Parties would pick their elite insiders for leading roles further diminishing the significance of MPs.
Show threadRichard W. Woodley ELBOWS UP 🇨🇦🌹🚴‍♂️📷 🗺️Mar 4, 2025

@kgw @cswalker21 @wendinoakland @JonChevreau @TonyStark

In Canada federal candidates and Ontario provincial candidates need to be endorsed by the party leader to be listed with the party name on the ballot. In some cases parties have been chosen by leaders without local nomination meetings.

Show threadKen Walker Mar 4, 2025
@the5thColumnist @cswalker21 @wendinoakland @JonChevreau @TonyStark That should change. It arose when parties were first named on ballots as a way to validate the use of the party name. It has turned into an instrument of power over MPs by the leaders. Do as I say or your career is over. I wonder if the British PM has to sign off on nomination papers? MPs there are freer to take independent positions. Leaders are more responsible. It should be the party not the leader who signs off.