Randahl FinkIt is hard to help get someone elected and then realise they are completely mad. Right wing podcaster Megyn Kelly has a hard case of buyer’s remorse:
Danny Reving@randahl Isn’t it the same Kelly who recently said she would still vote republican even if Trump dropped a nuclear bomb on Iran?
Luk
Andre123 
@randahl are they thinking about creating for themselves a "new look" as they fear they will soon loose their job/popularity in an year or so ? That is... are they just planning ahead ?
Nazo@andre123 @randahl "Planning ahead" implies the ability to plan. Or to think...
I think he's just finally getting to a point that even the right is starting to wake up a little bit. Slowly, a few at a time. A lot still won't let go because it would be admitting that they were wrong, but a few here and there are starting to get just angry enough to blame him while still pretending it wasn't just as much their fault for voting for him and promoting him every single chance they got.
It may be. And that they aknowledge they made a mistake, in an ocean of bad news, would be something a little less horrible.... Let's hope.
I really can't believe what is happening in the USA... from an european perspective it really looks dystopic.
@andre123 @randahl I don't think they can acknowledge they made a mistake. No, it's his fault that he turned out to be exactly what he was all along that they voted for him to be. How dare a malignant narcissist with a clearly degrading mind do things they didn't approve of when he very clearly showed that he would do things like this!
They won't admit they were wrong, just blame him and act like he is somehow being something they couldn't have seen right from the start 11+ years ago.
Is it really that bad for some people in the US to inform themselves , to read some books instead of trash in the social media from time to time, and to think about who they are voting for ?
(Sorry, english is not my primary language...and I do not use AI translations... I try to do my best !)
@andre123 @randahl Yes, it is.
Bear in mind we're all completely inundated. Most people don't even *know* they should put in an effort to find the truth. All the news media, centralized social media, etc etc are all specifically working to fool people. Even one of the few that was not algorithmically censoring the truth (Twitter) was bought up by a billionaire at an insane price just because he wanted to stifle it.
Many people don't even know to look... They just accept what they're told.
That's scary considering the power of the US President and what he can do. Citizens should really try to spread awareness, try to regain some awareness.
But I understand it's hard to fight against an inundation of fake news , algos, etc, especially when you are ready to accept what you are told...
There is some effort required from the population (and honest journalists) to maintain an healthy democracy. And the need for some form of higher education in the complex - interconnected world we are living in. Let's hope something better will happen, it's sad to see what's going on in the world.
@andre123 @randahl We're trying our best. Hence things like the "No Kings" protests. Naturally the mass media and social media promote statements that carefully word things in ways designed to keep people from really realizing the purpose of course.
IMO the biggest problem isn't that an effort is required (though that is really big) but that people don't *KNOW* they need to make that effort... Everything that can is working hard to sanewash all this as just stuff that will go away on its own
Unofrtunately it won't go away on its own...
It's so weird to grasp....you can do marvelous things like sending men on the moon and yet....
I've been watching the astronauts live from the moon (and some Nutella ! ) sitting on my sofa at home, isn't it fascinating what you've done ? How can it be that so many people voted for Trump a second time ?? 🤦♂️
And that goes a bit back towards the aforementioned inundation. And yes, some of that ignorance is willful. People are *born* into a system designed to teach them hate by necessity. (And don't fool yourself, this is fairly universal because capitalism needs things like teaching people to hate anyone perceived as "not productive enough" so the system is in place from birth almost everywhere.)
@andre123 @randahl Some have been taught from an early age to hate anyone and anything they don't understand. Many of these people voted for Trump. Quite a lot were convinced not to vote against him. There were a number of reasons ranging from just thinking this was no big deal and would pass to thinking that Democrats weren't good enough so they shouldn't vote for one (even though we have a two-party system so not voting one or the other is a throwaway by definition.)
No doubt, but there are various degrees of acceptance to that.
Capitalism has become terrible in the last 50 years. It needs regulation, otherwise it becomes like a cancer. Billionaires are even worse.
Keynes need to be rediscovered....and quickly if possible. But I'm not that optimistic. Too many scary things happening make it hard to remain optimistic.
@andre123 @randahl Yeah, the world really needs big solutions for big problems and right now it's looking like our best hope to not just careen straight into the end of everything still involves small solutions (that feel big) desperately enacted at the last minute instead.
Billionaires need to be taxed right out of existence absolutely. Really even millionaires need to be. No one needs that much. No one. And CEOs too. No one should have the money to buy politicians nor should it be legal.
I agree, a democracy should not allow some folks to become so rich they can buy politicians. And no one need all that money... Also let's consider the damage they cause for climate change.
We are having this problem in EU too, where Meta is trying to buy politicians to change some laws that somehow still protect our (little) privacy online.... We try to resist, but it's an hard political fight.
@andre123 @randahl In the end, a politician should be someone who wants to do the job because they want to make change. They should barely make more than, say, a postal worker. It's not supposed to be a profitable career and it's not supposed to get you rich.
Meanwhile, over here, some of our politicians literally receive millions in a year from lobbyist groups. Literally millions.
We have a theory in Italy (at the base of our laws writtten many decades ago): a politician should earn enough money to live a normal life,without having money problems (but not getting rich !), so it's not easy to corrupt him. The problem arises when some people is so rich they can buy even someone who gets a very nice salary for his work.
It's very late here, sorry but I need to go to sleep ! Thank you for this conversation, and let's hope !
FurballsNHairballs@randahl
She wkll flip back over when its beneficial.
She wkll flip back over when its beneficial.
Richard RatheBrings to mind: "You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in..."
#WillfulBlindness
Koen Hufkens, PhD@randahl The face eating leopard again. No sympathy.
PhloXO
Grant
Tom DB 🦣
Ken M Sweeney@randahl ahh the rats can smell the sea spray.
Alopece@randahl I want all these "remorseful Republicans" to say that if they could do it again they would vote for Kamala. If they are not willing to say that, their complaints are just impotent venting.
@michaelvcooper1 @randahl This is a really good point!
I 100% guarantee they'd still vote for Trump even if he does successfully start WWIII, start firing nukes, and get the world destroyed. Send them back in time *after* watching their families and all of civilization die and they'd still refuse to vote for a black woman.
No doubt they'd think they could change him or something. And then the same thing would just happen again...
xs4me2@randahl Amazing... Imagine needing until 2026 to realize that the person those of us who were capable of thinking for ourselves realized was a complete and utter tool back in 2015 was maybe less than stellar.
It has been eleven years...
This is what happens when one isn't allowed to think for themselves...
(And yeah, there are those who knew him before 2015, mostly in New York, I mean the rest.)
And they literally voted for him *because* he wasn't normal. They voted *for* this.
Idiots.
swggrkllr3rd@nazokiyoubinbou @randahl It's not amazing, they're like germans who participated in kristallnacht in 1938 and in May, 1945 say "we didn't know".
helgenug