9 ms·

There was a thing a few years ago where a Russian political troll ring was exposed, and the big focus of their messaging to left-wingers was "there's no point i

There was a thing a few years ago where a Russian political troll ring was exposed, and the big focus of their messaging to left-wingers was "there's no point in voting because both parties are equally bad." What you said is what they want you to think. Lord knows both major parties in the US have serious problems, but if you think they're indistinguishable, you're not paying attention.

B1FF_PSUVM 7y ago
The late Gore Vidal (not a Russian) wrote "There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party … and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat." (https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7320654-there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7320654-there-is-only-one-p...) He used to hang out with the 1960s Democratic Party mighty, even ran in an election. His essays are pretty sharp.
- PhasmaFelis 7y ago
  Just for one example, one party has a recent history of seeking equal rights for LGBT people, and the other has a history of actively blocking same. Try telling a trans person that the party in power doesn't matter. I never said that the Democrats are perfect. They're not even all that good. As often as not, they're the lesser evil. That doesn't mean it's rational to stay home and let the greater evil win.
deogeo 7y ago
They're indistinguishable in quite a few matters - the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations all continued the PATRIOT act, warrantles wiretapping of US citizens, all the foreign wars the US got itself involved in, and none of them closed Guantanamo, reduced immigration, broke up any monopolies, or even slowed their mergers. And these are the topics on which they made wildly different promises. The only stand-out was Trump stopping the TPP. I'll grant you there are other topics on which they differ, but depending on what you look at, your options quickly blur together.
- PhasmaFelis 7y ago
  See my other comment. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21207421 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21207421 If you care about queer rights at all, they're like night and day. There's also clear differences on abortion rights and freedom of (and from) religion. I don't disagree with anything you said, either. It sucks, and I said so. People are reacting like I said the Democrats were nearly perfect, and I'm not sure how anyone got that from what I actually said.

B1FF_PSUVM 7y ago

The late Gore Vidal (not a Russian) wrote "There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party … and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat." (https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7320654-there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7320654-there-is-only-one-p...) He used to hang out with the 1960s Democratic Party mighty, even ran in an election. His essays are pretty sharp.

PhasmaFelis 7y ago
Just for one example, one party has a recent history of seeking equal rights for LGBT people, and the other has a history of actively blocking same. Try telling a trans person that the party in power doesn't matter. I never said that the Democrats are perfect. They're not even all that good. As often as not, they're the lesser evil. That doesn't mean it's rational to stay home and let the greater evil win.

deogeo 7y ago

They're indistinguishable in quite a few matters - the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations all continued the PATRIOT act, warrantles wiretapping of US citizens, all the foreign wars the US got itself involved in, and none of them closed Guantanamo, reduced immigration, broke up any monopolies, or even slowed their mergers. And these are the topics on which they made wildly different promises. The only stand-out was Trump stopping the TPP. I'll grant you there are other topics on which they differ, but depending on what you look at, your options quickly blur together.

PhasmaFelis 7y ago
See my other comment. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21207421 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21207421 If you care about queer rights at all, they're like night and day. There's also clear differences on abortion rights and freedom of (and from) religion. I don't disagree with anything you said, either. It sucks, and I said so. People are reacting like I said the Democrats were nearly perfect, and I'm not sure how anyone got that from what I actually said.