2 ms·

I’m not sure what all this is about. You have one party’s “extremism” which takes the form of bluehaired Twitterati saying stupid shit and, I guess, not gettin

I’m not sure what all this is about. You have one party’s “extremism” which takes the form of bluehaired Twitterati saying stupid shit and, I guess, not getting sufficiently disowned by actual political leaders? On the other hand you have an ongoing ACTUAL ideological purge of our government’s personnel, records, budget, and data, complete with watchwords (like “women”) and loyalty tests.

PaulHoule 2y ago
Sure. I spoke to my uncle about this when he was convalescing in a nursing home. We live in New York, neither of our votes counted. I voted for Harris, he voted for Trump. He did not see it as a black or white thing, he saw it as a comparison. He didn't see Harris as giving any reason why he should vote for her other than, maybe, she is a woman. The message that you shouldn't vote for Trump didn't resonate. Personally I saw Jan 6 as worse than Sept 11 but actually most people don't. Probably the best explanation I see for this is talked about in this podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/will-tariffs-end-trumps-honeymoon/id1077418457?i=1000688664252 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/will-tariffs-end-trump... where Americans were asked "What issues matter to you?" and "What issues matter to X party?" and found that the lists mostly lined up when X=Republican but that people didn't see Democrats talking about the issues that mattered to them. This is connected to my argument above because the reason why Democrats fall into that trap is the same thing that has ruined center-left parties everywhere in the world: that they make a lot of cheap talk to impress their base while reserving the spoils for their donors. The good news is that people will be pretty sick of the Republicans in 2 years and if the Democrats were a normal party they would take over the house of representatives pretty definitively then. They've got an amazing way to pull defeat out of the jaws of victory though.
- llamaimperative 2y ago
  You're still talking about the election. I am not. I am talking about actual political actions being taken.
  - PaulHoule 2y ago
    What are you going to do about it? Winning the next election is the most realistic plan. Maybe not that hard in 2026 for Congress, we might win earlier than that since there are 3 special elections in the queue already and 6 per year on average. Flip 3 seats and the Republicans no longer control the House. The thinner the margin it is the more some lunatic who is offended by the idea of having a budget can throw sand in the gears. Winning all the elections from 2025-2028 is the thing to be thinking about, and thinking about the loss in 2024 is key to that.
mrguyorama 2y ago
It's always an absurd double standard. A bunch of people said stupid shit on Tumbler, so I guess the republicans just had to go tear down all our institutions and grift every dime they can? It's pathetic, but par for the course for the party that insists on "personal responsibility", yet blames Democrats for the deficit despite being empirically responsible for most of it. "You had extremists" nope, none of those people screaming on tumbler were invited into the Party's cabinet.

PaulHoule 2y ago

Sure. I spoke to my uncle about this when he was convalescing in a nursing home. We live in New York, neither of our votes counted. I voted for Harris, he voted for Trump. He did not see it as a black or white thing, he saw it as a comparison. He didn't see Harris as giving any reason why he should vote for her other than, maybe, she is a woman. The message that you shouldn't vote for Trump didn't resonate. Personally I saw Jan 6 as worse than Sept 11 but actually most people don't. Probably the best explanation I see for this is talked about in this podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/will-tariffs-end-trumps-honeymoon/id1077418457?i=1000688664252 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/will-tariffs-end-trump... where Americans were asked "What issues matter to you?" and "What issues matter to X party?" and found that the lists mostly lined up when X=Republican but that people didn't see Democrats talking about the issues that mattered to them. This is connected to my argument above because the reason why Democrats fall into that trap is the same thing that has ruined center-left parties everywhere in the world: that they make a lot of cheap talk to impress their base while reserving the spoils for their donors. The good news is that people will be pretty sick of the Republicans in 2 years and if the Democrats were a normal party they would take over the house of representatives pretty definitively then. They've got an amazing way to pull defeat out of the jaws of victory though.

llamaimperative 2y ago
You're still talking about the election. I am not. I am talking about actual political actions being taken.
- PaulHoule 2y ago
  What are you going to do about it? Winning the next election is the most realistic plan. Maybe not that hard in 2026 for Congress, we might win earlier than that since there are 3 special elections in the queue already and 6 per year on average. Flip 3 seats and the Republicans no longer control the House. The thinner the margin it is the more some lunatic who is offended by the idea of having a budget can throw sand in the gears. Winning all the elections from 2025-2028 is the thing to be thinking about, and thinking about the loss in 2024 is key to that.

mrguyorama 2y ago

It's always an absurd double standard. A bunch of people said stupid shit on Tumbler, so I guess the republicans just had to go tear down all our institutions and grift every dime they can? It's pathetic, but par for the course for the party that insists on "personal responsibility", yet blames Democrats for the deficit despite being empirically responsible for most of it. "You had extremists" nope, none of those people screaming on tumbler were invited into the Party's cabinet.