4 ms·

Food for thought: elimination of basic rights impacts all citizens regardless of their political affiliation.

shermantanktop 2y ago
Similarly, expanding executive powers benefits whoever has the position, not just the guy who is in there right now. The self-defeating behavior of the legislative branch, across both parties, for decades led to the risks going up invisibly. And it turns out, risks usually go up without people noticing.
- forgetfreeman 2y ago
  Pretty much, yeah. I hold both major political parties and their partisans responsible for the current dumpster fire in Washington, and all of the dumb shit that's preceded it over the last 40-odd years.
  - wredcoll 2y ago
    Wow, what a brave and inspiring position to take. Thank you for signalling your virtue so loudly.
    - forgetfreeman 2y ago
      They (the two major political parties in the US) are consistently and provably full of shit and you're mad at me for pointing it out? Not sure what that means. Likewise I reject any claims of virtue signaling when what I'm actually doing is expressing life-long disappointment and frustration at a very nearly complete lack of political representation.
      - wredcoll 2y ago
        I mean, I'm mostly criticizing your post, since I'm not allowed to downvote it, I have to use my words. But it's the definition of virtue signaling. There is absolutely a group of people who think it is virtuous to be "above the fray" and "smarter than everyone else" and it's represented by loudly denouncing "both sides" and implicitly positioning yourself as better than them. I mean, ultimately I would have preferred you just not post that so I didn't have to read it, but then I went and replied to you and replied to your reply so now I'm hypocritically adding more garbage to the thread. All that being said, since I'm writing something at all, I am genuinely frustrated at people who say things like "lack of political representation". America has an absolute ton of representation at every level and if you want to be heard, you absolutely can be. But beyond that, this is a representative democracy which means you need to compromise with other people in order to move forward. Those compromises are called political parties. You're never going to have a massive country wide political party that represents the exact details of your needs and wants, but what you can do is influence the existing ones to move closer to your goals. So, you know, the next time you're given a choice of people to vote for, think about which one is going to move you closer to your goals and which one is going to move you further away.
        forgetfreeman 2y ago
        > I mean, ultimately I would have preferred you just not post that so I didn't have to read it Common ground!
- danaris 2y ago
  > Similarly, expanding executive powers benefits whoever has the position, not just the guy who is in there right now. That is why they are doing their level best to make sure there is no chance they will ever lose the position. The attacks on freedom of speech are part of it. So are the attacks on voting rights, and the attacks on the legitimacy of voting results.

Similarly, expanding executive powers benefits whoever has the position, not just the guy who is in there right now. The self-defeating behavior of the legislative branch, across both parties, for decades led to the risks going up invisibly. And it turns out, risks usually go up without people noticing.

forgetfreeman 2y ago
Pretty much, yeah. I hold both major political parties and their partisans responsible for the current dumpster fire in Washington, and all of the dumb shit that's preceded it over the last 40-odd years.
- wredcoll 2y ago
  Wow, what a brave and inspiring position to take. Thank you for signalling your virtue so loudly.
  - forgetfreeman 2y ago
    They (the two major political parties in the US) are consistently and provably full of shit and you're mad at me for pointing it out? Not sure what that means. Likewise I reject any claims of virtue signaling when what I'm actually doing is expressing life-long disappointment and frustration at a very nearly complete lack of political representation.
    - wredcoll 2y ago
      I mean, I'm mostly criticizing your post, since I'm not allowed to downvote it, I have to use my words. But it's the definition of virtue signaling. There is absolutely a group of people who think it is virtuous to be "above the fray" and "smarter than everyone else" and it's represented by loudly denouncing "both sides" and implicitly positioning yourself as better than them. I mean, ultimately I would have preferred you just not post that so I didn't have to read it, but then I went and replied to you and replied to your reply so now I'm hypocritically adding more garbage to the thread. All that being said, since I'm writing something at all, I am genuinely frustrated at people who say things like "lack of political representation". America has an absolute ton of representation at every level and if you want to be heard, you absolutely can be. But beyond that, this is a representative democracy which means you need to compromise with other people in order to move forward. Those compromises are called political parties. You're never going to have a massive country wide political party that represents the exact details of your needs and wants, but what you can do is influence the existing ones to move closer to your goals. So, you know, the next time you're given a choice of people to vote for, think about which one is going to move you closer to your goals and which one is going to move you further away.
      - forgetfreeman 2y ago
        > I mean, ultimately I would have preferred you just not post that so I didn't have to read it Common ground!
danaris 2y ago
> Similarly, expanding executive powers benefits whoever has the position, not just the guy who is in there right now. That is why they are doing their level best to make sure there is no chance they will ever lose the position. The attacks on freedom of speech are part of it. So are the attacks on voting rights, and the attacks on the legitimacy of voting results.