In short Republicans are going to screw over 23 million poor Americans because they don’t want Democrats getting political credit for helping them during an election season. And because our press is generally broken and afraid of calling a duck a duck, this is going to get dressed up as a genuine concern about wasteful spending by a party that’s long been a huge fan of no shortage of wasteful spending.

  • @FrickAndMortar
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    4110 months ago

    I feel like the current establishment wouldn’t allow an FDR-style candidate to succeed, they’re making too much money from protecting the status quo.

    But I’ll still grudgingly support them if Trump is the other option. I’ll vote progressive in my local elections, but as long as we still have a first-to-the-post election process, it’s always the lesser of two evils.

    Isn’t it the case that whoever wins this one, they’ll be the oldest president in US history? Gross.

    • @givesomefucks
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      1810 months ago

      Obama was probably out last best chance…

      But the party made a lot of changes after 08 to prevent anyone except their favorite from winning.

      And they put a lot of pressure on Obama to not actually be progressive, and paired him with Biden to show donors everything would still be ok.

      12 years later trying to pretend Biden was/is a progressive was just a huge slap in the face. He was literally the opposite of a progressive, a sign to boomers that the young Black man who talked about “change and hope” would get all the “guidance” he needed.

      But like Heinlein said:

      Surely the game is rigged, but don’t let that stop you. If you never play, you’ll never win.

      We have to be at them at their own game, there’s no other option.

      But it’s not the first or last time the good guys didn’t get a fair fight and fought it anyways.

      Win or lose, we still have to keep trying.

      Creating a third party isn’t really an option unless the DNC goes full nuclear and ignores a primary vote to nominate their favorite.

      • Xhieron
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        10 months ago

        Are you playing to win though? I ask because Lemmy is absolutely loaded with faux-progressive astroturfing designed with no other end than to demoralize Democrats, progressives, moderates, “centrists”, and anyone else who might stand even the most remote possibility of voting for Joe Biden in November. Why should the GOP bother attacking the administration? They have you to do it for them.

        Look at this thread. This program was part of Biden’s infrastructure package, passed by Democrats at President Biden’s urging, to give free or reduced-cost broadband to low-income families, and the Republicans in Congress defunded it because they hope that when their constituents suffer they’ll blame Democrats. And would you look at that! Nearly every comment in this thread, including yours, is a criticism of the administration. No shit, the game is rigged, but from here it sure looks like you lot are playing for the other team.

        • @givesomefucks
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          910 months ago

          Because problems dont go away if you ignore them.

          And it’s harder for politicians to ignore problems if people talk about them.

          And if more people are talking about them, it’s more likely the politicians actually address them.

          Which is good for the people suffering from the problem, and helps the politician get elected.

          So tell me. What’s so wrong about asking for more from the only rational choice I have when I vote for president?

          What do you think will happen if dek voters aren’t allowed to criticize Dem politicians?

          • Snot Flickerman
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            10 months ago

            They want us to be cultish and compliant like Trump voters are. 🙄

            You cannot question Dear Leader!!! /s

            It’s some real George Bush “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” shit.

        • Snot Flickerman
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          10 months ago

          with no other end than to demoralize Democrats, progressives, moderates, “centrists”, and anyone else who might stand even the most remote possibility of voting for Joe Biden in November.

          Maybe we have real issues we’re upset about?

          No, it can only be plants trying to change the election outcome by making people upset!

          It couldn’t be they’re actually unhappy with how hollow and useless the Democrats have been for over forty years!

          You sound like this guy:

          No shit, the game is rigged, but from here it sure looks like you lot are playing for the other team.

          Because we’re not like the Trump Cult and we have the audacity to question our leaders, their competency, and their motives? God damn, go join their fucking cultish ranks if undying, unquestioning loyalty is what you want.

          “Can’t you just be complaint, unthinking, unquestioning voters who just are happy their team is winning?” isn’t the flex you think it is.

          • Xhieron
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            -110 months ago

            I don’t think you appreciate the stakes.

            • Snot Flickerman
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              10 months ago

              I actually don’t think you do, or you wouldn’t be jerking off the people who are currently glad-handing the Israeli version of Trump.

              Also, not an actual argument or rebuttal.

              So got it, all you’ve got is conspiratorial bullshit to spew.

              You sound more like a paid operative than I do. I can defend my fucking opinions and don’t need a script.

              Also, being a paid political operative isn’t illegal in the USA, and it’s been well-documented that both Republicans and Democrats use them, so take a fucking hike with this bullshit. There’s a reason Democrats haven’t made it illegal, and it’s because it’s useful to them, too. Currently paid operatives don’t have to say they’re being paid to promote a position, like you have to in a political ad. Why isn’t this on Democrats agenda, hmmm? If paid operatives are such a problem, hmmm?

              • Xhieron
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                -410 months ago

                Oh! Got it. You’re a both sides guy. That makes a lot of sense. Yeah, we’re done. Take it easy.

                • @Aleric
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                  Your arguments and rebuttals have more holes than a wheel of Emmentaler. They don’t even make sense under the most cursory scrutiny. Whether you agree with the other guy or not, you’re shorting yourself by not deeply analyzing your opinions to see if they’re both internally and externally congruent. Everyone really owes themselves that.

    • Dark Arc
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      010 months ago

      Just vote in primaries.

      The DNC has to respect the result of primaries.

      So many people ignore primaries then complain they only have two choices.

      • @[email protected]
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        110 months ago

        The DNC has to respect the result of primaries.

        I’m guessing you weren’t around for the 2016 DNC primaries? There is no legal precedent that the results need to be respected and they have outwardly said as much.

        we could have voluntarily decided that, Look, we’re gonna go into back rooms like they used to and smoke cigars and pick the candidate that way. That’s not the way it was done. But they could have. And that would have also been their right… - DNC attorney Bruce Spiva

        DNC lawyers have argued and continue to argue that the Democratic Party doesn’t owe anyone a fair process. It has every right to disregard its own rules or interpret its rules how it wants because it is a private organization

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        Bruce Spiva, representing the DNC, made the argument that would eventually carry the day: … as he explained how the DNC worked, Spiva made a hypothetical argument that the party wasn’t really bound by the votes cast in primaries or caucuses. “The party has the freedom of association to decide how it’s gonna select its representatives to the convention and to the state party,” said Spiva. “Even to define what constitutes evenhandedness and impartiality really would already drag the court well into a political question and a question of how the party runs its own affairs. The party could have favored a candidate. I’ll put it that way.”

        source

        • Dark Arc
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          110 months ago

          That’s just lawyers being lawyers… Trump and Republicans have certainly argued far more absurd theories only for them to be shot down when put to test.