***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[ajiiiplatinum]

Exactly. This is why the US is turnung itself into a country molded to suit conservatives, unfortunately. If you’re liberal unfortunately you’ll have to accept that your country hates you.

Democrats go in there like Apollo Creed in Rocky IV thinking it’s an exhibition and dancing, kissing grandmas and babies, posing for picks with celebs, and shooting fireworks while Republicans come in like Drago ready to take care of business
We took an L today and in 2016

Meanwhile us progressives and socialist dems who supported Bernie are told by these same Dems that we are too aggressive with our economic policies...too radical with our reforms...too uncompromising...too angry like Bernie lol.
Anyway the struggle continues

 

[staffsgtdignam]

Democrats go in there like Apollo Creed in Rocky IV thinking it’s an exhibition and dancing, kissing grandmas and babies, posing for picks with celebs, and shooting fireworks while Republicans come in like Drago ready to take care of business
We took an L today and in 2016

Meanwhile us progressives and socialist dems who supported Bernie are told by these same Dems that we are too aggressive...to radical...to uncompromising.
Well lets get to work

At a certain point, it will change though. Either through peaceful or unpeaceful means. Historically, that’s how ideological change has always happened nobody stays content with ideological discrepancy-look at the French and American revolutions, respectively.

 

[RustyShackleford]

Bernie is the same mother****er that was defending the filibuster with Biden for his own asinine reasons.

There have been plenty of regular Dems that tried to warn folk, mother****ers just don't like to listen.

People should have listened to Pelosi about 2010 being a redistricting year. People should have listened to Harry Reid about the Senate. People should have listen to Hillary about Trump. Now they need to listen to Joe Biden about how critical it is to save the country from Trump, and Elizabeth Warren about the political reforms needed.

Democrats need to pursue a massive pro-democracy policy agenda. Something that has not gotten the sufficient attention from most on the left. From centrist to socialist.

 

[ajiiiplatinum]

At a certain point, it will change though. Either through peaceful or unpeaceful means. Historically, that’s how ideological change has always happened nobody stays content with ideological discrepancy-look at the French and American revolutions, respectively.

i hope we dont go that route

 

[cedric ceballos]

Ted Cruz grew a beard and lost his balls (if he had any). Which I don’t think he did the way he boot licks Trump after insulting ugly Heidi and his zodiac daddy.

the Dems need to ask themselves this though. Even if they didn’t get the end result they wanted. How would the gop have acted when Scalia died if the Dems had the necessary numbers to get Garland through. The GOP would’ve fought that **** to the end.

they Need to play the game the gop way. And make things happen by any means.

 

[elpablo21]

 

[cosmiccoffee9]

i hope we dont go that route

listen man...I personally abhor Actual Violence. may it never stain the face of our Earth again.

not like, boxing...that´s ¨sport.¨ dangerous, but a game.

not even a single shooting or something may qualify as Actual Violence...a person could have been defending themselves, their homes, or their families in the most effective fashion possible.

that´s ¨force,¨ and fits neatly into my pacifism thxmuch.

Actual Violence is the type of thing that leaves villages denuded, that turns some other set of human beings into nothing more than prey.

Actual Violence burns down libraries with students inside and throws the weak into pits to be shot dead.

Actual Violence gives the English language phrases like ¨basket of hands,¨ ¨war rape,¨ and ¨nuked city.¨

anyone who has picked up a ****ing History book knows very well what Actual Violence is...it is eminently obscene in a way that should make it unpalatable to all who have studied it or could be subject to it.

still...when confronted with credible threats of Actual Violence, principle and pragmatics often end up at odds.

A Symbol Of Compassion, Dalai Lama Hints Bin Laden's Killing Was Justified

In religious circles, whether bin Laden's killing was justified, has been a reason to soul search. The Dalai Lama seems to have arrived at a surprising answer.

www.npr.org

¨As a human being, Bin Laden may have deserved compassion and even forgiveness, the Dalai Lama said in answer to a question about the assassination of the Al Qaeda leader. But, he said, “Forgiveness doesn’t mean forget what happened. … If something is serious and it is necessary to take counter-measures, you have to take counter-measures.¨

 

[rexanglorum]

Democrats go in there like Apollo Creed in Rocky IV thinking it’s an exhibition and dancing, kissing grandmas and babies, posing for picks with celebs, and shooting fireworks while Republicans come in like Drago ready to take care of business
We took an L today and in 2016

Meanwhile us progressives and socialist dems who supported Bernie are told by these same Dems that we are too aggressive with our economic policies...too radical with our reforms...too uncompromising...too angry like Bernie lol.
Anyway the struggle continues

I love Bernie but on this matter, Bernie is not vindicated because he’s not radical when it comes to these crucial procedural questions.


When it comes to preventing a right wing judicial coup, it kind of is the case where the centrists aren’t wrong, voting works.

Now, the left world view of politics has been vindicated by the triumph of GOP minoritarianism. Mainstream Democrats are committed to rule of law and norms while the GOP is committed to rule of law (at least when it concerns the structure of government) but completely eschews norms. Pretty quickly, the GOP has rigged the system so that all formal majoritarian political action becomes less and less effective which allows the GOP to further change the system and make the will of the majority less and less relevant.

In many ways, our politics realities have caught up with our economic realities. The last 40 years of Democratic Party politics has been based on the gamble that we can have an ever widening divide in private wealth while building a more just, equitable and inclusive state. That has happened in some important respects. For many communities, life is more secure and more dignified than it was in 1980, at least as far as one’s reaction with the state is concerned.

Unfortunately, the yawning gap between rank and file workers and the elite of the working class has left the masses of people workers, atomized from each other. The dominance of capital over all workers gave it power that begat yet more power.

After Barack Obama was elected along with huge Democratic Majorities, all of off the strength of a multi racial, minoritarian coalition. The majority of capitalists told their client politicians in the GOP to do whatever it took to override majoritarianism. Off the strength of one bad mid term election, in 2010, the GOP has severely weakened our political democracy (and we lacked political democracy already). When small groups of people own so much wealth that they can tyrannize the mass of people in the “private“ sphere eg. Low wages, drug testing, on demand scheduling, you want tyrannize people in the public sphere and dismantling our political democracy is required to do so.

 

[had pants]

 

[Wargames]

Pack the courts

 

[IATT]

 

[staffsgtdignam]

i hope we dont go that route

Oh, do not get me wrong, I’m 1000% NOT advocating this lol I just think that when people get fed up, they tend to revolt. Look at post-MLK death civil upheaval, this is what I’m referring to.

 

[staffsgtdignam]

To be fair, Rafael is right because he already knows his mans is going to lose and push this to the SC. In 2016, SCOTUS actually having to decide an election was an afterthought. In 2020 it’s imminent and unfortunately this pick would only slide things in Trump’s favor.

I’m confused because there was already a conservative majority? If the election was pushed to the SC, even if RBG was alive, it still would’ve favored Trump winning

 

[DLF]

God bless trump and god bless America. I leave a movie recommendation in here for everyone to see.

 

[big van vader]

Ok so I need to have the "what does this all mean" conversation on here because no one in my real life wants to have it for fear of being further bummed out.

So the ACA is basically done. It'll be a 4-4 decision at best which sends it back to the lower court which deemed it unconstitutional. The only hope is Roberts convincing Gorsuch or Kavanaugh which isn't ideal.

Biden essentially has to win in a landslide. Anything less and Trump will tie the election results up in litigation, which will be decided by his new conservative 6-3 majority. Even if Roberts, who is problematic already, votes with the liberal justices, it'll still be a 5-4 decision. Trump holds the presidency or it has to be decided by state delegates, which benefits Rs if I recall.

The only way to bring any sort of balance back to the SC is through adding two or four seats, which requires that the Democrats win the Senate. That's not inconceivable as FiveThirtyEight's model has them likely to gain at least 3 seats, which would put them at 50. Moot point if Biden doesn't win, as Pence holds the tiebreaker.

In the event everything stays the same (Trump win, Rs maintain majority), well...without going into too much detail: environmental protections, reproductive rights, gay marriage rights, voting rights, healthcare, the power of the presidency (getting rid of term limits?), immigrant rights, tax laws, criminal justice, etc, will all be litigated over the next four years. And none of the decisions will go the way of liberals and progressives.

Stephen Breyer is 82. Clarence Thomas is 72. Both of those seats are in play for the next presidential term.

Did I miss anything?

 

[Public Enemy]

i hope we dont go that route

Had this exact conversation last night. Just come up with any hypothetical where one of these crazy republicans gets got. What happens then? Madness.

 

[IATT]

 

[IATT]

 

[IATT]

dwalk31

 

[Wargames]

dwalk31

I kept lying to myself by telling myself that would be the number in January.

Wave 2 hasn’t even hit

 

[IATT]

 

[IATT]

I kept lying to myself by telling myself that would be the number in January.

Wave 2 hasn’t even hit

far from over.. and whatever happens in November is going be a mess

hoping/praying the democrats win the presidency and the senate, I still don’t think things get back to normal-ish until may or June.. and that’s assuming there is a vaccine available and can be ready to distribute by summer-ish

 

[RIP sleazyy]

folks still being too tame and giving leeway. still posing silly *** questions. call it what it is.

the US government has been completely stolen by supremacists and white nationalists who obviously plan to hold power indefinitely unless they are removed.

everyone needs to get out and vote but everyone needs to be prepared for January on out too. the election is not going to be the end of this by a long shot.

 

[staffsgtdignam]

Ok so I need to have the "what does this all mean" conversation on here because no one in my real life wants to have it for fear of being further bummed out.

So the ACA is basically done. It'll be a 4-4 decision at best which sends it back to the lower court which deemed it unconstitutional. The only hope is Roberts convincing Gorsuch or Kavanaugh which isn't ideal.

Biden essentially has to win in a landslide. Anything less and Trump will tie the election results up in litigation, which will be decided by his new conservative 6-3 majority. Even if Roberts, who is problematic already, votes with the liberal justices, it'll still be a 5-4 decision. Trump holds the presidency or it has to be decided by state delegates, which benefits Rs if I recall.

The only way to bring any sort of balance back to the SC is through adding two or four seats, which requires that the Democrats win the Senate. That's not inconceivable as FiveThirtyEight's model has them likely to gain at least 3 seats, which would put them at 50. Moot point if Biden doesn't win, as Pence holds the tiebreaker.

In the event everything stays the same (Trump win, Rs maintain majority), well...without going into too much detail: environmental protections, reproductive rights, gay marriage rights, voting rights, healthcare, the power of the presidency (getting rid of term limits?), immigrant rights, tax laws, criminal justice, etc, will all be litigated over the next four years. And none of the decisions will go the way of liberals and progressives.

Stephen Breyer is 82. Clarence Thomas is 72. Both of those seats are in play for the next presidential term.

Did I miss anything?

I’m not so sure the ACA will be struck down, the GOP will be killer at the polls if that happens. Too many people are reliant on it at this point, it would be political suicide.

 

[elpablo21]