47343. vonKreedon - 11/29/2022 6:41:54 AM Paul Ryan maybe.
47344. Ms. No - 12/4/2022 6:41:48 PM What do you think of Hakeem Jefferies? I have to be honest that I have paid only sporadic attention to political figures over the last few years. I seem to have a generally favorable feeling about him, but that could just be that I'm glad he's young and black. 47345. vonKreedon - 12/4/2022 10:42:18 PM I'm much the same, Cos, don't know much about him other than he and his new leadership team came aboard so smoothly.
47346. Ms. No - 12/5/2022 4:04:51 AM Amazing in this day and age, right? 47347. vonKreedon - 12/5/2022 6:03:28 AM Sort of, I know what I know about Pelosi, Clyburn, and Hoyer from their being in leadership. Other than people from my state, Washington, and AOC, I don't know much about Dem members of Congress. 47348. Ms. No - 12/10/2022 1:05:19 AM Yeah, same. Well, and Sinema and Manchin who just bug the ever-living shit out of me. 47349. vonKreedon - 12/10/2022 10:01:29 AM Well, that's the Senate, and Sinema just made a bold play on holding on to her Arizona seat. 47350. Ms. No - 12/13/2022 7:23:40 PM I keep hearing her say that she's just voting her conscience - she's not for sale, she's hasn't changed, her values have always been this etc etc, but looking at her history, it seems more that she's just an opportunist and willing to go whichever way to get ahead. 47351. vonKreedon - 12/17/2022 5:30:39 PM It does seem like that, particularly since she started as a Green. 47352. Ms. No - 3/7/2024 7:25:44 PM When do we stop calling people conservatives when the reality is that they are simply anti-Democrat or anti-liberal?
I don't mean this in a snotty or dismissive way, at all. I started to look at this back in 2019 specifically because I worked with someone who was a self-proclaimed conservative Republican who voted for Trump even though he didn't like him, didn't actually support most of his policies -- was strongly opposed to several of them, even -- but was convinced that Hilary Clinton would have been worse.
Why?
Because she's evil.
In what way?
Look at all the corruption!
Like what?
-- no actual proof, or only proof of common all-politicians-do-this-crap sort of corruption. Basically the Rove/Gingrich talking points we've been hearing since Reagan was elected.
The more we talked, the more clear it became that he wasn't especially conservative so much as he was indoctrinated to be anti-Democrat.
Fast-forward to 2024 and looking at the MAGA movement -- and even those who loathe Trump but will vote for him anyway -- and what I'm seeing is not people who support actual conservative actions (not that the current GOP is providing such). They are simply fighting against the perception of Democrat or liberal that has been hammered into the public consciousness since the 80's.
47353. vonKreedon - 3/7/2024 11:58:47 PM I like Biden referring to MAGA Republicans.
47354. vonKreedon - 3/7/2024 11:59:47 PM And yes, MAGA Republican's dominant philosophy seems to be 'make libs cry'.
47355. vonKreedon - 3/9/2024 10:01:21 PM I though Biden's SotU speech was quite good AND 32 million people saw it, 5 million more than last years.
47356. Ms. No - 4/2/2024 9:31:49 PM I'm increasingly irritated with Democrats.
Yeah, Biden is old, but we fucked around for too many years and haven't built another viable, younger candidate. If Biden were to drop dead tomorrow, we'd have 19 folks jockeying for position as the Democratic candidate and NONE of them are in a position to win.
Not Bernie - another super-old white dude - not what's-his-ass from Texas with the cool nickname - not Booker, not Schumer, not Harris or Warren or any fucking body.
And nobody on the horizon.
Dems need to quit trying to appease or appeal to folks who hate them and just ride-or-die for the cause of democracy. Yeah, Biden is old. Sorry, but he's what we've got and he's competent and doing a pretty damn good job so long as he doesn't die. Get behind him and start talking about what he's accomplished. Start actively, loudly, colorfully countering the lies and misdirection from the right.
And don't get me started on the pandering cesspool that is our media now. They just can't quit with the inflammatory, sensational headlines that serve only to amplify Trump's voice and undermine confidence in Biden.
I want one of Diva's auto-slap-whap machines, for sure.
47357. vonKreedon - 4/3/2024 2:14:49 AM For sure. 47358. Ms. No - 4/16/2024 12:02:47 AM Day 1 of the business fraud trial.
Do we dare hope? 47359. vonKreedon - 4/18/2024 5:50:42 AM I should hope so, what choice do we have? I'm not even hoping for a specific; e.g., "I hope he's convicted." I'm just hoping that the country and world will be alright, however it happens, because I'm not feeling real hopeful right now. 47360. Ms. No - 4/18/2024 11:48:43 PM Yeah, me neither.
I'm not even sure what to realistically hope for. Obviously, I don't want him back in the White House. Ideally he'd go to prison (unlikely), but so long as he is upright and capable of getting online or in front of a camera, he will continue to erode the fabric of our democracy.
I don't really know how the GOP comes back from Trump except that there isn't anyone like him -- really like him -- who could carry the torch. Trump's hubris and utter unconcern for societal or political norms, his comfort with outright deceit and corruption is fortunately rare. If he dropped dead tomorrow, I don't think the GOP would suddenly shift back toward sanity, but I also don't think it would continue to gallivant off toward crazy-town, either.
I'm just so sick of it all. It's depressing and demoralizing and I don't know what the solution is.
No one is coming to save us and I don't know how in the world we're going to make the strides to save ourselves at this point. Is it really going to take a civil war?
(which I just saw in the theaters and quite enjoyed, btw. It is aggressively a-political which has bugged some folks to no end, but the movie isn't about any specific political ideology. Kind of like the Walking Dead isn't really about zombies --- they're just the environment. Incidental. ) 47361. winstonsmith - 6/1/2024 4:16:47 AM I don't know if the conviction will have any effect on the election but I'm happy to see him face jurors and be found guilty. 47362. vonKreedon - 6/1/2024 4:49:41 PM Yes! I'm seeing conflicting polling/focus group results on the impact of Trump's conviction on voting. Hopefully, this will develop into a real anti-Trump impact as the conviction sinks in for the independent/non-cult voters.
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