• aceshigh@lemmy.world
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          24 days ago

          At some point they were in authority and could have made a difference…. But they decided to watch what would happen if they did nothing.

          • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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            24 days ago

            Dems haven’t had 60 seats in the senate since 1979. In 12 of the 16 most recent congresses they had less than 50.

            • aceshigh@lemmy.world
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              24 days ago

              I was specifically talking about Garland who didn’t investigate Trump, until it was too late.

              • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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                24 days ago

                Ah yeah, that’s fair. The SCOTUS also gave Trump immunity and took away state’s power to remove him from ballots despite it being law that he could not run for office after starting an insurrection, though. Much more impactful imo, considering there are no laws keeping a convicted felon from serving as POTUS he could still have been elected even from prison.

    • ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml
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      24 days ago

      Nah, the pigs might be incompetent cowards but they aren’t as complicit as dems

      I know, you don’t ever gotta give it to them, but still

      Edit: Wait, if I remember correctly (easy to confuse these things when there’s so many of them), they stopped people from doing what they themselves should be doing, right? Nevermind, it’s perfect.

  • yesman@lemmy.world
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    24 days ago

    I thought we were going to talk about 3rd parties once it’s not critical to democracy.

    When are we going to wise up and realize that people who vacillate between “I won’t vote for genocide” and “why won’t the Democrats save us!?” are a fucking opp designed to kneecap the left?

      • limer@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        24 days ago

        Unity centered around what? The party of the less bad? Of the horrible leadership? The party that only does one genocide? The not Trump party? The party of “we will not trash the economy”?

        I could get behind that, but this federation has not been a democracy for a while. Not when you need more states won and several would require United Nations observers if they were countries. So, in some places it’s just a lost cause.

        People need to be disabused of the notion this is a fair fight won by normal rules. New leadership and splintering is exactly what is needed.

        • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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          24 days ago

          Your ignorance knows no bounds. Republicans vote in a block. If we split the left in the midterms, the Republicans will retain control. Simple as that.

          • limer@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            24 days ago

            I don’t see how my very well known ignorance, and what I said, have anything in common.

            I do see hackers disrupting x today. That group, whatever their motives or how well I would like them, is doing more to restore good governance than then the entirety of the Democratic Party, if you look at events today.

            What have the democrats done today? Since midnight. Tell me some stuff and I might reconsider my stance

            • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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              24 days ago

              They can’t do anything but filibuster in the Senate with congressional minority. The left abandoned them at the polls to prove a point, and are now complaining that they’re ineffective with no control. You need to learn about our governmental structure.

              • limer@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                24 days ago

                The left abandoned them

                Wait, the whole left? Like a block of people ? No…

                I do agree me and others should understand more about government and get involved. More than watching a few old people in capital hill doing some useless motions while the nation goes under .

                This will naturally happen if things go as expected, and I probably will not like that answer any more than you

            • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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              24 days ago

              INCOMING TRADE OFFER:

              You get: slower tweets for maybe a week

              They get: removing everybody’s social security, dismantling of NATO, end of federal public education funding, 20 Million (conservative estimate) people removed from Medicaid, deportation on basis of ethnicity/heritage


              We cannot settle for petty attacks on the state. We need to reclaim the state. Vote blue no matter who, any Democrat is better than any Republican.

        • qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website
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          24 days ago

          Unity centered around what?

          Participation. Making things a tiny bit better when possible, and if not that, then minimizing damage.

          Making things better nationally is hard. But locally, change can be efffected — my city (San Francisco) has ranked choice voting for local offices. It’s awesome, and I vote for who I want first. It’s small, but it’s a start.

      • TowardsTheFuture@lemmy.zip
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        24 days ago

        Ah yes, unity. The unity of attacking third parties. Of suing candidates to remove them from the ballot. Of refusing to run a primary to learn the wishes of the party. What great unity. I’ll pass on the party of “nothing will fundamentally change” with your views of “unity” like that.

        I agree we need to come together so the left stops losing. But the democrats do not agree with that, and will actively sabotage it as much as possible. And until that changes, we’re fucked. We need a party willing to adapt to the people on the left, not republicans.

          • TowardsTheFuture@lemmy.zip
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            24 days ago

            Literally just asking the democrats to not attack leftists, and adopt like fucking any popular leftist policies, be open to changing for the better, not simply say “sorry best we can do is trump+1”

            Of the people, it’s not a big ask. Sadly the people don’t seem to matter as much as corporations for some weird reason.

    • SailorMoss@sh.itjust.works
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      23 days ago

      Right. But you can’t have unity/be in coalition with someone who is actively committing a genocide against your family.

      Which is part of why democrats lost, especially in Michigan. With its fairly sizable Arab population. Even if they’d managed to win the other swing-states that would have lost the democrats this election.

      Why should we not have unity with the Arab People of Michigan?

      Please try to keep in mind pointing out the fact that Trump also isn’t in unity with them is not an answer to this question.

    • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      24 days ago

      people who vacillate between “I won’t vote for genocide” and "why won’t the Democrats save us!?

      Those aren’t conflicting opinions, my guy. These people exist and are actual leftists who want the party to be what they pretend to be

      Source: I’ve fuckin met many IRL, trippy I know

    • Korhaka@sopuli.xyz
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      24 days ago

      Every US election is called the most important election. All of them. At some point I think the only way out is to make someone lose because of their support of FPTP.

      • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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        24 days ago

        Mission accomplished, then. Harris losing is a statement to the world that Not-Trump isn’t good enough.

        But in doing these theatrics you’ve empowered a fascist oligarchy. Maybe it wasn’t worth it, maybe electing enough Dems to reverse citizens united and tax the rich would have been the better concession of the two.

    • chaogomu@lemmy.world
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      24 days ago

      There are steps that need to be taken to get third parties.

      First and foremost is the adoption of a voting system that can not only support third parties, but help them grow.

      TLDR; Fight for Approval if you just want third parties to exist and occasionally win, Fight for STAR if you want third parties to grow and become powerful.

      Now for the long part, talking about the problems with first past the post voting, and how that shapes the political discourse. Or you can watch this video.

      Also, before anyone breaks in with Ranked Choice or IRV as it’s called, you might want to read up on the flaws section here.

      And I’d write more, but the dog wants a walk, and that’s more important right now.

  • glimse@lemmy.world
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    24 days ago

    A screenshot of a tweet of a screenshot of a tweet put on top of a photo of a concert (?) where the person adds nothing. Why do people do this lol

    • comfy@lemmy.ml
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      The dems are one of the only groups in the US who (legally) had the power to:

      • reduce voter suppression
      • fix the electoral system in general (e.g. remove the broken FPTP system)
      • stop sabotaging popular candidates
      • not choose a senile dementia-sufferer to remain the country’s leader for years
      • support the worker class instead of the owning class and get their votes (too many things to list)
      • support US citizens instead of imperial interests in countries half the population can’t plot on a map

      For most of these things, they should have been doing this long, long ago, before even Obama’s terms. The Democrat Party clearly had the power of the state for more than enough time to make them look like an alternative rather than a complicit ally of the Republican Party. Why should they not be seen as at fault?

    • Doctor_Satan@lemmy.world
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      24 days ago

      In this analogy, the Republicans are the shooter. Not sure how you can draw the conclusion that anyone is blaming the Dems there.

      I’ll be the first to call out people for solely blaming the Dems when that’s the case. I’ve been banned from so many Reddit subs for that very thing, which is how I ended up here at Lemmy in the first place. But that’s just not the case here. What this image is saying is that the fault of the action (the shooting) lies with the Republicans, and the Democrats (the Uvalde cops) are too cowardly to do anything to stop it. It’s a pretty damn accurate description of American politics.

    • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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      I agree. The Trusk team has got the ball rolling for some of trump’s base, but we have to figure out a way to separate the rest from him. I really don’t know how at this point. Common sense doesn’t work and they never see the people making fun of them because they live in a bubble. It’s starting to be too late.

    • lobut@lemmy.ca
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      So many of these clowns can’t be bothered to vote but will still blame the dems.

      • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        23 days ago

        I voted for Biden and Harris and I will still blame them for not stopping Trump from ruining anything good this country still had left. Sorry your deflections don’t work in the real world.

        • rxmc@lemmy.world
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          18 days ago

          I voted for them, too. The failure to stop Trump is, in my opinion, squarely Biden’s fault. He put no pressure on Garland and the USAG did nothing and said nothing of value the entire time. I don’t blame Harris as much but I do think she should’ve pushed for a primary instead of just taking the reins. And as a former prosecutor she also should’ve put the squeeze on Garland. He represents just one of several important failure points but it’s a damn big one.

          All this hemming and hawing by Dems to avoid looking like they’re using the justice system as a political tool despite knowing their opponent has done the same during his last term and has openly stated he will turn it up to 11 if he gets back in. And here we are, watching that weaponization happen every day.

    • theneverfox@pawb.social
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      23 days ago

      They actively oppose change as the planet burns and survival becomes unaffordable

      They’re supposed to be a counterbalance, instead people have been screaming for change so long that they’re being taken in by fascist lies

      They’ve become the party of one step forward two steps back (before the other side gets their turn and full on sprints to gain more ground)

      They are a right wing party, and they’ve decided their latest strategy is to move even further right and give up more ground to capture voters who hate them, and to actively block change that the people are demanding. They see the left as their greatest enemy, they tell their supporters stop bothering them, and even now they want to work with the fascists

      Universal healthcare and doing something about housing. Worker protections and standing up to big business. Obstruct Trump and everything he and Elon are doing.

      These things have a ton of support across the political “spectrum”, but are apparently totally off the table

      The Democratic party is opposed to all meaningful change… They lost this election because they offer no hope, milquetoast solutions, and they don’t fight back.

      Pressuring the voters stopped being a valid point after election day - fascists are in office and their answer is to say “we’ll get them next time, stop bugging us”

  • notsure@fedia.io
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    24 days ago

    the government is not here to be your friend. the government is not here to be your enemy. the government is here to ensure there is a tomorrow.

    • Troy@lemmy.ca
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      24 days ago

      Someone else posed it this way: The Democrats exist to solicit donors; getting elected sometimes is a side effect. Big money has wrecked their ability to oppose what is happening.

    • theshoeshiner@lemmy.world
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      We had millions of tomorrows before governments even existed.

      Governments are here to more strictly enforce social contracts. They do this with varying levels of consent, but that is nevertheless what they do.

      • comfy@lemmy.ml
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        Hardly. They’re there to enforce the will of politicians, who are funded and influenced by the owning class (regardless of who voted for them once every four years).

          • comfy@lemmy.ml
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            I wasn’t being literal, in fact I vote every year (not US), along with participating in political parties and union organizing.

            • theshoeshiner@lemmy.world
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              23 days ago

              Neither was I. Just pointing out that “government” is far far more than the presidency. Random town councilmen and education board members aren’t funded by the owning class.

    • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
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      the government is not here to be your enemy.

      “The government” as an abstract entity might not mean to be anyone’s “enemy,” but the one currently running the show absolutely views its own people as such.

      I never set out to be anyone’s enemy. I want a peaceful life, like most people do. Yet, by doing no more than the radical act of “existing,” the current United States government has hand-picked me and others like me to be their enemies. Anyone who’s LGBTQ, female, non-white, foreign-born, science-minded, and/or financially poor is liable to be scapegoated (at best) or outright targetted by those currently in charge.

      Make no mistake - “the government” might not be here to be anyone’s enemy, but this government definitely is.

    • Aux@feddit.uk
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      24 days ago

      The government exists to govern you, exploit you, enslave you.

      • Lemminary@lemmy.world
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        24 days ago

        There’s reason to be cynical but not outright nihilistic. Also, most of that is due to corporations and lobbyists in the US.

        • comfy@lemmy.ml
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          No, that’s also the case in most countries. Corporations and their political influence aren’t a US-only phenomenon - they legally own almost all major media outlets around the world, along with holding influential positions in each economy which can pressure their governments into compliance. If a government doesn’t earn the general support of the owning class, it doesn’t have a realistic chance of remaining in government, either by corporations funding and endorsing alternative parties in elections, or through boss strikes to sabotage the national economy if a government they don’t like does somehow get elected (e.g. Allende in Chile). A modern government cannot survive without either the support of major corporations trying to exploit their workers, unless they empower the workers to overpower the corporations and survive off their strength instead (which, in practice, contradicts capitalism).

          Capitalism doesn’t exist without forming those corporations, so governments tending to billionaires isn’t some weird quirk, or some US phenomenon, it’s a systematic trait of capitalism which happens every time.

  • UpperBroccoli@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    The assumption here is that Democrats are just cowards. That is the more flattering of two options, but the less likely one.

    The other one is that they are actually quite okay with what is happening, because their masters are.

    • Eugene V. Debs' Ghost@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      23 days ago

      Immediately scapegoating minorities when they ran a bad campaign. And Biden said to bipartisan applause to Congress when Black Lives Matter was the key talking point “We don’t need to defund the police, we need to fund the police!”

      The parties of cops and robbers.

    • shawn1122@lemm.ee
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      23 days ago

      A majority of one particular demographic voted for Trump in the past three elections which PoC and I assume anyone reading this is acutely aware of.

  • bigFab@lemmy.world
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    23 days ago

    Officers arrived three minutes after Ramos entered the school and approached rooms 111 and 112, but they retreated.

    Massacre at room 111. Massacre at room 112. Officer called out, “Yell if you need help!” A girl in the adjoining classroom said, “Help.” Ramos heard the girl, entered the classroom, and shot her.

    Law enforcement approach his classroom from what sounded like the hallway three times, but they did not enter; during one of these occasions, he heard a student from the adjoining classroom 112 saying, “Officer, we’re in here. We’re in here.” As law enforcement had already left, Reyes said Ramos “walked over there, and he shot again.”

    Reyes later heard law enforcement telling Ramos to come out of the classroom to talk, saying they did not want to hurt anyone. WTF? That’s the smartest line you would come up with? That the police don’t want to hurt anybody? What’s next, police threaten to shoot at hostages if shooter don’t give up?

    • uis@lemm.ee
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      22 days ago

      What’s next, police threaten to shoot at hostages if shooter don’t give up?

      Let me tell you a story!

      • bigFab@lemmy.world
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        22 days ago

        Great story! I especially loved a US police trainer comments on the Beslan tragedy: ‘if I have to kill 20 (7%) hostages to save 300, then that’s what I’ll do.’, when in Beslan died 318 (25%) and injured 700 (60%) out of 1200.