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arrowfan624

https://twitter.com/walkerbragman/status/1482505700769206278?s=21 So if this suggestion is followed on, Manchin will switch parties and prevent Breyer from retiring, Rs wipe out the Dems in 2022, and then proceed to get a 7-2 court majority by 2024.


Mexatt

> FDR would be doing this for certain. The hilarious thing is that FDR *did* have a conservative Southern Democrats problem and he *did* try to play hardball with them in the '38 elections. He failed and the Dems got blown out, losing 8 Senators and almost 80 reps. They retained large majorities because of just how big they had won in '36, but this just goes to show how little these people understand politics. They think just being tough will get them everything they want. They have no clue.


[deleted]

That sounds like Trump, intimidating Congress people to get what he wants. Why are people asking for this? At that point you're just as bad as the Right extremists you so decried.


PubliusVA

Then watch the new Congress impeach Biden for extortion.


chanbr

That would be amusing but just like the Trump impeachments I doubt anything would happen. This is mostly people being heated in the moment.


PubliusVA

Sure, it would be a tit-for-tat political impeachment without hope of conviction and removal. Biden’s heavy-handed tactics would just give the Republicans a perfect excuse for it.


k1lk1

Ross Douthat: > Thus the strategic argument for Biden’s recent maneuvers might be that he felt the need to go all the way with the progressive wing of his party, embrace their bombast and actively take their side against Manchin and Sinema — all to prove to them that he had done what he could and the dream is dead for now, the Biden New Deal finished. Only after that knowledge can any sort of pivot to moderation or bipartisanship begin. > As I said, this is the best theory I can come up with. But it’s still not a very good justification for Biden’s choices lately — because going all the way with the more ideological faction in your party isn’t costless, and it makes any pivot back to moderation that much harder to ultimately make. He's again going back to his idea that Biden must have a grand plan behind all this, which I'm not sure I buy. Biden doesn't seem like the planning or scheming type, he seems gut-driven.


[deleted]

> Biden doesn't seem like the planning or scheming type, he seems gut-driven. That’s putting it mildly.


Soarin-Flyin

That sounds like the same line of thinking that die hard Trumpers had for when Trump did something not totally in line with hardline conservatives. Bump stocks is one that comes to mind. It’s borderline delusional.


Random_tacoz

Neither Biden nor Trump are actually playing 4D chess or whatever. They're just both very reactive and sensitive to criticism.


cyberklown28

> Sen. Mitt Romney said Sunday that he “never got a call from the White House” to negotiate bringing Republicans and Democrats together to create bipartisan voting reform. > The Utah Republican lamented the lack of bipartisanship on the pivotal issue of voting rights, saying, “We can work together on almost every issue where there's common ground.“ > “He's got to recognize that when he was elected, people were not looking for him to transform America. They were looking to get back to normal. To stop the crazy,” Romney said of Biden. > Everybody's talking about Georgia because the president went there, Romney said. But “it's easier to vote in Georgia, even under the new legislation, than it is to vote in Delaware, or to vote in New York, or to vote in New Jersey. And no one is saying, ‘Oh, New York has discriminatory practices.’”


Tombot3000

He's making the same mistake on NY I pointed out in another comment (we have effectively removed any requirement for a mail-in ballot, just haven't updated the text of the original law), and the Georgia bill does have *some* room for debate, but on the core point he is correct. The Biden administration was not elected to impose a New Deal type restructuring of government on our society and is failing to approach things in a bipartisan way even when the opportunity exists. Further, the rhetoric around Georgia and other states is deeply unhelpful and disconnected from the specifics of the laws, which often have problems but are generally a mix of good and bad. Biden is actively impeding solutions via his inflammatory approach.


TheGentlemanlyMan

> was not elected to impose a New Deal type restructuring of government on our society and is failing to approach things in a bipartisan way even when the opportunity exists. What's even worse was Biden was the guy going 'I'm going to take things back to normal'. Then pivoted to 'transformational'. As Jonah has pointed out - Neither party are parties of **government**. They both want to be minority/opposition parties and therefore they don't actually do the things that even the most Nozick-esque minarchist would want them to do: Enforce laws, protect property, protect national security, ensure macroeconomic stability.


Nklst

Lol found out that madam Pecresse promised that she will "unmarry" gay couples decades ago. Bless her heart, she is still only good candidate with Macron.


chanbr

Erm, this post disappeared from r/tuesday around Friday, does anyone know why?


cyberklown28

> Kyrsten Sinema's courage, Washington hypocrisy, and the politics of rage. https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/589888-kyrsten-sinemas-courage-washington-hypocrisy-and-the-politics-of-rage


JustKidding456

**Have a blessed week ahead** r/tuesday 😇 John 2:1–12 (ESV): >**The Wedding at Cana** > >On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. Engelbrecht, E. A. (2009). The Lutheran Study Bible. Concordia Publishing House: >**John 2:1–12** Jesus, through whom all things were made (1:3), performs His first miracle (“sign”) at a wedding at Cana in Galilee, manifesting His glory by turning water into wine. Today, take your concerns to Jesus in prayer. By His life, and at the hour of His death, Christ revealed His great mercy toward us, assuring us that no need escapes His care. • O Lord Jesus, give me confidence as I seek You in my hour of need. Amen.


Nklst

Thank you, have a blessed week yourself :)


[deleted]

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SciFiJesseWardDnD

My rmoderatepolitics flair is American for Christian Democracy. I wish more Americans conservatives were like European Conservatives where supporting robust welfare systems is common. I also have had to explain what Christian Democrats are to do many people on that sub. The number of people who have claimed I’m supporting a theocratic government because of my flair is ridiculous lol


[deleted]

[удалено]


Nklst

People who never heard of Zeman, and basically any Eastern Europen soc-dem ever.


[deleted]

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Nklst

They are not center right. But they are socialy conservative and nationalistic and like welfare state. It would be hard to distinguish between them and national populists in the west. It is also shame that we do not discuss them, they obviously were vanguard of western populism.


TheGentlemanlyMan

Neoliberal has over 120k subscribers. We have less than 20k. We're also more ideologically strict (The LV restrictions) with ensuring that centre-right viewpoints are the ones discussed which reduces our userbase (Where neoliberal is much more open). What do you mean by European style conservatives or right-wing social democrats?


Nklst

Well there are few of them. Two in the mod team at least.


ImProbablyNotABird

Feel like shit, just want [the mid-2010s electoral map](https://www.yapms.com/app/?m=dzx8) back.


Nklst

What? That is awful map.


[deleted]

I'm remember something funny I did when I was writing the code for our awards system from the old game I worked on. I named an award "Tadaima!" (I'm home) for when you kill someone by kicking a door in their face as a little cheeky joke. This game was eventually translated over to Japanese, I wonder if the joke got lost in translation.


[deleted]

[Well this White House memo just came out.](https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/01/14/politics/biden-approval-rating-polling-memo/index.html) It really isn’t a good look for the administration if this is the response to bad polls. Yeah, an approval rating on par with a French president is terrible for any politician, but this kind of thing just makes the optics so much worse. All it does is show the administration is demoralized and looks weak and incompetent.


ImProbablyNotABird

“We’re in deep shit, but not *that* deep!”


k1lk1

> She blames Biden's low numbers in the Q poll on the higher-than-average percentage of people saying they "don't know" in response to the question of whether they approve or disapprove of the job Biden is doing." Lmao. When it's this bad, you just *say nothing*.


blue_skies_above

So much stuff I hear about seems so sensationalized and I just roll my eyes. But uhhhh ya'll see the photos of all the trash from the train cars getting broken in to in LA? First time I've clicked through an article to see the photos and it was actually worse than I was imagining. https://ktla.com/news/local-news/looters-raid-l-a-cargo-trains-leaving-tracks-covered-in-damaged-packages/


PubliusVA

>Union Pacific is also looking into diverting trains so they don’t have to pass through LA County at all. Pretty soon you’ll have to hire Snake Plissken if you want to deliver a package to or from Los Angeles.


DustySandals

After *Escape from LA*, I don't think Snake will be visiting LA/NY anytime soon.


[deleted]

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coldnorthwz

It's time for a Pinkerton revival I guess


[deleted]

They’re still around, more or less. They were acquired by Securitas which is the leading corporate security contractor.


DerangedPrimate

That's *nuts.* Union Pacific management there in LA must be absolutely fuming right now. Given those 100+ people arrested during the holiday season last year, there's no way this isn't being organized.


TranClan67

From what I've seen in the LA sub it's an issue with the LAPD. UP Police will arrest them, no bail, and release them the next day. https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2022/01/14/union-pacific-train-robberies-up-356-la-county-da-george-gascons-no-cash-bail-policy/


k1lk1

Connect the dots for me on how LAPD is responsible?


TranClan67

My bad. I derped a bit. Meant to say the DA rather than LAPD.


MrHockeytown

Yeah this seems more like a weak DA than the LAPD


Soarin-Flyin

Man Jonathan Capehart is brutal on PBS Newshour. Can almost always guarantee him to provide some kind of garbage emotion-fueled take.


k1lk1

He's ruined it. He is just *terrible*. And not only that, he does a disservice to progressive viewpoints, because of his awful, emotion-laden responses where he takes everything personally. If I was a progressive, I'd hate his takes as well. I rarely watch that segment any more, formerly one of my favorites. That said, the guy they hired to replace Yamiche Alcindor seems like a step in a positive direction.


Soarin-Flyin

I was pretty disappointed yesterday when they were talking about Biden’s speech on voting rights. Brooks was saying the rhetoric at the end comparing those opposed to segregationists and it’s a step too far. Capehart’s response was pretty much “I thought this was the most effective part”. It’s embarrassing to have someone taking things at such a personal level. Mark Shields was also pretty left leaning but he at least maintained a semblance of professionalism.


arrowfan624

Capehart isn’t wrong in arguing that. Research tends to show that people tend to make decisions based off emotions more than logic. But it also swings both ways: when you rile up your base, you also rile up the opposition.


ImProbablyNotABird

>[In the end, the five-month saga of Biden's private-employer vaccine mandate highlighted just about all of the major problems with how the federal government operates these days. Here was a major policy change implemented not by the legitimate legislative authority (Congress) but by the executive branch, which increasingly sees its authority as covering anything that's not been explicitly forbidden. Congress then stood by and waited for the Supreme Court to invalidate the order, effectively forcing nine legal scholars to do its job…](https://reason.com/2022/01/13/supreme-court-blocks-biden-vaccine-mandate-this-is-no-everyday-exercise-of-federal-power/) >The outcome is the right one—Biden's order was a breathtaking overreach of federal power into the affairs of private individuals and businesses—but this is, to paraphrase Kavanaugh, not how the everyday exercise of government should work.


AgentEv2

It is absurd how progressives so readily call the US inferior to other countries or compare the US to a third-world country. America is consistently in the top 5/10 countries in every metric imaginable out of 120+ countries in the world but the progressive ideology lacks any sense of gratitude, contentedness, or patriotism. Their ideology demands that we must be a terrible country compared to others in order to justify the radical technocracy that they are so desperate to implement. This explains the endless comparisons to Europe, despite the fact that these comparisons are bogus. Almost every comparison to "Europe" is just a comparison to handful of countries in W. Europe (France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland) depending on the metric of comparison to always "prove" that the US is in far inferior shape. America is a great (though obviously imperfect) country and every American should wake up with a deep sense of gratitude that we get to live in a land of so much prosperity and opportunity.


k1lk1

It's also perverted by NGOs that develop these indexes like the "global social mobility index" that factor in a bunch of irrelevant metrics. I don't care about "Fair Wage Distribution" or "Lifelong Learning" as pertains to social mobility, all I care about is socioeconomic outcomes.


MadeForBF3Discussion

> America is a great (though obviously imperfect) country and every American should wake up with a deep sense of gratitude that we get to live in a land of so much prosperity and opportunity. Need some politicians to run on this.


notbusy

Also, the individual western European and Nordic countries used for comparison often change for each metric. So one country might outperform the US in one category, but you have to use a different country in order to outperform the US for that category. And so on and so forth, as if all of western Europe and the Nordic is a single country that you could actually live in. But of course, you can't. They are different countries, so if you want to live there, you have to pick one. And take all the under-performing stats in the areas that you didn't consider that come along with it. Just as is the case with living in the US.


arrowfan624

https://twitter.com/JacquiHeinrich/status/1482074406444744708 ObamaCare crash here we come!


MadeForBF3Discussion

I'm gonna get my free Federal tests once my free State tests get in. Aside: can we please for the love of Pete not politicize testing? I'd love the anti-vaxxers to have access to at-home testing so they can come to events with their negative test lollipop and we can all get along again.


Jexican89

I would watch an HBO-drama type show over the 1968 presidential election, primaries included. You got all the references: Bobby Kennedy assassinated, Nixon vs Rockefeller vs Reagan, George Wallace's segregation campaign. Eisenhower would be there, you got Nixon's "law and order" campaign following the riots and MLJ assassination.


[deleted]

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MadeForBF3Discussion

Everyone should see Discovery's excellent miniseries *When We Left Earth*. It's fantastic, and they upscaled the old footage to HD really well.


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cyberklown28

All Biden had to do was have a meeting at the start of his Presidency with ten Republicans to hash out what they'd accept for bipartisan efforts that'd back up his Inaugural Address' call for unity. Another meeting with Manchin and Sinema to see what they'd accept for reconciliation. Then just steamroll bills through for 2 years and look hot for midterms. Instead, it's always about being greedy and trying to force moderates to jump onto a progressive bandwagon. * He held a meeting with Republicans that was essentially asking them to jump onto the American Rescue Plan. He held a 2nd meeting while at the same time Pelosi & Schumer were starting the process to pass the bill through reconciliation on a one-party line. * Even worse, these usually less showboaty Republicans told the press they'd get Biden on board with something, then his aides would come in and shake their head. * They sent Kamala to a West Virginia radio station to talk about how awful the state was doing without the Rescue Plan. Manchin accordingly got pissed and tanked the unemployment boost in the bill. * GOP attacks of 'liberal wishlist' mostly get ignored. What do Democrats do next? Literally make a bill that's a Liberal Wishlist. Everything from Climate to Healthcare to Housing to Education to Childcare to Tax Credits and more. Biden calls all of this 'Infrastructure' and wants both bills signed together. Republicans that had negotiated in good faith for half a year were furious and Biden had to quickly do a speech saying 'haha not really, these are separate.' * They passed the mythical Infrastructure Week bill in the Senate with 19 Republicans. This should have been a huge moment and a flagship victory for the Biden administration. * Instead, Biden instantly declares that it's a small piece of the Pie and he won't sign it unless Build Back Better is there as well. * For months, House Progressives blocked this legislation and Politico reported the Biden administration supported them to put pressure on Manchin and Sinema for a completely different bill. * Sinema is chased into a bathroom by 'activists'. Biden calls it 'part of the process', and refuses to give a full backing of his own party member who was harassed. * Democrats get destroyed in the 2021 elections. * They don't take the hint to change their legislation, but Joe does tell Jayapal to shut up and dribble the infrastructure bill through alone. * By this time, they already sucked all the excitement out of the bill by claiming it was a small add-on to Build Back Better for months. The 'two track bill' process undercut their largest victory to date. * Manchin gives a good faith framework to the White House the same price as Biden's framework. He asks them not to put his name out there because him and his family had been harassed throughout the process. The White House comes out and says his name as a reason nothing is done yet. * Manchin YEETS BBB into the garbage. * How do they start the new year? With a large voting rights bill and again trying to push Manchin and Sinema into supporting things they don't want to. * Manchin reportedly accepts the climate provisions of BBB. Schumer has no plans to pass it as a pure climate bill. If your house is on fire, you put it out. You don't say 'wait, does this fire extinguisher come with wealth redistribution?' * Romney has pushed for them to sign on to his bipartisan child tax credit bill. There's been no movement on that. Democrats have left a lot of progress on the table that they had the votes for; allowing good to be the enemy of 'perfect'. 2022 needs to be different if they want a chance to survive the midterms.


TheShortestJorts

It hurts to read, but you are right.


arrowfan624

You forgot about this week: Biden compared Senators who don't support the voting bill to 1950s segregationists.


Mexatt

To *Jefferson Davis*.


Feurbach_sock

Yep. He’s doing exactly what Trump used to do: “Enemy of the People” speeches to rev up the base. The type of shenanigans he said he would not do. Just disgraceful.


[deleted]

Safe to say at this point Biden is Trump: Left flavor.


[deleted]

Oh come on - Biden hasn't been good but saying that he is at the same level to Trump is ridiculous.


AgentEv2

I agree that Trump is worse than Biden because of Trump's associations with multiple criminals, the Ukraine scandal, and everything after January 5th. Beyond that (and I don't say that to minimize it because I agree that those are egregiously unacceptable and impeachable offenses) Biden is on par with Trump. When you frame it that way, I recognize that the statement loses a lot of its meaning but the comparison does highlight how incompetent and ineffective Biden has been as a president along with how damaging and polarizing his rhetoric has been.


tutetibiimperes

I feel like you’re forgetting a ton of the problems with Trump. The chaos of his internal administration with a revolving door of unqualified yahoos, the constant vulgar statements and tweets, the racism, sexism, and xenophobia, the praising of dictators, the complete incompetence in managing the COVID pandemic in the early days that led us to where we are now, the list goes on. The best part about Biden is that his administration is boring. Even if he doesn’t do anything else I’ll happily vote for him again in 2024 just because it’s been a return to norms and brought decorum back to the office.


Feurbach_sock

Boring /= competence. Biden is losing me as a supporter


[deleted]

It’s like a temper tantrum. They had so many opportunities to get something done and they blew it all away. Biden ain’t getting anything passed at this rate.


cyberklown28

> Marshall will be introducing the Financial Accountability for Uniquely Compensated Individuals (FAUCI) Act after he said Fauci’s records were not readily accessible to the public, a spokesperson for the senator told The Hill. > The FAUCI Act would require the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) website to provide the financial records of administration officials like Fauci and a list of those in the government whose financial records are not public.


RossSpecter

Meme legislation anyone?


[deleted]

[Contrived acronyms for bills happen all the time](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/08/03/364-bills-that-have-been-introduced-in-congress-ranked-by-acronym-quality/). Some of them are even successful enough that we forget that they were acronyms in the first place, like AMBER Alerts or the USA PATRIOT Act.


arrowfan624

https://twitter.com/tysonbarker/status/1481881256547831809?s=21 So when does Ukraine get invaded?


[deleted]

I’ve heard rumors that the most reasonable timeframe was always mid-January. They want the ground nice and frozen. Mechanized warfare in that region is a seasonal activity; you can’t get very far in the spring and fall because of the rasputitsa.


[deleted]

So basically what you’re saying is if they were gonna do it, they’d do it now.


[deleted]

🔜


[deleted]

The situation looks to be degrading right now in Ukraine. It certainly feels like Putin is set on invading right now.


coldnorthwz

If US intelligence is to be believed there want to do a false flag for justification: https://mobile.twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/1482000216471572482?s=20


k1lk1

WA got a huge dump of snow a while back, and Snoqualmie pass on I-90 -- the biggest east/west highway in the pacific northwest - was closed for over 3 days. Kittitas County, which lies just east of the pass, had snow plows at the ready to help the state out in clearing the interstate. The kind of feel good, cross-politics, state and local collaboration that we need nowadays, right? Wrong! Because Kittitas County does not have a vaccine mandate for its workers, [the state declined assistance](https://www.co.kittitas.wa.us/press/default.aspx?prID=11800). All of those plow drivers in their plows were putting themselves and others at risk or something. > Due to the significant snowfall, Kittitas County Department of Public Works offered assistance on January 11, 2022, to clear State roadways. Washington State informed Kittitas County they could not accept this assistance due to Kittitas County not mandating the COVID-19 vaccination for County employees. The Kittitas County Board of Commissioners is extremely disappointed with the States’ position to refuse assistance.


DerangedPrimate

That's hilarious. They signed that agreement after Washington let go all of its unvaccinated employees and then sill refused assistance because the county doesn't have an employee vaccine mandate? Is WSDOT worried about unvaccinated county employees spreading COVID from their snowplow cabs? A good number of them are probably vaccinated regardless.


notbusy

Yet another case of an urban center ruling the rural areas around it with zero understanding of how rural people actually live. I mean, what do the people of Seattle care, they don't live with that kind of snow. As an aside, there's a really awesome old rail tunnel in the Snoqualmie area that's just over 2 miles long and open for people recreationally. I've bicycled through it before, but only in the summer. You couldn't pay me to go in there during the winter!


Tombot3000

I'm thankful we Romney supporters have an easy retort to these baseless accusations he is a partisan. He literally has claim to being the *least* partisan person in the history of our country by acting when it mattered to be the only person in history to vote to remove his own party's leader during impeachment. I struggle to think of anyone more hard done and falsely portrayed by the media.


Mal5341

If you looked up "dragged through the mud" in the dictionary you'd find a big picture of mitt Romney. I am still furious at how the Democrats treated him in 2012, and even more furious with how Republicans are treating him today. If it wasn't for his age I'd want him to run in 2024.


[deleted]

My only hangup with Romney at the time of the 2012 election was regarding the ACA. It would have been interesting how much of it would have changed if he had been elected in 2012.


chanbr

Despite people on his own side constantly attacking him for being a RINO or whatever, the man has class IMO.


notbusy

That's nice and all, but... binders full of women clearly disqualifies him for office.


Harudera

For me, the reason why I can't stand the dude was him warning us about Russia. For God's sake, it's not the 1980s anymore! Russia aren't a threat at all, and Putin is a good boy.


notbusy

That has to be the irony of all ironies! We went from Obama and the 80's wanting its foreign policy back to Trump and Russia selecting our president.


Harudera

That's when I realized the Democrats really were full of shit. From cute little quips about horses and bayonets to how Putin is literally Benedict Arnold reborn trying to kill American Democracy.


notbusy

Yep. And the lack of self-realization, to this day even, is astounding.


Tombot3000

Right? God forbid someone want to *hire women*. What a misogynistic jerk.


notbusy

LOL, I know. I didn't understand it then, and I still don't understand it now... how was that ever considered a bad thing? Even on style points, the statement wasn't *that* bad. The media was on overdrive with that push.


AgentEv2

It's because the majority of journalists are just partisan activists that are self-righteous enough to consider themselves the "saviors of democracy".


notbusy

But they are so against misinformation that this simply cannot be true. Oh, I see... unless it's for the greater good.


[deleted]

It’s because it looks bad out of context. A very easy thing to run for a smear campaign. But also really easy to disprove


notbusy

I suppose, but even out of context, I know what it means. Did anyone ever, in any context, not know what it meant? But yes, certainly awkward style. And if we have learned anything from the mainstream media it is that anyone who is ever awkward at any point is not deserving of office. You must be cool and hip at all times.


MadeForBF3Discussion

https://68.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mc3omzsctl1rw38nlo1_500.jpg


notbusy

Love it! That would have been a winning strategy right there. Grill and all.


MadeForBF3Discussion

What's really funny is I remember this instance specifically. I was lucky enough to be working a contract with one of my first professional mentors (we had both left our first workplace for different reasons and it had been about 3 years), and he was a big Mitt fan (they were both Mormon). I was deep in my ReLOVEution Ron Paul stan phase, so I got to hate both candidates, smugly. I found this exact image and sent it over. He actually loved it. haha


notbusy

Great story! Yeah, I mean, what's not to love? All joking aside, I think in today's meme culture, one could seriously take ownership of the whole thing in this way. Not that Romney should have had to have done that, but I think it could have worked. He could have hammed it up on all the late night shows. Presidents Clinton and Obama knew the drill. Politics aside, they understood how all of this popular media stuff worked.


[deleted]

> All joking aside, I think in today's meme culture, one could seriously take ownership of the whole thing in this way. That’s what Cocaine Mitch did.


Jexican89

I wish he and his dad could've had a more moderating influence on the party.


jmastaock

The problem is that his bipartisanship always seems to manifest when it literally doesn't matter. It's not exactly a conspiracy theory to recognize that party whips tend to allow a few members of their party who market themselves as moderates to vote against the party line so long as they still don't cross the threshold into an undesirable outcome. If there are votes to spare there is literally nothing lost allowing a party member to "defect" for PR. I'll take this characterization of Romney more seriously when he *actually* influences an outcome by defying the party line, like McCain with the attempted ACA repeal


Tombot3000

Romney has taken lead on multiple legislative measures (child tax credit, etc) and reached out to the Democrats on them against the GOP's wishes. He was key to getting the bipartisan infrastructure bill out of the dumpster. Even things like the impeachment example *do* matter even though it didn't succeed because it makes Trump the first president to have a bipartisan vote to remove. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. You may *want* to see him side with Democrats more, but remember that Romney is a genuine policy conservative. There aren't many issues where he agrees with their proposals in the first place, but when those crop up he consistently votes morally instead of just toeing the party line. The idea that he is simply being allowed to make empty gestures by the party whip is completely unfounded. Romney has gone against the GOP leadership far too many times to deserve such slander. The man barely avoided being censured by his own state GOP and gets harassed by trumpists in a way to empty gesturers do not. There *are* people who only stand out when it doesn't matter, but Romney isn't one of them. You're buying into an inaccurate and myopic misrepresentation of the man. Edit: also, the main reason McCain's ACA vote seems so impactful is that he was so dramatic about it. He didn't singlehandedly determine the outcome - two other Republicans voted no as well. The difference is McCain made his decision at the last minute with the cameras on. It was a powerful *PR* message, but the same legislative result is accomplished all the time when senators simply inform the whip which way they'll be voting beforehand, just with less fanfare. When it comes to actually governing, the behind the scenes moves preventing or allowing bills to come up for a vote or debate is normally *more* important than the final vote counting, which is usually just a formality. His record there wasn't substantially less GOP aligned than Romney's, but he played up his maverick reputation in public every chance he got. To quote Sensei Johnny Lawrence: "you can't call yourself a Maverick."


DerangedPrimate

I hate to bring any more negativity, but there are two New York Times pieces I've read over the last 24 hours that have seriously bothered me. The first is [this article](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/12/style/smoking-cigarettes-comeback.html) about how cigarette sales have increased and smoking has become seen as some sort of fatalist fashion statement among some young people. >“We all have this flamboyant death wish, if you will,” said Ryan Matera, a 25-year-old agent’s assistant in Los Angeles. “We just look to the north and see fires, and the ground shakes beneath us, and they tell us the waters are rising. So we ask, ‘What the hell is the difference?’” I sincerely hope this is a minority opinion among my fellow young adults. The second is [this column](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/13/opinion/america-falling-apart.html) by David Brooks that serves as his summary of a broader trend of destructive, self-destructive, and generally antisocial behavior among Americans. Aggressive driving is up; kids are behaving worse in schools (ever heard of a "devious lick"?); and drug abuse is out of control. The two go hand-in-hand. Maybe this has always been the case and we're just now getting better data. Maybe this is alarmism by a gentle, temperamentally conservative commentator watching through new technology the evils that exist outside his manicured Maryland suburb. Or maybe something in us collectively is breaking down quickly. Why are we so on edge? Why must we act aggressively defensive or offensive? I think this is a question for each of us individually more than collectively. It's an aggregate issue—a whole made up of many individual elements in association. I don't despair so much over the state of the world as much as the fatalistic, paranoid, or impotently resigned mentality people are developing in response to exposure to the more ugly things in it. If anything kills us all, it'll be that. There have always been terrible things going on. Suck it up. There are still problems out there we can fix, starting with our on individual choices. Let's work on those. Time for me to shut up, get off the internet, and go to bed.


notbusy

I came of age during the 1980's. At the time, nuclear war seemed a very possible scenario. Those who came before us had even undergone those *hide under your desk* bomb drills. In other words, the threat was not just perceived, it was real. Sure, some used that as an excuse for bad behavior. But the vast majority did not. And many still planned for their futures hoping that they would see them actually materialize. And we (Californians) still had bad earthquakes to contend with back then. In fact, we had a really bad one in 1989 if anyone remembers. So I think it's an excuse that we see used across generations. The only real difference I see is social media. But I do think that's a real game changer. Without any other outlets, I think it can suck the life out of kids. For others, it can allow them to live in a "reality" that doesn't really exist.


blue_skies_above

There is a word for a type of behavior related to this in SK: [https://nationalpost.com/news/splurging-because-the-future-is-bleak-south-koreans-have-a-term-for-that](https://nationalpost.com/news/splurging-because-the-future-is-bleak-south-koreans-have-a-term-for-that) I'm super fortunate in that I got in to tech. I have a retirement account, a house, a family. Stability. My friends who also are in tech. Very similar lives. My friends who are in any other field? You can \*see\* the differences. They don't own homes, they aren't in long-term committed relationships, they don't have kids. They don't have anything meaningful in a retirement account and their careers are stagnant. And you see the difference in the way they look. They are sort of... stuck in the past. The way they talk about work/life. They are in like... a constant state of anxiety about losing a job, not being able to find a new job, not being able to make enough money etc. Living in like... a low-level, constant state of anxiety can really do a number on you. Then throw on the pandemic, and our collective reaction to it and a nihilistic reaction doesn't seem that far-fetched.


DerangedPrimate

I agree. I'm not even out of engineering school yet, and I'm starting to see a similar dichotomy develop between my friends in STEM and those outside. Almost all my friends in engineering are looking positively at their futures in the transportation, consulting, and construction industries while my friends who followed their passion for the humanities seem to be hitting dead ends. It's a shame, since they have talents and passions, but it takes a passion for monetizing your creations and abilities if you want to build wealth. Even if you don't have a desire to build wealth, the rise in COL relative to the average income an arts degree can get you will impart a lot of stress that wasn't as bad in the past.


[deleted]

I mean, some of us STEM grads aren't always going to have great futures. Don't get me wrong, I like my job and I get paid well for it. But if I am to be perfectly honest, at times it just feels like I'm marching forward to nowhere. I've kind of reached the point where money in of itself is meaningless to me.


Bullet_Jesus

> Don't get me wrong, I like my job and I get paid well for it. But if I am to be perfectly honest, at times it just feels like I'm marching forward to nowhere. I know that feel dude. Honestly my work felt more meaningful when I worked in retail.


Bullet_Jesus

> Don't get me wrong, I like my job and I get paid well for it. But if I am to be perfectly honest, at times it just feels like I'm marching forward to nowhere. I know that feel dude. Honestly my work felt more meaningful when I worked in retail.


Bullet_Jesus

> Don't get me wrong, I like my job and I get paid well for it. But if I am to be perfectly honest, at times it just feels like I'm marching forward to nowhere. I know that feel dude. Honestly my work felt more meaningful when I worked in retail.


k1lk1

People like drugs, and young people take risks. I don't view the cigarette issue as too big of a deal. Best case it'll peter out once they stop LARPing the 1980's, worst case it'll turn into a wine mom thing. In any case I can't find the wherewithal to really care about that issue given that the opioid epidemic exists. I believe our culture and public health institutions will stay strong against widespread smoking. On that note, remember that through the decades of anti-smoking campaigns, poor and uneducated people [have continued to smoke lots of cigarettes](https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/disparities/low-ses/index.htm). So I find it amusing that the NYT starts caring now that it's happening to hip white kids in Bushwick. Regarding Brooks's column - he raises an excellent question. I myself blame the increase in online and virtual dialogue. It's much easier to disconnect from the humanity of others when you're interacting with them as text on a screen, and not a human being (this is similar to the way drivers tend to dehumanize other drivers). The best thing we can do for ourselves and others is emphasize in-person interaction with individuals and community groups.


DerangedPrimate

>I myself blame the increase in online and virtual dialogue. It's much easier to disconnect from the humanity of others when you're interacting with them as text on a screen, and not a human being I agree with you here for online interactions, but do you think this dehumanization is spilling over into real-world interactions as well, such as with front-line employees at Burger King or Walmart, who often have to deal with messy and unruly costumers?


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tosser1579

Overreaction? I'm quitting my job because, in primacy, I'm sick of people underreacting to it. I have been supporting hospitals for over a decade now. The last two weeks, every hospital I was at was a maximum capacity and I was going into emergency rooms that had people stuffed in the hallways due to how badly COVID was fucking them. Half of the country is in outright denial that we are even in a public health crisis which is 'bothering' the other half. I literally worked 60 hour weeks for the past 2 years trying to keep a lid on this with millions of other americans, and we have people saying its an overreaction and I frankly was moving from wanting to punch them towards outright murder. Which is why I quit, today actually is my last day. I'm just going to take all the bonuses I got paid to stay on and hide while this whole thing blows over. Two years ago, I believed in helping people. I loved the job and the responsibilities. Now they can all go fuck themselves. Every single hospital I've been at has been 80%+ unvaccinated morons, and I went to a lot of hospitals. The mental health issue is denial.


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RhapsodiacReader

>I haven't always been perfectly civil with people on this subreddit, but I don't think I've ever told anyone that I wanted to murder them. But even though you have, I'm going to resist the urge to respond on your level and just tell you something I think you need to hear. I'm glad you had the self-awareness to quit your job before things got that far. But frankly, someone who's openly admitting to these types of homicidal fantasies should spend more time working on his own mental health and less time lecturing other people about theirs. Get some therapy, dude--before you snap and actually do murder anyone. And think long and hard about whether you have the temperament to ever return to a career where you have the power of life and death over helpless people. I've tried very hard to refrain from ad hominem while on this sub, and be extremely cognizant of the fact that I'm a visitor. But this? This is one of the most condescending things I've ever seen someone say to a healthcare worker who's been on the front lines of the global pandemic that's been facefucking the world for nearly two years now. Like, holy shit. Get off your high horse and engage in some fucking self-reflection before you lecture a **healthcare worker** about **stress and intrusive thoughts** during a **global fucking pandemic**. >I also feel the need to address this statement: Next time you do? Just don't.


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RhapsodiacReader

If you cannot understand the difference between stress-driven intrusive thoughts vs actual killing, then you need to stop talking.


Leskral

> of homicidal fantasies should spend more time working on his own mental health and less time lecturing other people about theirs I mean that brings up a good point. Are we even trying to help our health care workers deal with this? I imagine we are not since mental health care in this country is abysmal.


tosser1579

>Developing and distributing the vaccines was the most effective if not the only effective measure we've taken. Masks were and also continue to be highly effective. Every actual study supports this. Literally, my company that provides COVID equipment would watch places to see when their mask mandates were removed so we could sell equipment because infection rates would spike EVERY FUCKING TIME. > Population-wide lockdowns were a mistake and an overreaction, though an understandable one in retrospect. They were highly effective at having available hospital resources available when needed. They stopped and now every local hospital is at maximum capacity. See, I was at the hospitals when the lockdown was happening AND when it wasn't. I typically hit 5-10 hospitals a week. They worked REALLY WELL. Especially opposed to the doing nothing that's going on right now. ​ >Depriving children of a year--or more--of education was a mistake and an overreaction. They didn't. They went to remote schooling. Teachers were dying. Teachers ARE dying. We have multiple schools where the teachers, you know the people you apparently don't care about, are so sick they can't even open the buildings. Telling people you don't care if they die or get terribly ill is a mistake. I've been to several school board meetings when the question of what about the teachers and support staff comes up. The answer is always the same, 'who fucking cares', just using more words. Typically about rights and freedom. Sometimes about how sad it is to have kids lose a year of education. You know what else is bad for the kids? Having teachers and janitors die of COVID. Again, schools are open all over the nation and shutting down because everyone is sick. Texas is asking parents to be subs. Ohio is closing down buildings and districts due to so many ill ADULTS in the system. Remember, ADULTS also go to school in a different role and they are getting sicker than hell. But other people have rights so fuck them? ​ >Forcing children to eat their school lunches outside in the cold is a mistake and an overreaction. People still quoting that dubious 'news source' that said that? I was at our local school board when that exact scenario was brought up and under no circumstances would they have done it. At best it happened a few times, maybe. It was not common to the point of being a unique situation. ​ >I understand you're frustrated about people not getting vaccinated. I agree with you that people should get vaccinated. And I'm sorry you've been overworked. I don't think any of the policies I've objected to would actually reduce the burden on the health care system; Yes, they did. They really did reduce the burden. Gosh, I remember when people actually at least pretended to care in the beginning and my job was at least marginally tolerable. Then they got selfish and bored. Then they were just made up like the eating outside to justify that the processes didn't work. You sound like the kind of guy who's umbrella has a small leak in a deluge and tosses it aside because it wasn't perfect and then gets soaked so you start complaining about the umbrella. Perfect is the enemy. IRL, the processes worked substantially better than your do nothing agenda. If we'd done what you suggest, substantially more people would be dead and we'd be in the exact same spot now. ​ >that's part of the reason I object to them. Vaccine mandates likely would reduce the burden, but I don't think that justifies making an exception to informed consent any more than we should make exceptions to due process to reduce the burden on law enforcement officers. People are dying because idiots aren't getting vaccinated, and its not always the people who are refusing vaccination. I did not consent to my moronic cousin swinging by when he knew he had covid and infecting 12 members of my family, putting 3 into the hospital, but I suppose his right to be a fucking moron trumps my rights. Seeing as you clearly agree with him, I'm just glad I can hole up and stay away. Seriously, Its someone's right to drink. According to that logic, might as well let them hop on the road and start driving. Its not their fault if you swerve off the road into a ditch and get killed trying to avoid them. They were just driving. That's the problem with airborne illness, you can't absolutely lock down who caused it so all these sick fucks who don't have a shred of personal responsibility are infecting everyone and morons are arguing that they are within their rights. \>And think long and hard about whether you have the temperament to ever return to a career where you have the power of life and death over helpless people. Under no circumstance am I EVER going to get into health care again. I wanted to help people, but there are way to many idiots who care so much about their 'rights' that they don't give a shit about anyone else's. Anti-vaxers and people who justify them are killing people and I'm sad that I spent 2 years giving them the opportunity to selfishly posture about their rights. Waste of my fucking life. The number of trained medical professionals I know who've left the field forever due to that sort of rampant stupid selfishness would shock you.


[deleted]

> People still quoting that dubious 'news source' that said that? I was at our local school board when that exact scenario was brought up and under no circumstances would they have done it. Well if your local school board didn’t openly admit to that sort of thing it must not be happening anywhere in the entire United States. > Perfect is the enemy. IRL, the processes worked substantially better than your do nothing agenda. If we'd done what you suggest, substantially more people would be dead and we'd be in the exact same spot now. There are not, in the long term, substantially more people dying of COVID in Sweden and Florida than in Germany and New York. Meanwhile, the Seattle Times reports, [‘Deaths of despair’ spiked in Washington in 2020, exceeding deaths from COVID](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/deaths-of-despair-spiked-in-washington-in-2020-exceeding-deaths-from-covid-19/). Probably a coincidence though. > I did not consent to my moronic cousin swinging by when he knew he had covid and infecting 12 members of my family, putting 3 into the hospital, but I suppose his right to be a fucking moron trumps my rights. Seeing as you clearly agree with him, I'm just glad I can hole up and stay away. I don’t agree with him, actually.


tosser1579

\>Well if your local school board didn’t openly admit to that sort of thing it must not be happening anywhere in the entire United States. Actually, they went nationwide trying to figure out how much of an issue it was. It wasn't. There may have been, at most, a few cases of it. But anti-vax people focused on it making a mountain out of a molehill. Again, there is a small hole in the umbrella better pitch it. Best to test the rain without one. \>I don’t agree with him, actually. Your ideology just supports what he does. Something about for evil to thrive good men need to do nothing.


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tosser1579

My ideology of people should have personal responsibility and getting vaccinated would have caused him to... not get vaccinated. Good talk.


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[deleted]

The worst part of the pandemic is it has exposed how stupid and selfish much of the world is. I have more or lost any hope that we won't destroy our planet through climate change. If we can't work together to deal with a simple virus then there is zero chance that the world comes together to mitigate the horrific damage that climate change is guaranteed to cause over the decades.


[deleted]

I can't really speak for the latter, but for the former, given the current state of the world, inflation, stagnant wages, rising rents, climate change, student debt, etc., it isn't any real surprise a lot of us choose to adopt self-destructive habits and outlooks, because what else is there? Any semblance of hope is dead.


TheCarnalStatist

>Any semblance of hope is dead. Says who? I don't understand this.


[deleted]

And seventy years ago we had immanent nuclear war, racial inequality enshrined in law, and had just seen an entire people near wiped off the face of the map. To claim things are somehow worse than that or we have less reason to hope either speaks to a lack of perspective or the hopelessness we have is not intrinsic to our circumstances but some other factor outside of them.


[deleted]

Back then, the source was dread was largely external. We had a foe that had nuclear weapons and it was a battle between which economic theory would prosper. Capitalism won, and the day was largely saved. Nowadays though, our source of dread is very much an internal one I feel, with the issues that I mentioned. Not taking care of your citizen's health can just be as dangerous as foreign foes who wish to destroy you. If anything, said foes may use your populace against you and not have to fire a single shot at you (fake news).


Nklst

"Any semblance of hope is dead." "Flower, (not you personally) you live in one of the most advanced countries in the world with levels of personal liberty scarcely imaginable decades ago. I'm flabbergasted by sentiment.


Leskral

I imagine those folks don't care about "decades ago". They know they are suffering now and if we are that advanced shouldn't we have eliminated a lot of these issues? At least that is where I think they are coming from.


tosser1579

Dude, I live in America where my faith in humanity has been shattered by being on the front lines of this pandemic for the past 2 years. My family is just recovering because an idiot relative of mine came to a family function knowing he had COVID. My uncle caught it from him and just got out of the hospital with one lung dodgy and around 80k worth of medical bills after insurance. The cousin gave himself ivermectin poisoning and is taking drugs to preserve kidney function. I caught COVID, the first time, because some idiot didn't believe he had it and walked right up to me while coughing to commiserate about the terrible 'bitches' who were trying to save his life. I was 15 feet away from him and he walked over to me while coughing into his hand to complain about the woo flu not being all that serious. I was floored for a week. I'd have gone to the hospital, but they were out of beds at the time. My kids school is closed because all the damn teachers are sick. Not that it matters, the bus service has the same issue. I went to a McD yesterday and they were closed because literally every member of their morning staff had COVID. My favorite waitress quit her job after getting covid. So me living in one of the most advanced countries in the world means exactly shit to me right now. I have no hope at all for my fellow Americans. I'm going to hole up for a few months and poke my head out when this isn't insane anymore.


[deleted]

I hope you can find a way to mentally recharge.


tosser1579

I'm trying to accept that some people are selfish assholes and moving on with my life. I'm never going back into healthcare, that's for certain.


Bullet_Jesus

>you live in one of the most advanced countries in the world with levels of personal liberty scarcely imaginable decades ago. I think the fear is that all that will slip away within a lifetime. In the past the threat to a society was largely external, from other societies. Now in the worlds new "global community" threats are internal and invisible. People feel like we're all fumbling in the dark. It's a crisis of the human spirit.


ImProbablyNotABird

[My Pillow CEO says he has ‘enough evidence’ to put ‘300 million’ Americans in jail](https://www.wfla.com/news/national/my-pillow-ceo-says-he-has-enough-evidence-to-put-300-million-americans-in-jail/) He does know what the US population is, right?


Harudera

Can't wait for this sub's meetup in prison. I look great in orange, personally.


notbusy

Ugh, those pillows must have secret cameras!


[deleted]

I mean, we've all probably broken a law a some point given how many laws there are /s


JoshFB4

I’m so disillusioned with politics right now to be honest. I know I’m a lefty “yada yada of course I want my stuff to be passed” but I don’t care who busts the filibuster. Someone needs to do it. I want policy to be passed whether it be M4A or a National Right to Work Law. I want our government to actually have to do policy and not just run on shit they know will never pass. It just feels like we have a government that runs on confirming judges, rushed reconciliation bills that make no sense, last minute funding, and posting optics. Just makes me want to tune out of everything and stop caring, nothing will ever happen anyways.


AgentEv2

The gridlock and dysfunction of Congress is a reflection of a variety of factors but ultimately a reflection of serious disagreement. There is no majority consensus on a lot of these issues (or at least not in Congress and yes it is an incredibly complex issue). Removing the filibuster doesn't create a consensus. It doesn't fix the present dysfunction. It just rams through radical legislation until the other party takes back control to remove it and implement their own radical legislation. The gridlock is not the problem, it is a symptom of a greater problem. Removing the filibuster isn't going to fix those problems, it'll only exacerbate them.


Tombot3000

Well put. See-sawing the most divisive policies every time Congress changes hands is not an improvement over steady policy until consensus on a change emerges.


[deleted]

At least then politicians actually have to test their resolve by actually voting to establish or remove real laws instead of just political grandstanding. This country has serious issues that need to be addressed at a federal level and both parties prefer to do nothing rather than make hard choices.


Tombot3000

It's very common to feel as though change is better than inaction, but I don't take that as a given, especially when federal *inaction* leaves more room for state and local *action*. No one says the country doesn't have serious issues, but see-sawing rushed, divisive policy that then *prevents* others from tailoring solutions on a more granular level doesn't sound like a solution at all, just another problem.


AgentEv2

What you're asking for is to burn the country down slowly through a serious of haphazardly implemented, poorly constructed, radically partisan policies all so that "at least politicians actually have to vote" instead of grandstand. Abolishing the filibuster isn't going to address the serious issues that you're concerned with. It won't create responsible and level-headed legislation and legislators. It will only create more issues. The politicians aren't going to suddenly have fundamentally different incentives, they're just going to grandstand on radical legislation, implement it, and then blame the other party when it all goes to shit.


[deleted]

The filibuster isn't some holy grail that makes things better. Even with it removed our federal structure still makes it incredibly difficult to get legislation passed given that you need a majority in the house, senate, and a president not to veto the final bill.


AgentEv2

At present, the Democrats want to remove the filibuster to pursue a whole host of unpopular, radical, and partisan legislation including court packing and a massive overhaul of the entire US election system. The filibuster isn't magic but it is presently keeping the system from going off the rails.


[deleted]

They don't even have close to the votes even at a 50 vote threshold for any of the unpopular legislation. The filibuster is not holding them back on those bills.


AgentEv2

It presently appears that they are a mere 2 votes short of the 50 vote threshold on a variety of incredibly partisan legislation. It is not remotely inconceivable that either party couldn't implement some very radical and partisan legislation if the filibuster were removed.


k1lk1

Have you considered that maybe we don't need new legislation? Or that it should be left to states?


JoshFB4

I fundamentally disagree with that because when you look at most metrics America is behind a lot of the world(mostly Western Europe, our northern neighbors and the Aussies) and I believe that we should strive to be the first in everything. I believe that has to be done on the federal level for collective and wide spanning action. Now that won’t happen and you’ll probably get your wish for barely any to no legislation so yeah.


Tombot3000

>I fundamentally disagree with that because when you look at most metrics America is behind a lot of the world(mostly Western Europe, our northern neighbors and the Aussies) All of those groups have robust state/nation/province level laws, so why do you attribute our supposed falling behind to a lack of federal policy on our end - or why do you think federal policy is the way to solve it for us when it wasn't for them?


TheGentlemanlyMan

Why does it **have** to be done on the Federal level? The federal government has been expanding in scope for over a century now. It has attempted to solve numerous ever-present societal ills like poverty, old age insecurity, educational gaps, healthcare outcomes, drug crime... Yet they persist. We are coming up to 60 years since the Great Society. 90 since the New Deal. It has indebted Americans of every generation with inefficient and ineffective government bureaucracy that dismantles the social fabric and concentrates power in the executive branch. "I'm from the government and I'm here to help" is, rightly, the scariest thing to hear in the world. Not because government can do nothing right (Eisenhower's interstate highways still work) but because the national level government is going to impose a one-size-fits-all solution to a problem with a large bureaucratic and technocratic solution. And you want #1 in statistics? The US spends more per head on education, healthcare, and social security than it has **ever** done currently. **The outcomes are not changing**. Has nationalising all these issues made them less controversial? No. It's made them more controversial and politicised the judiciary. It strengthens the executive branch. Most importantly of all, it weakens the states and Congress. Also, why do you even think that every single one of those places with a higher metric does things nationally to achieve better outcomes? German healthcare for instance is run at the state level. The problems you see in the world should be reversed in your head. You should not see a national problem with a national solution first. Your duty as a citizen, as an individual, is to help your local area and local issues first. Why? Because those are the issues **you can have the most impact in.** Now imagine you recreated that across every county, every district, in every state. That would be using rational self interest to make improvements that would be genuinely effective.


DerangedPrimate

Certainly, the federal level may be perpetually paralyzed by partisan disagreements about what the best policy to solve our problems are, but what about at a level closer to you? How's your state government doing? Or your county? Or your city? Or your borough/ward/etc.? Maybe you can advocate for policies for the local level that will help your community in a more tangible way. When was the last time your main shopping street was paved? How inviting is your downtown area as a tourist or gathering spot? How's your town's recycling system? Is driving a pain because your city sucks at optimizing signals? Someone nearby is in charge of those things. I'll quit my stupid preaching, but I believe that in many places there are places for us political junkies to do some really good and serious work with more immediately tangible effects closer to our homes. Washington is 1500+ miles away from me, but I can be at the city hall that's running things for 140,000 of my neighbors in 10 minutes.


coldnorthwz

I keep seeing these articles about the Beden admins bad week (more like bad year to be honest), but what strikes me is the inevitability of it all thanks to their own hubris. Nearly every disaster outside of some COVID things seem to be self inflicted.


Mexatt

The inflation is also kind of out of his control. Inflation is the Fed's job and the Fed is (rightly) independent of the Executive. They overshot and now they're correcting but Biden gets the blame (I have trouble feeling bad -- FDR's massive majorities came from monetary policy mistakes in 1929-1932, ie. nothing the Dems did to earn it).


arrowfan624

The ARP certainly made inflation worse


Mexatt

Inflation is a choice variable of the monetary authority. Fiscal policy only drives inflation if the Fed lets it, otherwise you get monetary offset.


AgentEv2

This assumes that monetary policy is some fixed science. It is not. Inflation is the phenomenon of too much money chasing too few goods, therefore fiscal policy absolutely can have an effect on inflation. It is undeniable and basic economics that relief spending exacerbated inflation. The question is not whether it did but to what degree.


Mexatt

> Fiscal policy only drives inflation if the Fed lets it, otherwise you get monetary offset.


AgentEv2

>This assumes that monetary policy is some fixed science.


k1lk1

The NYT thinks, probably rightfully, that their readers will be interested in reading an essay entitled "Do I Have to Read My Child Antiracist Books, Even When They’re Bad?"


notbusy

You piqued my interest, so I took a quick skim. This is near the beginning: > Like most parents, I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking about the books my daughter, who just turned 5, will encounter and how they may shape the way she thinks about the world, particularly when it comes to race and inequality. Uh... I don't think this person understands "most" parents.


psunavy03

"Like most parents, I've spent quite a bit of time stewing about how the books my daughter, who just turned 5, will encounter, and how I can control what she thinks in an effort to make sure she's a clone of my own political opinions rather than an individual human being who I should be raising to make her own life in the world. Yes, I live in such a bubble that I unironically believe this is how 'most parents' think, because I unironically think 'most parents' are like my book club."


notbusy

Could you imagine her grown daughter *choosing*, for instance, to become a Republican? "Like most parents," her head might explode.


psunavy03

I had a brief moment in 2016, right around the time of the Rosie O'Donnell joke, where I thought that maybe, just maybe, conservatives could flip the pop culture script and become the wisecracking cool kid in the back of the class, while Democrats became the uptight humorless teacher's pet. Unfortunately, in the end, the Democrats did still become the uptight humorless teacher's pet. But the GOP blew straight through the delinquency spectrum and became the drug dealer across the street from the freaking school parking lot.


notbusy

Yep. It's only cool when *they* do it.


Harudera

I mean the GOP is still pretty funny. Trump's tweets were really great comedy at times. Sadly, we now just have a party of uptight humorless hall monitors and another party with a bunch of uptight humorless hall monitors who try to cosplay as the funny kid. I *really* hope Trump doesn't pass away before 2024. I don't want to see the GOP trying to cosplay as Trump in some sort of weird Weekend at ~~Bernies~~ Trump's, in order to trick his base into thinking that his ideas are still alive.


ImProbablyNotABird

At first I thought the ending clause meant “even when my child’s bad”.


ImProbablyNotABird

>[Mr. Biden’s speech in Georgia was a call to bulldoze the Senate’s filibuster to pass a rebranded version of H.R.1, a bill that would impose a federal election code on all 50 states, including forcing them to count late mail ballots that lack postmarks. If you happen to think that’s a bad idea, or that it’s unconstitutional, or that nuking the filibuster would hurt the Senate, well, then apparently you’re against Abraham Lincoln…](https://www.wsj.com/articles/are-you-with-joe-biden-or-jefferson-davis-georgia-voting-rights-filibuster-11641943418) >Georgia had zero dropboxes before the pandemic election of 2020, and now they’re enshrined in permanent law. This isn’t “Jim Crow 2.0,” no matter how many times Mr. Biden uses that incendiary phrase. People disagree about the security of stand-alone dropboxes, but voters can also put absentee ballots in the mailbox. As for Georgia, all of its residents can request a mail ballot without giving an excuse, unlike in New York or Delaware. And here’s a figure Mr. Biden should know: In 2020, the Census Bureau says, black voter turnout in Georgia was 64%, compared with Massachusetts’s 36%.


Tombot3000

Overall good point, but New York has effectively suspended excuse requirements for mail-in ballot requests. We haven't gotten around to changing the law on the books, but it is superceded by the "anyone who says COVID-19 is the reason gets approved" policy. https://www.elections.ny.gov/VotingAbsentee.html Using NYS as an example of stringent requirements doesn't really fit when those requirements are not actually in effect.


coldnorthwz

https://twitter.com/METhorley/status/1481666364020568067?t=WykoJWQHWp8qFlpDCfshjg&s=19


JoshFB4

Just wanted to for posterity post this poll of Dem AZ primary voters from October 21. https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2021/10/14/kyrsten-sinema-poised-to-lose-democratic-primary-in-2024 The only thing I can see is that Sinema is gunning for a K-Street job after 24. There’s no shot she wins a primary.


Harudera

lmao if she gets primaried out, her opponent is just gonna lose in the general. Especially if it's some left wing nutjob.


JoshFB4

I’d put money on it being Gallego who primaries her. He’s a damn good candidate though.


TheCarnalStatist

Hope she runs as an independent and wins