Just say you're a conservative and go. "Progressives" like you are such cowards. You're so eager to slobber over politicians' boots and make up excuses for why they can't do anything good. I wish I could at least believe the DNC was paying you off, but I was one of you once, so I know full well you've just drunk the neoliberal Kool-Aid that hard. The people ready to jump down leftists' throats with "um, ackshually, it's physically impossible to do better than center-right austerity and authoritarianism" whenever we speak up have far more to do with why leftists have no power than any leftist "idealism." Throughout history, it's always been the lunatic radicals who made actual change, while the craven moderates fought them tooth and nail to preserve the intolerable status quo. Ever notice how conservatives are utterly unrestrained by all the things liberals insist are holding them back from making change? When MAGA wants something, they get it, no matter how unreasonable or flat-out absurd it is. But when the Democrats' base demands better of them, they wring their hands and lament how gosh golly gee, they'd love to make things better, but they can't because something something civility something something norms. If progressives fought like conservatives, we'd have fucking fully automated luxury gay space communism by now.
Remember how he ran on hope and change? How he presented himself as a progressive? Then how he failed to close Guantanamo, never even tried to codify abortion rights, didn't bother prosecuting the Bush administration for their war crimes, did a bunch of war crimes himself, and expanded the surveillance state? Because I do.
And like the other commenter said, he completely capitulated to the Republicans when they invented some bullshit about how outgoing presidents aren't supposed to appoint justices or whatever.
They aren't advocating to vote against Mamdani. They're pointing out that "blue no matter who" is almost exclusively applied to progressives who complain about establishment Dems. When it's the other way around, establishment Dems are quick to abandon their alleged principles and sabotage progressive candidates.
I'm 29. My opinion on my parents has not changed much since I was a kid. My dad has a lot of practical knowledge, but his worldview is pants-on-head stupid. My mom is a far better person than my dad, but her technical knowledge is limited.
I know I'm late to this, but I wanted to say congrats on being diagnosed and medicated!
For anyone who may be on the fence, I would definitely recommend at least giving it a try. Meds and diagnosis have made a huge difference in my life. Not everything is just fixed, unfortunately, but I do have some control over what I'm doing now, and my emotional regulation is better.
I went vegetarian 13 years ago. I lost a little weight in the beginning, then immediately gained it all back once I figured out what I liked. If being vegetarian makes you healthier, that's a skill issue, considering pizza and ice cream can be vegetarian.
Just say you're a conservative and go. "Progressives" like you are such cowards. You're so eager to slobber over politicians' boots and make up excuses for why they can't do anything good. I wish I could at least believe the DNC was paying you off, but I was one of you once, so I know full well you've just drunk the neoliberal Kool-Aid that hard. The people ready to jump down leftists' throats with "um, ackshually, it's physically impossible to do better than center-right austerity and authoritarianism" whenever we speak up have far more to do with why leftists have no power than any leftist "idealism." Throughout history, it's always been the lunatic radicals who made actual change, while the craven moderates fought them tooth and nail to preserve the intolerable status quo. Ever notice how conservatives are utterly unrestrained by all the things liberals insist are holding them back from making change? When MAGA wants something, they get it, no matter how unreasonable or flat-out absurd it is. But when the Democrats' base demands better of them, they wring their hands and lament how gosh golly gee, they'd love to make things better, but they can't because something something civility something something norms. If progressives fought like conservatives, we'd have fucking fully automated luxury gay space communism by now.