I dunno, there are actually quite a few sensible and practical ideas in this thread, your thread, btw. Your post has elicited a good discussion, why throw shade on the people earnestly participating? If you actually want a contested convention, this thread is nothing compared to some of the wild shit that would go down in that scenario.
Ideally, yeah, but think about the logistics of pulling something like that off. And would it be a full primary redo? Like fresh ballots sent out to all dems? Or do you mean a mini primary just with the existing delegates? Because we already voted in the Democratic primary election…
I’m just really trying to be pragmatic about this, I can’t imagine a scenario where we pull this off and come out stronger. I would love to be wrong.
Ugh. I agree that Kamala sucks, but I think it’d be a mistake to try to go with anyone else at this point. She has a pulse, a functional brain, lots of political experience, a long life ahead of her, and yeah, she’s made some terrible decisions and gaffs in her career, just like Joe Biden.
I don’t like that she was a cop, but Joe Biden chaired the Senate Judiciary committee for like 100 years, and got us Clarence Thomas, so…nobody has the moral high ground here.
We just need to win, and frankly I think if we try to go with someone new and untested, we’ll lose. We’ve been in a “lesser of two evils” situation for some time now.
That’s a good point, I hadn’t thought about it as a strategic attack on the small people, you’re onto something. It’s frankly absurd that this is what we’ve come to.
Yeah I’ve been dealing with this issue since I came over from the other place last year. It’s incredibly annoying, and a number of times has made me rage-delete comments I’m trying to post. It happens to me every day, but I can usually find a server that works for a while by randomly switching a few times.
I mean sure, it’s cute. And the video is worthy of like, a small smirk, but is this really what the Lincoln Project is up to these days? Seems like they could be using their money and influence more responsibly. It’s probably more valuable to at least try to change some peoples’ minds. I don’t see how spending money producing a sketch that wouldn’t even make it on SNL is worthwhile.
He might be my worst nightmare: an intelligent, opportunistic, disingenuous, duplicitous, hateful, proudly misogynistic, election-denying, authoritarian-curious chaos agent, wrapped in a young relatively attractive white man’s body. He will do a far better job than Trump ever could at making their sick regressive and paternalistic fantasies come true for all of us.
lol so true. But as someone who started going bald at a very young age, there’s only so much you can do with a bald head…shaving the whole thing is the best option for a lot of people.
Not excusing this piece of shit for being a piece of shit, but there’s plenty to say about these blowhards without focusing on their looks.
Yeah I’m sure she could have dragged it out even more if she really wanted to, but according a whole slew of current and former prosecutors, the motions she was putting off were things she should have decided on the spot. And any experienced judge not purposefully delaying things would have had no trouble ruling on those things from the bench. Instead, she sat on motions for months, chose to set ridiculous deadlines and hold separate hearing on issues that had already been decided elsewhere. She even accepted amicus briefs and had mini oral arguments for issues that she had no business ruling on (the legality of Smith’s appointment being one of them). Those types of hearings are super rare in a lower court and a case like this.
She’s wildly inexperienced and obviously corrupt, which is a pretty dangerous combination.
It sounds like she has some personality issues, but as someone who has lived in a bunch of different countries, I can attest that sometimes I forget how to pronounce certain words, and something weird can come out every once in a while. It’s rare, but some close friends and family have noticed and rightfully made fun of me for it. I really wouldn’t have noticed unless they pointed it out.
And don’t get me started on spelling…living in the UK for a while totally ruined my confidence with English spelling and turns of phrase. I also still say ‘cheers’ in lieu of ‘thanks’ more than I’d like to admit, and I’ve been back in the US for almost 8 years…
So yeah, your coworker sounds like a trip, but language is so goddamn confusing it’s totally possible that she has no idea how she sounds. Could also just be looking for attention, as others have suggested.
That was an awesome piece. And like Wittes said, Lawfare really has been on top of this issue for longer than most. This part in particular drove it home for me:
it is possible to be at the same time a threat to democracy and a victim of a horrible crime. The fact that Trump has been shot emphatically does not mean that his behavior does *not *threaten American democracy—just as the fact that Huey Long, the populist governor of Louisiana in the 1930s, was assassinated did not acquit him of being a corrupt authoritarian. That Trump is also a corrupt authoritarian surely cannot justify his attempted assassination or any political violence, but just as surely, the fact that a person attempted his assassination does not nullify the threat he poses. The two facts must be allowed to coexist.
To reinforce @fartington’s sentiment, I’m not sure how you can be against genocide and religious extremism and still be considered an antisemitic jihadi. Obviously you’re not being careful with your words, but those things don’t mean what you think they mean.
Oy. Get the journalist’s name out of the headline. The journalist is not the story. If the identity of the journalist is more interesting than the content of the story, then write a better story.
I think of government as a relatively recent adaptation for our some of our species’ less socially-harmonious impulses. Government makes formal our ability to gather in groups and come to a shared understanding, across diverse and often contradictory belief systems. Humans have always been really good at this, but modern governments and their accompanying bureaucracies take it to the next level. Sure we lose some efficiency, but that’s what happens when you’ve got massive populations.
I believe government is meant to take the place of the caretakers of old who would have been responsible for the well-being of the group. If you think of government as an extension of ourselves, the part that cares for the collective for the benefit of the individual, and vice versa, then it’s one of the most critical components of our survival as a species.
Ideally, government should provide everything that an individual cannot provide for themselves. If a person isn’t a builder, then government should provide a place to live. If a person isn’t a farmer, then government should provide enough food to survive on. If a person isn’t a doctor, then the government should provide medical care. And so on. All the essentials we need to live should be provided by the government, because the government is us.
Driftaway Coffee. I think they’re based in Brooklyn, but I have their subscription shipped to the west coast. They roast and ship on the same day, so I always get freshly roasted beans within a couple days of getting the shipment notification. They focus on sustainability, appear to pay their growers way more than the average, and many of the farms they buy from are women-owned and operated. Been super happy with the quality, and they provide little info-cards with each bag giving details about the region, growers, and tasting notes, so I’ve built up a cool little history/collection so I can always look back and remember a bean I particularly liked.
I dunno, there are actually quite a few sensible and practical ideas in this thread, your thread, btw. Your post has elicited a good discussion, why throw shade on the people earnestly participating? If you actually want a contested convention, this thread is nothing compared to some of the wild shit that would go down in that scenario.