spaceghoti @ spaceghoti @lemmy.one

Posts

651

Comments

783

Joined

2 yr. ago

Moderating

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It is to his base. He knows how to sell to them.

I mean, I'm glad he finally figured it out. That's better than most of the MAGAts. But I don’t expect he'll accept any accountability for his role in enabling that insanity.

Again, incorrect. The majority gets to determine nominations, set agendas, determine which bills come up for a vote, and so forth.

Not all of them showed up at Obama's house with a cache of weapons.

And there's still more damage he can do by defecting. Just look at what they're anticipating with his retirement. He still holds more leverage than Senate Democrats. I don't you know why you think they hold more power with such a slim majority that depends entirely on his cooperation.

I think calling attention to the way Trump's rhetoric is feeding right-wing conspiracies and violence is a necessary step to making the nation safer.

Yeah, that's the damage Fox News has done to our national discourse. As if all sides of the story are backed equally by facts.

To quote Gingrich, "As a political candidate, I'll go with what people feel..." Because manipulating people's feelings is easier than manipulating facts.

In other words, you're going to help enable the "bad things" that you agree really will happen.

How brave of you.

How do you punish him when he can simply start caucusing with Republicans and end the Democrats' slim majority? In order to pressure him you have to have leverage, and for the past few years he's had more of it than Senate Democrats.

This change has been coming since the 90s, ever since Reagan shut down the Fairness Doctrine in the FCC and the media cross-ownership rule.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_cross-ownership_in_the_United_States

After the 1996 Telecommunications Act, most of those rules were repealed and we began to see quick consolidation of media outlets. That's why most newspapers and broadcast stations are owned by a single corporate parent. It has not led to greater competition and better journalism. Quite the opposite.

Maybe if the Democrats gave even a tiny amount of pushback against those “quislings” then they would deserve some credit.

Like this?

The problem was that both Manchin and Sinema understood that they had leverage to decide what policies lived or died. And as often as not, they torpedoed progressive legislation because they both consider themselves "moderate." They didn't stand in the way only when it didn't interfere with their personal enrichment. And since Senate Democrats have no control over the elections that put them in that position, it's extremely dishonest to blame Democrats for it.

Now that Manchin is retiring, Democrats are shitting their pants over their chances to hold the Senate in 2024. They know they won't be able to get a progressive to replace Manchin.

Oh, if only!

You're asking why a demonstrated insurrectionist who was arrested for making threats against political opponents and showing up at their residence with weapons shouldn't be a matter for national attention? Seriously?

I actually think that our best chance of avoiding it (in the long run) is another Trump victory. He will make those changes so abruptly that people will react far more strongly than if we slid into an authoritarian state gradually.

Too late. He's already normalized this behavior for too many people.

That's a nightmare none of us need.

FTA:

In the spring of 2018, he told the White House counsel that he wanted to order Justice Department investigations of Clinton and former FBI director James Comey. In 2019, he repeatedly demanded investigations of Biden and attempted to extort Ukraine into announcing an investigation into the same. He commissioned intelligence agencies to find evidence that Comey, along with Andrew McCabe, Peter Stzrok, and Lisa Page, committed “treason.” In addition to insisting on prosecuting various enemies an unknown number of times in private, Trump made similar demands repeatedly in public on his Twitter account.

Trump’s first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, resisted his relentless demands for politicized prosecutions. His next attorney general, William Barr, partially resisted. Trump wound up appointing John Durham to lock up his deep-state enemies, a task Barr assisted by working closely with Durham (in violation of department guidelines designed to ensure special counsels are independent of the AG). Durham, however, failed to find the promised conspiracy and wound up humiliating himself and his backers by having his two main targets acquitted in court.

So while it's true that Trump has not locked up a single one of his critics, it's not for lack of trying. If he gets another chance at it, he'll make sure the people working for him will do what he says without any ethical concerns for the legality of his orders.

I expected him to do something when Democrats had control of Congress.

You mean, when they had slim majorities and two quislings among the Democrats in the Senate who refused to vote for filibuster reform? That control?

Please join us in reality. We'd love to have your help.

Wasn't Jesse Ventura elected governor of Michigan as a Libertarian?

When did Ron Paul stop being a racist?

Fire is very effective at erasing a multitude of sins. Even without the gaudy buildings, the property itself is still worth a nice sum.