vvilld @ vvilld @lemmy.world

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I don't believe it applies to the entire party. There were Democrats (mostly in the House) who are actually opposing the fascists. The problem is that none of them are in leadership and the Vichy leadership is actively fighting the few Democrats who are trying to oppose the fascists rather than fighting the fascists.

The letter pretty clearly says "I am a member of the Democrat Party".

Show me a letter from Vichy Democrats that says "I am a member of the Republican Party." Show me where Republicans put any Democrat in Senate leadership or gave them chair of a Committee.

And he's also repeatedly made statements that he runs as an independent in Vermont because he promised his constituents he would always do so in his first Congressional race. But he's also said that he considers himself a Democrat, and the party also clearly considers him one seeing as they put him in Senatorial party leadership and gave him chair (when they had the Majority) of one of the most powerful Senate committees: the Senate Budget Committee.

Here's a notarized letter signed by Bernie affirming he is, in fact, a Democrat.

So you just want an oligarchy?

All you're doing is finding a bunch of different ways of saying the people who already have socioeconomic power should be the ones who have all the political power. People with the financial means and time to educate themselves on esoteric areas of policy to a sufficient level as to mollify the people put in charge of the tests to access the ballot are the only ones who should be allowed to vote?

No, that's some anti-democratic bullshit.

So Angela is DEFINITELY taking the mantle of White Tiger by the end of the season. Her scene at the morgue was so good. She was this close to just saying ACAB.

I also loved Leroy Bradford's story. At first it seemed like just a distraction for the overall plot. Matt is still torn up over Hector's death and doesn't really want to be bothered with Leroy's case. It seems like an open-and-shut case that was even being played for laughs ("Could it have been a Skrull?"). Leroy seemed like such an asshole at first, making fun of Matt for being blind. But it ended up being a very poignant indictment of the entire criminal justice system and society more broadly. Leroy thought he was being given the dregs of a lawyer because nobody cared about his case. Matt did an absolutely great job in getting the sentence reduced down to 10 days, which seemed like a great win at first. But it really just served to highlight to Matt how the entire system is corrupt. Even when he does the absolute best anyone could hope to do in his position, it's still an absolute miscarriage of justice.

Then add in the conversation with Frank about how Foggy is dead while Bullseye is still alive. In prison, yes, but still alive.

This whole episode is just Matt's (refound) faith in the justice system getting shattered. Matt had 3 "wins" using the system as it was meant to be used (Bullseye's conviction, Hector's acquittal, Leroy's sentence getting reduced to 10 days) and all 3 ended up being massive miscarriages of justice.

Matt's right at the breaking point. He just needs 1 more thing to push him over the edge to put the mask back on.

You can intend for the governing body that decides the tests to be impartial and apolitical all you want, but what you're doing is creating a power structure that controls who has access to the ballot. Regardless how well meaning your intentions are, that system will always invite abuse. It's always going to be easier for fascists and authoritarians to corrupt your well-meaning system to deny access to the ballot to their opposition rather than trying to win on merit. That's how electoral systems ALWAYS fail. It's not always a test, but the authoritarians find a way to manipulate the voting system. By creating a test you're just making the system MUCH easier to corrupt.

History shows quite the opposite. Systems maintained by culture are the ones that last. Systems maintained by force are the ones that breed opposition.

Yes I am. That doesn't negate the fact that poll tests are a really fucking stupid idea. Indeed, the fact that my country has a pretty disgusting history with them should help reiterate the point that they're really fucking bad.

If Marshalls ignore an order from a judge, what does the judge saying "I compel you" or "I hold you in contempt" do?

Everything you're saying is just judges saying words at people. The administration has already shown they're willing to ignore words coming out of the courts.

We're very close to the "don't quote laws to men with swords" territory here.

You create a culture where people feel ownership over their own communities and services. This isn't something given to you by a government or business. It's something you run and maintain in conjunction with the rest of your community for your own benefit. And you keep the focus locally while building a system that can interact on a larger scale. So I and my community have ownership and responsibility over our water system and it can integrate with the water system owned and maintained by the next community over.

Yes.

one needs to pass a simple single choice test before being allowed to vote

You just reinvented Jim Crow!

working off of IOUs.

That's all that cash is. Currency is just a very elaborate system of IOUs.

I'm opposed to ALL hierarchal power structures. If someone is given authority and power over others, regardless of the method of acquiring that power, the system is evil. That includes political power structures, but also economic and social ones. That includes capitalism, liberal democracies, state communism, fascism, etc, etc. They're all fucking bad.

The democratic confederalist system in place in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria seems pretty nice, but it's under VERY heavy attack right now and I don't know how long it'll be allowed to remain before Turkey and the new Syrian government (with US support) crushes it.

Investors genuinely did not believe Trump would go through with the tariffs and demolishing the government. Even though he repeatedly said he would during the election, investors just didn't believe it. They though he'd come in and slash corporate taxes and regulations and that'd be it. So after he won the election they stock market went on a tear. In the week after the election the US Stock Market Index jumped like 300 points and continue to rise until it hit it's peak just after inauguration.

Then Trump started to actually do the things he'd been promising he'd do all along. It took until _{1 month into the administration (}1 month ago) before investors realized Trump was serious. That's when the market started falling. It's only been going down for a month now.

It's only been falling for a month now, but the US Stock Market Index is already ~100 points lower than it was at the election. Right now it's at the same place it was 6 months ago. In other words, any gains the US Stock Market made over the 5 months from Sept-Feb were completely wiped out over just 1 month in March.

Just the one right now. I haven't really found a reason to sign up for more. I also really don't want the added burden of maintaining multiple accounts. That sounds exhausting.

told Vichy Democratsic leadership to become more Republican

FTFY!

I think there are actual elected Democrats who want to oppose the fascists. Look at Bernie, AOC, Crockett, even Pritzker and Walz. Hell, even Seth fucking Moulton and Nancy fucking Pelosi criticized Vichy Schumer over his collaboration and capitulation.

The problem is the Democrats, at the national level, are all led by the Vichy caucus of the party. Schumer, Jeffries, Newsom, etc who actually agree with the fascists on a number of issues.

We can't write off everyone elected with a (D) next to their name. History has shown us time and time again that the only thing that has ever defeated a powerful fascists movement is a popular front of leftists and liberals working together. We need to eliminate the Vichy wing of the Democratic Party. I'm not going to pretend like I know how to do that, but we're never going to defeat the fascists if we keep lumping everyone in with the collaborationists. That just fractures our side and strengthens theirs.

And electoral politics can't be the only thing we do. It's one tactic, but it's not the only or even most important one. Most importantly, we need to build connections and networks within our communities so that we can support each other against the fascists. We need to establish the relationships now so that when the fascists come for the marginalized in our community people (especially those less engaged with politics) are more willing to side with the victims of the fascists who they've come to know against the power structures.

Can we start using "Vichy" to describe any Democrats who collaborate with the fascists?

Jon Stewart slammed Vichy Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer...

Stewart argued Vichy Democrats avoid proposing real alternatives by pretending Republicans will compromise.