Xhieron @ xhieron @lemmy.world

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2 yr. ago

Put your clothes on and get back in your lane, Bard. You're drunk.

It's not complicated. The reality is that most Americans just aren't socialists. They're not fascists either--at least not yet--but voting blocks that have been reliably Democratic for the last fifty-ish years (since the GOP adopted the Southern strategy) are only in the party by default. Black families have historically been relatively conservative, as have Hispanic families. That the Democrats are left of the only other major party only makes it the party of Marxists and anarchists for want of an actual left party, since the alternative for the young generation of leftists is to essentially not participate in the political process at all.

It's a consequence of first-past-the-post elections and the way campaigns are funded, but the result is that the Democratic party includes elements that are genuinely right of center, but it can't risk alienating them because right of center represents the majority of the country's population. If the Democrats were to lose the Marxists on its far left flank to a true left party, the GOP would just win every national election. Similarly, if the Dems lost its conservative labor wing in the Rust Belt, same outcome. In a parliamentary government, or if FPTP were eliminated, those two wings would be separate parties and form a coalition to govern (and the fascists on the right of the GOP along with more traditional conservatives like Romney would similarly be separate parties). Since we don't have that, the two parties basically have to try to stay as close to the ideological center within their own caucuses as possible, because any deviation in either direction hemorrhages voters and loses elections.

Make no mistake: the GOP political strategy involves shutting the government down and shifting public opinion so that Biden eats the blame for it. They lost the messaging fight this time, so they kicked it down the road so they can try again next year. They want "Biden Shutdown" in the news at election time, but they'll settle for increasing the deficit by cutting programs designed to help the old, poor, and vulnerable while defunding the profitable IRS so they and their rich donors can continue to commit tax fraud and evasion. If they play their cards right, they can have both, because it doesn't matter anymore what's actually going on in DC. It only matters what the propaganda outfits can enrage people about.

“reasoning that these vehicles are safer for drivers in the event of a crash” Sounds like an arms race. Soon we will be driving armored personnel carriers.

Well, yeah. It is an arms race. I drive a "midsize" SUV, and a large part of the reason is that these trucks are going to be on the road no matter what. Statistically, in the event of a collision between a truck and a car, the truck driver will live and the car driver will die, no matter who is at fault. Is it more dangerous for drivers of small cars and pedestrians? Absolutely! But it's safer for the person in the tank. Ergo, if you want to maximize the safety of yourself and your passengers, be the one driving the tank. Am I selfish for driving my SUV? Probably--but it's hard to make a moral argument that defeats "This is more likely to keep me alive."

I live in a rural area, so walking isn't an option even if we had the infrastructure (which we don't), and I dream of a future in which we have commuter rail here. But until then, I'm going to be in the thing that's most likely to keep one of these monsters from killing me, and once my son is old enough to drive, you bet your ass I'm putting him in one too, because these things are on the road whether I like it or not. The tragedy of the commons is that everyone contributing to the calamity is rational.

All of these ridiculous trucks should be off the road, and I will cheerfully give mine up--once everyone else has, and not a moment sooner. Until then, anybody selling APCs yet? It looks like that Abrams has better sight lines than a 2500. Where do I get a road legal one of those?

https://moneyguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/debt-up-to-my-eyeballs.gif

Article is spot on: It doesn't matter. Let him run his mouth. This is one of the benefits of a bench trial as distinguished from a trial to a jury. The judge can be trusted to make (legally) correct inferences from testimony in a way that a jury could not, so the risk of letting a blowhard ramble is minimal by comparison, whereas the risk of shutting said blowhard down is a finding of error by an appeals court. The only people he's talking to are the minuscule cross-section of the public that is both paying attention and could be swayed by anything Jr says--i.e., no one.

Outstanding journalism. Say the numbers and say their names. Do not let the water barons hide.

The generational accumulation of massive wealth and its centralization among only a few families is a hallmark of inequality, and it's no different for a farming empire than for a tech or finance empire.

When there is no more water, drink Alex Abatti's blood instead.

Oh yeah? Well I love Joe Biden, and I'm not ashamed to say it. Let's talk about the last two administrations:

Joe Biden tried to forgive my debt. Donald Trump tried to take away my health insurance. Joe Biden thinks we need more trains. Donald Trump thinks we need more walls. Joe Biden lowered my student loan bills. Donald Trump raised my taxes. Joe Biden released people who were convicted on marijuana charges. Donald Trump locked up children for coming to the US. Joe Biden wants to be president. Donald Trump wants to be Vladimir Putin. Joe Biden told me to join a union. Donald Trump told me to drink bleach.

Is the Biden administration perfect? Of course not, but the man has actually tried (and occasionally succeeded) to do things that would actually benefit me personally. https://www.whitehouse.gov/therecord/

The reality is that for most people on most days, what's happening in DC has only a very small impact on our lives. Our state and local governments are vastly more consequential. But this administration, despite being faced with an opposition party composed of literal fascists, is fighting tooth and nail to make life better for real people without losing the Republic in the process. Given the current state of SCOTUS and Congress, it's nothing short of a miracle Joe Biden has accomplished anything at all. He's not as far left as me, but he's as far left as we've got right now, and never mind the fact that the other guy wants to destroy our country so he can stay out of prison.

Joe Biden has conviction, he has compassion, and he has ability. I like the agenda, and I like the man.

Yeah no shit. They feel that way because it is that way. You don't need polls for this information. It's economics. "Perceived" or not, it is actually, literally harder for millenials and younger adults to achieve the same level of financial stability as their parents, full stop. That's not a matter of feeling or perception. That's the declining real value of money. Inflation, greedflation, economic contraction at key life milestones, wealth inequality, lower indicators for health, and on and on. Across every metric I can think of off the top of my head, millenials and the next generations perform worse than previous generations due to circumstances entirely beyond their control (and largely the result of the prior generations, including dead hand control and policies directly adversarial to young adults' accumulation of wealth). For many young adults, the best financial windfall they'll ever experience will be when their more affluent parents die, and no active measure they can take on their own behalfs will meaningfully change it.

The ruling class should be terrified of them.

"You look like a good joe."

Say more about this? I've seen a few good pieces about acting compensation over the years, but nowhere near as many as I'd have liked.

How much did you get paid, assuming it's not hypothetical? What do panel and reality shows pay? I assume residuals are $0, but I know nothing. What's the real story here?

Yarr.

Indeed, yay trains, and I unironically also like that look. In the thumbnail I thought it was a sweater at first. It says I'm the President, but I'm here to work. Rail--any rail--would be a significant improvement in American infrastructure in so many places. I don't live anywhere near the NE, but I know it has to succeed for there to be hope for the rest of us in my lifetime.

He is. One piece is the US. The other is China.

No one on that side of the aisle is deliberately leaving the prick in Congress. It wasn't going to pass due to Republican obstruction, even if the entire Democratic conference had voted for it (and the Democrats previously initiated a measure earlier this year). The question wasn't "Do you want this asshole out of Congress?" It was "The asshole stays. Do you want your opponent next year to get to campaign on you voting to oust him prior to a conviction, and do you want to be on record for being in favor of ousting Congress members without a conviction if the GOP takes the chamber and decides to weaponize the practice in '25?"

Conviction is the rubric because it's a bright line with a high bar. Bad public opinion and lying on the campaign trail is just politics. This year's egregious exception is next year's status quo. Notice how everything is an "insurrection" for the fascists now? Same deal.

Electioneering isn't just an argument. It's the only rational argument.

Good luck fighting off Pentagon drones with your hobby weapon.

Yes, and while we're at it, yes to any other bad faith strawman argument you've got. GTFO with that bullshit.

In the civilized world, you have to justify your need for a gun with the presence of the aforementioned varmints. No yard, no varmints, no gun.

No one needs a machine gun to hunt deer, and no one needs a handgun. Handguns are lousy for self defense ("buy a shotgun", to quote the President). All they're good for is killing humans and making gun shareholders richer.

And no gun is going to help you if the government comes for you either. The cops are coming with tear gas, body armor, and tanks, and most importantly there's no amount of cops you can kill that will get them to leave you alone.

All of the justifiable bases for having a gun are solved with a double barrel shotgun. Even if you're being mauled by a bear, if two rounds of buckshot don't stop it, you weren't gonna make it anyway.

License shotguns like cars and get rid of everything else. "Only criminals will have guns!" That's what your shotgun is for. And if the criminals are getting locked up for having mobile armories, even better. We can replace the current prison population of black drug users with actual gangsters.

It could, but brass tacks: Who are these people? I mean which Reps could survive jumping ship here with their political careers intact? I'm genuinely curious because I love the idea. I just don't see it for the same reason I don't see a single Dem flipping to get a more center Republican speaker.

If you defect, you basically have to swap parties entirely, because you're not just signing up for the Speaker. You also have to expect to protect him or her from the next motion to vacate. And the next. So in for a penny, in for a pound.

This is the same reason it takes a majority to elect the Speaker in the first place: Otherwise you have a House with a Speaker that still can't actually govern.

Yarr.