Do you agree that, at least for now, we have to win general elections in order to begin carrying that out?

That’s fair. But similarly, you should acknowledge that “independent” predominately includes centrists and moderates of each party.

My concern is that far left candidates will get destroyed in general elections is how the Trump-affiliated scum will remain in power. At the very least, there will be fewer victories over right wing scum if our candidates cannot appeal to independents. And we need to recognize that a large chunk of those independents are people with largely conservative values but are simply disgusted by what Trump and his sycophants have been doing to our country.

People will should back anyone who is actually going to fight and work for the people.

That sounds like super nice and all, but in reality we need independents to be on board. A large chunk of them are still irrationally afraid of socialism even though they probably appreciate tons of government programs that they don’t realize are socialist by nature.

At least we agree that the terrible right wing needs to be voted out of office. And I would agree with you that so much of our establishment Dems (especially the moderates/centrists) are a substantial part of the problem. Where I think we disagree is what the largest chunk of decent voters want right now — I think we simply want a competent government that strives to work for the people and strives to hold criminals and other bad actors accountable for their misdeeds. I don’t think this chunk agrees with extreme measures like defunding institutions that have been important to America for decades. That type of rhetoric (or candidates being affiliated with other people who use that type of rhetoric) feels like a great way to ensure the Maga scum remain in power.

What are this guy’s current chances of winning in the general election? And in comparison, what would you estimate (since we’ll never know) a more moderate Democrat’s odds of winning that same general election?

I’m trying to check Kissmi/pooeymkat (misspelled on purpose), but haven’t had much luck finding the odds so far.

Socialism is still a terrifying word for conservatives and most independents. Nominating socialists as Democratic candidates makes me feel more certain that Dems will fail to retake control of this country.

The mainstreams of both parties are open to socialist ideas presented by their own members. Obviously, only the Dems are consistently willing to entertain thoughtful socialist ideas (in smallish doses). But NONE of that can happen if we nominate far left socialists who crush primaries only to get eviscerated in the general elections.

I hope this is just temporary nihilism. If you’re serious, this might be the most pathetic thing I’ve read in weeks.

He never skips TACO Tuesday.

My hope is that can be nullified or at least ignored by the next administration (if we have one). I’m hoping that it isn’t getting much attention because Trump pretty much has the power to direct the IRS to terminate any investigations that he wants. But trying to rope it in with this “settlement agreement” perhaps makes the corruption seem a tiny bit less obvious because then it’s not Trump’s executive order but, rather, a settlement negotiated by his legal team. A stupid distinction, but his administration frequently looks for ways to paint a turd so that his supporters will gobble it up without question.

Yep. The Nuremberg Trials began or at least affirmed the very important precedent that “I was just following orders” is not a viable defense against being a fascist piece of shit.

Also, first, this store doesn’t seem self-contained, so eventually the robot will start sweeping/vacuuming the entire mall. And second, it would be a hazard to have this thing cleaning when there are a bunch of people walking buy and into the store. People typically don’t set their roombas to start cleaning when they have a bunch of guests over.

I don’t know if this is the same or at least similar, but I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of a generation starship that is moving toward the universe either toward another planet, in search of another planet, or simply as an indefinitely mobile home. It’s wild to imagine generations being born and living on the starship without having any real understanding of the place that humans came from. Stories of Earth would start to seem like wild folklore and mythology rather than actual human history.

Eventually, some generations may become angry that the decision to live on this starship was made by other people many generations before them, and now everyone on the starship is cursed to live under that decision. Was the starship navigation designed so that people may one day change the course? Or perhaps enormous safeguards were put into place to ensure that the ship kept going toward the initial objective because all other options were decidedly much much worse for everyone.

I imagine it’s less draconian over here and easier to appeal with better chances of that appeal being reviewed by actual humans. Reddit banned me too just because I logged into one of my throwaway accounts and forgot that I was temporarily banned from one of the subreddits and mistakenly commented in there. So stupid.

Yes, I think we need to give them and others a soft landing spot where they can save at least a little face. We should help them lean into the narrative that “Trump lied and tricked his supporters into thinking he had virtuous, selfless objectives.” The more we scold them for not seeing what we’ve been screaming for over a decade, the more likely they will dig their heels in just to save face.

Cognitive dissonance is a very powerful drug.

Can someone explain this to me… Because the lawsuit was filed in federal court and had a judge working the case, the judge has to approve the settlement. But Trump came to this agreement with the DOJ and withdrew the case in a way that wouldn’t require the judge to approve it. But doesn’t that mean that this agreement is technically not a settlement to the case, and therefore it is meaningless?

Why is it that during every MTG interview from a mainstream journalist, wherein MTG criticizes Trump for doing something illegal, the journalist NEVER asks her (or any Republican congressman in a similar situation) the very basic fucking question…

So… as the party in power… what the fuck are you going to do about it?

As dire as our situation is becoming, I actually feel generally sanguine about our podcast system. Chuck Todd points this out frequently, as he blames/thanks the corporate authoritarianism for him leaving NBC to start his own podcast. I didn’t care much for him on Meet the Press, but I actually like him a lot now and, more importantly, appreciate his insight and intuitions.

If we somehow survive this, 60%+ of Americans should file a class action lawsuit against Fox News for causing and contributing to such widespread destruction of our democracy.

I have definitely heard the “I know you don’t like tRump…” intro to a statement from his supporters (who happened to be family or friends) at least a few times before. It’s too early for me to analyze the commonality right now.

While technically true, I think poker actually is one of those games in which the stakes (providing a tangible fear of loss) are a valuable element to the game. Tournament style poker would essentially accomplish this, but it’s not always easy to round up enough friends to make it enjoyable. And even then, the people who drop out early on have to either watch or find something else to do.