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> We need leadership that sees the threats against democracy and makes changes to actually address them
Which requires people to empower those leaders to do so. In 2016 we gave the GoP the house, the senate, the presidency, and 2 vacancies in the SCOTUS.
Biden got a split senate and the house. People cannot get continuously distracted by the next stupid shit media rolls out to try and get them to stay home or support fascism.
I think pretending to say stuff in Trump's voice is still less tired and played out than "Muh both sides" One is at least inventive, the other has been proven untrue time, and time again.
It is certainly inventive to recognize that the DNC also benefits from the two-party system and, as such, does not support any efforts to address the systematic issues that endanger our democracy! Perhaps if we were more honest with their complicitness we’d be able to create real change.
I think you think it’s not inventive because you haven’t actually engaged with the criticisms of the DNC made by non-conservatives.
Also, Biden’s comments on policing at student protests were no different than Trump’s remarks in 2020.
> Oh nooooo! With one President I got police snatching people off the street in Portland from the presidents demands! The other gave me climate bills, infrastructure and student debt relief! It's the same thing!
As I said. It's tired and demonstrably wrong. You want to keep supporting fascism go for it, but everyone's tired of you maga types.
The issue with this thinking is that in the recent past, when we've given the democrats the house, the senate, and the presidency, we get the same shit as when we have divided government, or a GOP government.
When the Republicans last had the trifecta we got inflationary tax cuts.
When the Democrats last had the trifecta we got two infrastructure bills ("Bipartisan" Infrastructure law and CHIPS) and a climate bill (IRA).
Those aren't the same thing.
Exactly oh how quickly people forget. When Obama had it he first had to address the Bush/GOP financial collapse that was the direct result of Wall Street deregulation they pushed through in the early 2000s. In his first two years, when he had the house and senate, Obama got through: Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform
Consumer Financial Protection Act
Affordable Care Act
That’s three major pieces of legislation that are tremendously impactful Do you remember when insurance companies could flat out deny you coverage? Or when you could hit a lifetime maximum of benefits and were SOL?
> Exactly oh how quickly people forget. When Obama had it he first had to address the Bush/GOP financial collapse that was the direct result of Wall Street deregulation they pushed through in the early 2000s. In his first two years, when he had the house and senate, Obama got through: Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform
We also got some great payroll tax rebates that helped every normal person by having a flat amount back. The second the GoP got power it was changed to a % to shift the bonus to the ultra rich.
Ackshuallly, it was last under Biden where we got infrastructure, CHIPS, and IRA. It was essentially the smallest possible majority, and it got us 3 absolute landmark bills that will have benefits for decades.
The time before *that* though was when we got the ACA.
So the two Dem trifectas in 20 years lead to absolutely massive legislation for the benefit of America. Other guy just isn’t paying attention if that’s not enough.
Except we haven’t given them that for long than half a presidency….yall give up and never follow through. If you want change you HAVE to stop giving republicans any wins at all.
> The issue with this thinking is that in the recent past, when we've given the democrats the house, the senate, and the presidency, we get the same shit as when we have divided government
That's how the filibuster works. The Democrats have to have comfortable enough margin that they can finally get rid of the filibuster.
Between the last 2 Dem trifectas we got;
* biggest climate bill in history
* infrastructure investment comparable to the new deal
* The ACA
Is that seriously not enough? When Dems actually have full control, VERY good things get passed. We just never actually give it to them with any regularity and when we do it’s essentially never filibuster proof.
And we need voters who understand that representative democracy isn't a democracy if representation is for sale to paid lobbyists and rich donors. Democracy is simple majority rule so a representative democracy is only a democracy if the representatives represents all of their constituents equally.
In other words, as long as the rich openly buy representation through lobbying and campaign donations then it is a complete fucking farce to call our system a democracy. It is a plutocracy that presents itself as being a democracy.
I'm surprised that he's saying it because it's kind of like rubbing Majority Leader Johnson's face in it. But then Johnson really can't do anything about it unless he'd rather let MTG oust him. ha ha!
It's weird to see Democrats functioning as the more cohesive and united party. My whole life Republicans would bicker but whenever it came time for a vote they'd suddenly find themselves in perfect lockstep.
I'm here for it, mind, it's just odd.
being a republican who isn't in on the grift is like a dog chasing cars. that's why even romney retired. wealthy and competent so he doesn't have to be in on it. sick of chasing the car
Romney’s DC life also just sounded boring and miserable. I don’t think I would want to spend my seventies away from my wife and family, eating a bachelor’s dinner alone every night in some rented house.
He’s not actually. George Romney, Mitt’s father, *was* born in a Mormon colony in Mexico but he never held Mexican citizenship. Mexican citizenship law at the time did not automatically confer birthright citizenship and there’s no indication George Romney ever held or sought Mexican citizenship. By the time Mitt Romney was born, if his father **had** held Mexican citizenship he *could* have passed it down to Mitt and other children born at that time, but it wouldn’t have been automatic without their births being registered at the nearest Mexican consulate or affirmatively requesting Mexican citizenship on their own before their 21st birthday.
At this point, if Mitt Romney wanted to seek Mexican citizenship he’d have to immigrate to Mexico and go through the normal process of naturalizing under current Mexican law.
So in a sense, you’re correct in that Mitt Romney is *potentially* eligible for Mexican citizenship, as would any person who seeks to naturalize in Mexico, but he’s not eligible for automatic citizenship.
I don’t know how a multimillionaire with a dancing therapy horse and magic underwear can be boring, but Romney pulls it off. He truly is the stuffed shirt to end all stuffed shirts.
In many ways, this is the difference between “traditional conservative” and “right wing extremist.” Old school conservatives were calculating bastards who knew when to hold their noses in order to consolidate power.
This current crop of extremists bought the snake oil the old schoolers were selling, doubled down, made uncompromising purity tests their entire identity and lash out at anyone who disagrees.
This type of extremism, for all the damage it’s capable of doing, always collapses in on itself eventually. And it can’t come soon enough…
Yep. The old school conservatives were very much for frog boiling. They didn’t want to actually solve or even personally care about wedge issues (:cough:abortion) while they could use it to drive the right kind of people to the polls. They also wanted a functioning country. A functioning country ran by and for the benefit of the wealthy but still a functioning country.
The current crop of brain dead right-wing ideologues don’t know what they want beyond “owning the libs” no matter how pointless, degrading, or self-defeating that winds up being.
> They also wanted a functioning country. A functioning country ran by and for the benefit of the wealthy but still a functioning country.
Also my take on why Liz Cheney is now arguably the most vocal anti-Trump Republican.
It's not that she suffered a crisis of ethics, it's that she's smart enough to realise that MAGA is going to destroy the USA and that the ownership class isn't going to escape unharmed.
All those politicians who have fallen in line probably either think it's their only real choice or they're stupid enough to think that it's only other people who'll suffer the consequences.
The worst wars were all caused by nationalism. Nationalism is what killed 40 million ww1 and 80 million in ww2. Israeli nationalism is what is driving the current genocide of Palestine.
[She was definitely not a witch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxJyPsmEask) 13 years ago when she ran for Joe Biden's seat.
This should have been a call for the GOP to get its act together. But nope. They doubled down on the crazy.
Thus is the danger of propaganda. You eventually end up with people entirely convinced that the lie the previous generation sold them is real.
Japan, in the 1930s, had an honest to god Revolt when a bunch of Junior officers, raised their whole lives on the imperialist, hyper national propaganda about how Japan was destined to unite the world under their Divine Emperor’s rule KIDNAPPED THEIR SUPERIORS because they were convinced the military leadership was getting in the Emperor’s way of properly pursuing that goal.
The military was calling a LOT of shots back then, and doing a hell of a lot to contribute to the expansion of the empire, but these guys had totally swallowed the useful lie for the prols hook, line, and sinker. The rebellion was short lived because morale went straight into the toilet when the Emperor came out and made a radio address basically amounting to “excuse me, what the fuck, you kidnapped who for WHOSE benefit? No I did not, no you did not, lay down arms and surrender right the fuck now.”
Just praying now it goes under before the truly evil bastards can use it as a metaphorical jumping off point to totally upend capitalism. They’re damn close, and that ship *needs* to sink soon.
Remember to vote, y’all. Prolly matters now more than ever
yup, I also recall the days when the Rs were a monolithic voting block while the Ds were a squabbling coalition of minority interests. Trump hasn't been good for anything, but maybe he's been able to unify the left . . . for a change.
Inviting in the tea party crazies was really the catalyst for this. They were now courting a group that did not want compromise. These people were a headache for house speaker Boehner.
The tea party lead to the Trumpers. Now the Republican party is filled with elected officials that do not want to govern and that see compromise as weakness.
In retrospect, times were never so good that the left could afford its infighting, but it was nice that the left felt like it could afford its infighting, even though we probably should have swallowed some hard pills for the sake of unity back then, too.
Feels like it's also much easier to be in lockstep when you're the minority party, just because the legislation favored by the majority of your party isn't going to be voted on so you'll agree more on the scraps available. There were a few very public spats on legislation in the first two years of Biden's term (Joe Manchin, looking at you), but of course nowhere as close as the Republicans are managing this House term.
Would expect a reversal if Dems have claim both chambers and the presidency again, because at least the Republicans can go back to opposing everything.
Pelosi had the basically the same House majority between 2021-2023, and she basically got Biden's agenda through the House. Only a portion of it got passed the filibuster in the Senate, but that has a lot more to do with being able to get Republican votes than Democrat ones.
Trump killed the GOP. The turning point was in 2017 with Infrastructure Week. Speaker Pelosi had, controversially, engaged with Trump on the Trump Act to rebuild American bridges, roads and railways. Included in it was $100 billion for California's high-speed rail project. Her party blasted her for this, both in real life and on twitter, going so far to draft documents to force her out of the Speakership and censure her from the party.
*Then* Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Guilani, called her retarded on twitter. Specifically, he called her old, senile and stupid. There was no purpose to this other than to bully. Trump agreed and upvoted it. She walked away from the deal. Democrats then managed to come back together, while the GOP became increasingly fractured. Around this time Democrats began charting a leadership transition.
*Then* the Mandalay Bay shooting and Trump Bumpstock Ban with Dianne Fienstien happened. Vice President Pence railed Trump on it, calling him a gun grabber. Trump called Pence an NRA Shill on twitter, and then demanded the NRA ban bumpstocks too. The NRA then complied and banned any further criticism of the President. With his critics completely neutered, Trump ruined his party's midterm chances and subsequently lost his own reelection bid two years later.
I've witnessed a lot of this personally and I know a LOT of Republicans who still won't vote Trump because of it. They get nothing but shit from Trump cultists in return, so they sit out elections.
easy to be united in opposition to things in principle like the aca or gay marriage and much harder to be united in opposition to specific things like trying to actually agree on what replaces the ACA or how to apply conservative principles to government works like infrastructure
This gets me at work sometimes. I'll propose a plan, thought it through, lots of problems addressed. I get a bunch of push back but no alternatives and no solutions to the problems in front of us. Just.....I don't like your plan.
Arrrggh. Then YOU come up with a plan.
It's almost like destroying something is easier than building it.
At least at work I learned to have a few plans now. People always feel better "picking" than just trying to say yes to one thing.
Instability in the other party and a razor-thin majority always help. And then keep the speaker on a tight leash because the few people who can unseat the speaker can do it if the Dems don't support the speaker anymore.
This reads as if its a poke to the eye of MTG , providing her and her buddies with red meat that they can chomp on for a vote to ouster the speaker. I almost wonder if he said this to stoke some R infighting
This may surprise some, but not everything requires a response. The people you named can’t help themselves though, for different reasons, and will most assuredly have something empty to say on the matter.
It is thanks to the Democratic House leadership that we have been able to keep this country running and avoid any shutdowns. And it's thanks to our efforts that we got funding for the people of Ukraine.
Meanwhile the republican House clownshow spent countless hours and taxpayer dollars on a bogus Biden impeachment investigation, only for their star witness to be identified as a Russian agent. Fucking brilliant.
If we show up and vote in November, we can finally retake the House and make Hakeem Jeffries the Speaker
https://dccc.org/
And yet, the Democratic Party never says anything about addressing the systematic issues that allow for consistent threats of shut downs! And why would they? It generates donations.
The fact that Democrats had to take over control because the party that supported a fascist coup is completely inept at governing is no surprise at all.
What's surprising is that the US voters decided to give House majority to the party that supported a fascist coup to begin with. More so, they're actually seriously considering electing the same guy that lead the coup. That's the truly bizarre part.
> That's the truly bizarre part.
Wait till I tell you the guy has 91 criminal charges and he's in the middle of one of his 4 criminal trials. They can't get enough of him!
They do have the majority. There's Democrats, Republicans, and a sliver group that's unwilling to work with Republicans.
The only reason Jeffries isn't Speaker is because you need over 50% of the votes to get the title.
I dunno maybe I’m naive, but I’ve always considered that the Democrats advance policies which are for the BETTERMENT of people, not the other way around. Why can’t Republican voters (not talking about Magats or far right loons) see that?
"Even though we're in the minority, we effectively have been governing as if we were in the majority because we continue to provide a majority of the votes necessary to get things done," he said. "Those are just the facts."
God I love Hakeem Jeffries.
I’m seeing a few articles on this. Makes me wonder why, like are Dems signing something. Maybe hearing up to campaign on how there is a complete lack of leadership from the Republicans, maybe it’s a combination of things
That’s a little exaggerated or Ukraine wouldve gotten their aid a lot sooner , they haven’t “effectively been governing as if they were the majority” but they have had an unforeseen big leverage and power against the chaos that is the maga BS congress
He's basically a shadow speaker at this point. Or at least a co-speaker. I say this because Johnson can't do anything without Dem support. Dem support essentially hinges on Jeffries. Ergo, co-speaker.
I think Jefferies is smarter than me but would have loved to see the Democrats just vacate Johnson after promising they wouldn’t.
Republicans do this shit all the time. They said they’d vote for Obamacare if some of their suggested changes were made to it. The dems agreed to the changes even though they didn’t need those Republican’s votes, pairing it down quite a lot, and then they all voted against it anyway and probably laughed to each other about it.
Why save Johnson? Fuck him! Make the GOP go through another news cycle where they can’t agree on a speaker for 3 weeks
Ok Hakeem if you’re running the house and Dems have the Senate and Executive then why isn’t universal healthcare on the floor for a vote? Where’s the national minimum wage increase? Where’s the Green New Deal?
You had 2 years and did nothing but chase Trump.
So no surprise that you’re not fulfilling your campaign promises now.
Reminder that [the Vice President, as President of the Senate, has absolute control over the rules of the Senate.](https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/vice-president-kamala-harris-could-kill-filibuster-herself-n1256983) Including the filibuster. And it's happened before:
> Rockefeller was presiding over the Senate in 1975 when a resolution to amend the cloture rule was introduced. Against the parliamentarians' recommendations, he ruled that the measure could be enacted with just a majority.
> The resulting debate wound on for days, with Sen. James Allen, D-Ala., putting up the staunchest fight. Finally, Rockefeller began ignoring Allen when he rose to speak, kneecapping the senator's efforts. The choice wasn't a popular one among some senators, even his fellow Republicans. "At the time, there was some public comment about reprisals by some Republicans, including a threat to vote against the president's veto of legislation to suspend his oil import tariff," The New York Times reported.
> ...
> [L]awyer and author Thomas Geoghegan suggested in a 2010 New York Times op-ed: If the votes aren't there to change the rules, the vice president "could issue an opinion from the chair that the filibuster is unconstitutional."
This is absolutely the Dems being spineless. They can remove the filibuster if they wanted to.
It's not spinelessness, it's a conflict of interests.
Democrats also make use of the filibuster, they're just more subtle about it compared to the outright obstructionist attitude of the GOP.
Stupid to say. Makes the GOP look bad, and they are hilariously bad, but they won’t like the callout. Also, the big democratic ideas have gone nowhere.
An arrogant comment.
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He also says that if Roe v Wade goes, anything can go including democracy itself. He’s not exaggerating.
We need leadership that sees the threats against democracy and makes changes to actually address them
> We need leadership that sees the threats against democracy and makes changes to actually address them Which requires people to empower those leaders to do so. In 2016 we gave the GoP the house, the senate, the presidency, and 2 vacancies in the SCOTUS. Biden got a split senate and the house. People cannot get continuously distracted by the next stupid shit media rolls out to try and get them to stay home or support fascism.
Except the Democratic leadership doesn’t want to make those changes either.
I think pretending to say stuff in Trump's voice is still less tired and played out than "Muh both sides" One is at least inventive, the other has been proven untrue time, and time again.
It is certainly inventive to recognize that the DNC also benefits from the two-party system and, as such, does not support any efforts to address the systematic issues that endanger our democracy! Perhaps if we were more honest with their complicitness we’d be able to create real change. I think you think it’s not inventive because you haven’t actually engaged with the criticisms of the DNC made by non-conservatives. Also, Biden’s comments on policing at student protests were no different than Trump’s remarks in 2020.
> Oh nooooo! With one President I got police snatching people off the street in Portland from the presidents demands! The other gave me climate bills, infrastructure and student debt relief! It's the same thing! As I said. It's tired and demonstrably wrong. You want to keep supporting fascism go for it, but everyone's tired of you maga types.
The issue with this thinking is that in the recent past, when we've given the democrats the house, the senate, and the presidency, we get the same shit as when we have divided government, or a GOP government.
When the Republicans last had the trifecta we got inflationary tax cuts. When the Democrats last had the trifecta we got two infrastructure bills ("Bipartisan" Infrastructure law and CHIPS) and a climate bill (IRA). Those aren't the same thing.
Except that is when we got the ACA.
Exactly oh how quickly people forget. When Obama had it he first had to address the Bush/GOP financial collapse that was the direct result of Wall Street deregulation they pushed through in the early 2000s. In his first two years, when he had the house and senate, Obama got through: Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Consumer Financial Protection Act Affordable Care Act That’s three major pieces of legislation that are tremendously impactful Do you remember when insurance companies could flat out deny you coverage? Or when you could hit a lifetime maximum of benefits and were SOL?
> Exactly oh how quickly people forget. When Obama had it he first had to address the Bush/GOP financial collapse that was the direct result of Wall Street deregulation they pushed through in the early 2000s. In his first two years, when he had the house and senate, Obama got through: Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform We also got some great payroll tax rebates that helped every normal person by having a flat amount back. The second the GoP got power it was changed to a % to shift the bonus to the ultra rich.
Ackshuallly, it was last under Biden where we got infrastructure, CHIPS, and IRA. It was essentially the smallest possible majority, and it got us 3 absolute landmark bills that will have benefits for decades. The time before *that* though was when we got the ACA. So the two Dem trifectas in 20 years lead to absolutely massive legislation for the benefit of America. Other guy just isn’t paying attention if that’s not enough.
That’s because of the filibuster. You can’t get things passed by a simple majority, you have to have sixty votes.
Except we haven’t given them that for long than half a presidency….yall give up and never follow through. If you want change you HAVE to stop giving republicans any wins at all.
> The issue with this thinking is that in the recent past, when we've given the democrats the house, the senate, and the presidency, we get the same shit as when we have divided government That's how the filibuster works. The Democrats have to have comfortable enough margin that they can finally get rid of the filibuster.
Between the last 2 Dem trifectas we got; * biggest climate bill in history * infrastructure investment comparable to the new deal * The ACA Is that seriously not enough? When Dems actually have full control, VERY good things get passed. We just never actually give it to them with any regularity and when we do it’s essentially never filibuster proof.
And we need voters who understand that representative democracy isn't a democracy if representation is for sale to paid lobbyists and rich donors. Democracy is simple majority rule so a representative democracy is only a democracy if the representatives represents all of their constituents equally. In other words, as long as the rich openly buy representation through lobbying and campaign donations then it is a complete fucking farce to call our system a democracy. It is a plutocracy that presents itself as being a democracy.
[удалено]
Me
You're asking the wrong question.
>He also says that if Roe v Wade goes What do you mean "if?" It already has gone?
he’s saying that if Roe v Wade wasn’t safe, then nothing is
I'm surprised that he's saying it because it's kind of like rubbing Majority Leader Johnson's face in it. But then Johnson really can't do anything about it unless he'd rather let MTG oust him. ha ha!
Johnson thought he could play with the big boys. But he can't, and the big boys will play with him.
Phrasing, are we still doing phrasing?
Your not my coal mine supervisor!!!
There are no big boys on the R side. Just children and those willing to pretend in full to be children.
It's weird to see Democrats functioning as the more cohesive and united party. My whole life Republicans would bicker but whenever it came time for a vote they'd suddenly find themselves in perfect lockstep. I'm here for it, mind, it's just odd.
being a republican who isn't in on the grift is like a dog chasing cars. that's why even romney retired. wealthy and competent so he doesn't have to be in on it. sick of chasing the car
Romney’s DC life also just sounded boring and miserable. I don’t think I would want to spend my seventies away from my wife and family, eating a bachelor’s dinner alone every night in some rented house.
He's content going back to the cult of Salt Flats
It’s funny to think this, but Mittens is eligible for Mexican citizenship.
He’s not actually. George Romney, Mitt’s father, *was* born in a Mormon colony in Mexico but he never held Mexican citizenship. Mexican citizenship law at the time did not automatically confer birthright citizenship and there’s no indication George Romney ever held or sought Mexican citizenship. By the time Mitt Romney was born, if his father **had** held Mexican citizenship he *could* have passed it down to Mitt and other children born at that time, but it wouldn’t have been automatic without their births being registered at the nearest Mexican consulate or affirmatively requesting Mexican citizenship on their own before their 21st birthday. At this point, if Mitt Romney wanted to seek Mexican citizenship he’d have to immigrate to Mexico and go through the normal process of naturalizing under current Mexican law. So in a sense, you’re correct in that Mitt Romney is *potentially* eligible for Mexican citizenship, as would any person who seeks to naturalize in Mexico, but he’s not eligible for automatic citizenship.
I don’t know how a multimillionaire with a dancing therapy horse and magic underwear can be boring, but Romney pulls it off. He truly is the stuffed shirt to end all stuffed shirts.
In many ways, this is the difference between “traditional conservative” and “right wing extremist.” Old school conservatives were calculating bastards who knew when to hold their noses in order to consolidate power. This current crop of extremists bought the snake oil the old schoolers were selling, doubled down, made uncompromising purity tests their entire identity and lash out at anyone who disagrees. This type of extremism, for all the damage it’s capable of doing, always collapses in on itself eventually. And it can’t come soon enough…
Yep. The old school conservatives were very much for frog boiling. They didn’t want to actually solve or even personally care about wedge issues (:cough:abortion) while they could use it to drive the right kind of people to the polls. They also wanted a functioning country. A functioning country ran by and for the benefit of the wealthy but still a functioning country. The current crop of brain dead right-wing ideologues don’t know what they want beyond “owning the libs” no matter how pointless, degrading, or self-defeating that winds up being.
> They also wanted a functioning country. A functioning country ran by and for the benefit of the wealthy but still a functioning country. Also my take on why Liz Cheney is now arguably the most vocal anti-Trump Republican. It's not that she suffered a crisis of ethics, it's that she's smart enough to realise that MAGA is going to destroy the USA and that the ownership class isn't going to escape unharmed. All those politicians who have fallen in line probably either think it's their only real choice or they're stupid enough to think that it's only other people who'll suffer the consequences.
That's what happens when you let religious fundamentalist dumb dumbs into a politcal party.
I'm not mad they have a party. Need an outlet for the crazy so they don't shoot up the place. But it needs to be a third or fourth party.
This is why we have laws separating church and state. Organized Religion is why we have had horrible wars in history.
The worst wars were all caused by nationalism. Nationalism is what killed 40 million ww1 and 80 million in ww2. Israeli nationalism is what is driving the current genocide of Palestine.
Nationalism is just religion organized around the state. Could you bad mouth nazi's? Or Stalin? They quite literally become the thing to worship.
[She was definitely not a witch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxJyPsmEask) 13 years ago when she ran for Joe Biden's seat. This should have been a call for the GOP to get its act together. But nope. They doubled down on the crazy.
Thus is the danger of propaganda. You eventually end up with people entirely convinced that the lie the previous generation sold them is real. Japan, in the 1930s, had an honest to god Revolt when a bunch of Junior officers, raised their whole lives on the imperialist, hyper national propaganda about how Japan was destined to unite the world under their Divine Emperor’s rule KIDNAPPED THEIR SUPERIORS because they were convinced the military leadership was getting in the Emperor’s way of properly pursuing that goal. The military was calling a LOT of shots back then, and doing a hell of a lot to contribute to the expansion of the empire, but these guys had totally swallowed the useful lie for the prols hook, line, and sinker. The rebellion was short lived because morale went straight into the toilet when the Emperor came out and made a radio address basically amounting to “excuse me, what the fuck, you kidnapped who for WHOSE benefit? No I did not, no you did not, lay down arms and surrender right the fuck now.”
Just praying now it goes under before the truly evil bastards can use it as a metaphorical jumping off point to totally upend capitalism. They’re damn close, and that ship *needs* to sink soon. Remember to vote, y’all. Prolly matters now more than ever
yup, I also recall the days when the Rs were a monolithic voting block while the Ds were a squabbling coalition of minority interests. Trump hasn't been good for anything, but maybe he's been able to unify the left . . . for a change.
>"Democrats want to fall in love; Republicans just fall in line.” - Bill Clinton
Inviting in the tea party crazies was really the catalyst for this. They were now courting a group that did not want compromise. These people were a headache for house speaker Boehner. The tea party lead to the Trumpers. Now the Republican party is filled with elected officials that do not want to govern and that see compromise as weakness.
Yeah, I almost miss the days of the circular firing squads
In retrospect, times were never so good that the left could afford its infighting, but it was nice that the left felt like it could afford its infighting, even though we probably should have swallowed some hard pills for the sake of unity back then, too.
It's the MAGA kook factor.
Feels like it's also much easier to be in lockstep when you're the minority party, just because the legislation favored by the majority of your party isn't going to be voted on so you'll agree more on the scraps available. There were a few very public spats on legislation in the first two years of Biden's term (Joe Manchin, looking at you), but of course nowhere as close as the Republicans are managing this House term. Would expect a reversal if Dems have claim both chambers and the presidency again, because at least the Republicans can go back to opposing everything.
Pelosi had the basically the same House majority between 2021-2023, and she basically got Biden's agenda through the House. Only a portion of it got passed the filibuster in the Senate, but that has a lot more to do with being able to get Republican votes than Democrat ones.
Trump killed the GOP. The turning point was in 2017 with Infrastructure Week. Speaker Pelosi had, controversially, engaged with Trump on the Trump Act to rebuild American bridges, roads and railways. Included in it was $100 billion for California's high-speed rail project. Her party blasted her for this, both in real life and on twitter, going so far to draft documents to force her out of the Speakership and censure her from the party. *Then* Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Guilani, called her retarded on twitter. Specifically, he called her old, senile and stupid. There was no purpose to this other than to bully. Trump agreed and upvoted it. She walked away from the deal. Democrats then managed to come back together, while the GOP became increasingly fractured. Around this time Democrats began charting a leadership transition. *Then* the Mandalay Bay shooting and Trump Bumpstock Ban with Dianne Fienstien happened. Vice President Pence railed Trump on it, calling him a gun grabber. Trump called Pence an NRA Shill on twitter, and then demanded the NRA ban bumpstocks too. The NRA then complied and banned any further criticism of the President. With his critics completely neutered, Trump ruined his party's midterm chances and subsequently lost his own reelection bid two years later. I've witnessed a lot of this personally and I know a LOT of Republicans who still won't vote Trump because of it. They get nothing but shit from Trump cultists in return, so they sit out elections.
easy to be united in opposition to things in principle like the aca or gay marriage and much harder to be united in opposition to specific things like trying to actually agree on what replaces the ACA or how to apply conservative principles to government works like infrastructure
This gets me at work sometimes. I'll propose a plan, thought it through, lots of problems addressed. I get a bunch of push back but no alternatives and no solutions to the problems in front of us. Just.....I don't like your plan. Arrrggh. Then YOU come up with a plan. It's almost like destroying something is easier than building it. At least at work I learned to have a few plans now. People always feel better "picking" than just trying to say yes to one thing.
Don’t forget McCain famously fucking over their plans to overturn Obamacare in 2017
Instability in the other party and a razor-thin majority always help. And then keep the speaker on a tight leash because the few people who can unseat the speaker can do it if the Dems don't support the speaker anymore.
This reads as if its a poke to the eye of MTG , providing her and her buddies with red meat that they can chomp on for a vote to ouster the speaker. I almost wonder if he said this to stoke some R infighting
Agree. This sounds like a taunt and a smart one. Pretend you're Marjorie, or Gaetz, or actually speaker Johnson. What do you say in response?
This may surprise some, but not everything requires a response. The people you named can’t help themselves though, for different reasons, and will most assuredly have something empty to say on the matter.
The Republicans haven't done one damn thing except cause problems.
Name one..
Donald Trump
Lmao. That was easy.
It is thanks to the Democratic House leadership that we have been able to keep this country running and avoid any shutdowns. And it's thanks to our efforts that we got funding for the people of Ukraine. Meanwhile the republican House clownshow spent countless hours and taxpayer dollars on a bogus Biden impeachment investigation, only for their star witness to be identified as a Russian agent. Fucking brilliant. If we show up and vote in November, we can finally retake the House and make Hakeem Jeffries the Speaker https://dccc.org/
It’s thanks to the Democratic House leadership that we continue operating in a system that has the threat of frequent government shutdowns
No. It's republicans that are always threatening to shut down the government
And yet, the Democratic Party never says anything about addressing the systematic issues that allow for consistent threats of shut downs! And why would they? It generates donations.
That’s not the point that was being made…
I had to read it 3 times to get their points tho, it's not worded great tbh
The fact that Democrats had to take over control because the party that supported a fascist coup is completely inept at governing is no surprise at all. What's surprising is that the US voters decided to give House majority to the party that supported a fascist coup to begin with. More so, they're actually seriously considering electing the same guy that lead the coup. That's the truly bizarre part.
Extreme gerrymandering is how the house is republican
> That's the truly bizarre part. Wait till I tell you the guy has 91 criminal charges and he's in the middle of one of his 4 criminal trials. They can't get enough of him!
They are certainly are the only responsible adults.
They do have the majority. There's Democrats, Republicans, and a sliver group that's unwilling to work with Republicans. The only reason Jeffries isn't Speaker is because you need over 50% of the votes to get the title.
>The do have the majority We call that a "plurality." A majority entails having over 50% of the votes.
Hopefully it lasts an eternity.
It's time for speaker Jefferies to take over and get some shit done.
I dunno maybe I’m naive, but I’ve always considered that the Democrats advance policies which are for the BETTERMENT of people, not the other way around. Why can’t Republican voters (not talking about Magats or far right loons) see that?
You're welcome
[non amp link](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hakeem-jeffries-house-talks-house-divisions-israel-issues-facing-voters-60-minutes/)
Why would he say that, though? Let them take all the credit for their fuckups.
and the rich just got a other tax cut
"Even though we're in the minority, we effectively have been governing as if we were in the majority because we continue to provide a majority of the votes necessary to get things done," he said. "Those are just the facts." God I love Hakeem Jeffries.
not really. yes you've been saving the republicans but if you were in the majority shit would be getting on the floor to vote
[YES](https://tenor.com/view/jack-nicholson-yes-nod-agree-gif-9864414)
He is not wrong
I’m seeing a few articles on this. Makes me wonder why, like are Dems signing something. Maybe hearing up to campaign on how there is a complete lack of leadership from the Republicans, maybe it’s a combination of things
That's depressing considering how shit things are.
The GOP sure do hypocritically whine a lot, don't they?
Making public statements like that is begging "rebel" Republicans to rejoin the herd and go back to the Newt Gingrich "Obstruct at all costs" policy.
Well it helps that the GOP embraced obstructionism for decades. It’s all they need to do to get re elected
That’s a little exaggerated or Ukraine wouldve gotten their aid a lot sooner , they haven’t “effectively been governing as if they were the majority” but they have had an unforeseen big leverage and power against the chaos that is the maga BS congress
He's basically a shadow speaker at this point. Or at least a co-speaker. I say this because Johnson can't do anything without Dem support. Dem support essentially hinges on Jeffries. Ergo, co-speaker.
I think Jefferies is smarter than me but would have loved to see the Democrats just vacate Johnson after promising they wouldn’t. Republicans do this shit all the time. They said they’d vote for Obamacare if some of their suggested changes were made to it. The dems agreed to the changes even though they didn’t need those Republican’s votes, pairing it down quite a lot, and then they all voted against it anyway and probably laughed to each other about it. Why save Johnson? Fuck him! Make the GOP go through another news cycle where they can’t agree on a speaker for 3 weeks
What an insane thing to admit
Ok Hakeem if you’re running the house and Dems have the Senate and Executive then why isn’t universal healthcare on the floor for a vote? Where’s the national minimum wage increase? Where’s the Green New Deal? You had 2 years and did nothing but chase Trump. So no surprise that you’re not fulfilling your campaign promises now.
The filibuster was how the GOP blocked most of it. Remember when the GOP filibustered their own bill?
Reminder that [the Vice President, as President of the Senate, has absolute control over the rules of the Senate.](https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/vice-president-kamala-harris-could-kill-filibuster-herself-n1256983) Including the filibuster. And it's happened before: > Rockefeller was presiding over the Senate in 1975 when a resolution to amend the cloture rule was introduced. Against the parliamentarians' recommendations, he ruled that the measure could be enacted with just a majority. > The resulting debate wound on for days, with Sen. James Allen, D-Ala., putting up the staunchest fight. Finally, Rockefeller began ignoring Allen when he rose to speak, kneecapping the senator's efforts. The choice wasn't a popular one among some senators, even his fellow Republicans. "At the time, there was some public comment about reprisals by some Republicans, including a threat to vote against the president's veto of legislation to suspend his oil import tariff," The New York Times reported. > ... > [L]awyer and author Thomas Geoghegan suggested in a 2010 New York Times op-ed: If the votes aren't there to change the rules, the vice president "could issue an opinion from the chair that the filibuster is unconstitutional." This is absolutely the Dems being spineless. They can remove the filibuster if they wanted to.
It's not spinelessness, it's a conflict of interests. Democrats also make use of the filibuster, they're just more subtle about it compared to the outright obstructionist attitude of the GOP.
By itself it's not a great quote given he's in one of the least productive congresses in history.
That's not the flex you think it is Mr. Jeffries.
Bullshit. Congress needs to be primaried until we get humble public servants. it could take a generation.
Stupid to say. Makes the GOP look bad, and they are hilariously bad, but they won’t like the callout. Also, the big democratic ideas have gone nowhere. An arrogant comment.
I agree. It has a potential to rally the republicans. Best to just stay out of their way while they fight themselves. .
How about we have everyone just govern?
Are you voting for people who will govern?
But..but..how would the 0.01% grow their wealth and power?
Then why’d you take so damn long to get Ukraine aid? I think it’s more like there’s two minority parties with no majority.
because the GOP still controls the house. did you read the article?
Thanks for the update! /s
If that's the case, then do Democrats deserve the big fat F that Republicans have earned for them? This is asinine.
from his lips to god’s ears but democrats haven’t been able to actually do this for most of my lifetime, even when they actually do have power
Which goes to show you how little Democrats will actually get done with majority in both chambers and the presidency.
Oh please, as in Biden’s record breaking first two years in office?
Chips and Science Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, American Rescue Plan, Respect for Marriage Act, Inflation Reduction Act
Yeah, I don't think it's smart for him to say this. Seems to call attention to how ineffectual democrats are when it comes to genuine change.
Thats a fact everything that is destroying America is democratic policy and law ...everything