The Future of the Democratic Party

[Dr. Medulla]

funny I got so much pushback for what I said about Warren on here, which was pretty mild. Y’all should hear what my wife says about her. Holy hell.

Why does she hate women?

[eumaas]

funny I got so much pushback for what I said about Warren on here, which was pretty mild. Y’all should hear what my wife says about her. Holy hell.

Why does she hate women?

The Clinton people in 2016 seriously poisoned her against representation arguments by being incredibly insulting and condescending to leftist women.

[Dr. Medulla]

funny I got so much pushback for what I said about Warren on here, which was pretty mild. Y’all should hear what my wife says about her. Holy hell.

Why does she hate women?

The Clinton people in 2016 seriously poisoned her against representation arguments by being incredibly insulting and condescending to leftist women.

It baffles me to consider the apparent logic behind those arguments. That a female president would *necessarily* be better for women than a man? How great was Thatcher or May for women in Britain? Was Obama a great practical boon for African Americans? Is it an argument for the importance of symbolic victories? I do wonder if I'm missing something from my status as a middle-class, white guy when I read angry pieces from people who think of themselves on the left side of the Democratic Party about, say, Kamala Harris dropping out. What was her appeal beside symbolism? That's the stuff that makes me wince about identity politics.

[IkarisOne]

All you need to know about our politics is that the establishment loves loves loves a dirty prosecutor who literally fucked her way into politics and hates a vet who dares question the warfare state.

[Flex]

I think the going theory was that the diminished Biden appearances compared to what you’d expect coming after Super Tuesday were due to the campaign wanting to minimize the chances of this sort of thing happening:
/johncardillo/status/1236443026903490561
(the above video is from the appearance Lizza is citing I think)

I’m not sure that ranks on the conspiracy theory scale with “global warming is a hoax” or “Trump is a secret agent taking down a cabal of pedophiles in the Democratic party” given stories like his:
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4 ... mit-gaffes

It’s not exactly without context or made up out of whole cloth. As far as I know the two speeches yesterday were the first in-person events since Super Tuesday. It’s possible that Sanders just does a lot more events than the norm, which makes Biden seem less active than he actually is. I would need Kevin’s expertise and experience in electoral politics to judge that. But I don’t think it’s out of the question that they might want to minimize his gaffe chances given the above article.

It's possible that Biden is doing other campaign events that just aren't as public facing, and it's certainly true that Sanders has a fairly unique ability to NOT have to spend as much time as most candidates dialing-for-dollars given his widespread grassroots campaign support (a very underrated tactical benefit to Sanders grassroots support imho!) but I think that even given that his public-facing load is kinda light. The Biden campaign tries to limit his public exposure to gaffs. I don't think that's conspiratorial or a fringe analysis of the campaign, it sees pretty broadly accepted that that's how he's being managed.

[BostonBeaneater]

I had to spend some time helping people in their late 70s today. These are people I have known since I was a teenager 30 years ago. The cognitive decline is real after 65-70. It is mind numbing that someone that age is most often in charge.

[Dr. Medulla]

I had to spend some time helping people in their late 70s today. These are people I have known since I was a teenager 30 years ago. The cognitive decline is real after 65-70. It is mind numbing that someone that age is most often in charge.

Boomers’ narcissistic clinging to power / Xers inability to develop leaders is no minor piece of the current calamity. There really should be an age cap for all high offices, not just in terms of mental and physical health but to encourage a steady turnover towards relative youth.

[revbob]

So the best case scenario most of us are hoping for will hit top 80 in their first term. Then do they relinquish their power for the 2nd term?

[JennyB]

I’d pull the Bernie lever day and night. I’d do that as a murderous right wing reactionary, as I guess I am considered here. I think he is old, ineffectual, and way out of touch.

I’m also a realist watching Trump Round 2 railing down the line. If I had a nuke I would use it.

I certainly do not think you're a murderous right wing reactionary.

Agree to disagree on that one.

Just ask the squirrels.

I'm voting for whomever wins the Dem nomination. I'm voting for BS in the primary (and as much as I like his policies, I am not fond of some of the more antisemitic elements he has in some of his surrogates), but if Biden wins the nom, I will be voting for him too. There is too much at stake with SCOTUS and the lower courts to do otherwise. Again, I'm sorry if that makes me an evil centrist, but there you have it.

[JennyB]

This is why I see some of the cult of Trump in the cult of Bernie:

twitter.com/ryanlizza/status/1236434996287672323?s=21

I share this frustration with parts of the Online Berniesphere. I find the lack of commitment to accuracy and fairness extremely frustrating, but also not exclusive to Bernie supporters by any stretch. I've had to unfollow a lot of people whose content I previously enjoyed. But I also recently made a commitment to following some Biden supporting accounts to remind myself this problem isnt particular to Sanders supporters and, well, this isn't an issue particular to Sanders supporters in my experience now.

Again, I think it's critical to have people in the movement who are sufficiently critical of Sanders' shortcomings and the more propagandistic elements of (primarily online) discourse to make sure the movement is healthy, honest and inclusive. I'll again urge you (and anyone else reading this who shares some of these concerns) to join a movement that's stronger with you in it than outside of it.

It's not unique to Trump or Bernie or anyone in particular. I think it's more a symptom of the large decay of discourse. I am constantly amazed by what people believe because Uncle Eddie posted a link to one of those websites littered with catheter ads.

To sum up; Obama was born in Kenya, the Corona virus is a Democratic scam, pizza is a codeword, and Stevie Wonder isn't blind.

Well, that one is true.

[revbob]

I’d pull the Bernie lever day and night. I’d do that as a murderous right wing reactionary, as I guess I am considered here. I think he is old, ineffectual, and way out of touch.

I’m also a realist watching Trump Round 2 railing down the line. If I had a nuke I would use it.

I certainly do not think you're a murderous right wing reactionary.

Agree to disagree on that one.

Just ask the squirrels.

I'm voting for whomever wins the Dem nomination. I'm voting for BS in the primary (and as much as I like his policies, I am not fond of some of the more antisemitic elements he has in some of his surrogates), but if Biden wins the nom, I will be voting for him too. There is too much at stake with SCOTUS and the lower courts to do otherwise. Again, I'm sorry if that makes me an evil centrist, but there you have it.

No it makes you more of a sensible pragmatist I think. Those (outside of more extreme options) are your only choices.

[eumaas]

I’ll probably sit it out if Biden gets the nomination (especially as the progressives I voted for lost in the primary). My single vote is mathematically insignificant so don’t worry about it. I won’t advise people not to vote. I’ll continue to advise people to follow their consciences when making that decision. But given voting for moderates over and over again has done nothing to stop the slide into fascist decadence I’ll be continuing to focus my political work on the non-electoral.

[JennyB]

I’ll probably sit it out if Biden gets the nomination (especially as the progressives I voted for lost in the primary). My single vote is mathematically insignificant so don’t worry about it. I won’t advise people not to vote. I’ll continue to advise people to follow their consciences when making that decision. But given voting for moderates over and over again has done nothing to stop the slide into fascist decadence I’ll be continuing to focus my political work on the non-electoral.

My presidential vote is probably statistically insignificant too, but we have a ton of down ballot races here and a good chance to flip my congressional district. I agree with you about your last point.

[eumaas]

I’ll probably sit it out if Biden gets the nomination (especially as the progressives I voted for lost in the primary). My single vote is mathematically insignificant so don’t worry about it. I won’t advise people not to vote. I’ll continue to advise people to follow their consciences when making that decision. But given voting for moderates over and over again has done nothing to stop the slide into fascist decadence I’ll be continuing to focus my political work on the non-electoral.

My presidential vote is probably statistically insignificant too, but we have a ton of down ballot races here and a good chance to flip my congressional district. I agree with you about your last point.

Sure. Like I said, I am not going to tell other people not to vote.

[Mimi]

I’d pull the Bernie lever day and night. I’d do that as a murderous right wing reactionary, as I guess I am considered here. I think he is old, ineffectual, and way out of touch.

I’m also a realist watching Trump Round 2 railing down the line. If I had a nuke I would use it.

I certainly do not think you're a murderous right wing reactionary.

Agree to disagree on that one.

Just ask the squirrels.

I'm voting for whomever wins the Dem nomination. I'm voting for BS in the primary (and as much as I like his policies, I am not fond of some of the more antisemitic elements he has in some of his surrogates), but if Biden wins the nom, I will be voting for him too. There is too much at stake with SCOTUS and the lower courts to do otherwise. Again, I'm sorry if that makes me an evil centrist, but there you have it.

What she said.