The Future of the Democratic Party

[gkbill]

They shouldn't have scrubbed the license plate.

Hello,

This person needs to work on their definition of "facts".

[revbob]

They shouldn't have scrubbed the license plate.

Hello,

This person needs to work on their definition of "facts".

Unlike most of his contemporaries it seems like he can at least spell.

[oliver]

I wonder what it is about Kamala Harris that makes him think she is lazy.

[Dr. Medulla]

I wonder what it is about Kamala Harris that makes him think she is lazy.

She just looks lazy, if you know what they mean. Good chance she's scamming the government with multiple identities collecting welfare, too.

[revbob]

I wonder what it is about Kamala Harris that makes him think she is lazy.

Like Doc said, she isnt white.

[Sparky]

I wonder what it is about Kamala Harris that makes him think she is lazy.

She just looks lazy, if you know what they mean. Good chance she's scamming the government with multiple identities collecting welfare, too.

Well at least she's not out promoting Jewish space lasers, so give her some credit.

[JennyB]

I wonder what it is about Kamala Harris that makes him think she is lazy.

She just looks lazy, if you know what they mean. Good chance she's scamming the government with multiple identities collecting welfare, too.

Well at least she's not out promoting Jewish space lasers, so give her some credit.

That you know of.

[Spiff]

They shouldn't have scrubbed the license plate.

Hello,

This person needs to work on their definition of "facts".

Unlike most of his contemporaries it seems like he can at least spell.

Hardly ... he misspelt "Demoncrats"

[Kory]

They shouldn't have scrubbed the license plate.

Hello,

This person needs to work on their definition of "facts".

Unlike most of his contemporaries it seems like he can at least spell.

Hardly ... he misspelt "Demoncrats"

I prefer "spendocrats."

[Low Down Low]

I don't know if there are particular motives for this, but taken at face value, this seems really welcome and brave. I wasn't anticipating anything this radical at this point at least.

[Dr. Medulla]

I don't know if there are particular motives for this, but taken at face value, this seems really welcome and brave. I wasn't anticipating anything this radical at this point at least.

In the most crassly political way, it's of a piece with student loan forgiveness—to appeal to young voters. It might also be a deliberate effort to inflame a part of the cultural divide, to encourage Republicans to show themselves out of step with the majority. Coming so close to the midterm elections, it has to be part of tactical push (compare to in Canada, when pot was decriminalized after the Liberals won an election).

[Flex]

I don't know if there are particular motives for this, but taken at face value, this seems really welcome and brave. I wasn't anticipating anything this radical at this point at least.

POTUS/status/1578097875480895489?s=20&t=fTeAuoxR5-gRti5Q8RTZnw

Well, the cons first:

1. It's been designed to exclude people who have non-legal status (most of whom probably aren't in the country anymore)
2. It doesn't include people who were arrested for other marijuana related arrests, which make up about 2/3 of arrests
3. It doesn't actually release anyone from prison who are in there

Now the pros:

1. 6,500 people having their record expunged is still a big deal! These felonies destroy people's lives with their record. It's a huge alleviation of suffering for thousands of people.
2. The direction to reclassify marijuana, if it actually happen, will have a real, substantive effect on preventing future miseries. It's actually probably the biggest deal in the whole announcement, imho.
3. The call for states to do the same as the feds in expunging records won't get taken up by everyone, but I think there's a good chance dem states go along with it. It's really a political winner.

So, as usual with Biden, there's some ancient Vulcan proverb "only Nixon can go to China" by going further than hiss ostensibly more progressive predecessor, my mixed in wiith Frustration that he's not going as far as he morally should, but still pushing a framework that you could see bearing fruit with further action in the future.

Grading on the curve of u.s. domestic policy, I still think this counts as notable action.

Addendum: on the politics, I agree with Doc. I think that makes it smart tho!

[Low Down Low]

I don't know if there are particular motives for this, but taken at face value, this seems really welcome and brave. I wasn't anticipating anything this radical at this point at least.

POTUS/status/1578097875480895489?s=20&t=fTeAuoxR5-gRti5Q8RTZnw

Well, the cons first:

1. It's been designed to exclude people who have non-legal status (most of whom probably aren't in the country anymore)
2. It doesn't include people who were arrested for other marijuana related arrests, which make up about 2/3 of arrests
3. It doesn't actually release anyone from prison who are in there

Now the pros:

1. 6,500 people having their record expunged is still a big deal! These felonies destroy people's lives with their record. It's a huge alleviation of suffering for thousands of people.
2. The direction to reclassify marijuana, if it actually happen, will have a real, substantive effect on preventing future miseries. It's actually probably the biggest deal in the whole announcement, imho.
3. The call for states to do the same as the feds in expunging records won't get taken up by everyone, but I think there's a good chance dem states go along with it. It's really a political winner.

So, as usual with Biden, there's some ancient Vulcan proverb "only Nixon can go to China" by going further than hiss ostensibly more progressive predecessor, my mixed in wiith Frustration that he's not going as far as he morally should, but still pushing a framework that you could see bearing fruit with further action in the future.

Grading on the curve of u.s. domestic policy, I still think this counts as notable action.

Addendum: on the politics, I agree with Doc. I think that makes it smart tho!

Way i see it, it's standard for politicians of all hues to make election promises they either can't keep or have no intention of doing, so actually implementing something to garner votes is at least a step ahead of that. I can see the limitations and the agenda at play and i think my initial reaction was guided by the fact that, fairly or unfairly, my default position is to not expect very much from Biden at all, so I'm more inclined to set my cynicism aside when i see something like this. Cannabis is already legal in some states, though right, without the world collapsing in, so seems like there was something to build on there?

[Dr. Medulla]

Way i see it, it's standard for politicians of all hues to make election promises they either can't keep or have no intention of doing, so actually implementing something to garner votes is at least a step ahead of that. I can see the limitations and the agenda at play and i think my initial reaction was guided by the fact that, fairly or unfairly, my default position is to not expect very much from Biden at all, so I'm more inclined to set my cynicism aside when i see something like this. Cannabis is already legal in some states, though right, without the world collapsing in, so seems like there was something to build on there?

From a longer historical view, it's quite notable to have a politician of his standing—the top guy—state that possession of pot shouldn't ruin a person's life. Zero tolerance for drugs of any kind (well, duh, not nicotine or alcohol) has been as safe a bipartisan position as any dating back to the 19th c. Whatever they might say and think privately, it was a fringe position to advocate it. I mean, same-sex marriage arrived sooner if you want to compare taboos. So it's not as much as it should be and it took a lot of work at the state level to create this space and shift the discourse, but it's notable that someone with Biden's history would tentatively walk thru that door. It's an acknowledgement that the general public does not consider pot a scare subject and it isn't worth pushing against it.

[revbob]