• Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    Let’s point out the obvious.

    Harris hasn’t shifted position or gone looking for them; they decided that they had to put the country ahead of the Party.

    • taiyang@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      This is the correct takeaway. Harris is by no means a fringe leftie (or Marxist lol) but the only courting she’s doing is having people who already sided with her speak on her behalf (like at DNC).

      Otherwise, most of her shifts are towards the battleground state, like fracking. No idea why that wins over Pennsylvania (gotta love the toxic water!) but until we fix our elections that’s just gonna happen.

      • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        My favorite idea for improving democracy comes from Robert Heinlein’s novel ‘Double Star.’

        His idea was that people could choose their ‘state’ based on their own interests. Instead of being a New Yorker or a Virginian people could pick to be ‘soccer mom’ or ‘IT professional’ or ‘anarchist’ or ‘teacher.’ The book is light on details, though.

  • DogPeePoo@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    I mean the guy literally shits his pants every day. Also he’s clinically insane. Also he works for Putin.

  • niktemadur@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Former officials.

    How many current officials have decided to put country before party? I can almost hear those miserable bastards from here:

    The political party that I work at is putting the country at risk, but hey:
    1) I don’t know, I just work here,
    2) I’m NOT going to risk my “I don’t know, I just work here” job.

  • Arghblarg@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    ‘former officials’

    … it isn’t courageous and won’t mean anything until CURRENT officials do the same, en masse. They’re mostly too scared of losing their cushy positions. Cowards.

    • btaf45@lemmy.worldOP
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      3 months ago

      Liz Cheney was the 3rd ranking House Republican when she starting warning about Treason Trump.

      • Arghblarg@lemmy.ca
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        3 months ago

        Fair point – she had the courage and 100% deserves credit for that! I wish more had her strength.

        • btaf45@lemmy.worldOP
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          3 months ago

          This is why I feel compelled to defend Republicans and conservatives who do the right thing. In part because there are not enough of them doing the right thing in a clear manner.

      • Arghblarg@lemmy.ca
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        3 months ago

        True. I hope it bubbles up to those who have ‘more to lose’ and they put country over career and party.

  • Krono@lemmy.today
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    3 months ago

    The modern democratic party has adopted the positions of 2005 republicans. They might as well adopt the personnel of 2005 republicans too.

      • Krono@lemmy.today
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        3 months ago

        Democrats have kept the Trump tax cut scheme where the wealthy pay less, and the working class tax cuts expire. This is the ratchet effect, where republicans move the country right, then democrats normalize the rightward shift instead of pushing back.

        Kamala has lowered her desired capital gains tax rate to a pathetic 28%.

    • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      They are advocating for defunding public education and setting up private religious charter schools?

      • Krono@lemmy.today
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        3 months ago

        Well this is a bit outside of our scope, since most of the education defunding was done pre-2005 under Reagan and Clinton.

        But yea, democrats have failed to re-fund public education. Our schools look like prisons and our teachers are paid like slaves, and you can see it in our failing test scores.

      • Krono@lemmy.today
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        3 months ago

        Yeah, look at what they did to Bernie and Medicare for All. They are explicitly against healthcare reform.

        edit: or if Bernie is too polarizing of an example, look at how candidate Biden’s #1 policy proposal was the public option, and once elected he completely dropped it.

        • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Who did what to Bernie? Be specific. Explain, one last time, you understand how basic legislation is passed in the United States of America. Be specific please.

          • OneStepAhead@lemmynsfw.com
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            3 months ago

            I’m 100 in for blue up and down the ticket this year in a non-battleground red state.

            Debbie Wassermann-Schultz, former DNC chair is largely responsible for tipping the scales to Hillary Clinton and away from Bernie. Had Bernie been the candidate, I believe that we would never have had Trump in the first place. I’m still pretty pissed off about her specificity.

            • btaf45@lemmy.worldOP
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              3 months ago

              First, you haven’t given any specific examples of “tipping the scales”. 2nd, for “tipping the scales” to work, Sanders would have had to be very close to Clinton in support. He had signficant support certainly but unfortunately not close enough for the outcome to be in doubt.

            • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              Thank you. We can address DWS and Bernies ability to secure the nomination but I want Kronos to engage first. I’m not forking out of this discussion yet but I will come back.

      • Krono@lemmy.today
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        3 months ago

        Yes the infrastructure package passed by Biden is barely enough funds to handle the backlog of maintenance issues in our failing infrastructure.

        We are the richest country on earth, we should be building high speed rail like china. We should be investing and making the infrastructure of the future. Instead we can hardly keep our 80 year old rails running without our trains exploding.

        • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          I notice you only talk in buzzwords and never give out specifics. You say a lot without saying anything. In none of your comments do you actually give specific examples of anything or explain cause effect. It’s pure buzzwords and vibes. Do you have a specific example of anything?

          • Krono@lemmy.today
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            3 months ago

            I gave many specific examples you have ignored. I tried to engage with you in good faith but it’s obvious that sentiment is one sided. Have a good day.

            • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              You haven’t given a specific thing. You called general topics such as Biden Infrastructure Package. And then you tied it to some kind of gap I funding. But you never explained where and how.

              You never give specific. You talk a lot in generalities. In all your comments. All of them.

              Give me one specific cause and effect tied to democratic 'policy. Just one.

              1sh Edit: to all the downvowers:

              Saying broad general things like “Biden s infrastructure package fell short in funding” is an empty statement without specifics. It doesn’t tell us anything. It’s a feeling. It doesnt tell us how or why. It’s a feeling. And people like Kronos keep up the narrative propped up thanks to these declarations based in… Nothing. Give us clear examples.

              • Where
              • What
              • How

              Not asking for the moon here. If this is too much, then what even is there to discuss?

              • btaf45@lemmy.worldOP
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                3 months ago

                is an empty statement without specifics. It doesn’t tell us anything. It’s a feeling. It doesnt tell us how or why.

                I am with you on this. A pet peeve of mine is people making vague meaningless claims. Because that is one of Traitorapist Trump’s main tactics. It happens mostly on the right but sometimes on the left too.

                • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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                  3 months ago

                  It’s the bread and butter of sophists. Everyone has strong opinions about politics, but when you lift the hood you see most of it is manufactured.

        • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          the infrastructure package passed by Biden is barely enough funds to handle the backlog of maintenance issues in our failing infrastructure

          • Why? What caused the gap in funding that you want to see happen? Explain to us what the impediment was? Be specific.
      • Krono@lemmy.today
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        3 months ago

        For almost a year, we nearly eliminated child hunger and child poverty in this country. This was under the child tax credits under Trump’s covid policies.

        I think we can both agree that Trump is the worse evil, so what does it say about Democrats that they increased child poverty compared to Trump? Why didn’t they push to make the Trump child tax credits permanent?

        • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Where, who and how?

          I need specific details not vibes. You are just giving me opinion.

          You make a lot of statements but never provide specific details. A lot. Like, all your comments are identical. Why are you like this?

        • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          I’m tired of all the pseudo intellectuals hijacking every conversation with feels and never providing concrete examples of anything. They’ll dance and dance around general topics and never give us specifics because they know they can get away with saying anything. It’s an effective way to build up narratives without having to be held responsible for anything.

          They’ll never give a clear context or path to how / why / where because they know they can talk in generalities and move on. They’re here to stay and either we can all roll over into the post-modern “truth is just a construct world” or we can push back.

      • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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        3 months ago

        Kamala literally bragged about increasing gas production to an all time high, yes.

        • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Give the whole stance. What else is tied into that policy? If you want to talk policy, let’s go. But first you have to prove you know what the full policy or statement is. I’m waiting.

          • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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            3 months ago

            Do I really need to? Because increasing gas production is not a good thing for the climate, and bragging about doing something that’s damaging the climate seems like a pretty clear indication that you’re not really committed to addressing climate change. The fact that she says whatever nice words about it doesn’t matter, talk is cheap.

            But her whole statement is here

            • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              I didn’t ask for her debate statement. I asked for her full policy. Yes, you really need to understand how American policy and legislation is formed before we can continue the conversation.

              • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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                3 months ago

                I understand how American policy is formed well enough to know that policy statements on the campaign trail rarely actually manifest into anything. But here’s her statement from the campaign website, just for you:

                spoiler

                As Attorney General, Kamala Harris won tens of millions in settlements against Big Oil and held polluters accountable. As Vice President, she cast the tie-breaking vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, the largest investment in climate action in history. This historic work is lowering household energy costs, creating hundreds of thousands of high-quality clean energy jobs, and building a thriving clean energy economy, all while ensuring America’s energy security and independence with record energy production. As President, she will unite Americans to tackle the climate crisis as she builds on this historic work, advances environmental justice, protects public lands and public health, increases resilience to climate disasters, lowers household energy costs, creates millions of new jobs, and continues to hold polluters accountable to secure clean air and water for all. As the Vice President said at the international climate conference, COP28, she knows that meeting this global challenge will require global cooperation and she is committed to continuing and building upon the United States’ international climate leadership. She and Governor Walz will always fight for the freedom to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis.

                • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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                  3 months ago

                  Yes, politicians have to run on policies and positions. They have to espouse those positions on the campaign trail.

                  Do you understand the president does not enact legislation? I need you to address this before we go any further. I need you to explain what the difference is between the presidency and congress.

      • Krono@lemmy.today
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        3 months ago

        Yes, under the Biden administration we set a new record for fossil fuel extraction. Biden is giving out so many drilling permits, there are thousands that are unfilled.

        We are on pace to make earth uninhabitable.

        • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Oh wow. An entire economic system based on a particular source of energy cannot be course corrected over night. Oh wow… Policy change is not easy, is. It? Huh. Who knew?

        • btaf45@lemmy.worldOP
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          3 months ago

          but didn’t forgive student loans like they said they would.

          Because Republicans stopped them. The same thing would have happened if Sanders was president. Sanders told everybody it wouldn’t be enough just to make him president, there would need to be a “political revolution” such that Dems were in place at multiple levels.

          • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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            3 months ago

            If they were actually motivated, they could’ve done something like tying student loan forgiveness to PPP loan forgiveness. Or packing the courts, or at least leveraging that as a threat the way FDR did.

            Ultimately, I just don’t believe that the guy who spent decades working towards a right-wing agenda that included making student loans worse and harder to get rid of was actually motivated to do more than a token effort towards forgiveness. There’s this collective delusion that Biden suddenly transformed into an entirely different person the moment he became the nominee. He contributed to the problem because his donors paid him to, then, with the same donors, conveniently failed to address it. And yet somehow this gets trotted out as a point in favor.

        • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Why couldn’t they forgive student loans? Explain to the rest of Lemmy what happened so we know you have a basic understanding of civics before we proceed with a full back and forth discussion. I’m done arguing with people who operate in buzzwords and have no clue what they are talking about. First demonstrate you understand the basics and what PPP loans even are.

            • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              You don’t even know the right debate bro terms. Did I overwhelm you with arguments by asking that you show us you understand what you are talking about? Oh my god. Im so sorry that was so overwhelming for you.

              The Gish gallop (/ˈɡɪʃ ˈɡæləp/) is a rhetorical technique in which a person in a debate attempts to overwhelm an opponent by presenting an excessive number of arguments, with no regard for their accuracy or strength

              • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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                Yes, congratulations, that is what the term means. And that’s exactly what you’re doing. You post a whole bunch of one line comments and expect anyone who challenges them to write up a whole effortpost on each. The amount of effort it takes to just spew a bunch of bullshit is much less than the amount of effort required to refute each point of bullshit.

                • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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                  3 months ago

                  I’m sorry if asking you to explain the fundamentals of something before continuing a conversation is too overwhelming for you. It’s clear you don’t know what PPP loans are because you already jumped to comparing them to student debt - that was my first clue.

                  You don’t know what you’re talking about but you are very comfortable repeating buzzwords and catchphrases.

                  Why should I argue with someone who clearly has no idea what they are talking about? It’s pretty clear you don’t because if you did you could have proved it a long time ago.

      • Krono@lemmy.today
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        3 months ago

        Yes they let a procedural hurdle (the senate parliamentarian) stop them lmao.

        When the republicans get stopped by the parliamentarian, they just replace the parliamentarian. When democrats get stopped by the parliamentarian, they cry and give up.

        • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          who stopped what?

          Be specific. Show us you understand what actually happened.

          What parliamentarian stopped which policy and why. Be specific and walk us through the details. No more buzzwords and catchphrases, Kronos.

          Be specific please.

      • Krono@lemmy.today
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        3 months ago

        When they campaign, they say they will codify abortion rights.

        After they are elected, they dont even try.

        For them, it is better if abortion rights are not secured, because it is such a great issue to motivate voters.

        • btaf45@lemmy.worldOP
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          3 months ago

          After they are elected, they dont even try.

          There was never any time after the court took away abortion rights in which Dems controlled both the presidency and both houses of congress. All legislation originates in the House which is GOP controlled, so how would it be possible for them to “try”?

          • Krono@lemmy.today
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            3 months ago

            The idea behind codifying abortion rights is that it prevents the supreme court from eliminating those rights.

            That’s why it was such a popular idea for decades. For example, Obama famously ran on codifying Roe. After he was elected, dems had a majority. If they would have codified Roe then we would still have that right today.

            • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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              1. Obama didn’t have a fillibuster proof supermajority in the senate.

              2. The Dems had a supermaqajority for only 70 days, during which they passed one of the most significant legislature in the last 20 years

              3. At the time, supreme court stare decisis was being upheld

              “Democratic differences on abortion threatened to derail Obama’s namesake health care law. With Republicans united in opposition, Democrats could not afford to lose a single senator, and Ben Nelson, an anti-abortion Democrat from Nebraska, was the final holdout. To win his support, party leaders included a version of an amendment that prohibits Affordable Care Act plans from covering abortion, which was originally offered by another anti-abortion Democratic representative, Bart Stupak of Michigan.” – Amanda Becker for The 19th News, “Why didn’t Congress codify abortion rights?”

        • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Explain to us how and where the process of codifying abortion rights happens federally. Walk us through the process and explain where the Democrats failed.

    • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Why is this vomit catchphrase repeated so incessantly? It’s like y’all got the memo and repeat the same buzzwords talking points non stop like an army of bots.

      Donald Trump is not popular within his party. The Lincoln Project has been operating since Trump was elected.

      Shut. The. Fuck. Up.

      • TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        Trump is popular within the GQP, it’s just many of them are catching on to the fact that Trump wants the pie all for himself and his pals and that they will probably not only get shrinking portions but become the next targets as well if they ever treat him anything other than a cult idol.

        • TheFonz@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          No. From de facto day one of his presidency the Lincoln project has been operating. Trump started making enemies long before he was elected. He’s just very erratic and unpredictable. While you’re right that he holds a lot of popularity among his devout followers, he doesn’t hold the same sway over the rest of the party. Hence the “Never Trumpers” among republicans. It just so happens that after 9 years even the GOP is tired of his erratic unpredictable behavior and can see the sinking ship for what it is.

          HOWEVER

          back to og claim. At no point has this unpopularity among moderate republicans helped shape democratic policy. This is a common talking point seeded to create division. That’s why it’s important to ask for specifics about which policies shifted.

          Always ask for specifics when countering sophists that employ buzzwords such as @distantsounds