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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
It must be noted that North Korea has maintained its militarization for decades on the threat of "imminent US attack". To give them an actual justification for that threat... would be bad. They still have massive amounts of artillery aimed at South Korea, and even the slightest hint of an attack might be enough to get Seoul bombarded in a preemptive strike.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"The Democratic Party needs to position itself as a governing party, not a party of insurgent ideology. That's the only way it'll recapture the center that is so desperately needed. One of the things that was so destructive to Hillary Clinton's run was the assault on her from the "progressive" left, in an argument drawn so precisely from the Perfect Solution Fallacy that it might as well have been formed there.
The last thing we need is two disruptive, insurgent parties fighting to claim the title of "Most Ideologically Pure".
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"That's part of why I'm hoping the Dems really double down on town halls. Besides GOP-shaming, they have the really practical benefit of exposing people to their government.
One cannot make up for zero civics education in an afternoon, but I'm sure it'll help reps to explain what they're trying to accomplish and why they need steady support, and, importantly that they cannot snap their fingers and make free healthcare and the end of racism fall from the heavens if only they were true believers.
More insurgency is literally what this country needs more than any other thing. You cannot govern unless your theory of governance is based on the truth. The "Center" in American politics is literally a compromise with a bunch of lies.
I also wanted to sharee the following clip
. John Oliver is well worth watching anyway, but his take on the Nunes fiasco is hilarious. The really amazing stuff is at the very end of the clip:
"... Oliver saved his harshest critique for the defense that Nunes’ fellow House Republican Ted Yoho delivered on MSNBC, in which he tried to claim that Congress members work for the president and not their constituents.
“No! You absolutely do not! You do one of them, and explicitly not the other. That is literally the point of Congress,” Oliver exclaimed. “And that's why this story is Stupid Watergate: It could very well take down the government, but nobody involved understands why, or how to cover it up, or what the government fucking is, or possibly how to breathe without getting regular reminders.” "
"Stupid Watergate" indeed.
edited 3rd Apr '17 7:12:07 AM by DeMarquis
I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.We provided workable solutions generations ago. Stimulus spending (Keynesian economics in general) is the big starter. Higher minimum wage, paid maternity leave, Medicaid/Medicare expansion, microenterprise programs, the list goes on and on...
All paid by higher taxes on corporations and high wage earners.
I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.And those are not extreme solutions, either. They are "centrist", mainstream programs that can be found around the world. That is not what we are talking about. Most Democrats stand for them: Obama and Clinton stood for them, as did Sanders. The problem is not that the Democrats are insufficiently committed to social democracy. The problem is that a huge portion of our nation has been captured by an extremist, insurgent ideology.
Turning the only sane party that remains into another extremist, insurgent group is a terrible, terrible idea.
edited 3rd Apr '17 8:13:55 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"For any interested, LA Times just ran an excellent article demolishing the Cheeto, and is part one of four [1]
; stay away from the comments though-usual mix of garbage.
Yeah, I said Progressive, as in "will lead toward further social progress", not extreme, which would be a silly thing to value in and of itself.
For an even better list, see The Wanderer's posting here
.
"...Lets see: we could talk about instituting a "maximum wage" where the executives of a company make no more than, say, 20x more than the lowest paid worker within that company, universal daycare for the children of working parents, universal maternity/paternity leave, (shit, there are countries with leave each month for women with heavy periods, and we can't accept that mother should get paid time off after giving birth!) government takeover of industries/research that society feels should be dedicated solely to the public good rather than profit, (medical research & drug making, for example) massively expand the scope of the FDA so that all the unregulated supplements making bogus health claims will have a much harder time getting into the market..."
There's lots more. I encourage you to go back and read it. The point, however, is the the current "centrist" Democratic party has fought for almost none of these things.
edited 3rd Apr '17 8:14:50 AM by DeMarquis
I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.I agree with all of those things, but they won't happen overnight, and they especially won't happen if we keep letting the perfect be the enemy of the good by tearing down Democrats who don't do exactly what we want, such that Republicans win control of government.
edited 3rd Apr '17 8:16:19 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"" The problem is that a huge portion of our nation has been captured by an extremist, insurgent ideology"
funny thing I just saw "divide nation of america" a documental that record rise of polarization during obama period and you can see how republican move from a "respectfull if somewhat old fashion and racist" to "FUCK YOU EVERYONE, (white)AMERICAFIRST, MAGA!" and what is clear case of prjection, they blame obama for being a race bater and dividing people and then chose Trump who carrier is base don shitting on other people....I mean just wow...
"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"Which is exactly what I want, an incremental take-over of the Democratic Party's policy platform. It doesn't have to happen overnight, but obviously the Trump Administration has presented us with an unparalleled opportunity for some significant gains (well, not entirely unparalleled, the Indivisible Movement is based on the Tea Party, and explicitly borrows their tactics). There's no sense in dragging feet.
The Republican Opinion Manipulation Machine moved the Overton Window to the right two generations ago. It's time to start moving it back left.
I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.![]()
Republicans achieved that in part by getting the mainstream media to declare them the party of "sensible, fiscally responsible government", even when that was patently false. I don't see any way to drag the Overton Window back without the Democrats taking over that position, and we cannot hope to get it if we make a big point of pushing the most dramatic elements of our agenda.
I don't know if I've made it clear enough, but wishing for la revolución to come and tear down The Man is just a terrible, terrible idea. All you'll do is run headlong into entrenched opposition.
edited 3rd Apr '17 8:37:20 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"I don't understand why you are strawmanning me in this way, Fighteer- no where have I called for any such thing. Indivisible resembles the Tea Party tactically, but where we differ is, of course, that our policy recommendations are based on the truth. In the US at this time, I am sad to say, that's revolutionary. And we totally can capture the media- we just have become "cool". Hollywood is naturally leftist anyway, it's only a matter of time before some attractive celebrities join the movement.
edited 3rd Apr '17 8:50:36 AM by DeMarquis
I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.Is Trump poking North Korea with a stick again? I really, really wish he'd stop that. The majority of my family lives in South Korea, and if they were to get bombed off the face of the Earth due to Trump being an incompetent idiot... I'd be very upset.
Trump’s budget would hit rural towns especially hard — but they’re willing to trust him
At this point, they're just too far gone. Hell, it's not even cult worship.
They're just straight up Lemmings.

Remember, Hillary was the Warhawk and the democrats would drag the US into unnecessary wars.
Trump stupidity might even cause North Korea to shoot first if they feel pressured enough to believe they will be attacked regardless.
But then this is the moron who criticized Obama for giving away details on public meetings and now is openly declaring his intention to attack North Korea over the Nuclear Program on an unilateral move.
Way to go Cheeto Benito, making everyone in Asia nervous because of your stupidity.
Inter arma enim silent leges