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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
A list of some of the task priorities a Democratic-lead Senate may have, as well as some obstacles.
There's also discussion of the whole filibuster issue, which for the record I'd favor them starting off by bringing back the talking filibuster before going for more dramatic and potentially extremely risky actions.
Edited by AlleyOop on Oct 10th 2020 at 4:44:27 AM
To be fair, third world country is increasingly used to describe poor, underdeveloped countries, not just "unaligned with the US or Russia". Now that I think of it, I don't think I've ever heard it used in the unaligned sense outside of a history book.
The term clearly has outlived its historical context and has started a life of its own, so "9th world country" as a hyperbolic "poorer than poor" moniker isn't all that out there either.
Edited by Redmess on Oct 10th 2020 at 12:17:43 PM
Hope shines brightest in the darkest timesSo, the hearings on Amy Coney Barrett are due to start. And one thing that has been raised is her connection to the Christian group People of Praise.
Sadly the Democrats have said they are not planning to ask questions about this group. I'm disappointed after reading the response from the group that said it "was an ecumenical community."
Which means that I really want a question to come up, and Amy Coney Barrett to respond That would be an ecumenical matter
(Or any one of Father Jack's responses, but we got most of those already from the Kavanaugh hearings...)
Just wanted to get this off my chest after voting Biden, that man might as well campaign on " Make America fine again. " He's fought for a pretty okay America for the haves, not the have-nots. He's been in the halls of power for so long and you don't stay in Washington for as long as he has without certain blemishes, Biden DID vote for the Nineties crime bill, he voted for the Iraq War, and has championed deregulating banks. There have been victims of his policies, heck despite presenting himself as a champion of African American rights, he has worked on anti-busing laws.
Joe Biden is not the president of solutions, he’s the president of the status quo. It is tempting to fantasize that we can just hop in a time machine back to 2016. For a lot of people, the Trump era is a time of exhaustion. I hear again and again this sense that time seems to have slowed. That every day is another horror.
As much as you may want peace, you can’t go back to 2016. You don’t want to go back to 2015 either or 2014. Because those were imperfect times too. People could tell they were getting a raw deal. We may be nostalgic about a time when the president wasn't an embarrassment but nostalgia is one hell of a drug, even back under Obama things weren't great.
So while I voted, Biden, I don't feel like I've picked THAT much of a morally superior candidate.
Edited by RedHunter543 on Oct 10th 2020 at 8:23:23 AM
"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"Yeah, I would have preferred if Warren were the Democratic candidate and not him, but I've heard he does have a pretty good platform this year? Someone posted a link to a summary of his policies a while back.
Considering the alternative, of course it doesnt really make much of a difference who the Democratic pick is
Edited by Xopher001 on Oct 10th 2020 at 3:32:58 PM
First get a Non-Fascist in the White House with ideally a blue trifecta, then in 2 years focus on bringing the House further left, I'd say.
Expecting POTUS to be the sole catalyst for change is frankly just setting yourelf up for disappointment.
Edited by 3of4 on Oct 10th 2020 at 2:34:48 PM
"You can reply to this Message!"I know, it’s frustrating, and the key point is that advocacy efforts and political pressure from progressives have to continue in a sustained manner after the election.
Just sitting back and going “our guy is in power now, so we’re just going to support what he does” won’t bring remotely the degree of change that’s needed.
That was the Dems’ (by which I mean rank-and file party members and voters) mistake under Obama. They let major national problems in the areas of civil liberties violations, policing, mass incarceration, climate change, and inequality fester without being addressed on anything like that level that was needed - and in some cases (mass surveillance and attacks on whistleblowers, for example), let Obama make those problems worse. That can’t happen again. We have to ask more of Biden than just not being Trump.
This isn’t just about elections, it’s about focused, sustained political pressure on specific issues.
Edited by Galadriel on Oct 10th 2020 at 8:38:23 AM
I don't think there is a single troper around here whose first candidate choice would've been Biden, but I also don't think there is a single troper around who won't support him now either.
Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% ScandinavianThis illustrates a basic difference between Democratic and Republican philosophies while they hold power. Republicans increasingly ignore good governance and pander to their base, whereas Democrats get happy and complacent. It would be nice to break that cycle for once.
It is important to appreciate, however, that Obama faced a hostile Congress for six of his eight years in office. It wasn't that he didn't try to push more progressive policies, but that he was blocked at every turn. Sometimes it was by defectors on the Democratic side, but more often by the most aggressively partisan Republican politics in history.
Edited by Fighteer on Oct 10th 2020 at 8:40:24 AM
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"I quite like the "Fine. Biden. But this is bullshit." placards. I think it's important to normalise the idea that you don't have to like or agree with a candidate in order to lend them your vote.
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I know for a fact that there are first-choice-Biden tropers on this site.
Edit: Lol, speak of the devil...
Edited by GoldenKaos on Oct 10th 2020 at 1:40:50 PM
"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."

Always is a bit much, he's backed some politicians with questionable backgrounds simply because of their allegiance to him, Tulsi Gabbard being the most infamous one.