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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Can we please not throw our hands up in despair at how Biden is only a tiny scraping infinitesimal sliver better than Donald Goddamn Trump, and not limber up our sighing and eye-rolling muscles for when the first thing he passes isn't the Everything Is Fixed Forever bill? Getting Biden into office is the first step, and if people immediately start rolling on the floor whining about how the steps aren't going fast enough and aren't fixing everything all at once and Biden really is no better than Trump, then we're going to apathy ourselves right back into a red White House in 2024.
Biden getting elected is a strong start, but people have to be willing to capitalize on it. Pull with the party, don't just sit on your hands complaining, especially not with this bothsides bullshit about how a lukewarm Democrat is exactly the same as Donald fucking Trump backed up by a Republican Senate and a stacked Supreme Court. When Biden and Harris can do better, which will happen, take their hands and pull them leftward, don't just go storm off and say "see, I knew they were no better than Trump!'', because that will 99% of the time be objectively false.
Sorry for the rant, but can we not start making excuses and looking for reasons to immediately abandon Biden and his administration before the election even happens?
It's been fun.The Topeka Capital-Journal:
Kansas Senate President wants to rig redistricting
Gov. Laura Kelly said Friday she will ask the Kansas Legislature to create an independent redistricting commission.
It comes after a video surfaced Friday morning of Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, allegedly telling donors that the state GOP needed a supermajority after this election.
"During redistricting, I need to give her (Renee Erickson) some more Republican neighborhoods in order to make sure she stays elected," Wagle said in the video.
Rep. Renee Erickson, R-Wichita, is currently running for Wagle's Senate seat.
"So redistricting is right around the corner, and if Gov. Kelly can veto a Republican bill, that gives us four Republican congressmen, that takes out Sharice Davids up in the 3rd (Congressional District), we can do that. I guarantee you, we can draw four Republican congressional maps, but we can't do it unless we have a two-thirds majority in the Senate and House,” Wagle said in the video.
Democrats need to gain one more seat in the Kansas House, or three in the Kansas Senate, to break a two-thirds Republican supermajority.
Republicans saying about how much they hate democracy (out loud!), part 1056.
I feel like the thing that irritates me most is that I am a progressive who has no great love of Joe Biden or the Democratic Party as a whole. However, I feel like I'm constantly getting treated as if I don't KNOW how dangerous Trump is. That neither does Bernie or AOC or anyone else.
I feel the country is on the verge of DOOM and that somehow they think I am not willing to overlook the fact he's underwhelming to what I think is necessary versus an idiot manchild fascist.
Believe me, I can.
I just am irritated with the belief I must be enthusiastic about it.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on Oct 10th 2020 at 6:50:12 AM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.Not to single out RedHunter here, but "So while I voted, Biden, I don't feel like I've picked THAT much of a morally superior candidate." is the kind of thing I'm talking about here. As for the rest, all this "Biden wants to take us back to 2016 and then stop there" talk is demonstrably not true. We have a chance to make some actual progress starting in 2021, and talk like "Biden wants to bring us back to a status quo that doesn't exist" just makes it easier to give up on the administration the first time it needs a push.
I apologize for snapping, and it wasn't my intention to strawman anyone. But we cannot afford to start undermining Biden the instant he gets elected. He wasn't my first choice either, but it's either him or Trump, and I think we can make some actual progress under Biden and with his help.
It's been fun.Being asked to love Biden before he's done anything will just make people hate him.
So let's just be content with voting and see what he does in (hopefully) his first days in office.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on Oct 10th 2020 at 7:04:06 AM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.Being asked not to misrepresent someone and their positions is not the same as being asked to love someone, I’m not sure how you’ve managed to conflate the two.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranWell, like I said, "better than Trump" is not exactly a high bar to clear. Can you name any candidate that would have been worse than Trump, from either party or third parties? Would Bernie be worse? Bloomberg? Jorgensen? Hawkins? Walsh?
Saying "better than Trump" is pretty much saying "better than the worst president the country has ever seen".
I'm not giving up on him exactly, but I didn't find his debate performance all that encouraging either.
Edited by Redmess on Oct 10th 2020 at 4:11:29 PM
Hope shines brightest in the darkest timesI'd still probably take Dubya in that match-up. And I loathed Dubya.
I think the 'He's better than Trump!' thing is less about the people saying it thinking him only being incrementally better than Trump, and more, 'That's what's on the ballot, what on Earth are you dithering about voting for?'
At least I hope so.
My point is that that bar is so low to clear that practically any Democrat can do it, and arguably more than a few Republicans as well. Heck, "being a half decent politician who can deal with a crisis" would be good enough in that regard.
And yes, just to be clear, Biden easily clears that bar. But that doesn't make him an impressive candidate either.
I've read that one page policy flyer someone posted a while back, and it seemed very promising indeed. Hence why I think Biden does not quite live up to his own policy platform (not yet anyway).
Edited by Redmess on Oct 10th 2020 at 4:31:43 PM
Hope shines brightest in the darkest times

She was kinda THE obvious VP pick to balance him out, overall.
"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."