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Political Digression Thread -- Save UP! Move the politically focused stuff here


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@kayman, I used to think the younger generation would save us. But my observation is they become middle aged and sadly change into their parents. I'm a boomer and haven't changed myself but many of my friends did early on when they bought into Reagan. I could hardly look at them anymore after they joined the despicable protests to prevent children with HIV attending "their" public schools.

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1 hour ago, elrodvt said:

@kayman, I used to think the younger generation would save us. But my observation is they become middle aged and sadly change into their parents. I'm a boomer and haven't changed myself but many of my friends did early on when they bought into Reagan. I could hardly look at them anymore after they joined the despicable protests to prevent children with HIV attending "their" public schools.

Maybe. However the question comes about how the US reacts as a non-white majority nation in the future.  Especially what happens if things continue with this social regression of voter suppression, erasure of the tuth history of the US, book bans & burnings in public schools, dissolution of women rights, and the lack of law enforcement accountability toward the human rights of black and brown Americans?  Things are not as predictable as it was in the past as we quickly become a truly multiracial and multicultural society. 

Edited by kayman
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1 hour ago, JBS said:

To suggest I'm "both-sidesing" things is asinine.

My apologies. I misread 'both are bad' (I agree) as 'both are just as bad.' Sorry about the misinterpretation.

1 hour ago, JBS said:

But it's clear to me that anything other than full allegiance to leftist ideology will be unsatisfactory to this crowd.

What crowd? I don't think many posters here have drunk the Kool Aid.  In terms of dems in general, we need to agree to disagree -- I don't feel like they are as stuck on purity tests as many (most critically fox news) seem to think. 

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2 hours ago, Madison Parkitect said:

The Democratic party currently in power is an absolute centrist party, maybe even a touch to the right. 

Ha ha! Good one!

Republicans trying to increase suicides among gay teens...despicable:

https://www.wfla.com/news/politics/florida-dont-say-gay-bill-amendment-would-force-schools-to-out-students-in-6-weeks/

Democrats trying to get Trump reelected:

https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2022/02/21/la-da-george-gascon-acknowledges-sentence-not-adequate-for-convicted-child-sex-abuser-hannah-tubbs/

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58 minutes ago, JBS said:

I'm curious about two things: 1. do you really think the Democratic party is a leftist party? and 2. what you think the second link has to do with anything at all?

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9 minutes ago, Madison Parkitect said:

I'm curious about two things: 1. do you really think the Democratic party is a leftist party? and 2. what you think the second link has to do with anything at all?

1. Yes

2. Some Democrats' stance on crime.  Do some reading on Gascon and then tell me you don't think his policies are pro-criminal. Even the accused in this case mocked the lack of consequences for his crimes. I'm against the death penalty and support bail and criminal justice reforms. But, the policies of several prominent Democrat District Attorneys in "liberal" cities appear to be contributing to violent crime trends in several major cities. Gascon is in liberal LA and is potentially fighting his second recall in office. If you don't think that these crime trends and Democrats response to them are pushing moderates to the Republican Party you are lying to yourself. 

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26 minutes ago, JBS said:

1. Yes

2. Some Democrats' stance on crime.  Do some reading on Gascon and then tell me you don't think his policies are pro-criminal. Even the accused in this case mocked the lack of consequences for his crimes. I'm against the death penalty and support bail and criminal justice reforms. But, the policies of several prominent Democrat District Attorneys in "liberal" cities appear to be contributing to violent crime trends in several major cities. Gascon is in liberal LA and is potentially fighting his second recall in office. If you don't think that these crime trends and Democrats response to them are pushing moderates to the Republican Party you are lying to yourself. 

I don't really believe crime trends are what is driving people to a racist, science-denying, Trumpist death cult. Reallocating police resources and looking at justice reform as a way to holistically improve society gets turned into "Democrats are soft on crime and every transgender person is going to molest your kids" by the right-wing and far-right-wing media, and that message is attractive to both fascists and people who don't take the time to really understand what these leftist policies are proposing. The argument "look, you're the one proposing these slightly left-of-center policies that work well in other countries, it's your fault I'm driven to supporting fascism, racism, and an attempted violent overthrow of the government" infuriates me. It's insane.

Anyway, beyond that, how is the Democratic party leftist? Police and military funding is increasing, student loans are not being cancelled, kids are being put back into poverty... if that's leftist I guess I'd hate to see what centrist is.

Edited by Madison Parkitect
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12 minutes ago, Madison Parkitect said:

I don't really believe crime trends are what is driving people to a racist, science-denying, Trumpist death cult. Reallocating police resources and looking at justice reform as a way to holistically improve society gets turned into "Democrats are soft on crime and every transgender person is going to molest your kids" by the right-wing and far-right-wing media, and that message is attractive to both fascists and people who don't take the time to really understand what these leftist policies are proposing.

Anyway, beyond that, how is the Democratic party leftist? Police and military funding is increasing, student loans are not being cancelled, kids are being put back into poverty... if that's leftist I guess I'd hate to see what centrist is.

Look at the Virginia gubernatorial election and tell me made up and racist issues don't drive the vote. The Republican won in a state Biden won easily.  But, on the crime issue, I think people are right to question Democrat policies. When liberals like Newsome, Breed and (to a lesser  extent) Adams think those policies are contributing to crime, I think it's fair to ask the question. And you dismissed the Axios article but the NY Times said essentially the same things last week. I suppose that publication and the aforementioned politicians aren't really of the left though, right?

BTW, (the detestable) Rudy Giuliani became a multi term and overall popular mayor of NYC...specifically because of crime trends. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.

Edited by JBS
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10 minutes ago, allthingsplanes said:

See this is the huge, gigantic problem with politics in the US today.  Both sides want to make this out to be about the extremes, and in such don't allow for multiple truths simultaneously.  

I am a liberal democrat who has centrist tendencies but skews further left as I get older.  What the above illustrates is that:

  • The right twists every little example like this story into the boogeyman argument that if the country is ruled by Democrats there will be pedophiles running amok and our country will go to hell.
  • Many on the left can't seem to understand that we have to sometimes work towards incremental changes and that sometimes pushing things too hard too fast just creates backlash and ultimately does more harm than good (case in point, after the landslide years of 2006 and 2008, we got creamed in 2010 and that was the year so many of the gerrymandered districts were created that we're fighting an uphill battle)

Is the Democratic party as leftist as right-wing media and politicians want to make us out to be - of course not.  Has the Democratic party continued to move further and further left in the last 10-15 years - yes, that's pretty clear.  Just look at Obama's transition (and Biden's too) on gay marriage and that is a pretty clear example by itself.   The things you mention are either a result of popular opinion (police funding increasing) or resistance by the repubs and centrist democrats.  If the Democratic House were the only part of Congress, there would be many more progressive laws that would have passed in the last year.

We - the Democrats - are going to get slaughtered this fall because of errors that we continue to make, and it's only going to set our country back in all of the areas that we're fighting most for.

I agree with every word of this (and I believe that both parties regularly twist issues for political advantage). And FWIW, the transgender angle on the Gascon story is not at all meaningful to me (the assailant wasn't even transgender at the time of the assault). It was the most recent of many articles portraying him as soft on crime and that's why I used it. 

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12 minutes ago, JBS said:

And you dismissed the Axios article but the NY Times said essentially the same things last week. I suppose that publication and the aforementioned politicians aren't really of the left though, right?

 

I mean... no, they're not. They're centrist politicians and centrist publications.

6 minutes ago, allthingsplanes said:

See this is the huge, gigantic problem with politics in the US today.  Both sides want to make this out to be about the extremes, and in such don't allow for multiple truths simultaneously.  

I am a liberal democrat who has centrist tendencies but skews further left as I get older.  What the above illustrates is that:

  • The right twists every little example like this story into the boogeyman argument that if the country is ruled by Democrats there will be pedophiles running amok and our country will go to hell.
  • Many on the left can't seem to understand that we have to sometimes work towards incremental changes and that sometimes pushing things too hard too fast just creates backlash and ultimately does more harm than good (case in point, after the landslide years of 2006 and 2008, we got creamed in 2010 and that was the year so many of the gerrymandered districts were created that we're fighting an uphill battle)

Is the Democratic party as leftist as right-wing media and politicians want to make us out to be - of course not.  Has the Democratic party continued to move further and further left in the last 10-15 years - yes, that's pretty clear.  Just look at Obama's transition (and Biden's too) on gay marriage and that is a pretty clear example by itself.   The things you mention are either a result of popular opinion (police funding increasing) or resistance by the repubs and centrist democrats.  If the Democratic House were the only part of Congress, there would be many more progressive laws that would have passed in the last year.

We - the Democrats - are going to get slaughtered this fall because of errors that we continue to make, and it's only going to set our country back in all of the areas that we're fighting most for.

I very much agree that sometimes we have to push incremental change instead of full-scale leftist policies. "Defund the police" was a messaging mistake from the beginning and it really hurt Democrats. I also agree that the party has moved left in some things like gay marriage and environmental policy.

But I totally disagree that policies advocated by The Squad and others on the left are what's going to get the party crushed in the midterms. If you look at the polling on a lot of the things they're proposing, it's pretty popular stuff. I think the reason for the party's upcoming losses is the inability to pass any really meaningful legislation beyond the infrastructure bill (thanks to Manchin and Sinema), the general unwillingness to help everyday people during this two-years-long economic hardship, and the abdication of campaign promises like student loan forgiveness. Biden has the House, the Senate, and the Presidency and has been able to get almost nothing done with it. It's a failure and it's not the Squad's fault.

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2 minutes ago, Madison Parkitect said:

I mean... no, they're not. They're centrist politicians and centrist publications.

I very much agree that sometimes we have to push incremental change instead of full-scale leftist policies. "Defund the police" was a messaging mistake from the beginning and it really hurt Democrats. I also agree that the party has moved left in some things like gay marriage and environmental policy.

But I totally disagree that policies advocated by The Squad and others on the left are what's going to get the party crushed in the midterms. If you look at the polling on a lot of the things they're proposing, it's pretty popular stuff. I think the reason for the party's upcoming losses is the inability to pass any really meaningful legislation beyond the infrastructure bill (thanks to Manchin and Sinema), the general unwillingness to help everyday people during this two-years-long economic hardship, and the abdication of campaign promises like student loan forgiveness. Biden has the House, the Senate, and the Presidency and has been able to get almost nothing done with it. It's a failure and it's not the Squad's fault.

Oh I agree with this.  Just like for Obamacare, the centrist Senators have probably done way more harm than good by blocking passage of many of the priorities and making them so modified and watered down that they don't really help in the intended ways and make it seem like Democrats don't know how to govern.  They say they're doing it to help their electoral chances, but they really should look at the greater good and the future of the country and not just themselves.

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11 minutes ago, Madison Parkitect said:

I mean... no, they're not. They're centrist politicians and centrist publications.

I very much agree that sometimes we have to push incremental change instead of full-scale leftist policies. "Defund the police" was a messaging mistake from the beginning and it really hurt Democrats. I also agree that the party has moved left in some things like gay marriage and environmental policy.

But I totally disagree that policies advocated by The Squad and others on the left are what's going to get the party crushed in the midterms. If you look at the polling on a lot of the things they're proposing, it's pretty popular stuff. I think the reason for the party's upcoming losses is the inability to pass any really meaningful legislation beyond the infrastructure bill (thanks to Manchin and Sinema), the general unwillingness to help everyday people during this two-years-long economic hardship, and the abdication of campaign promises like student loan forgiveness. Biden has the House, the Senate, and the Presidency and has been able to get almost nothing done with it. It's a failure and it's not the Squad's fault.

Very few objective observers would suggest that Newsome, Breed and the editorial stance of the NY Times are "centrist". Your inability to understand this reveals just how far left you are personally. 

You fault Sinema and Manchin but they are simply behaving as they promised constituents they would. In West Virginia, no other Democrat but Manchin retains that seat and if he signs on to the full Democratic agenda he loses. 

Sinema won Arizona by running as a moderate. 

Without Manchin and Sinema, Mitch McConnell would be the Senate Leader. 

Edited by JBS
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1 minute ago, JBS said:

Very few objective observers would suggest that Newsome, Breed and the editorial stance of the NY Times are not leftist. 

You fault Sinema and Manchin but they are simply behaving as they promised constituents they would. In West Virginia, no other Democrat but Manchin retains that seat and if he signs on to the full Democratic agenda he loses. 

Sinema won Arizona by running as a moderate. 

Without Manchin and Sinema, Mitch McConnell would be the Senate Leader. 

I understand what you're saying, but guess what - Democrats won and are in the majority.  So the alternative is that NOTHING happens?  This isn't like the old days when liberal republicans from the northeast would vote with the democrats and get them over the finish line.  My point was they need to not think about the next election and realize instead the opportunity that the DEMOCRATIC PARTY - THEIR PARTY - has to do big things right now.  But you're not going to agree with this... 

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1 minute ago, allthingsplanes said:

I understand what you're saying, but guess what - Democrats won and are in the majority.  So the alternative is that NOTHING happens?  This isn't like the old days when liberal republicans from the northeast would vote with the democrats and get them over the finish line.  My point was they need to not think about the next election and realize instead the opportunity that the DEMOCRATIC PARTY - THEIR PARTY - has to do big things right now.  But you're not going to agree with this... 

So, party over country/constituents? No thanks! Manchin/Sinema 2024!

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53 minutes ago, JBS said:

So, party over country/constituents? No thanks! Manchin/Sinema 2024!

That's a red herring.  If they truly believe these are bad policies then that's fine.  If they think that they're mostly good policies but could cause them to be voted out, it's not.  As Democrats, I imagine they agree with a majority of the actual policies.  Also, do you just want NOTHING to get done?  It would be different if the Republicans didn't always vote party first, but they do.  If any Republicans would break out and vote with the Democrats, and the filibuster weren't a thing, then it wouldn't matter.

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11 minutes ago, allthingsplanes said:

That's a red herring.  If they truly believe these are bad policies then that's fine.  If they think that they're mostly good policies but could cause them to be voted out, it's not.  As Democrats, I imagine they agree with a majority of the actual policies.  Also, do you just want NOTHING to get done?  It would be different if the Republicans didn't always vote party first, but they do.  If any Republicans would break out and vote with the Democrats, and the filibuster weren't a thing, then it wouldn't matter.

I honestly believe that Joe Manchin doesn't agree with these policies. I also wonder why you want to lose those 2 Senate seats? It's a waste of time to reference Republican bad behavior to me, I've already acknowledged that they suck worse than Democrats. 

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On 2/18/2022 at 11:34 AM, kayman said:

Welcome to the true multicultural United States.  Sorry but as a black queer Millennial professional but the world is changing.

This belief of policing the choices of women's bodies are coming to an end. Most people under the age of 40 believes so as well. 

Adequate sexual health education should be taught to all high school students who will be become eventually adults. 

If a woman wants to do whatever to her body that's her choice as a human being.

The full history of the US and world history, good, bad, and/or ugly should be taught in public schools. Not to comfort or coddle anyone because historical proven facts are facts.

Voting should be eligible all US citizens regardless. 

Embracing other cultures whether black American, indigenous American, etc. should be respected. These notions things always centered some white American-centric or eurocentric socially conservative and oppressive philosophy is the future of our world is problematic and offensive to a non-white person like  myself. I'm not a white American nor trying to be one. 

 

Charlotte is now a very socially progressive, left-leaning philosophy major city with a rapidly growing black population,  non-white (Asian, Amerindian Hispanic/Latino, and Caribbean Latino)  populations along with a rapidly growing LGBTQ population.  Charlotte is like other places across the Southern Sunbelt like Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, etc. will continue to pushback against this status quo way of thinking of this yesteryear conservative thinking here.

Both siding this political conversation is amusing to me.  As it shows how intellectually dishonest many mainly white American, eurocentric philosophy ideologues are. My voting and human rights matter to me, period.

Oh yeah, black conservatives whom are Republicans like Mark Robinson are true outliers amongst most black Americans.  Robinson sounds like a fat, miserable moron that's mad at black women who don't like him.  He exposed himself by the way he's spoken of former first lady Michelle Obama by calling her a transgendered man such in a derogatory & offensively bigoted fashion.

Your analysis is racist.  Mark Robinson is not an outlier.  I watched as busloads of Black voters went to the polls to vote against my civil rights (as a Gay human).  I have also worked with the HIV community and lived in rural NC and know that homophobia in the Black community specifically has led to the expansion of the HIV epidemic.  My husband of 30 years ran the Habitat for Humanity in our majority Black county, and together we sacrificed our time and resources to help the Black community.  When he died, the Black community rejected me, failing to acknowledge me as his spouse and ignoring our sacrifices.  My respect and sympathy for the Black community is gone.  Insisting that "White" people are inherently racist and privileged  is racist.  It's not OK to generalize about any group of humans...except White people?  Gay White humans are "privileged"?  Really?  We have no legal protections in North Carolina (as in most states) and a prevailing culture, that very much includes the Black community, that hates us.  And, let's not forget or ignore that it is Black nations that will legally execute and imprison Gay humans.  Point of fact, Latinos are not POC and are hardly a monolithic voting bloc.  Including Asians in your narrative is equally laughable.  A complete history of the world would include the fact that it was Black Africans who were actively involved in the slave trade and that "Black heroes" like Malcolm X were homophobic racists.  I would also argue that "Black" Americans are not a monolith politically or culturally.  A multicultural coalition including 43% of White Americans elected a Black President.   A Black Senator from South Carolina, Black governors in Virginia and Massachusetts, etc. were elected with substantial White votes.  Pontificating and generalizing about "White" people is narrowminded and bigoted.  It will be very interesting to see how Mark Robinson does with Black voters when he runs for Governor.  My prediction is very well. 

 

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