Why This Lifelong Democrat Voted for Trump https://www.realclearpolitics.com/a...lifelong_democrat_voted_for_trump_152188.html
This would resonate more if Trump had not already been president for a full term and if the GOP, despite being reshaped by Trump, did not maintain outright hostility toward policies that will help working people. Fair reaction! I trace a lot of current dysfunction to the Iraq War and the 2008 financial crisis, too. Elites in this country sent our young people to Iraq to die on a lie and got away scot-free after tanking the economy. Obama didn't punish anyone involved. But the GOP, as a matter of orthodoxy going back 40 years, refused to support any laws that would've reined in markets. Dodd-Frank? Nope. CFPB? Nope. Strengthening the SEC or IRS? Absolutely not. There's probably an accelerationist case for supporting Trump; support somebody so brazenly in-over-his-head and corrupt in order to hasten the collapse of the neoliberal state. But, the vast majority of Trump voters are supporting a man (and a party) with a track record of opposing the very things that led to the creation of the "again" in MAGA: higher taxes on the wealthy, the ability to unionize and collectively bargain, and a strong social safety net that invested in things like higher education, scientific research, and leveling the playing field so all citizens had a chance to succeed. All of those things were necessary to create a robust economy and ideology that could combat the USSR. Without an obvious enemy, we've turned inward and simply fight ourselves. The GOP (and I say that without lumping Trump in with them because I do think he has some desire to "see America succeed" but I do not think he's capable of doing that in a selfless way) and Democratic strategy seems to be to run out the clock on whatever it is we have going here and grab as much of the silver as they can. The rest of the piece reads like somebody upset that they weren't invited on TV anymore.
This was a very interesting and convincing piece in the NYT today. I debated started a new thread about electoral reforms, but I'll start here for now: How to Fix America's Two Party Problem - Proportional Representation It's ludicrous that it's incumbent on the Democratic party to change enough to wholly appeal to 51% of Americans. That is impossible in a country as diverse as the US. What's even crazier is that the two-party system isn't codified, it's just tradition. And, under the current rules, the parties have every incentive to perpetuate a system most Americans say they hate. Why are we doing this to ourselves?? I'm sold on proportional representation and ranked-choice voting. My local county in Virginia switched to ranked-choice voting for a few elections this fall and it felt great to know that I wasn't casting my lot in with one person and that, maybe, outcomes would be as representative as possible instead of zero-sum.
Therapists suggest group crying, ‘forest-bathing’ for liberals to deal with ‘sense of hopelessness’ on Trump Inauguration Day: report https://nypost.com/2025/01/19/us-ne...als-to-cope-on-trump-inauguration-day-report/ excerpt: Time Magazine reported Friday about 11 “science-backed” activities people can try on Monday to cope with their “sense of hopelessness” about the incoming administration. more at the link
Get off the internet/watching tv and spend some time in nature doesn’t seem like the worst idea ever for a society that is tinker on the brink. I’m wondering though if the right wing media sphere and Trump were telling their voters to take a break from poltics for their own mental health and getting into nature or if they were telling them to instead oh i dunno… go to the capital to “fight like hell.” Just wondering if FoxNews, Trump, and the other right wing outlets have ever encouraged right wingers to de-activate and stay mentally healthy?? Just would make sense if we were encouraging this for half the country that it would make sense to have the entire country in a better mental state wouldn’t you think??
related Dems going batshit crazy at other Dems Pelosi’s daughter rips ‘Lady McBiden,’ tells Jill Biden to put on ‘big girl pants’ with Joe https://nypost.com/2025/01/19/us-ne...iden-to-put-on-big-girl-pants-with-joe-biden/ excerpt: A daughter of ex-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped into outgoing first lady Jill Biden over the weekend — seemingly comparing her to Shakespeare’s power-hungry, ruthless Lady McBeth. The Dem first lady recently took a swipe at Pelosi over the Democratic mutiny against President Biden last summer, and Alexandra Pelosi, the lefty California congresswoman’s daughter, responded by saying her mom is actually one of the few friends Joe Biden has left. “If I was Lady McBiden, I’d put on my big girl pants, play the long game and think about my husband’s legacy,” Alexandra snipped to Politico on Saturday. “There aren’t that many people left in America who have something nice to say about Joe Biden, and Nancy Pelosi is one of them,” the younger Pelosi said. more at the link
