I wouldn’t necessarily blame your niche interests or anything else like that. There’s lots of people this applies to who just forgot how to socialize. I would put myself in that category. I like sports and many other popular things, and I used to be reasonably easy to talk to but ever since covid I’m considerably more awkward in social situations.

Someone I haven’t seen in two years will ask what I’ve been up to and my mind just goes blank. It’s not that I’ve been sitting at home doing nothing the whole time but for some reason none of the things I could talk about come to me in the moment. It’s a strange thing to feel yourself being socially inept in a way that you didn’t used to be. I’ve gotten better but it’s still weird a lot of the time.

If our politicians require coaxing to defend democracy then we’ve already lost it.

Are we spinning the actions of fascists as some sort of secret protection of democracy now? Because what you just said sounds crazy to me. 100% of so called reasonable Republicans have already left the party. The people who remain are corrupt without exception.

It doesn’t matter as much what Trump is planning to do with his powers. He’s old and on the way out whether he likes it or not. The real problem is what the people set to take over when he’s gone plan to do with them. Does Trump set up his successor or does his ego force him to shut the door behind him? Our best chance at normalcy in a post Trump world might just be that he’s so unbelievably mean spirited that he takes his potential rivals down with him when the time comes.

They already have started doing that

Please read my previous comment again because the response to this statement is exactly the same.

They said the same thing about black people until a black man running as a progressive won the nomination. I think you’ve been learning the wrong lesson from all the elections since.

Absolutely, and to be clear, this does not imply that Trump has a good solution to this problem. He’ll probably make it significantly worse. But at least he’s talking about it in a way that resonates with people. Don’t tell me my problem is that I don’t understand my own financial situation. Show me how you plan to improve it in ways that I actually care about.

This is not a messaging problem it’s a measurement problem. The metrics we use to gauge economic progress and/or health are not effective indicators of anyone’s experience but the wealthy. When Dems tell me wages have gone up so income inequality is getting better what they mean is that new jobs are on average offering slightly higher pay to new hires.

They don’t say that slightly higher pay is 5 cents an hour which is practically useless. They don’t acknowledge that this tiny wage increase is dwarfed by the impacts of inflation over the last 4 years. Worst of all, they don’t say that because this wage increase only applies to new hires, anyone working the same job for more than a couple of years hasn’t seen a wage increase at all, but that price gouging has definitely impacted them. That last one is important because it applies to a huge chunk of people.

This is just the way it works out with wages but basically everything these pundits are saying is great under Biden could be described the same way. They’re talking about averages which when applied to 330 million people produce numbers that sound significant, but when you look at almost any individual it doesn’t make a practical difference in their lives. Sure, you may have slowed the rate at which things are getting worse, but are you honestly surprised at this reaction? You’re telling people you solved their problems and they’re responding “no, you absolutely did not and fuck you for saying that”

Dems need some bashing and Bernie is the official spokesman of disaffected Dem voters so he is perfect for the job.

I believe she would have been marginally better than Biden but, as you continuously refuse to acknowledge because it completely defeats the point you are trying to make, that is not what we’re discussing here. Trump is indisputably going to be worse than either of them and that’s what you have chosen to support through inaction. You can talk in circles around that fact as much as you like but it won’t change reality.

Even if you disagree with that characterization you can’t dispute the fact that you’ve at least helped shut the door on the potential for improvement.

And yet accelerated genocide is the option that was chosen.

Look, I get the argument you’re making. The problem is that it hinges entirely on accepting a premise that isn’t based in reality. Progress, specifically as it relates to harm reduction, doesn’t happen instantaneously. It never has. You take the wins you can get and then push for the next step. You can be mad about that, and I would argue that we all should be, but it’s not going to change the way things work. In this case you’ve let idealism get in the way of actual tangible improvement. Even if you disagree with that characterization you can’t dispute the fact that you’ve at least helped shut the door on the potential for improvement. If you can find a way to rationalize that in your head to make you feel like the good guy then I understand why you would want to take that path, but do you honestly believe the people of Gaza take solace in the fact that you had good intentions? I’d wager they don’t give a shit how you frame this in your mind. They’re just thinking about what a Trump presidency means for the future of this conflict and that isn’t good by any stretch of the imagination.

I think they mean that her running mate did some progressive stuff as governor. Or maybe we’re just so far right now that referring to LGBT as if they’re human beings counts as being progressive

This is what many said in 2016 after Clinton lost but we still did it again in 2020 and yet again in 2024. If I were a betting man I’d say that if there’s sill an election worth having in 2028 we’ll see another, even further right leaning, centrist Democrat win the nomination.

It really sucks that you’re right but this is a big part of the reality of modern elections. What people don’t seem to get about what you’re saying is that this strategy is not intended to make Republicans vote for Democrats, it’s intended to make them stay home. Their perception of Trump is that he’s a strongman. It doesn’t matter that such a description is hilariously off base. It matters that they believe it. Stand up there and call him a pussy with small hands who can’t swing a golf club to save his life and watch him throw a toddler fit while the country looks on. This has the added benefit of giving idiotic “undecideds” the soundbites they clearly want which just might convince some of them to vote for you.

Is it stupid? Absolutely. Would it work? I honestly think it would.

I find it odd when someone says Trump is this or Trump is that as if he’s consistent on anything. His absurd narcissism is the only consistent thing about him. You can bet your ass he would drag us into a war if it would stroke his ego in some way.

That is what makes him so uniquely dangerous. He has no ideology to speak of. His focus shifts back and forth so often that trying to predict exactly what he’s going to do is impossible. You can say with certainty that he won’t be motivated by any sort of desire for the public good but that’s about as specific as you can get until he starts doing something.

But not the 73 million people that wanted this explicitly?

Maybe him personally but someone like him will replace Trump. I’d bet lots of money they’re not going back to someone like Mitt Romney or John McCain.

Or you could just go back to 2016 from now and ask what’s changed