As someone who lived through ( and remembers the The Peace Movement during the 60’s and 70’s , it took several years of demonstrations w students killed by National Guard, a criminal president ( Nixon) , and much social/cultural turmoil to set the country on a new direction. Ford, Carter, decent people but not willing to deceive the public. Reagan, ruined the road back to decency and helping all citizens ( and noncitizens) and I remember his RIF as the beginnings of dismantling the government that helps domestic issues. Again we became a war machine and the results are readily seen in Afghanistan and Iraq. Clinton tried and could have been a true force in setting up another 4 yrs of Democratic policies w Gore but he just couldn’t stop being a sexual predator and we get Bush, quite incompetent except for his neoconservative partner Cheney and more war. Obama, whom I liked was ineffectual perhaps from having little experience in Washington politics and not having the cajones to go against McConnell ( Garland). Hillary is brilliant but not a good choice as campaigner and was damaged by the GOP war machine ( Fox, Senate investigations).
I’m at an emotional low from this roller coaster ride but I now know that it has to get as bad as it was in the early 70’s for things to turn around but this time there’s 400M guns in circulation and those idiot militias are not in the Idaho woods.
Democrats are too busy singing "God Bless America" on the Capitol steps to celebrate gun legislation that skirts around the primary issues leading to our epidemic of gun violence. More "incremental change" from a party whose increments have allowed for the aggressors, the Republicans, to win even when Democrats "get stuff done (to quote Hillary Clinton's insult to Bernie Sanders during the 2016 campaign). Your remedies are all sound Thom, but this Democratic Party, with your help, always has an excuse for what is really incompetence, terrible judgment and a preoccupation with The Third Way and electoral politics over sound public policy. A party that is silent on Israeli apartheid and who aids and abets MBS to starve Yemeni children (among so many other things) is devoid of a moral compass, and their MSNBC base, much like Trump's base, let them get away with anything with zero accountability. Biden is the most rudderless, unimaginative stereotype of an ailing neoliberal politician I have ever seen in my lifetime, yet you praise him as the next FDR. Obama made awful decisions and passed terrible legislation (including the ACA), yet you praise him and make excuses for him. No more excuses Thom, it can't get much worse and it's never been a democracy for anyone but the wealthy and the white, but Democrats will hear it as the resounding thud in the midterms and a revolt from progressives who will no longer sit by idle while they support anti-abortion, anti-labor Congressional candidates over pro-abortion, pro-labor progressive women of color then wonder why centrists are blocking their agenda. Nancy Pelosi is not a progressive, Joe Biden is not FDR, and Barack Obama was a cancer to our democracy in more ways than just Roe v Wade: https://medium.com/@barrykaufman/roe-v-wade-democrats-cry-wolf-one-time-too-many-4aa22af92412
The very serious dilemma facing America may be an Urban vs. Rural life style issue. Increasingly the US, as well as most other countries, have been creating more and more larger urban complexes with millions and millions of people. These urban life styles are at odds with those embraced by people in rural and less densely populated states. This looks a bit like an emerging civil war issue, because people are not inclined to look at how we can remain a United States of America and still allow people to chose to determine their political and cultural environment within their States' Rights domain. The abortion issue along with the Electoral College issues may be the primary concerns for some people, but they are not late night issues for most people. People need to vote and be informed, of course, and voters ought to be aware that the media and the two political parties are doing their best to polarize our country so we can't make common sense decisions. Again, perhaps we just need to stop voting for all incumbent politicians, and perhaps we really should think about why we allowed less than 10 giant corporations to own all our media.
Are we really willing to seriously consider whether 21 states should matter less than California?
I seriously hope not.
Mr. Hartman's Citation:
Forty-two Senators represent 21 states whose aggregated total populations are smaller than the single state of California, which is represented by only two Senators. (Those 21 states are Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont, North Dakota, South Dakota, Delaware, Montana, Rhode Island, Maine, Utah, Iowa, Nevada, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Idaho, Hawaii, West Virginia and New Hampshire.)
Glad you put "end the filibuster" at the top of the list. America did not sign-up for 100 presidents, but that's what we got. If they want the position, they should have the courage to run fair and square. The filibuster rule can be changed as easily as it started, but it's a gift senators give themselves at the expense of democracy and the citizens of this country. We deserve better!
We need our media more than ever under these conditions. The stories of how Roe's reversal and the surveillance affect individuals will be critical to getting the laws passed. Each of us can help with that through social media and by urging the people we know to tell their stories.
As someone who lived through ( and remembers the The Peace Movement during the 60’s and 70’s , it took several years of demonstrations w students killed by National Guard, a criminal president ( Nixon) , and much social/cultural turmoil to set the country on a new direction. Ford, Carter, decent people but not willing to deceive the public. Reagan, ruined the road back to decency and helping all citizens ( and noncitizens) and I remember his RIF as the beginnings of dismantling the government that helps domestic issues. Again we became a war machine and the results are readily seen in Afghanistan and Iraq. Clinton tried and could have been a true force in setting up another 4 yrs of Democratic policies w Gore but he just couldn’t stop being a sexual predator and we get Bush, quite incompetent except for his neoconservative partner Cheney and more war. Obama, whom I liked was ineffectual perhaps from having little experience in Washington politics and not having the cajones to go against McConnell ( Garland). Hillary is brilliant but not a good choice as campaigner and was damaged by the GOP war machine ( Fox, Senate investigations).
I’m at an emotional low from this roller coaster ride but I now know that it has to get as bad as it was in the early 70’s for things to turn around but this time there’s 400M guns in circulation and those idiot militias are not in the Idaho woods.
Democrats are too busy singing "God Bless America" on the Capitol steps to celebrate gun legislation that skirts around the primary issues leading to our epidemic of gun violence. More "incremental change" from a party whose increments have allowed for the aggressors, the Republicans, to win even when Democrats "get stuff done (to quote Hillary Clinton's insult to Bernie Sanders during the 2016 campaign). Your remedies are all sound Thom, but this Democratic Party, with your help, always has an excuse for what is really incompetence, terrible judgment and a preoccupation with The Third Way and electoral politics over sound public policy. A party that is silent on Israeli apartheid and who aids and abets MBS to starve Yemeni children (among so many other things) is devoid of a moral compass, and their MSNBC base, much like Trump's base, let them get away with anything with zero accountability. Biden is the most rudderless, unimaginative stereotype of an ailing neoliberal politician I have ever seen in my lifetime, yet you praise him as the next FDR. Obama made awful decisions and passed terrible legislation (including the ACA), yet you praise him and make excuses for him. No more excuses Thom, it can't get much worse and it's never been a democracy for anyone but the wealthy and the white, but Democrats will hear it as the resounding thud in the midterms and a revolt from progressives who will no longer sit by idle while they support anti-abortion, anti-labor Congressional candidates over pro-abortion, pro-labor progressive women of color then wonder why centrists are blocking their agenda. Nancy Pelosi is not a progressive, Joe Biden is not FDR, and Barack Obama was a cancer to our democracy in more ways than just Roe v Wade: https://medium.com/@barrykaufman/roe-v-wade-democrats-cry-wolf-one-time-too-many-4aa22af92412
The very serious dilemma facing America may be an Urban vs. Rural life style issue. Increasingly the US, as well as most other countries, have been creating more and more larger urban complexes with millions and millions of people. These urban life styles are at odds with those embraced by people in rural and less densely populated states. This looks a bit like an emerging civil war issue, because people are not inclined to look at how we can remain a United States of America and still allow people to chose to determine their political and cultural environment within their States' Rights domain. The abortion issue along with the Electoral College issues may be the primary concerns for some people, but they are not late night issues for most people. People need to vote and be informed, of course, and voters ought to be aware that the media and the two political parties are doing their best to polarize our country so we can't make common sense decisions. Again, perhaps we just need to stop voting for all incumbent politicians, and perhaps we really should think about why we allowed less than 10 giant corporations to own all our media.
Are we really willing to seriously consider whether 21 states should matter less than California?
I seriously hope not.
Mr. Hartman's Citation:
Forty-two Senators represent 21 states whose aggregated total populations are smaller than the single state of California, which is represented by only two Senators. (Those 21 states are Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont, North Dakota, South Dakota, Delaware, Montana, Rhode Island, Maine, Utah, Iowa, Nevada, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kansas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Idaho, Hawaii, West Virginia and New Hampshire.)
Glad you put "end the filibuster" at the top of the list. America did not sign-up for 100 presidents, but that's what we got. If they want the position, they should have the courage to run fair and square. The filibuster rule can be changed as easily as it started, but it's a gift senators give themselves at the expense of democracy and the citizens of this country. We deserve better!
We need our media more than ever under these conditions. The stories of how Roe's reversal and the surveillance affect individuals will be critical to getting the laws passed. Each of us can help with that through social media and by urging the people we know to tell their stories.