the US 100% does seem like it’s thiiiiiis close to being a far right dictatorship.
Driving out to the Indian Reservation to tell all the First Nations people that we’re extremely worried about the direction our government has taken. Heading back through the black ghettos with a big mega-phone strapped to my car, warning people about over-policing and the gestapo-like tactics of county-wide sheriffs’ gangs. Rounding out my Paul Revere-esque ride at the US/Mexico border to inform all the migrant laborers who make their living doing piecework and odd-jobs and letting them know that they should not, in fact, trust the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Turns out they’re implementing a lawless pogrom across the southern border and are not, in fact, just protecting neighborhoods from people who are doing evil crimes.
there’s no way Republicans will win the next election after this clusterfuck
I mean, historically, the President’s party eats shit in the midterms. Very possible we’ll get a 2006 or 2018 blue wave of legislators as public opinion of the Trump administration sours again.
But what does Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jefferies do with an incoming Dem majority? Do they rewrite budgets to curtail the resources afforded to Trump-loyal rogue agencies? Do they claw back executive authority in the next NDAA and budget bills? Do they reject Trump cabinet appointees and judges who continue to defend unconstitutional governance? Do they advance new legislation to reform the immigration process, expand the authority of state governments to protect women’s health and voting rights, and prohibit executive appointees from hijacking the digital tools of the bureaucracy in order to override legislative intent?
Or do they whine about not having veto-proof majorities and sit on their hands until 2028?
I am far less worried by the prospect of “rigged elections”, because the US election system has always been janky and corrupt but so heavily decentralized that it’s a rats’ warren of different reporting systems you’d need to hijack.
I am far more worried by the prospect of a Controlled Opposition of Democrats, who show up to lend legitimacy to Trump policy through their own tenure of ratification, while making a stink about Trump’s sex habits and online persona that lead to another series of nothingburger investigations and indictments that produce no penalty even when convictions are achieved.
What happens if Dems win for the next four years and then repeat 2020?
I am far more worried by the prospect of a Controlled Opposition of Democrats
I’ve seen lots of Americans saying that they think the Dems are essentially a controlled opposition party like they have in Russia, and it really does kind of seem like that – again, looking in from the outside. Not that there aren’t any good Democrats, but that the “party apparatus” is kind of purposefully ineffective
Edit: that wikipedia article is fucking wild. What the hell, USA?
Their official plan to “combat” Trump is to do nothing to stop him, then fundraise off the chaos he creates. They’re not actually trying to stand in his way, nor do they want to. They only care about the outcome of the next election, and more chaos means more donations. They don’t care if working people are bankrupted or suffer in the meantime, because they’ve literally said they’re now relying on funding from megadonors instead. Megadonors who share many financial interests with conservatives…
This, of course, is all built on the (flawed) assumption that the next elections are totally guaranteed to occur and will be super normal, completely ignoring the entire Jan 6 affair and aftermath, the sprint toward the far-right, fascism, and authoritarianism, and that SCOTUS declared POTUS to be basically god-king.
It’s clearly either controlled opposition, dereliction of duty, sheer stupidity, or all of the above.
The fact that the US effectively has two political parties for, what, 340 million or so people (yes yes I know eg. the Greens etc. exist, but they’re all such a minor players that they might as well not even exist) is just unbelievable. I know it’s a more or less guaranteed outcome with first-past-the-post voting, but it’s still just crazy that something hasn’t been done to fix this – not that either of the two “one party” parties has any interest in fixing it.
I live in Finland, with a population of about 5.6 million people, and we around 20 active political parties ranging from literal neofascist to communist. 9 of them are currently in Parliament, one of which is a democratic socialist party (and I don’t mean social democrat, although they’re also in Parliament). Even with all this variety, I feel like we could use more and more diverse political parties. Can’t even imagine how the average American feels about their voting choices (at least if that average American isn’t a fascist wannabe, they’re probably very happy right now)
Hey now don’t be unfair, they showed immense strength and resolve when they fixed systemic racism by wearing Kente cloth and kneeling in 2020.
For the history books, this was the day racism in America was forever abolished:
Driving out to the Indian Reservation to tell all the First Nations people that we’re extremely worried about the direction our government has taken. Heading back through the black ghettos with a big mega-phone strapped to my car, warning people about over-policing and the gestapo-like tactics of county-wide sheriffs’ gangs. Rounding out my Paul Revere-esque ride at the US/Mexico border to inform all the migrant laborers who make their living doing piecework and odd-jobs and letting them know that they should not, in fact, trust the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Turns out they’re implementing a lawless pogrom across the southern border and are not, in fact, just protecting neighborhoods from people who are doing evil crimes.
I mean, historically, the President’s party eats shit in the midterms. Very possible we’ll get a 2006 or 2018 blue wave of legislators as public opinion of the Trump administration sours again.
But what does Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jefferies do with an incoming Dem majority? Do they rewrite budgets to curtail the resources afforded to Trump-loyal rogue agencies? Do they claw back executive authority in the next NDAA and budget bills? Do they reject Trump cabinet appointees and judges who continue to defend unconstitutional governance? Do they advance new legislation to reform the immigration process, expand the authority of state governments to protect women’s health and voting rights, and prohibit executive appointees from hijacking the digital tools of the bureaucracy in order to override legislative intent?
Or do they whine about not having veto-proof majorities and sit on their hands until 2028?
I am far less worried by the prospect of “rigged elections”, because the US election system has always been janky and corrupt but so heavily decentralized that it’s a rats’ warren of different reporting systems you’d need to hijack.
I am far more worried by the prospect of a Controlled Opposition of Democrats, who show up to lend legitimacy to Trump policy through their own tenure of ratification, while making a stink about Trump’s sex habits and online persona that lead to another series of nothingburger investigations and indictments that produce no penalty even when convictions are achieved.
What happens if Dems win for the next four years and then repeat 2020?
I’ve seen lots of Americans saying that they think the Dems are essentially a controlled opposition party like they have in Russia, and it really does kind of seem like that – again, looking in from the outside. Not that there aren’t any good Democrats, but that the “party apparatus” is kind of purposefully ineffective
Edit: that wikipedia article is fucking wild. What the hell, USA?
Their official plan to “combat” Trump is to do nothing to stop him, then fundraise off the chaos he creates. They’re not actually trying to stand in his way, nor do they want to. They only care about the outcome of the next election, and more chaos means more donations. They don’t care if working people are bankrupted or suffer in the meantime, because they’ve literally said they’re now relying on funding from megadonors instead. Megadonors who share many financial interests with conservatives…
This, of course, is all built on the (flawed) assumption that the next elections are totally guaranteed to occur and will be super normal, completely ignoring the entire Jan 6 affair and aftermath, the sprint toward the far-right, fascism, and authoritarianism, and that SCOTUS declared POTUS to be basically god-king.
It’s clearly either controlled opposition, dereliction of duty, sheer stupidity, or all of the above.
The fact that the US effectively has two political parties for, what, 340 million or so people (yes yes I know eg. the Greens etc. exist, but they’re all such a minor players that they might as well not even exist) is just unbelievable. I know it’s a more or less guaranteed outcome with first-past-the-post voting, but it’s still just crazy that something hasn’t been done to fix this – not that either of the two “one party” parties has any interest in fixing it.
I live in Finland, with a population of about 5.6 million people, and we around 20 active political parties ranging from literal neofascist to communist. 9 of them are currently in Parliament, one of which is a democratic socialist party (and I don’t mean social democrat, although they’re also in Parliament). Even with all this variety, I feel like we could use more and more diverse political parties. Can’t even imagine how the average American feels about their voting choices (at least if that average American isn’t a fascist wannabe, they’re probably very happy right now)
I am going to vote for AOC, and serve in her military if needed. I have no faith in the Blue to do good, let alone the Red.
In Oklahoma, we have cops that brag about having associations with the mafia (suggesting they have connections to kill journalists) and complain about how much better it would be if they could lynch black people.
These men were not removed from office.
They write letters. Strongly worded ones.
Hey now don’t be unfair, they showed immense strength and resolve when they fixed systemic racism by wearing Kente cloth and kneeling in 2020. For the history books, this was the day racism in America was forever abolished: