Do words mean things? It's generally understood that "democracy" means "rule of the people by the people." Although this has been understood to mean different things at different times, I cannot comprehend how the Democratic National Committee can claim to be "democratic" in the slightest.
It was bad enough when the Democratic party used its "superdelegates" to ensure the will of the party leadership outweighed the wishes of their voters in years past. But this year, they decided to forego any kind of primary process whatsoever while their media mouthpieces assured us that despite the evidence before our eyes for years, Biden was still "sharp as a tack."
Alternate link:
In case you missed it, Biden imploded on the debate stage. Then he fumbled an interview. After that he fumbled another where the reporter was given the questions to ask. Contrast this man who is now undeniably deteriorating due to age with Trump's apparent energy and defiance when someone tried to shoot him in the head and missed, and it was clear someone else needed to be swapped in at the last minute.
In all fairness, a few states have already finalized ballots, and there's little time now for a typical primary election cycle before November, but just pretending Kamala Harris should step in is sad. She was openly chosen by Biden's team as a diversity enhancement, not because of any obvious talent or pull with the party. She couldn't even make it to the Iowa primaries. Much more impressive people actually hung on and made an effort while Harris couldn't even get to the starting line.
If the Democrats wanted a woman of color, they could have had Tulsi Gabbard. If they wanted someone with an aura of dynastic legitimacy, they could have had RFK Jr. But no, instead of a peace candidate or someone notorious for opposing Trump's disastrous COVID response policies, we get a damned lawyer who locked people in cages for victimless "crimes" in California. I have nothing but contempt for such people, regardless of skin color or genitalia. Sorry, not sorry, jackass.
And no, this doesn't mean I'm on the Trump bandwagon. This false choice political system we're stuck with in the US should be an embarrassment. Trump insists he's learned from his first administration, and he really truly honest will drain the swamp. Then he appoints a bunch of reptilian bastards. AGAIN.
Note: This is metaphorical, not an actual belief in reptilians running the government. I'm not a fan of David Icke.
I have serious doubts about the merits of those felony convictions his critics keep bringing up, and the assorted absurd charges they've continually made over the past 8 years failed to stick, but Trump was abysmal on COVID, failed to end wars promptly, almost ignited hostilities with Iran with a pointless assassination of a general, and is a disgusting human being without apparent moral or intellectual virtues.
There are other parties, but they're all almost as much of a trainwreck as the big two. I remain politically homeless. But if these Democrats really wanted to lure disaffected Millennials and Zoomers into the fold, don't you think they could at least pretend to actually be democratic? At the very least, don't gaslight us by insisting Harris is the brilliant heir to Biden's noble throne.
I have yet to meet a Democrat who is disappointed that the majority of delegates to the upcoming convention have indicated their support for Harris. Perhaps they exist somewhere, but it seems that the only people I see complaining aren’t Democrats.
Both of whom are about as popular among Democrats as herpes.
What is the case for Harris other than
???
They didn't want her when she was actually on the primary ballot. Now she's just the heir apparent and they have been told she's the one to support by the same media and party people who were telling us a month ago that Biden was just fine and ready to run.
She was a successful DA (whose campaign Trump donated to). Current VP is actually a strong case. NONE of the delegates are required to vote for her. Any Democrat could have tossed their hat into the ring. Crickets from them.
Again, the only people who seem to be against this aren’t Democrats. Why should Democrats care about what they think?
And Republicans could have picked someone else. There are any number of Republican governors. Yet Republicans chose to go with a felon con artist. So they’re not exactly taking the high ground here.
Of course Trump is a con artist. He just doesn't have a career of masking it behind the veneer of legitimacy we call "modern democracy." The "felon" argument is nonsense. Sorry. As far as I can tell, an NDA is not legally within the very narrow and explicit legal definition of a campaign expense in the first place, so failing to report it as a campaign expense can't possibly be a crime. If the underlying act isn't a crime in the first place, this novel interpretation of the law to create a felony out of thin air falls apart. It's on par with the Obama Birther arguments.
What constitutes a "successful DA?" She convicted innumerable people for victimless "crimes." She embodies the root problem of criminal justice in America. Again, as for being VP, she was explicitly chosen based on her status as a minority woman, and not on her prior appeal to the party during the primaries or her legislative record. What has she done in office in the last 3-1/2 years, exactly? Make a case for her, don't just appeal to popularity or claim, "at least she isn't Cheeto Mussolini."
Oddly, 12 jurors who weighed the evidence disagree.
Innumerable? I’m guessing it’s actually some finite number. Claims about her record as DA are sometimes very inaccurate:
https://factcheck.afp.com/misleading-claim-says-harris-jailed-1500-black-men-marijuana
Here’s a useful rundown:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/26/kamala-harris-vice-president-accomplishments/74534954007/
There are going to be only two choices in November. A woman who not everyone is happy about or a man who’s a fascist. Given those two choices, I won’t be voting for the fascist.
Juries wrongly convict people all the time. Harris has (and had) critics from the "left" in 2020 and now. The American Prospect was scathing in 2020, and still today.
And that's just scratching the surface. From your own fact check link,
In addition, the New York Times is hardly a right-wing rag, and your link does not actually rebut their editorial, just how some people are spinning it. Her "record" in your USA Today link is abysmal, and does little to encourage me. The only significant policy stances I see just demonstrate she's a gun-grabbing state supremacist authoritarian. You're making my case, not yours.
Voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil. Trump is a populist nationalist with no moral or philosophical foundation to his loose-cannon politics, but are you sure you know what a "fascist" is, and what do you call someone who was literally part of the police state for her entire career and intertwines herself with corporate interests? At least Trump didn't start any new wars. Biden has been an overt interventionist and courted war with Russia. If Harris is his heir, what has she said or done to suggest she won't also wage war abroad? Again, "She isn't Cheeto Mussolini" is hardly incentive to support her, especially considering the baggage she brings.
If it walks like a fascist and talks like a fascist, the betting money says it’s a fascist.
If supporting Ukraine and hoping that Putin is crushed is a bad thing, I’m okay with being bad.
At least for those who’l be voting this fall, the choice is between someone who I might disagree with on some policy issues or a sociopath. Not really a hard choice.
Democrats hate Democracy, but they love what they call "Our Democracy". They hate "we the people", but they love "we the people" as they define it.
When a rich man says "I promise to preserve and protect our house" to a crowd of people, he's not talking about "our house" as in yours and mine. He means "my family's house". Same with Democrats. When they say "Our Democracy", what they mean is "their government" that is Democrats and their sponsors, not including "you the surfs" who are useless in their pursuit of power. "Those people can't rule, we hate them red-necked gun owning, bible clutching MAGA extremists. They're a threat to our democracy." They are not incorrect, when correctly identifying "our Democracy".
We the people (descendants of those) who defeated the British, established individual states, with independent rule, united under a limited Federal authority and those who have joined in with this sovereignty by becoming a citizen, are true "we the people". If enough "we the people" elect representatives that have a "MAGA extremist" view point, that's what "we the people" will get to represent us. If enough "we the people" elect socialist representatives, "we the people" will get that too. That's how it's supposed to work, anyway.
But that's not how the Corporate State sees "We the people". As President Biden said, April 28th 2021 to a joint Session of Congress:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/04/29/remarks-by-president-biden-in-address-to-a-joint-session-of-congress/
As a counterpoint, what does the MAGA faction really mean by "Make America Great Again?" That slogan seems to encompass contradictory ideas of nationalism and individualism while failing to really define what was great in the past.
There is a real xenophobic undercurrent justified by both real complaints about the welfare state and arbitrary appeals to "sovereign borders" as a matter of national pride. Government boundaries are not the same as property lines, and travel without state permission is not equivalent to trespass.
Further, while I have said the Trump started no new wars, the MAGA movement has a strange jingoistic attitude toward foreign affairs that could erupt into justification for pointless wars based on their ill-defined national pride.
Control freaks gotta control.™
I think this is a better division of what is going on.
Do you want others to obey, or do you want others to be free?
Lots of control freaks on both sides of the aisle.
No one who respects liberty wants political power. A few halfway-decent folks like Massey seem to want to represent the people and curb overreach, but they are few and far between.
Interestingly, it seems the non-US expats here are most gobsmacked when I tell them that I'm not voting for either one. And even more astonished when I tell them that as bad I think Trump will be for the country, that I suspect Harris will be even more horrible.
I suspect it's b/c most of them are Brits or Europeans, and are a lot more concerned how the election may effect the Russia-Ukraine war. On the other hand most of the other Americans here I've talked to both here and during my recent US trip seem either somewhat weary of the whole spectacle, or just not excited about their candidate and the only tiny amount of passion they have is in their hate of the other one. One has to suspect the non-stop US media coverage of this circus of assclowns is the reason for the difference between the US and non-US perspectives... it'll just wear a person down over time.
Just within my lifetime, I have seen a dramatic shift in elections becoming more about voting down the other party than about voting for any principles. The Democrats actively undermined Bernie Sanders despite popular support to promote Hillary Clinton instead. The Republican party wanted nothing to do with Ron Paul, and the media actively avoided mentioning him.
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