2020 Democratic Primary

[Beebo Brink]

Yes, I understand. Sorry if it seemed like I was projecting that onto you. I was mostly speaking for myself in regards to the constant chicken little refrains I see displayed in social media. There is an agenda in play constantly trying to convince people things are so broken they can never be fixed and so it‘s hopeless to try.

I'm always in favor of trying, even in lost causes. There's always some small battle that can be won, some good that can be sown somewhere, even if the larger war is lost.

I feel the same way about climate change: that's a war that we've lost, but there are still things we can do to improve what we've got, even if it doesn't change the overall outcome at some point in the future. I'd been debating working from home for environmental reasons when the pandemic forced my hand. Now, even if my office were to open up again, I'd opt for working from home. I won't fly anymore either, and I've weaseled my way out of doing so for company training. If I were younger and more ambitious, that would have been a greater sacrifice, and I can't claim I would have made the same choice, but still, it's a small step that I can take, so why not?

My own despair is more personal. That I'm too sick and tired to actively do more good things like campaigning for a candidate rather than just voting for one, or going off the grid to lower my carbon footprint. I'm not willing to drain my retirement savings in order to rail against climate change. I'm not dying on a hill for any cause. These days the best I can offer is just hunkering down and doing my best not to catch coronavirus.

 

[danielravennest]

Elizabeth Warren to host private fundraiser for Biden: NY Times

Instead of making snide jokes, perhaps you could discuss why candidates for higher office need massive fundraising unless they are personally very wealthy.

 

[danielravennest]

Meanwhile, Trump goes golfing on the weekend that the 100,000th person will die due to his negligence. But, obviously the problem is that Biden stuck his foot in his mouth.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

So, I'll admit, I don't think my vote matters anymore, and hasn't since I could vote? I think things are broken and cannot be fixed... but.

I'm stubborn and refuse to let them get me to the point of not trying against all odds to fix it anyway.

 

[Salome]

So, I'll admit, I don't think my vote matters anymore, and hasn't since I could vote? I think things are broken and cannot be fixed... but.

I'm stubborn and refuse to let them get me to the point of not trying against all odds to fix it anyway.

I think our votes somewhat obviously matter less at the national level and that can feel discouraging, but the odds are that your vote matters a great deal at the local level, especially if you vote in off year elections. So I’m glad you’re stubborn.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

I'm stubborn and refuse to let them get me to the point of not trying against all odds to fix it anyway.

Illegitimi non carborundum

 

[Anya Ristow]

So, I'll admit, I don't think my vote matters anymore, and hasn't since I could vote? I think things are broken and cannot be fixed... but.

I'm stubborn and refuse to let them get me to the point of not trying against all odds to fix it anyway.

If you live in a swing state, your vote matters. But MSNBC's vote matters twenty million times more than yours. So does Fox News's vote.

We won't have nice things as long as the fourth estate is more concerned with maintaining chummy access than they are with holding elected officials accountable. We won't have nice things as long as the fourth estate is owned by five corporations, and all the talking heads are comfy millionaires.

I think it's hopeless. I'm giving it not one iota of my attention going forward. Except to grouse and complain.

 

[Anya Ristow]

With our current form of representative democracy it is almost impossible to get a candidate or office-holder who is ideal for any given person.

If you are wealthy you have a near perfect match in any candidate of either party. The stuff they let us argue about? That doesn't cost them any money so they don't care. Kids in cages...or not. No skin off their back. Universal access to healthcare? Gonna propaganda that one right into the crapper.

 

[Clara D.]

Bullying people who don't agree with you isn't performance? Yeah, right.

Aw, does you haz a sad now?

 

[Clara D.]

She laughs at my jokes.

So do I.

Jus' sayin.

 

[Aeon Jiminy]

If you live in a swing state, your vote matters. But MSNBC's vote matters twenty million times more than yours. So does Fox News's vote.

We won't have nice things as long as the fourth estate is more concerned with maintaining chummy access than they are with holding elected officials accountable. We won't have nice things as long as the fourth estate is owned by five corporations, and all the talking heads are comfy millionaires.

I think it's hopeless. I'm giving it not one iota of my attention going forward. Except to grouse and complain.

You are probably right. It is hopeless, at least for the forseeable future. Soon we're going to find out where our house landed. It's not going to be OZ. I hope people can see that our future was not determined by an act of God. We will be where we are by an act of men and women who determined that we weren't worth saving.

I hang onto a belief that nature will rule in the end and I find that comforting.

 

[Salome]

It’s interesting to me how FOX uses hate and fear to incentivize voter turnout while the TYT/YouTube left uses hate and fear to discourage voting and the same type of people fall for the grift on either side, all the while insisting they’re the ones that are free of mainstream media manipulation.

 

[Sovereignty]

There is a giant difference between having trouble with bills and acting repeatedly to manipulate and con others - including going by false names.

What about extorting a foreign country for your personal benefit? All that work on the impeachment and no mention. Sigh.

 

[Eunoli]

What about extorting a foreign country for your personal benefit? All that work on the impeachment and no mention. Sigh.

I think this is an unrelated issue to the Tara Reade story, but yeah.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I occasionally get news from the Americans that have shows on RT America. These are Americans that often have different points of view, because of their own ideology, not because the Russians put them up to anything.

RT is a propaganda outfit for Vladimir Putin, who has quite openly adopted a form of Russian Orthodox Christo-fascism and nationalism.

They are for Putin pretty much what Trump wishes Fox were for him.

What do you think of Americans who are on his station's payroll and why do you consider them more reliable or trustworthy than people who have shows on One America News Network?

 

[Cristalle]

RT is a propaganda outfit for Vladimir Putin, who has quite openly adopted a form of Russian Orthodox Christo-fascism and nationalism.

They are for Putin pretty much what Trump wishes Fox were for him.

What do you think of Americans who are on his station's payroll and why do you consider them more reliable or trustworthy than people who have shows on One America News Network?

That's a pretty bold statement, based on what exactly? There are some times when I do see some things that seem like propaganda but there are some very normal dissident voices with valid viewpoints. To just handwave it all away as propaganda is lazy, honestly.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Handwaving Innula's background and experience in the region is extra hilarious.

 

[Pamela]

This is pretty cool!

 

[Sovereignty]

Handwaving Innula's background and experience in the region is extra hilarious.

It is well known that RT is a Russian propaganda outfit which sometimes can be quite subtle. For instance, they had a camera crew come through the Houston area after hurricane Harvey and posted videos without comment/narration on YouTube.

OAN's reputation is much more over the top.

Wikipedia gives an unreality check, so to speak. (I trust Wikipedia over either of them any day.)

RT:

RT is a brand of "TV-Novosti", an "autonomous non-profit organization", founded by the Russian news agency, RIA Novosti, on 6 April 2005. During the economic crisis in December 2008, the Russian government, headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, included ANO "TV-Novosti" on its list of core organizations of strategic importance of Russia.

RT has been described as a propaganda outlet for the Russian government and its foreign policy. RT has also been accused of spreading disinformation by news reporters, including some former RT reporters.[23][24][25] The UK media regulator, Ofcom, has repeatedly found RT to have breached its rules on impartiality and on one occasion found it had broadcast "materially misleading" content. RT's editor-in-chief compared it with the Russian Army and Defence Ministry and talked about it "waging the information war against the entire Western world."[5] In September 2017, RT America was ordered to register as a "foreign agent" with the United States Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

OAN:

Content

• 3.1 Pro-Trump content
• 3.2 Murder of Seth Rich conspiracy theories
• 3.3 Roy Moore sexual misconduct report controversy
• 3.4 Conspiracy theory about David Hogg
• 3.5 Syria chemical attack
• 3.6 Hiring of Jack Posobiec
• 3.7 False story about Bible ban
• 3.8 Unsubstantiated claims about Ammar Campa-Najjar
• 3.9 Interview subject with a fake name
• 3.10 Russia
• 3.11 Fabricated story about Hillary Clinton funding Antifa
• 3.12 George Soros smears
• 3.13 Donald Trump wiretapping conspiracy theories
• 3.14 Coronavirus outbreak conspiracy theories

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_America_News_Network#Coronavirus_outbreak_conspiracy_theories

 

[Pamela]

Just as importantly, the next term (probably several) will be limited to re-building everything Trump tore down. And even that effort will be largely determined by the composition of Congress. If we don't take back the Senate, I'll settle for a stalemate in which no further damage can be done. Just the presidential appointments alone will be enough.

My dreams of a progressive America are pretty shredded by now. I don't think we have an educated, principled electorate that can support that vision anymore. All empires come to an end, and I think we've peaked and are sliding down the other side of that hill now. We can put on the brakes now and then, to slow our descent, but our glory days -- such as they were -- are over.

One of the biggest blows of the Trump presidency has been to shatter the illusion of our supremacy. Even for nations and cultures that despised us, there was the belief that we were powerful and competent. We're still powerful, but the appearance of competence has been shattered.

Historically, major advances in civilization, science, and technology occurred in the aftermath of major pandemics. I think it is clear that people are somewhat more open now to health insurance for all, increasing the minimum wage, basic income, free child care, free tuition, and many more issues. Since everything will as you say have to be rebuilt, we could build something new. So there is much to be hopeful about, along with much to fear.

We just have to create a blue tsunami.