Election Day 2024 🇺🇸💙🗳️

[Soen Eber]

I really don't need to listen to Aeon crowing right about now. Ignored. He's more annoying than Grammarly and Adobe ads combined.

 

[Free]

we keep tripping over our dicks!

I don't think I could have put it better yesterday.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

Really, why was then Kamala Harris not elected as next president?

Because the right has weaponized their cultish propaganda, disseminated by russian troll bots everywhere on the internet, churches, news media and social media empires, and toxic masculine civilian/corporate workplaces. And the league of useful idiots desperate to show how loyal they are, so that they won't get conspired against for being 'outsiders'.

It's so overwhelming that in a lot of places around this country it has had a profound chilling effect on the left's ability and willingness to stand up and be heard or seen, because they feel like targets now. It made the dems look weak and in politics, appearances -matter-.

The master move that the right made was by running overt criminals for office. They ripped their "party of law and order" label off and threw it into the middle of the democratic party like poisoned meat. "Go on! Pick it up! EAT IT!!" they dared us, by running people who -really- need to be held accountable. But being the 'Enforcers' is off-brand for the left. And that unease spread like cancer.

The left is done. We're now the 'whatever else the right doesn't want' party, and that's not a strong rallying position. As soon as trump makes a complete shitshow of this nation, the republican party will schism, likely with religious nuts on one side, with the low-income/elderly... and the wealthy/capitalists on the other. Equal rights will be as irrelevant as the green party. It'll all be pushing god or pushing greed, or both so long as they can continue work together.

muttergrumblefrothgibberdrool.

 

[Beebo Brink]

There was also a total lack of interest in foreign relations and how we fit into the world. The America First message really resonated strongly with people here because they are largely ignorant about how the rest of the world works and how much of American prosperity is rooted in global peace and financial prosperity.

 

[Noodles]

I don't think I could have put it better yesterday.

Well, they did say harambe was a "Nexus moment" and we were all, "Dicks out for Harambe". Maybe we should have put them back in at some point.

 

[Cindy Claveau]

So out of two the two main candidates, do you think Trump's victory was the better or the worse of two possible outcomes?

Trump winning is the worst possible outcome EVER. He promised to wreck our democracy. I believe him.

He promised to screw over women and minorities. I believe him.

He promised to jack up inflation because he is ignorant of tariffs. I believe him.

Right now my future is uncertain and I'm part if white privilege. My family - gay, trans, girls etc. - is at risk for healthcare.

I'm not sanguine at all. I'm facing ar least 4 years of political hell. And I'm probably one of the lucky ones.

 

[Spirits Rising]

... Back to masking/hiding for me ....

 

[Innula Zenovka]

A poem by W H Auden that may say something to us today

September 1, 1939

I sit in one of the dives

poets.org

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

Because the right has weaponized their cultish propaganda, disseminated by russian troll bots everywhere on the internet, churches, news media and social media empires, and toxic masculine civilian/corporate workplaces. And the league of useful idiots desperate to show how loyal they are, so that they won't get conspired against for being 'outsiders'.

It's so overwhelming that in a lot of places around this country it has had a profound chilling effect on the left's ability and willingness to stand up and be heard or seen, because they feel like targets now. It made the dems look week and in politics, appearances -matter-.

The master move that the right made was by running overt criminals for office. They ripped their "party of law and order" label and the it into the middle of the democratic party like poisoned meat. "Go on! Pick it!" they dared us by running people who -really- need to be held accountable. But being the 'Enforcers' is off brand for the left. And that unease spread like cancer.

The left is done. We've now the 'whatever else the right doesn't want' party, and that's not a strong rallying position. As soon as trump makes a complete shit show of this nation, the republican party will schism, likely with religious nuts on one side, with the low-income types/elderly... and the wealthy/capitalists on the other. Equal rights will be as irrelevant as the green party. It'll all be pushing god or pushing greed, or both so long as they can continue work together.

muttergrumblefrothgibberdrool.

A lot of this is true, but I do think the single biggest mistake was that major democratic policy strategists kind of just let Trump have the willfully ignorant myth that Republicans manage the economy better. Democrats kind of just banked very heavily on abortion and minority rights to get people to the polls but did a terrible job of countering the claim that Trump's economy was great!

I expressed concern about this before on here I think. Trump in reality inherited a great upswing from Obama but democrats mostly just let him take credit. He passed the COVID shit show to Biden and Biden largely fixed it but Trump will be allowed to take the credit again. Mark my words, Trump will try to take credit for fixing the economy immediately or even before he takes office. ...even though that is of course nonsense.

There is a long history of democrats handing fixed economies to Republicans just to have them break it again but we just let much of the uneducated public think Republicans manage the economy better... Americans value their pocket book a lot more than anything Harris actually wanted to talk about. Harris was great in many interviews but really underperformed on economic questions.

 

[Spirits Rising]

I sincerely hope those who threw their votes away alongside those who actually voted for the piece of trash are happy with what they've done.

I do not ever want to see a single one of them even remotely pretend they currently give, will give or have ever given a single fucking shit about anyone's safety, well-being, rights or any fucking thing else.

I am flipping between fury, sadness, apathy/numbness and slipping into a hell of a depressed state on top of it all.

Hell, I even got to see the truth of an Ex over this - an Ex that I, until now, actually hoped would come back to me despite the direction she took in the last year in terms of seeing anyone else ... Yeah, no.

Was already in the process of moving a bit out of Akron (won't say where exactly but close enough I can still go to my present doctors) ... Now I won't be bothering to update a good chunk of my profiles.

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

We put forward our best candidate, a really GOOD candidate, and instead the worst candidate in history won. This is who the majority of the electorate wants. They won it, now they own it.

That's debatable. In my opinion Harris was the most convenient candidate the Dems could settle upon quickly due to Biden stepping down so late in the race. She performed better than many expected. But for sure Harris is not the best candidate the Dems might have came up with if they had more time when Biden would have not ran for a 2nd term.

Overall Harris didn't appeal enough at too many different groups of voters. She also failed to deliver an appealing enough vision to most people to counter MAGA. IMHO many people had quite a simplistic view: when Trump ruled economy was pretty good, prices low, this changed with Biden. So I'll go with Trump again.

Or as we say: erst kommt das Fressen, dann die Moral. (Bertolt Brecht).

Also another harsh truth: America still is not ready for a female president. England had its first Queen Mary I. from 1553 to 1558, and first female prime minister Margaret Thatcher 1979. Hail Britannia!

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

A lot of this is true, but I do think the single biggest mistake was that major democratic policy strategists kind of just let Trump have the willfully ignorant myth that Republicans manage the economy better. Democrats kind of just banked very heavily on abortion and minority rights to get people to the polls but did a terrible job of countering the claim that Trump's economy was great!

I expressed concern about this before on here I think. Trump in reality inherited a great upswing from Obama but democrats mostly just let him take credit. He passed the COVID shit show to Biden and Biden largely fixed it but Trump will be allowed to take the credit again. Mark my words, Trump will try to take credit for fixing the economy immediately or even before he takes office. ...even though that is of course nonsense.

There is a long history of democrats handing fixed economies to Republicans just to have them break it again but we just let much of the uneducated public think Republicans manage the economy better... Americans value their pocket book a lot more than anything Harris actually wanted to talk about. Harris was great in many interviews but really underperformed on economic questions.

The right makes bank off of inequality and use that surplus to spread their message.

The dems try to make things more equitable. That means there just isn't the same concentrated self-serving profit motive pushing the narrative. It's a lot of people getting by, instead of a few fatcats controlling the narrative.

And the right has been conditioned to ignore/mute/talk-over anything and everything that doesn't serve their narrative. "Your Facts Don't Matter! LALALA!" so even if there was a powerful social media/news media/talk-show/troll-bot force relentlessly pushing the narrative, it'd still fall on deaf ears.

Colbert, Stewart, Kimmel, Oliver... all smartly and concisely picked apart exactly how much bullshit the right was peddling, week after week. They didn't get enough traction.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

The right makes bank off of inequality and use that surplus to spread their message.

The dems try to make things more equitable. That means there just isn't the same concentrated self-serving profit motive pushing the narrative. It's a lot of people getting by, instead of a few fatcats controlling the narrative.

And the right has been conditioned to ignore/mute/talk-over anything and everything that doesn't serve their narrative. "Your Facts Don't Matter! LALALA!" so even if there was a powerful social media/news media/talk-show/troll-bot force relentlessly pushing the narrative, it'd still fall on deaf ears.

Colbert, Stewart, Kimmel, Oliver... all smartly and concisely picked apart exactly how much bullshit the right was peddling, week after week. They didn't get enough traction.

There is also something to be said for how simple answers, that are false, often track better than a complex answer that is true. For decades Republican economic promises has been centered around the tax cut. ...and very hand wavy ideas of "deregulation." This just resonates with voters a lot more than how a tax hike when spent properly and with the right regulation might actually give better long term results.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

That's debatable. In my opinion Harris was the most convenient candidate the Dems could settle upon quickly due to Biden stepping down so late in the race. She performed better than many expected. But for sure Harris is not the best candidate the Dems might have came up with if they had more time when Biden would have not ran for a 2nd term.

Overall Harris didn't appeal enough at too many different groups of voters. She also failed to deliver an appealing enough vision to most people to counter MAGA. IMHO many people had quite a simplistic view: when Trump ruled economy was pretty good, prices low, this changed with Biden. So I'll go with Trump again.

Or as we say: erst kommt das Fressen, dann die Moral. (Bertolt Brecht).

Also another harsh truth: America still is not ready for a female president. England had its first Queen Mary I. from 1553 to 1558, and first female prime minister Margaret Thatcher 1979. Hail Britannia!

What was the alternative?

 

[Cindy Claveau]

That's debatable. In my opinion Harris was the most convenient candidate the Dems could settle upon quickly due to Biden stepping down so late in the race. She performed better than many expected. But for sure Harris is not the best candidate the Dems might have came up with if they had more time when Biden would have not ran for a 2nd term.

She was not just the most convenient - she was also the best-qualified. By far. And certainly a fuckton more qualified than the Orange Baboon.

Overall Harris didn't appeal enough at too many different groups of voters.

Of course not. She's a woman.

She also failed to deliver an appealing enough vision to most people to counter MAGA. IMHO many people had quite a simplistic view: when Trump ruled economy was pretty good, prices low, this changed with Biden. So I'll go with Trump again.

Which actually brings up another question more to the center of this issue: (a) How short are peoples' memories? (b) How much do they NOT pay attention to anything other than Fox News, which was actually sued and forced to pay through the nose for making shit up. (c) Her plan included a lot of attractive options but the MAGAts shouted her down. Because she's a woman. (d) She's a woman.

Also another harsh truth: America still is not ready for a female president. England had its first Queen Mary I. from 1553 to 1558, and first female prime minister Margaret Thatcher 1979. Hail Britannia!

Fair point. But why do we have to reinvent the wheel when it's already been done?

 

[Bartholomew Gallacher]

She was not just the most convenient - she was also the best-qualified. By far. And certainly a fuckton more qualified than the Orange Baboon.

But that still that idiot won, whether we like it or not, I for sure dislike that reality, but we've got to live in it.

Best-qualified by the way is not equal to being the best candidate. It's like with preachers: many are highly qualified on paper, but when really trying to bring the people into your church that's only one part of the puzzle. Another important part is appealing to your community. Many highly qualified people lack that ability.

So I'll stick with my statement: Harris was a good candidate, but for sure not the best candidate if the Dems would have had more time.

 

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh god damnit shit fucking aaaaaahhhhhhhhh Jesus fucking Christ worst timeline ever.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

So I'll stick with my statement: Harris was a good candidate, but for sure not the best candidate if the Dems would have had more time.

THEN WHAT MAGIC FUCKING CANDIDATE WOULD DESCEND FROM THE FUCKING SKY AND WIN.
It's easy to say there's a better candidate. But no one can name them.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

There is also something to be said for how simple answers, that are false, often track better than a complex answer that is true.

"A lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots on"

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

THEN WHAT MAGIC FUCKING CANDIDATE WOULD DESCEND FROM THE FUCKING SKY AND WIN.
It's easy to say there's a better candidate. But no one can name them.

And to your point, why do dems have to have a PERFECT magical unicorn candidate to beat a rapist who can barely string a sentence together anymore who's policies are mostly unpopular??? This is fucked.