US Politics XIX: Just an Echo Chamber Living In Your Heads

[Irvine511]

I won't rush. I'll take a leisurely stroll. Mostly because my vote doesn't actually count for shit #taxationwithoutrepresentation

Actually I think we do get a measly 3 electors. Nevermind

It was more exciting when I lived in Arlington 10 years ago and VA was a swing state.

This time, I’ll probably be driving to volunteer in PA or, depending, AZ, or some other state where votes matter.

 

[womanfish]

Any guesses when Tulsi declares her 3rd party run?

I think it's actually less likely because Clinton already called her out on it. Either way she is polling at under 2% nationally. Hawaii is probably the only state that would vote in any numbers for her and Hawaii going blue is not in contention.

Other question... What do we think Biden was doing these past 48 hours instead of shaking hands in NH? Sure some debate prep, but what else? Retooling campaign/hiring/firing? On the phone with donors to try and keep them on board?
Either way, not a great look to be off the trail.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I think it's actually less likely because Clinton already called her out on it. Either way she is polling at under 2% nationally. Hawaii is probably the only state that would vote in any numbers for her and Hawaii going blue is not in contention.



Other question... What do we think Biden was doing these past 48 hours instead of shaking hands in NH? Sure some debate prep, but what else? Retooling campaign/hiring/firing? On the phone with donors to try and keep them on board?

Either way, not a great look to be off the trail.

Probably some debate prep and a solid look in the mirror.

They know that they need to rebound in New Hampshire or it might be done. They don't have to win, they just need to not get dismantled. As much as South Carolina is still very much in play for Biden, they know Bloomberg is looking around the corner, and another poor showing in NH and even SC might start to look shaky.


Side note on Bloomberg... if he does end up getting the nomination and self finances, that means that all of the donor money that would normally go to the Democratic nominee can be poured into purple Senate, House and Governor's races.

 

[Popmartijn]

Side note on Bloomberg... if he does end up getting the nomination and self finances, that means that all of the donor money that would normally go to the Democratic nominee can be poured into purple Senate, House and Governor's races.

I believe he's already pushing for that. He is meeting with people/donors and telling them that, instead of donating money to him, donate it to the Democratic Committee or some other progressive group (Swing Left).
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/us/politics/bloomberg-donors-democrats.html

 

[womanfish]

Side note on Bloomberg... if he does end up getting the nomination and self finances, that means that all of the donor money that would normally go to the Democratic nominee can be poured into purple Senate, House and Governor's races.

That just gave me chills.

I get the strange dichotomy if this ends up going down to a Bernie/Bloomberg race. But there is just something satisfying about a respected, NY, self-made billionaire dismantling Trump, a hated, NY, phony, multi-millionaire (despite all his failures)

And not just that, but wiping out the sycophants that have enabled him for over 3 years. I couldn't really wish for anything better after all of us having to put up with this shit since 2016.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

https://www.washingtonian.com/2020/...ble-to-get-a-good-bacon-egg-and-cheese-in-dc/

fucking preach AOC

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

I believe he's already pushing for that. He is meeting with people/donors and telling them that, instead of donating money to him, donate it to the Democratic Committee or some other progressive group (Swing Left).

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/us/politics/bloomberg-donors-democrats.html

It gives the Democratic party a legitimate chance at a hard reset on McConnell's firewall.

And even the most strident Sanders supporter has to agree that nothing will get done unless the Senate flips, the house stays blue, and state and local governments start to trend blue.

 

[BEAL]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/07/politics/emoluments-lawsuit-trump/index.html

The dude is untouchable

 

[Irvine511]

https://www.washingtonian.com/2020/...ble-to-get-a-good-bacon-egg-and-cheese-in-dc/

fucking preach AOC

https://www.callyourmotherdeli.com

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

https://www.callyourmotherdeli.com

 

[womanfish]

It gives the Democratic party a legitimate chance at a hard reset on McConnell's firewall.

And even the most strident Sanders supporter has to agree that nothing will get done unless the Senate flips, the house stays blue, and state and local governments start to trend blue.

If nothing else, I would love to see Bloomberg carpet bomb Kentucky and send Mitch packing.

Not sure on the assumption that the "most strident" Sanders people think about the Senate. I'm sure the majority of them do, but tere is a very single focused (on Bernie) feeling among Bernie supporters. I mean everyone knew that the supreme court hung in the balance last time around and it didn't seem to convince enough people not to vote Green or just not vote.

Hoping there is more clarity and just down right fear this time around to get everyone to support Dems up and down the ticket.

 

[Irvine511]

If nothing else, I would love to see Bloomberg carpet bomb Kentucky and send Mitch packing.



Not sure on the assumption that the "most strident" Sanders people think about the Senate. I'm sure the majority of them do, but tere is a very single focused (on Bernie) feeling among Bernie supporters. I mean everyone knew that the supreme court hung in the balance last time around and it didn't seem to convince enough people not to vote Green or just not vote.



Hoping there is more clarity and just down right fear this time around to get everyone to support Dems up and down the ticket.

I also think that no one took Trump that seriously. No one thought he could win. I think there were a lot of protest votes that people now regret. Those will hopefully be different in 2020.

 

[womanfish]

I also think that no one took Trump that seriously. No one thought he could win. I think there were a lot of protest votes that people now regret. Those will hopefully be different in 2020.

totally agree. Add that to folks that genuinely thought of Trump more as a businessman, and thought that's what we needed, which has been a long talked about myth in politics. Now seeing that any character issues they thought would smooth out, have become worse than anyone could imagine, those people also don't want another 4 years of that.

I know that I keep looking at this election through the 2016 viewpoint. But there will be major differences in the electorate's thought process this time around. It will be interesting to see how that manifests itself.
But I do think the safe thing for Democrats is to still approach this election with 2016 in mind. Knowing that a lead in polls for a certain state, may not actually be what is going to happen. Because every swing state in 2016, swung several points to Trumps direction, and they have to think that can still be the case in 2020.

 

[DaveC]

bloomberg is now paying instagram influencers $150 a post to shill for him, so prepare yourself for several months of 18 year old girls in bikinis gushing in their insta stories about how much they totally super-sincerely love a 77 year old billionaire.

 

[womanfish]

Alexander Vindman has been fired and escorted out of the White House.
So yeah. This is where we are going.
I'll vote for toaster in November if it has a D next it on the ballot.

 

[Hewson]

bloomberg is now paying instagram influencers $150 a post to shill for him, so prepare yourself for several months of 18 year old girls in bikinis gushing in their insta stories about how much they totally super-sincerely love a 77 year old billionaire.

I'm ready.

 

[womanfish]

So this is pretty interesting. Just turned on MSNBC, talking about NH, debate,etc..
The subject of Biden's demise came up.
Jason Johnson said that all during Black History month, He and colleagues of his that were holding events all across the country, kept hearing black voters bring up Mike Bloomberg of who they would support if Biden drops out. He said that AA voters are so set on getting Trump out, that they overlook Bloomberg's flaws and know that he could beat Trump.
Reverend Al jumped in and echoed the same thing. That he has heard over and over again black voters bring up Bloomberg unprompted as who they are looking at.

If I look ahead to Super Tuesday, Bloomberg may be playing this just right. If Biden tanks in NH, it bodes very poorly for him in NV and SC. Once Pete hits those two states, his momentum may stall. Super Tuesday, if Biden drops out, most of his voters may have shifted to Pete. But if Bloomberg is there instead, you may see a huge surge for Bloomberg at that moment. Which then would stall Pete for good.

That's just one scenerio. But if black voters are without Biden on super tuesday, It's looking like Bloomberg will reap the benefits. I also think with so many southern states in super tuesday, it just isn't a good fit for Pete. We will see.

 

[Jerry Dunk]

Bernie Sanders won Iowa, is going to win the Democratic nomination, and will win the presidency. The movement that has been built around him, which at this point is much bigger than any one person, is astounding. I'm feeling hopeful for the first time in my life that something decent can come out of politics. The uphill climb is immense, and Sanders is no savior. But he can be the start of something.

 

[Jerry Dunk]

I Hated Bernie Bros Until I Loved And Lost One
About 45,000 people in the US die every year from not having health insurance. My boyfriend was one of them.

By Kate Willett
Feb 7, 2020

I didn’t expect a stupid internet fight to alter the course of my life, but in 2016, a lot of my relationships were being torn apart by one man: Bernie Sanders.

Politically, I was more liberal than Hillary Clinton, and yet the way people, especially men, talked about her hit a nerve. As a female comic, I was often held to a higher standard than my male peers. My ambition was regarded with disdain and my competence with skepticism. I identified with what I imagined Clinton’s life had been like and felt compelled to defend her.

In the end, I begrudgingly voted for Bernie in an effort to push Hillary to the left. Still, I hated how much he yelled (at a woman, no less) and I hated his online supporters. I was sick of being told not to “vote with my vagina” by dudes who have issues with their moms. The internet felt like a battleground of socialism vs. feminism.

Two years later, Jake, a comic I had never met in real life, tweeted a joke about Clinton that I thought was sexist. Still scarred from 2016, I told him off. Our argument escalated quickly, and we agreed there was “no reason to ever communicate in the future.”

Bernie Bros, man.

There was one good thing to come out of the experience, though—getting to know Raghav, a thoughtful comic I loved talking to at comedy shows. We had occasionally messaged about politics, so it didn’t surprise me to see him liking my tweets arguing with Jake, although I didn’t know at the time that they hosted a political podcast together.

When Raghav asked me to meet for tacos a week later, I assumed it was an act of diplomacy on his co-host’s behalf. When he told me he wanted to kiss me, I learned it was a date. He was incredibly cute, the smartest person I’d ever met, and pretty soon, I found myself relitigating the 2016 primary in my bedroom with my Bernie Bro boyfriend.

Despite being a feminist, I spent years secretly feeling that I’d always have to tone down my opinions and hide my strengths to avoid scaring a guy off. But Raghav wasn’t scared of my talents and passion; he loved me for them. We both had hard childhoods, felt like outcasts in school, and made parties weird talking about politics. We laughed together at comedy shows, then came home and laughed harder about the most fucked up things that ever happened to us. He hated anyone who was mean to me. When we said “I love you” three weeks in, we meant it.

Then last winter, Raghav slid into a deep depression. He’d had depression for some time but was managing it with Lexapro. Although Raghav’s day job didn’t give him insurance, a former doctor continued to call in his prescription, a fix he knew wouldn’t last forever. When the side effects of the medication became overwhelming, Raghav went off it, and when his depression worsened, he tried self-medicating with Zoloft he got from a friend. It didn’t work.

He couldn’t afford to see a psychiatrist. Talk therapy was too expensive, and although his friends and I offered to help with the cost, he understandably wanted to handle it himself. Many days Raghav slept until 5 p.m.; every day I scrambled and failed to find ways to cheer him up. His depression made him angry. Our political debates stopped feeling flirty and started to hurt. We broke up, got back together, and broke up again.

One of the biggest arguments we ever had was about Medicare for All. Although I didn’t have insurance, I believed that with tweaks to Obamacare, our problems could be solved. But Raghav believed true Medicare for All—healthcare that was free at the point of service with everyone automatically enrolled—was a life or death issue.

It turned out he was right: Six months after we said I love you, Raghav was dead. I was told his death was an accident—self-medicating gone wrong. When the pills weren’t working, Raghav drank in an effort to numb his inescapable pain. I’m convinced he’d still be here if he had health insurance to get the care he needed. At his funeral, I finally met Jake, the Bernie Bro I swore I’d never speak to.

About 45,000 people in the US die every year from not having insurance. Sometimes the causes are obvious—a lack of insulin or a cancerous tumor that goes unchecked. But there are also more insidious, cumulative circumstances that lead to the same conclusion. One morning Raghav didn’t wake up, and he never would again.

After his death, I was steeped in a kind of pain I didn’t know was possible—heavy, consuming, shattering. I finally understood how Raghav felt all the time. I got into secular Buddhism, muted happy couples on Instagram. I painted my room teal and decorated, trying to make it look like a place I could someday, one day, have sex again. I stormed out on a friend who suggested Raghav died because of astrology. The only thing that really helped was trying to better understand Raghav’s politics. I followed the journalists he followed on Twitter and read his favorite political authors. I retraced his steps to understand how he’d make sense of a tragedy like this.

I didn’t grieve alone. Raghav’s Bernie Bro friends were not a bunch of sexists after all. Some were socialist feminist women, some were great guys. In the months that followed Raghav’s death, they made sure I ate and didn’t isolate myself. We’ve since stayed up till 3 a.m. working on jokes and talking a lot about Bernie Sanders. This weekend, all of us, including Jake, are heading to New Hampshire to canvass for Bernie, the only 2020 candidate who unequivocally supports for Medicare for All. I’m one of the bros now, I guess.

I recently went out to lunch with a friend I used to hate on Sanders with in 2016. She’s supporting Joe Biden now, whose healthcare plan would leave 10 million people uninsured. As well as I could, I attempted to persuade her any other candidate’s plan means people will keep dying preventable deaths—but I don’t think she was convinced. I tried not to get too mad, because before it hit home for me, I couldn’t fully grasp the reality either.

I used to think supporting Sanders would also somehow make me less of a feminist. Now I know that couldn’t be further from the truth—my feminism needs to fight for women who don’t have $500 a month to spend on health insurance premiums, for single moms working three part-time jobs and still not making ends meet, for women who can’t leave an abusive marriage because her insurance is tied to her husband’s job. In 2016, I thought Bernie was prioritizing economic issues over women’s issues—now I understand that they’re connected.

Contrary to the Bernie Bro narrative, the growing progressive movement in this country is multiracial, includes all genders, and is full of people who care deeply about creating a better world for everyone, including future generations. Anyone telling you otherwise is likely not on your side. I even kind of like when Sanders yells now, because he’s yelling for me. He’s yelling for Raghav.

https://www.elle.com/life-love/a30551979/bernie-sanders-medicare-for-all/

 

[Vlad n U 2]

https://www.elle.com/life-love/a30551979/bernie-sanders-medicare-for-all/

Lovely article.

That’s BS. I can’t stand Bernie but if he’s the nominee I’ll reluctantly vote for him because he’s less dangerous than Trump.

Should be pretty easy to vote for someone offering mild social democratic policies over someone who routinely aligns himself with the far right, no?

 

[Popmartijn]

Should be pretty easy to vote for someone offering mild social democratic policies over someone who routinely aligns himself with the far right, no?

That's what people also thought four years ago.

 

[LuckyNumber7]

*CNN investigates.*

Lmao. Okay then. It’s not like Fox News didn’t do this shit to Clinton, and CNN didn’t do it to Trump... nope. Evidence that Bernie Sanders is now formally the front runner.

And for the record, Donald Trump supplies evidence directly that 75% of the shit said about him is justifiable. But yes, CNN does still take him for a ride from time to time with non-stories.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Alexander Vindman has been fired and escorted out of the White House.
So yeah. This is where we are going.
I'll vote for toaster in November if it has a D next it on the ballot.

Sondland as well.

It's the Friday night massacre, only, ya know, too late to actually do anything about it

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

View attachment 12399

*CNN investigates.*

Lmao. Okay then. It’s not like Fox News didn’t do this shit to Clinton, and CNN didn’t do it to Trump... nope. Evidence that Bernie Sanders is now formally the front runner.

And for the record, Donald Trump supplies evidence directly that 75% of the shit said about him is justifiable. But yes, CNN does still take him for a ride from time to time with non-stories.

Except, ya know, it's true.

 

[Irvine511]

Sondland as well.

It's the Friday night massacre, only, ya know, too late to actually do anything about it

Witness retribution is illegal.

But it’s ok, Susan Collins is sure Twump learned from this and will do better next time.

 

[anitram]

But it’s ok, Susan Collins is sure Twump learned from this and will do better next time.

Well she's not wrong.

He learned that his behaviour is A-OK.

 

[BEAL]

Bernie Sanders won Iowa, is going to win the Democratic nomination, and will win the presidency. The movement that has been built around him, which at this point is much bigger than any one person, is astounding. I'm feeling hopeful for the first time in my life that something decent can come out of politics. The uphill climb is immense, and Sanders is no savior. But he can be the start of something.

What about the senate ?

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

Well she's not wrong.



He learned that his behaviour is A-OK.

True. That is technically a lesson

 

[anitram]

Have watched just a bit of the debate, but Buttigieg's defensive stance about accepting money from billionaires is really bizarre. He says that Donald Trump raised $25M today alone and you need these moneyed interests to beat him.

If that's his argument, then Mayor Billionaire who could literally fund his entire campaign with JUST the interest made off his $62B principal is standing thattaway.

 

[BEAL]

https://twitter.com/hoarsewisperer/status/1225957317268602881?s=21

Is Yang courting MAGAs?? So whatever crime you commit during office it just washes away when you step away?