Much could be set aright by getting trump out of office (by any available legal means) and then voting out his sycophants in the chambers of Congress. I think Justin Amash has a lot of things that are right to say though he is way too conservative for my taste, But he understands how government is supposed to function which is a far cry from the dictatorial ways of trump.
One more thing. I am amazed by how much AOC looks like my mom at her age. Same hair, skin tone and facial features. Except my mom wasn’t Hispanic.
I was told that politics was a blood sport.
The Republicans have won the White House and kept the Senate (and for quite awhile, the House), with a minority of the electorate.
So naturally what works for them, won’t work for us. It is downright odd that you’d hallucinate it would. Got any evidence?
Look at the 50 or so House districts that are essentially solid R, but which Ds now hold.
Kindly explain how “revving up the base” is going to elect Ds in those districts. The “base” in those districts doesn’t agree with you.
I’m all for a big turnout of Ds and progressives and, well, voters who believe in American self-government everywhere. My point is that you’re enthusiastically setting out to lose.
Note that it isn’t about “concentration camps for kids”. It’s about Ds who literally cannot say enforcing immigration law is valuable. If you can’t say that, the Rs win on the issue – as they did in 2016.
Strive to keep up.
It isn’t for you, but based on the 2018 results (which I ascribe in large part to significantly higher Dem turnout, due in turn to significantly higher motivation after Donnie’s “win”) I believe it will be a winning strategy this time around. More importantly to me (and I hope and trust many others) it’s the morally right thing to do…
I agree. Right now our best tool is our majority and turnout is key. It can defeat this fucking gerrymandering. I’ve seen it done and been part of the voters who did it.
The Chinese writer Lu Xun invented modern Chinese literature almost exactly a hundred years ago, with his long short story: the True Story of Ah Q. Ah Q was an educated derelict, who was pretty much a metaphor for old China. He got his ass kicked constantly, but always decided to himself that this was proof of his superiority – his “method of spiritual victory”: 精神勝法.
It’s absolutely true that confiscating kids and putting 'em in cages is wrong. So it’s unforgivably stoooopid to make that fact into a political advantage for the President – and don’t kid yourself, that’s exactly what you’re fixing to do.
Hell, you just said so.
You are so wrong. In the first place and the most important place - the Rs didn’t win in 2016, Vlad Putin did. Keep up. You have either been plowed under by the propaganda or more likely are purposefully spreading it.
The one thing Americans want to hear and cheer about every time they hear it is how we’re going to kick Trump’s ass and take care of this mess at the border.
You think Americans are all white people who have no feelings for children and women? Or for that matter for suffering men? Good keep thinking it. This is where Russia fails utterly to understand Americans.
And Chinese sensibilities are a bad match for western ones therefore a lousy metaphor.
I may be missing your point (again?) but you seem to be arguing “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result”, while I’m actually arguing we need to stop doing the same thing over and over (seeking comity with folks who fundamentally don’t believe in the American model of Civic Governance) and do it based upon a clear moral wrong they are perpetrating in plain sight. And I do so based upon two beliefs:
- 
it’s effective (millions have seen and are horrified by the Concentration Camps and the meme has even broken through into the mainline media so it’s not just TPMers talking to each other about it).
 - 
It’s the morally right thing to do (which means it can quite possibly reach any number of current Trump supporters who really were just pissed about the economic changes over the past couple of decades but still don’t believe kids should be locked up in cages for weeks without even a blanket, drinking out of toilets and so on).
 
So, let’s tap into the moral outrage and see what happens, because comity is how we got here and I sincerely believe it will not get us out of here.
YMMV…
Looks like Amash will be the author of “Twelve Steps for the Recovering Republican”.
LOL – racism isn’t gonna help the good guys win, either.
You’re so polite about it. Comity is a word spat out by cowards and propgandists.
@theamericanist - Who said anything about the Trumpists? We do not need them and they never have voted Democratic and never will - fuck them. Fuck them hard - they are a minority. Otherwise what the hell you talking about, willis? It makes no sense.
Newt Gingrich started us down this path when he deliberately grabbed power from the house chairs. Senate leaders followed suit. Individual members of Congress and Senators lost importance. At the same time the Supreme Court legalized bribery. John Roberts had a big role to play in that but in fairness he was just following Scalia and other Justices owned lock, stock and barrel by big corporatists. The real evil really starts with the rise of corporate media controlled by a handful of very powerful, very corrupt individuals.
Are you serious? People are saying that the era of bipartisan legislating is dead, and you cite examples from…1964 and 1981.
The ACA was a freak show in the Senate because Harry Reid bent over backwards to try to convince one of the phonies from Maine to sign up for it. Despite being given everything they asked for, they voted party line against it.
You know what really killed bipartisanship? Earmarks. You could bribe people with goodies for their constituency, that got tacked onto the legislation and they could defend their votes to their constituents on the basis of those goodies.
Your “prescription” is the kind of magic unicorn crap we heard Obama was going to use in 2008, and Bernie in 2016, to get their legislation passed. In the end, it’s a matter of counting your votes, something Pelosi succeeded at spectacularly 2009-10. Unfortunately most of it died in the freak show that is called the Senate.
That’s true.
There has to be an end to it.
Ha!
Tell that to her Instagram constituents!
On the other, she is in her glory with the snail like pace and a GOP Senate that will pass no legislation from the House because it allows her to grandstand at every opportunity without having to vote with her party on anything important that pits her against what her constituents might want (the Latino ones, not the gentrifiers filling Jackson Heights and conglomerating at the Queensboro where she pulled her publicity stunt waiting tables and tending bar) instead of just pissing on a project in Carolyn Maloney’s District, or to do anything, any heavy lifting, any convincing of the the Modern GOP colleagues in the House to vote with her on anything. Win, Win for her.
You may have noticed that no one in politics (most particularly Ds) was ever afraid of Obama.
Every Republican is afraid of Trump.
Think that one over.
You misunderstand Tens. That is what she is accusing you if believing about white people. She thinks many white people are better than that.
Here’s what I would suggest. The Speaker should get her caucus into the room and say: the moment we get our hands on power, we will enact progressive legislation. I will guarantee you that: public option, massive investment in renewables, serious spending on education focusing on black Americans, massive tax overhaul focused on nailing the rich and the corporate.  We’ll scrap the filibuster if necessary.  We will run the most ruthless political operation Democrats have every run.
In return, and in order to ensure that we gain and retain our hold on power, you will adopt messaging discipline. I am useless at messaging, so I’m forming a team of representatives who will take the lead. The messaging will be focused on destroying the Republican brand and on simply asserting that the Democrats are the party of prosperity and health care and opportunity for all.  Your job is to go back to your base and reassure them that all will be well and learn the art of dog whistling. Got it?  Good.
If I hear one more pol say existential threat (Warren, Buttgeig, Inslee et al), and now Amash, I’m going to puke, ideally on him or her. And a second spew if he or she says “literally” at the same time.
The two-party system has evolved into an existential threat to American principles and institutions.
Joe B:
"I believe that the president is literally an existential threat to this country