volkris @volkris@qoto.org

@Hey_Beth But Obama had more to run on than just hatred for the other guy.

Again I'm just highlighting the contrast with Obama. I don't feel the similarity because Harris seems like such a weak candidate in all the ways that Obama was substantial and successful.

To me Harris feels more like Clinton 2016 in the way she seems kind of out of touch with so much of the public, except that Clinton communicated a better command of the issues.

Obama connected with the public in a way that Harris just can't.

@Hey_Beth I don't see it.

Obama was so much better at laying out policies, answering questions, doing press events, and generally engaging with the realities of the office of President.

We don't get that these days.

@mkb Yes, it is hyperbolic to say that.

And we've seen those claims made over and over, and they aren't any more true now than they were before.

It's just not how the US government works, how it can work. Neither option is on the table, and it cannot be on the table, and basic civics shows us that.

So the people running around making these hyperbolic claims before have been proven wrong. How many times are we going to keep repeating them until we dismiss them as the propaganda that they are?

Maybe the reason it's hard for you to even process is because you know in your heart that these claims are falsehoods promoted by people looking to profit off of spreading sensationalized claims.

@libramoon Well often enough when I see people complaining about what some representative is doing, I end up thinking yes, that person actually is representing how awful our society is, that put him in power.

There's an awful lot of people out there who basically are spoiled middle school brats, so why would we expect better out of our Representatives that are supposed to represent exactly those people?

But I'd say the important note here is to highlight how we really have to engage with our fellow people, try to lift up the people, because as a society we can do better, but that comes from the grassroots, not from hoping for better representatives of people who aren't actually that great.

@chessert I think this bear is bringing up the difference between wealth and bank accounts.

Wealthy people are often enough pretty cash poor, and measures of wealth often don't take into account liquidity, so they they end up being very misleading.

We see that confusion in political rhetoric all the time, in fact, so it's worth underscoring.

Even substantial discussions of public policy are often lacking in that distinction.

And so, just as a person can be a wealthy oligarch based on political connections without so much in the bank, so the distinction is important for talking about things like tax policy.

It's always worth keeping in mind how money works like that.

@paninid

@gearhead The problem is, this is about the general population. You can't solve the problem of racism and hate and all that stuff in the general population putting people in jail.

As we've seen, that can even promote those negative aspects of society.

No, this is a cultural problem to be addressed through engagement and understanding, not by hating on haters and bringing down the boot of the government on individuals. History shows over and over that the backlash to that can magnify the problem, in kind of a Streisand Effect sort of way.

The present moment emphasizes that, too. In my opinion there's no way Trump would be a viable candidate today, much less be within striking distance of being reelected, had we not treated him as such a baddie for the last 4 years. All of that rhetoric played into his hands and gave him the attention he needed to score the Republican nomination.

We should have just let him fade into the past as the loser that he is. Instead we gave him a center stage with giant spotlights, and as you probably agree, he has used that to promote a lot of really antisocial ideas.

It didn't have to be this way. But it was so predictably this way.

@paninid they're different things, though: an oligarch doesn't necessarily derive power from their bank account.

Political power is kind of priceless.

@indivisibleteam those aren't accurate descriptions of their policy positions, though.

This post is promoting fear and chaos while chaotically positioning itself as if it was opposing fear. It's doing the opposite.

@stribeprogblog notice that the headline doesn't really reflect the quote in the article.

There's general agreement that the US can improve health policy. He merely reflected that with his quote.

@faab64 keep in mind that there have been reports saying flat out that Bezos was not pushing it.

This just goes to show the crisis of journalism that we can't even agree on the crisis because journalism has fallen so far.

@heretical_i

@mhjohnson I think it's so noteworthy that the new systems and guardrails put into place by Congress really updated the existing systems and guardrails that we were told definitely didn't exist even as they were being followed during the last election.

It just goes to show how the public is completely unaware of how this stuff really works, and how easy it is for politicians to lie about it.

@northernlights stuff like this comes to mind.

Harris has not really shied away from promising to overrule the democratic process, which is kind of fitting considering her path to the nomination.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/harris-promises-to-impose-new-gun-rules-if-congress-wont/2019/04/22/62a0ed9e-6543-11e9-8985-4cf30147bdca_story.html

@scattapilla meh, If a kid needs to be picked up from school or groceries need to be acquired the elite will just pay someone else to do either one.

Blocked highways means that the poor worker rushing to get off the job and get to their kid will be disproportionately punished, the people least able to take the blow.

The rich don't care. Stop blocking highways because it just ticks off the common worker, leaving them less interested in working toward whatever your cause is.

@gearhead Oh the Atlantic. No surprise here, but it's funny to see them say it's not about partisanship, but it's about partisanship.

And clicks, but they didn't say that part out loud.

@brownsbay It's nonsensical considering that democracy is what is funding their toys.

No, they're not fighting to throw a democracy to protect their toys, and they couldn't if they wanted to. That's not how democracy works.

This is just conspiracy theory stuff.

@breedlov wow no.

This comes across as people assuming that everyone else are obsessed with the exact things they are.

It comes across as pretty out of touch.

I completely believe that JD Vance hasn't seen the joke. Seems like he probably has better things to do with his time than go watch something that a bunch of loudmouths are saying isn't funny.

Just because some clickbait news articles are trying to get advertising bucks off of highlighting a bad comedian doesn't mean most of us are falling for it.

@realTuckFrumper did you watch much of the rally?

It wasn't racism filled. The focus was surprisingly upbeat because Republicans feel, rightly or wrongly, that they are cruising to victory.