2023-24 Political Thread

[bjdeming]

For me, it stopped being about politics and Constitutional processes that must be followed when Joe made his Zelensky/Putin and VP Trump gaffes.

Partly it is because that failure made me see myself as I likely will be in ten years (am seven years younger than Mr. Trump) -- humble pie! -- and partly because it reminds me of my father in his later years refusing to give up his license until he got lost and drove into a ditch one night, less than a mile from home.

America doesn't live in the White House and doesn't work on Capitol Hill or in the Pentagon. Some folks do, and it's not a bad thing to see how ordinary and frail they are -- just like us. America will be fine, even after the last Boomer reaches trail's end and moves on.

A little different, perhaps, but fine.

 

[bjdeming]

Addendum: I didn't know about the Trump rally shootings when I wrote the above.

America will be fine, no matter how tough the sailing gets at times, though I can't put the reason why into words.

Perspective helps. This isn't the first era in which hate has splintered us, as Mike Royko once put it.

I was one of those young people Royko scorned in 1968, feeling unreasonable hate for Johnson in a country that I remember was exactly as Royko described it:

...Unrestrained hatred has become the dominant emotion in this splintered country. Races hate, age groups hate, political extremes hate. And when they aren’t hating each other, they have been turning it on LBJ...Maybe he wasn’t the best president we might have had.

But we sure as hell aren’t the best people a president has ever had.

It would seem that nothing much has changed about that over the last 56 years -- only it has, I can see that all around, and for the better overall, too.

Unrestrained hatred can't last, although pure goodness is not exactly our strong point, either.

America is big enough to encompass both, and then to find a workable compromise.

Efforts to restrain hatred and to at least consider seriously the possibilities inherent in doing a good thing seem to have given us the overall best results in the long term.

Mr. Trump's silent "Fight! Fight! Fight!" was stirring but not very constructive. He was acting instinctively and he is rooted in that same 1960s era of resistance when even the peaceniks were aggressive, if only passively.

The country is different now, with more people (believe it or not) who can see that hate feeds on hate and that there are better ways to spend our time on this planet.

Such young whippersnappers are playing Cheat the Prophet and, as Chesterton said, they will eventually bury us mid-20th-century fighting types nicely and then go do something else.

Fifty-six years from now, America will still be fine. Not at all perfect, but fine.

 

[akt1985]

Joe Biden dropped out of the race this evening. VP Kamala Harris is now the Democrat Party’s nominee.

 

[Mike S]

Will the DNC refund all 50 states for a portion of the cost of operating a primary or caucus?

 

[Jacob]

Will the DNC refund all 50 states for a portion of the cost of operating a primary or caucus?

That’s just the cost of protecting democracy

 

[DUUUVAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL]

Why? To get a rise out of people?

x.com

x.com

Project 2025?

 

[Blountwolf]

Project 2025?

Yeah, page 664.

 

[bjdeming]

This isn't news (a couple weeks old, actually), but i just came across the BLM statement on Harris, and with the primary question raised, and with the convention coming up, thought it would be good to include a link.

My beef is still the 25th Amendment ignoring, but I have a thought on this statement.

I don't have much to do with the organization because race is such a complicated issue, once you have actually lived where it is in your face day and night, and the rather knee-jerk virtue signalling of some white people here in Oregon during the riots -- and some issues raised by media about BLM's finances -- turned me off.

But this detailed statement is interesting: it shows that there are people in BLM who are using their brains, even if they see some things VERY different from how I see them, and have the courage to speak up even when it's not something powerful people who usually support them want to hear.

That is something that works for all Americans in the long and perhaps even the short run (we'll see about that later this month), making the US great with a small "g" all the time, no matter who is in office.

"...democracy isn’t just an ideal to be protected against Republicans; it must also be safeguarded from erosions within the Democratic Party."

 

[Jacob]

Guess I shouldn’t have said “I can’t believe we have to choose between Biden/Trump again” because somehow the Democrat ticket is worse now with Harris/Walz.

Sigh. At least I already got off Twitter and stopped watching the news a while back. It’s much less depressing only seeing a few blurbs here or there on various forums now.

 

[Mike S]

Guess I shouldn’t have said “I can’t believe we have to choose between Biden/Trump again” because somehow the Democrat ticket is worse now with Harris/Walz.

Sigh. At least I already got off Twitter and stopped watching the news a while back. It’s much less depressing only seeing a few blurbs here or there on various forums now.

Meh. I hardly think there's a difference between Biden and whoever was propping him up and Harris with whoever is propping her up.

The GOP has no one to blame but themselves.

 

[bjdeming]

The GOP has no one to blame but themselves.

Yep. There are definitely qualified people in there, but overall the GOP just seizes defeat from the jaws of victory.

And the Democrats -- I'd like to find candidates there, but the extremists turn me off (same with Republicans).

I voted for Johnson in 2016, but Libertarians have not taken advantage of the weakness in the two major parties by running candidates with possible broad appeal since.

However much he ruined things by jumping in this year, The Donald might have made a good contribution by bringing younger people back into the game, though.

They do unexpected things.

This guy's interesting, however the election turns out:



Poor Secret Service! But good for Vance (and his family supporting him).

Maybe his getting into the national arena will draw in young to middle-aged candidates from a variety of political views.

 

[Mike S]

Yeah, I saw that Vance video. I thought it was hilarious.

I detest Trump and have never voted for him, but I might this time around out of spite. It's not like my vote in Alabama matters anyway.

 

[TH2002]

I've never made a political post on here before, since this site to me is TalkWeather and not TalkPolitics. I'm certainly not an overly political person, but for the hell of it I watched the Trump-Harris debate. All I have to say about the debate is this:

 

[KoD]

I loved about 37 minutes of it!!

 

[DUUUVAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL]

This isn't news (a couple weeks old, actually), but i just came across the BLM statement on Harris, and with the primary question raised, and with the convention coming up, thought it would be good to include a link.

My beef is still the 25th Amendment ignoring, but I have a thought on this statement.

I don't have much to do with the organization because race is such a complicated issue, once you have actually lived where it is in your face day and night, and the rather knee-jerk virtue signalling of some white people here in Oregon during the riots -- and some issues raised by media about BLM's finances -- turned me off.

But this detailed statement is interesting: it shows that there are people in BLM who are using their brains, even if they see some things VERY different from how I see them, and have the courage to speak up even when it's not something powerful people who usually support them want to hear.

That is something that works for all Americans in the long and perhaps even the short run (we'll see about that later this month), making the US great with a small "g" all the time, no matter who is in office.

"...democracy isn’t just an ideal to be protected against Republicans; it must also be safeguarded from erosions within the Democratic Party."

The problem here is “Your Beef” isn’t with Trump trying to ignore a transfer of power!

 

[DUUUVAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL]

In 2016 the leftist were eating babies. Now in 2024, immigrants are eating pets.

 

[DUUUVAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL]

For me, it stopped being about politics and Constitutional processes that must be followed when Joe made his Zelensky/Putin and VP Trump gaffes.

Partly it is because that failure made me see myself as I likely will be in ten years (am seven years younger than Mr. Trump) -- humble pie! -- and partly because it reminds me of my father in his later years refusing to give up his license until he got lost and drove into a ditch one night, less than a mile from home.

America doesn't live in the White House and doesn't work on Capitol Hill or in the Pentagon. Some folks do, and it's not a bad thing to see how ordinary and frail they are -- just like us. America will be fine, even after the last Boomer reaches trail's end and moves on.

A little different, perhaps, but fine.

You are a boomer so you are excused for your ignorance of reality. With that said, stating that “it stopped being about politics and constitutional processes” is the real problem here. Thankfully the boomers will be fully died off within about 10 years.

 

[Jacob]

You are a boomer so you are excused for your ignorance of reality. With that said, stating that “it stopped being about politics and constitutional processes” is the real problem here. Thankfully the boomers will be fully died off within about 10 years.

You seem nice.

 

[TH2002]

You are a boomer so you are excused for your ignorance of reality. With that said, stating that “it stopped being about politics and constitutional processes” is the real problem here. Thankfully the boomers will be fully died off within about 10 years.

lol wut...

 

[bjdeming]

Don't hate, people. That just fuels 'em. It's hard, but the bottom line that even catfish can't cross is that we are all in Lifeboat America together and there be sharks in the waters around us. Always have been, always will be.

Sigh.

Well, some perspective from this (just barely) B type:

Boomers:



Boomers:



Boomers:



(You'll miss us when we're gone, just as I miss the generation who raised us. But for everone, any time, it always boils down to this: headlights on a dark road. Stay in the car and always keep yer brights on...)

Us: