Mad_Machine76
Mad_Machine76's JournalThis really frustrates me
And it's not just him saying it but go on just about any progressive/left-wing discussion forum and you hear basically the same argument, essentially attacking Democrats for "not doing enough"- while completely ignoring how Congress works, how Presidents work and how much power they have, and who is fighting against Democratic proposals. Not saying Democrats are absolutely perfect but if anybody is paying attention, they ARE trying to do more for all Americans but, in almost every instance, it's Republicans whom are consistently blocking more expansive Democratic policies and proposals. So then, it basically becomes a vicious cycle: Democrats propose and try to pass progressive and expansionist policies and Republicans obstruct them. And when they can't obstruct them, they go to the courts and try to block them or get them overruled them there. And then, progressive voters get depressed and then refuse to vote Democratic (or at all) in the next election(s), ensuring Republicans win seats and can obstruct more and/or enact their own, vastly worse policies. But do THEY get blamed? No. People like Bernie remain fixated on second-guessing and critiquing Democrats and blaming them for not getting some through. They think that if they yell loud enough, rip off their shirts and bare their chests, or call out Republicans enough that Republicans will listen to them. It just doesn't work that way. Republicans don't care and they lost their sense of shame eons ago. What we need are votes, which means we need to get out to vote for Democrats over and over again until Republicans can't keep gumming up their works with their mindless obstructionism.
"Electoral Fraud" will now be the new "Birtherism"
Mark my words. Republicans will use "Electoral Fraud" to discredit and hound Biden with from now until the end of his term in office much in the same way that Republicans used the "Birtherism" conspiracy to discredit and hound Obama during his terms in office. The Birtherism conspiracy, despite his wild claims to the contrary, ended up being embraced and led, ironically, by one Donald Trump, who repeatedly egged the Birthers on and on promised major developments in proving the Birther's fever dreams but in the end delivered nothing (although pushing Obama to showing everybody his birth certificate, something which no President has ever been asked to do AFAIK). All those investigators he supposedly sent to Hawaii never returned, apparently. Like with Birtherism, many Congressional Republicans won't necessary flogg the theory that Biden cheated on a hereto never before seen scale with this past election themselves but they will- much as they are already doing- speak in coded, mealy-mouthed language that carefully skirts around the conspiracy theories about electoral fraud being pushed by the new "Tea Party" (which will this time around likely be the Qanon folks). Ultimately, they will appear to be disavowing the theories to a media that will credulously claim that they're not wacko to believe such nonsense, but not so much that the Q folks think they've turned on them and prompt them to attempt to primary them in the next election. We need to be prepared for this. The Republicans led by Gym Jordan in the House are prepared to not even accept an Electoral College certification next week. I would suspect that they will attempt to continue to file lawsuits and, if they retain power in the Senate and/or gain power in the House in the next election, find ways to further "investigate" and litigate these wild claims. I suspect as well, if they hold the Senate, they will, as McConnell (assuming he's elected Majority Leader gain, which he probably would) and other Republicans like Lindsey Graham have already vowed, fight tooth and nail to deny Biden cabinet nominees, judicial nominees, etc. and use "Electoral Fraud" as the excuse to do so (even though they would be doing it no matter what but this just gives them some cover, however false and disingenuous). It is incumbent on all Democrats in the House and Senate to recognize what I believe the Republicans' strategy is going to be and develop the means to counteract it as effectively as possible or else we might wind up going through another 4-8 years of energized Republican opposition to meaningful progress and further polarization and division in this country.
Knowledge of the "apparent winner" is all that is required per policy
Joe Biden IS the “apparent winner”. There is literally no doubt about who won other than the insane legal and conspiracy theories being pushed by Trump, which are getting rejected over and over again. Biden got the most votes and won the EC. She needs to do her job starting yesterday
Since Republicans are over voter fraud "allegations" right now......
Are they implicitly admitting that all those laws they've passed in just about every state over the years making it harder for people to vote *legally* are actually still not enough to prevent massive voter fraud (proof of which never existed in the first place)?
If there was all of this massive voter fraud
Why aren't there actual Election Officials in states corroborating this? I mean, if it were sooooooo obvious?
I think that most of them are so-called "Undecided Voters"
Like his policies, embarrassed by his behavior and antics. I don't think that there are actually a lot of true "undecided voters" out there because I'm just not sure what they're undecided about. If this were an election between, say, George H.W. Bush and Joe Biden, then, yeah, sure, I can probably see where there might be some indecision. Or Bob Dole and Joe Biden. But between Donald Trump (+4 years of history) and Joe Biden really should not be hard to decide unless you voted for Trump in 2016 and are stuck trying to figure out if you're going to vote for him again or how you might rationalize such a decision.
How does one get over the "trauma" of 2016?
I feel pretty good about the state of the Presidential race as we head into the final week, almost as good as I felt about Barack Obama's chances heading into the 2008 race (which seems like a lifetime ago) but I had also felt pretty confident that somebody as awful and crass and unqualified as Donald Trump couldn't possibly beat Hillary Clinton, disliked by many as she was. Because of the stunning and seemingly unexpected outcome of the race in 2016, it seems impossible to feel good about this election without somebody jumping in with some kind of caveat and/or reminder about 2016 seemingly being in our favor- until it wasn't. Most of my friends here and elsewhere on social media are fairly optimistic about Biden's chances but can't help throwing in caveats as well. I just don't think that, until the voting is done and Biden is proclaimed the winner of the race that I- or anybody else- can feel any kind of sense of relief. How is everybody else coping right now?
Trump gaining in PA?
One of my friends posted on FB short time ago that Trump is gaining steam in PA? Is there a new poll out or something?
So, Are we just "living with COVID" now?
Cases seem to be trending upwards just about everywhere but nobody is talking about the possibility of more lockdowns or restrictions. It's going up here in Indiana but our Governor just moved us to Stage 5 (less restrictions). Republicans seem to be getting restrictions overturned in the Courts in places like Wisconsin and Michigan and Republican Leaders in those states, Ohio, and others (and of course Trump) just seem to be telling us that we have to "learn to live with it." Plus, they are fighting just about every plan to ensure safe voting in November. So, are most of our leaders (not all of them but a lot of them) just giving up and adopting sort of a tolerance where we're not really fighting it anymore, at least until we have new leadership (hopefully) and a vaccine next year? What is going on? Are there no other strategies for dealing with this rise in COVID cases being contemplated or looked at? I'm starting to see a lot more reports of potential exposure in my job and among my Facebook friends too. It feels like it is getting worse and worse.
True
but prebubescent children get NOTHING in terms of medication, hormones, surgery, etc.
Pubescent children can get put on blockers in order to delay the onset of puberty. These have no known serious side effects for children and just put the brakes on natal puberty. Natal puberty produces some changes to ones body that can exacerbate gender dysphoria for Transgender people and be costly to address via surgery and other procedures. It is undeniably ideal for Transgender children to not have to go through their natal puberty. Cross-sex hormones, which DO cause changes in the body are not typically introduced until age 16 or so recommended by their doctors and nobody is getting surgery until adulthood. There will always be some people for whom transition may have been the wrong choice and desire to detransition. They should be supported and affirmed in that choice. However, what I am most concerned about is people freaking out about a handful of detransitioners or people regretting their choice and imposing new and unreasonably stricter rules on others whom literally are going to die if their dysphoria is not addressed. Bigotry against Transgender people, especially in the UK, is a serious problem and people like JKR are promoting ideas and theories and information that is harmful to the cause of Transgender equality and access to transition-related care.
So, if I seemed a little concerned about that in this thread, this is why. Thank you for being supportive and trying to understand.
Profile Information
Name: Mara Alis ButlerGender: Female
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
Home country: USA
Current location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Member since: Sat Feb 28, 2004, 01:13 AM
Number of posts: 24,452
