The Dems are laying low. Which is a gigantic mistake. Considering that Musk and Vance are working overtime to take control of the federal government.
Their "philosopher guide" Yarvin reads history, like Putin. And he twists history to justify his anarchic dreams, like Putin. (See the Substack Dark Mirror. Don't subscribe but read Yarvin's…
The Dems are laying low. Which is a gigantic mistake. Considering that Musk and Vance are working overtime to take control of the federal government.
Their "philosopher guide" Yarvin reads history, like Putin. And he twists history to justify his anarchic dreams, like Putin. (See the Substack Dark Mirror. Don't subscribe but read Yarvin's mush and realize that VP Vance is a fanboy.)
The Dems are leaving a void that Musk and Vance are filling. They are not objecting/shutting down Musk's requirement that 2.2 million federal employees report directly to HIM! The Press and the Dems don't seem to have a problem with this. Astounding.
This is a class war coup. The ruling class in the Democrats are going to have far more in common with the ruling class in the Republicans than not. Being in a class of extreme wealth often creates cultural decay and moral cowardice even amongst the best individuals.
Trump has always longed to belong to the inner circle -- any inner circle. He didn't get that while being a real estate "mogul" (ahem) in Manhattan, as the elite of Manhattan thought he was a crude buffoon, so he's trying to get it now -- to the peril of all of us.
He'll be always a tragic, crude buffoon no matter what. His running mate is the real and present danger by being smarter and articulated and being a puppet controlled by Peter Thiel.
Trump is trying to make Crude Buffooning somehow "cool", but he is tanking US world wide esteem and leverage . Putin declares his approval, but only for his own handiwork. Putin is evil, but he is not a fool. He surely knows what Trump and his coterie really are. A US country run by crude buffoons is suiting his predatory purposes.
No wonder Putin's intelligence apparatus and psychological war experts been working non stop to make sure he would be president since before 2016. Thanks for your comment J L.
Hence the shift away from the working class and labor by the Democratic party of the last many years. And, well, here we are. A day late and a dollar short. The one thing i know for sure is that they are few and we are many.
The problem with this line of thought is that it’s at its base, untrue. The difference being MAGAs promises to the working and middle classes which were never fulfilled, vs. Dems having worked to improve those classes and at the same time become more inclusive. The working and middle classes took these programs for granted. Now it’s FAFO.
So then, it is working class apathy and complacency and not Democratic priority in policy that left them looking for a message, any message which the other party capitalized on?
Gregg, as the expression goes, "It's complicated."
Democrats are trying to do a post mortem on the '24 election while the christo-fascist goons and the techno-fascist rapists are storming through U.S. Government at top speed, slashing and burning as they go. The situation is so dire, it's almost pointless to discuss what anyone did yesterday, much less, last year.
To say that Dems abandoned the working class is just not accurate. Yes, Dems have courted financial support from deep-pocketed donors, but they have never deserted their constituents, unlike GOP legislators. The financial factor in the U.S. electoral process has been exaggerated by Citizens United. (A pox on SCOTUS!) Nowadays, nobody can play to win without vast sums of money and a 4-year campaign.
But to focus on economics is to overlook all the other factors that are hindering Democrats. I don't claim to know all of them, but I recognize a few.
The U.S. electorate has a short collective memory. We can't even remember the state of affairs 5 years ago, let alone, 150 years ago, when robber barons ruled from their marble mansions and workers had NO rights, NO benefits and NO agency in determining their futures. Moreover, Americans have never lived under a dictatorship, and have no idea what it's like. Donald TOLD us he would be a dictator, couched in nonsense about sharks and wet batteries. Nobody took him seriously.
Racism, misogyny and homophobia are not just the province of Republicans. A lot more Democrats harbor these prejudices than we can bring ourselves to admit.
Media and messaging have been a huge failure for Democrats, but this alone didn't lose the battle.
No doubt, there are more factors than I'm mentioning. But to focus on one is to miss the big picture
Point taken, sir. I did say " the shift away" and not abandon. Nevertheless, I shall stand corrected. It is indeed complicated. There is a class system within the Democratic party and I am trying to make sense of it as we hurtle headlong backwards toward feudalism, I guess.
Well, it seems Trump has most of the 1% behind him. That has been a gigantic thumb on the scale since at least Reagan (never absent, but far more assertive since, and successful in government capture). And yeah, I get a lot of Email from Democrats that's just high pressure sales pitch, not real adult to adult communication.
"But the main culprit, the cancer on the body politic, is money: Money, money, money. When I ran 6 years ago, in 1998, I raised $8.5 million. That $8.5 million is $30,000 a week, every week, for 6 years. If you miss Christmas week, you miss New Years week, you are $100,000 in the hole and don't you think we don't know it and we start to work harder at raising money.
As a result, the Senate doesn't work on Mondays and Fridays. We have longer holidays. The policy committee is adjourned and we go over to the campaign building because you can't call for money in the office. So we go over to the building and call for money and obviously we only can give attention to that. We don't have time for each other. We don't have time for constituents, except for the givers. Somebody ought to tell the truth about that. Unless and until we excise this cancer, the Congress and Government is going to languish alone because it has to be done."
I apologize for the ugly link but please watch it. Here’s my take—Jeffries has set up responders Raskin and Neguese. They are smart guys like himself, and also lawyers. I understand Dems are trying to keep it together but Responders need to be people who can get our attention first— AOC/Jasmine Crockett/Bernie Sanders/David Hogg style. Remember the joke about getting a donkey’s attention by hitting him on the head first. Respectfully Mr Jeffries and Mr Schumer—add some FIREBRANDS!!
Once you get to the link you provided (that starts with "Thanks Joan"), you can select to see it on YouTube then do like I did and access it through the much shorter named link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo-l901DoiU
Gigi, Thanks, I appreciate you communicating your take, and I'll be more careful with links in the future. Yes, FIREBRANDS!! As mild-mannered people face their reluctance to flame in public, more may be in the making each day as we blow on embers.
Agreed but Yarvin's substack is entitled Gray Mirror. Vance acknowledges that Yarvin is a major influence on him. Here's a quote from his latest post. That this guy is influencing the VP of the US is chilling. One sentence, and you know you are in cuckoo land.
"I’m worried that the resemblance between President Trump’s Gaza plan and mine will contribute to the weird delusion that I am secretly running the world. No, actually, (a) I have not talked to anyone important about Gaza; and (b) the idea is obvious, anyway.
I realize that it seems improbable that we would both have the same crackpot idea. No. It is extremely probable, because the President and I inhabit the same reality. We are both looking up and noticing that the sky is blue. Most people live in crackpot world, where the sky is green and our present Middle East policy is sane. Reality has started to seep into this crackpot world, and the mixture is… remarkable."
I am pretty sure it’s a strategy. Keep the focus on Trump and Vance while they are getting trashed from piller to post. i read they are not going to interrupt his Inaugural Address either. i’ll read about it. i shun him. i think that may be what the Dems are doing, too. He hates to be ignored.
The Dems are laying low. Which is a gigantic mistake. Considering that Musk and Vance are working overtime to take control of the federal government.
Their "philosopher guide" Yarvin reads history, like Putin. And he twists history to justify his anarchic dreams, like Putin. (See the Substack Dark Mirror. Don't subscribe but read Yarvin's mush and realize that VP Vance is a fanboy.)
The Dems are leaving a void that Musk and Vance are filling. They are not objecting/shutting down Musk's requirement that 2.2 million federal employees report directly to HIM! The Press and the Dems don't seem to have a problem with this. Astounding.
This is a class war coup. The ruling class in the Democrats are going to have far more in common with the ruling class in the Republicans than not. Being in a class of extreme wealth often creates cultural decay and moral cowardice even amongst the best individuals.
Trump has always longed to belong to the inner circle -- any inner circle. He didn't get that while being a real estate "mogul" (ahem) in Manhattan, as the elite of Manhattan thought he was a crude buffoon, so he's trying to get it now -- to the peril of all of us.
He'll be always a tragic, crude buffoon no matter what. His running mate is the real and present danger by being smarter and articulated and being a puppet controlled by Peter Thiel.
Trump is trying to make Crude Buffooning somehow "cool", but he is tanking US world wide esteem and leverage . Putin declares his approval, but only for his own handiwork. Putin is evil, but he is not a fool. He surely knows what Trump and his coterie really are. A US country run by crude buffoons is suiting his predatory purposes.
No wonder Putin's intelligence apparatus and psychological war experts been working non stop to make sure he would be president since before 2016. Thanks for your comment J L.
Hence the shift away from the working class and labor by the Democratic party of the last many years. And, well, here we are. A day late and a dollar short. The one thing i know for sure is that they are few and we are many.
The problem with this line of thought is that it’s at its base, untrue. The difference being MAGAs promises to the working and middle classes which were never fulfilled, vs. Dems having worked to improve those classes and at the same time become more inclusive. The working and middle classes took these programs for granted. Now it’s FAFO.
So then, it is working class apathy and complacency and not Democratic priority in policy that left them looking for a message, any message which the other party capitalized on?
Gregg, as the expression goes, "It's complicated."
Democrats are trying to do a post mortem on the '24 election while the christo-fascist goons and the techno-fascist rapists are storming through U.S. Government at top speed, slashing and burning as they go. The situation is so dire, it's almost pointless to discuss what anyone did yesterday, much less, last year.
To say that Dems abandoned the working class is just not accurate. Yes, Dems have courted financial support from deep-pocketed donors, but they have never deserted their constituents, unlike GOP legislators. The financial factor in the U.S. electoral process has been exaggerated by Citizens United. (A pox on SCOTUS!) Nowadays, nobody can play to win without vast sums of money and a 4-year campaign.
But to focus on economics is to overlook all the other factors that are hindering Democrats. I don't claim to know all of them, but I recognize a few.
The U.S. electorate has a short collective memory. We can't even remember the state of affairs 5 years ago, let alone, 150 years ago, when robber barons ruled from their marble mansions and workers had NO rights, NO benefits and NO agency in determining their futures. Moreover, Americans have never lived under a dictatorship, and have no idea what it's like. Donald TOLD us he would be a dictator, couched in nonsense about sharks and wet batteries. Nobody took him seriously.
Racism, misogyny and homophobia are not just the province of Republicans. A lot more Democrats harbor these prejudices than we can bring ourselves to admit.
Media and messaging have been a huge failure for Democrats, but this alone didn't lose the battle.
No doubt, there are more factors than I'm mentioning. But to focus on one is to miss the big picture
Point taken, sir. I did say " the shift away" and not abandon. Nevertheless, I shall stand corrected. It is indeed complicated. There is a class system within the Democratic party and I am trying to make sense of it as we hurtle headlong backwards toward feudalism, I guess.
What is that saying, Absolute power corrupts something something.....
Power corrupts absolute power corrupts absolutely.
The Dems are not exactly laying low. They have their hands out looking to use our fear to raise money. It’s disgusting!
JFC I'm getting more donation texts than before the election! Don't they see where all that $$$ got them?
Well, it seems Trump has most of the 1% behind him. That has been a gigantic thumb on the scale since at least Reagan (never absent, but far more assertive since, and successful in government capture). And yeah, I get a lot of Email from Democrats that's just high pressure sales pitch, not real adult to adult communication.
"But the main culprit, the cancer on the body politic, is money: Money, money, money. When I ran 6 years ago, in 1998, I raised $8.5 million. That $8.5 million is $30,000 a week, every week, for 6 years. If you miss Christmas week, you miss New Years week, you are $100,000 in the hole and don't you think we don't know it and we start to work harder at raising money.
As a result, the Senate doesn't work on Mondays and Fridays. We have longer holidays. The policy committee is adjourned and we go over to the campaign building because you can't call for money in the office. So we go over to the building and call for money and obviously we only can give attention to that. We don't have time for each other. We don't have time for constituents, except for the givers. Somebody ought to tell the truth about that. Unless and until we excise this cancer, the Congress and Government is going to languish alone because it has to be done."
- Fritz Hollings
I mean, for real.
Yes and it’s very annoying! I continue to respond not Until you get something done
Much as I wish Dems would/could do something major ASAP, I can see that avoiding escalation into civil war or WW III may be effective for now while they work in the courts and while grassroots organizations meet locally and people take to the streets. Watching Rachel Maddow in dialogue with Hakeem Jeffries yesterday helped me chill and take a breath. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/02/24/rachel_maddow_it_feels_like_were_in_the_middle_of_a_ketamine-fueled_middle-of-the-night_autocratic_power_grab.html
Thanks Joan. I tried to read your real clear politics link and found the advertising completely overwhelming and then went to YouTube where I found a Feb 25 interview— the same interview that rcp had just cut off the beginning. https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=rachel%20maddow%20and%20hakeem%20jeffries%20interview&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:2cc07243,vid:Eo-l901DoiU,st:0
I apologize for the ugly link but please watch it. Here’s my take—Jeffries has set up responders Raskin and Neguese. They are smart guys like himself, and also lawyers. I understand Dems are trying to keep it together but Responders need to be people who can get our attention first— AOC/Jasmine Crockett/Bernie Sanders/David Hogg style. Remember the joke about getting a donkey’s attention by hitting him on the head first. Respectfully Mr Jeffries and Mr Schumer—add some FIREBRANDS!!
https://jeffries.house.gov/contact/email-me/
Call Jeffries’ office to record a message— (202) 225-5936
Call Schumer’s office to record a message: (202) 224-6542
Office contact. https://schumer.senate.gov
Gigi, THX for kicking my butt. I made those calls and more (I couldn't leave a msg on Shumer's phone, but I wrote).
Once you get to the link you provided (that starts with "Thanks Joan"), you can select to see it on YouTube then do like I did and access it through the much shorter named link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo-l901DoiU
Thank you. I hope lots of people use your advice to watch it.
Thanks Jim, that's a good and direct link.
Gigi, Thanks, I appreciate you communicating your take, and I'll be more careful with links in the future. Yes, FIREBRANDS!! As mild-mannered people face their reluctance to flame in public, more may be in the making each day as we blow on embers.
Don't forget the R's have to pass a budget by 3/14. There's gonna be a lot more ammunition coming.
Agreed but Yarvin's substack is entitled Gray Mirror. Vance acknowledges that Yarvin is a major influence on him. Here's a quote from his latest post. That this guy is influencing the VP of the US is chilling. One sentence, and you know you are in cuckoo land.
"I’m worried that the resemblance between President Trump’s Gaza plan and mine will contribute to the weird delusion that I am secretly running the world. No, actually, (a) I have not talked to anyone important about Gaza; and (b) the idea is obvious, anyway.
I realize that it seems improbable that we would both have the same crackpot idea. No. It is extremely probable, because the President and I inhabit the same reality. We are both looking up and noticing that the sky is blue. Most people live in crackpot world, where the sky is green and our present Middle East policy is sane. Reality has started to seep into this crackpot world, and the mixture is… remarkable."
They both live in a world where you treat people like they're objects. These objects are either in your way, or they give you cash.
The Grateful Dead sing in Scarlet Begonias, “the sky was yellow, and the Sun was blue!”
I think we need to take the frigging pulses of the our elected Dems--they seem to be dead!
“23 Dem AGs think they’ve cracked the code to fighting Trump”
They are playing it “close to their chest”. Good read on what Dem AG’s are doing…
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/27/democrats-taking-trump-musk-winning-00206310
Exactly
Not true! There’s plenty of push back that citizens choose not to hear. What is it you expect them to do?
I am pretty sure it’s a strategy. Keep the focus on Trump and Vance while they are getting trashed from piller to post. i read they are not going to interrupt his Inaugural Address either. i’ll read about it. i shun him. i think that may be what the Dems are doing, too. He hates to be ignored.
The Dems are laying low. Which is a gigantic mistake. Considering that Musk and Vance are working overtime to take control of the federal government.
And dominate "the narrative".