The Politics Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

I always to try limit the number of Op-Eds I post but the headline alone caught my attention because I've often wondered the same thing.  I mean why aren't more people upset about this?

 

Gerrymandering is the biggest obstacle to genuine democracy in the United States. So why is no one protesting?

[marceline]

Lordt I'm tired of headlines about "Why is no one protesting..." or While you were distracted by..." People are capable of working on more than one thing. If the media had managed to do the same instead of focusing on Trump's empty podium we might not be in this situation.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

TBH, I think these people are focused on the absence of MSM's crtical discussion of this topic.  We have vigorous discussions about the topic here online but I'm really not sure how much of this has penetrated the public's consciousness, especially those who primarily get their news from TV/cable, rather than reading.

 

I'm still shocked by the number of people who complain that they never knew about Trump's racist rants from the 80s/90s pre-Apprentice image makeover.  I'm like "Are you kidding?! How could you not know?!"  

 

I think that a few people are actively working on gerrymandering but it's not out of order to ask since underhanded redistricting has been actively undermining the voting systems for over a decade now. 

 

 

Speaking of underhanded maneuvering...so loan sharks will basically be running the student loan system now. Despicable.

DeVos picks CEO of for-profit lender to run federal student loan system

 

[JaneAusten]

Oh that's it. I do think the Democratic Party nationwide is absent of a cohesive message, even if it's just a catchy slogan. I do think they could focus on maybe pushing 4 items nationwide, jobs for everyone, healthcare as a right, equality for all invest in America(just suggestions), . Slogans work.

 

But the regional candidates running including Ossoff DID talk about district issues in their races. People today criticizing Ossoff(if they are) for not being progressive enough don't know the district and Single Payer and Free College would have turned a lot of voters off.

 

But the biggest problem is the MSM. They are more tone deaf than any one party. The problem is two fold. All the talking heads are in the Beltway and our media is corporate owned. Look at the UK. Their media is also right leaning and while I have no love for Corbyn, they have lambasted him for years - all of them. It wasn't until the disastrous Tory leadership was finally exposed through a poor campaign and poor campaigner in May that some of their lies about Corbyn and themselves have been exposed.

 

 

Off Topic to Trollsville.

SO where are all the promises idiot Trump gone as the troll above listed

 

Jobs Jobs Jobs - So now Ford is moving a plant to China instead of Mexico, we continue to lose thousands of retail jobs a month, the coal industry is frankly a dead end, so where is the innovation or is that supposed to be by our Labor Secretary getting HS students drunk so they can take unskilled jobs in right to work states at low wages?(read that article about that idiot). Oh and GE is now closing a facility in Waukesha, partially due to Paul Ryan's complacency(yes they are blaming him and Trump) and the facility is going to Canada. I can't stand all this winning.

 

ISIS - uhm what have we exactly done. Oh right use rhetoric to make them angrier. This so called BAN is from countries that have never committed a terrorist attack on our ground nor in Europe but they are the danger? But hey as long as Saudi Arabia, the harbor for terrorists in the Middle East are taken care of and suck up to the idiot at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, we are a-ok. But sure lets blame those poor countries like Yemen and Somalia.

 

Immigration - the majority of job growth here is driven by immigrants. Show me one American innovator in Silcon Valley. Oh and now we have crops and produce in the fields unpicked because the geniuses in Washington have some so afraid they won't work so what do farmers do. I am waiting for all those so called "real Americans" you know the hard workers, the so called "innovators" sitting in their homes bitching about immigrants collecting welfare and unemployment to run to the fields to take those jobs - COME ON PEOPLE GET OFF YOUR ASS

 

Tax Cut - Yep Americans are just yearning for those tax cuts to the upper 1%. Who knew so many of those "rust belt people" cared about the wealthy and their corporate welfare. How touching.

 

 

Such Winning Strategies for "REAL AMERICANS"

Edited June 21, 2017 by JaneAusten

[Juliajms]

Haven't they done that? I feel like what the party stands for overall is pretty clear. IDK, maybe they do need to break it down into catchy phrases. 

 

One of the things I took from the 2016 election is that people want to be lied to. That seems really clear on the job front.  Jobs for everyone would probably be a great slogan even though I don't think anyone believes that's possible.

[JaneAusten]

But where have they done that? Bernie in all fairness talked about a few things repeatedly. But Trump had Make America Great Again hats and that phrase and people drank it up. Despite the fact he was lying to them about everything.

 

I do think you have point about being lied to. I remember that townhall Chris Hayes did in WV and one woman talked about voting for Trump and she said "Deep down we all knew he was lying, but when no one else gives you hope, you reach for anything remotely possible, even if you know deep down it's a lie".

[marceline]

Yep. They not only want to be lied to, they demand it.

 

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[Roman]

This. 

[Juliajms]

Maybe Hillary should have lied more about jobs, but I do think she touted issues like inclusiveness, immigration and the right to choose. I don't think she had it in her to just tell people what the want to hear when it comes to the economy.

 

In other news, Iowa seems to be going the way of Kansas and Illinois. Severe budget problems with a governor who thinks the answer is tax cuts. How many times does this strategy have to fail before common sense prevails?

http://www.stormlake.com/articles/2017/06/21/iowa’s-budget-mess

[Roman]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nancy-pelosi-democrats-georgia_us_594ad93ee4b0312cfb613993?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

Maybe some Dems are finally listening. MAYBE.

[Roman]

and now democratic leadership is being called out on CNN. Dems always wait to fix the barn doors after the horses come home. 

http://ew.com/tv/2017/06/21/cnn-brooke-baldwin-interview-sailor-father/

[GregNYC]

Howard Dean was the last successful DNC chair. He should have been reelected this year, but people accused him of being too "corporate" and too "white male."

[JaneAusten]

I think Pelosi is amazing but I've been ready for her to step aside for younger leaders. But Tim Ryan? I admit I don't know much about him. I was thinking Cheri Bustos who is a D in Illinois in a very red area. She won her election by 20 points.

 

And no I do not think Pelosi is why Ossoff lost. Read @Propane_Janes thread on twitter about the southern strategy. The GOP with the dark money and Pacs outspent Ossoff and ran lots of negative ads and he refused to.It doesn't mean leadership changes are not needed - younger fresher blood. Messaging is and will continue to be the issue and hammering on the GOP as being the party of the 1%. I don't know why pointing out facts should be considered going negative.

[Khan]

Neera Tanden's tweet at the end of the HuffPo article might say it all -- but really, it's more than that.  "Going high" might not "f**king work," but neither does campaigning as little more than the "anti-Trump party" without a concise, sellable message that cuts across partisan boundaries and speaks to people on the ground (meaning, local) level primarily on issues related to jobs and to healthcare.  That's the trouble right now for Democrats, and the reason why they keep losing.  Because, it's just like what post-ers such as Jane and Julia have been saying: even if the GOP's message is one built on falsehoods and fears, it's still something that's digestible and gives people something to hang onto.

Edited June 22, 2017 by Khan

[marceline]

Getting rid of Pelosi does nothing but remove experience that we need. The Repubs will demonize anyone in that position. They did it to Harry Reid. At a time when the GOP is pulling out every trick and loophole to sentence half this country to death now is not the time to remove someone who knows how the system works inside and out just because some dudebros have mommy issues.