The Politics Thread

[Vee]

Every time AOC does something well - and I think she has learned a lot - she trips over herself getting behind dumb shít like this again. I am grateful for the advocacy some of these folks pushed on the eviction moratorium but I don't forget dumb mistakes like getting behind Turner because you're afraid of what angry white brogressives will say.

[DramatistDreamer]

Why can't these members of Congress pass legislation? A moratorium will allow some breathing room but they need to pass some type of legislation or get some of those leftover funds from American Rescue Act released to help renters in peril. 

 

A bit off topic, I am reading this book on women in television and I didn't know that Meet The Press was created by a woman. So ironic, considering the cavalcade of bro-ish behavior on that show. Sad, actually.

[DRW50]

And in return Susan Sarandon leaves her penthouse in another district to protest AOC. 

So many online people have gotten so wrapped up in making everything about themselves and projecting their delusions onto the population at large. All while real problems go ignored. 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

More investigations incoming.

 

[DRW50]

 

[marceline]

The response to Turner's loss has been insane. The left has just exploded with bigotry: racism, ageism, and anti-Semitism. I've long heard people say that the left has an anti-Semitism problem but I confess that I've never been very good at picking up on that kind of thing but now? Yikes. All this talk about the pro-Israel lobby and evil money is just ugly and some of it is coming from people who I thought better of.

Turner supporters are tying themselves up in knots trying to explain her loss but the truth is that Nina Turner has never won and election where she ran opposed. Whenever the people of Ohio have had a choice between Turner and anyone else, we choose anyone else. 

[DRW50]

The PA Senate Democratic primary is heating up, which means the far left are trying to find their new "if we appeal to Trump voters we will win this time" candidate. 

This is likely in reply to Will Stancil saying he hopes John Fetterman "breaks" Conor Lamb  and how Fetterman will win Trump votes because of his looks. 

Fetterman also held a jogging black man at gunpoint, which does seem like something the far left would highly approve of. 

(Stancil's tweet was pathetic and embarrassing beyond belief - needless to say I will not be reading his stuff anymore)

Edited August 6, 2021 by DRW50

[Vee]

Stancil has been an idiot for years.

[JaneAusten]

I'll be honest I had no idea who Will Stencil was until he was mentioned here.  I think Conor Lamb would be a stronger candidate but  I prefer(not that it matters) Malcolm Kenyatta.

[sivad40]

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A interesting take on why Nina lost. I didn't have a dog in this fight but this video maybe used against me for future reference (not that I care or I'm afraid about it).

[DramatistDreamer]

I tried to listen for about six minutes and got bored. Dude took at least five minutes to get to a single point. 

It's not rocket science to figure out why Nina Turner (dude bro couldn't even seem to get a proper handle on the woman's name) lost. Although if I am going to hear the reasons why Turner lost, I'd rather hear from people who actually went out and voted for Shontel Brown. 

Anywho,

When is the Congressional recess and why hasn't Congress passed any bills? I have been keeping my qualms to myself about this infrastructure bill as well as the other bills that are currently on ice (apparently), but if I am being honest with myself, I must admit that I am losing patience with this process. It's one thing to wait a long a$$ time for a bill that is truly expansive (ahem, doesn't shortchange public transportation or environmental concerns) but to wait this long for a bill that will cut short some key items and hope they get folded over into a reconciliation bill seems...I am starting to side-eye that prospect, tbh.

[DRW50]

This is why people were begging for the recess to be canceled. But a lot of people in Congress don't want to do actual work, and - not to be ageist -  when most of your body is made up of people in their 60s, 70s and  80s, that becomes much more difficult. 

I do think Biden, Schumer, Pelosi want the bill to pass, but the more time that goes by, and the more Manchin, Sinema, and the Democrats in the Senate who hide behind them stall and get this and that taken out, the less anyone  will care about what finally gets passed. Momentum and  marketing are key, and Democrats are not very good at either of these. 

[DramatistDreamer]

For me, it's not about chess, checkers or marketing. It's the very real lump in my throat when I see a news story about a bridge collapse or a pedestrian hit and killed because of lack of public transportation, that leads them to walk home at night, on poorly lit streets with no sidewalk or pedestrian pathways, with speeding cars in their midst. It is also about that sense of dread of another days long power failure, as a result of, not some crazy Texas-style power distribution deal but a faltering electrical grid that can't handle the load of increased AC use.

There are real, life and death consequences of all this dithering. I haven't even gotten to aspects like immigration because I am not one of those unrealistic people who expect everything to be done in six months, but we repeatedly see news stories of infrastructure collapsing on top of folks and we are being burned and flooded out by climate change. It's past time to do what has to be done.

[marceline]

That is in fact ageist. It also ignores the fact that some of the young, fresh members of Congress (you know who I mean) are also some of the least effective. They don't want to write legislation. They just want to stunt and tweet.

People act like recess is vacation but it's not. It's when these reps return to their states and districts and it the best chance for voters to interact with them and make their voices heard. But again that requires getting off the computer.

[DRW50]

I feel like that is mostly a minority of the younger legislators in Congress because they get media attention. Other newer arrivals, like Jon Ossoff and Lauren Underwood, have worked harder - it's just Ossoff and Underwood working hard doesn't make a sexy story. Ilhan Omar tweets and AOC dancing videos do. 

Young for Congress is probably 40 at this point. When you get to 40 you are less likely to just be tweeting and posturing (unless you are a podcaster, where you are never going to actually want to win as you make more money encouraging nihilism and apathy). 

There are older legislators in office who are very effective, but when a majority of people in office are going to a 90 year old bracket, that means the individual stronger elements are less effective.

If Gavin Newsom is recalled, and Dianne Feinstein can no longer serve, then that means there's a strong chance a Republican could name her replacement. (the legislature could try to pass something, but there's no way of knowing that would stand up  in the right wing courts) I guess that is ageist as well, but considering some of the rumors going around about her at present, it's difficult not to think about. Then I think about Pat Leahy, who had a health scare last year and is in a state with a Republican governor. And so on. 

I think recess once held more of your description, but between COVID, and how dangerous town hall meetings have become, I don't think it's that true these days. It mostly just feels to me like people avoiding hard work at a time of huge crisis - as so much of the infrastructure negotiation has ended up seeming like busy work from Manchin and Sinema and Coons and so on. It feels like publicity-seeking and running out the clock, because it's more fun to go party on Joe Manchin's houseboat than care about the public.

Edited August 7, 2021 by DRW50