The Senate Democratic leader and his Gang of Eight keep trying to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. On Thursday, they told their caucus colleagues they had ten votes to reopen the government—in exchange for no real Republican concessions.
How the Senate Democratic leader and his Gang of Eight keep trying to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.
No, it isn’t. Republican talking points don’t matter, they’ll just come up with new talking points, because they’re all bullshit anyway. They’ve brazenly violated the law and are rounding people up off the streets, now is the time to play hardball and refuse to cooperate. The republicans are currently fighting to avoid giving people SNAP benefits, let them, and let’s see how that strategy plays out for them at the ballot box.
In terms of optics, what’s important is to demonstrate that what the Republicans are doing isn’t normal and to make sure there’s actual daylight between their positions and those of the Democrats. Caving to their demands will only normalize what they’re doing and cause people to give up on going out to vote altogether.
I swear, it doesn’t seem to matter to centrists how many times their electoral strategies are proven wrong in practice, because this whole, “move to the right to attract swing voters” is just accepted dogmatically. If that nonsense worked, Trump would never have gotten elected either time.
I agree with everything you said, but disagree on the path forward.
I love that communities are coming together to help people who rely on SNAP, but it’s not sustainable. Nor is having government workers, furloughed or working, go unpaid. It is disgusting they, and others, are being used as pawns
Back in the day, when children were going hungry, the Black Panthers set up their free breakfast program to address the problem through direct action and to win support. Part of the reason the government set up a school meal program was to stop people from going to the Panthers. What the Republicans are doing when they gut these programs is they’re forgetting themselves and overplaying their hands. They believe that they are invincible, and part of the reason they believe that is that their only opposition have been so spineless, so willing to bend over backwards to shield them from the consequences of their own actions.
Of course, capitulation and appeasement don’t work on fascists. If you’re unwilling to accept the possibility of people going hungry (something that is entirely the Republicans’ fault), then you can understand how unwilling Chamberlain was to accept the possibility of a second world war. But if you can understand that psychology, then you should understand that it’s wrong.
As Warren Buffet put it, “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Nobody should be rolling over and surrendering just because the enemy is targeting innocent people we can’t always protect, if anything, that’s all the more reason to fight. They’re already putting people in camps, what, are you waiting for them to start the furnaces? How is anyone supposed to take the Democrats seriously when they call Republicans fascists if they’re constantly trying to capitulate and appease them?
No, it isn’t. Republican talking points don’t matter, they’ll just come up with new talking points, because they’re all bullshit anyway. They’ve brazenly violated the law and are rounding people up off the streets, now is the time to play hardball and refuse to cooperate. The republicans are currently fighting to avoid giving people SNAP benefits, let them, and let’s see how that strategy plays out for them at the ballot box.
In terms of optics, what’s important is to demonstrate that what the Republicans are doing isn’t normal and to make sure there’s actual daylight between their positions and those of the Democrats. Caving to their demands will only normalize what they’re doing and cause people to give up on going out to vote altogether.
I swear, it doesn’t seem to matter to centrists how many times their electoral strategies are proven wrong in practice, because this whole, “move to the right to attract swing voters” is just accepted dogmatically. If that nonsense worked, Trump would never have gotten elected either time.
I agree with everything you said, but disagree on the path forward.
I love that communities are coming together to help people who rely on SNAP, but it’s not sustainable. Nor is having government workers, furloughed or working, go unpaid. It is disgusting they, and others, are being used as pawns
Back in the day, when children were going hungry, the Black Panthers set up their free breakfast program to address the problem through direct action and to win support. Part of the reason the government set up a school meal program was to stop people from going to the Panthers. What the Republicans are doing when they gut these programs is they’re forgetting themselves and overplaying their hands. They believe that they are invincible, and part of the reason they believe that is that their only opposition have been so spineless, so willing to bend over backwards to shield them from the consequences of their own actions.
Of course, capitulation and appeasement don’t work on fascists. If you’re unwilling to accept the possibility of people going hungry (something that is entirely the Republicans’ fault), then you can understand how unwilling Chamberlain was to accept the possibility of a second world war. But if you can understand that psychology, then you should understand that it’s wrong.
As Warren Buffet put it, “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Nobody should be rolling over and surrendering just because the enemy is targeting innocent people we can’t always protect, if anything, that’s all the more reason to fight. They’re already putting people in camps, what, are you waiting for them to start the furnaces? How is anyone supposed to take the Democrats seriously when they call Republicans fascists if they’re constantly trying to capitulate and appease them?
Yes, it’s disgusting that the GOP is using them as pawns.