US politics

[tiggymalvern]

It was worse than I thought. I thought Trump would win because of the electoral college, but I was convinced he would lose the popular vote like he did in 2016.

Then we could say, 'Americans didn't want Donald Trump, he won because of an electoral quirk that rigs things in favour of conservatives.' This time we're stuck with no excuses - Americans really did choose a narcissistic, racist misogynistic criminal conman over a competent, qualified woman of colour.

And I am so fucking pissed off with Democratic self-sabotage. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a fantastic woman who spent a lifetime fighting and winning on behalf of women and minorities - and then she destroyed half of her life's work by refusing to retire, by insisting that she would be a Supreme Court Justice for life. That stubbornness on her part led directly to the overturning of Roe and the suffering and deaths of the women she'd spent her career protecting.

Biden should have understood he'd be a one term President. He should have announced that two years into his term. The Dems could have chosen their candidate in the usual way, via primaries. That candidate would not have been Kamala Harris. She was not a popular VP. We can argue all day over why she wasn't popular - whether it was racism, misogyny, her record as a prosecutor. It doesn't matter. Everyone knew she wasn't popular. The Dems would have run a candidate against Trump who stood a better chance of winning. And maybe that candidate would still have lost - maybe the conservative backlash against trans rights and diversity programs would still have given Trump the Presidency. But we can't ever know, because Biden was too stubborn to accept that he was too damn old. He withdrew when it was too late to run anyone except Kamala. And I have nothing against the woman - I like her. But the numbers had made it clear that most people didn't and that made her a bad candidate.

Nobody should be aspiring to be President at 85. Nobody should be serving as a Supreme Court Justice while they're dying of cancer. Learn to fucking retire and do it strategically, and give up your own personal power for the good of your goals and your country. Because right now Dems with all the best intentions seem to be handing the country to Republican extremists on a plate.

Comments

[bymyverytoes]

So I finally got the courage to peek at your post. I wish I hadn't. I'd already peeked at a couple of blog posts and news reports, and they're just the same - angry, confused, lashing out, looking for something and someone to blame. Hardly surprising, but since this will go on for years now, not something I want to keep reading because I'm even more helpless than you are :(

And I am so fucking pissed off with Democratic self-sabotage. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a fantastic woman who spent a lifetime fighting and winning on behalf of women and minorities - and then she destroyed half of her life's work by refusing to retire

You know, the real damage was done by Mitch McConnell refusing to allow Obama to do on his last term, what Trump did just before he lost the 2020 election - fill SC vacancies. Coney Barrett didn't give the fascists a majority. McConnell did that.

Biden should have understood he'd be a one term President. He should have announced that two years into his term.

And given the GOP two more years to demonise his successor. The only thing wrong with Kamala Harris was that she was a black, female Democrat. But it wouldn't have mattered who they chose. Being a Democrat was all that mattered. The racism and misogyny made it easier.

Also Biden's brain is working just fine. He could have and would have served a second term perfectly well, and much better than the blob of hate who's going to succeed him.

Because right now Dems with all the best intentions seem to be handing the country to Republican extremists on a plate.

You are discounting a tsunami of election interference from within and outside the USA, voter suppression, oligarch dark money, media collusion, and rampant, widespread misinformation. The nominee was good. The message was great. The campaign was superb. But it was never just Trump fighting Harris.

The experiment has failed. The people can't keep their republic. The USA will become Hungary, if not Russia, before the midterms. And the same machine which wrought this disaster will prevent the majority of the population who want none of it from being able to protest effectively and making a single meaningful change.

The least worst thing that will happen is the current federation will split into two or more separate countries. The worst worst thing that will happen is that the entire USA will become a Russian client state. And every person who isn't a Christian straight white American man will be ground into the dust before a single fascist is made to pay for their actions.

Get out while you can, hon. This isn't going to be fixed in my lifetime, let alone yours. 💔

[silverusagi]

Yeah, it's a shitshow. Who knows if anyone else could have won against Trump. But if Biden's stepping down hadn't been last minute, there would have been open primaries and the candidate would have been different.

I'm sick of elderly people in high level government at this point. No one should be a Senator, President, or Justice when they have severe medical or mental problems. I don't think Joe Biden could have won either, and he does seem to be less with it than he was four years ago. We had the same thing with Dianne Feinstein, who was getting confused during interviews and saying things opposite to what her staff had already released. And look, I don't want to be ageist! The simplest way to solve all these problems (well, maybe not the president one) would be to have term limits for Justices and Senators and House members. That would also solve the problem of representatives just running and staying forever and grabbing up power without actually getting any legislation done. Well, it might not solve it but it would help.