penningtron wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:03 am

Wood Goblin wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 9:51 am The only hopeful things keeping me going this morning are that . . .

I guess since we're forced to think about this shit now, him and Musk will not get along and that situation will implode. I'm not even sure Trump is crazy about a lot of the Project 2025 ideas either so that'll be a battle of dumb and dumber too.

Oh, and if it wasn't obvious, RFK Jr. was being played so it'll be funny watching him being dumped faster than Sarah Palin. (or like a bear carcass in Central Park..)

But that's where the popcorn eating ends. Deporting even a fraction of the people proposed is not only morally horrible, but will completely tank the economy.

The vultures waiting to tear apart the ACA with help from a complicit SCOTUS fills me with dread. The Trumpies with pre-existing conditions maybe didn't stop to consider what a post-ACA country would look like.

kicker_of_elves wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:10 am

penningtron wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:03 am

Wood Goblin wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 9:51 am The only hopeful things keeping me going this morning are that . . .

I guess since we're forced to think about this shit now, him and Musk will not get along and that situation will implode. I'm not even sure Trump is crazy about a lot of the Project 2025 ideas either so that'll be a battle of dumb and dumber too.

Oh, and if it wasn't obvious, RFK Jr. was being played so it'll be funny watching him being dumped faster than Sarah Palin. (or like a bear carcass in Central Park..)

But that's where the popcorn eating ends. Deporting even a fraction of the people proposed is not only morally horrible, but will completely tank the economy.

The vultures waiting to tear apart the ACA with help from a complicit SCOTUS fills me with dread. The Trumpies with pre-existing conditions maybe didn't stop to consider what a post-ACA country would look like.

Don't worry, they're going to replace it with something BETTER!!!

The previous Repugnican effort to replace the ACA yielded fuck all.

So I see that The White Collar Hitler TM has won again...

Insert who would have thought meme here right about now!

Krev wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:42 am The previous Repugnican effort to replace the ACA yielded fuck all.

That was before they had the House and 6-3 SC, plus a lot of the 'decent' Republicans have since left.

Oh, but yeah they won't actually replace it with anything and that's the point.

GuyLaCroix wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 9:09 am

enframed wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 8:54 am

losthighway wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 7:46 am Misogyny is definitely a large factor here. I'm waking up to the fact that we live in a country where it's terribly unlikely for a woman to be totally in charge.

I originally thought that too, but Hillary Clinton won popular vote. I'm not saying I don't think it contributed, but it's not the only factor. Harris and the DNC fucked up on the message.

I'm not saying this to appear smug. But the messaging was fuckin abysmal. Parading out the Cheney's like it was some kind of big win. I mean this with all sincerity when I say that Dick Cheney is The Great Satan of my adolescent years. I'm from a small town in East Texas. Several of my friends died because of GWoT, either overseas or when they came back home. I lost all hope when Kamala appeared on stage with them.

Who did that appeal to?

That wasn't for us. That was to appeal to people that you and I don't talk to. I don't think she lost any votes with that, as much as we all know that Cheney was the scourge of 1990's American politics and global peace.

penningtron wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:48 am

Krev wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:42 am The previous Repugnican effort to replace the ACA yielded fuck all.

That was before they had the House and 6-3 SC, plus a lot of the 'decent' Republicans have since left.

Oh, but yeah they won't actually replace it with anything and that's the point.

They'll probably just kill it. Their brain trust's overall intellect is comparable to a herd of goats.

penningtron wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 10:03 am I guess since we're forced to think about this shit now, him and Musk will not get along and that situation will implode.

I have no opinion, and generally consider him to be a moron, but was the whole X purchase thing all just a build up to this? A medium term investment in a loss-leader cudgel to herd idiots with?

dumbass wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 8:24 am Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar won re-election by comfortable margins, maybe its something else

losthighway wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 7:46 am Misogyny is definitely a large factor here. I'm waking up to the fact that we live in a country where it's terribly unlikely for a woman to be totally in charge.

misogyny is probably the wrong word. harris did better than biden would have done. she's polling more likable than trump. a whitmer/shaprio ticket might have worked.

penningtron wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 9:34 am I think it has equally to do with running in unique districts. Same with AOC, who will continue to win in the Bronx/Queens but who's been successfully vilified in basically every red state (which I am now once again living in, barf).

There are also tons of progressives who've lost or weren't elected since 2020. Maybe the "defund the police"-type messaging didn't track well with people who've shown they'd rather deport millions and imprison the homeless..

Honestly, I don't think it tracked well w/most people in general. And AOC, again, is more popular as a cult of personality and quasi-celebrity than as a policymaker. Actually, a short drive away here in NY, Mondaire Jones just had his ass handed to him, largely b/c of ads... tying him to AOC's policies and defund-the-police.

Krev wrote: The Trump migrant crisis has about as much merit as Reagan's welfare queen.

Jesus, yes! That's totally what it reminds me of. Unfortunately, though, it's a very convenient scapegoat. And it resonates w/enough people.

In terms of the ACA, who the fuck knows? One minute, Trump wants to repeal it. The next, he claims he saved it. Guy will say anything. Remember, he only has a "concept of a plan" to replace it!

The tariffs freak me out to some extent, as they seem pretty realistic b/c he's enacted them before (I am selfishly thinking about my wine consumption) and, unlike the ACA, it's a light lift. (Now those people who were freaking over inflation can enjoy more price increases on their cheap Chinese goods!)

About trickle down, America has always been a country of the illusion of upward mobility (even when it's unrealistic) and hating taxes. Upper classes, lower classes, doesn't matter. People here also love a fuckin' spectacle and a narrative—doesn't matter if it's Trump's or AOC's. The worst thing is being boring (see Walter Mondale or Mike Dukakis). This applies to everything from hip-hop to professional sports to politics. We are not a mentally sober country, never have been. I hate Trump and feel bad for a lot of people right now, but plenty of others are getting pretty much what they want: showbiz.