the age thing is especially noticeable when it involves tech/social media. it is a joke to have someone like feinstein talking about twitter.
shit, i'm 37 and if i were in charge of something about tik tok, i would make sure that i have someone who is in their early 20s there to help me make sure that i don't make an ass out of myself. there's no prerequisite for committee chairs to be an expert about everything their committee tackles (it's impossible), and of course they have dozen of aide-underlings running around, composing the texts that the old people then try to say out loud for the cameras (sometimes twice in a row, at length, on accident, in feinstein's case). but still, it is the height of arrogance for a 140-year-old to try to pretend like they know how twitter works and what the problem is, let alone how to hold them accountable
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 10 December 2020 17:52 (three years ago) link
longish essay in The American Prospect:
Virtually every Republican campaign ad depicted Black rioters and decried Democrats who will “defund the police” and who are now strongly opposed by the police unions. Trump held multiple rallies a day in the final week in the battleground states, where he attacked the liberals, elites, professors, and scientists who looked down on them, and liberal Democrats who were indulging the violent Blacks who are threatening to invade your suburbs and communities. The Trump campaign focused on Blacks, rarely mentioning immigrants—his main focus in 2016 and 2018.
BUT TRUMP’S RACIALIZING OF THE ELECTION was only part of the story on why Democrats underperformed. They were not pulled down by “fear of socialism,” my research showed. They were pulled down by the lack of any economic relief and any economic offer to counter Trump’s racist imagery and push to open the economy. Democrats were pulled down by their offering no competing narrative to Trump’s drumbeat on “law and order” on what was at stake in November. Democrats were not heard decrying the health care costs that are killing people, or battling for lower insurance and drug costs, or battling corporations and their big tax breaks—as they were in the midterms. Biden ended up with no advantage on who would be better for the middle class.
sounds like they were pulled down by fear of socialism tbh, except it's their own fear
― huge rant (sic), Friday, 11 December 2020 01:11 (three years ago) link
Democrats were not heard decrying the health care costs that are killing people, or battling for lower insurance and drug costs, or battling corporations and their big tax breaks
They weren't? I feel like all that stuff is Democratic stump speech red meat.
Now if you think they're not going to DO anything about those problems, fine, that's a claim you can argue. But I can't understand the claim that they didn't *say* they were going to do it.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 11 December 2020 02:24 (three years ago) link
yeah, had the same feeling about that statement
― Nhex, Friday, 11 December 2020 02:28 (three years ago) link
https://nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/we-live-in-a-society/
― onlyfans.com/hunterb (milo z), Saturday, 12 December 2020 18:46 (three years ago) link
Xpost Yeah they talked about that stuff all the time. It was interesting to see how often someone like political reporter Dave Weigel (who is sympathetic that the party needs to move left on certain things) would push back on that lazily repeated “Dems never talk about healthcare only Russia and orange man bad etc” narrative because he had the job of actually attending rallies and seeing what Dems actually campaigned on.
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Saturday, 12 December 2020 18:59 (three years ago) link
I don’t know that dusting off the post 2016 “Bernie Would Have Won” “economic anxiety” takes really works for 2020. Kinda have to go deeper and even acknowledge flaws in your own priors tbh.
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Saturday, 12 December 2020 19:16 (three years ago) link
milo, i went to high school with Gabe! we were in Human Rights Club together lol.
― healthy cocaine off perfect butts (the table is the table), Saturday, 12 December 2020 19:40 (three years ago) link
https://mainernews.com/how-sara-gideon-lost-to-collins-the-day-after-she-entered-the-race/
― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Saturday, 12 December 2020 20:36 (three years ago) link
Weird how Mark Kelly and John Hickenlooper somehow managed to survive early endorsements by the DSCC, I guess Arizonans and Coloradans love big out-of-state money dumps unlike the real folk of Maine
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Saturday, 12 December 2020 20:56 (three years ago) link
― onlyfans.com/hunterb (milo z), Saturday, December 12, 2020 6:46 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
this is very very good
― cosmic vision | bleak epiphany | erotic email (map), Saturday, 12 December 2020 20:57 (three years ago) link
There was an NYT piece/post mortem about that Maine Senate race that was more convincing if dispiriting in the sense that Maine voters were hardly policy concerned voters. But it made a similar point about how Gideon raising money from out of state became a turnoff. Made one think nonsensical Maine voters and Susan Collins deserve each other.
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Saturday, 12 December 2020 21:10 (three years ago) link
“ Jared Golden, who represents Maine’s conservative 2nd Congressional district, supports “Medicare for All;” he was reelected this fall in a district that once again voted for Trump.”
Ehh Golden actually supports an incremental path toward M4A (cosponsored the same legislation that Joe Kennedy did) and actually ran on expanding the ACA.
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Saturday, 12 December 2020 21:17 (three years ago) link
Lots of good stuff on money and local organising in that Maine piece.
In the aftermath of Election Day, some top Democrats sought to blame progressives for the party’s poor showing in Senate and House races, but the DSCC’s record speaks for itself. Of the 18 Senate candidates endorsed by the committee, only four were victorious last month.As the campaign gained speed, the pandemic and the national uprising against police brutality gave Gideon two big opportunities to break from the moderate pack and distinguish herself from Collins, who denied that “systemic racism” is a “problem” in Maine [...] but Gideon’s position on racial justice was limited to training-manual adjustments like banning chokeholds and racial profiling, as well as further study of the problems that have plagued Black Americans since Reconstruction.
As the campaign gained speed, the pandemic and the national uprising against police brutality gave Gideon two big opportunities to break from the moderate pack and distinguish herself from Collins, who denied that “systemic racism” is a “problem” in Maine [...] but Gideon’s position on racial justice was limited to training-manual adjustments like banning chokeholds and racial profiling, as well as further study of the problems that have plagued Black Americans since Reconstruction.
https://i.imgur.com/g7WQ2QC.jpg
― huge rant (sic), Saturday, 12 December 2020 21:25 (three years ago) link
the DSCC can never fail, it can only be failed
― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Saturday, 12 December 2020 22:45 (three years ago) link
there's a great error message at the link in G@bbneb's opening post btw
― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Saturday, 12 December 2020 22:50 (three years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/FsLhxc9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/UrSqEHF.jpg
― huge rant (sic), Sunday, 13 December 2020 05:35 (three years ago) link
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/12/iowa-caucus-dnc-report-444649
hey turns out that things went agley in the Iowa primary bcz the DNC demanded that the local party (give the DNC access to) force their bad third-party-built Buttiegieg-funded app report to the DNC's database, then when the DNC's database had not been configured to receive data from the app, the DNC demanded the party just stop reporting election results
also the DNC refused to cooperate with an audit to find out what went wrong
― huge rant (sic), Tuesday, 15 December 2020 07:23 (three years ago) link
appears to be garden variety incompetence coupled w party hubris but I do wonder how something like this would be reported by the concern trolls at CNN/ MSNBC or hell NPR if this had happened in oh idk a South American country where a popular leftist candidate was on the ballot
― Washington Generals D-League affiliate (will), Tuesday, 15 December 2020 14:48 (three years ago) link
I thought this Eric Levitz piece was quite good:https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/democrats-rural-voters-2024-workers-wages-weed.html
In the past, Democrats sought to broaden their party’s appeal by decentralizing their messaging, giving candidates leeway to run on whatever themes played well in their discrete districts. In today’s nationalized environment, however, growing the party’s big tent actually requires centralizing messaging. Or so the Democratic data analyst David Shor argues. In his account, the nationalization of politics means that moderate and progressive Democrats are yoked to the same brand, like it or not. As such, they should come together around a handful of substantively worthwhile policies — that poll well in every part of the country — and talk about those policies (and only those policies) whenever possible....What centralizing messaging should entail is reaching internal consensus around a small number of policies that are (1) broadly popular, (2) difficult if not impossible for Republicans to support, (3) especially resonant with non-college-educated voters, and (4) of high substantive value (since centering these policies in messaging will mean putting them toward the top of the governing agenda upon victory). Ideally, the policies would also lend themselves to a snappy, alliterative slogan. ... “Workers, Wages, Weed” seems like a solid fit for the Democrats’ branding needs.
...
What centralizing messaging should entail is reaching internal consensus around a small number of policies that are (1) broadly popular, (2) difficult if not impossible for Republicans to support, (3) especially resonant with non-college-educated voters, and (4) of high substantive value (since centering these policies in messaging will mean putting them toward the top of the governing agenda upon victory). Ideally, the policies would also lend themselves to a snappy, alliterative slogan. ... “Workers, Wages, Weed” seems like a solid fit for the Democrats’ branding needs.
― jaymc, Tuesday, 15 December 2020 15:24 (three years ago) link
Thanks, jaymc.
― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 15 December 2020 15:46 (three years ago) link
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joked (in Jan 2019) that she might pay a dollar for President Trump's proposed border wall as part of ongoing negotiations over government spending.
Congress will approve https://thehill.com/policy/finance/531088-congress-to-approve-1375-billion-for-border-wall-in-2021.375 billion for a wall along the southern border tomorrow, Pelosi having bargained down by $.625 billion, according to GOP sources.
― huge rant (sic), Monday, 21 December 2020 07:37 (three years ago) link
Literally the one banana meme, from a woman worth $100 million:
BREAKING: #Pelosi says $600 is a "significant" amount for working families.#LetThemEatCake #TrillionForBillionaires pic.twitter.com/PjcIV9W1JX— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) December 21, 2020
― huge rant (sic), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 06:31 (three years ago) link
I like the way he use those hashtags he has. I do Twitter the same way.
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 06:56 (three years ago) link
Peter Daou is, sadly, proof that internet bullying can radicalize people to the left and he’s really into it
― mh, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:01 (three years ago) link
Was he bullied by the left or the right into his current day.. situation
― Nhex, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:02 (three years ago) link
left
― stylish but illegal (Simon H.), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:03 (three years ago) link
mocked for doing weird centrist things and being a hashtag-resistance guy iircI can’t even remember the name of that website he made that was meant to verify quotes by politicians but it was so harebrained that... well, he deserved the jokes and I think it eventually registered
― mh, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:04 (three years ago) link
I don’t know much about Daou but that tweet is otm and Nancy is a real life Lucille Bluth now. I would say save the bullying for the people we pay to “represent” “us”.
― Washington Generals D-League affiliate (will), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:29 (three years ago) link
He was a grifter when he was doing the same exact thing he do now but in a resistance way but you can tellhe saw the light and it’s not grifting when he do it now.
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:35 (three years ago) link
not too many former actual Clinton pals punching center these days. he's been at it long enough that I suspect his conversion is "genuine" (inasmuch as any social media persona can be)
― stylish but illegal (Simon H.), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:41 (three years ago) link
hey remember glenn beck's three seconds as a resistance guy
― stylish but illegal (Simon H.), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:42 (three years ago) link
Appreciated this Eric Levitz piece on the "pathological tendency within a small subset of the U.S. left...of mining anti-political cynicism out of its own naïveté": https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/12/jimmy-dore-aoc-medicare-for-all-strategy.html
A clear-eyed view of the political obstacles to single-payer is compatible with a wide array of strategic judgments. What it is not compatible with, however, is the judgment that anyone who does not push for Medicare for All’s passage right now is a lying, careerist shill with no commitment to the cause.
― jaymc, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:44 (three years ago) link
does Daou have a Patreon? is he paid to consult? (Genuine questions i literally have no idea who he is). How does he get paid? And is he more or less of a grifter than Neera Tanden or Robbie Mook or Lisa Smith or those Mothership dorks?
― Washington Generals D-League affiliate (will), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:47 (three years ago) link
Sir those people have jobs
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:52 (three years ago) link
I feel like the word "grifter" has lost its meaning.
― jaymc, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:52 (three years ago) link
(NB: I have no idea who "Lisa Smith or those Mothership dorks" are. Maybe they are grifters!)
― jaymc, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:53 (three years ago) link
― Washington Generals D-League affiliate (will), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:55 (three years ago) link
And so how are they grifters, exactly? Who are they grifting? What's the grift?
― jaymc, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:58 (three years ago) link
They work on actual political campaigns. If Lis Smith could do that well running some small town mayor’s campaign Bernie probably should have tried to steal her away imo.
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:59 (three years ago) link
Oh...Lis, not Lisa. Maybe Chinedu is the mark.
― jaymc, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 17:02 (three years ago) link
― Washington Generals D-League affiliate (will), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 17:02 (three years ago) link
It’s true that the word has lost its meeting to an extent but people who thought Daou wasn’t on the level before but he is now because he does the same thing but mirrors their exact priors back to them this time reveals something probably.
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 17:04 (three years ago) link
Oh man. Forgot about Chinedu. The fact that he turned out to be a real guy should have inspired some more reflection than it did.
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 17:06 (three years ago) link
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Tuesday, December 22, 2020 8:52 AM (eighteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
Hilary Clinton paid Peter Daou
― Babby's Yed Revisited (jim in vancouver), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 17:11 (three years ago) link
If the CIA could do that well running some small town mayor’s campaign Bernie probably should have tried to steal them away imo.
― stylish but illegal (Simon H.), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 17:14 (three years ago) link
The “Pete is CIA” thing is a solid example of not learning the lesson of the Chinedu debacle
― “Big” Don Abernathy, Tuesday, 22 December 2020 17:17 (three years ago) link
That sentence is almost coherent.
― Joe Biden Stan Account (milo z), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 17:17 (three years ago) link
god i'm so glad big don abernathy is a regular poster now
― ffolkes (map), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 17:18 (three years ago) link
two things can be true xp
― stylish but illegal (Simon H.), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 17:18 (three years ago) link