Who to cancel, who to stan, the online left has a lot on their plate lately. The most recent topic for discord in the ranks has formed around the topic of strategy. We find ourselves in almost the exact same situation as we were in 2016, are we just that bad at this- or are we missing something?
Biden is the nominee, there is no way around it at this point. But does that mean that we all have to fall in line behind him, or embrace the blame for letting the slow creep of fascism take hold in our country? Well…kind of?
In my heart of hearts, I don’t like a thing about Biden. He doesn’t share my personal policy prescriptions for the country’s future, not a one. He doesn’t seem interested in doing anything but going back to the “glory days” of Obama. Which to those in the know, was only about 20% better than things are now. At the end of the day, it’s that 20% that we are meant to vote for.
Will the country move forward? No, not in my opinion. It will basically stay the same, but some minority groups can rest at least a little easy that things won’t get worst for them. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is at deaths door and needs a replacement it seems, so it would be nice for her position to be filled by someone that isn’t hard right. Biden offers damage mitigation and little else.
I think it’s fairly obvious that most people who are on the left and oppose voting for Biden, are fully aware that he’s better than Trump. Yes you will see a lot of equivalency happening on twitter, and I would honestly be hard pressed to argue with many of the critiques. At the end of the day the establishment powers that be have very similar big picture goals, regardless of the letter next to their name.
No, I think that despite the realization that Biden is better than Trump the ones that are so vocal about not voting for Biden are focused on the shitty game the political parties play with us:
“Vote for us or be stuck with the crap alternative, you have no other options- suck it.” – DNC/RNC
People are tired of the binary choice of two politicians that do not truly represent the best interests of the country, and they are tired of being told that’s just the way it is. They will swear to give you what you want next time but this election is just TOO important, it always is.
I am struggling with the same thought process. I feel dirty giving my vote to Biden and the DNC after all the bullshit, but at the same time see no path forward than to continue to do so. Progressives have been winning in several races around the country recently, we are pushing the party further left slowly but surely. It would be a shame to give Trump four more years to put up even more roadblocks, we have enough of those on our own side to worry about.
I know you’ve seen it. Sprinkled inside of various political comment threads across the internet, and the occasional high profile youtuber or writer- the harrowing tales of “why I left the left”.
Every single one of them spin a heartfelt yarn about how they searched for community and camaraderie in the online left and were instead greeted by hate and ridicule. That level of pure vitriol spewed by social justice warriors and woke college students pushed, nay, forcefully SHOVED them out of the left and into the open and loving arms of the conservative movement. There they found the fellowship that they were so desperate to find, and saw the error of their ways in their former beliefs. They would no longer let a movement full of uninviting jerks blind them from the true problems plaguing our great nation, and the super real solutions to fix them.
Sounds like bullshit? Well that’s because it is (mostly).
The left is full of sarcastic assholes and know-it-all gatekeepers, so on that part they couldn’t be more correct. They are beyond mean to the right, the center, and even worse to each other. What in the fuck does that have to do with who I think the president should be? How shallow does someone’s beliefs have to be to change based on who gave them a compliment last? Man I really wanted to support universal healthcare but some dude with BLM in their bio told me to fuck myself!
Politics is about what direction we should go in, and who should be driving. We take an honest look at the injustices and challenges facing our people and see what can be done to fix them. The journey is complicated but the starting line is pretty simple. Who should have rights or what policies help the average American best is not connected to which side of the political spectrum invited me over for coffee.
So you know that it’s a position either made up by bad-faith actors trying to paint the left as universally terrible, or people that were never left leaning in the first place.
These sorts of narratives are really only made to push the uninformed to the right. People just getting into politics might see these accounts of the abusive left and not give them a second look, till they have already assumed the position waiting patiently for trickle-down to trickle down to them. Any ideology that requires such obfuscation must have some pretty shit ideas if you ask me.
Just come clean with what you really believe and make your arguments, then let the asshole left show up and make fun of them.
There seems to be two sides in this country right now. Either you believe that Russia is actively infiltrating our political process and trying to sow discontent among the masses, or you believe the Russia narrative is bullshit and just a distraction. This question has divided the country like nothing in recent memory, but it doesn’t have to- regardless of how you answer it.
Try to have a debate on the internet about politics, go ahead try. Unless you answered the question with a full yes I believe, or any similar answer void of skepticism, at some point you are likely to be called a bot. This is a reference to reports(BBC February 2018) that there are Russian troll farms that have people posing as Americans all over the internet in various comment sections, their only mission to stir shit up. These Russian bots pose as Bernie bros to keep the democratic party divided. People will be presented with an opposing viewpoint, they will go to the persons profile, and if it doesn’t have enough recent traffic or something seems “off” then it must be a fake profile belonging to a Russian bot- and will be called out as such.
Come at the situation from a different angle, come across someone who doesn’t believe in the Russian narrative and try to answer the question as if you do- turns out you’re a Hillbot. This is a reference to an organization called Correct The Record that pledged one million dollars to “find and confront social media users who post unflattering messages about the democratic frontrunner” (LA Times May 2016), it’s brought up pretty frequently in progressive circles and used as an insult and a way to shut down the conversation. Don’t think Bernie would have won? Hillbot. Think that Cory Booker and Kamala Harris are great candidates for the 2020 elections? Hillbot. Think the Steele dossier is real? Hillbot.
Whether you are being accused of being a Russian bot or a Hillbot or some variation of either, it doesn’t matter. They all serve the same purpose: they shut down any meaningful conversation on the spot. Whichever direction RussiaGate ends up in doesn’t matter. Trump could be indicted for collusion tomorrow, or the information could leak that Tim Kaine was the puppetmaster behind the whole smear campaign; it’s not going to fix the countries issues, it’s not going to help the average person.
Our government is still full of bought and paid for bums, we still have problems with healthcare and unemployment, we are still fighting wars across the world that we have no business being a part of. Whether you want to Make America Great Again, or think we are Stronger Together- we can’t get to any of these issues with this holding back the conversation.
So the next time you come across someone who thinks differently than you, try to go out on a limb and assume the person is real and genuine. Engage in the kind of debates that get people working towards good things in this country, don’t shut down the conversation soon as there is a disagreement. Don’t let this narrative make you assume that anyone who disagrees with you is a shill, and doesn’t have a legit argument to make, bots are keeping you in your bubble and it’s simply not healthy for political discourse.
After all, if you can’t hang in a debate with a “bot”, maybe you aren’t as informed as you think you are.
It’s been two long years since I put pen to paper finger to keyboard and threw my thoughts on our state of politics in America out there.
I started this blog and I wrote consistently during the lead up to the 2016 election, I felt like I had never been so informed and never before had I been filled with such a passion.
The election came to a conclusion, but unfortunately it never really ended. The partisan bickering has only gotten worse and worse. People can’t help but continue to argue that Bernie woulda won or that Hillary got her victory stolen. There are things we can learn from the 2016 election, but what’s done is done.
I tried to write another post, but I got bogged down with the infighting and the people who refused to see past their bubbles. It was infuriating that no matter what people said, some would not be removing their heads from their asses anytime soon.
It all exhausted me, so I took a break and closed up shop.
I haven’t been able to fully break however, because once you’re paying attention- it’s hard to stop.
I decided to start writing again, it might be a fool’s errand to try to get through to some of these people that our problems CANNOT all be boiled down to one man, but I have to try.
November 8th will be the culmination of a year long campaign by various politicians and their surrogates to convince people to vote for their candidates, and as an American citizen you can vote for anyone you want- at least that’s the way it’s supposed to work.
This election season has been marred by the admission of many that it’s another decision between the lesser of two evils. People complain and they wish: IF ONLY there was another option, or I don’t know dozens of other options?
I have already lost half my audience with that one, “A vote for third party is a vote for Trump/Hillary” rings through the comment section with a resounding “meh”.
A vote for Jill Stein is a vote for progressives, a vote for Gary Johnson is a vote for libertarians, and a vote for Vermin Supreme is a vote for free ponies. Your vote goes EXACTLY to who you want it to go to, that’s how it works. This is the ONE time that you are supposed to have the same amount of power as even the most rich and powerful in the country- so why are some so eager to throw it away at a candidate that doesn’t represent them?
You think it’s a coincidence that both Red and Blue agree 100% that third party voting is a waste of a vote? They disagree on everything from whether Russia should continue not being a parking lot all the way to who is allowed to go to the bathroom where, and you don’t think it’s strange that they just decided to hold hands and block third parties out of some shared principal? Well that would be a trick question, because although it may not be a principal- keeping power consolidated between two major parties is definitely one of the only things they can agree on.
America is based around capitalism, there is a free market and with fierce competition the strong thrive and the weak collapse. This system works so well that we have laws in place to prevent the exclusion of competition- monopolies are illegal in America, as long as they aren’t political monopolies. America is faced with the lesser of two evils EVERY four years because there is zero competition in our system, Red and Blue can field ANYONE they choose because there isn’t anywhere else viable the voter can go…and they intend to keep it that way.
If Americans could only get a breather from the beating over the head they are receiving from the media, about how you only have two viable choices- then MAYBE those choices start to become viable. Maybe, just maybe Americans can switch from their keyhole sized outlook on American politics to a window- then maybe we get some competition into the system, and Red and Blue have to switch from fielding some evils to a few goods.
So as election day swiftly approaches, and you see more and more smears against third parties remember the real reason the DNC and the RNC agree on only this one subject. They don’t want competition, they want to remain the political equivalent to Time Warner cable: ya they give you service, but it’s shitty and it’s slow, and there is no other option.
When did the line between loyal supporter and blind follower become so blurred? Why does the American media demand we see everything in black and white as they write their stories in various shades of grey? This election season has pushed the limits of what it means for the country to be polarized.
November 8th is rapidly approaching; Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are both deeply embroiled in their own scandals that may ultimately end up tipping the scale one way or the other. However, depending on who you ask, it’s much ado about nothing vs the literal end of life as we know it.
Trump is currently being accused by no less than 12 women of varying degrees of sexual assault- and the list of potential victims is growing by the day. His comments to Billy Bush have been well documented(ad nausem)for weeks, and a plethora of people continue to denounce him and distance themselves from what they see as a rapist. Trump supporters on the other hand, only see a horde of liberal hypocrites being outraged at Trump for things they support in other people i.e; Michele Obama’s call out of Trump for his rhetoric on women, at the same time promoting Beyonce as a role model for little girls, when her shows and music are often sexually charged.
The critics might have a point, but does that erase or excuse all Trump has said or the example he will surely set? Is there a limit to the speech of a man known for “Telling it like it is” ?
Clinton is under daily attack by Wikileaks- private emails from her campaign are being released in the thousands almost daily. These emails are said to show a clay candidate that is molded on the fly depending on where the polls tell her to go, is beholden to big donors, and thinks its mandatory to hide what you really think from the public- for the public good of course. Go ahead and bring these up to a Clinton supporter and you’ll get an earful about Julian Assange’s agenda, his pending charges, and Russia’s attempts to influence our election.
Can we afford to gloss over the content of these emails because we may not approve of the source? How much journalism in the modern history of the world would have to be stricken from the record if that were common practice?
All the while the media pushes the drug we have all become addicted to: there is only one right opinion and all others are an affront to intellectuals and freedom itself. Conflict between political ideologies is great for ratings and clicks, but its shit for keeping a country from tearing itself apart. We have to accept that there are things out there that we may disagree with, that challenge our world view- but when we decide not to absorb and analyze new information from different perspectives, and stay in our respective bubbles with everyone else who thinks our way, how can we then come out and have a REAL and productive discussion about the issues? What’s the point of discussion when absolutely nothing the other side says could ever change your mind?
Candidates that are supposed to be for the people NEED feedback from the people, its ridiculous to not hold them up to higher standards than the rest of us or give them free passes when they screw up just because you see the other candidate as worse.
We need to continue to question everything, no matter how entrenched we are in our beliefs we HAVE to allow for the possibility that we may be wrong- this is the future of the country we all love at stake, not just who gets to be right. The longer we stay in our corners, foaming at the mouth being worked up into truly believing its us vs them, the more brutal the inevitable fight will be.
Bernie Sanders called for a revolution, then his calls began to fade out somewhere around his endorsement of Clinton- or perhaps it was just starting to fall on deaf ears; Trumps call for a revolution may not be for the same reasons or addressed to the same people- but they’ve added fuel to the same fire.
Bernie’s and Trump’s supporters have very little in common, but the little that they do is pretty big. Both sides of the aisle(seemingly FAR sides) are sick and tired of the standard political tropes that describe the typical politician: answers that don’t answer anything and invisible leashes that lead back to even more invisible donors.
His supporters railed behind a cry that said the standard politics as usual doesn’t represent them, and his unpolished speech and demeanor made him seem a man of the people- far outside the establishment….now which candidate am I referring to?
Both candidates policies resonate and represent VERY different sides of the country, and the argument isn’t for me to make whether one or both are wrong- what matters is the core of both campaigns(whether sincere or not) is that the system has failed half this country and when half the country isn’t being represented, is a call for revolution so surprising?
Trump continues to say he won’t support the results of the election if they are against him, this message riles up his supporters and his belief that the system is rigged- and it is, but not in the way he’s suggesting. Voter fraud is virtually nonexistent, but ELECTION fraud isn’t- look no further than the DNCs treatment of Bernie to see that.
Half the country look to Sanders and to Trump and they see people standing up to the system and then they see a consolidated effort to tear them down. How can half the country trust the media or their representatives when, right or wrong, they have spent the last year seeing them do their damndest to keep the powerful in power no matter how misleading or wrong they might be?
At the end of the day I don’t see the progressive left who felt the bern and the far right who only wanted to make America great again EVER work together or EVER have much in common besides wanting to change the system to favor the people, but revolutions have been based on less.
The second presidential debate is tonight, and you don’t have to be clairvoyant to know that the unofficial theme will be “Deflections and Scandals”.
America’s stalwart journalistic messiah himself, Anderson Cooper, will be “moderating”(I use that term loosely if previous debates are any indication) along with Martha Raddatz and they will be tasked with staying neutral as they steer the debate; but if they actually cared about America they would ditch the neutral angle and actually try some journalism for once in their lives because, as it turns out, some things are objectively positive and some just aren’t.
Surely Trump will be asked to respond to his comments from 2005 that include “pussy grabbing”. These comments have been brushed aside by many as just normal man talk from behind closed doors, and I would say that it’s completely naive and ignorant to dismiss that argument and believe that a good portion of men do not talk like that with their buddies, whether they actually believe what they say or not- BUT that’s not the point. Right or wrong, our President will be representing America and it is justifiable to protest when one running for that position is on record saying such degrading and misogynistic things.
Less sure is whether Clinton will be asked about the recently leaked speech transcripts(you know the ones that she refused to disclose and that were one of the focal points of the democratic primary?) and they show many of the corrupt things that Bernie (Primary Bernie of course, not #nevertrump Bernie who is MIA on this issue now) said would be in them ARE in fact in them: She wants Wall Street to regulate themselves, She thinks its mandatory to hide what she really thinks about issues from the public, and in a speech to Goldman Sachs in 2013 she assured them that she knew it wasn’t REALLY their fault the economy crashed with a nick wink and a nod.
Trump’s comments will morph into just another example of how being PC has ruined this country and how he will continue to work towards making America great again(and checking to see if his mike is on next time)
Clinton will pivot to how her comments only show her deep understanding of the political process and puts her experience with working in washington front and center that should lead every American to shout #Imwithher from the most convenient rooftop(and remember to request all future private speeches not be transcribed)
Cooper and Raddatz will poke and prod at the candidates on these issues, they will let them lie and deflect to each other and to America…turning this “debate” into nothing more than an interactive campaign ad.
On November 8th we will be introduced to our 45th president, either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump- something that many see as a decision that comes around every four years between the lesser of two evils, but it doesn’t have to be that way next time.
It’s true that neither Gary Johnson nor Jill Stein can win this November, but in losing, they can re group with their respective parties and push forward to 2020 to give America actually meaningful choices for the first time in decades. Third parties can’t win this year but we ALL lose if we don’t vote for them.
American society thrives by the ideals of capitalism, one of which, is competition. Competition drives innovation and quality, without it the American citizen is a slave to whomever corners their respective market; which is why monopolies are illegal- unless they are political in nature of course. It doesn’t matter if you agree with Johnson or Stein, I myself am not sure that I do, their presence and pressure vs the other two parties is good for the country.
America’s two party system is stagnant and stale, there is no need to innovate or inspire- half the country votes for you as long as you have a D or an R next to your name, so why bother going above and beyond? We are forced to pick between the lesser of two evils because those two evils have cornered the market- everything is divided between D and R from the mainstream news to even our celebrities; and anyone who speaks up about a third party is branded an idiot who doesn’t understand politics.
Well I understand politics just fine, and I understand that voting third party is being branded as a wasted vote because the two evils want competition as much as your cable provider does. Competition is bad for business, and the business is taking care of the influential and screwing the rest.
If you don’t support the American tradition of voting for the lesser of two evils, then there is another option: vote third party and give this country’s political system the thing it desperately needs- competition. Maybe, just maybe, if a third party gets 5% of the vote and receives that much needed shot in the arm of federal funding- perhaps a third or even a fourth voice added into the mix can get us some representatives that actually have to care about the average American…instead of the average Billionaire.
America couldn’t get more politically polarized…that was true about a day ago, at least I thought it was.
Hillary Clinton said that some Trump supporters fit into what she called a “Basket of Deplorables” and the left instantly rejoiced- FINALLY Clinton was telling it like it is and giving Trump and his supporters a taste of the “Non-PC” medicine that they claim the country needs so badly. Of course in doing so, they missed the point by about a mile- the point about double standards.
Clinton supporters fill every comment section and forum with calls to eliminate the foul double standards that plague her campaign. Trump is allowed to do whatever the hell he wants but Hillary will be criticized and her feet held to the fire at the drop of a hat. In general, they have a point- but that point starts to dull when these supports jump on the bandwagon of their very own double standard.
If it’s not ok for Trump to come up with nasty nicknames for liberals, to generalize whole groups of people, to push incredibly divisive rhetoric to his followers then WHY is it ok when Hillary does it?
“Well it’s ok because what she is saying is true!” Congratulations, you sound exactly like a Trump supporter now. When Trump talks about “crooked Hillary” and “PC culture” his followers cheer because they think that’s true, and for Hillary supporters to scoff at that but cheer when their own candidate does literally the exact same thing- that’s just pure blind loyalty and the inability to see anyone else’s perspective but yours. Are we trying to have a debate about where this country needs to be headed or are we just trying to steamroll those who don’t agree with us?
Dividing this country even further helps no one, we can’t make any progress when our leaders push rhetoric that keep us from being a country of one, and instead keep us a country of 50/50.
Independently Angry 