972
So this is how democracy dies ...
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I liked John Stewart's recent bit on this. He showed Biden talking super slow and un focused, and spent 5 minutes ripping on him. When you think Biden is thoroughly trashed he then shows a clip of trump saying "you can pour water on magnets to end them." And suddenly you remember who the competition is.
Here's the problem I don't want to play the dementia olympics for the president...
The fact that DNC insists that Biden is the only one they have that can beat trump should scare the shit out of you. That basically guarantees an authoritarian in the next 8 years because the republicans have a deep back bench of ghouls to replace trump when he dies.
And I'm just saying if trump wins and we can't defeat his geriatric thug version of fascism, then America will just fall to the next charismatic fascist wanna be that stumbles by.
DNC should just pick Jon Stewart or Tom Hanks or somebody. The previous president demonstrated that there are no qualifications beyond people liking you.
People act like he was a warning sign for why unqualified people shouldn't be president, but I kinda took it the other way around. If Trump, who is both incomprehensibly stupid and actively malicious, trying to hurt the country as much as he could, could manage to have his damage so limited, even with Republicans enabling him all over the place, then it stands to reason that anyone who is genuinely acting in good faith and wants to do the job well can manage it pretty okay, especially if they're ready to listen to available experts on everything.
How would the dems running someone else mean the repubs be suddenly decent?
The idea of a second trump term scares me.
As it should, I'm saying the republicans will not get better, they've got a roster of worse already in fact.
That the democrats are so convinced that Biden is the only one from their party who can beat trump, is a terrifying, because I don't know what charismatic demon the republicans are going to run next, but if Biden is the best they've got we're fucked.
The fact that the American system can't rid itself of a virus as decrepit and criminal as trump is a warning that whoever replaces him will waltz in without hassle...
On the (admittedly dim) bright side, there does seem to be something genuinely unique about Trump. I think at least part of it is that he was in everyone's living room for years, lording over celebrities on The Apprentice. There's already quite a bit of hero worship built into the American psyche regarding celebrities, and he pretty well set himself up as a celebeity among celebrities with that show. Combine that with him telling everyone it's ok to embrace that darkness and hate inside everyone else tells them to be ashamed of, and its a powerful combo. The Republicans have mastered the art of that same hate, but everyone but Trump seems to miss the mark.
The irony of them being so hateful that LGBTQ feel comfortable coming out now while simultaneously loving this feeling of being able to show off the real them would almost be funny if it weren't so harmful.
America didn't learn from Raygun's 8 years of 'trickle-down' hilarity. 'Great communicator' of what? Old celebrites might be popular, and make useful PR figureheads (after all, they're experts at play-acting). But (surprise!) usually make crappy leaders out here in the (more real) world.
I mean the reason they're so certain Biden is their best bet is the incumbent effect, which is REALLY HARD to beat. I think AOC is like the main example of someone being able to beat a big wig incumbent and she had some pretty extraordinary circumstances and personal talent to make that happen.
I'm just crossing my fingers that Whitmer goes for it next time because she seems like she's got a lot of credential to her portfolio already.
I get the incumbent effect, but it only goes so far... Much like the "well for all his faults, to any sane person he's clearly better than his opponent" effect.
I hope the democrats get their shit figured out and have someone they can push, but history shows they are bunglers...
The next one won't be a wannabe.
I think most of us -are- pretty terrified already, and we can debate about what should be all day, but it won't change what's happening right now.
Why don't we debate what -should be- next year, and then be active about making it happen before we find ourselves in this position again in 4 years?
If America can't withstand the thuggish authoritarian incompetence of what trump promises, then it is only a waiting game to our inevitable fall to fascism.
Burying our heads in the sand an hoping for the best won't make that inevitable future any less inevitable...
I hope Biden wins, but we're just swirling the drain, we can make it take longer but we're falling in that dark hole.