Absolutely it's a clownshow.

If you ask me, the whole point of it is to get everyone to sort themselves into one of two horrific camps, where they'll feel like any criticism of the people in power is an attack on them for voting for them - or, if they don't vote, then they generally disengage from politics entirely. It's probably the most effective system of propaganda ever designed, because you don't even need to tell people that horrible people are on their side, they'll happily convince themselves of it all on their own. It's basically a race to the bottom where one side being dogshit allows the other side to be dogshit because there's no alternative, and of course every politician wants to be as dogshit as they can get away with because that's how you win favor with the corporate donors, who have no practical limit on how much money they can spend to influence the outcome.

There's also this level of spectacle in our elections that's above and beyond anywhere else in the world, we treat it like a reality show, and our debates are complete jokes where nothing substantive is ever discussed. We have absurdly long election cycles and entire industries around milking them for entertainment. It's unlikely that we will ever even begin moving in the right direction in the foreseeable future, because the brainworms run so deep.

The worst part is when the spectacle becomes so eye-catching that people from other countries get drawn into it and start thinking in terms of our politics and what we define as normal or reasonable. Americans rarely learn from non-American perspectives and we have corporate influence constantly pushing in the direction of maximizing short term profits over all other priorities, and so our country is unable to understand or adapt to the changing conditions of the modern world, which is why we are in decline.

Look at us only as a cautionary tale of what not to do.

I remember hoping that Obama would prosecute Bush for all of his crimes, in hindsight it was really naive.

Omg guys I just got this idea for a prank it would be so funny I'd like trans my gender and get breast implants and like wax my legs and stuff and I would become like, really slender and petite and I'd go to like a motorcycle rally with all these big burly guys and they'd all start coming on to me because I'd be so attractive and feminine and everybody would think I'm a hot girl but then I'd be like, "Surprise!" in a really deep voice and they'd all get really mad and beat me up and it would be sooo funny right guys?

Guys?

Like, what makes it funny is that I'm not trans (obviously), but like, hypothetically I bet I could pass if I got some surgeries done, don't you think? By the way, I was thinking about what name I should use for this prank, if I give you my top five do you think you could help me narrow it down?

Hitler didn't win because he beat Hindenburg after Thälmann split the vote. He lost to Hindenburg, the center-right candidate endorsed by the social democrats, then won anyway because Hindenburg appointed him Chancellor.

The social democrats were the ones who refused to back Thälmann, the only anti-Hitler candidate in the race. And the same way that the communists called them "social fascists," the social democrats used similar rhetoric, frequently saying that the communists were no different from the Nazis, that there was no difference between the far left and the far right.

But also, we don't have to keep rehashing 100 year old grudges from another continent.

My brother got fucked up psychologically from murdering Iraqis and Afghans and then came home and started "self-medicating" with meth while spending all day sitting in his house alone while listening to far-right propaganda like OAN. He tried to check himself in for treatment at the VA but they committed malpractice which nearly killed him, and he responded violently, which put a flag on his record making it difficult for him to get help in the future, while at the same time giving him a deep distrust of doctors. He was incredibly paranoid and accused everyone of being part of some sort of conspiracy against him and would make violent threats, veiled just enough to not be actionable. Eventually, he went over to someone's house with a gun, but the cops had been watching his house and they showed up, he pulled a gun on them and got shot in the arm, which he lost the use of, but he eventually recovered somewhat on account of getting off the meth while in jail. He's still a fascist and still listens to all the same shit, but he's at regular fascist levels of paranoid-schizophrenia now.

I don't give a shit about him but the pain he put my family through, a memory is burned into my mind of tears in my mother's eyes as she gets another text and it's another crisis and she can't enjoy even a single night out at dinner because she has to act like a 911 operator 24/7 - and whenever I think about any of the people responsible for the stupid, pointless wars that caused all this, Bush, Obama, Biden, Trump, and all the rest, I remember that we got off incredibly easy, that our suffering was absolutely nothing compared to the actual victims of our country's wanton slaughter and pointless wars of aggression, and I multiply the pain I felt in that moment and the trauma throughout the whole experience by a thousand, a hundred thousand, by as much as my mind is even capable of comprehending which is still only a tiny fraction of the reality, and I focus it into pure hatred directed towards all the people responsible for the wars.

"Plants rights activists" out in full force in this thread lol

Remember when the US was opening a port to provide aid to Gaza and we just had to wait for that and then they finished and then Israel blocked the aid like they did with everyone else and the US said "Oh well" and packed it up after accomplishing jack shit?

They're just just trying to make it look like something is happening, just stalling for time indefinitely, constantly saying stuff is right around the corner while delivering on jack shit (except unconditional military aid to Israel). Anyone still buying this crap is a grade-A sucker.

>"Nothing justifies genocide."

>Proceeds to make arguments justifying genocide

I have no idea how you could possibly think this supports your position on things.

If Major Kira was living under a government that offered no alternative to genocide, she'd take up a phaser and start killing government officials, you know, like she literally did, in the show. She'd never condone someone who supported genocide, even if it meant resorting to violent opposition instead.

Legitimately I can't tell how much of it is self-delusion and how much is just blatant lying. Either way, these geriatric ghouls don't deserve this level of mental gymnastics.

Even liberal media like the NYT are admitting it, and we can all see him with our eyes, I don't see what this sort of blatant denialism is supposed to accomplish other than demonstrating in-group loyalty.

I agree with the article except for this part:

Joe Biden’s success in 2020 was due in no small part to his deliberate rejection of Clinton’s failed strategy. “Scranton Joe” courted both Sanders voters and blue-collar whites. He promised expanded infrastructure spending and tougher trade deals. Progressive young people might not have given Biden their votes in the primaries, but he campaigned as a candidate who saw them as part of his coalition and duly won their votes on Election Day.

I think the main reason Biden won in 2020 is because of COVID. That and correctly recognizing that people despise both him and Trump and realizing that if he simply stays out of the limelight people won't pay as much attention to how bad he is. Neither of these factors are working for him now, it's much harder to stay out of the limelight when you're the one in charge.

I suppose there may have been less open hostility towards the left compared to Clinton, but only because that's such a low bar.

You are casually ceding the "not wanting people to kill themselves" ground to the right while also allowing them to paint themselves as caring about human lives when in reality they just want to control women's bodies and protect fetuses, not people.

"Every life is valuable" is obviously a left-wing stance because the left are the ones who actually care about people's lives, even when they're disabled, downtrodden, and painted as burdens on society.

Completely delusional. Literally just making up a reality and choosing to live in it regardless of anything that happens.