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yeah but tHeY DiDn'T giVe Us AnY gOoD CanDiDaTeS!!
That's why so many threw their fucking votes in the sewers. Plus Harris had a situation in her past which could be read uncharitably!!!
Why do you hate [it doesn't matter, put anything in here]?!?!
A lot of this is short term vs long term thinking. We got into this political situation precisely because Democrats have been running "lesser of two evils" milquetoast centrists for years. Democrats run centrist candidates that are just barely better than the Republican candidate. They don't offer any real change, just preservation of the status quo. The preservation of the status quo used to be a Republican thing. Since Democrats have taken over that role, that forces Republicans further to the right. And Democrats also willingly adopt Republican framing of policies. Kamala ran on an immigration plan that would have been decried as fascism during Hillary's campaign.
The problem with always holding your nose and voting for Democrats, no matter what, is that you eventually end up with an election that's KKK vs. neo-Nazis, as Democrats slide so far to the right that they're full on fascists themselves.
Barely better? Gore was the environmentalist. Hilary declared war on climate change when she said she'd have a map room. Biden did green energy policy. While Kamala was hesitant to say it I think it was clear she was going to continue it.
But don't worry, maybe we can start again from scratch in 4 years.
*Actually it won't be from scratch, we'll have to dig ourselves out from disbanding the EPA.
Oh, you want to change topics and talk about the environment now? OK. Let's talk about the environment.
Biden oversaw the largest expansion of oil drilling in American history. Have US CO2 emissions declined under Biden's term? He also put up huge tariffs on Chinese EVs, batteries, and solar panels. He chose to put American business interests ahead of helping the environment. A few days ago, as a lame duck, he grabbed headlines by barring oil drilling in a bunch of US waters. But he only banned drilling in areas that the oil industry has no interest in operating in anyway. The coastal areas that actually have a potential for future drilling expansion? He left those alone. All style and no substance; it's the Biden way.
He's taken the exact same kind of market-oriented approaches to climate change that have got us where we are. The core idea of his IRA act was that if we just produce a whole lot of solar panels and batteries, that the magic of the market will sort itself out. No need for taxes on carbon. No need for restrictions on new drilling. Just produce enough EVs, and everything will sort itself out. Instead, what's happening is we're simply using the solar revolution to increase our total energy use as a species. We're paving the desert in solar panels while also continuing to burn fossil fuels at a record pace. Neoliberal environmentalists can't actually help the environment, because they insist on doing everything through market mechanisms. And energy is so useful the market will seek to exploit every energy source possible.
They can't even fathom the idea of outlawing new oil or gas expansion. Banning something profitable? To them that's like trying to visualize a four-dimensional object. They simply cannot comprehend the idea. "Wait, we can just ban something? But what about the corporate donors? What if Republicans use that ban to paint us as liberal extremists?"
Even on environmentalism, the issue you chose precisely because it puts Biden and the other centrist Dems in the best possible light, they have failed miserably.
Behold the environmental record of neoliberalism, like the Writing upon the Wall:
The US chart is less damning. It exhibits a slight downward trend as we've outsourced so much of our manufacturing:
But even looking at that graph, I see zero impact of presidential administration on CO2 emissions. Democrat or Republican in power? It has no impact on CO2 emissions. Industry is mostly left to do as it will.
The core philosophical promise of neoliberalism is, "forget fairness, justice, or doing what's 'right.' Instead follow whatever pragmatic market-based solutions will produce the best outcome." And that premise is now its epitaph.
I don't give a damn what a politician says. Democrats certainly talk in big flowery language about the environment. But when actually in office, they turn down opportunity after opportunity to actually improve things. As it is in the environment, so in every other issue.
Fantastic response, really well said and completely accurate.
The identity politics offered by Dems pale in comparison to meaningful substantive policy initiatives, and Dems make a whole lot of money promising donors they won’t do those. It seems that voters are finally catching on.
Even the identity politics is pretty shallow. They talk a big game about LGBT rights or the black community. But what do they really do? They didn't manage to pass an updated Civil Rights act to fix the most egregious Supreme Court rulings. They put Senate decorum and preserving the filibuster ahead of protecting our democracy. Or how about codifying Roe v Wade? Did that happen? Or how about something that was proposed that wasn't implemented - allowing doctors to set up abortion clinics on US government property in red states. That wouldn't have required any Congressional approval. Did that happen? No. Nothing. Using the full force of the Justice Department to come down on states that restrict trans rights? No, didn't do that either. Hell, Biden hasn't even managed to reschedule marijuana yet. His geriatric ass couldn't even get that done.
They talk a big game, but they deliver little. Ultimately they will always fall back to the idea that any serious attempt to help minorities will require 60 votes in the Senate, because the filibuster is just too sacred to let go, even if it's to help people. And even if they got 60 votes, just as with things that require only 51 votes, there will always be a rotating villain of the week ready to throw a wrench in the works. Republicans police their caucus and whip up their votes when needed on big issues. Democrats wring their hands and say, "well, he/she is from a conservative state, and we're lucky to have the seat at all!" This type of thing never seems to prevent Republicans from passing the legislation they want to. They always find a creative way to do it with a 50 vote majority, or they inevitably find a few dems willing to support some horrible bill in the name of "bipartisanship."
We are likely to see bills pass the Senate this term explicitly restricting trans rights. Sports and childhood access to medication will be the likely targets for first federal legislation. And you can be damn sure that there will be a good portion of the Democratic caucus voting for such measures. The centrist dems will quietly remove the pronouns from their email signatures, and they'll happily vote to restrict trans rights.
Ok I'm gonna have to set the stage first.
Gore ran on environmentalism. And bam he lost the election.
So what did Obama learn? That it was a losing topic. Don't touch it. And he won.
Hilary said maybe now is the time. When she said she would have a map room she declared war on climate change. And what happened? Bam lost the election.
So what did Biden learn? Stay away from it. Don't touch it. And he won.
But Biden did Green Energy anyway. And what did polls say? That he was going to lose.
So what did Kamala learn? You get no thanks for environmental policy. Don't touch it.
And what won the election? The price of eggs, “It’s the economy, stupid".
So on to my point: You're talking is if the Dems had an overwhelming mandate from the people for environmentalism. They didn't. They never have. They likely never will. Every time they even look at environmentalism, they lose. Every. Single. Time. But you're here holding them to the
goldplatinum standard. The people have spoken and they say: "don't do it." You want them to be a pitbull on the topic, when the people have said "don't do it, we don't want it". Do you see the dichotomy here? They aren't elected to do it, and then you ask "Why didn't they do thegoldplatinum standard?" Do you realize this? What we got from them, when they lose every single time on it, is not bad. Want more? Then they have not lose every single time it comes up. (And inb4 Lemmy's famous misreading, I want more. I want a ton more. But I see that they lose every single time on it.)*This is probably my only reply because frankly if you think they had this overwhelming mandate to run to the platinum standard, well you reallllly need to realize the dichotomy of what we on lemmy want vs what the people elect them to do. Again: They didn't have a mandate. They never have. They likely never will. Again, I want it, but I see they didn't have it and that they lose every single time on it.
Buddy, he passed a law called the Inflation Reduction Act whose biggest impact is protectionist policies that make green vehicles and energy harder to access for individuals. It was a corporate subsidy for American corporations only marketed as a Green New Deal.
You fell for the marketing.
Seeing as it was called the inflation reduction act, I actually saw through the name and marketing and saw the substance.
Obviously you did not.
The preservation of the status quo used to be a Republican thing. Since Democrats have taken over that role, that forces Republicans further to the right.
You have this backwards. The Republican platform is catered for conservatives. They were always going to shift more and more to the right as time passed. This gives the DNC an excuse to avoid running progressive candidates since there's nobody else who can challenge them in the FPTP two-party system.
I mean, technically they gave zero candidates. He resigned essentially without time for actual elections, and she was just shoved in. 8 years ago people got fucked when they forced Hillary, and this time they didn't even give a choice.
Screw the entire system.
“Technically” “they” gave us a presidential and vice presidential candidate that wasn’t the demented incompetent rapist.
A “Screw the system“ non-vote gives us what we see here. It’s not rocket science.
I voted for Harris but it felt like a gun to my head because I despise her policies and the time she spent helping cops lock people up. She's a terrible candidate and the worst option for the time for the Dems. But she was the only one of two people who weren't a fascist, at least publicly. Neoliberal business strategy is fascism in a tailored suit and the current DNC and RNC are both pushing it onto us. The RNC at least understands how to ignore the people who won't vote for them.
The DNC needs a deep and thorough cleaning to remove all the neoliberal money grubbing from the party. Progressive politics is the only way to beat fascism at the ballot but business leaders are too scared of not making money.
No they tried to push an obviously senile man and then switched at the last minute. Then she pledged to rule the exact same way as that senile man, while the lower classes are having trouble affording luxuries like food. Turns out Marie Antoinette didn't have a popular position.
Okay, here’s your incompetent fascism. Bon appétit.
When the choice is oppression or sparkling oppression it's not exactly a head scratcher as to why people stayed home.
You are very clear then that the reason we'll have locusts and plagues and massive suffering is because people stayed home to bitch about "sparkling oppresion".
I mean, okay. That's the way you want it.
There was plenty of time for elections. They just didn't want to do it.
What has the Democrat party done for you?
Is this a wind-up?
Every good thing the government has done in the last 50 years. On rare occasion with help from conservatives. Expanded healthcare, pandemic plans (thrown away by trump), and forgiven student loans for three random things.
Democratic party.
Those are great examples! Next time you try to convince someone use positive examples instead of just kvetching, it’s much more impactful.
Also I’ll start calling it the Democratic party after DWS and crew stop rigging the primaries.
You need examples to support the one national political party with the only viable progressive policies in the last 50 years?
Oh wait - are you not a US voter? If not, my apologies, I can link handy lists of important Democratic policies, but I default to thinking people are already familiar with US politics. Since Reagan the differences have been very stark.