General Politics Discussion (IX) [ARCHIVED] • Page 117

We need to make DC a state and win some senate seats back in PA, OH, etc

 

I feel like we have a good shot to win PA and maybe WI too. OH and NC are possible but will be tough.

 

I don't think you understand how much Manchin has made getting anything done in the Senate impossible. This is not an option.

And there are enough Dems who support him for this to never be an option in our lifetimes without massive change. And I don't think the Dem base is capable of that.

 

How will Dems win WI, OH, or even PA if they don’t pass any meaningful legislation from now until 2022?

What possible message will they run on?

And they must also overcome the general trend of the president’s party losing seats in the midterms. And they have to defend a few seats as well.

They have one shot. And there just isn’t any evidence to suggest the Manchin wing of the party has any desire to use it.

 

it’s gonna be all about the coronavirus bail out, the vaccine rollout, and the economy boom. And whatever else they use their next reconciliation bill for. But the hope is the frustration of a split senate and depending on Joe Manchin + the Repubs going full Trumpist/Big Lie + friendlier senate map means they can take it

 

They only care about keeping their jobs at the end of the day. They don’t care who’s in power as long as they still have a cushy, essentially no-show job with healthcare and a pension.

A few senators shutting down all business in the senate, and thus in Congress in general, is one of the things that could maybe actually put their ability to keep their jobs in question. Just sayin’.

 

Can’t wait for the Republican takeover and then we all get locked up for talking about how shitty they are

 

Nothing is going to get better if we - as workers, as communities, as voters, as people with debt, as people of various disenfranchised identities, and in solidarity with all of the above - don’t take direct action. Your vote clearly does not mean shit if the people you vote for aren’t beholden to their constituents in any way. What can we do that these people cannot ignore? It would take millions of people disrupting the economy, occupying public and private places, and truly conditioning their votes (since, at this stage of American history, revolutionary overthrow of the State is probably not on the docket). Clear demands and mass organization. Without taking these steps, literally nothing is going to improve, and we will just slide off the table into fascism that puts the Trump years to shame. Anything that is not backed by direct action is just impotent griping.

 

Even though we all know the dems could do way more since they technically have the majority, I think they could divert the messaging to the fact that republicans have blocked any good thing the dems have put forward. They fought tooth and nail against covid relief, they want to undermine voting rights instead of expanding them, and they keep trying to water down the infrastructure bill that they are never goin to vote yes on anyway.

If the dems can get the messaging right in that republicans are fighting against popular proposals and giving dems more power will allow them to do good things because republicans won’t be an obstacle, I think it could work out in the end.

 

I feel like America was always gonna end up being a fascist hellhole but we unfortunately got stuck in the time when it happens.

 

unfortunately as others have pointed out a general strike in a police state that sees workers as replaceable would be super hard , I don't know what the answer is

 

For sure, it definitely is easier said that done. But that’s been a variation of the case throughout all of history whenever things like that have occurred. It’s also just what it’s going to take, unless we are saying we are defeated already. In which case, i don’t know why anyone would spend any time in this thread lol

 

I mean, I don’t wanna be a downer but I absolutely have already given up. I can’t imagine a scenario where I don’t die in a nuclear explosion or some sort of climate disaster. I definitely feel like this guy a lot of the time:

 

Don't be such a doomer, it's entirely possible you'll die of cancer in medical debt like a normal person!

 

I get feeling pessimistic/nihilistic about the situation we are in. I’m a deeply cynical, constantly angry guy lol but people built the systems we are in/allowed things to get this way, and people can put a stop to it. I do not think it’s too late to radically transform things. More importantly, the people who want to make things worse don’t stop working on building the terrible world they want, which to me is a tacit acknowledgment that it’s not a given.

 

Not really sure how to move forward if that happens. It’s a national strike or just fucking move.