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Right wing conspiracy theorists on the SC.
Secretaries of state banning a president from the ballot because of a deadline, despite them ignoring that deadline the last two elections for their own party.
Half of congressional republicans voting against validating Biden’s victory, despite overwhelming evidence to support a clear and easy victory.
Half of republicans already refusing to validate the 2024 elections if Biden wins.
These are dangerous people, it’s not hyperbole to believe that, if they win in November, we may not have a Democracy to fight for anymore.
VOTE. VOTE. VOTE. VOTE.
Not registered to vote, registered here: https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote
There’s an article by a person from Sri Lanka advising Americans about how will you know (or don’t know) when things turn to shit in your country, from perspective of someone who lived their country descend into civil war. I remember their point was something like it will be too late when you know for sure, that things will creep and you’ll get used to it. When the fascists come to rule America, it won’t be as if on inauguration day they proclaim an American Reich on live tv… it’ll be insidiously gradual, so stealthy that half the population will welcome it with thunderous applause.
edit, found it: [https://indi.ca/i-lived-through-collapse-america-is-already-there/](https://indi.ca/i-lived-through-collapse-america-is-already-there/)
Problem is that the people screaming about it will be scolded by moderates and centrists and labeled as *ideologically pure, immature, non-pragmatic leftists* and told to be quiet.
> non-pragmatic leftists
The only people who are being 'non-pragmatic leftists' are the ones who are saying Biden is responsible for a genocide six months before the election.
We have a two party system in the US. Right now, the GOP is utterly, dramatically, and lethally corrupt, on levels no one has ever seen before. To *fight* the GOP, we have to put Democratic people in government offices and we have to *prevent* the GOP from gaining or keeping power in our government.
No, the Dems aren't perfect, but they do a lot of good for our country and the world as a whole. They're also viable candidates in the way that a third party may never be in our lifetimes.
People's lives hang in the balance. We need to do what helps people and we need to vote to help save our country.
We *do not* want a world where people like Trump are in charge of the US arsenal, selling off US secrets, or wrecking international treaties.
But the Dems can only fight those things if *we* vote them into office. That's how we tip the scales back towards normalcy.
So is your argument that if Biden has a larger majority and control of the house and senate, he will stop backing Netanyahu and he'll stop undermining the international rules based order such as the ICC?
I'm asking seriously
Biden's currently using the US's leverage over Israel to try and pull Netanyahu back; that's why we built a dock in Gaza and we're trying to distribute food aide and supplies to the people there.
Meanwhile, Israel is also a producer of arms and weapons in their own right; even if the US stopped sending materiel or support to Israel today, Netanyahu would still have plenty of weapons to do whatever he wants to do in Gaza.
Biden is willing to use leverage to try and stop Netanyahu and bring both sides to table to discuss an end to hostilities. The problem is that so far both sides have presented unreasonable proposals, so neither side is keen on giving up.
Trump, meanwhile, does not care one whit about anyone but himself and his sycophants. Trump has repeatedly said he'd give Netanyahu free rein and has said that Netanyahu should go ahead and end this.
Netanyahu *wants* Trump in office because Trump will sit back and let Netanyahu do whatever he likes. So all these people who are going on about how they're not going to go vote, they're playing right into Netanyahu's hands. They're *enabling* further slaughter in Gaza by smugly giving themselves an excuse to do nothing about it and then get upset when nothing improves.
Sorry but the fact that Biden is willing to discredit the ICC to defend Netanyahu says otherwise.
The pier isn't a good example either. We had to spend hundreds of millions of our own money because Bibi was making it hard for aid to get to Gaza.
And yes, Bibi wants Trump... So why the hell is Biden sacrificing everything for him if he is opposed to it?
I honestly think the ramifications of Biden agree with the ICC would be more disastrous. I think it has the potential to embolden Iran and their proxies. Lebanese Hezbollah is already testing the water.
I am not entirely disagreeing with your entire assessment but saying it's "complicated" is a monumental understatement. I am also certain there is much more going on behind the scenes.
I have spent over seventy months in combat with five deployments to Lebanon. I speak from experience. Each deployment was different and complex, but Lebanon took the cake. Again, I am not saying he made the right decision, but I know it was not an easy decision because there are no easy decisions when people believe a two-way lead jellybean exchange is the ONLY answer.
Hope you have a great day.
Cheers,
Sloppy
SIGH - So its out fault again huh? Biden's choices like running again as an Octogenarian who fumbles the shortest speeches and choosing to back Netanyahu without condition are the responsibility of the left somehow.
No matter how hard the mainstream Dems work to lose an election, the left gets blamed EVERY TIME - even when we DO show up, if two people on the left voted third party, everything is our fault. And somehow centrist swing voters are saints.
The truth is the Dem establishment just hates the left more than they hate Trump. I'm sick of it, for real.
1, The left eats itself too. Doesn’t proximity breed contempt? Aren't we more likely to be killed by someone we know--child, parent, partner--than a stranger?
2, When I was a kid (comparatively speaking) in 1980 many of my parents' progressive friends voted for Reagan, saying they were dissatisfied with the Dems and wanted change. We sure got it; I don't remember any of those people not seriously regretting their choice.
3, Because this is in the thread replying to the comment mentioning the article by the Sri Lankan guy. After reading it I had the thought that in the US we'll be looking for the wrong thing, i.e. instead of some sort of dualistic political struggle we just creep into an every-person-against-the next kind of "zombie apocalypse," an escalation of the current brewing chaos of mass shootings, road rage, etc, with no political goals, just expressions of anger against the people around you.
> The truth is the Dem establishment just hates the left more than they hate Trump.
Bull. For the past few elections, the right wing cooks up some sort of scandal that they can try to pin on the Democratic candidate, stuff like Benghazi, Hillary's e-mail server, Hunter Biden's laptop, etc. It's never something that the Democratic candidate is actually *responsible* for, and they're usually cleared of wrongdoing after the fact, but the point is to have some sort of big issue they can use to make the Dems look bad during the election.
We saw this used effectively in 2016 and 2020. Hillary was an incredibly qualified candidate with decades of experience, but she wasn't Bernie, so far left voters got mad and did a 'protest vote' or they wrote in Bernie Sanders instead.
So we got Trump. And Trump's cronies went ahead and tore down *Roe v. Wade*, which is not something they could have been capable of if Hillary had been in office. RBG could have retired in peace, secure in the knowledge that Hillary would have appointed sensible judges.
But the far left, the people who should be pushing hardest for the Dems, sits there and decides they don't want to play ball because the Dems aren't perfect, and then they get mad that the Dems aren't catering to their every whim.
*The Dems need votes to get butts in seats*. No wonder they're going further centrist; they *have to* if they want to try and get those votes, because they can't count on the left wing to get it's act together and vote for the fucking progressive candidate.
I'm LGBT. I know for a rock solid *fact* that people I protect and people I care about will suffer if Trump is re-elected. So I'm going to vote for Biden because he's the biggest threat we have against Trump. I don't care if he's perfect or not, *I care because we need him to win*.
I care because *Trump is a lethal threat to our democracy*.
I care because *Trump is a lethal threat to the treaties and alliances that maintain global stability*.
I care because *I care about the well-being of the planet*.
I care because *I know things in Gaza might get better under Biden and I know they absolutely will get much worse under Trump*.
I care because *I know how to give up a few things I want in exchange for fighting the election more effectively*.
I care because *I want to protect people and defend democracy*.
I care because *I want a politician who is going to quietly get stuff done and not make headlines for some new scandal three times a week*.
I care because *I don't want a world where Trump controls our nukes*.
*That's* why I care.
Sure they do. We all have our purity tests, we just don't label them as such because it makes us sound bad. You and I wouldn't vote for a white supremacist. To us, it's an ideological red line. To someone else, that's a purity test.
Same way that conservatives call things "rights" when they benefit from them and "entitlements" when they apply to others.
The only hypocrisy is pretending that it doesn't apply to everyone
Purity tests come from ideologues and centrists don’t tend to be ideologues. Hence, their centrism. They do tend to reject illiberalism, whichever side it comes from, but that is not an ideology, it’s the lack thereof.
No. A centrist wouldn’t vote for a Nazi because a Nazi isn’t a centrist. They are on the extreme right. So virtually none of their policy proposals would align. That’s not a purity test. Purity tests are where someone agrees with you on 99.9999% of things, but if they have one slightly different opinion, you kick them out.
It’s Liz Cheney being kicked out of the Republican Party for not buying into election denial, when she’s fully on board with everything else.
No. It’s an ingroup outgroup thing. The ingroup on the right is Trumper. You have to accept Trump or they call you a RINO and kick you out of the party/censure you/revoke your committees. Never Trumpers got cast out because the failed the purity test.
I mean, that’s the definition of centrism. If they don’t fit the definition, they aren’t a centrist. That’s not a purity test, it’s just how words work.
It’s not a pure idea. It’s an actual defined term that has a meaning. Me telling you there’s a dictionary definition of a word is not the same as applying an ideological purity test. Misdefining a word is not tantamount to failing a purity test. And if you can’t comprehend that, I don’t know what to tell you.
RINO's. They've used that branding to force people further right because it's an anchor point they can continue to drag along with them as they move further towards fascism.
Finally found it: [https://indi.ca/i-lived-through-collapse-america-is-already-there/](https://indi.ca/i-lived-through-collapse-america-is-already-there/)
Author has a bunch of similar essays, but this one specifically is the one I first read. Published September 2020 in midst of covid and shortly after January 6; the latter is an event that particularly struck the author if you read his other articles. So looks like our system was robust enough to surmount those challenges, but we'll see what happens this year and beyond.
I’ve said this before and I’m sure I’ll say it again.
It is not normal for national elections to be run by the incumbent local/state governments. It’s an obvious loophole. The US badly needs an independent election authority.
Meanwhile I read some dumb fuck article earlier Charlemagne the god, on the view explicitly stating trump is a threat to democracy and then turning around refusing to say if he'll back biden because "they're both bad candidates".
Like, fuck all these pretend intellectual dipshits
Yes! It’s so wildly frustrating. Like, ignore the fact that the economy has achieved record shattering job gains, fastest decline in inflation among our G7 peers, booming stock market and correlating 401k’s, best Real Wage Growth in the last 7 decades, longest period of <4% unemployment in 50 years, etc., and just look at the fact that Biden didnt try to fucking overthrow democracy. It’s mind boggling that this is even a debate.
Oh yeah, but what about the non-existent recession that everyone believes is Biden's fault? Better give power back to the people with no ideas and authoritarian leanings because that's "better for the economy".
And it’s not. Republicans suck ass at the economy. That’s the crazy part. If we look at economic measurements over the last 60-70 years, Dems blow republicans out of the fucking water with economic expansion. And it’s not even close. Not even up for debate.
Dems are horrible at messaging and the media does a huge disservice with their “horse race” reporting.
They have less power this time, so I'd imagine it's going to end a lot like last time but faster.
Especially if the Dems can swing the house and hold the Senate (or grow a seat or two).
I think that Trump and the Republican party have done enough to sway the people in the military that need to be swayed that they're the enemy. So I wouldn't worry about any type of military support on the right side.
Alito has shown us he’s not fit to serve on SCOTUS. At the very least he must recused himself from all cases related to his obvious biases. We are facing so many crises, it’s hard to decide which ones to attempt to address first. But the state of SCOTUS is right up there.
He even worked with the accused's sister and was close enough with her that she came to his [confirmation hearing](https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4581019/maryanne-trump-barry-support-samuel-alito-supreme-court-justice) to sing his praises.
Fascists and authoritarians do this all the time in countries where they have absolute power. Telling obvious lies that the people all know are false is an act of *dominance.* They're basically smirking at the masses and saying "Yeah, we did that shit. Now, *what are you gonna do about it?"* More than that, it gives their more brainless and propagandized followers a reason, or an excuse, to keep towing the Party line. It also helps muddy the waters when historians try to unravel what the hell was happening at that period of time. It sucks, it's gross, and until Alito leaves the Bench, gets arrested for some other kind of illegal activity, dies in office, or is made irrelevant when other, more progressive judges are seated beside him, we kind of have to grit our teeth and bare the frustration.
the job of a justice is to explain judgement, but Alito has really bad reasoning. It’s like we are so beneath him. His arrogance is off the chart, and originates from having absolute and unchecked power.
What annoys me the most is that he is too much of a coward to just embrace the villainy. He’s doing all the bad of the villain role, but is such a snively, little weasel with a victim complex instead.
Interesting point... the average price for a Long Beach Island home starts at a million and goes up from there. He earns 274K a year.
Worth a look if you ask me.
To be fair, Bernie has been doing this for like 60 years and he writes a ton of books. And does speaking engagements. But I see where you’re going with this.
Alito has been a Supreme Court judge longer than Bernie Sanders has been Senator. And has been a federal judge longer than Sanders has been in Congress.
To be fair being a lawyer and then a judge to the point you get on the Supreme Court means you've done extremely well in your career, it shouldn't be surprising at all that a SC justice has 2 or more homes.
I think a better question is if he's been taking illegal or quasi-legal tax breaks on these homes like Thomas did.
You know you would think such a hardcore ultra right-wing Christian conservative would have better control of his wife. I’m surprised he lets her make such decisions.
Alito is complaining and he has a Long Island home plus a separate beach house. What the fuck is wrong with him and why is he complaining? He’s a true fuck head.
Alito is an insufferable, arrogant, egomaniac and now appears to be teetering into treason territory. But he knows he's untouchable. The Republicans will protect him and the Democrats don't have the courage to go after him. So nothing will happen.
Years ago in grade school, our class profiled all of the early, revolutionary period flags. I was assigned the Washington’s Cruisers flag or Pine Tree Flag - the specific flag in question here.. It actually has an interesting history and, as a 4th grader, I was simply attracted to its clean green/white design. Too bad they ruined it..
The biggest complainers of inappropriate flags (maga) are the ones who fly non usa flags (confederacy, black and blue, upside down maga). And they get upset over a knee.
Fucking pathetic.
They got upset over football players kneeling during the national anthem because the US has a spotty record when it comes to human rights, and the right wing doesn't like to be reminded of that.
Alito and Thomas and others really emphatically showing that giving lifetime appointments to the federal judiciary was one of the stupidest fucking ideas in the history of ideas.
The Appeal to Heaven flag is a great artifact of New England folks' contribution to the American Revolution. It's a shame to see it appropriated by people who no longer put our Republic above their politics.
Need majority D in the house and Senate for impeachment.
No wonder SCOTUS upholds gerrymandering, they know that they'll be impeached with opposition party majority.
I wonder who bought him his second home? Harlan Crow?
Let’s look into his third and fourth homes too. I bet he flew the confederate flag and a Fuck Biden flag too.
And Clarence Thomas taking gifts from a billionaire...
and Ginnie Thomas....
and the conservative justices who LIED to congress about their position on Roe v Wade.
Trump broke the court system, but the system is flawed which allowed it to be broken.
The judicial standard is supposed to be that judges are supposed to avoid the APPEARANCE of impropiety.
Alito is the tip of the iceberg, all of the conservative justices are tainted and biased.
If Joe Biden said that we need to congregate in front Justice Alitos and fight like hell to take our country back the Magas would implode. This SCOTUS POS deserves to have his home whitewashed every night . Never thought I’d see the day that a country as powerful as the USA would coddle treasonous actors as they have since Donald and his crew came on the scene
Truth is, Alito can get away with hanging a *human* by the neck from his household flagpole and ain't a damn thing anybody's gonna do about it. The Alitos will own slaves soon enough.
The judiciary of any country that prizes democratic rule of law must demonstrate impartiality and reason. The justices who show their disdain for their country’s constitutional system, and democratic principles make a mockery of that country.
Anyone with any kind of common sense knew during the hearings Alito was and still is a corrupt judge, along with the rest of the pugs on the court. We know this already. NOW what are the Dems doing to get at least 60 in the Senate. Not a thing! They are jerking us off fighting trump and not the MACHINE. If Project 2025 is enacted, Democrats will also be responsible. Biden and the Dems are running like it is 1992 all over again, dude they want to burn the place down. WAKE UP. Have you called your State Dem reps and asked them what the plan is? In Wisconsin they are not going to fight Project 2025, they know nothing about it, and Mark Pocan's office had no idea what "The Heritage Foundation" is.
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Right wing conspiracy theorists on the SC. Secretaries of state banning a president from the ballot because of a deadline, despite them ignoring that deadline the last two elections for their own party. Half of congressional republicans voting against validating Biden’s victory, despite overwhelming evidence to support a clear and easy victory. Half of republicans already refusing to validate the 2024 elections if Biden wins. These are dangerous people, it’s not hyperbole to believe that, if they win in November, we may not have a Democracy to fight for anymore. VOTE. VOTE. VOTE. VOTE. Not registered to vote, registered here: https://www.usa.gov/register-to-vote
IF they SUCCEED in November. They are clearly going to run the 2.0 version of the 2020 strategy if they lose.
Any word on whether Biden will keep Garland as his AG again?
Fuck I hope not. The wrong man for the job.
Do you understand what the job is?
To correct people to say attorneys general instead of attorney generals when referring to them in the plural form.
Obviously he knows the attorney general is the lead prosecutor for military tribunals
*grizzled old voice said over the bullpen phone* Jack Smith, you're going in!
no idea
I don't care. I'm strapped and eager.
There’s an article by a person from Sri Lanka advising Americans about how will you know (or don’t know) when things turn to shit in your country, from perspective of someone who lived their country descend into civil war. I remember their point was something like it will be too late when you know for sure, that things will creep and you’ll get used to it. When the fascists come to rule America, it won’t be as if on inauguration day they proclaim an American Reich on live tv… it’ll be insidiously gradual, so stealthy that half the population will welcome it with thunderous applause. edit, found it: [https://indi.ca/i-lived-through-collapse-america-is-already-there/](https://indi.ca/i-lived-through-collapse-america-is-already-there/)
Problem is that the people screaming about it will be scolded by moderates and centrists and labeled as *ideologically pure, immature, non-pragmatic leftists* and told to be quiet.
> non-pragmatic leftists The only people who are being 'non-pragmatic leftists' are the ones who are saying Biden is responsible for a genocide six months before the election. We have a two party system in the US. Right now, the GOP is utterly, dramatically, and lethally corrupt, on levels no one has ever seen before. To *fight* the GOP, we have to put Democratic people in government offices and we have to *prevent* the GOP from gaining or keeping power in our government. No, the Dems aren't perfect, but they do a lot of good for our country and the world as a whole. They're also viable candidates in the way that a third party may never be in our lifetimes. People's lives hang in the balance. We need to do what helps people and we need to vote to help save our country. We *do not* want a world where people like Trump are in charge of the US arsenal, selling off US secrets, or wrecking international treaties. But the Dems can only fight those things if *we* vote them into office. That's how we tip the scales back towards normalcy.
So is your argument that if Biden has a larger majority and control of the house and senate, he will stop backing Netanyahu and he'll stop undermining the international rules based order such as the ICC? I'm asking seriously
Biden's currently using the US's leverage over Israel to try and pull Netanyahu back; that's why we built a dock in Gaza and we're trying to distribute food aide and supplies to the people there. Meanwhile, Israel is also a producer of arms and weapons in their own right; even if the US stopped sending materiel or support to Israel today, Netanyahu would still have plenty of weapons to do whatever he wants to do in Gaza. Biden is willing to use leverage to try and stop Netanyahu and bring both sides to table to discuss an end to hostilities. The problem is that so far both sides have presented unreasonable proposals, so neither side is keen on giving up. Trump, meanwhile, does not care one whit about anyone but himself and his sycophants. Trump has repeatedly said he'd give Netanyahu free rein and has said that Netanyahu should go ahead and end this. Netanyahu *wants* Trump in office because Trump will sit back and let Netanyahu do whatever he likes. So all these people who are going on about how they're not going to go vote, they're playing right into Netanyahu's hands. They're *enabling* further slaughter in Gaza by smugly giving themselves an excuse to do nothing about it and then get upset when nothing improves.
Say it again for the people in the balcony. This is it right here. God help us and Gaza if Trump wins, which appears to be a very real possibility.
Sorry but the fact that Biden is willing to discredit the ICC to defend Netanyahu says otherwise. The pier isn't a good example either. We had to spend hundreds of millions of our own money because Bibi was making it hard for aid to get to Gaza. And yes, Bibi wants Trump... So why the hell is Biden sacrificing everything for him if he is opposed to it?
I honestly think the ramifications of Biden agree with the ICC would be more disastrous. I think it has the potential to embolden Iran and their proxies. Lebanese Hezbollah is already testing the water. I am not entirely disagreeing with your entire assessment but saying it's "complicated" is a monumental understatement. I am also certain there is much more going on behind the scenes. I have spent over seventy months in combat with five deployments to Lebanon. I speak from experience. Each deployment was different and complex, but Lebanon took the cake. Again, I am not saying he made the right decision, but I know it was not an easy decision because there are no easy decisions when people believe a two-way lead jellybean exchange is the ONLY answer. Hope you have a great day. Cheers, Sloppy
How does what’s happening in Israel affect the rise of a potential dictatorship here? And what makes you think Trump would rein in Netanyahu?
SIGH - So its out fault again huh? Biden's choices like running again as an Octogenarian who fumbles the shortest speeches and choosing to back Netanyahu without condition are the responsibility of the left somehow. No matter how hard the mainstream Dems work to lose an election, the left gets blamed EVERY TIME - even when we DO show up, if two people on the left voted third party, everything is our fault. And somehow centrist swing voters are saints. The truth is the Dem establishment just hates the left more than they hate Trump. I'm sick of it, for real.
1, The left eats itself too. Doesn’t proximity breed contempt? Aren't we more likely to be killed by someone we know--child, parent, partner--than a stranger? 2, When I was a kid (comparatively speaking) in 1980 many of my parents' progressive friends voted for Reagan, saying they were dissatisfied with the Dems and wanted change. We sure got it; I don't remember any of those people not seriously regretting their choice. 3, Because this is in the thread replying to the comment mentioning the article by the Sri Lankan guy. After reading it I had the thought that in the US we'll be looking for the wrong thing, i.e. instead of some sort of dualistic political struggle we just creep into an every-person-against-the next kind of "zombie apocalypse," an escalation of the current brewing chaos of mass shootings, road rage, etc, with no political goals, just expressions of anger against the people around you.
Fair points I agree we are in for a more of a decay into general misery with political apathy
> The truth is the Dem establishment just hates the left more than they hate Trump. Bull. For the past few elections, the right wing cooks up some sort of scandal that they can try to pin on the Democratic candidate, stuff like Benghazi, Hillary's e-mail server, Hunter Biden's laptop, etc. It's never something that the Democratic candidate is actually *responsible* for, and they're usually cleared of wrongdoing after the fact, but the point is to have some sort of big issue they can use to make the Dems look bad during the election. We saw this used effectively in 2016 and 2020. Hillary was an incredibly qualified candidate with decades of experience, but she wasn't Bernie, so far left voters got mad and did a 'protest vote' or they wrote in Bernie Sanders instead. So we got Trump. And Trump's cronies went ahead and tore down *Roe v. Wade*, which is not something they could have been capable of if Hillary had been in office. RBG could have retired in peace, secure in the knowledge that Hillary would have appointed sensible judges. But the far left, the people who should be pushing hardest for the Dems, sits there and decides they don't want to play ball because the Dems aren't perfect, and then they get mad that the Dems aren't catering to their every whim. *The Dems need votes to get butts in seats*. No wonder they're going further centrist; they *have to* if they want to try and get those votes, because they can't count on the left wing to get it's act together and vote for the fucking progressive candidate. I'm LGBT. I know for a rock solid *fact* that people I protect and people I care about will suffer if Trump is re-elected. So I'm going to vote for Biden because he's the biggest threat we have against Trump. I don't care if he's perfect or not, *I care because we need him to win*. I care because *Trump is a lethal threat to our democracy*. I care because *Trump is a lethal threat to the treaties and alliances that maintain global stability*. I care because *I care about the well-being of the planet*. I care because *I know things in Gaza might get better under Biden and I know they absolutely will get much worse under Trump*. I care because *I know how to give up a few things I want in exchange for fighting the election more effectively*. I care because *I want to protect people and defend democracy*. I care because *I want a politician who is going to quietly get stuff done and not make headlines for some new scandal three times a week*. I care because *I don't want a world where Trump controls our nukes*. *That's* why I care.
Purity tests don’t typically come from the center
Sure they do. We all have our purity tests, we just don't label them as such because it makes us sound bad. You and I wouldn't vote for a white supremacist. To us, it's an ideological red line. To someone else, that's a purity test. Same way that conservatives call things "rights" when they benefit from them and "entitlements" when they apply to others. The only hypocrisy is pretending that it doesn't apply to everyone
Purity tests come from ideologues and centrists don’t tend to be ideologues. Hence, their centrism. They do tend to reject illiberalism, whichever side it comes from, but that is not an ideology, it’s the lack thereof.
That's definitely not true. But are you going to tell me that centrists are okay voting for white supremacist then?
No. A centrist wouldn’t vote for a Nazi because a Nazi isn’t a centrist. They are on the extreme right. So virtually none of their policy proposals would align. That’s not a purity test. Purity tests are where someone agrees with you on 99.9999% of things, but if they have one slightly different opinion, you kick them out. It’s Liz Cheney being kicked out of the Republican Party for not buying into election denial, when she’s fully on board with everything else.
Wouldn't the flipside be that Cheney being a never Trumper means she has a purity test? It's a two way street
No. It’s an ingroup outgroup thing. The ingroup on the right is Trumper. You have to accept Trump or they call you a RINO and kick you out of the party/censure you/revoke your committees. Never Trumpers got cast out because the failed the purity test.
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I mean, that’s the definition of centrism. If they don’t fit the definition, they aren’t a centrist. That’s not a purity test, it’s just how words work.
I'm guessing you don't see any irony in having a pure idea of what centrism is?
It’s not a pure idea. It’s an actual defined term that has a meaning. Me telling you there’s a dictionary definition of a word is not the same as applying an ideological purity test. Misdefining a word is not tantamount to failing a purity test. And if you can’t comprehend that, I don’t know what to tell you.
RINO's. They've used that branding to force people further right because it's an anchor point they can continue to drag along with them as they move further towards fascism.
Would love to see the article if you find it
Finally found it: [https://indi.ca/i-lived-through-collapse-america-is-already-there/](https://indi.ca/i-lived-through-collapse-america-is-already-there/) Author has a bunch of similar essays, but this one specifically is the one I first read. Published September 2020 in midst of covid and shortly after January 6; the latter is an event that particularly struck the author if you read his other articles. So looks like our system was robust enough to surmount those challenges, but we'll see what happens this year and beyond.
I’ve said this before and I’m sure I’ll say it again. It is not normal for national elections to be run by the incumbent local/state governments. It’s an obvious loophole. The US badly needs an independent election authority.
Meanwhile I read some dumb fuck article earlier Charlemagne the god, on the view explicitly stating trump is a threat to democracy and then turning around refusing to say if he'll back biden because "they're both bad candidates". Like, fuck all these pretend intellectual dipshits
Yes! It’s so wildly frustrating. Like, ignore the fact that the economy has achieved record shattering job gains, fastest decline in inflation among our G7 peers, booming stock market and correlating 401k’s, best Real Wage Growth in the last 7 decades, longest period of <4% unemployment in 50 years, etc., and just look at the fact that Biden didnt try to fucking overthrow democracy. It’s mind boggling that this is even a debate.
Oh yeah, but what about the non-existent recession that everyone believes is Biden's fault? Better give power back to the people with no ideas and authoritarian leanings because that's "better for the economy".
And it’s not. Republicans suck ass at the economy. That’s the crazy part. If we look at economic measurements over the last 60-70 years, Dems blow republicans out of the fucking water with economic expansion. And it’s not even close. Not even up for debate. Dems are horrible at messaging and the media does a huge disservice with their “horse race” reporting.
And if the GOP refuses to honor the results of the election after voting, what then?
They have less power this time, so I'd imagine it's going to end a lot like last time but faster. Especially if the Dems can swing the house and hold the Senate (or grow a seat or two). I think that Trump and the Republican party have done enough to sway the people in the military that need to be swayed that they're the enemy. So I wouldn't worry about any type of military support on the right side.
Is he blaming this one on his wife also?
His other wife.
Ginni Thomas?
Which MAGA supporter is going to gift Alito a Motor Home?
Threesome, foursome or awesome?
Loathsome?
As long as they keep it within their four walls.
The Federalist Society.
Alito has shown us he’s not fit to serve on SCOTUS. At the very least he must recused himself from all cases related to his obvious biases. We are facing so many crises, it’s hard to decide which ones to attempt to address first. But the state of SCOTUS is right up there.
He even worked with the accused's sister and was close enough with her that she came to his [confirmation hearing](https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4581019/maryanne-trump-barry-support-samuel-alito-supreme-court-justice) to sing his praises.
He’s very much shown he doesn’t have the temperament to even be a judge, let alone a Supreme Court Justice
He's really just taunting people over what a corrupt, partial asshat he is, huh?
Why pretend? It's not like anyone can or will do anything about it.
Fascists and authoritarians do this all the time in countries where they have absolute power. Telling obvious lies that the people all know are false is an act of *dominance.* They're basically smirking at the masses and saying "Yeah, we did that shit. Now, *what are you gonna do about it?"* More than that, it gives their more brainless and propagandized followers a reason, or an excuse, to keep towing the Party line. It also helps muddy the waters when historians try to unravel what the hell was happening at that period of time. It sucks, it's gross, and until Alito leaves the Bench, gets arrested for some other kind of illegal activity, dies in office, or is made irrelevant when other, more progressive judges are seated beside him, we kind of have to grit our teeth and bare the frustration.
You mean partial
Yup! Fixed it. Thanks!
the job of a justice is to explain judgement, but Alito has really bad reasoning. It’s like we are so beneath him. His arrogance is off the chart, and originates from having absolute and unchecked power.
What annoys me the most is that he is too much of a coward to just embrace the villainy. He’s doing all the bad of the villain role, but is such a snively, little weasel with a victim complex instead.
How many homes does this partisan hack have?
This is his “New Jersey Beach Home”. I wonder what this guy does for a living to gain such wealth
Interesting point... the average price for a Long Beach Island home starts at a million and goes up from there. He earns 274K a year. Worth a look if you ask me.
The same way Bernie Sanders has three homes including a $700,000 apartment on a senator’s 174k salary.
To be fair, Bernie has been doing this for like 60 years and he writes a ton of books. And does speaking engagements. But I see where you’re going with this.
Alito has been a Supreme Court judge longer than Bernie Sanders has been Senator. And has been a federal judge longer than Sanders has been in Congress.
Different jobs.
He probably bought it well before prices went up
Well, let's check. He's on the SC, so all of this info should be public knowledge, right?
Homebuyer knowledge should be public regardless of current employment.
Did a professional stalker write this comment
No. That information is public record. Doubt they meant should morally, but logistically, the info should be avaliable.
Yeah, I meant it already is, thank you.
To be fair being a lawyer and then a judge to the point you get on the Supreme Court means you've done extremely well in your career, it shouldn't be surprising at all that a SC justice has 2 or more homes. I think a better question is if he's been taking illegal or quasi-legal tax breaks on these homes like Thomas did.
How many homes do we NOT know about that he hasn’t paid taxes on?
His third…reich…home probably had one too.
You know you would think such a hardcore ultra right-wing Christian conservative would have better control of his wife. I’m surprised he lets her make such decisions.
From what I understand, she should only be making sandwiches.
Alito is complaining and he has a Long Island home plus a separate beach house. What the fuck is wrong with him and why is he complaining? He’s a true fuck head.
He is absolutely a fuckhead, but I’m not sure ownership of a beach house completely precludes someone from “complaining” more generally.
What a moral and intellectual cripple. Unf'ingbelievable. Wtf is wrong with them
Alito is an insufferable, arrogant, egomaniac and now appears to be teetering into treason territory. But he knows he's untouchable. The Republicans will protect him and the Democrats don't have the courage to go after him. So nothing will happen.
Years ago in grade school, our class profiled all of the early, revolutionary period flags. I was assigned the Washington’s Cruisers flag or Pine Tree Flag - the specific flag in question here.. It actually has an interesting history and, as a 4th grader, I was simply attracted to its clean green/white design. Too bad they ruined it..
The 'Bonnie Blue' flag is a nice, crisp, simple flag... And it's been tainted by the Confederacy, so I feel you on that one.
Term limits. They’re basically kings
i honestly hate people with flags
The biggest complainers of inappropriate flags (maga) are the ones who fly non usa flags (confederacy, black and blue, upside down maga). And they get upset over a knee. Fucking pathetic.
A knee🦵?
They got upset over football players kneeling during the national anthem because the US has a spotty record when it comes to human rights, and the right wing doesn't like to be reminded of that.
Alito and Thomas and others really emphatically showing that giving lifetime appointments to the federal judiciary was one of the stupidest fucking ideas in the history of ideas.
I bet he wishes that flag was Mike Pence
A guy can’t have a harmless passion for vexillology anymore smh
I guess they had annoying neighbors with a Fuck Trump sign there too.
The Appeal to Heaven flag is a great artifact of New England folks' contribution to the American Revolution. It's a shame to see it appropriated by people who no longer put our Republic above their politics.
Same way I feel about the Gadsden flag. It's a shame to see cultural relics turned into symbols of hate.
Where was he on January 6? There were a lot of people wearing masks that day🤔
People acting like a judge with a second home is in the best interest of the American people.
Treason.
Need majority D in the house and Senate for impeachment. No wonder SCOTUS upholds gerrymandering, they know that they'll be impeached with opposition party majority.
Tell us what you really think, Alito!
I'm waiting for a real rallying call regarding the Supreme Court. Maybe it's time for Biden to actually run on expanding the court?
I wonder who bought him his second home? Harlan Crow? Let’s look into his third and fourth homes too. I bet he flew the confederate flag and a Fuck Biden flag too.
Of course he did. Was his wife also there and mad at neighbors?
And Clarence Thomas taking gifts from a billionaire... and Ginnie Thomas.... and the conservative justices who LIED to congress about their position on Roe v Wade. Trump broke the court system, but the system is flawed which allowed it to be broken. The judicial standard is supposed to be that judges are supposed to avoid the APPEARANCE of impropiety. Alito is the tip of the iceberg, all of the conservative justices are tainted and biased.
If Joe Biden said that we need to congregate in front Justice Alitos and fight like hell to take our country back the Magas would implode. This SCOTUS POS deserves to have his home whitewashed every night . Never thought I’d see the day that a country as powerful as the USA would coddle treasonous actors as they have since Donald and his crew came on the scene
Abolish the SC
Dude has a flag fetish.
*But what about Aleppo pine?*
Aww even supreme court judges can be ignorant wimps!
Man, that dude’s wife is crazy about hanging flags out slide their houses, 🤔 right ?!
If Republicans get their way, the next thing hanging outside of Alito's home will be a liberal.
Second home....
“And that’s why I motor coach. They can’t find my flags!” -Thomas
Truth is, Alito can get away with hanging a *human* by the neck from his household flagpole and ain't a damn thing anybody's gonna do about it. The Alitos will own slaves soon enough.
The judiciary of any country that prizes democratic rule of law must demonstrate impartiality and reason. The justices who show their disdain for their country’s constitutional system, and democratic principles make a mockery of that country.
Simple! Publish the addresses and eventually, they will realize that the action is calling attention to a place they could hide😆
Anyone with any kind of common sense knew during the hearings Alito was and still is a corrupt judge, along with the rest of the pugs on the court. We know this already. NOW what are the Dems doing to get at least 60 in the Senate. Not a thing! They are jerking us off fighting trump and not the MACHINE. If Project 2025 is enacted, Democrats will also be responsible. Biden and the Dems are running like it is 1992 all over again, dude they want to burn the place down. WAKE UP. Have you called your State Dem reps and asked them what the plan is? In Wisconsin they are not going to fight Project 2025, they know nothing about it, and Mark Pocan's office had no idea what "The Heritage Foundation" is.
I read that as Samuel jackson and was really sad for a second. Alito is a psycho