American Politics from 2019 on

[Tero]

Medicaid Work Requirements Myth Vs. Fact

MYTH: The free market will correct for reduced Medicaid spending.

FACT: The Grim Reaper will correct for reduced Medicaid spending.

MYTH: Millions of people will lose benefits.

FACT: That’s only Phase One.

https://theonion.com/medicaid-work-requ ... h-vs-fact/

[Tero]

How to Replace Christian Nationalism.
David Brooks' latest column in the "New York Times"

"Every once in a while I come across a passage in a book that hits me with the force of revelation. Here’s one: “A person’s way of being human is the most authentic expression of their belief or unbelief. A person’s life speaks more about their faith than what they think or say about God.”

"That passage is from Tomas Halik’s book “The Afternoon of Christianity.” Halik is a Czech sociologist, priest and philosopher. When the Czech Republic was Communist, he served in the underground church; after 1989, he was a close friend and adviser to Vaclav Havel and an admirer of Pope Francis. I like the passage because Halik is cutting through the categories we commonly use to define people."
"On the one side are the Christian nationalists, who practice a debauched form of their faith. Christian nationalism is particular rather than universal. It is about protecting “us” against “them” — the native versus the immigrant. It is about power more than love. It is about threat more than hope. It is rigid and pharisaical rather than personal and merciful.

"On the other side are the exhausted remains of secular humanism. That humanism started out trying to liberate people from dogma, but it has produced societies in which people feel alienated, naked and alone. It has failed to formulate a shared moral order that might help people find meaning and solidarity in their lives. It is so enfeebled that it is being replaced by the religion of the phone — by shallow, technological modes of living."

"Halik’s passage reminds us, second, of what matters most. To get a little preachy, it’s not the propositions that come out of our mouths but the care that flows from our hearts. It’s how we each try to fulfill the task of being human."
"When you look at people only at the shallow level of their stated beliefs, you see ideologies that are likely to clash. But when you look down into the depths, you see struggling people in all camps, wrestling with impulsions they can barely control or understand.

"Some of these impulsions are dark and destructive — hatred, resentment, the lust for power. But human beings are also oriented toward the good. All human beings seem to possess desires for greater understanding, belonging, meaning, beauty and love."

"Which brings me to the third point inspired by that Halik passage. Today, we’ve been trained to think in battleground metaphors — believer versus nonbeliever, MAGA versus the wokesters. But if we’re going to get out of this nasty age of ours, we’re going to have to see the world through pilgrimage metaphors instead."

"You can choose to live your life in the trenches, going nowhere, and good luck with that. Culture warriors are static, and their certainties are terrifying. The Harvard psychologist Dan Gilbert once observed that human beings are works in progress who think they are finished. But people who see themselves as pilgrims know they are unfinished; they know they are still on a journey that will change them. They embrace the dynamic, forward flowing nature of life. If they are clawing at anything, it’s not one another but the brambles that block their common path."
"I got to meet Halik this week at a conference sponsored by the Faith Angle Forum, which brings theologians together with journalists. I attended because I’m looking for a form of Christianity that is more attractive and compelling than Christian nationalism and which we can use to pry people away from that nationalism.

"Led by these wise people like Halik and Williams, I now see glimmers of a better way to be faithful in the world. St. Augustine advised us to follow what seems delightful, and in this pilgrim’s way of living I see the delight of pluralism. The world is too complicated to have all its truth encompassed by any single tradition — by Christianity, Judaism, Islam or Enlightenment. You can plant yourself in one and learn from them all."

"I see, finally, a glimpse of the America I thought I knew. For centuries we have been a hopeful people, a people on the move, defined more by our future than our pasts. Sometimes this relentless passion for growth has led toward gaudy materialism and even exploitation. But American history has been at its best when the passion for spiritual and moral growth has been just as strong. When people have said: I want my heart constantly enlarged, my nation constantly moving toward fairness.

"Somehow MAGA has swept in and made us a frightened nation, stagnant, callous and backward. I don’t think this alien cultural implant can last forever. Eventually Americans, restless as any people on earth, will want to replace threat with hope and resume our national pilgrimage. When that cultural and spiritual shift occurs, a lot will change in our religious and political life."

[Brian Peacock]

What a load of bollocks.

[JimC]

Nicer bollocks than the fundamentalists.

But yes, still bollocks...

[L'Emmerdeur]

What a load of bollocks.

From that eminent pundit David Brooks? Surely not.

[Joe]

What a load of bollocks.

From that eminent pundit David Brooks? Surely not.

It's his specialty. I guess everybody's got their gifts, eh?

[macdoc]

Seems Germany gets it.....welcome to the US theocracy....
https://www.spiegel.de/international/wo ... fcef6b2e03
Long read and scary shite.....

[Tero]

There is just no way to spin the Epstein story as "it's nothing." All the other stuff can be "it's just politics." Snap recipients can be turned into lazy or losers. The Republicans talking about Epstein have nothing to say. The moment you start defending pedophiles your career is over. Even saying something like "Trump has changed" would just admit he was a pedophile.

Yey! There is no way out of this. It may drag on till election...and then they will lose.

[Brian Peacock]

What the "Epstein Story" tells us is that the rich and powerful live by different rules and have different standards of justice and fairness applied to them. In other news, water is wet.

[Tero]

The little people still vote. Half of MAGA still go to church. The politicians do have to think of them in an election year.

"Yeah but Bill Clinton did..."
Does not work. Clinton is not pretending to be anyhthing. And he is not president.

[L'Emmerdeur]

What a load of bollocks.

From that eminent pundit David Brooks? Surely not.

It's his specialty. I guess everybody's got their gifts, eh?

He's fairly intelligent, but often his approach to topics is facile and less than honest. He's willing to push talking points that I'm pretty sure he knows are bollocks. A very mild and refined smirk will appear on his face at times that's a sort of tell I think. A recent Brooks classic, the '$78 burger and fries.'

[Sean Hayden]

If MTG wants to turn, let her.

[Animavore]

[L'Emmerdeur]

If MTG wants to turn, let her.

Turn to what? Do you think she'd seriously consider defecting from MAGA? Yes, she's got herself on the outs with the decompensating fecal bomber for the moment. That's not a new story with the Trumpists though. She's supported a heretical idea or two recently but she's still essentially aligned with the cult. She'll return to the fold at some point in my opinion.

[Sean Hayden]

Probably, but I'm not interested in telling her she's not welcome here. She apologized for supporting Trump's rhetoric, good.