American Politics from 2019 on

[pErvinalia]

That was almost impossible to read.

[Tero]

Less words.

[macdoc]

i can hear his distinctive voice √

[Brian Peacock]

Bots, trolls and troll farming...

[Tero]

fdmillet
11h11 hours ago
Foreigner Elon Musk wants to gut America’s Social Security. Raise you hand if we should confiscate Musk’s billions, superfund Social Security, and give him a monthly stipend of $1,783.55 per month which is the current average Social Security check in 2024.
https://www.threads.net/@fdmillet/post/ ... okTq2kD75g

[Tero]

tara_stoddard
3d3 days ago
How deregulation works:
1. bad stuff happens
2. democrats pass laws to stop the bad stuff
3. bad stuff stops happening
4. republicans call the laws overreach
5. republicans repeal the laws
6. bad stuff happens

response:
kevmhaines
3d3 days ago
It’s like a weird cycle of every few decades where people drop the bad stuff out of their memories (or the new generation is never taught history) and then they get all “government regulations cause inflation!” Meanwhile, the Cuyahoga River was on fire, DDT was crushing wildlife, we had lead in gasoline, and hex chrome was causing rare cancers in California. I think we are due for another environmental/public health disaster

https://www.threads.net/@tara_stoddard/ ... Z86amyQkxg

[macdoc]

[Tero]

"This is my final column for The New York Times, where I began publishing my opinions in January 2000. I’m retiring from The Times, not the world, so I’ll still be expressing my views in other places. But this does seem like a good occasion to reflect on what has changed over these past 25 years.

"What strikes me, looking back, is how optimistic many people, both here and in much of the Western world, were back then and the extent to which that optimism has been replaced by anger and resentment. And I’m not just talking about members of the working class who feel betrayed by elites; some of the angriest, most resentful people in America right now — people who seem very likely to have a lot of influence with the incoming Trump administration — are billionaires who don’t feel sufficiently admired."

"Why did this optimism curdle? As I see it, we’ve had a collapse of trust in elites: The public no longer has faith that the people running things know what they’re doing, or that we can assume that they’re being honest."

"In a different way, the financial crisis of 2008 undermined any faith the public had that governments knew how to manage economies."
"Which brings me back to my point that some of the most resentful people in America right now seem to be angry billionaires.

"We’ve seen this before. After the 2008 financial crisis, which was widely (and correctly) attributed in part to financial wheeling and dealing, you might have expected the erstwhile Masters of the Universe to show a bit of contrition, maybe even gratitude at having been bailed out. What we got instead was “Obama rage,” fury at the 44th president for even suggesting that Wall Street might have been partly to blame for the disaster."

"So is there a way out of the grim place we’re in? What I believe is that while resentment can put bad people in power, in the long run it can’t keep them there. At some point the public will realize that most politicians railing against elites actually are elites in every sense that matters and start to hold them accountable for their failure to deliver on their promises. And at that point the public may be willing to listen to people who don’t try to argue from authority, don’t make false promises, but do try to tell the truth as best they can."

Paul Krugman NYT

[Tero]

Crime! And Hannibal Lecter!
senadamschiff
11m11 minutes ago
Voters elected Trump to bring down crime – not cover up his own.
But in trying to intimidate anyone who is willing to hold him accountable or to do legitimate oversight, that’s precisely what he’s trying to do.
https://www.threads.net/@senadamschiff/ ... u6JNfD3K4g

[Sean Hayden]

Crime can only increase with someone like Trump as president. It's permission to be a criminal.

Of course, if they get their way, then they will encounter another kind of crime problem: the only good people left will be criminals.

So, it's crime all the way down with Trump.

[Brian Peacock]

Interview with Rob Blair, political scientist at the Watson Institute. 50m.

[Tero]

"I woke up this morning, hopped online, and in a few seconds became nauseous as I felt a fresh wave of disastrous updates pummel my nervous system: nightmare Cabinet picks, coming Constitutional crises, possible imminent financial collapses.

"I noticed my blood pressure rising and I felt the adrenaline welling up in me as my mind began to receive and organize and process all the bad news.

"I’m guessing you recognize this phenomenon, that there is something familiar in your experience these days, as well."

"The more we know about what's really happening in this country; the depths of our fractures, the audacity of our leaders, the disregard for our systems by the incoming Administration, the sheer volume of the legislative atrocities on the horizon—the less hopeful we can become."
"Our efforts to stay informed are locking us into a fight, flight, or freeze emotional state that is neither helpful nor sustainable.

"Our political awareness is affecting our mental health."

But in the end Pavlovitz is determined to continue on! He'll keep himself informed and buck-up in the face of all the gloomy news.
"I know that the solution in these terrible days, isn't to shy away from the bad news or to soft-sell it to others, but to welcome and amplify it. That data, even though it feels painful, contains the healing too. It is the antidote to the sickness we're fighting off. There is harm in disinformation, misinformation—and in lack of information.

https://johnpavlovitz.substack.com/p/th ... g-informed?

[Tero]

Late stage capitalism
https://www.threads.net/@paintednebula/ ... XyhrZSW_GA

[Tero]

something a bit lighter

Lumpy: If you had presented to the people of fifty years ago the world of 2024, they would have dismissed it as a comically impossible dystopia.

Irishman:
Which part? Flatscreen TVs, wireless phones, pocket computers? Mass shootings and road rage incidents? Russia invading a sovereign nation in Europe and NATO staying out of it? Corporations driving the cost of medications to ridiculous heights? Insurance companies plotting more ways to deny coverage and reduce what they pay for?

Internet porn? The death of malls? The proliferation of media presentation methods and channels that make an overabundance of entertainment options, but you have to pay for each seperately? Apps, apps, apps - everybody wants you to get their specific app? Social media that actively promotes stupid memes and actively impedes conversations?
Self-driving cars and smart houses? LEDs that are brighter than incandescent with less energy use and significantly less wasted energy?

Dog parks? Zoom meetings? Obamacare?

You’re going to have to be a little more specific.

[Tero]

So much for impeaching Biden. So he can't run for term II from the nursing home in 2028.
newrepublic
10h10 hours ago
Alexander Smirnov admitted he fabricated the conspiracy that Joe Biden and his son Hunter had made millions from a Ukrainian energy company
https://newrepublic.com/post/189316/sur ... ium=social