DL Open Thread Monday, May 8, 2023
The Texas gunman who killed eight people before being gunned down himself was a 33-year-old neo-Nazi-curious ex-security guard who lived with his parents. His name was Mauricio Garcia, which makes think we’re doing a lousy job teaching schoolchildren the Holocaust if this many non-Aryans self-identify with the Nazis. Seriously. Every time I see a photo of, say, Charlottesville, I see Hispanic and Asian faces mixed in with the white mob. Are the other neo-Nazis just too polite to tell them sorry, but you’re not a member of the Master Race?
The late Mr. Garcia got the headlines, relegating the weekend’s seven other mass shootings to the back pages of what newspapers are still published.
And when there are no guns, they use vehicles, like the other Texan who killed seven people at a bus stop near a migrant center. Man, it’s a good thing we’re not in the middle of a civil war or anything.
You’ve no doubt wondered — I certainly have — how the Republican Party keeps attracting voters despite pushing a long series of unpopular positions on important issues. This article explains how. Warning: Some math is involved.
Lots of Democrats still hate Bernie Sanders, but he’s like the honey badger of politics — he doesn’t give a fuck, he just keeps doing what he does. His latest proposal: A standardized 32-hour work week for the American worker. Given how much mayhem Americans cause with a 40-hour week, giving them more free time might not be the wisest course.
The smell of gunpowder means it’s time to wrap things up. The floor’s yours.
Phew. That was a lot of math. But the conclusion (more political parties) is unsatisfying and fantasy world thinking.
Amore real world approach is to use the paradox to our advantage as the Republicans have. More Democratic unity around popular core values & policies. Eliminate internal strife by not trying to satisfy bad faith moderates & concern trolls. That’s how Biden won. That’s how we won big in the mid-terms.
If you honestly look as how the conservative minority has taken over the country is is exactly by being intolerant of internal strife and bad faith moderates.
Judge called Trump’s bluff. Trump folded. Judge gave Trump a chance to testify on his own behalf during the rape civil suit. Trump, um, demurred:
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/07/trump-testify-e-jean-carroll-trial-00095722
The only thing I hate about Bernie is that he not electable on a national basis, when your fronting the band appearance counts. And while Bernie does a great Crazy Uncle at Thanksgiving he does not inspire the simple minds who cannot appreciate that what he wants benefits them. You cannot fix stupid, neither can you wake a great many of them the hell up.
At least your “Bernie can’t win” rationale is honest. Most sober centrists claim that he can’t win because his policies are too far to the left.