Jump to content

softlynow

Certifiably Surly
  • Posts

    1617
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by softlynow

  1. 15 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

    I think bozo probably has some personal grievance with someone involved with one of “The Groups” in particular and is misdiagnosing a problem as The Problem.

    Yes, it’s a problem if someone influential is convincing candidates to speak in off-putting ways. But on this issue, The Problem is that media convinces voters that anything random people say online is the official position of the Democratic Party. Right wing media, mainstream media, and social media all do this. Hell, even posters on message boards do.

    This is just me working from memory here and not based on specific data, but I think actual Democratic candidates used a lot more identity-based messaging in 2018 and 2020 than they did in 2024. I don’t say that to suggest it actually helps electorally, only to illustrate that eliminating that shit doesn’t really help solve The Problem.

    The Problem isn't that the media continues to do what it does. That's never going to change, so identyfing it as The Problem is only useful insofar as it informs and urges party reform and (lol) unity of message. An underlying cause of that problem is that The Groups, it seems, tend to put the need to justfy the existence of or grow their organization first, and not the primary need of the party, which is to win fucking elections.

    Really this is just Exhibit eleventy-billion of this not being an organized political party.

    • Hook 'Em 2
  2. 44 minutes ago, immamac said:

    I don't think that's why, I think it's because there's a complete lack of accountability or merit based anything. 

    Look at Wells Fargo, why are they still allowed to be a bank? 

    There is no accountability top to bottom it's way beyond politics and it is all the way deep deep in corporate culture.

    Cancel culture is not one of accountability its one of outrage. 

    Lack of accountability is a symptom. FUPM is the disease.

    • Hook 'Em 2
  3. 15 minutes ago, troph said:

    I’m clearly in “one of the groups” and for better or for worse not in the largest demographic Dems should appeal to either - I don’t mean cishet white people - and I can tell you without any hesitation, if the Dems could meaningfully recapture the working and middle class with good policy, universal healthcare, student loan reform, education, pre-k childcare reform, tax reform, and financial system reform that truly improves their lives, then the threat to my existence would end. 

    people demonize me and people in these so called groups because they are threatened and are looking for a cause. 

    there’s a reason why LBJ was able to pass the civil rights act, he was passing laws and establishing programs (like Medicare and Medicaid) for the majority of Americans as well.  Well that and his political force, expediency and brilliance too. 

    Someone can certainly correct me if I'm wrong, but when I see "the groups" I don't think folks like you, that is constituents that have certain lobbies out there advocating on your behalf. I think of the advocacy groups themselves. Folks that are largely justifying their existence by bending pols to their will in order to keep the donation cash flowing. IOW, the sometimes usefull assholes that usually just stand in the way of policy that could help all the people, not just their small or even tiny underrepresented minority.

    This is the United States of FUPM. In the end, that's why we're so very fucked.

    • Hook 'Em 5
  4. 20 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

    No, don’t be silly. It’s not like they were ever offered that choice. They wanted a public option. When they were sold one they bought it. Twice. It was just never delivered. 
    STOP INTERNALIZING REPUBLICAN FRAMING.

     


    Don’t be silly- the majority chose rejection of the status quo. Just as they did in 1976, 1980, 1992, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 & 2024

    STOP INTERNALIZING REPUBLICAN FRAMING. 

    By the time the bolded period came around, establishment Dems had become circa 70s/80s Republicans. It isn't just messaging hurting the party. Too many older Dems lacking the willingness to make a dramatic left turn on economic policy still hanging around. Just another reason I don't see a course correction in our future absent a major shock to the system. Something bigger than Covid.

  5. 2 minutes ago, Red Five said:

    I think they were partners. In the sense that Darth Vader and Lando were partners. Trump is experiencing the "altering the deal" moments. 

    Dotard is Count Dooku, except played by a fat terrible community theater regular instead of a total badass. 

    • Hook 'Em 2
    • Like 2
    • Haha 2
  6. Just now, UpperWestside said:

    This word needs to be reclaimed as being good. The association with Nazi Germany needs to end. You cannot keep allowing these clowns in the Pedo Party to dictate things. Shying away from the use of the word is not a good thing. 

    Its association with the Soviet Union is what really made the word toxic. That and the indestructible American idea that it's the socialists (among others) that are keeping you from a life of fame and luxury, not their own stupidity and laziness.

    I'm gonna just keep harping on it. Billionaires own the thing that binds our culture together. Until they totally fuck everything all the way up (and historically that always happens at some point), nothing changes.

  7. Just now, VABuckeye said:

    all I see is a giant pissing contest. 

    Motto worthy.

    1 minute ago, VABuckeye said:

    Damn. I came into this thread to find peoples thoughts on the 2028 nominee and all I see is a giant pissing contest. 

    It's Newsome way ahead of the pack at this point.

  8. Democrats and democracy are fucked anyway, so might as well not come down on the side of evil and agree with GOP hysterics meant to further marginalize minority groups. Just going to have to do right by our neighbors until the bloody end, if need be.

    The only way out of this is a near total collapse of the established order. The electorate is hopelessly addicted to an integrated social and legacy media monster fully weaponized by our tech oligarchs to ensure a government friendly to their every whim, and willing to shovel tax dollars into their pockets. And there's no allied western liberal army crossing an ocean to save us from ourselves.

    • Hook 'Em 3
    • Like 2
  9. I think the obvious answers are that was Dave the body double, and of course no one was worried about a dead body. The plan was to shoot Dave up a little more, then roll out "intact" Dotard 3 days later as the second coming. Terrible shooter fucked it up, and they improvised. SS wasn't concerned over Dave getting killed, just nailing their roles.

  10. Just now, immamac said:

    A lot of you don't think anything is entertaining anymore, nothing is funny when all you are doing is rage posting and doomscrolling. 

    This cracks me up because I was literally lol when the notification popped up on screen. So if this is a bit, well done!

  11. 2 minutes ago, immamac said:

    Stassney isn't trolling anyone. It's a bit, just like futureman is a bit. It's not a troll. He got a ban for crossing a line and acknowledged it. 

    This is well known internet behavior its not weird, its not some new rule and its not some new moderation style. 

    Pronghorn got banned because at first he was an idiot, then he was made aware he needed to quit posting shit that was clearly fake even though he was too stupid to know it was, and he kept doing it and got a ban. 

    I seriously think some of you cannot divorce the internet from reality at this point. None of you would act like this in public, and it's not some internet tough guy thing.

    Shouldn't a bit be even the tiniest bit entertaining? Sure seems more like a troll. Not saying he should be banned or get a TO. Futureman should be disturbed by the comparison.

    • Hook 'Em 2
    • Like 1
    • Haha 5
  12. Just now, safe sex said:

    Once you get to his position your instincts (in terms of relection) matter a lot less and winning elections is much easier. 

    Yep. Being impressed at him winning re-election is akin to marveling at the Globetrotter's W/L record. Same goes for every statewide official in Texas, once they're past their first primary.

    • Hook 'Em 4
  13. 15 hours ago, Chopper said:

    I mean "concentrated on the left" isn't quite the same thing as an "echo chamber" where they're discussing the Epstein files non-stop, but okay.

    Good to see Surly has its picking nits in midsession form before we even get to week 1. It’s an exaggeration, and you missed the point with this silly side argument. I’m sure the Epstein scandal will take down Dotard any day now. 

  14. 32 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

    Man.  I know you said this will take a long time to coalesce, but it just seems so unlikely, considering where we are right now.  I think there is a better chance of the country splitting into two nations.

    Yeah. We don’t get to a purge mentality without a Great Depression/civil War level event. If the GOP for some reason doesn’t understand they’ve jailbroken the system and actually allows for elections they end up losing, any Dem regime will just be more of the same delaying action we’ve seen since Reagan.

    Many comparisons to the rise of Hitler have been made, but it might be better to think that we’re in about 1857 of this particular disaster cycle. Maybe even 1853. It hasn’t gotten bad enough to believe we can heal anytime soon. 

    Of course a broader view of history points to authoritarian and oligarchic control being the default in most countries. We’ve been spoiled by humanistic progress, and maybe we’re just reverting to the mean.

    It certainly doesn’t feel like a real resistance is forming. Just ticking boxes, as RomaVicta put it, along with influencer grifting. 

    • Hook 'Em 3
    • Like 1
  15. 56 minutes ago, Red Five said:

    If this peters out I will pretty much give up all hope. One of the Pod guys, I think Dan Pfeiffer, said this is legitimately as big of a scandal as Watergate. The Trump administration is covering up child rape. Because Trump.

    What made Watergate work was 1. a Democratically controlled Congress 2. news media that didn't need to move on to something new to maintain ratings and drive clicks and 3. a SC that wasn't hopelessly partisan and corrupt. Trump could walk into a subcommittee meeting and shoot Jasmine Crockett in the back of the head and nothing would change.

    I get the sense that a cratering economy might be a real problem for Dotard, but only if it actually hurt the bottom line of our oligarchy.

  16. 13 minutes ago, Brian Fantana said:

    You know exactly what's going to happen.

    1 of 2 things. Either we've already seen the last free election in our lifetimes or Dems will squeak back into power in a few years and we'll get the spiritual successor to Biden's term.

    • Like 1
  17. 12 minutes ago, Chopper said:

    I mean...I told you outright that there's little mention about the Epstein case in my tl which was exactly what you claimed it would be. fwiw "trending" isn't all that meaningful over there. Indeed, clicking on the topic shows very little is an ongoing discussion about the topic. You can have a look. Either "discover", "blacksky trending" or "popular with friends" provide varied entertainment when my tl seems boring. The Epstein case isn't being discussed at all right now from what I can see. But that doesn't mean damage hasn't been done nor that it won't continue to do damage. Your claim is it's an echo chamber. So prove it. It's impossible to prove a negative, icydk.

    Ah, so you want me to prove something that wasn't really my main point. Instead defend a well-known bit of conventional wisdom. OK. Sure. Let me google that for you:

    https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/05/29/bluesky-has-caught-on-with-many-news-influencers-but-x-remains-popular/

    From the link:

    Bluesky adoption is concentrated on the left

    The news influencers from our 2024 sample who are on Bluesky are largely people on the political left. Among those who explicitly identified as liberals or Democrats or who supported Joe Biden or Kamala Harris in summer 2024, 69% now have a Bluesky account. This compares with 15% of news influencers who identified as conservative, Republicans or supporters of Donald Trump. About half of news influencers without a clear political orientation (47%) have a Bluesky account.

    At the same time, most news influencers across the political spectrum have not left X. Three-quarters of left-leaning news influencers have an X account, as do 87% of right-leaning news influencers and 83% of those without a clear political orientation.

    Also of note in this article pokes a big hole in your assertion that X is nothing more than a bot wasteland. I'm with you in that regard, and deleted my account a while ago. But maybe we're both at least a bit wrong about that.

  18. 7 minutes ago, Chopper said:

    Your second sentence requires interpretation.

    The question you ask confirms that you don't have a great list of people you follow. In my feed it was barely a mention because everyone already knew that would be the case. Also it was the gj transcripts, which would have provided zero info that was not already public.

    edit - the only thing xitter is permeated with is bots and nazis and sports. There's almost nothing there I'm interested in. Fuck 'em and fuck everyone that supports nazis. Same with FB users. 

    If your point is posts on BS are evidence of a conversation outside of the Dem ecosystem, you have yet to support that point. Your second paragraph is an attack of my timeline, which is nonsensical. I'm in the Dem ecosystem. Of course I saw that, and knew it was coming. My experience online is irrelevant to the quesiton of whether normies and centrists are still fired up about #PedoPresident. So is yours. 

  19. 2 minutes ago, Chopper said:

    Sign of ignorance and/or not knowing how to search for users to follow. 

    I'm not someone lacking wide-ranging sources of information. I check my BS feed every now and again to see who god "destroyed" today in some breathless post about something that would've ended a pols career just a few years ago, but barely lingers til the afternoon now. BS doesn't permeate our culture the way Twitter and Facebook do. It's mostly Dems talking to each other, with a heavy slant towards activist and progressive types. Folks who think the Epstein story is doing anything but fading fast are fooling themselves.

    This story came out today: Judge denies release of Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury transcripts. Lot of discussion about it, right?

    • Hook 'Em 1
×
×
  • Create New...