A growing number of lawmakers are choosing to retire because they feel it’s impossible to get anything done.
Maybe that's not a bad thing.
It is. The people leaving are the ones who know that they'll have a fight with the heavy hitting MAGoos. Think of it this way. You've got a local police department. The older cops came in wanting to be Joe Friday or Dick Tracy. They are leaving because the younger cops all want to be the Punisher and Dirty Harry. A lot of the GOPs voted with the Dems to keep the government operating, the next crop of GOPs will be more like Lauren B. and less likely to listen to sense.
If it leads to more empty seat elections it might be a good thing, it's easier to flip an empty seat then an incumbent.
Thanks to gerrymandering, those seats will always be R. The choice is between a sane person and a MAGoo.
The only way things can get better is if the get worse first.
The only way things get better is if you fight like hell to make them better.
Bingo.
People like to toot democracy's horn like it's the best thing ever, but they forget that also comes with responsibilities. Everyone expecting that we'll just vote in some savior who will fix everything has a complete misunderstanding of how government for the people by the people works. The people we elect merely represent us. It's still up to us to change things the way we want them to change. If the only time you're active in politics is when you push a button on a voting machine once a year (or every 4 years for some), then you don't have much room to complain that things aren't the way you want them to be.
But too often these days the choice comes down to which piece of shit stinks less ... and that's a fucked up way to run a democratic republic.
That's a false dichotomy and a lazy take.
It’s a trichotomy
Why?
When there isn't a percieved available 'better' option, it becomes between 'worse' and 'less worse'. From that perspective it is just an appeal to hope for a better way to become available.
So you have worse, less worse, and wait for someone to make it better?
Well shucks, here's to hoping somebody turns up who's not a halfwitted lazy fuck. Too bad. Somebody should really do something. Pass the chips.
In that scenario it would be about whether that wait should, or could, be sped up so to speak.
I was hinting at do it yourself. Run for office bro!
I hope you follow your own advice as well.
No, I haven't run for office. I'm active in my community and follow local politics closely. Fortunately there's some good people on council at the moment so I feel like my time is better spent other places. I've been involved in starting a nonprofit sports club and holy fuck, has that ever taught me a lot about the way the government runs and is structured. It's policies and forms all the way down.
Do you feel that way about everything in the world? Like your health? Do you wait to go to the doctor because the outcome will be better the sicker you get?
That's an extremely lazy take that lacks imagination.
Look at the situation right now, and imagine one thing becoming less shitty. There, things just got better without getting worse. Now do that incrementally. It's trivial to see how things can improve without destroying the whole system.
What if Biden kissed Trump’s leg?
I'd say it is a bad thing.
The Old Guard were shitbags for sure, but they were at least predictable shitbags that wouldn't rock the boat too far. When they retire and leave a super juicy incumbent office open, they always seem to get replaced with ever-more radicalized fresh blood that have zero qualms about driving a 50cal sniper bullet straight through all civil liberties.
I think what we've been seeing since 2022 is that there is a line that was crossed that energized young adults to actually vote. Historically, this is the demographic that doesn't vote. The GOP have been losing in state and federal elections because of it.
I personally believe that if we see more hardline far-right GOP fill seats, they will fill less and less seats. The GOP will then have to split into two basically to survive. Then, I'd imagine, we'd see the far-right die off.
We saw something similar, though more minor and swifter when this happened when the GOP started to split into the 'Tea Party'. This would probably be a bigger culling that will last a lot longer.
If it doesn't happen that way, the GOP just won't survive as a major party.
In the US, registered voters for the DNC only account for 27% exactly the same for the RNC at 27% with the remaining 45% as registered Independent. This is in contrast to 2004 where only 27% of the registered voters were Independent. Source (Gallup).
At the best outcome, hopefully, this will introduce other parties that will also be considered 'major' parties and have a chance on ballots all over the country. This could be a catalyst for real change in the US, if the GOP can't get it's shit together.
Maybe that's not a bad thing.
It is. The people leaving are the ones who know that they'll have a fight with the heavy hitting MAGoos. Think of it this way. You've got a local police department. The older cops came in wanting to be Joe Friday or Dick Tracy. They are leaving because the younger cops all want to be the Punisher and Dirty Harry. A lot of the GOPs voted with the Dems to keep the government operating, the next crop of GOPs will be more like Lauren B. and less likely to listen to sense.
If it leads to more empty seat elections it might be a good thing, it's easier to flip an empty seat then an incumbent.
Thanks to gerrymandering, those seats will always be R. The choice is between a sane person and a MAGoo.
The only way things can get better is if the get worse first.
The only way things get better is if you fight like hell to make them better.
Bingo.
People like to toot democracy's horn like it's the best thing ever, but they forget that also comes with responsibilities. Everyone expecting that we'll just vote in some savior who will fix everything has a complete misunderstanding of how government for the people by the people works. The people we elect merely represent us. It's still up to us to change things the way we want them to change. If the only time you're active in politics is when you push a button on a voting machine once a year (or every 4 years for some), then you don't have much room to complain that things aren't the way you want them to be.
But too often these days the choice comes down to which piece of shit stinks less ... and that's a fucked up way to run a democratic republic.
That's a false dichotomy and a lazy take.
It’s a trichotomy
Why?
When there isn't a percieved available 'better' option, it becomes between 'worse' and 'less worse'. From that perspective it is just an appeal to hope for a better way to become available.
So you have worse, less worse, and wait for someone to make it better?
Well shucks, here's to hoping somebody turns up who's not a halfwitted lazy fuck. Too bad. Somebody should really do something. Pass the chips.
In that scenario it would be about whether that wait should, or could, be sped up so to speak.
I was hinting at do it yourself. Run for office bro!
I hope you follow your own advice as well.
No, I haven't run for office. I'm active in my community and follow local politics closely. Fortunately there's some good people on council at the moment so I feel like my time is better spent other places. I've been involved in starting a nonprofit sports club and holy fuck, has that ever taught me a lot about the way the government runs and is structured. It's policies and forms all the way down.
Do you feel that way about everything in the world? Like your health? Do you wait to go to the doctor because the outcome will be better the sicker you get?
That's an extremely lazy take that lacks imagination.
Look at the situation right now, and imagine one thing becoming less shitty. There, things just got better without getting worse. Now do that incrementally. It's trivial to see how things can improve without destroying the whole system.
What if Biden kissed Trump’s leg?
I'd say it is a bad thing.
The Old Guard were shitbags for sure, but they were at least predictable shitbags that wouldn't rock the boat too far. When they retire and leave a super juicy incumbent office open, they always seem to get replaced with ever-more radicalized fresh blood that have zero qualms about driving a 50cal sniper bullet straight through all civil liberties.
I think what we've been seeing since 2022 is that there is a line that was crossed that energized young adults to actually vote. Historically, this is the demographic that doesn't vote. The GOP have been losing in state and federal elections because of it.
I personally believe that if we see more hardline far-right GOP fill seats, they will fill less and less seats. The GOP will then have to split into two basically to survive. Then, I'd imagine, we'd see the far-right die off.
We saw something similar, though more minor and swifter when this happened when the GOP started to split into the 'Tea Party'. This would probably be a bigger culling that will last a lot longer.
If it doesn't happen that way, the GOP just won't survive as a major party.
In the US, registered voters for the DNC only account for 27% exactly the same for the RNC at 27% with the remaining 45% as registered Independent. This is in contrast to 2004 where only 27% of the registered voters were Independent. Source (Gallup).
At the best outcome, hopefully, this will introduce other parties that will also be considered 'major' parties and have a chance on ballots all over the country. This could be a catalyst for real change in the US, if the GOP can't get it's shit together.