This isn't 2008 again

Many people on The Left are convinced that we are about to see a repeat of 12 years ago. That liberals will just go back to brunch.
Certainly there is a lot in common with 2008, but there is even more that is different, and it doesn't take much to see it.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has criticised the Democratic party for incompetence in a no-holds-barred, post-election interview with the New York Times, warning that if the Biden administration does not put progressives in top positions, the party would lose big in the 2022 midterm elections.
...The truce is over. The failure of the party to operate an online strategy “in a real way that exhibits competence”, Ocasio-Cortez told the Times, made it hypocritical for the party to advance criticism of progressive messaging.

It's not hard to realize why things will be different this time.
Occupy, BLM, rigged DNC primaries, Too-Big-To-Jail, just to name a few items. People haven't forgotten these things. It's elitist to think that people didn't learn a thing or two.
There was hope when Obama was elected. Now there is just relief, at best.

Then there is the expectation that progressives in Congress will roll over again, and that's a legit concern.
But even here there is a difference.
Why do the Dems suck? Because they are corrupt. They've sold out to Big Money.

That's where The Squad is different. They only accept money from people like you and me.
So by definition they haven't sold out. Logically we should expect them to act different.
The problem is that they are too few in number, but that's another story.

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mimi's picture

honest question, no offense, just plain 'not understanding what you are talking about'.

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6 users have voted.

@mimi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Squad_(United_States_Congress)

Soon to have a few additions to the group.

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10 users have voted.
mimi's picture

@humphrey
You know what? I am not woke enough.
[video:https://youtu.be/3AA7Ub1c2cI]

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4 users have voted.
lotlizard's picture

@humphrey  
This version of the link will go directly to the page you intended, rather than to the disambiguation page.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Squad_%28United_States_Congress%29

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8 users have voted.
magiamma's picture

There was hope when Obama was elected. Now there is just relief, at best.

A lot remains to be seen. There is a moment now to organize. No idea how to make it happen. People’s party is a start. Hard to bring a lot of groups together in my experience. But that is what I think needs to happen.

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17 users have voted.

Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation

Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook

Cassiodorus's picture

Aren't they up to maybe eight people, could be even ten? There are 435 members of Congress.

Tell me this. Is there any planned response for when the Biden administration issues its call to action: "So what are you going to do, vote for Republicans?"

Because I haven't seen or heard anything yet, outside of perhaps the Movement for a People's Party.

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18 users have voted.

“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon

lotlizard's picture

“You see? Celebrating the die-off among old white men / Trump voters is the wave of the future — that doesn’t hurt us at all!”

https://caucus99percent.com/content/real-good-example-why-democrats-lost...

Won’t leftists just become the next targets alongside Trump supporters? Brad DeLong’s promised day of vengeance against purity-pony, “Comintern” leftists has come, albeit with a four-year delay.

https://caucus99percent.com/comment/424583#comment-424583

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/06/clinton-loyalist-autclinton-loya...

Mind you: The day will come when it will be time to gleefully and comprehensively trash people to be named later [i.e. Bernie supporters] for Guevarista fantasies about what their policies are likely to do. The day will come when it will be time to gleefully and comprehensively trash people to be named later for advocating Comintern-scale lying to voters about what our policies are like to do. And it will be important to do so then—because overpromising leads to bad policy decisions, and overpromising is bad long-run politics as well.

But that day is not now. That day will be mid-November.

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14 users have voted.

In my mind It's easier to just view dems as old timey republicans, or moderate conservatives. Then it all seems to follow from that.

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18 users have voted.

too few in number. The problem goes deeper: they’re insiders, now, and the people who have actual power inside the party are adept at cooptation. They’re very skilled at getting newcomer progressives to play just a little bit of ball promising some little bit of progress and then deflecting blame when they “can’t” come through. Then the newcomer thinks—and more importantly behaves—like if he or she keeps power and fights just a little harder then next time they’ll get theirs. After a few rounds like this it simply becomes keeping power as a holding action while they fight democrats, and ultimately it ends with either giving up or giving in completely.

I sincerely hope it is different this time. But I’m not willing to put money on that.

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20 users have voted.

@BayAreaLefty
We may as well go to brunch.
Gotcha

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Cassiodorus's picture

@gjohnsit will soothe the pain of the Democrats' right-wing agenda.

Or -- or -- you could join the Movement for a People's Party.

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9 users have voted.

“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon

@gjohnsit

disagreement with or criticism of your position as throwing in the towel. I don’t believe there is reason to place hope in the same folks you seem to. That doesn’t mean I think it’s hopeless. Is there a reason for this passive-aggressive antagonism?

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8 users have voted.

@BayAreaLefty
Yes, you are indeed saying that it's hopeless. Unquestionably. Without a shadow of a doubt. You just don't admit it

You're saying that taking the money out of politics won't change anything.
Are you fucking kidding me?!? Why do you think anybody goes into politics?
If taking the money out of politics doesn't change anything then nothing will. Period!

Now Cassiodorus says solution is simply start a new party.
While I support the effort, hell I vote third party every election anyway, I'm also a realist.
Yes unlike him I'm the realist. Because I recognize that the chances of replacing one of the major parties with a third-party, is roughly the same chances of walking into it Vegas casino and becoming its owner.
Putting all your chips on starting a new party is setting yourself up for failure.

Fortunately, being the realist I recognize that money does matter. And then taking money out of politics will make a difference.
And the only possible way getting money out of politics is by first electing people that haven't been bought off. There is no other way short of violent revolution.

There you got it. What do you say?

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9 users have voted.

@gjohnsit @gjohnsit @gjohnsit

that I haven't made and knocking them down.

Here, for clarity, is what I think:

  1. Money in politics is a problem; it's debatable whether it's the most important one.
  2. It isn't feasible to take the money out of politics: in all known human history money (or equivalent, e.g., land and livestock) and politics have always been inextricably linked.
  3. The two major parties are quite deft at absorbing and eliminating dissenting factions or movements: both via money and promises of power/influence/access.
  4. We are indeed rapidly approaching a point (or have already passed it) where the only way to fix what we've got is a mass movement that works entirely outside the existing two-party system--that could be a violent revolution but it doesn't have to be.
  5. I am skeptical of the MPP, but I think that the fact they at least recognize that attempting to win from within either of the two major parties is a waste of time (or worse, actively harmful) shows some level of awareness of the situation we're in, and the historical context, that is seriously lacking in certain others. They aren't just about starting a new party; they're about building a movement and coalition to give it power. I have deep doubts (especially since it was started by former democratic insiders), but the rhetoric on the surface is more than just "hey we're (yet another) third party!"

It's not credible to believe "The Squad" will be effective at anything. Historically such groups have always been shutdown. I haven't seen anything to suggest it will be different this time (though I have, as I noted above, expressed sincere hope that it will be).

Also, AOC needs to up her game with the criticism. If the best she's got right now is to defend progressives by noting that the Democrats didn't internet hard enough you may as well already concede that she's done. She's entirely on the defense with that statement, and firmly couched in "defensive progressive" mode.

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8 users have voted.

@BayAreaLefty

Money in politics is a problem; it's debatable whether it's the most important one.

Not only is money the most important problem, I'm incline to say that it is the foundation for EVERY problem in politics.
That this isn't self-evident to you is baffling to me.

It isn't feasible to take the money out of politics: in all known human history money (or equivalent, e.g., land and livestock) and politics have always been inextricably linked.

I'll give you partial credit here. I'll restate my objective to "getting rid of legalized bribery"

We are indeed rapidly approaching a point (or have already passed it) where the only way to fix what we've got is a mass movement that works entirely outside the existing two-party system--that could be a violent revolution but it doesn't have to be.

You may be right that we are past the point of no return.
But this is late-stage empire. Anything outside the system will be resisted with violence.

It's not credible to believe "The Squad" will be effective at anything. Historically such groups have always been shutdown.

What groups historically are you referring to?

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4 users have voted.
Cassiodorus's picture

@gjohnsit Eventually climate change is going to bring famine to the US. A climate-change-fueled disaster will bring it on. It can be as severe or as mild as you want, depending upon what sort of "realism" you want to have about the tag-team of (D) and (R) that treats the country like a throw-away convenience in the collection of the team's rich patrons.

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10 users have voted.

“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon

@Cassiodorus
It's unstoppable without rejecting capitalism.
But I don't see that happening until it's too late to avoid the collapse.

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8 users have voted.

@gjohnsit

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

If the first draft of Biden's cabinet selections floating around are true, it seems a lot like Obama's cabinet choices.

In which case . . . best of luck to the hopey, changey crowd . . .

The rich will get richer, the poor will almost certainly get poorer. And Trump's 2024 run might just happen and win.

(Yep, I'm cynical . . .)

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13 users have voted.

Find out who owns and runs Dominion Voting Services.

We all think the election tallies are on the up and up.

We got a big problem if we do. And nothing else will matter until someone does a real good research and reveal on that company. Wouldn't it be ironic if crazy Trump was right about the rigging?

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14 users have voted.

"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin

Deja's picture

@Fishtroller 02
Since he was right about the bugging, and much of what he called the "witch hunt" (Russia! Russia! Russia!), especially when you take into consideration all the shit the Obama administration did in Ukraine prior to Trump, he might be right about the votes. I don't think it would be funny. I think it would prove that they got better at it since the 2016 primaries.

I don't know if we'll ever know, but I definitely think someone needs to dig in and audit it all. If we are able to figure it out, and if it turns out everything was on the up and up, then so be it. If not, the coronation needs to stop. Just having Killary say that Joe shouldn't concede "no matter what" told me that they planned fraud. Let's at least try to prove it one way or the other.

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snoopydawg's picture

@Deja

So why didn’t he explain it to us like an adult would instead of his silly way of reporting what’s on his mind? Or could he have? Remember we have seen that there was no evidence for anything regarding Russia interference or pay to play with Ukraine, but insiders like Rosenstein, Mueller, the intelligence goons let Hillary’s plan go on. Did Durham/Barr just pretend to go looking for information on who started it? They went to Italy to find info on Halper or Medford (?), but Brennan was sitting on the report he took to Obama before Trump won. The CrowdStrike debacle could have been exposed to. If Trump is so powerful as president who shut him up?

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7 users have voted.

There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

Deja's picture

@snoopydawg @snoopydawg
But I don't know if you'd be able to decipher what he said if he answered lol. I think Barr is a spook.

Oh! I listened to a podcast from Dec 2019. You've probably heard it already, but I hadn't. It's on The Confessionals podcast and the guest is a Google whistleblower. Some of it is pretty far out there, but the guy said that Google wiped the definition of a word in another language in order to help make Trump sound even more idiotic. The word? Confeve (however it's spelled).

Edit: what Google did to the whistleblower is jacked up!

I use podbean but The Confessionals is on other platforms.

The Confessionals | 185: TC 185: Google Whistleblower Zach Vorhies

https://www.podbean.com/ea/dir-z76s2-756adee

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snoopydawg's picture

@Deja

I want to know what was the point in going to Italy to find info on Misfud. I think this is right not what I said above. He was involved in setting up Papadopolous...sheesh what a name to spell. Bet he got tired of being asked how to pronounce or spell it, but I digress...

Papa was who told Downer that Russia had information on Hillary’s emails. But why would that have gotten anyone in trouble? It’s gossip. Never figured that out. Misfud had connections with Mueller and lots of people in intelligence. Then there’s what the uk did for them. They can legally spy on us and then tell our guys what they find. Lots of people in Ukraine helped Hillary. Okay so if we know a lot about what happened and who the players are then so does Trump, Barr and everyone there. Trump’s supporters are livid at Barr right now. He said he was holding on to the report because it’s too close to the election. Okay. It’s OVER. Do something.

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There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

The Liberal Moonbat's picture

...gives me hope!
Thank you so much, gjohnsit!

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2 users have voted.

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

@The Liberal Moonbat
and they stopped all good legislation because they voted as a block.

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snoopydawg's picture

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has criticised defended the progressive base from the Democratic party for incompetence in a no-holds-barred, post-election interview with the New York Times, warning that if the Biden administration does not put progressives in top positions, the party would lose big in the 2022 midterm elections.

AOC did not start this fight. But then who leaked the phone call that just so conveniently started this row? This feels like a planned setup and more distraction from what is actually happening.

Even Markos has warned Biden of the midterms if he echoes the Obama regime. Of course Biden and democrats know what they need to do to pull the country back from the disasters of capitalism. This isn’t rocket science for anyone and lots of people are repeating this scenario: the next Trump will be much worse than the original and that should scare everyone with thinking skills. But then that is what the PTB wants to happen and why Trump got elected.

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12 users have voted.

There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

@snoopydawg

Even Markos has warned Biden of the midterms if he echoes the Obama regime.

That would be a rare flash of intelligence from Markos.
It proves he's a broken clock.

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snoopydawg's picture

@gjohnsit

I posted his tweet on last week in the 'blues. Want me to find it? But yeah, broken clock.

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5 users have voted.

There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

@snoopydawg
Harris picking up the fallen torch of the Obamaators.

Supreme court will apparently either throw out the ACA, or just the mandate . Without the mandate, there goes pre-conditions OR Obamacare becomes so expensive no one can afford it.

Was listening to a PBS radio discussion of the legal points and the Justices' questions.

IMHO, they should have tied it to interstate commerce, because damn near anyone is in interstate commerce.
Of course, it was a Republican think tank alternative to single payer to start with.

Remove the age barrier to Medicare, tie it to interstate commerce (isn't that it's raison d etre now?) and ALLOW (but don't require) buy in from people not engaged in interstate commerce. Replace Medicaid with Medicare for those currently eligible. That puts the Feds up for 80% instead of 50%. Since it's optional for the states they have no ground to beef. Since their share of cost drops from 50% to 20%, even Red states will buy in while verbally complaining (Oh my daughter, oh my ducats).

it beats the Hell out of Obamacare to me. Oh, and raise federal minimum wage to whatever it takes to hold min wage workers harmless. Make the upper echelons pay through their patrician noses.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.