Browsing through it all here.. All the great Dems here.. with

[Laura PourMeADrink]

so much hope and so much energy...

Hate to say this out loud... But we still seem leaderless?( Of course we love Kamala and Joe, of course!)

But I feel no compelling force that is rounding up our energy. Perhaps, as someone will for sure say... "It's up to us." . Perhaps it's a matter of waiting until covid is reigned in?

Oops... Delta. Heard today that if you are from Hong Kong and you spend more than 2 hrs in England you can't come back .

Perhaps someone will say " you expect too much". "They've only been in 5 mos."

Ok!

[DFW]

1. Don't despair. Remember the "too many cooks" adage.

We have plenty of capable spokespeople. Think of Lieu, Schiff, Swalwell, etc. If we have too many grandstanders trying to take the limelight from the Biden White House, it risks giving the impression of weak leadership and internal strife bubbling just below (or even above!) the surface. The kind of steady low-key full speed ahead leadership Biden is exhibiting is what propelled Angela Merkel to four terms against smug sloganeering men who thought "Mutti (Mama) Merkel" was a pushover just begging to be pushed over. If she had wanted a fifth term, it was hers for the asking.

[Hekate]

2. Thank you

[sprinkleeninow]

4. Okay and hello.

Sage words. I'll take to heart. ♥️

[Laura PourMeADrink]

5. I'm not in despair, just maybe disappointed? But a lot

Has to do with my unreal/inaccurate expectations. I naively thought that when Biden got in that he could call all the shots on covid ( no pun intended). I thought that he could tell the states what to do. I wrongly assumed that all the unsafe practices the Republican governors were purporting would be overridden somehow. This was unrealistic.

Totally agree, love people like Swallwell and Lieu. But in my mind maybe I've reached a point where complaining about this and that has become old when not accompanied with action and results overall. Maybe I've reached my limit of hoping for this and that to happen.

And if Trump personally escapes any kind of meaningful punishment for all his financial shenanigans that will be the end of me hoping for anything

[lagomorph777]

10. I think our frustration (and relative lack of leadership) centers on a couple of things:

(1) Not much evidence of movement toward real justice for Trump and his minions. This seems largely relegated to the states. The low-level Capitol insurrectionists are getting let go, and we see no signs that Trump will be indicted for it. Not to mention Trump's numerous other crimes in office.

(2) Some of our own Senators are essentially supporting the assault on voting rights, by refusing to dump the Filibuster.

I, for one, would feel dramatically safer if we could address these two issues seriously.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

14. You have 100% hit the nail on the head. The toll it takes

on the spirit when we see and feel no justice for unbelievably egregious behavior. And little hope since it's become apparent that TFG operated like a mob boss. There's not ever going to be a recording, for instance, of him saying " do me a favor on 1/6. Sure if there's trouble I want you to respond but just slow that response down."

And yes absolutely. It's so hard to take - that we can't get decent voting rights and gun control in.

[sprinkleeninow]

24. This. n/t

[mountain grammy]

13. Agree!

That DeJoy is still in charge of the PO. That there will be no meaningful change in the filibuster. That 30% of America is over represented while the rest of us vote in vain.

My county will probably end up in Boebert's district. Wake up to that in a blue state! Disappointed doesn't begin to describe it.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

15. Certainly is amazing - their achievements for their cause

Operating under a twice impeached evil nutcase.

[DFW]

22. Well, before Mrs. Petrie gets too generous with that martini

Hope of seeing Trump needing a good trial lawyer any time soon is probably misplaced. If it does come to that, he'll tell Rudy to take a hike and probably pick someone recommended by Dershowitz if Dershowitz himself doesn't want to play.

Unless it is a Russian or Chinese style pseudo-monarchy, a sitting chief executive, whether president, Chancellor or Prime Minister, seldom has the real power to order a regional governor around like a circus taskmaster. When the boss is benevolent like Biden, it's a shame. When the boss is an escapee from a lunatic asylum like Trump, it's an important wall of protection. We're either stuck with it that way, or we risk a Trump clone overriding Gavin Newsom on any and all initiatives. Like most political swords, this one is as double-edged as any.

Rarely has a president come into office with such a long and urgent list of items of damage control. Clinton and Obama thought THEY had it bad! Plus, after 1994 and 2010, Biden is definitely sleeping with one eye open watching the clock tick.

I'd wager that no one on earth leaves his/her job or this life with as many regrets over things NOT accomplished as a Democratic President. I'm sure Joe Biden will be no different. I think we can take heart that the speed with which he HAS tackled many items on his check-off list is encouraging. I really think he KNOWS where he stands, and is wrestling with his priorities every waking moment. I doubt any of us would want to be confronted with the choices staring him in the face right now, because whichever direction he chooses, he knows he will piss someone off who will become an immediate, disappointed FORMER ally. But to do nothing is not an option at all.

No matter HOW well-intentioned he may be, if you push him out of a plane, he STILL won't be able to fly. The best we can do at this point is do WHATEVER we can to keep the Democratic majorities in Congress intact. THAT, if successful, would be THE major departure from 1994 and 2010, and would open the doors a significant crack wider than they have been any time since LBJ. If we can't manage that, then any and all pessimism is permitted and justified. This is bigger than Manchin, Sinema or Squad members. If any of them keep up anything even PERCEIVED to be a "no, it's all about ME" routine, and we let them get away with it, then we, as a party, are rather foolish, indeed.

By the way, I bet Harris sees things the same way you do. If Biden were curing the sick and raising the dead on a daily basis, she would be right behind him, hinting that she will do the same. Instead, she is keeping a solidly supportive, but somewhat low profile, so as not to be vulnerable to Republican charges of "see? if you go with her, you get more of the same, which is nothing at all!" In case she is the nominee in 2024, I think she is playing her cards just right. She definitely wasn't my choice for VP, but she is no idiot, and she can play political chess as well as any of the good old boys.

[sprinkleeninow]

3. 'No compelling force rounding up our energy.'

I don't want to say/admit that I been having this sense myself.

Please nobody get down at me.

Just being honest.

So weary from my personal and corporate stress.

As a Believer, I do turn to strong intercession for the President and Vice President and all Democratic office holders. This one thing does impart peace to my soul. And gives me hope.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

8. Your last statement is very compelling. It makes me think

We should remember the most important thing - we now have decent and honest leadership.

But there is absolutely nothing wrong with expressing feelings about our expectations. I don't think chanting everything is wonderful everything is wonderful everything is wonderful does anything

[WhiskeyGrinder]

6. What is it, specifically, you're looking for?

[CrackityJones75]

17. Wondering the same.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

26. Ok will give you an extremely simple thing that could be done

Get on prime time once a week. To tell us what is going on with covid. No more than 10 min tops. Tell everyone the states who have the highest vaccine rates. Generate a bit of competition. Talk about the countries that won't let Americans in because they think we're irresponsible. Tell us what to do about WHO saying you need to wear a mask even if you're vaccinated.

Challenge the vaccinated to talk to friends and neighbors to encourage them to get vaccinated. Only way to eradicate.

[CrackityJones75]

7. What is this?

Geez I really didn’t need to read a downer post this morning.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

11. Oh no.... Quick.. put your rose colored glasses back on:)

[CrackityJones75]

16. Oh no run around like chicken little!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

19. Touche:) no matter how inapplicable

[CrackityJones75]

20. Where are we lacking leadership?

[Laura PourMeADrink]

25. Covid for sure

[CrackityJones75]

27. How are we lacking leadership on covid?

Our vaccination program has been excellent.

We can lead horses to water. It’s up to them to drink.

[Elessar Zappa]

9. They're doing the best they can.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

12. Yup... The 4 1/2 year mantra :)

[Sympthsical]

18. I think most people are exhausted with politics

I know I don't read any posts with the former's name. I'll never understand the obsession. Some people honestly can't give up drama. The stress can be a form of addiction. Mix in the pandemic, and now we're worried about Delta. I've run out of can about much of it.

I think of it like you're driving a car through the mountains all night, all stress and anxiety. Then daylight breaks, and your partner takes over, and you just want to snooze in the passenger seat for a bit.

At least, that's how I am. I have no idea what the President is doing. But I trust it's pretty good and am willing to leave it alone for awhile. Not forever, but for awhile. I just want to worry about other things for a bit.

I never understand how some scour social media every. single. day. for the Next Thing To Worry About.

Nah. Once I finish work, I have a new episode of a favorite podcast, a haircut, then a new World of Warcraft patch. I'm all good.

[jalan48]

21. We're doing our best to manage the corporate state (The MIC is a big part of it) while

the Republican's are looking to take control and enrich themselves.

[Hortensis]

23. Well, politics just isn't a spectator sport, try as we might.

Now, tennis is good for following, individual games and tournaments, all expectations met that all the rules are clearly understood, the players known, all plays visible on the courts and understood, progress of who scores and who misses followable, and of course eventually someone wins and someone loses and time to click off.

Politics...the opposite in every way. But political forums have too many people who feel they should be able to follow and understand what is complex beyond comprehension -- and also mostly taking place in secret and kept secret. Political "announcers" attempt interpretation as if they were narrating a tennis match, but they also don't know or understand much of what's happening, forever trying to figure it out after something happens, while bad actors use the confusion to sow disinformation and discontent. And it all just goes on and on, without clear understanding or satisfying resolutions.

Fortunately, I think, most voters experience politics very differently. Extremely few of those among the over 80 million who voted for Biden/Harris spend their days trying to follow political reporting, trying to see the meaning in the the endless confusion of the "backs and forths" reported on 24/7/365 MSNBC.

A way of getting to the point that normal people skip the conflusion but are sure of who their leaders are.