Are we close to losing our democracy?

[Cyrano]

It really looks like that's where we're heading. After all, the Democratic Party insists on playing by the "rules," while the Republican Party is a rogue band of thugs who will do whatever is necessary to seize control of America -- and keep it -- forever. The way I see it, it's highly possible that after the next two elections, America will be just one more fascist country.

So am I saying that Republicans are ruthless barbarians, and Democrats are a principled organization of people who can and will win in the end through morally superior ideas?

Umm, not quite. I'm saying that Republicans are ruthless barbarians who want a dictatorship, and that our Democratic leaders don't have a clue of how to fight them and hold onto our country.

I love Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. They are principled, high minded leaders who could greatly improve the quality of life for all Americans. Unfortunately, they are not wartime leaders. And right now, a vicious war is being fought for the soul of America.

Watching the "news," you wouldn't know there's a war under way. Republicans daily attack our most basic freedom, (voting rights), at the state level. Occasionally, Joe Biden, or some Dem senator, will politely sound a muted alarm. IMO, the majority of the people in this country are clueless that, what's being done to us today by the Republicans is possibly worse than Pear Harbor or 9/11. Possibly worse because America survived those two assaults on democracy. Can we survive a fascist takeover of our country and the destruction of our Constitution and all of our rights?

The only thing that can save our democracy is a congressional Voting Rights Law which can put an end to most of the voter suppression that's going on in every red and purple state. And it's not just suppression. Some states have already passed laws that the state legislature, (Republicans), can overrule voters and decide who "won." (Is that the country you want to live in?)

Voting Rights must be, not only the top priority for the Democrats, but the ONLY priority. All the current bills Dems are trying to pass right now, to help everyone, will be nullified the instant the Republicans take the reins of power. And there's a virtual certainty that will happen unless our Democratic leaders engage fully in this war right now. As in TODAY. (Joe, fuck that European trip. There's a war going on here and now.) The Republicans are trying to run out the clock. We can't let them.

[JustAnotherGen]

1. In agreement on voting rights

I want them to get it done this week (Build Back Better / Infrastructure) and do a full court press on voting rights and 1/6.

1/6 investigations go hand in hand.

Look at GA. Black voters put the GOP on notice. The GOP's answer? Okay - we'll let you vote, but if you don't vote the way we want to we will just overturn the election . . . And BTW 2020 - it was stolen.


Like this shit is SERIOUS.

[lagomorph777]

2. Voting rights must be THE ONLY priority.

Everything else falls by the wayside unless we restore our voting rights nationally.

[NullTuples]

9. But...what about arcane Congressional traditions? Surely those are more important!

Yes, that was sarcasm.

[BamaRefugee]

15. Sarcasm tinged with TRUTH and by "tinged" I mean FLOODED!

[jaxexpat]

19. A veritable flooded truthchasm.

Where misunderstandings are baptized and/or drowned. All in the eye of the beholder, depending on the outcome.

[BamaRefugee]

33. A Truth Tsunami coursing through the Grand Canyon of Caustic Commentary.

[Eliot Rosewater]

3. You have far more hope than I do based on this comment

it's highly possible that after the next two elections, America will be just one more fascist country.

Sadly we wont get that far (maybe, just maybe if more people say what I am about to say we can turn it around, but not likely) given that next year there are how many elections in red states? How many for House and Senate where the cons control the state and/or election system?

Whatever that number is, how many will cons lose? That is how many wont get certified.

And then even if a judge says to do so, some will and some MAGA judges will turn on the Constitution, but even when they try to uphold the law it wont matter because the GOP in that state wont allow it and they will be backed by millions of armed assholes.

Time to indict any and all cons possible.

[jaxexpat]

22. But when the appeals reach the USSC everything will come out okay, right?

Why wouldn't it? Of course it'll be okay. Wise men are in charge while you sleep.

You know, 1861-65 were pretty dark days for the young US. A flawed constitution and a flawed electoral delegation came to lethal blows. Well at least the Brahmins of the winning side didn't have to lose their progeny to the vagaries of organized warfare. They, in the guise of their current generation are still here today, guiding the ship of state from state to state. A fragile thing is the genetic code of democracy. Inbreeding is it's greatest enemy.

[CrispyQ]

4. I agree our side doesn't know what to do.

But if we didn't see this coming after the FL fiasco of 2000 & Bush v Gore, then we aren't the smart party I once thought we were. It's demoralizing that the DOJ hasn't done anything about the "audits" being performed, giving them legitimacy. At the current rate of action form the DOJ, the democratic base will be totally demoralized by next November.

[BlueTsunami2018]

5. We've already lost it.

It happened a long time ago, it’s only becoming blatantly obvious to a lot of people now. And it’s still going to shock most people when they finally figure it out, if in fact they ever do. And then of course, there are a lot of people who openly want a fascist authoritarian government.

This country is fucked. We’ve entertained ourselves to death.

[LW1977]

6. Get this to the far back pages

Thread trashed

[Cyrano]

10. Would you care to be more specific?

[NullTuples]

7. If one side is only willing to hold the status quo & the other uses every trick to ratchet...

a society or government in a given direction, it does get moved or changed. And eventually what we knew of as, "America" will be gone. Replaced by something that is not a democracy. We're already most of the way there, moving faster and faster after Citizen's United and the SCOTUS's decisions that racism doesn't exist and elections are none of their business, anyway.

McConnell-Bannon-Trump have dismantled so much government it'll take years to reconstruct it back to a functional state.

Meanwhile they overwhelmed even an aggressive AG / Justice Dept from prosecuting most of their crimes.

And we have an AG running the Justice Dept deathly afraid of being seen as, "partisan".

Meanwhile, Congressional Democratic Party members are following traditions - not laws - that the GOP destroys and ignores every time they've been in power.

And the GOP is successfully putting in place election laws and gerrymandered districts from manipulated Census data.

We cannot win 2022 elections based on turnout alone: already Republicans hold power that far outweighs the amount of America they represent.

It's like watching an academic history of warfare professor in a back ally knife fight with a seasoned gang member.

[yaesu]

8. as long as fascists and the fascists big money handlers are allowed to participate in our political

system our democracy is lost, which means, it has been lost for some time already.

[Torchlight]

11. Pound for pound, I think the American Bund Party of the 1930s came closest.

Nazi youth training camps up and down the eastern seaboard and the southeast, a consistently growing membership into the tens of thousands (excessive when seen relative to US population at the time), and effective exploitation of the depression and dust bowl left large swaths of the US population open to just about anything other than than the status quo, and almost upending the fifth party system.

In his book, The Worst Hard Time, Tim Egon wrote that the only two adequate checks against the further advancement of the Bund party was the radio broadcast media (which he argues were then still very civic-minded), and the attack on Pearl harbor bringing Washington into the war.

Beyond that, I believe the cyclical swings will soon bring an end to sixth party system, and the Teabag Party, Trump and all associated with it will be viewed by our kids (or grand kids depending on age) much the same way we see McCarthy, Roy Cohn and Nixon today.

We may be close, but I think the US was even closer in the late 1930s.

[Cyrano]

14. Hopefully, your last two paragraphs are prophetic

May the scales of the universe weigh heavily on your view.

[superpatriotman]

12. Until the winner is the one who gets the most votes, yes

Gerrymandering, Citizen's United, voting rights, dark money, the Electoral College...

It's all stacked in the minority's favor.

[Fiendish Thingy]

13. But golly gee willikers, can't we just GOTV and WIN BIG in 2022?

/sarcasm

I agree 100%

People who think that, without passing voting rights, the elections of 2022-24 will be politics as usual are delusional.

[housecat]

16. Absolutely true! Voting is the first, second, and third priority. Who's gonna lead this?

Too many Dems are clueless, let alone able to lead a war.

[NurseJackie]

17. Probably. It won't happen in the years that I have remaining...

... but it's likely to happen before what would be the "tri-centennial". That's why it's important for certain individuals (and groups, pundits, candidate spouses) to stop trying to sabotage and diminish the Democratic party. People like Sarandon, Yang, Nader, Turner, Moore, West, Stein (and many others) are doing their level best to split the vote, act as spoilers, and to kneecap and "punish" Democrats all in an attempt to fulfill their "burn-it-down" strategy and philosophy.

It's NOT TRUE that Democrats are "ideologically bankrupt". It's NOT TRUE that Democrats are "feeble". It's NOT TRUE that Democrats are "corrupt". It's NOT TRUE that the Democratic party is an "absolute failure". It's NOT TRUE that the Democratic party is "the party of the one-percent". It's NOT TRUE that the Democratic party is the "party of Coastal Elites". It's NOT TRUE that there's "no difference between Democrats and Republicans." It's NOT TRUE that Democrats are "do-nothings". It's NOT TRUE that the Democratic party "doesn't care about climate change." It's also NOT TRUE that the Democrats who "are very big into diversity" aren't "particularly sympathetic" to the working class. It's NOT TRUE that Democrats don't care about justice.

What useful purpose does it serve to promote this fiction? It's just another example of how people are oddly willing to do and say things that create an atmosphere of fear and hopelessness and negativity. Negativity generates apathy. Apathy discourages voter turnout. Low voter turnout gives Republicans a chance to steal the elections.

[JustAnotherGen]

28. All of this NJ

[Efilroft Sul]

18. Here is what strikes me to my very core.

For nearly four entire years, from 2017–2020, we fought back against the rising tide of MAGA authoritarianism. We stayed alert, we were active, we marched, we donated money. It was wash, rinse, repeat every day for us until we voted on Election Day 2020.

In short, we did our job to save democracy. So it would sure be nice if the Democratic Senators we helped to elect would show up and do the same goddamn job, too.

[Cyrano]

20. Manchin/Sinema

Unlike Republicans, Dems don't have the power to make their members fall in line.

My guess is that every Republican knows there's no limit, (literally, NO LIMIT), to what their owners will do to control them and their votes.

[Lonestarblue]

21. I'm hoping that the Texas abortion law will be a wakeup call for younger voters.

Of course, they need to be registered first, but Democrats need to be focusing on rights being taken away. Abortion is first, but LGBTQ is also on the Republican wish list to turn back the clock on same-sex rights. Republicans also push for profits for online colleges that are not really colleges with a degree that employers value, thus leaving students with big loans to repay and a degree not worth the paper it’s printed on—if they even stay in business long enough to issue a degree.

Green energy is another topic of importance to younger voters. I have seen no communications from any Democratic leader about these issues, even though I seem to be on the email list for all Democrats because of past donations. The only person/group that has a real strategy is Beto O’Rourke’s Powered by People. Their emails are not the “hair on fire” versions sent by Democratic candidates but ones filled with information about what they’re doing, what they plan to do, and what they need help with. My last email from Jaime Harrison was a month ago asking for a donation—no information about what they’re doing, future plans, or how the money will be used.

My optimism for the future is at a low point because we know that Republicans are replacing election officials across the country with those who claim the 2020 election was stolen, and who knows what they will do to steal both 2022 and 2024. Governor Abbott just selected one of Trump’s former lawyers who supported the Big Lie as the next Secretary of State to oversee the 2022 election. We will not have any confidence that votes reported are real because we won’t know how many are being discarded for nonexistent fraud in areas like Houston and other big cities with lots of Democratic voters. Republicans are rigging the system right in front of us, but the filibuster is more important than protecting our democracy. What kind of craziness is that!

[HUAJIAO]

23. " IMO, the majority of the people in this country are clueless...."

"....... I'm saying that Republicans are ruthless barbarians who want a dictatorship, and that our Democratic leaders don't have a clue of how to fight them and hold onto our country."

Two statements right on the money. Unfortunately.

Their cluelessness about either what is really happening and/or what to do about it is mind boggling !!!!!!!!!!

[Xolodno]

24. With this kind of doom and gloom...

...I should just go ahead and buy that condo in Mexico and be done with it.

Yes, voting rights are important and the GOP in AZ and GA were floored when they lost them. And now trying to claw it all back by using everything they have. And in TX, doing their damnest to make sure they can keep it red as long as possible.

Its a short term solution for a long term problem they have. And they are going to hemorrhage more voters as their base dies off and more get disillusioned with them.

They have no more ideas. Their own studies tell them what they need to do, but to do so, risks angering their fruit loops. All they have done since Obama is be the party that does nothing. They had both houses and the White House at one point and the only thing they could muster was a tax decrease and install judges.

No one in that party has any courage and they are looking for someone who will at some point, do what is needed. To show them the way how to win again. They can't coddle the base and then run to the center like they used to. So, they abuse the system for the time being. But eventually the clock on that will run out. Economics and Demographics will make them a minority if no one wises up.

[hamsterjill]

25. Yes.

We are very close to losing our democracy because of the very words you indicate:

“I'm saying that Republicans are ruthless barbarians who want a dictatorship, and that our Democratic leaders don't have a clue of how to fight them and hold onto our country.”

If Dems don’t figure out how to fight back, and soon, we will be living under Dictator Trump. You cannot fight a bully by being fair. You have to be bigger, bolder and smarter than the bully. The Dems need to figure that out. If they don’t get some results, midterms are going to be a blood bath. People want action, not excuses. That’s not gloom and doom; that’s reality.

[soldierant]

26. "I'm saying that Republicans are ruthless barbarians

who want a dictatorship, and that our Democratic leaders don't have a clue of how to fight them and hold onto our country."

And that was exactly the situation when "The Prince" was written in order to help give the good guys a fighting chance.

I can't expand on that without getting a 403, so I'll stop here.

[TheFarseer]

27. We're an oligarchy

And we have been for some time now.

[Stuart G]

30. NO...not at all...So you want proof do you?..Just 4 words:" Barack Obama, Joe Biden"

...Those 4 words are the only real proof you need..

Want more proof?...something called, "Affordable Care Act".....of course it ain't perfect...but better than we had.

.....Another piece of proof?........here it is: Who is in charge now?......a good guy or a bad guy?

..about the guy in charge NOW....He has seen more in life than many of us can imagine.& that is a good thing!


....................End of discussion........

[ancianita]

32. Thank you. I'm going to look for your hopeful posts from now on.

Big supporter that I am, the darker it seems out there, the more I probably need to watch more Obama and Biden speeches.

[sinkingfeeling]

31. Yes. The threats, lies, and violence on the right is making it impossible for even sane,

local people to sit on school boards or run for city councils. Watch and see if they won't go after anyone who dares serve on juries in cases like Charlottesville and 1/6 defendants. You can't have democracy when 25% of the population continually intimidate voters. Add that to GQP gerrymandering and voter suppression, and presto, democracy dead.