There's not a lot of good news for Democrats this morning. However, consider the standard reasons on offer for Dem losses in Tuesday's elections:
- Biden's "botched" withdrawal from Afghanistan.
- Endless Democratic wrangling over the social spending bill.
- Growing concerns over the economy (inflation, shortages, etc.).
- White backlash to liberal wokeness.
The good news is that Afghanistan will fade; the spending bill will pass eventually; the economy will recover; and wokeness might actually get a well-deserved reining in.
The bad news is that the party in power almost always loses midterm elections no matter what they do.
You may now decide for yourself whether to feel hopeful about 2022 vs. just slitting your wrists now so you don't have to see it.
Strongly considering being put into a medically-induced coma from Oct. 2022-Dec. 2026.
I tend to be on very low end of the spectrum when it comes to hyperbole. I'm simply allergic to drama, hyperventilating, or exaggeration. Nevertheless, I have no doubt that a lot of people can relate to your comment, and they have good reason for feeling that way. The last five years, more than any other point in my own life, have provided us with some glimmer of what it feels like to live in a civil war. Fortunately, our current conflict seems to remain a mostly "cold" civil war (without much overt bloodshed or death), with the 1/6 insurrection an obvious exception. But the feeling of being threatened by this war isn't going away, and it is, indeed, stressful.
If you think the current state of things is even “some glimmer of what it feels like to live in a civil war,” you actually aren’t on the low end of the hyperbole spectrum.
Nope. The developments of this year lend a great deal of legitimacy to my statement. First, of course, we had the insurrection. Then we had the President impeached for the 2nd time (a first in our history). But his Repub party, of course, would not help convict him. And all of that was bad enough. But, perhaps even more alarming than any of that is what followed: pretty much the entire Republican Party fell in line both with election lies and with false insurrection narratives. The Repub party is now at odds with free and fair elections, the legitimacy of their own election losses (obviously), fact-based narratives regarding the violence their side engages in, and, of course, a free press (the "enemy of the people"). The "cold civil war" terminology seems to sum it up pretty well, unfortunately.
Ok well, “cold civil war” is a newly made up term and nothing like an actual civil war, which is what you said this provides us a glimmer of. But sure fine, I’ll get on board with it giving us a glimmer of a “cold civil war.”
From my original post above:
"Fortunately, our current conflict seems to remain a mostly 'cold' civil war (without much overt bloodshed or death), with the 1/6 insurrection an obvious exception."
FFS man I can read. You started off by saying it gives us a glimmer of what it is like to live in a civil war. Period.
Then said ours fortunately “seems to remain a mostly a cold civil war.”
I’m not taking issue with your characterization of this as a cold civil war. I don’t care about that. My point is our current situation is not even close to a glimmer of living in an ACTUAL “civil war,” which was what you wrote.
“Reality is being rewritten before our eyes. Some Americans can see this, and understand it. The results include an inescapable feeling of dread and doom. The frustration mounts because as a group those who see the truth and are ready to speak it do not yet have the full vocabulary required to make sense of it all.
Too many other Americans appear not to care about the blatant effort by the Republican fascists and others to rewrite reality. They are indifferent or tired, or just so hyper-focused on their own lives that nihilism and surrender are preferable to confrontation and engagement. Others are either incapable or unwilling, or remain in a profound state of denial.
This is not a claim about some grand secret conspiracy. It's an observation about how people function in a society caught in an interregnum, that time of in-betweenness when the old is giving way to something new (and potentially something horrible), when truth and reality are being dismembered by fascists and their fellow travelers. It all feels like a confusing slow blur.”
I understand the dread, but it is time for us all to get over it and move on. Progressives are in denial. They think they can build back better or some such nonsense. They can’t. Is the future horrible? Maybe. Too soon to tell. But it is not nihilism or surrender to recognize reality. The country is broken beyond repair and neither confrontation nor engagement are useful.
"The future ain't what it used to be." —Yogi Berra
With Murphy's win Joe Biden becomes the first President since Jimmy Carter whose party didn't lose both the Virginia and New Jersey governor's races in their first term in office (because Murphy becomes the first Democrat since Brendan Byrne in 1977 to be re-elected in New Jersey. Must be the luck of the Irish).
Basically the outcome was a wash. You can cherry pick what results you want from all over the country to validate your point of view. We're basically reaching down to the level of dog catcher now to do so which is why things are so fucked up. It's ridiculous how this has turned into a my team vs. your team game of sorts And as I said before, the location of these two states and the timing of when this election happens gives it out-sized influence over what's going on. Thank God there's a Jabberowocking for all the Chicken Little's out there.
That also doesn't mean ignore what's going on either. Just use a little perspective please. This post on Daily Kos I found this morning pretty much summed it up well:
"You can point to a million things to blame for last night—bad “messaging,” not getting stuff done quickly enough in congress, anti-CRT shit, a negative media environment, etc etc. All undoubtedly have kernels of truth to them. But the core of what is still roiling politics in this country is a pandemic and its residual effects that people really really want to be over now. Its not and that makes them very grumpy—and grumpy people are more open to being told that X or Y bullshit thing is the reason for their unhappiness. This spring/summer when everyone's approvals were high and moods were good? That's because most people thought with declining cases and vaccine uptake we were done and Covid would evaporate. It didn't and that's disillusioned tons of people. Biden’s done as much as he can do to try and end this, imo—and the quick roll out of shots for 5-11 year olds is going to be another huge step in that direction—but some things exist beyond the control of politicians and governments. If this years pandemic roiling is a memory by next year, things might be better. If not, then likely not. But problem A1 right now is fully putting this pandemic behind us as best we can."
Who is the quotation from? I understand the cri de coeur - in fact I am inclined to join in the howl.
Sorry. My comment was directed at Justin's above.
https://www.salon.com/2021/11/02/what-if-the-truth-about-jan-6-is-revealed--and-the-american-people-just-dont-care/
The same forces that drive instant gratification also drive myopic policy decisions. Trump was the poster child for both. Democrats are destined to be fighting an uphill battle because they believe in a sustainable future. Republicans say the future is indeterminable, so why not pig out in the present.
Ack. Curse the (lack of) editing function. That should read: So Beautiful and So Dangerous.
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