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tomorrowusa · 4 months

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Don't risk a rerun of the 2000 election.

In the first presidential election of the 21st century many deluded progressives voted for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader.

Their foolishness gave us eight years of George W. Bush who plagued the country with two recessions (including the Great Recession) and two wars (one totally unnecessary and one which could have been avoided if he heeded an intelligence brief 5 weeks before 9/11).

Oh yeah, Dubya also appointed one conservative and one batshit crazy reactionary to the US Supreme Court. Roberts and Alito are still there.

Paul Waldman of the Washington Post offers some thoughts.

Why leftists should work their hearts out for Biden in 2024

Ask a Democrat with a long memory what the numbers 97,488 and 537 represent, and their face will twist into a grimace. The first is the number of votes Ralph Nader received in Florida in 2000 as the nominee of the Green Party; the second is the margin by which George W. Bush was eventually certified the winner of the state, handing him the White House. Now, with President Biden gearing up for reelection, talk of a spoiler candidate from the left is again in the air. That’s unfortunate, because here’s the truth: The past 2½ years under Biden have been a triumph for progressivism, even if it’s not in most people’s interest to admit it. This was not what most people expected from Biden, who ran as a relative moderate in the 2020 Democratic primary. His nomination was a victory for pragmatism with its eyes directed toward the center. But today, no one can honestly deny that Biden is the most progressive president since at least Lyndon B. Johnson. His judicial appointments are more diverse than those of any of his predecessors. He has directed more resources to combating climate change than any other president. Notwithstanding the opposition from the Supreme Court, his administration has moved aggressively to forgive and restructure student loans.

Three years ago the economy was in horrible shape because of Trump's mishandling of the pandemic. Now unemployment is steadily below 4%, job creation continues to exceed expectations, and wages are rising as unions gain strength. The post-pandemic, post-Afghan War inflation rate has receded to near normal levels; people in the 1970s would have sold their souls for a 3.2% (and dropping) inflation rate. And many of the effects of "Bidenomics" have yet to kick in.

And in a story that is criminally underappreciated, his administration’s policy reaction to the covid-induced recession of 2020 was revolutionary in precisely the ways any good leftist should favor. It embraced massive government intervention to stave off the worst economic impacts, including handing millions of families monthly checks (by expanding the child tax credit), giving all kids in public schools free meals, boosting unemployment insurance and extending health coverage to millions.

It worked. While inflation rose (as it did worldwide), the economy’s recovery has been blisteringly fast. It took more than six years for employment rates to return to what they were before the Great Recession hit in 2008, but we surpassed January 2020 jobs levels by the spring of 2022 — and have kept adding jobs ever since. To the idealistic leftist, that might feel like both old news and a partial victory at best. What about everything supporters of Bernie Sanders have found so thrilling about the Vermont senator’s vision of the future, from universal health care to free college? It’s true Biden was never going to deliver that, but to be honest, neither would Sanders had he been elected president. And that brings me to the heart of how people on the left ought to think about Biden and his reelection.

Biden has gotten things done. The US economy is doing better than those of almost every other advanced industrialized country.

Our rivals China and Russia are both worse off than they were three years ago. And NATO is not just united, it's growing.

Sadly, we still need to deal with a far right MAGA cult at home who would wreck the country just to get its own way.

Biden may be elderly and unexciting, but that is one of the reasons he won in 2020. Many people just wanted an end to the daily drama of Trump's capricious and incompetent rule by tweet. And a good portion of those people live in places that count greatly in elections – suburbs and exurbs.

Superhero films seem to be slipping in popularity. Hopefully that's a sign that voters are less likely to embrace self-appointed political messiahs to save them from themselves.

Good governance is a steady process – not a collection of magic tricks. Experienced and competent individuals who are not too far removed from the lives of the people they represent are the best people to have in government.

Paul Waldman concludes his column speaking from the heart as a liberal...

I’ve been in and around politics for many years, and even among liberals, I’ve almost always been one of the most liberal people in the room. Yet only since Biden’s election have I realized that I will probably never see a president as liberal as I’d like. It’s not an easy idea to make peace with. But it suggests a different way of thinking about elections — as one necessary step in a long, difficult process. The further you are to the left, the more important Biden’s reelection ought to be to you. It might require emotional (and policy) compromise, but for now, it’s also the most important tool you have to achieve progressive ends.

Exactly. Rightwingers take the long view. It took them 49 years but they eventually got Roe v. Wade overturned. To succeed, we need to look upon politics as an extended marathon rather as one short sprint.

Republicans may currently be bickering, but they will most likely unite behind whichever anti-abortion extremist they nominate.

It's necessary to get the word out now that the only way to defeat climate-denying, abortion-restricting, assault weapon-loving, race-baiting, homophobic Republicans is to vote Democratic.

#paul waldman #liberalism #election 2000 #election 2024 #joe biden #third parties #vote blue no matter who #donald trump #dumpster fire #trumpster fire #fascism vs. democracy #nra republicans #abortion #climate change #lgbtq+ rights #race-baiting #take the political long view #phil hands

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 2 years

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Phil Hands, Wisconsin State Journal :: [Scott Horton]

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“There is a tendency at every important but difficult crossroad to pretend that it's not really there.” ― Bill McKibben, The End of Nature

#quotes #Bill McKibben #Scott Horton #climate Change #The End of Nature #Phil Hands #Wisconsin State Journal

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vilkalizer · 2 years

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literally

#political cartoons #phil hands

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wolfythewitch · 13 days

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My favorite guys

#thought about adding Phil but my hand started getting tired so alas #art #digital art #odysseus #wolfy religious tedtalks #Jesus Christ #jonathan sims #odyssey #tagamemnon #bible #greek mythology #tma #the magnus archives

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lesbaurinkos · 2 months

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do you think they knew even then that it was gonna be forever

#sent this to my friend in the middle of class and she physically put her head in her hands with such devastation another classmate asked-#-if she was ok. so i hope it can aid u guys in similar manners i suppose!#smiling shakily… Do You Remember. The Time. When W #no one look too hard at the train i don’t care what trains look like. it’s not about that.#it’s about. sing along to the start of forever. as paramore once said.#took the train home for spring break yesterday! just thought of them. x #dnp #dan and phil #phanart

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silverfoxphil · 3 months

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grabs you hits you eats you bites you grabs you grabs you grabs you

#cw jumpscare #cw dan is so loud #dan and phil #phan #“keep your hands to yourself” the pot calling the kettle black #sorry for the caption lmao #mine

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royalarchivist · 2 months

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Phil: I'm just- I'm just living my life on my little like, beach house, Bad! Why are they picking fights with an old man just sitting at his fckin'– his fisherman's house, man!

Bad: I don't know! [Laughs] I don't know!

Phil: I'm just like- I'm in retirement!

Bad: They're just- they're just out for blood– maybe you're right! Maybe they are just bored.

Phil: I'm retired! I'm literally retired, on my beach house and they're picking fights.

Bad: I know, it's crazy, it's crazy. But it's awesome too, think about it– a war! A war, Philza!

Phil: [Sighs] I'm so tired of those, I've seen too many of them, dude. So many.

Bad: [Laughs] Nah, I feel ya. I feel ya. Have you met Mr. Reaper yet?

Phil: [Overlapping with Bad's question] Anyway, how- how are you, by the way? I heard you died.

Bad: Mm, yeah, no I did. Um...

Phil: How was that?

Bad: Fun.

Phil: Yeah?

Bad: It was... an experience. I mean, it's not the first time, but... you know how it goes.

Phil: I do, yeah. I do.

#Philza #QSMP #Phil #Badboyhalo #BBH #Bad #March 13 2024 #Two immortals discussing war and death...#I don't have a clip for it on-hand but Phil recently seemed to imply that q!Phil HAS died before #and that might be how he met Kristin (Goddess of Death)

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rudeflower · 9 months

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Jamie Tartt: the hand thing

#neurodivergent king #ted lasso #jamie tartt #what i learned: Jamie is profoundly uncomfortable in each of these scenes #there's another instance that was so brief that it couldn't be capped #someone just said zava's name and ZOOM jamie's hand went to wrap under his shirt #good job phil dunster

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cirrusea · 10 months

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They're having a very important conversation

Inspired by this screenshot from @emeralds-but-everywhere

#emerald duo #technoblade #philza #dream smp #dsmp #phil does the t-rex autism hands because. bird #technoblade fanart #philza fanart #my art

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danandfuckingjonlmao · 2 months

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i wonder if dan’s partner jon, phil’s secret wife and child, sam the surfer, the person who that one phannie totally saw dan holding hands with in [insert location here] (and it wasn’t phil!!!??!¿1:&!!?!¡1/$!), the girl in prague, lucy hale, the tesco delivery guy, susan and susette and henry, that builder who looked like a popstar, and that klaus hargreeves looking dude phil did a collab with in 2019 all live with dnp in the phouse

#“i saw dan holding hands with someone in [blank] and it wasn’t phil” is one of my favourite phannie memes #dnp #dan and phil #phan #phouse #phorever home #dan and fucking jon lmao #don truther #my partner jon #daniel howell #dan howell #amazingphil #phil lester #danisnotonfire #yeet my deet #yeet my deenp #danandphilgames

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tomorrowusa · 6 months

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Lewiston, Maine is experiencing what Republicans and their NRA donors call a Thoughts and Prayers Situation.

Maine mass shooting: At least 16 feared dead in US city of Lewiston

Republican politicians frantically construct legal barriers between women and their doctors but they give psychopaths the green light to accumulate entire arsenals of military grade assault weapons which are then used on American citizens.

Republicans effectively enable legal terrorism inside the United States.

Vote for Republican candidates for president and US Senate and you enable the appointment of Supreme Court justices who love assault weapons. Voting for third party or independent losers who have no chance of getting elected is the same as voting Republican.

#assault weapons #mass shooting #maine #lewiston #nuts with guns #republicans #nra #register and vote #election 2024 #phil hands

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sootsz · 7 months

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follow the amapolas. ignore the crow’s warning

#qsmp #qsmp fanart #philza #chayanne #tallulah #philza art #qsmp art #philza fanart #bro is going to put the crow’s on emote only mode #Phil qsmp #artists on tumblr #sickened by how well ‘a bird in hand is worth two in the bush’ fits phil rn #he is the bird in hand. Screams #sootsz art

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 10 months

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Phil Hands, The Wisconsin State Journal

@PhilHands

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

July 18, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JUL 19, 2023

“I approve this message.”

Joe Biden’s Twitter account put that line over an ad using the words of Georgia Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Turning Points Action Conference speech from last weekend, in which she set out to tear down the president’s policies but ended up making him sound terrific.

The description she intended to be derogatory—that Biden “had the largest public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs that is actually finishing what FDR started, that LBJ expanded on”—was such an argument in Biden’s favor that the Biden-Harris campaign used it to advertise what the Democratic administration stands for: “[p]rograms to address education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, Medicare, Medicaid, labor unions.”

Generally, Biden and Harris have so far made the case for their reelection by meeting with voters in their home districts, emphasizing job growth and infrastructure investment in those districts, seemingly trying to demonstrate—without fanfare—that a well-run Democratic government can help ordinary Americans. But Greene’s misfire was just too good not to highlight. The programs she was denigrating are, in fact, enormously popular.

Biden has generally stayed out of the headlines that involve the 2024 election, giving Republicans free rein to define themselves for the American people.

That definition became clearer this morning, when former president Trump wrote on the right-wing Truth Social network that the Department of Justice’s special counsel Jack Smith has issued him a target letter associated with the investigation into the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. A target letter usually means that prosecutors have enough evidence to charge someone with a crime. It offered Trump four days to appear before the grand jury to tell his side of the story, an offer Trump is expected to refuse.

Then, it is likely that he will be indicted.

Trump reacted exactly as one would expect, called Smith “deranged,” and claiming his own legal troubles were political: an attempt on the part of President Biden to eliminate his chief 2024 rival. (There is no sign that Biden has touched the investigation, but of course Trump tried to eliminate Biden in 2020 by pushing Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky to announce an investigation into Hunter Biden’s work with Ukrainian company Burisma.)

Trump harped on the idea that the investigation into his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election is “A COMPLETE AND TOTAL WEAPONIZATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT,” an accusation echoed by Trump loyalists Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Marjorie Taylor Greene, both of whom were also involved in the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) also echoed the accusation that the target letter is a sign of political “weaponization” of government, prompting Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA) to respond: “As Speaker, you are expected to uphold the rule of law. A target letter does not reveal what evidence the grand jury saw, nor what all the charges might be. Attacking a potential indictment before seeing the evidence and charges is irresponsible.”

But if Trump received the target letter on Sunday, why did he complain about it only today?

That delay might have had something to do with another legal issue: today’s hearing about the national security documents case, overseen by Judge Aileen Cannon. One of the issues to be discussed at that hearing was setting a date for the trial. The Department of Justice wants to go to trial in December; Trump wants to delay it until after the 2024 election.

MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin noted that today’s target letter changes the calculations for the documents trial because no matter what Cannon decides, it seems likely that Trump will face another federal trial in Washington, D.C., over the events surrounding January 6, 2021. The Washington, D.C., trials for those involved in the events of January 6, 2021, have moved forward with few delays.

This week’s bad legal news for Trump did not end there.

On Friday of last week, Trump’s lawyers tried to stop Georgia’s probe into his attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in that state. They asked the court to disqualify Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis, who has been investigating that attempt, and to stop Willis from using any of the material gathered by the grand jury investigating the case. Yesterday, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously rejected his petition, allowing the probe to go forward.

Then, today, Michigan’s attorney general Dana Nessel charged sixteen fake electors who signed fake certificates claiming that Trump had won Michigan’s electoral votes in 2020 with felonies: forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, election law forgery, conspiracy to commit election law forgery, publishing a counterfeit record, and conspiring to publish a counterfeit record.

The sixteen Republicans met in the basement of the state Republican Party’s headquarters and signed fake documents claiming that they were the state’s legitimate electors and that Trump had won the state. Their actions were part of a plan to claim that the electoral votes of certain states were “contested,” allowing then–vice president Mike Pence to reject the votes of those states and throw the election to Trump.

The fake electors attested they were “the duly elected and qualified electors for president and vice president of the United States of America for the state of Michigan,” Nessel said. “That was a lie. They weren’t the duly elected and qualified electors, and each of the defendants knew it.” “The false electors' actions undermine the public's faith in the integrity of our elections and not only violated the spirit of the laws enshrining and defending our democracy, but we believe also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan and peaceably transfer power in America,” Nessel said. “This plan, to reject the will of the voters and undermine democracy, was fraudulent and legally baseless.”

Text messages at the time show that the sixteen were “all asked to keep silent [so] as to not draw attention to what the other states were doing similar to ours!” One of those charged was former co-chair of the state Republican committee, Meshawn Maddock, who called the charges “political persecution.”

Legal analyst Renato Mariotti noted that the charges against the sixteen fake electors send a powerful message for those at the state level who might consider abetting Trump in the future. Those fake electors aren’t part of Trump’s inner circle who might get some kind of a reward for their trouble. They are just party operatives who are facing an expensive, stressful, and humiliating experience that could lead to hefty fines or imprisonment. Their example might well make others think carefully before they sign on to similar plans.

Josh Marshall pointed out in Talking Points Memo today that the lines of the 2024 election are coming clearer. Trump’s many legal troubles simply strengthen the loyalty of his base, making his nomination for the Republican presidential candidacy even more likely. But voters in the general election are unlikely to rally to someone facing multiple indictments in several different cases, especially ones related to the attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, which horrified most Americans.

The Republican Party is now “handcuffed to Donald Trump,” Marshall writes.

President Biden’s policy of focusing on his job while letting the Republicans define themselves might be a smart strategy.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#political cartoons #Phil Hands #aging #force of evil #Joe Biden #Biden-Harris Campaign #Talking Points Memo #MAGA republicans #TFG #election 2024

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rakkuntoast · 8 months

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