One of Trump's instinctive political skills is that he attracts low propensity voters. One way that Trump does this is by making politics entertaining for people who normally find it a snooze fest. The liberal-left spectrum really doesn't have any counter to this because the entire idea of both liberals and leftists reduces down to make people more political than they want to be but a lot of people really hate thinking about politics and don't want to. But parts of the left have this idea that we can bring back the union hall while liberals think we can turn everybody into an NPR/PBS food, festival, and fabrics multicultural liberal by the right education. Neither are going to happen.
I didn't say all of them were but I think the evidence definitely shows that most non-voters lean way too the right rather than the left politically but either find politics distasteful or did not have a Republican willing to be as obviously far to the right as Trump. The evidence that a further left ticket could win in the United States is basically non-existent.
We started being in uncharted territory even before he was sworn in again. I know that every fiber in your body but everything that is happening in the world shows that we are in for some real big serious trouble that will cause billions of people immense suffering world wide.
I have a much more pessimistic take on this than you do. Trump said there would be a pause to March. It's March and now the tariffs begin. He also announced an external tariff on farmers. He is intent on dictatorship.
Ever the optimist I see. This isn't Trump's first term. He is determined to be a dictator and serious about everything he says. Not taking him literally will be stupid.
Blue City governance isn't exactly a disaster that Republicans paint it to be but it leaves a lot to be desired. Keep in mind that most of the booming cities in Republican states are Democratically run.
This is from late February 2025 but the favorability of the Democratic Party is low among the general electorate. The problem is the polling doesn't tell us why and several things could be true and not provide a clear way out.
1. Republicans hate the Democratic Party because they are Republican.
2. Normie non-Republicans, some Democratic and some not, hate the Democratic Party because they see it as too beholden to progressive activists and taking on unpopular policies because of that.
3. Progressive activists, some Democratic and some not, see the Democratic Party as not left enough and appeasing the normies way too much.
Center left and center right parties are collapsing globally and while there are country specific causes, I think there are three universal elements that ultimately come from the Internet and social media.
1. Center left and center right politicians perceive themselves as serious and electoral campaigning in the age of memes and social media is fundamentally unserious and involves a lot of mocking and trolling. Politicians who see themselves as serious do not know how to campaign under these circumstances.
2. Politics always involved politicians saying one thing to one audience and another thing to another audience. This is a lot harder to do in the age of social media and the Internet. Besides the fact that it is easier to track down the different message, it is also easier to call out politicians for inconsistent messaging.
3. Big tent parties have always been easier to fracture than small tent parties but they are especially easy to fracture now because each faction in the big tent party is more aware of what is being said behind their backs by their alleged allies in the big tent. There is no more plausible deniability.
The Far Right is surging globally because there basically political style has always been based on outrageous ridiculousness, they have no issues being dishonest, and they don't have to worry about fragmenting the big tent. They don't have to massage and message different audiences who want to hear different things like center left and center right politicians. The Further Left can theoretically do well under Internet electoral campaign conditions but are hobbled by the fact that they are much less organized than the further right and also that their message isn't popular with enough people or that many of them are content of being the tribunes of oppressed minorities against hoards of normies rather than leaders of a majority.
Considering that the further left candidates keep losing primaries, I don't see why the further left believes it is a way forward. Americans have voted to go further right. Trump has gotten millions of people who hate politics but have very right leaning sympathies out voting. The further left has maintained that there are tens of millions of dark socialists out there and basically 2024 disproved that thesis by a long shot. The further left is confusing internet popularity and district popularity with universal popularity despite all evidence to the contrary.
Jewish law makers in California, basically Democrats to a person, are advancing legislation to combat the Pro-Palestinian teach-ins in California schools:
In today's stupid battle of the Culture War, the Lt. Governor of Texas rallies against the NY Strip Steak because it is wrong to name a cut of beef after liberal New York.
We can make educated guesses at what is going to happen based on the ideology of the Trusk people and their current actions. You might call it a rumor, I call it an educated guess.
I'm still wondering what the breaking point is that will cause the bigger and wealthier blue states to start taking on responsibilities previously done by the federal government.
"This isn't the President Trump I voted for. This isn't the President Trump in my headspace." It is dismally amazing that so many people are capable of creating their own reality in their headspace.
One big mistake that Biden administration did was not prosecute 1/6 fast and vigorously enough including prosecuting Trump. This combined with the post-COVID malaise and inflation shock led to January 6 being memory holed and Trump returning to office. Maybe a lot of normies saw no difference between January 6 and BLM protests for whatever dumb reason.
On “Group Activity: President Donald Trump Address to Congress”
One of Trump's instinctive political skills is that he attracts low propensity voters. One way that Trump does this is by making politics entertaining for people who normally find it a snooze fest. The liberal-left spectrum really doesn't have any counter to this because the entire idea of both liberals and leftists reduces down to make people more political than they want to be but a lot of people really hate thinking about politics and don't want to. But parts of the left have this idea that we can bring back the union hall while liberals think we can turn everybody into an NPR/PBS food, festival, and fabrics multicultural liberal by the right education. Neither are going to happen.
On “Open Mic for the week of 3/3/2025”
I forgot the evidence:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a2417027b32fd5fefeefa2e44c3abd38b4ddc7dae46341c19e4f72b3c307fc06.png
"
Trump calls Justin Trudeau, the Governor of Canada:
"
In today's I can't see what can possi-bly go wrong, DOGE is trying to close a federal office that directly manages a nuclear waste sight.
https://www.notus.org/health-science/doge-field-office-lease-termination-nuclear-waste-site
"
The pain is going to come. The only question is whether it will impede or aid Trump's authoritarian project.
"
I didn't say all of them were but I think the evidence definitely shows that most non-voters lean way too the right rather than the left politically but either find politics distasteful or did not have a Republican willing to be as obviously far to the right as Trump. The evidence that a further left ticket could win in the United States is basically non-existent.
"
We started being in uncharted territory even before he was sworn in again. I know that every fiber in your body but everything that is happening in the world shows that we are in for some real big serious trouble that will cause billions of people immense suffering world wide.
"
Trump's Federal DOJ is looking into a state court conviction despite federalism and all that:
https://bsky.app/profile/ronfilipkowski.bsky.social/post/3ljjhqtrw5s24
"
I have a much more pessimistic take on this than you do. Trump said there would be a pause to March. It's March and now the tariffs begin. He also announced an external tariff on farmers. He is intent on dictatorship.
"
Ever the optimist I see. This isn't Trump's first term. He is determined to be a dictator and serious about everything he says. Not taking him literally will be stupid.
"
I will believe it when I see it.
"
Blue City governance isn't exactly a disaster that Republicans paint it to be but it leaves a lot to be desired. Keep in mind that most of the booming cities in Republican states are Democratically run.
"
This is from late February 2025 but the favorability of the Democratic Party is low among the general electorate. The problem is the polling doesn't tell us why and several things could be true and not provide a clear way out.
1. Republicans hate the Democratic Party because they are Republican.
2. Normie non-Republicans, some Democratic and some not, hate the Democratic Party because they see it as too beholden to progressive activists and taking on unpopular policies because of that.
3. Progressive activists, some Democratic and some not, see the Democratic Party as not left enough and appeasing the normies way too much.
https://gazette.com/news/wex/democratic-party-favorability-hits-record-low-while-trump-soars-through-first-month/article_faabfc88-24ee-51a0-8691-5127a9920dbd.html
"
Center left and center right parties are collapsing globally and while there are country specific causes, I think there are three universal elements that ultimately come from the Internet and social media.
1. Center left and center right politicians perceive themselves as serious and electoral campaigning in the age of memes and social media is fundamentally unserious and involves a lot of mocking and trolling. Politicians who see themselves as serious do not know how to campaign under these circumstances.
2. Politics always involved politicians saying one thing to one audience and another thing to another audience. This is a lot harder to do in the age of social media and the Internet. Besides the fact that it is easier to track down the different message, it is also easier to call out politicians for inconsistent messaging.
3. Big tent parties have always been easier to fracture than small tent parties but they are especially easy to fracture now because each faction in the big tent party is more aware of what is being said behind their backs by their alleged allies in the big tent. There is no more plausible deniability.
The Far Right is surging globally because there basically political style has always been based on outrageous ridiculousness, they have no issues being dishonest, and they don't have to worry about fragmenting the big tent. They don't have to massage and message different audiences who want to hear different things like center left and center right politicians. The Further Left can theoretically do well under Internet electoral campaign conditions but are hobbled by the fact that they are much less organized than the further right and also that their message isn't popular with enough people or that many of them are content of being the tribunes of oppressed minorities against hoards of normies rather than leaders of a majority.
"
Considering that the further left candidates keep losing primaries, I don't see why the further left believes it is a way forward. Americans have voted to go further right. Trump has gotten millions of people who hate politics but have very right leaning sympathies out voting. The further left has maintained that there are tens of millions of dark socialists out there and basically 2024 disproved that thesis by a long shot. The further left is confusing internet popularity and district popularity with universal popularity despite all evidence to the contrary.
On “Open Mic for the week of 2/24/2025”
Jewish law makers in California, basically Democrats to a person, are advancing legislation to combat the Pro-Palestinian teach-ins in California schools:
https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/03/02/california-lawmakers-seek-to-rein-in-ethnic-studies/?utm_email=E44C64529562B4517574F44E7F&lctg=E44C64529562B4517574F44E7F&active=no&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.mercurynews.com%2f2025%2f03%2f02%2fcalifornia-lawmakers-seek-to-rein-in-ethnic-studies%2f&utm_campaign=bang-multi_pubs-pm_report-nl&utm_content=curated
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DHS seeks information from the IRS on the addresses of undocumented tax payers despite this being specifically against the USC.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/28/us/politics/irs-immigrants-addresses.html
"
In today's stupid battle of the Culture War, the Lt. Governor of Texas rallies against the NY Strip Steak because it is wrong to name a cut of beef after liberal New York.
https://www.chron.com/food/article/dan-patrick-new-york-texas-20196231.php
"
We can make educated guesses at what is going to happen based on the ideology of the Trusk people and their current actions. You might call it a rumor, I call it an educated guess.
"
I'm still wondering what the breaking point is that will cause the bigger and wealthier blue states to start taking on responsibilities previously done by the federal government.
"
No flu vaccine for the 2025/2026 season:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/us/politics/fda-flu-vaccine.html?smid=nytcore-android-share&fbclid=IwY2xjawIwOI9leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZMppzd0diXyQjtLE1z7VymddRymHBEM-mY_5tXT2kgjPa4UxWmomHYwaA_aem_jBS1sqaEutFC5Vg1pp08ZA
"
"This isn't the President Trump I voted for. This isn't the President Trump in my headspace." It is dismally amazing that so many people are capable of creating their own reality in their headspace.
https://www.reddit.com/r/LeopardsAteMyFace/comments/1j0w1mo/but_sir_i_was_just_an_innocent_bystander/#lightbox
On “In Times Without Norms, All Laws Fall Silent”
One big mistake that Biden administration did was not prosecute 1/6 fast and vigorously enough including prosecuting Trump. This combined with the post-COVID malaise and inflation shock led to January 6 being memory holed and Trump returning to office. Maybe a lot of normies saw no difference between January 6 and BLM protests for whatever dumb reason.
On “Open Mic for the week of 2/24/2025”
There have been several reported similar incidents across the United States, so it is Trump's minions saying FU to the judge among other things.
"
Look who is coming back to the United States:
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/27/europe/andrew-tate-romania-us-intl-hnk/index.html
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.