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If only the DNC was interested in promoting candidates that work for the people and aren't just interested in lip service while mostly maintaining the status qu
by soulofmischief 16d ago
If only the DNC was interested in promoting candidates that work for the people and aren't just interested in lip service while mostly maintaining the status quo. Things could have been different. Imagine what 8 years of Bernie and a functioning Congress might have accomplished.
- coldpie 16d agoAgreed. But on the topic of antitrust specifically, Lina Khan was absolutely doing the work, and Biden 100% deserves credit for appointing her. He could've chosen some do-nothing loser like everyone before him did, but he chose Khan.
- soulofmischief 16d agoI agree, it was a great move. However, it's generally hard for me to give Biden much credit for anything, however, given his own and his party's general complicity with decades of genocide and apartheid in Palestine. Same for Harris. That and oversight of many more atrocities also carried forth by his predecessors really puts a damper on any good deed and make it hard to buy into any narrative of authenticity when it comes to politics that benefit human beings. I also generally think Bernie would have played hardball on antitrust and given what we got with Biden, I'd prefer to have seen what Bernie could have done with the time.
- SR2Z 16d agoTerrible narrative. Lina Khan under Biden was more than willing to go after big companies. She was forced out because the American people voted Trump into office. Eight years of Sanders would have left us with a far more gridlocked country. The man has virtually no political talent.
- Computer0 16d ago>The man has virtually no political talent. More unique individual people donated to his primary efforts than any other candidate in history. Wouldn't this be indicative of some large amount of political talent?
- soulofmischief 16d agoI love Lina Khan as much as the next guy. But as you've already pointed out, it's kind of pointless if the fundamental problem is a malfunctioning executive branch (and a federal government with far too much power). But I'm going to need receipts on your claims about eight years of Sanders.
- SR2Z 15d agoI can't prove a negative but consider that winning the Democratic primary requires convincing a bunch of left-of-center voters to support your plan. Sanders couldn't do that. How do you think he would have fared with Republicans? He's never passed a significant bill of his own and focuses on renaming post offices. The man has no political skill. As president he would have been a disaster.
- soulofmischief 15d ago> The man has no political skill This is what I take issue with. It's a heavy enough accusation that it needs receipts. It needs proper framing on why exactly the benchmarks you've listed are important for delineating political skill and why other benchmarks are not.
- SR2Z 14d agoSure, here are a few that are directly relevant to political jobs: - legislation proposed and passed - elections won (i.e. candidate WAR) - ability to make backroom deals - campaigning skills He's not good at any of those except the last one. I've mentioned the bills, he lost two primaries (his staffers engaged in election denialism both times), only has a seat because he's in a safe Dem state, and has a reputation for being a difficult politician to work with. He is obviously out-of-touch with American voters, his policy proposals are very fluffy and barely substantial, and about the nicest thing I can about his campaigns is that they draw in an enthusiastic crowd, but not one that seems to vote for him and his candidates. Progressives have much better politicians now: Mamdani, AOC, Al-Sayed. If all of them can deliver like Mamdani - who might genuinely have the best political skills of any American politician living now - then maybe this "what if Bernie won" stuff could actually work. But Sanders would have crashed and burned the second the GOP shut down the government, because he's not good at convincing people who disagree with him.
- handedness 16d agoSome argue gridlock is a feature, not a bug. I'm of two minds about it, but I understand the appeal.
- andrewflnr 16d agoThat "functioning Congress" requirement is doing a lot of the work in that claim, and no single election result would make that happen.
- soulofmischief 16d agoI didn't make that claim, you misread what I said. I explicitly mentioned a functioning Congress because that's a necessity, a functioning executive branch is not enough. We are in agreement.
- andrewflnr 16d agoWe're in agreement, so what did I misread? :D The point is, there's not some realistic, single-point "if only" scenario where "things could have been different", because the problem is largely Congress.
- mafuy 15d agoYou misread/missed "Imagine".
- andrewflnr 15d agoNo. The "imagine" is only an elaboration on the (rather more definite) "things could have been different" claim, which I already contend is a fantasy. I mean, sure, I could also "imagine" a world where America throws out its corrupt and/or stupid politicians all at once and replaces them with sensible people, but it would be of similar plausibility and utility.
- soulofmischief 15d agoIt's called a hypothetical, not a fantasy, and it is a device used to ground the discussion by giving us a baseline for comparison. I don't think this is a very useful discussion if we're going to talk past each other and not assume the best possible interpretation of each other's words.
- dexterdog 16d agoYou had me until Bernie
- soulofmischief 16d agoWhich candidate would you have preferred?
- lII1lIlI11ll 15d ago> Imagine 8 years of Bernie As a person who was born in the Soviet Union I can easily imagine that...
- joquarky 15d agoHyperbolic.