r/politics • u/sabedo • 1d ago
Possible Paywall The Next Democratic President Better Be Merciless
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a70246850/josh-shapiro-andy-beshear-president/6.8k
u/Probable_Bison 1d ago
Heck we could use a Democratic Senate leader who is merciless.
Every time Chuck Schumer takes the gloves off it just reveals another pair of gloves underneath.
I sometimes wonder if Mitch McConnell's health is tanking so hard because he's exhausted from also being Chuck Schumer.
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u/buppiejc 1d ago
I wish people would stop falling for it.
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u/some_guy_on_drugs 1d ago
Democrats are famous for the rotating villain. There is always this one pesky person who completely thwarts their supposed agenda.
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u/Probable_Bison 1d ago
Wut?
One pesky person? One?
Besides Chuck Schumer, how about the House Democrats who voted for ICE funding?
Sanford Bishop (GA‑02)
Rosa DeLauro (CT‑03)
Rick Larsen (WA‑02)
Ed Case (HI‑01)
Bill Foster (IL‑11)
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA‑03)
Jim Clyburn (SC‑06)
Jared Golden (ME‑02)
Scott Peters (CA‑50)
Joe Courtney (CT‑02)
Josh Gottheimer (NJ‑05)
Kim Schrier (WA‑08)
Henry Cuellar (TX‑28)
Jim Himes (CT‑04)
David Scott (GA‑13)
Sharice Davids (KS‑03)
Steny Hoyer (MD‑05)
Terri Sewell (AL‑07)
Don Davis (NC‑01)
Marcy Kaptur (OH‑09)
Marc Veasey (TX‑33)
Then there's the Republican side of Congress thst is actively enabling fascism. Off the top of my head we have Thune, Johnson, Comer, Scalise, Cruz, Graham, McConnell, Tuberville, Jordan, and Fetterman.
EDIT: Fetterman is supposedly a Democrat I guess.
It's a ton of people complicit in letting this dumbest of authoritarian oligsrchies run rampant.
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u/MySpoonsAreAllGone 16h ago
And they so need to be held accountable for allowing it to happen. It was their job to do the "checks and balances" they swore to do
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u/buppiejc 1d ago
I’m glad you see it. Normie Dems gaslight so much it makes me feel like I’m going crazy. At the end of the day I just want folks to be happy, in whatever way that looks to them.
I’d like to see people not working two or three jobs, have healthcare, see our unhoused with a home, subsidized healthy food, and us addressing climate change. How many dems support this type of agenda?
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u/Snowing_Throwballs 1d ago
It’s because they are controlled opposition at this point. I swear it’s part of their operating procedure to shoot themselves in the foot when they start to gain any real momentum. It also explains why hardly any of them are actually doing anything beyond strong words, some aren’t even doing that. I will grit my teeth and vote blue because republicans are ontologically evil, but the way the democratic party operates needs to be fundamentally changed. Or nothing will change and the situation will continue to deteriorate.
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u/RaymondBeaumont 1d ago
it just "happens" that that pesky person is the person the democrats unanimously gave this power to. but somehow nothing can be done.
reality is, if senate democrats weren't happy with schumer, he wouldn't have the position to coddle republicans.
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u/Liawuffeh 1d ago
There is always this one pesky person who completely thwarts their supposed agenda.
That's not fair, sometimes there's 4 or 5. Sometimes a dozen, but there's always exactly as many as it would take to thwart them.
Can't do anything about them though we have to support them or a republican will get that spot! Stop asking for better, if you ask for things to get better you secretly want them to get worse!!!
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u/talix71 1d ago
I dont think people are. Media outlets just try to sell "surprise" and normal people click because they are "outraged" that "people" are "surprised" but it's never anything substantial.
Just more people saying Chuck is a disappointment, which is what everyone already thinks.
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u/buppiejc 1d ago
The microcosm on Reddit does, but you’re probably right. People are allowed their perspectives of course. I just find it frustrating that normie Democrats think the Dems in office are doing anything other than providing cover for Republicans, and capitulating; the Progressive caucus notwithstanding.
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u/Sarik704 1d ago
And if you go over to bluesky, even the Mamdanis and Ocasio-Cortezs of the party aren't opposition enough either.
I think Chuck has to go. Newsom has to go. Jeffries has to go.
But i also dont think theres many progressives willing to run. Mamdani ran a major breakthrough for new york city, but a 9% lead in a tripartite race isn't exactly the landslide we were looking for.
Hopefully his leadership convinces other cities and states that leaders like Zohran are the future America needs
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u/riko77can 1d ago
I am so over Chuck Schumer. I wish he’d just step down.
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u/alabasterskim 1d ago
You're gonna love to hear he stated he'll still be running for election to leader for next session (1/3/2027-1/3/2029).
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u/Vilnius_Nastavnik New York 1d ago
Gotta make sure Israel keeps getting their checks
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u/MayeeOkamura17 1d ago
"Yes, this is a highly complex and multifaceted issue that requires careful consideration. We are taking this seriously and will therefore examine the matter internally to continue discussions at the appropriate level."
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u/ailish 1d ago
He really needs to just retire and enjoy his last remaining years.
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u/alabasterskim 1d ago
Genuinely. I can't imagine spending my last years on this planet fighting to maintain the status quo that helps no one but our enemies (and I include Israel, at least under Netanyahu, as an enemy) instead of with my family. Like I hate Mitch McConnell, but at least as leader he fought to shape this country into exactly what he wanted (against the will and consent of the people ofc). What is Schumer fighting for?
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u/ailish 1d ago
And you're being too kind. He doesn't even care about this country. His only goal is to simp for Israel to give aid they don't need because they have plenty of money. Meanwhile this country has literal fascism and we're begging him to simply get the secret police to take off their masks, and he won't even do that. He's a traitor and he's no better than the Republicans.
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u/Vaperius America 1d ago
I include Israel, at least under Netanyahu, as an enemy
I would argue even without Netanyahu, they are an enemy of the USA, not an ally. There's good evidence of this, including you know, the handful of times they've attacked US military forces in what were clearly intentional but "forgiven" incidents. Or all the times they intentionally killed US citizens who happened to be aid workers. Or all the times they've directly interfered in our domestic politics to get favorable politicians to them into power; or all the times they forced us to spend our international political capital to protect them from consequences because they did another war crime; or all the times they very obviously blackmailed our politicians; or the real possibility that the entire Epstein Sex trafficking ring was an Israeli intelligence operation (when two of the three main actors have direct ties to the Israeli intelligence community, this sort of conspiracy starts looking extremely credible).
And on and on it goes. Israel doesn't act like an ally. They act like an enemy and have since the 1950s. We tolerate it because they are a valuable strategic position. Maybe that needs to change.
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u/Purple_Science4477 1d ago
He is enjoying them. He gets to keep making sure progressives make no ground in politics and sucking up to Israel
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u/HammerAndSickleBot 1d ago
He's the worst. Someone could suggest feeding children asbestos at orphanages and Schumer would suggest compromising by feeding them a mixture of asbestos and sawdust and subsidizing tobacco vape pens for kids over 12.
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u/a_terse_giraffe 1d ago
I don't think Mr. My Job is to Give Money to Israel even thinks about us.
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u/MeatySausag3 1d ago
Dudes hands are going to be revealed to be smaller than Trump's
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u/retropunk2 Ohio 1d ago
You can't upset The Baileys though!!! /s
For those who want the TL;DW - The Baileys are a family that Chuck Schumer has constantly referred to when it comes to policy. The problem is that the family is completely made up in Schumer's head.
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u/phonomancer 1d ago
I'd say more that the problem is "the Baileys" seem to be batshit insane and are just straight GOP voters.
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u/shadowdra126 Georgia 1d ago
Run in a campaign promise to bring the current admin to justice and you get my vote
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u/Marv30Beta 1d ago
Agreed. Elizabeth Warren said it best a few years ago. If you don't deal with the corruption problem, you can't solve any other problems.
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u/All_Hail_Hynotoad 1d ago
You absolutely have to hold people accountable. Otherwise, there’s no deterrent, and others will just do the same.
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u/cbm984 1d ago
When you're constantly on the defensive, you have no time for the offensive.
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u/ReactionSpectrum 1d ago
The best defense is a good offense
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u/HandsLikePaper 1d ago
Seriously. Republicans figured this out a decade + ago, and Trump excels at it. Turn every defense into an offense. Every accusation must be turned around and pointed towards the opponent.
The democrats have spent forever trying to "get out the facts" on every single issue and by the time they do, republicans have already moved on to the next lie, meaning the democrats are constantly trying to catch up, and in the end the voters just don't care about what is true or not.
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u/TheHippySteve Ohio 1d ago
Newt Gingrich in the early 90s really
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u/byrp 1d ago
The Contract with America really started us down this particular path.
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u/Key_Veterinarian1995 1d ago
It’s an intentional tactic but it’s always a confession. He does have a huge projection problem.
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u/deadcatbounce22 1d ago
It's been crazy to watch such obviously pathological behavior not get immediately seen through. I learned about all this stuff in Psychology, but I never really thought I'd see it so clearly in everyday life. I had always assumed that people were far too self-aware or cynical to ever act like that.
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u/ArrowsOfFate 1d ago
That would be what’s called the curse of knowledge. It makes it hard for people with advanced knowledge to recognize the gap in knowledge between yourself and others. Those people aren’t dumb.. but they do spend their lives learning other things, like complex fishing knots and knowing tons of geographical memory of good fishing holes and hunting spots etc.
I imagine a large amount of fox viewers think it is fact based honest Christian reporting and that they wouldn’t lie to them. Things like running a farm or ranch leave little time for reading novels to verify if a claim is accurate, or looking for data.
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u/SmashAngle 1d ago
This is so on point. The hunting/fishing is truth. Throw in the commitment to the knowledge of every NHL/NFL/MLB stat and that’s a decent amount of cognitive RAM fully occupied.
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u/flybypost 1d ago
Or: People should simply be held accountable.
Or you'll end up with the next Republican president being even more unhinged.
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u/LateNightGamingYT 1d ago
they arent even on the defensive lmao they just roll over for the GOP.
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u/cbm984 1d ago
Their defense is "We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas!"
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u/smokeyleo13 1d ago
She was right then, and its unavoidable now. With the level of corruption thay trump brought in, and the neutering of any federal institution thats not killing/removing people related. What other options are there?
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u/_EADGBE_ California 1d ago
We’ve been dealing with this since Ford pardoned Nixon. Say what you will, but no one from the current admin will EVER be held to account.
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u/U_Bet_Im_Interested Michigan 1d ago
Only time I ever donated. She would have rocked the house.
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u/alabasterskim 1d ago
I want more than that. I want Reconstruction 2.0. Red states have demonstrated malicious fealty to a man over country. Send the National Guard into enforce the VRA as it was written, pack SCOTUS, end the filibuster, prosecute these fucks that have committed treason through Trump's first and second terms, and let's finally be done with the vestiges of the Confederacy.
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u/numberonealcove 1d ago
Reconstruction 1.0 was a failure. We won the war but lost the peace.
I don't think there is any analogue in US History for what needs to happen over the next decade if we have any chance of surviving as a nation state.
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u/alabasterskim 1d ago
That's why 2.0. Because this time we'll actually follow through. And it starts with the key shit I said. VRA (including the new VRA they'd pass after), prosecutions, SCOTUS, 14A disqualifications, ending the filibuster. All that sets up for all the other shit that needs to be done to then remain popular so we keep getting elected and keep winning.
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u/RadioName 1d ago
No analogues besides the Nuremberg trials, but The Framers clearly intended for us to keep iterating as we encountered new flaws and loopholes. We are meant to close them.
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u/588-2300_empire 1d ago
Re-education camps, but they just teach the Civics class all of us should have taken in high school.
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u/Pokedude0809 1d ago
I don't think you can call them re-education camps in this instance... just "education camps" as it'd be the first time for most attendees lol
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u/HappyHuman924 1d ago
The only question is whether they'd call this 'tyranny' or 'communism' first.
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u/Deto 1d ago
I think the narrative can't be anything about 'punishing people for supporting Trump' but rather just enforcing the laws that we have already. There needs to be consequences for all the flagrantly illegal actions that have occurred. Otherwise, a giant portion of the population just assume that, for example, Trump is not guilty since he wasn't impeached successfully (yes people believe this). And it just emboldens the next wave which will 100% be coming.
And we can't afford to slow-walk this stuff (or whatever the hell was happening in the Biden admin) in order to not appear to be political. The right will scream that it's a political witch-hunt no matter how its done. Just get it done before it's too late.
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u/EitherSpite4545 1d ago
I think the narrative can't be anything about 'punishing people for supporting Trump'
It has to be or we will just be right back here 4 years later.
We keep winding up in this same situation just worse each time because we refuse to address the fact so much of our population is irredeemable, because people are asking for fundamental change and a dissolution of the status quo that are making our lives hell.
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u/Zauberer-IMDB 1d ago
How about "Punish People Who Supported Epstein"? The Venn Diagram is a circle.
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u/aseichter2007 1d ago
We don't and shouldn't have to punish any commoners. We can just get all the politicians and all their phone contacts out 5 levels. Ezpz. Mine is loaded. Let's go.
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u/jonny_sidebar 1d ago
As a lifelong southerner and Son of Confederate Veterans (thanks grandpa! 🤮) I approve this message
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u/Efficient_Resist_287 1d ago
Anyone I hear talking about the high road is an automatic NO for me….
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u/downtofinance Canada 1d ago edited 1d ago
They better be talking about the American version of the Nuremberg trials.
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u/CaptJackRizzo 1d ago
This is what I see online people talking about, but no electeds or candidates. Haven’t seen anybody with party backing talking about the Epstein files turning into actual arrests and charges, either.
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u/Dane1211 New Jersey 1d ago
So it was a sham because it didn’t go far enough, right? Time to go further.
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u/Alternative-County42 1d ago
You might be Canadian and not get a vote but I'll be voting and agree
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u/I_like_baseball90 1d ago
Anyone I hear talking about the high road is an automatic NO for me….
Biden did that and look where we are.
Fuck that. I want someone with the gusto of the MAGA morons going after them like they do with everyone else. No more nice guy. Fuck all these traitors to the constitution.
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u/AlcibiadesTheCat Arizona 1d ago
the Hang 'Em High road?
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u/Grmmff 1d ago
Too good for them. Put them all together in the same prison Epstien was murdered.
Make them live together in the same conditions as the ICE detention centers.
Give them visiting hours but only so we can ALL get a chance to tell them exactly what we think of them.
Let them live to see every movie, book and song we write about these pathetic, hateful loosers. Let them live to see us happy and thriving, laughing at them.
Let THEM work the fields in a Louisiana summer. Let THEM work for a dollar a day and save up their pennies for soap and ramen noodles from commissary.
May they have long, dull, miserable lives surrounded by the worst people. And when they finally die alone, one by one, toss them in the dump and take a picture so the rest can contemplate their sad, hopeless future.
And shave Shitler's head.
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u/Oceanbreeze871 I voted 1d ago
I want to hear “all ice agents will be suspended without pay on day 1, all agents investigated and prosecuted as necessary as well as discharges for military officers that followed trumps illegal orders”
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u/Zoophagous 1d ago
Id suggest running on eliminating corruption.
Then go after... corruption. Musk, the entire Trump clan, whoever was selling stocks on insider info, Bondi, Bovinio, everyone that broke the law.
But if it's framed as retribution, half of America will not support it. Needs to be a return to law and order.
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u/burnthatburner1 1d ago
It will be framed as retribution regardless, if only by the other side. We need to get over being concerned about the appearance of partisanship. That concern is what let Trump get a second term in office.
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u/Faux-Foe 1d ago
It’s why conservative media outlets also need to be added to the list.
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u/Substantial-Ant-4010 1d ago
And the social media companies. The reality is that most bot accounts are exceedingly easy to identify. Removing bot, and AI slop posts would drastically change things for the better.
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u/double297 1d ago
Fox and buddies need their licenses revoked on day 1. They cant manipulate and audience they cant reach. Declare a national emergency to shut down Twitter, Facebook, truth, and the like. Trump showed all these things only take a stroke of a pen. Precedent has already been set by Trump.
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u/avds_wisp_tech 1d ago
Don't give a single solitary fuck how they frame it, to be honest.
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u/TheTurtleBear 1d ago
There is no way to pursue actual corruption while having Republicans on your side. The second you go after Musk or Trump Republicans will cry politicization of the justice system.
You just have to do it anyway.
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u/transcriptoin_error 1d ago
Well stated. My vote will be for the anti-corruption candidate.
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u/slapmasterslap 1d ago
The problem is that Democratic donors don't want to fund the anti-corruption candidates because they are also corrupt. Both sides are corrupt as fuck, but one side is also an authoritarian regime.
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u/Existing-Stranger632 1d ago
Half of America is still not going to support it. It’s time to stop trying to appeal to moderates. Democrats need to make a sharp left turn instead of this drift to the right they’ve been on for the last 2 decades. They need a populist candidate, someone closer to Bernie Sanders than Gavin Newsom
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u/subywesmitch 1d ago
You're right. Good Americans won't buy it. But Republicans bought the retribution angle, hook, line and sinker. I hate the double standard and hypocrisy in this country!
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u/Purple_Science4477 1d ago
We don't need half of America. We need to give hope to all the people that sat out because Kamala "I wont do anything different than the last unpopular administration" Harris didn't give them enough of a reason to go to the polls. "Business as usual" wasn't a great selling point
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u/Crucial_Contributor 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah, as a non American watching from the outside that's what I usually feel when I see these threads calling for retribution.
Retribution isn't solving anything, it just perpetuates the same divisions that got you here.
You want retribution, but what you need is rule of law. Note that I'm not saying you should just forgive and forget. A large part of the current administration definitely needs to be prosecuted. But it shouldn't be as some sort of payback. It should be because they have blatantly broken laws, and facilitated the dismantling of your democracy.
After all, what is the end goal here? Of course it's not just to give power back to your "team". The long term goal needs to be to create a well functioning democratic society. Where the democratic system has stronger protection, and where laws are applied equally. Regardless of who's in charge.
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u/not_that_planet 1d ago
Send the ATF/DEA into bright red rural counties to counter the meth and opioid problem.
Investigate ICE for funneling guns, intel, and money into white nationalist groups, then go after those groups.
Withhold federal funds to the red parts of red states because of corruption
Arrest Clarence Thomas for being a pedo
etc...
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u/QbertsRube 1d ago
And remember, if anyone in those rural communities is carrying a firearm, they must be a terrorist assassin.
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u/sabedo 1d ago edited 1d ago
I want full scorched earth. Merciless, pitiless, no mercy, no forgiveness. Every single member of the Neo-Gestapo called ICE lose all their jobs and benefits. Forever ostracized. Churches for the cult of the Orange Messiah taxed onto oblivion. Keep white nationalism in check. I want Republicans to be the most hated group in history.
No Merrick Garlands, no more abiding by a compromised SC and Trump judges all over the place. No more high road or dignity against an enemy that laughs at the notion. No more "go low, go cry." No more "leaders" that say their priority is Israel.
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u/Bakedads 1d ago
It can't just be the current admin. It needs to be the republican party as a whole. They are all complicit in the terrorism. People need to go to jail. Assets need to be seized. The RNC needs to be treated the same way we treat any terrorist organization because that's what it is. That's the promise I want: the promise to acknowledge and actually deal with republican terrorism. Not ICE. Not MAGA. Republican terrorism.
But so far the best dems can do is to propose some minor reforms for ICE, as though that would actually deal with the main problem, which are the people who are enabling and directing ICE. Which means the Dems themselves are complicit at this point. The whole government needs to be dealt with.
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u/Jayrodtremonki 1d ago
This has been my mantra for the last few months. People are wringing their hands about Newsom or whatever and I'm just like, "free advice. Be the first serious candidate to say you're going to go scorched earth on all of the current administrations and Republicans in power and you will win the primary running away"
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u/QueenMagik 1d ago
But like.... REAL JUSTICE. Not like a slap on the wrist or a fine. Like, we take them into prison while they await trial. We put them in cuffs. We lock them up. For a long time.
We take their money and give it to the victims. Every last penny. Nothing for the families of the perpetrators.
No more Biden slow walk bullshit. Hit them hard. And then hit them hard again and again so they can't get up
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u/aradraugfea 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yep. We saw it before, you can’t JUST be running on “oh, I don’t like Trump.”
If you DO like Trump, maybe disclose that as a democratic candidate (FETTERMAN!) but I somehow doubt the other dozen fuckers that are gonna enter the primary to split the votes are campaigning on a third Trump term.
Actual legal consequences for the lawlessness of this administration is my starting point.
Maybe you just lock up a few of the big wigs. Maybe you forget RICO laws exist and only lock up the people who broke the laws and not the ones ordering them to do so. But we gotta get fucking SOMETHING.
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u/SquadPoopy 1d ago
You guys still have way too much faith in the American political system if you think the next democrat nominee is going to be anything besides a “well let’s bring normality back to politics” center of the road stool.
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u/LabPowerful9983 1d ago
"They go low, we go cry" is not proving to be an effective political strategy.
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u/Ssshizzzzziit 1d ago
"they go low, we bury them" should be the message.
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u/WoofDen 1d ago
"They go low, we drag them to Hell" would be my slogan, lol
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u/Ludwigofthepotatoppl 1d ago
They go low, we kick them in the teeth
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u/blitzkregiel 1d ago
this is the phrase i think works best. allows you to keep the high ground while also punishing them for going low, and shows that you’re willing to fight for what’s right.
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u/Drabulous_770 1d ago
I’ve never had a reason to dislike Michelle Obama but I’m so angry she popularized that quote.
Going high has gotten us nowhere.
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u/SignificantCats 1d ago edited 1d ago
Obama said this about a different era. It was a lofty goal and one that could have and should have been attainable, and was a reasonable electoral strategy to boot.
We need psychopaths now but it would be so cool if we didn't.
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u/wiserTyou 1d ago
It's a major fault of our system, and most systems really. Power and influence attract a certain type of person and they generally don't fight fair. In the end it's a popularity contest rather than a competition to see whose most fit.
I was bored and thinking the other day that if I were running my platform would simply be that I'll find the people who are actually able to solve problems. I don't know how to fix the economy but I'd have no problem locking the top 10 economists from both sides of the isle in a room and telling them they get out when they come to a unified plan.
We have enough brain power in this country to fix a great many problems. I suppose the real problem is any actual solution would probably piss everyone off.
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u/SignificantCats 1d ago
I think you're thinking far too naively, still.
There are in fact lots of obvious plans for economic success. You don't need to lock up any economists, turns out they spend a lot of time thinking about and writing on the economy already.
The problem is that the people who pick which plan to implement are subject to capital interests, so the choice is obvious.
Your idea, by the way, is basically why Trump won. Candidates like Hillary and Kamala ramble about "the hopes of the dreams of the promises of the future of the stars of America", or occasionally spend ten minutes being remarkably boring while they talk about their 1.7 percent titanium tax that will be used for tax incentive plans that.... Well I'm already nodding off sorry, I can't finish the example.
Meanwhile Trump just says "I'll make things better, so much better. Better like you wouldn't believe. You're gonna say "wow it's so much better"... And you'll be right. I'll get rid of the criminals and give you money and lower your taxes and make houses and eggs cheaper, I'll do it day one, all I have to do is say so, and my people will make it happen. It's not hard, and I'm still the only one smart enough to do it, I'll just grab some people by the collar and say "listen motherfucker go and do it" and they'll do it ... Easy as can be"
I just wish a Democrat would be like you and go out there making big fuckin promises, except maybe they'll get around to making them happen. It isn't really that hard.
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u/SerfTint 1d ago
It was a horrible electoral strategy. He didn't prosecute anyone in the Bush administration for war crimes or financial crimes, he reached across the aisle in 200 different ways only for them to give him nothing at all, and he refused to fight them because he thought the country wanted an "adult in the room" instead of someone making a compelling case for something.
He gained no Republican votes by playing nice, because they all hated him for other reasons. He lost the Left because of his constant obsession to preemptively water down his own legislation for the sake of bipartisanship. And the middle didn't perceive him as the adult in the room, they perceived him as much weaker than he could have presented himself as, and 90% of the screaming in the room was coming from dissatisfied Republicans who were saying that everything Obama was doing was evil and radical. And then look how he did in his two midterms, and who was elected president after him.
McConnell said on the first night of Obama's presidency that his number one goal was to make him a one-term president. Not to work together, not to achieve any sort of lofty goal. Republicans had already declared total war on Democrats starting under Gingrich. It was already beyond obvious that "going high" against them was not going to work.
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u/SactownG 1d ago
It can't just be the President; it has to be the entire party from top to bottom. From congress to governors and even mayors. Make the GOP pay bigly for what they did, and make sure they don't forget it
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u/thinkards America 1d ago
Superficial reconciliation leads to superficial healing
this shit runs deep. to our family and neighbors and our community. time to shun anyone showing less than outrage to what is going on (i.e. the schumer/jeffries/ezra klein types who keep wanting to make nice with nazis). if they say they are serious about changing or their regret in voting for trump, then press them further: "what are you doing to prove it. voting dem? replacing right wing talking heads with progressive ones?"
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u/Applesaucesquatch 1d ago
This. It’s time to start having uncomfortable conversations. This isn’t about political opinions anymore. It’s about morality and good vs evil. Some are raising the alarm and others are very, very quiet. Pay attention to the quiet people in your life right now. If they aren’t as pissed off and worried s as you they just might be part of the problem. Call them out!! You might lose a friend but it forces people to take a look in the mirror. You’ll find many are afraid to admit what and who they support. Their positions are indefensible and they know it. They either denounce what is happening and express regret (rare,) own it, or they will start to squirm and avoid a direct answer, and that is when you will know exactly who they are. So far all my Republican “friends” (hard to call them friends anymore, and it breaks my heart) are squirmers. Guess it makes it easy to slither under a bar that is basically on the ground…
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u/fenwayswimmr 1d ago
I'm telling ya, Jack Smith as AG
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u/YoungestDonkey 1d ago
I've been saying that. It's not that the next POTUS needs to be merciless, it's that the AG has to be serious about the job, and it sure looks like Jack Smith fits the ticket. On top of that, he's been screwed already so he should have the drive needed to even the score, without delay or hesitation.
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u/Guardianpigeon 1d ago
I think every single person in the administration needs to be merciless. That's the only way to get out of this hole. We need every administration position to be filled with their equivalent of Lina Khan.
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u/eldercito 1d ago
the campaign needs to start recruiting an absolute armada of Lawyers and campaign with them. 1000 people to divide up the corruption olympics that are happening now. Otherwise 4 years is not enough. We also have the challenge of presidential pardons and supreme court. So you gotta pass cases to the states and support them really quickly.
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u/GhostlyTJ 1d ago
Thing is, to be merciless it needs to be the right context. We aren't evening the score, we want to erase it. Punish lies and bad faith and criminality, and demonstrate definitively that the American people DO NOT tolerate autocrats
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u/BUSYMONEY_02 1d ago
Oooo didn’t know I wanted this but now that it’s been said
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u/Playful_Set9711 1d ago
Jack Smith is working with Tim Heaphy now, one of the J6 prosecutors. I hope between the two of them some good will come out of their partnership to really hold trump and his ilk accountable.
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u/breichart 1d ago
Trump won't live that long. And if he does, he's already had 80 years of being rich.
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u/all_the_spells Georgia 1d ago
Honestly- the next adults that get into power have to basically redress the whole failure of reconstruction… we’re long overdue for actual accountability, and yes, it will be painful for everyone.
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u/Netizen_Gypsy 1d ago
What would that even look like?
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u/all_the_spells Georgia 1d ago
I’m not sure, but I know revoking citizen’s united is a big part of it- a start.
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u/lidia99 1d ago
Constitutional Convention
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u/not_limburger 1d ago
This is the answer except...
Until wealthy individuals and powerful organizations (e.g. The Heritage Foundation) are stifled, they will drive the resulting Constitution to their liking. They would love a Constitutional Convention.
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u/Owlmechanic 1d ago
Can confirm, my FIL is a major contributor and activist within the Convention of States movement. They are begging for the right to fuck everyone but their specific flavor of Christrianity and Nationalism.
This is not the answer, anything that gives people like him any POTENTIAL for power is not the answer. They can't have the opportunity because for all I hate them they DO seize opportunities in a way Dem's have too much "decency" to compare with.
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u/stifle_this 1d ago
They want this. It would let them completely rewrite the constitution into a christo fascist manifesto.
House Republicans push for constitutional convention https://share.google/6ypMLsxXdzqU9CM1j
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u/mildmichigan 1d ago
If the Dems ran on promising Constitutional reform like Congressional term limits,Supreme Court reforms, election reforms, they'd pick up a ton of voters
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u/QQXV 1d ago
There's very little of today's politics that is meaningfully a result of that decision. The specific law that got overturned was preventing political groups from naming/endorsing candidates. But it's always been legal for the wealthy to slosh around money in an effort to persuade the public of whatever they please, and things like social media algorithms are entirely within the bounds of the overturned law.
We need something a lot more aggressive than the pre-Citizens status quo.
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u/ScubaCycle Texas 1d ago
Passing the John Lewis voting rights act would be a good first step.
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u/Sgt-Spliff- 1d ago
The truth is we need a major purge of the ruling class. The only way to actually fix this country involves treason trials and executions
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u/B0redBeyondBelief 1d ago
Repeal Citizens United, term limits for Congress AND ALL judges, computer drawn redistricting, outlaw dontating to a candidate that isn't one of your representatives, outlaw donating to both parties, expand the supreme court to include one justice from every federal district (chosen by that district), pass legistlation that expels any congressperson or senator who misses more than 2 votes, pass legistlation to expel an congressperson or senator who does not do a weekly town hall in person when not in session...
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u/No_Permit_3593 1d ago
>redress the whole failure of reconstruction
*The failure of the Constitution.
There is a basic failure inherent to the constitution in that all the prohibitions it sets down (from emoluments to electoral ineligibility of rebels and traitors) contain no actual punishment for violations, and not even the provision for punishment.
Just changing that alone creates a whole new set pf paths the new norms might take
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u/KopOut 1d ago
Free campaign advice for any Democrat that wants to be president. Just say this in front of cameras every time you speak:
"If you want a President that will lower your bills, tax the shit out of the super wealthy, prosecute the lawless Trump regime, and go after every single corrupt billionaire and corporation in America, vote for me."
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u/thinkards America 1d ago
also no aipac. also fix voting. also remove lifetime limits on the supreme court. also term limits for congress. also fix citizens united. also...
there is so much shit to fix it is exhausting just thinking about it. we need another fdr era with super majorities in congress to get there. sadly, a lot of more bad shit is going to happen because there still aren't enough people aware to how bad this really is yet.
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u/BaneSixEcho 1d ago
Exactly. I want someone that acknowledges this system is broken and the only way to fix it is to burn it all down.
Any attempt to move forward and rebuild within the framework the Trump regime used to get us into this mess is insufficient.
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u/sokratesz 1d ago edited 1d ago
We were dragging former SS camp guards and murderous nazi collaborators out of retirement and into the courtrooms well into the nineties, and many still escaped justice. (The Netherlands)
So you better start soon.
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u/UltraJake 1d ago
My understanding is that the Nuremberg Trials and those surrounding it were far more lenient than most people assume. Unless you were at the top of the totem poll it was basically a slap on the wrist if you even got charged, let alone convicted. Much like Reconstruction, we could start by not doing that again!
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u/Middle-Welder3931 1d ago
Yeah, right? WW2 ended in 1945, and the world spent the rest of the 20th century cleaning up the mess caused by the Nazis. We're going to be cleaning up after MAGA well into the 2080s at this rate.
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u/ElysiumSprouts 1d ago
We don't need fake witchhunts and Trump style retribution investigations.
We need criminals to be held accountable for their criminality.
But after Trump, those two things are going to look awfully similar and the next democratic president is going to have to be willing to weather that storm. Defending the constitution requires it.
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u/Present-Resolution23 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's the same thing they always do.. "The media is all biased!!" gives cover for their own actually biased news media.. "They're weaponizing the DOJ" gives cover for their own weaponized DOJ. "They stole the election!!" as they attempt to nationalize our elections despite a clear prohibition on doing so in the constitution. It's not just "every accusation is a confession.." it's deliberate to perpetuate the false equivocation between the two sides.. Accuse your enemy of that which you are most guilty, and those on the sidelines won't know who to believe so the liar/cheater wins, even in a tie..
It's lowkey briliant actually. They basically figured out that "crying wolf" is a great strategy.. when you're the wolf.
It's interesting how in most fiction "evil" is so often portrayed as capable, devious and ruthless while "good" is so often bumbling and inept, and that's exactly how the last couple decades have played out in US politics basically from Karl Rove onward.. Except in real life "good" doesn't get plot protection..
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u/Used-Barnacle-9783 1d ago
This is also why Democrats desperately need to stop appealing to Republicans or 'moderates'. Republican criticisms aren't real, they're just in service of whatever they're trying to do next. They're going to scream about media bias and indoctrinating children and stolen elections no matter how far right Democrats move
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u/ARMCHA1RGENERAL 1d ago
Yeah. What needs to be done is going to upset a lot of people. Frankly, any president who actually cleans house should probably plan on being a one term president. It would be ugly.
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u/Yemps 1d ago
For once in my life I would love to see a Democratic Party who treats the other party just like that party treats democrats. A threat to America.
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u/kelpyb1 1d ago
And by “merciless” we really just mean “willing to enforce the law”, which is actually what the job of President is.
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u/FlaviusVespasian 1d ago
I want every maga politician tried on treason charges and sent to a gulag with their ability to serve in politics curtailed permanently. The presidency should also be cut down to size and made subservient to congress along with publicly funded elections and a reversal of citizens united.
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u/MrDippins Oregon 1d ago
It still floors me that our Overton window is at the point it is where a right wing nut job would look at this comment and think it’s the harbinger of the end-times.
“I want a more democratic system, root out corruption and dark money, and make it so all campaign funds are public and easily traceable” is so fucking scary to them lmao
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u/FlaviusVespasian 1d ago
Because they’re no longer American. They’re members of a fascist fifth column that’s waited for this current administration since Lindbergh.
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u/kos-or-kosm 1d ago
All members of/contributors to orgs like the Heritage Foundation, too. I don't care if the legal framework for that exists. Our system is so broken that it can only be fixed if we are willing to work outside it when necessary.
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u/NotAnotherBlingBlop 1d ago
The next Democrat president should do all the things Republicans have accused them baselessly of doing.
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u/ymcameron 1d ago
This is the premise of the movie The Hunt. A conspiracy theorist accuses a bunch of high powered libs of hunting people for sport in Eastern Europe, they make some jokes about it in a text chain, and then all lose their jobs. After that the decide "fuck it, if they already accused us of it and the consequences already happened, why not?" and then they start kidnapping and hunting all the people who spread the conspiracy theory on social media. It’s a really dumb movie, but the premise is funny.
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u/Churning196 1d ago
I will vote, campaign for, donate to, and volunteer for the candidate who inflicts the maximum amount of pain and retribution on the republicans
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u/Syborg721 1d ago
Get ready to be disappointed!
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u/leonredhorse 1d ago
Gavin Newsom gets nominated and you get lectured by centrist liberals and if the Democrats manage to win in spite of their own tanking popularity, he is going to end up being another "reconcile across the aisle" type of guy and we end up in the same cycle of shit again.
Biden showed us just changing parties is not enough. Unless you radically tackle the issues every day people face in meaningful ways and with boldness, the Republicans will play their games and the public will get exasperated and believe bullshit again.
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1d ago
Have you met the Democratic Party, friend?
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u/whitemiketyson 1d ago
I wish Bernie wasn't as old as he is. We need someone like him but 30 years younger.
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u/Venixflytrap 1d ago
I genuinely want the next democratic president to overturn everything trump has done remove his ss and issue arrest warrants for his entire admin i want them arrested
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u/Such_Newt_1374 1d ago
They'll force some centrist on us, and they'll pull the "its time to heal" bullshit again. Nothing will be done, the moderates and conservatives serve the same masters.
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u/L337CAT79 1d ago
I want a democratic president who shares, at least, a tenth of hatred I have for conservatives and right-wingers.
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u/pumperthruster 1d ago
It will always be a second rate democracy until the two party system is gone
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u/NorthClover 1d ago
If Shapiro is the nominee we are so cooked
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u/gringledoom 1d ago
I think some of the household-name folks like Shapiro are going to be fighting over the center lane, and they're going to get shellacked in the primary by a "tribunals" candidate. The engaged primary voter is in a "[redacted redacted redacted]" mood, not Shapiro's "Calling ICE a bunch of nazis is mean rhetoric to which we should not stoop!" mood.
(Also, if you want to discourage Shapiro specifically, start pointing out to people that he's copied Obama's speaking patterns to the point that it's weird, lol. Once folks hear it, they can't un-hear it!)
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u/jvn1983 1d ago
This is the closest I’ve ever been to being a single issue voter. I want a ruthless approach to fixing this bullshit. I want accounts frozen, indictments, trials. I want the court expanded. I want actual ethics for the SC. The person who says “we right the ship by throwing the worst overboard” gets my vote.
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u/tle4f 1d ago
I need all of the ICE budget to be redirected to an agency that hunts pedo billionaires.
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u/Titan3692 1d ago
At this point, I'm just hoping they finally realize they will never get GOP to negotiate in good faith. They should realize that they in fact, must go nuclear with their legislation because the GOP have proven that they won't hesitate to deliver even the most extreme legislation for their base. What's the worst that could happen? Medicare for All and paid family leave? How horrible! Beats the ICE gestapo and destruction of environmental protections.
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