- cross-posted to:
- politics@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- politics@beehaw.org
Republicans routed as Democrats gain powerful new leverage over Trump for remainder of his presidency
Democrats have regained control of the US Senate, routing Republicans nationwide with historic victories that will give them powerful new leverage over Donald Trump for the remainder of his presidency.
Democrats will soon have the ability to hold up not just Trump’s legislative agenda, but also any appointments he makes to his cabinet or the federal judiciary – including the supreme court, where conservatives have a 6-3 majority.
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Alright. Schumer. He needs to go. But I want to talk about the other guy that needs to follow him out the door. Mini-Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries.
Hakeem Jeffries had a moment last night. Standing in front of a crowd of well-wishers and hopefuls, he delivered a speech. A speech that will go down in history as a big ole nothing burger. A speech that is now, less than 12 hours later, largely forgotten in the political and collective memory of an otherwise monumental moment. I surmise this is because he lacks the commanding presence and leadership qualities necessary to serve as Speaker of the House.
His charisma, if it can even be called that, is more akin to that of a Home Depot bag of paver sand. You search through the poorly stacked pile selecting the one with the least holes. Yet, despite that effort, it still spills it’s contents all over the cart on the way to the register. Not a good look.
If that does not speak for itself, then consider this. As a potential Speaker, Mr. Jeffries would face the immense challenge of uniting a fractured party that has not managed to maintain a large and diverse tent of voters since Debbie Wasserman Schultz declared Bernie a non-starter. Mr. Jeffries is simply not capable of standing firm in the face of political opposition. Don’t take my word for it. Perhaps, instead, the ever present consumer advocate Ralph Nader may sway you:
More introspection may lead you to ask yourself whether you are up to leading the House Democrats in their immense and immediate tasks of policy and program restorations and adopting our Constitution’s mandated Congressional independence from the Presidency for the protection and advancement of the livelihoods, peace and freedoms of the American people. There is no indication that you are so willing and prepared. Unfortunately.
His record in Congress has not demonstrated the kind of bold, decisive leadership that the position of Speaker demands. Instead, he has often been seen as a cautious, moderate voice. Dare I say, a voice coming from a very real human (I swear) with a spine made of NeeDoh.
Let’s be frank. In times of crisis or when tough decisions must be made, the leader of the Democratic Party and Speaker of the House is not merely about personality. I understand that. Such positions require a deep understanding of the legislative process, the ability to negotiate, and the resilience to withstand the political pressures that come with the position. Jeffries has not consistently shown these traits in his career. For any informed observers, this must raise serious questions about his suitability for such a high-stakes role.
Finally, to convey my firm belief that Mr. Jeffries is not the right person for the leadership role come January, I paraphrase the amazing Forest Whitaker in his role as PFC Edward Garlick in “Good Morning Vietnam”
Hakeem Jeffries sucks the sweat off a dead man’s balls. I have no idea what that means, sir, but it seems very negative to me.
Congratulations yankees you won an election, now you have to still go out and force them to actually be accountable otherwise this means absolutely nothing
Yeah, now the hard work begins. Hopefully all the mobilization and coalition building done to get us here can keep the momentum going.
And for fuck’s sake they have to oust Schumer and Jeffries if we want to get anything done without Israel’s interference.
With this large of a pool you will probably have a pretty guaranteed spot for speaker since they can tolerate a lot of no votes. If things don’t go well you can expect a speaker change within a year.
Since so many Dems are still owned by corps and Israel, this majority isn’t really a majority.
We will see how much theatre they are willing to do to look like the good guys without actually doing anything or stopping trump.
In the meantime, I’m enjoying watching Trump try to spin this.
I hope a lot of his lackeys are getting real nervous about criminal charges.
He’s already tried in the last couple weeks to tell voters to pretend he is on the ballot but is now claiming that because he wasn’t on the ballot they didn’t vote for him. They DID vote massively against him but he will never acknowledge that. Now will just have to wait to see how obstructionist he will be. Hope some GOP Senators that kept their seats will see that they need to help make things better for Americans or they could still be on the chopping block in 2 years. Aiding Trump is what got so many GOP turfed yesterday.
Agreed. I think Talarico and Al-Sayed are going to make meaningful changes.
This was a huge victory, but it’s Gettysburg, not Appomattox. It’s a turning point, but it’s not over.
The fight isn’t over. The next 2 years will only be about stopping trumps agenda. Without a supermajority Trump will veto every single bill. Our focus should be about restructuring the party so people like Jeffries and other Israel sympathizers take a seat and wait patiently for us to get rid of them.
We want justice not revenge!!!
I want both
You’re a good person!
Revenge only for me. Make it extra spicy.
Now boot Schumer and Jeffries, because they’ll be doing their best to take the GOP’s place.
Bruh if they put those guys back in charge Americans need to fucking riot.
Think of all the letters they can write!
Jeffries thinks he gets paid to advertise Depends.
Bring back Sinema and Joe Manchin \s
…and where’s John Fetterman? Is he a Republican yet?
Speaker doesn’t have to be current elected person, they could still pick Obama if they want. Trump would hate that.
Is that true? It would be epic.
Trumps Obama-hatred could be resolved by just getting a gay man give a 15 minute speech on how attractive Obama is every week or two.
Eventually Trumps flamboyant inner queer would push some levers and he’d like Obama all of a sudden but wouldn’t be able to explain why.
“A lot of people think I don’t like him, I thought I didn’t like him… But I was looking him over the other day…”
Write your local reps now and demand that they not be put in charge again.
I cheer for the democratic win, I believe it is for the good of the nation and the world.
but I hate that I feel this was not Americans kicking out Nazis, but (to a large part) Americans whining about expensive dinosaur juice. Anyway, a win is a win.
Corruption was the number 2 issue in most polls. The economy is always the top issue for Americans when the economy sucks but it should be somewhat heartening that corruption and concerns about democracy were also really high on the list
Yeah, do you think Haley Steven’s was the only blue Nazi? How many didn’t have to show their true colors and got pushed through?
Let’s see what happens with Israel, let’s see what they accomplish at home. I am worried there are a lot more wolves in blue clothing that we didn’t out yet.
I don’t think are unproblematic, to me it’s clearly a “lesser of two evils” thingy. It’s a move in the right direction, not the solution to all problems obviously. Yea, let’s see. Fingers crossed.
I’m smelling sour grapes from a troll
I’m smelling a democrat employee who only allows rainbows and sunshine to be spoken about. I voted blue straight through you donkey.
😘
Yeah liberals are going to be very annoying after this, already my coworker is ecstatic and said Trump is a “communist authoritarian r*tard“ and probably act like everything is fine until primary season, while these new progressives will probably fail to slow down or stop imperialist policies overseas, ICE/Police violence (some may even keep ice/police just the same as it was).
I’m a little personally worried that my new governor (Klobuchar) is going to gut Minnesota’s healthcare even more but we’ll see.
Americans whining about expensive
dinosaurbrown children juice. FTFYYour feelings don’t matter.
Also, they didn’t kick out any Nazis. Just Republicans.
Americans would have fought Nazis to the death, of course, just like last time. Luckily for us there weren’t any seizing power, eh?
To me, my feelings matter. To you they seem to matter, as you chose to enter a conversation with me :-) thanks for your empathy!
For your view on Nazis: I don’t share this. I can see clear fascist components in the current government.
Also, they didn’t kick out any Nazis. Just Republicans.
So… Nazis? If you’re a republican, your party is the Nazi MAGA party. Therefore you are one as well.
Don’t try and sugarcoat this shit. Republicans are Nazis by definition as long as MAGA is still a thing.
Time to learn history about what actually happened to the Nazis. Start with operation paperclip.
Americans didn’t give an eff about Nazis until the Nazis’ friends literally bombed us.
Uh, Operation Paperclip?
No. But there was a very prominent nazi feeding the republicans lots of cash for votes, wasn’t there? So, nazi, once removed.
You hate that democrats led a commanding rebuke against trump in the best way possible?
Are you an edgy teenager or something?
This is the result we wanted.
It was a rebuke of more than just gas prices despite what some of the media reported.
Alot of people voted for pretti and good.
So much negativity on a day of such positivity.
One major difference between lemmy and reddit. Feels like teenager vibes.
Edit: thank God my notifications are off
Edge Lord city
Fuck the haters man, we can still enjoy the win
so do I, no hate here. Also pointed that out explicitly!
You can enjoy the win, but also recognize that enough of the criminal Trump loyalists in the GOP got re-elected that it’s doubtful we’ll see any impeachments or charges for those disdainful fucks.
The fact that this criminal administration has any support is disgusting.
The Democrats are very nearly as unpopular as the Republicans. People supported them not because they like the Democrats, but because they hate the Republicans. Socialism is still a necessity for a system that works for the people, and that still requires revolution. Revolution isn’t just something you do, or something that falls into your lap. It happens when there is a large, revolutionary socialist party, a class conscious working class, and a crisis in the capitalist class. We can directly contribute to the first two by getting involved with a socialist party. Both Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Party for Socialism and Liberation have two tiers of membership, general membership which is low commitment in time and money, and cadre membership, which requires significant time and money. See which is more active near you (almost certainly PSL, but varies), and consider joining the general membership!
Make fun of people all you want; we as Americans have a responsibility to hold our elected officials, yes even ones YOU VOTED FOR, accountable. You are allowed to have a good day and be happy about this but remember that fighting fascism doesn’t just end at the ballot box.
Nobody is trying to spoil your awesome blue wave feeling, just don’t get complacent and use this opportunity to shit on the left.
Funny enough I got off Reddit to specifically avoid this sentiment.
Just like Ender’s Game. “How we win matters”.
Not that I care either way tbh. And I agree it does sound a bit childish to put it that way but I feel you’re missing the point of what they said.
Voting out high prices and voting out pedophiles / “nazis” are not the same thing.
I mean it’s great that a bunch of shitheads were removed from office but we haven’t seen the results yet. It’s not like democrats haven’t shit away their opportunities to actually fix things before. There’s a great deal of precedent for us to be worried about.
I made it very clear that I cheer for the win, did you miss that?
Seriously, I feel like I’m on fucking Reddit with the doomerism.
We don’t care so much about any “legislative agenda” Trump may have. We care about reining in the corruption, the abuses of authority, illegal executive orders. Will we get a Congress that actually does stuff, will it protect its own constitutional authority, and will it do something about those enriching themselves on their government authority. And that’s before even will government do things for its constituents rather than just its corporate donors.
Winning majorities is only the start
I can already hear my internalized Lemmy voice pointing out that we don’t win anything by choosing the friendly capitalists over the asshole capitalists, and that all the theater over corruption and bigotry are to distract from the only real war: the class war.
But I think you countered that best by saying it’s only a start.
Even if we assume that the US government will look like the best Europe has to offer within a few decades, it will take multiple steps to get there.
And you know what is definitely NOT a step in that direction? Giving the entire government to the fascist racist pedo bigot robber-baron party. We did that TWO years ago.
Not good enough. We need the supermajority and we need to reshape the Dem leadership, the Supreme Court, etc. we need to dominate the next several election cycles.
I just hope this decisive result is in part because the republicans and Trump are SO bad that they have driven people to wake the fuck up and choose a more noble worldview.
I just hope it’s something other than fuel prices. I really hope that this result would be vaguely similar if the Iran war never happened. Having hope in people again would feel neat.
People didn’t change for centuries and they will not change in the forseeable future. Of course it is the fuel prices.
Its important to understand the voters and why we will never achieve an utopian state although we would be capable of doing so in theory.
One step at a time
One step in which direction though?
The correct one. Don’t both-sides-bad me right now.
Yes, nothing says democracy like the need to dominate.
Democracy is a competition of ideas. Do you have a proposal for some form of democracy that does not use elections?
The very first democracy, in Athena, had no elections.
A random citizen was picked up and had the duty to be the ruler for a term. After his term he would face a trial to defend his politic had been for the interest of the city. The citizens’ judgement was still a kind of vote, but after the term, to decide if the previous leader deserve honor, nothing, or death.
A Compromitocracy.
A less federalized government where states control their own destiny and the fed takes a back seat to domestic issues.
Still not my ideal though, just what seems most possible. Ideally we would unmake nation states and all self organize in small communes thst best reflects our values.
Most hilarious is that all the redone maps actually went Democrat.
There was one stare where Republican government refused to redo maps, because they were afraid exactly this would happen. Guess they can say “told you so”.
That’s one of the down sides of gerrymandering. If the other side reaches a high enough level of turnout, it actually magnifies your loss.
The goal of gerrymandering is to create a greater number of “safe” districts. The tradeoff is sacrificing margin in each, which fundamentally doesn’t work if there’s a large enough turnout.
Also, fuck the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Some of them were built with the shift in Latino votes being assumed.
Gerrymandering creates a damn where you can lose a few points and keep all your seats, but if you lose a few more, the damn breaks and all the seats get washed away.
Exactly the opposite.
Instead of winning one district by a lot and losing 2, you redraw the map to win all three by a little.
The result isn’t more safe districts, it’s less.
to win three by a little
Which means that if you miscalculate that “little”, you lose all 3. As the parent comment states.
I hyperfocused on “maximizing” and “safe”. The concept of “safe” in the context of electoral districts has a real definition in political science. Which is probably exactly why they put it in quotes.
It’s like calling a Chihuahua “big dog”.
That’s why I had that word in quotes.
OK yeah, it just really hits my eyes and ears strangely.
Like that spinning ballerina silhouette… I really gotta squint and fold my brain to make her spin the other way kinda thing.
you’re right though: those quotes do heavy lifing and in a specific direction.
Wow. Some of these upsets are insane. God now all that’s left is for them to actually punish trump.
I am wondering if the GOP sees this voting bloodbath as a referendum on trump. If so then they might feel he’s more of a liability than an asset and they 25th Amendment him.
They won’t. All they’ll think is next time cheat harder
They tried with all of the mid-cycle redistricting measures to try to gerrymander their way to victory.
It backfired. Republicans got flattened.
Even r/Conservative is finally smelling the Spirit of Hartshorn.
“I used to wonder how it was possible that Trump could have won in 2016 and then again in 2024, given how emotionally toxic, morally vacant, and psychologically mangled he is. I do not wonder anymore. He won for that exact reason. He was not a candidate. He was a mirror. If you were a racist, you found your guy. If you were a misogynist, you found your guy. If money was your only religion, you found your guy. If your heart was armoured shut, you found your guy. If you mocked disabled people, you found your guy. If you hated intelligent people, you found your guy. If you were a rapist, you found your guy. If you enjoyed golden showers with Russian sex workers, you found your guy. If you had done absolutely nothing to confront your emotional wreckage, you found your guy. If you were a serial cheater, you found your guy. If you were a perpetual bankrupt, you found your guy. If you stiffed honest workers, you found your guy. If you were a conman, you found your guy. If you mocked people’s appearances, you found your guy. If you longed for a toxic Daddy, you found your guy. If you were dissociated and disembodied, you found your guy. If you were unconscionable in every economic dealing, you found your guy. If you lied as naturally as breathing, you found your guy. If you had never eaten a green vegetable, you found your guy. If you were a white supremacist, you found your guy. If your ego contained a hole so large not even the presidency could fill it, you found your guy. If you were a sociopath who cared not one molecule about other humans, you found your guy. If he had only two of these traits, he never would have won. He won because he had hundreds of them, and millions of people recognized themselves in at least one. This has never been about Trump. It has always been about the people who finally had their worst instincts validated. Trump did not create the cruelty, he licensed it. He handed out permission slips for hate. He is merely a symptom of a far deeper disease: collective toxicity. If there is one sentence that explains Trump’s power, it is this: “He says the things I’m thinking.” That is the part that should chill the spine. Who knew that tens of millions of Americans were thinking such unconscionable things about their fellow citizens? Who knew how many white men felt so threatened by women and challenged by minorities that they were ready to torch democracy to feel big again? Who knew that after decades of apparent progress on race and gender, so many people were living in seething resentment, waiting for a demagogue to legitimize their worst selves and convert their bitterness into political power? We were living in a fool’s paradise. We aren’t anymore." — Michael Jochum
r/Conservative reacts for 6 to 12 hours before shutting everything down and moving on to a new set of talking points. The really significant development would be if the narrative remains broken for a few days
When something big like this happens it typically takes 2-3 days for the Nazi media to develop new talking points. Every now and then it takes longer, eg the January 6th attack took them a few months to fully rationalize.
I forgot about that cesspool, is it even relevant anymore? Like…is this deadass? Aren’t they literally talking about themselves?:
(All 23 replies aren’t available to view btw, if anyone was curious. That sub suppresses it’s users like they live in a majority black district)
I believe that comment is about Trump and Hegseth intentionally. I’d be shocked if it wasn’t deleted
No, I think it’s actually fully serious, but this guy is weirdly coherent for a chud. Guy hates anything that has melanin and speaks a second language, but also called that attacking Iran would be a disaster. A classic Obama-era Republican from the looks of it.
His comment history through pullpush if anyone’s curious.
Edit: OK, I’m really hitting up against Poe’s Law rn…
“Vote Muslim” are we serious 😭
They have no choice now. They either adapt or get completely annihilated again in 2028 because Trump isn’t going away. So now we’ll see how many of the GOP are just grifters and how many are true believers in the cult.
God, I hope he runs in 2028.
They haven’t finished cheating harder this time. The results still have to be honored and the new representatives sworn in.
If they couldn’t sway it when they controlled the government on nearly all levels I doubt they can when they’ve lost most states
I really hope you are right.
I doubt it.
However I do think the Republican leadership plan is to get rid of Trump in January. Trump is a loose cannon they can’t control, and he’s caused way too many issues for them, but leveraging his clear mental decline after he gets past the halfway point of his 2nd term gives them free reign to toss him aside via his obvious dementia. Install Vance for the remaining 2 years, someone they can control, hoping to get that sweet 10 year total.
I doubt this happens. Their base is still way up Trump’s ass and they’d pay for it in 2028.
You might see some of them, especially the ones from purple states, push back more against Trump but convicting him in an impeachment trial won’t happen.
Depends on how they see the politics, Trump being such a loser means there might be a few Rs willing to flip if they think it’ll help them. The house can file trials just based on a simple majority which dems have with a lot of wiggle.
$130 billion of excess oil industry profit says you’re wrong.
They’re cowards, they won’t do shit.
deleted by creator
I envy those of you who still have any hope he’ll have any amount of accountability at all for anything ever.
No, they know they’re in too deep and it’s ride or die. The most decisive thing they’re going to do in from new on is eventually annihilate their families three days after Trump dies when he doesn’t come back to life.
no great loss.
God I hope so.
There’s always the possibility there are Republicans with ethics and values (and who have not yet quit in disgust), who will find their voice now that they won’t be marginalized by their own party.
They already had a referendum on Trump and he won convincingly lol like he literally was just part of an election of his own and wining Texas would not even have saved Dems.
best we can do is a non-binding finger wag
It would be nice, but that’s probably not in the cards for the next two years. Even if everything goes right at this point, the Democrats would be looking at 55 seats in the Senate. That’s still 5 seats short of overriding filibusters or vetoes and also for an impeachment conviction. The Democrats need to govern well, get the cost of living down and they need to show that the trust put in them was well placed. Spending the next two years in a bunch of political theater won’t do that and Democrats will lose the trust they have now.
Trump’s corrupt regime needs to be held to account, but that’s not going to happen in the next two years. Democrats need to prove they can make peoples’ lives better so they can expand (or at least maintain) their advantage. Then, if they can win the Presidency in 2028, then it will be time to retool the DOJ into an actual law enforcement arm and turn them loose on the corruption of Trump’s administration.
Democrats will lose the trust they have now.
They don’t have trust now. They are not Republicans; that is the one and only reason they are winning today. None of this is about trusting Democrats and if they don’t understand that and respond appropriately then the US is going to have Marco Rubio or some other Republican ass clown as president in 2028.
Talriko and el sayed seem like noncareer politicians. Maybe they’ll actually bring about some change like zohran and you’ll see more candidates like them in future.
Was surprised to see independents in iowa, montana and nebraska give tough fights.
I really don’t see any way the GOP wins the presidency in 2028. That’s just not how US politics work. People always hate Congress, but they blame the president for bad economies and bad news.
It’s far more likely this turns out like 2006-2008, where the Dems had a huge wave in 2006 and then an even bigger one in 2008 when they elected Obama.
Swing and low info voters simply don’t give much of a shit about the work Congress actually does on a daily basis. They’re going to blame the president for their problems like they always have.
I really don’t see any way the GOP wins the presidency in 2028. That’s just not how US politics work. People always hate Congress, but they blame the president for bad economies and bad news.
Richard Nixon resigned in disgrace in 1974. Regan trounced Carter in 1980. Never underestimate the American public’s willingness to forget about past crimes. I hope you’re right that 2028 becomes a second drubbing of the GOP over their failed policies and corruption. I also doubt that what we saw last night will have any durability. It wasn’t all that long ago that Democrats were talking about the the Blue Wall. And that fell apart almost as fast as it got named.
Swing and low info voters simply don’t give much of a shit about the work Congress actually does on a daily basis. They’re going to blame the president for their problems like they always have.
I agree that most voters don’t care about politics. And more importantly, they don’t want to hear about it. And this is why I see an impeachment (which will ultimately fail) is such a dumb play. It will force people to deal with politics. It will be the news cycle for months. And ultimately the votes just don’t exist in the Senate to convict. Which means the public has politics shoved in their face for months and the end result is a propaganda win for Trump. He will push a failure to convict as him being “INNOCENT of any wrong doing” (of course it will use ALL CAPS). And the Democrats get what out of that? No one is held accountable, nothing useful gets done to begin the process of fixing the country, and the public just sees the Democrats being useless for months on end.
We need to hold Trump and his cronies accountable. But it’s not really possible right now. Once he is out of office and we have a DOJ which isn’t filled with criminals, then they can pick apart the criminal empire. Until then, the Democrats need to show the public that they are working to make the lives of the public better.
Nixon resigned due to corruption, and then who became president in 76? The economy stunk it up and Iran humiliated us in 1980, so then who became president? War goes bad and economy tanks in 2006, who got elected in 2008? Congress obstructs Obama for two years, who became president in 2016?
I think you’re proving my point, rather than refuting it. I’m not saying Americans have a long memory, I’m saying they’ve proven they don’t understand the role of Congress in our government and blame the head of state instead.
You can go back many decades and see the same pattern over and over again. Americans blame the president when things aren’t going well, and reelect the president when they think things are good. And it’s mainly but not exclusively tied to the economy.
I don’t see the economy improving with Trump in charge. It’ll likely get worse. The GOP can whine and cry about Congress all they want but that’s never worked in the past, and won’t work now. Americans expect the president to deliver and they’ve allowed Congress to concede large amounts of power to the WH for that reason over the decades.
I’m not making any argument about impeachment here (I’d rather harass the GOP with constant investigations), I’m simply saying the GOP doesn’t have a good way out of this situation. And I do think it’s going to be durable, because Trump is their biggest liability and he absolutely cannot stfu or stop doing impulsive, stupid stuff that grabs headlines and legitimately hurts voters.
If Trump kicks the bucket and Vance tones things down, that could change the landscape. But even then he’s not going to do all that much with a Dem Congress and many things like the medicaid cuts will hit hard under his watch.
I feel quite sure they don’t and won’t. I sincerely hope I’m wrong.
All of this, AND the problem remains of the establishment Democrats who are not fascists, but maybe where Republicans were like 20ish years ago. So it’s very much an uphill battle for real progress.
But this is a night to celebrate.
The easy part of a democracy is saying, “I have the right to vote”. The hard part of democracy is say, “ya, that asshole also has the right to vote.” Whether we like it or not, the country as a whole is no where near as liberal/progressive/left wing as Lemmy. This is going to mean that we have to work with folks with whom we have pretty significant disagreement. Hopefully with these wins, things can shift leftward and more can get done. At minimum, we can slam the brakes on the GOP and Trump’s corruption and undermining of our democracy. It’s slow, its frustrating and it often means we don’t get what we really want. But, as terrible of a form of government as democracy is, it’s a damn sight better than anything else we’ve tried in history.
This is going to mean that we have to work with folks with whom we have pretty significant disagreement.
WRONG. Blocked.
I kid, I kid.
On serious note, agreed. And we have to keep working outside of the main elections. The primaries are where we get to vote for progressives. No progressives? Getting them to run in the primaries is how we get them :)
It’s massive work, but yesterday was a good day.
Spending the next two years in a bunch of political theater won’t do that and Democrats will lose the trust they have now.
Problem: The American public is out for blood. Making an example out of Trump and his allies is an essential part of gaining any long-term trust from voters. According to exit polls the state of democracy was the top issue for Democrat voters, and to deliver on that requires accountability.
Solution: Democrats need to Louis XVI this motherfucker.
I agree that it’s needed. But it’s a dead issue for the next two years. Let’s assume both Alaska and Mississippi break for Democrats. That’s 56 seats in the Senate. If we assume that all 56 Democratic Senators vote for impeachment, that’s still 4 votes short of a conviction. Where do those last 4 votes come from?
Maybe they can convince Rand Paul to vote for impeachment. While he may be a couple cards short of a pair, he’s pretty consistent in his Libertarian views. He might be willing to go against Trump.
Then there is Ted Cruz. Sure, he’s been a full on cock-Gobbels-ing Trump. But, he did originally fight Trump and might be quite willing to jettison Trump and try to build a “savior of the GOP” for a 2028 Presidential run.
And then who? Oddly, I think Lindsey Graham might have been a possibility, but he’s done the world a favor and dropped dead. And this is before we consider John Fetterman seeking to ingratiate himself further to Trump,. meaning Democrats would need to pick up another vote for impeachment.
I just don’t see it as within reach. At best, it becomes virtue signaling. At worst, Trump touts the lack of conviction as “Proof” that he is innocent and of Democrats’ “Trump Derangement Syndrome”. It hands Trump a propaganda win while accomplishing nothing real in return. It gives him an issue to take back to the GOP base and repair some of the damage to his cult of personality. And nothing actually gets done.
Ya, it sucks big old donkey balls, but the real accountability is going to have to happen after he is out of the Presidency. His own DOJ has kinda shown the way on this. Break out the RICO act and go after every single one of the criminals who supported his corrupt regime. Toss everyone we can in jail and throw away the key.
The thing is that with a majority in the Senate they can conduct an actual investigation rather than immediately vote to acquit. This will put Trump’s corruption on full blast, partly due to the better platform, partly because the Trump admin would have to comply with the investigation, forcing the remaining Republicans into a politically disadvantageous position when they inevitably vote to acquit. That aside,
At best, it becomes virtue signaling.
Which is something the Democrats absolutely need to be doing. Remember that before this whole mess the public had almost no faith in the Democratic Party; they have to show that they’re in it for real this time and one way to do that is to carry impeachment proceedings to their conclusion.
The Republicans folded like lawn chairs once they knew they couldn’t block the release of the Epstein Files. They just need to be pressured enough to throw the executive under the bus to save their own asses.
Do we have enough of a lead to overcome republican obstruction?
Jeffires is already talking about how voters aren’t interested in “revenge”. If they start courting the right again I’m going to lose my mind.
Rankin is the judiciary guy and he’s already talking about issuing subpoenas.
Jeffries sucks but he isn’t the dictator of Congress.
Yeah the weak dick dems gonna continue to have a weak dick. There’s mild hope tho cause I’ve seen comments from many dems out for blood too. So i guess we’ll see?
Mississippi and Alaska are still in play too. A 56 dem senate is possible
eh 55… one of those is still Fetterman.
Beating Trump still doesn’t solve the genocides in Cuba and Palestine, nor will it stop the fact that billionaires dictate everything about how this country is run. The working class will continue to get crushed for billionaire profits. We need an entirely new system, a socialist system, and that will never come from the democrats. It needs revolution.
OK do it.
Start your revolution.
Because tons of socalist candidates won last night, like a lot of them. Change through voting might be slow but if last night was any indication its clearly possible.
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Accelerationism isn’t “make things bad,” it’s an (incorrect) strategy that says we should support the most competent capitalists so that we speed up the concentration of capital, which speeds up the timeframe at which capitalism itself breaks down. It’s wrong because it doesn’t actually get around the fact that we need to organize for revolution, and supporting the capitalist class alienates us from the working class. With that being said, the Democratic party is the accelerationist candidate, as they are generally more competent capitalists.
My solution isn’t to make things worse. Revolution isn’t just something you do, or something that falls into your lap. It happens when there is a large, revolutionary socialist party, a class conscious working class, and a crisis in the capitalist class. We can directly contribute to the first two by getting involved with a socialist party. That’s the plan. With a large scale socialist party and militant working class, the crisis of capitalism that inevitably comes doesn’t have to devolve into barbarism. If we don’t organize, the collapse is coming regardless, and we get barbarism.
Using “it” to refer to me is dehumanizing. I accept he/him or they/them pronouns, not “it.” Your crypto-fascist lingo and dehumanizing of leftists is disgusting. I also don’t use LLMs for my comments, I’d like a single bit of evidence for that. I’ve asked for evidence before, and you have never once given any, you just perpetuate dehumanizing me.
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I have never, ever, used an LLM to write any of my comments. Not a single time. My entire account is good-faith, I am a socialist organizer that spends time and money each and every week fighting against the billionaires that control the United States. Billionaires control both the Democrats and Republicans. Different billionaires, sure, but billionaires nonetheless. My solution is never to “let republicans win.” As I have stated, my solution is to replace the capitalist system with an entirely new system, through revolutionary means, which requires creating a mass revolutionary socialist party.
I do not work for billionaires. I do not work for the Democrats nor the Republicans. You have no argument against the necessity to create a mass revolutionary socialist party, nor the necessity of socialism itself, so you attack my personal character baselessly. In doing so, you rely on dehumanization. This is nakedly reactionary behavior, even if you think yourself progressive. And no, I will not fuck off, because online comments pale in comparison to getting yelled at in person, intimidated by cops, and the regular shit that comes with actually putting my skin on the line to fight for a better world.
You’re fully capable of being an honest person and arguing against socialism and revolution without relying on dehumanization and character assassination. I believe that because I believe all working people can come to understand the necessity of socialism and the means to get there. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t spend so much time organizing for it.
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0 socialist candidates won. Joe Tuche and Greg Levy both got a little over 2% of the vote each, and even if they had won, you still cannot change a capitalist system into a socialist one electorally. The state is not a neutral body, it’s something that co-evolves alongside the base mode of production and distribution, and is under the control of whoever controls the commanding heights of the economy. A socialist-led government over a capitalist state has no power over the capitalist class, because the capitalists control the economy.
There were many social democratic candidates that won, correct. The people clearly do want a system that works for them, and social democracy a la the DSA is in people’s heads the path of least resistance to that. However, because the problem of choosing who controls the economy is never addressed, this can only end in reforms that are taken away as soon as there is a crisis of profitability. It does not replace the need for socialism.
As for revolution, it isn’t just something you do, or something that falls into your lap. It happens when there is a large, revolutionary socialist party, a class conscious working class, and a crisis in the capitalist class. We can directly contribute to the first two by getting involved with a socialist party. Both Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Party for Socialism and Liberation have two tiers of membership, general membership which is low commitment in time and money, and cadre membership, which requires significant time and money. See which is more active near you (almost certainly PSL, but varies), and consider joining the general membership!
And yes, I do organize already. You should too!
Now that the elections are over, can we change the voting system so 3rd parties can compete without a spoiler effect? How we vote is controlled at the state level, so what is the excuse blue states?
Im a big fan of STAR voting, check it out sometime.
This is where I would usually link videos on the flaws of FPTP voting and more representative electoral systems we could choose from. That time has passed us by. Good luck everyone.
Cool, can we not have Schumer and Jeffries be majority leaders please and thank you?
this here
Jeffries and co need to go!!!
All of this momentum is going to come to a grinding halt once they come up against Schumer - The US is Israel First, that’s the way it’s always going to be, no getting out of it, there’s too much dirt on the people in power.
So much damn negativity. Can some of y’all be optimistic for like five fucking minutes?
Yeah, fuck that. I was optimistic when Biden got in and then that old fool slow walked the easiest court cases that were to be cased in a court. I’m not falling for it again.
After over ten years of Drumpf, and dealing with other us shit that was generally tied to that fat fucking cunt, then maybe you can forgive the rest of the world for not believing a damned thing is actually going to change.
Obviously there’s some congratulations for getting out and voting against that regime, but those congratulations are marred by the facts that the whole of the us should’ve done that in 2016 and again in 2024. It should be the basic standard to not vote for the corrupt or Nazis. And definitely not corrupt Nazis, but that happened… TWICE.
Plus other than this little blip then Epstein’s rape buddy still hasn’t felt any real consequences for the decades of illegal shit.
Also when I realised you peeps had voted like you did I immediately thought “that orange imbecile will now act even more deranged to fuck loads more things up, then pardon everyone, and himself, and nothing more will be done about it.” Because nothing has ever been done for all those other many blatant crimes.
It’s a good start. I’ll give you that. But it is only a start. A very tiny inkling of a start.
If you truly want others to start looking for positivity and optimism then start charging the Nazis and Nazi enablers with their crimes. Make them sweat.Again, congratulations. You’ve got a tiny bit of momentum so now do some good with it.
The anti-trans rhetoric coming out of Dem candidates and incumbents is still terrifying to a lot of my LGBT+ friends. After Palestine, people have shown human rights are optional and a negotiable stance.
While any such rhetoric is bad, and it was loud and made headlines, it was only a couple candidates.
This is very much NOT “both sides the same”
What amount does it count as bad, because I would say more than a couple does. Here’s a list of Democrat candidates that have either said or voted against trains rights.
https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/the-guide-to-anti-trans-democrats
As well the concern is that the strategists and think tanks these parties will rely on will see that trans rights are a dead issue and pivot them away from them.
If it’s any consolation; we get Democrat presidents. But a blue Texas? We haven’t had that in over thirty years. We’re allowed to be optimistic, hell my mental health needs it at this point. That doesn’t mean we should become docile and naive, there is still lots of work to be done. But for now, I’m going to take a break and celebrate.
Kansas is sending a D to Washington for the first time in over 100 years.
Kansas.
If you’re not really familiar with American politics, you might not realize what that signals. It means that large swaths of the country - the types of places which were taken utterly for granted as ruby red for generations, and treated as a foregone conclusion in every single election - have been hurt so badly by their own party that they were willing do anything to cast off the GOP. Including voting for a Democrat.
If you know what American conservatives are actually like, then you can understand the magnitude of this. It’s Earth-shattering. These are people who, just two years ago, would have told you quite earnestly that they’d rather eat a shit sandwiches every day for 10 years, then die of syphilis and go directly to Hell than ever pull the lever for D. Many of them have espoused the view that the GOP is the party of God (the Christian one) and they mean that quite literally.
I don’t think anyone can say what the ultimate result of that will be, or if it will even be good. But that doesn’t mean we can’t look at what transpired last night and appreciate for a moment just how huge, weird and crazy it actually is!
I mean, it’s hard to be optimistic about much given the current state of, you know, reality. Turning Trump into a lame duck is very worth it, but it doesn’t mean much long-term unless these gains can be maintained/expanded into 2028 and combined with a progressive president (or at least one willing to compromise with progressives). There’s a lot of work to be done before there’s reason for optimism, and the Democratic Party is very good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
That negative hate bullshit is half the problem out there. Countrymen unite! Follow the sun! Say “hello” to a stranger. Pick up a piece of trash and put it in a receptacle. There are better days ahead for those that are not even close to wearing rose coloured glsses.
Thank you! Bunch of cynical armchair analysts in here. I’m a Texan. Anyone who’s downplaying these election results don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. This is huge for us. No, it’s not full-blown anarcho-communism, but God damn let us celebrate our much-needed, long overdue W!
Problem is the US voted Trump and Republicans twice in the last 10 years. There is a feeling of temporary relief. Here is hoping for at least 6 years of dem control.
Since Trump has been following the Nazi playbook so well, I’m more concerned when his Kristalnacht will be against Dems and what will be the orchestrated catalyst.
I’m always optimistic, I just base my optimism around the actuality of revolution. The fact that Democrats won the midterms doesn’t suddenly fix the problems with capitalism that have led the US to this point to begin with, nor can it. The Democrats are nearly as unpopular as the Republicans are with the people. Socialism is still necessary, which still requires revolution.
Neither Cuba nor Palestine will be free from the genocide inflicted upon them from the US. This midterm cycle, many anti-trans Democrats won seats, and the party is shifting away from supporting the LGBTQIA+ community. The state and economy will continue to be dominated by billionaires, and the people will still go without.
We must never lose sight of the fact that revolution is not only necessary, but actually possible, and it requires a mass revolutionary socialist party and mass class consciousness, coupled with a crisis in the capitalist class. The first two are directly in our control. Get organized.
many anti-trans Democrats
My search found three. That’s too many of course but definitely not “many” nor enough to tar and feather the party with. It’s three
3 is as you said, too many. The party should be tarred and feathered because of many things, including their support of the genocide in Palestine and Cuba, and the fact that billionaires own the Democrats. A working class solution is needed.
It’s still important to be angry and push these people who just got elected to actually be effective in their jobs.
Many are paid not to be.
Democrats are paid to be optimistic and not deliver
