I can’t remember what podcast I was listening to, maybe a Dan Carlin series, but it was talking about how in this post industrialization + propaganda era the breaking point for nations is far FAR more extreme than it was in the before times.

Yeah his schtick, while deranged and dangerous, has also become so meanderingly boring and predictable - I have no idea why anyone cares enough about him to vote for him anymore.

I really hope there is more gamesmanship going on behind the scenes at his office than ‘this doesn’t add up’. But I’m a little skeptical because just game this thing out:

The west claims to 100% support Ukraine yet so far have only done enough to be sure they can stay in the fight. Not enough to outright win. What do outside observers do with that info? If I was China I would absolutely see this as hesitation on the part of the west and recognize that until the west actually does go all in, this will be a source of instability that I can build on to increase my influence in the world. So of course I’m going to play both sides as much as I can get away with, at least until there’s a indication that the west’s stance on this is changing.

Semantics but I mean it does actually indicate more people polling for her instead of Turnip so it’s not stretching in that sense.

I think they use that word because in American politics things are so polarized that it really feels like any gain really does seem like stretching the tiny group of people that can be won over like a rubber band.

This guy capitalisms ^

For those who haven’t had their coffee yet this morning - ‘middle class’ is yet another term they use to divide us and make us fight with each other instead of the real enemy

Mastodon has serious UX problems that even other federated networks don’t have. I’m pretty well tech literate and love Lemmy, for instance, but I just couldn’t ever get Mastodon to stick for me, like it just didn’t have the right feel and wasn’t fun to use. And if it’s not working for me then it’s never going to take off with a more general audience.

Bluesky is a lot better. It still has some issues that I feel keep it from fully replacing Twitter, especially Twitter before Elon screwed it up. But it does manage to keep me checking it, even though it’s probably only once or twice a week max.

This is the best part of pwning him so bad at the first debate - he looked weak then and they can continue to make him look weak with powerplays like this

Not an expert but I’d suppose it’s nothing more than marketing getting in the way and insisting on an over engineered solution because it’s flashy

Saved it but never thought it’d come in handy

I mean if I understand you correctly you’re saying bascially the same thing as OP - can hold Biden/Harris feet to the fire while working to re-elect Kamala and defeat Trump.

And those that lied the most and covered up the most

Not to mention, Russia has been waging asymetric warfare tactics against NATO powers for years. If anything, it’s that they haven’t woken up to the nature of the conflict.

Generally I’ve heard that a five point national lead equals a win in the swing states needed to win the election.

Maybe that’s why it’s blue

Yeah I told my partner about some of the stuff that goes on and her first thought was ‘they shouldn’t allow kids in religion until they’re old enough to decide for themselves’.

I grew up in a sect that I like to often describe as Beer Drinkin’ Christianity because it’s really chill about most things including homosexuality and gender. It wasn’t until I had grown out of it and basically gone full agnostic that I really realized how coercive even my version of religion had been. I could go on and on but the funniest thing to me was realizing during an Abnormal Psychology 101 course in college that my Church Camp basically used every last technique they listed for brain washing. It was a fun camp and not scary in any way but yet extremely manipulative in a subversive way.

I keep thinking Bluesky might be reaching a tipping point where enough of the influential users at least have an account there and on Twitter - but somehow it just won’t come

I’m sorry I don’t follow - what do you mean by dropped my comment chain?

It’s true that Manchin and Sinema are a pain and kill a lot of things that otherwise would get through majority votes. I mean I’m no expert or anything but I sure don’t get the sense that ending the filibuster would be something that would get the necessary unanimous support from the rest of the sitting Dems. It just seems like a lot of them believe it’s there for a good reason.