The US had to come to this point. We couldn’t go on as we were, even under Democratic presidents. For 40 years, a narrow economic elite has been siphoning off ever more wealth and power.
Over the last 40 years, starting with Ronald Reagan, the US went off the rails: deregulation, privatization, free trade, wild gambling by Wall Street, union-busting, monopolization, record levels of inequality, stagnant wages for most, staggering wealth for a few, big money taking over our politics.
America’s so-called “leadership class” is a sham. Most of them do not care a whit for the rest of the US. They are out for themselves.
The “fucking nightmare” is not over by any stretch. It’s likely to get worse in 2026 as Trump and his sycophants, and many of America’s “leaders”, realize 2026 may be their last unrestrained year to inflict damage and siphon off the spoils.
I still think the Sarah Palin floor - the 20-30-some percent of dead-enders that support Republicans no matter what they do - will likely never wake up.
It’s true that some people will always vote republican, but not enough for them to reliable win elections. Which means that if we can actually pass real progressive policies, like Medicare for all, then we can have the ratchet effect work in the other direction, dragging the republicans to the left. Because while some of their base will vote for them no matter what, the rest will cling on to their Medicare and will vote for a democrat if the republicans threaten to take it away
Expecting Democrats to pass Medicare for All is a bit of a pipe dream.
We did in California. Sure it’s just one state, but it is the most populous state.
Wait what? Everyone in CA has Medicare?
MediCal. We’ve had that for years. It’s not an ideal solution, but no one lacks insurance.
Holy crap brb moving to CA
before i start i want to make sure that this should in no way be interpreted as a “both sides” argument: i think yall should choose the most likely to win, least bad candidate (ie defensive voting; as disgusting as it is) - which almost certainly means a democrat at this point
i think it’s important to remember that both republican and democrats are relatively symmetrical in a lot of regards (not all). there are likely a similar number of people who actively support the democrats (distinct from defensive voting) no matter what, and they’d likely be equally problematic fixing systemic issues
perhaps they’d be easier to persuade, but it’s really easy to think that people on “our side” are governed by logic alone, but study after study has said that both sides are susceptible to propaganda and other political tools to a similar degree
I imagine that number will decrease due to an increase in their fatality - like they’re not getting vaccinated, getting health advice from randos.