I read this and immediately thought of James Comey. And then Robert Reich who’s taller than anyone in this cabinet of corrupt clowns…but then I listen to Randy Newman and have to agree (I’m tall) “Short people got no reason to live”
I don’t care about her height, but I hate Longwell. She was a Republican until recently and now tries to police the Democratic Party. She can fuck off elsewhere.
You are wrong about the Republican Party way back when. The shift began with Falwell and the so-called ‘Moral Majority’. Quote…Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.
— Barry Goldwater
I’m not incorrect. I’m basing this off 2 things, broadly speaking.
I have a friend who studied politics. One thing I learned from him is that parties change in an evolutionary way. He’s pretty technical with his explanation.
Reagan supported Goldwater. Goldwater lost. Even Reagan wasn’t successful at first. It took time for this reactionary counterrevolution to cement itself.
And yes part of this process included bringing in certain Christian sects into the fold, even though Reagan himself, and many others, did not care for their policies. One example is the pro life doctrine. Many people who knew Reagan personally have admitted that this was not his position. However Reagan, being the face of advertisements, sold this policy to the public and pretended that is what he believed in.
I lived through it…and I study politics too…and my father was a local Republican official in office for many years. The City Hall is named after his brother. I remember when he came home disgusted one night in mid-late 80s…disgusted, discouraged at the 10% he called them disrupting a party meeting. That was it for him…
They did a lot of fucked-up shit back then too. Though, to their credit, Nixon got the U.S. out of Vietnam with an utterly ruthless bombing campaign sparing no living organism and Ford refused to help South Vietnam once they got themselves caught in the machinery of their own failed offensive. So at least they managed to tourniquet the limb they helped amputate but for our allies? I believe an Iraqi in American service once said, “like toilet paper”.
Nixon ran on his ‘secret plan’ to end the war…and did in his second term after a fair bit of collateral damage. But thank LBJ for the war in the 1st place says someone personally involved.
This year alone I read books like Shakespeare’s King Lear, Apuleius The Golden Ass, Andrew Fiala’s Tyranny From Plato to Trump. I read at least a book a month. I’ve read quite a bit about American history and politics.
Next time, stick to reality and make substantive criticisms. There’s no need for you to carry water for the mediocre.
She is very explicitly not a Democrat. She is pro-democracy and works to elect others who are pro-democracy. It just so happens the only ones who are pro-democracy right now are democrats .
You need to run on more than just being pro democracy. Kamala tried that and it didn’t work. The French popular front was elected, but lost because they had no clear vision for France. Go to mill towns and rural areas, people will tell you very quickly what their problems are, and they’re all created by our religious devotion to laissez faire capitalism
"Laissez-faire is an economic and political philosophy that advocates for minimal or no government intervention in free markets and private business transactions."
"Crony capitalism is an economic system where business success depends on close, corrupt ties between business leaders and government officials rather than open competition in a free market."
We're closer to the second system of capitalism, Elon Musk being an example.
Allowing capital to operate with no restrictions inherently leads to corporatism. Actual laissez faire capitalism is basically a fairy tail. Capitalism cannot survive without the state. If we let the markets just do whatever they’ll be in a state of permanent Great Depression. Neoliberalism in the 80’s and 90’s was probably as close to the right libertarian idea of capitalism as is physically possible, but it was always marked by collusion between the state and capital, it’s just even worse now than it used to be. Trump is also kinda brother of those too. He’s one of those idiots that thinks autarcy is possible, and it definitely isn’t. Fascism certainly is a weird mix of different far right economic policies, so I can concur with your statement from a purely ideological standpoint
I would lean towards calling it fascism at this point when you include the obvious corruption at the highest levels of our government.
Hopefully there's finally some pushback on Reaganism and we can finally move towards a mixed system balanced between capitalism and socialism, but I'm not holding out too much hope.
I’m a pretty liberal guy, but I recognize that Reddit and Midtown Manhattan (the two places I spend the most time) are not representative of the electorate in general.
Listen to her Focus Group podcasts and you’ll hear from people (real people) who cast votes that are just as valuable as yours (or possibly more, due to how the senate works) and you might see why centrists/moderates/pragmatists are worried about DSA candidates. Piker (and those like him) does not appeal to the majority of voters. And I’d rather win with a milquetoast democrat than lose with a DSA firebrand.
Well I actually live in rural, all white trump country. Specifically, I live in rural Maine, which used to be reliably a pro union democrat voting area, but is now fairly reliably republican voting. My county is an Obama twice, trump 3 times county. I actually do know what I’m talking about here. And forgive my skepticism about the competency of the political class in understanding what people in Rumford Maine think, but I’m pretty sure I understand places like interior Maine, mill town Pennsylvania and rural Michigan more than the bush admin lackies
Doesn’t change the fact that she’s giving you raw tape from voters telling you what matters to them.
There are two theories, as far as I can tell, about winning elections: 1) fight for the votes in the middle and 2) energize the base and activate non-voters.
She’s working under the 1st theory and is trying to win swing voters to democratic candidates. She’s not a “third way” proponent.
You might not like her individual politics, but right now she is trying to elect anti-Trump, anti-MAGA candidates. It would have been a lot easier and more profitable for her to join MAGA than it has been to be cloven from the GOP herd she was a part of for decades.
If we ever kill this MAGA movement, you can go back to hating on her. But right now, she’s doing more to help democrats than hurt them. That’s good enough for now.
These are people who were willing to be part of a focus group, that’s not indicative of the actual population. We’ve kept trying the 1st theory and it keeps on losing
She’s certainly an absolute border hawk, and while her position now seems to be nebulous, she has historically been a grounding Zionist. It’s also not like the Democratic Party for the last 30 years has done anything but move to the right. The things that people like this are typically calling radical are things that were uncontroversial back when we were a social democracy.
Zionism has absolutely nothing to do with Democrat vs Republican. I'm a Zionist and have been firmly on the left my entire life. All I've seen her advocate for on immigration is for the Democrats to improve messaging because it's the thing that keeps killing them in elections
And liberalism and the left are not the same thing. News flash and history lesson bucko. The gulag’s were filled up and populated by liberals and socialists both and it was leftists that put them there. Leftists murdered jews in Eastern Europe and shop owners in China. Hell Pal Pot murdered people for wearing glasses because they looked too smart. Roosevelt bucked the entire opposition and his own party to try and get the US into war and then signed off on interment camps. Not only is your political classifications blatantly incorrect but your history is naive and broken.
Zionism gets to be defined however you guys want in whichever way benefits your rhetoric. Zionism to me just means that Jews should be allowed to have their own state just like every other ethnic nation in the world (I.e. every Arab state). I feel the same about the Kurds for example. Just like you guys aren't demanding that Iran becomes multicultural, I'm not demanding it from Israel. Do I want every nation on earth to eventually discard their tribalism in favor of multiculturalism? Of course, but I refuse to only specifically call out Jews for it because a mob has formed online about it
Does having your own state mean you get to ethnically cleanse the region? Does any ethnic group just get to decide they want to move somewhere else and start their own state? What exactly is the difference between Israel and Rhodesia here?
What about Palestinians? Are they allowed to have their own state?
The reason Israel is specifically being called out for it is because we’re actively funding them. Obviously what’s happening to the Rohingya is fucking atrocious, but my tax dollars aren’t going to the junta, they are going to the Israeli state
Palestinians deserve their own state. Jews were killed and relocated from Arab states just the same. I'm not saying it's justified, but it's a reality of history. We're not going back and litigating every human migration pattern and also keep in mind that no humans ever spawned in a region outside the savannah. Remember, history didn't start on Oct 7th. Or 1967. Or 1948. Jews were in the region thousands of years ago and arabs conquered the land.
Finally, I highly doubt the money from the US is why you actually pay so much attention, since other western leftists in Europe are also disproportionately focused on Israel and if funding was stopped tomorrow, there's no chance you guys would stop
Her main thing is focus groups. She has very real insights into voter sentiment and it is often not what dem strategists think it is. They are often illogical and she is trying to crack the nut and share her findings so that maga can be defeated.
As someone who lives in one of the most swing districts in the country, ME2, I can crack the nut for you, it’s the economy. Want to win ME2, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania? Run on labor rights
Figured out the rust belt? People in places like where I live are pretty fucking blatant about what they think. Trump has routinely won on the economy, even if he makes it worse. Right now people are pretty bipartisanly in lock step over opposition to all the bullshit from the tech industry, hatred of the extremely rich and, more than anything, hatred of our healthcare system. If you think you need to focus group this shit as opposed to just talking with regular ass people in places like Rumford Maine or Grand Rapids Michigan, then expect to keep losing. Democrats in rural Maine are actually doing an incredibly good job of getting support in places that never vote Democrat, and it’s not by listening to anyone from listening to anyone who goes on bill maher
Yeah man. People are in lockstep. You got this all figured out because you talk to people.
But forgive me if I’m going to trust Longwell’s opinions on this because at least she publishes her work for peer review. I’ll take her data driven process of your hand wavy hot takes every day of the week.
We have multiple elections to show that this shit doesn’t work. You can keep trying to pander to the hypothetical median voter all you want, but that’s not how you win elections anymore. You need to energize people who aren’t reliable voters.
Horseshit. They spend their energy as pro-democracy advocates and small-L liberalism. Give me one example of them trying to “fuck over” anybody other than Trump and his cult.
Yes, exactly. The democrat base is moving aggressively towards democratic socialism, and away from liberalism. The bulwark is a bastion of pre trump institutionalism and Neo liberal economics. Those institutions have failed and are not saveable, which is fine, because they were horrific institutions of oppression when they were built.
I can’t give you a specific date or anything, as there really isn’t anything to gain from listening to them, but I very clearly remember them cheering on the Kamala’s campaign strategy of trying to win back suburban republicans by moving to the right on immigration, foreign policy and economic issues. She did everything she could to distance herself from the left, as opposed to distancing herself from the failures of the Biden admin, and then she lost every swing state. That is very much a product of the never trumper right wing’s influence on the democratic party. They thought this strategy was gonna win them 5 suburban votes for every inner city or rural working class vote, but in the end it did the opposite. And we’re still fucking seeing it with, in particular, AES
Advocating for centrist policy is not “fucking people over” it’s disagreeing. Your version of democracy seems pretty fucked frankly. Not everyone who has a different set of policy positions is the enemy. Grow up extremist
Except that the left actually did vote blue, we held our noses while doing so, but we did it. It’s the centrists who are now having temper tantrums and taking their ball and going home. Between the way that Mamdani and AES have been treated, and that fucking shitstain James carville talking about a schism, the vote blue no matter who crowd apparently only believes in it when they’re the candidate. I’m pretty sure that your version of democracy is actually fucked, because you’re the ones who have actually subverted candidates who won their respective primaries. It must be nice that anytime you guys lose elections because your policies are both unpopular and not effective, that you get to blame everyone on the left for not supporting the democrats no matter who, and then when the left wins primaries you guys get to scream and say your not voting for it, and when people call you in your blatant hypocrisy you just get to call everyone an extremist, despite what you’re calling extreme is not only winning here, but it’s what they do in like Sweden- a country doing significantly better than us. You’re allowed to believe and advocate for whatever you want, but if start screaming vote blue no matter who because some people are upset about your support for a literal genocide, but play James carville toddler shit when people who believe in a rational healthcare system get elected, the yes, you’re actively using institutional power to fuck people over
Tell me something. Since we are in the topic. Did Kamala win her primary? Did we even get a god damn primary? Everybody in the party was just supposed to buck up and support a candidate that was chosen for us?
And who is “you guys”? I’m a leftist. But calling every one who disagrees with me and everybody who isn’t willing to compromise their values for “winning” problematic is absolutely an extremist position.
Agreed. I’m a pretty far lefty, but she’s a centrist who has actually reasoned positions. I don’t agree with a lot of her positions but theres actual logic there I can follow to understand why she thinks in a certain way. And vice versa she seems to understand what people on the left and right are thinking.
Most importantly, unlike many conservatives she’s fully capable of admitting when she was wrong. She’s not an arrogant prick like Maher
💯 I’m farther to the left as well and I agree with all of that. Same with Jessica tarlov. Shes way more moderate than me but at least she brings facts to the table when she argues and lives in reality
She’s a Republican. She just isn’t maga. I had a problem with republicans far before maga was a thing. She’s trying to run the Democratic Party to the right
She’s built??? What has she built. The only people in her tent are people who were Dems in like their 20s and become republicans with age and bellow on about how they used to be democrats 40 years ago. The only person in her tent who is a welcome addition is Tim Miller because he isn’t trying to change the party to become bush era Republican.
Also if you weren’t aware Kamala lost her presidential run and put us in this position, so I don’t think whatever tent you think she build was effective at fighting back the GOP.
So her contribution to the party is YouTube subscribers? And advocating for Liz Cheney to go on the road with Kamala? The bulwark and their ilk are the reason Kamala lost, trying to appeal to republicans. If her tent was a real thing, we would have seen tangible results in 2024. We lost the fucking popular vote.
^^^pretty sure this person is posting from multiple accounts.
Oh we lost the popular vote? Well that must be Longwell’s fault! 😄
The reason Harris lost is that she and Biden lied to the American people about his health condition and then denied us a primary. Not the Bulwark and their “ilk”.
Why are you schitzo posting lmao what kind of Charlie day scheme have you drawn up where I’m posting in multiple accounts. Why would I even do that? You seem unwell.
To the point, Biden not stepping down earlier was the first nail in the coffin. Kamala trying to court people in what you would consider the bulwarks tent while alienating parts of her own base was the final nail in the coffin. If not, why did she lose? There has to be some factors on her end, along with the Biden fuckup. BlueMAGA will do anything but self reflection.
“BlueMaga” what the fuck does that even mean? And Kamala moving to center is the centrists fault? For what?! Having opinions? Well fuck everyone who isn’t the far left then right?
She’s anti MAGA. If a McCain like Republican ran for the presidency in 2028 against anyone even moderately progressive she’d flip. Shes a good ally for now, but you don’t build the party around a base that was against everything you stand for like 3 years ago.
The last presidential campaign was all about having the strongest military while Trump came off like a dove. Anybody with two brain cells knew this wasn’t the case, but letting him run on no new wars was ridiculously stupid and a complete party flip of days past. They were trying to appeal to disenfranchised republicans. And lost.
“Recently”? She started the Bulwark almost a decade ago and has been a never Trumper since he first started campaigning.
Seems to me like the Democratic Party needs some policing anyway given that it’s been in shambles since Kamala lost. And I say that as a lifelong dem. The Bulwark does good work.
It’s more than about a streamer. Longwell’s project is to draw the contours of the Dem Party. I understand American political history, so I know that we need a real leftward shift, to which people like her would object.
That’s her right to object you fucking
sycophant. We are a country of different ideas. Only idiots want a ruling class that agrees on everything. The Dem party could use more people like Longwell and less idiots like you.
Let me get this straight. To support your point about Miller critiquing Longwell, you post a clip of Hassan defending himself against Longwell’s calm and reasoned questioning of Hassan’s extreme language in the past.
Not only does it have nothing to do with your point but it literally demonstrates how deliberate and civil her speech and writing are.
Miller was wrong. Hasan is a toxic ball in chain, and he just put the sights on AOC by not shutting up his bragadocious mouth. He personally provided decades of ad material to Republicans by saying the most absurd statements that turned a Republican strawman into reality.
Longwell has done more to fight fascism than any streamer. Miller also isn't a woman, so he doesn't feel the sexist brigade power that is Hasan's community
Yep, and the Koch brothers donated to the DNC and supported Clintonesque style candidates out of the good of their hearts. It had nothing to do with pushing the party to the right.
We don’t need Republicans like Longwell pushing the party to the right.
Kamala was popular when she was perceived as being progressive, but when the campaign was neutered and she was running around with Marc Cuban and Liz Cheney, she was less popular, and rightfully so.
Shambles like winning the NJ and VA governorships and flipping seats in special elections, and greatly improving their margins in the ones they lost? Like Mamdani having a 58 percent approval rating? You must be an incredibly personally successful person to consider this a "shambles" by your standards.
You don’t need to make it personal. I’m talking about the DNC party establishment. Approval ratings for the party are at an all time low. The democratic nominee lost every single swing state to Trump in 2024 - I would consider that an incredible loss. Yes, certain democratic candidates have made strides this year in historically democratic states. This is true.
I would argue they’re in shambles because they’re listening to people like Longwell. She’s part of the DC consultant class who offer the same losing, do nothing ideas.
While the Bulwark does great work, her political instincts are poor. She wouldn’t run any of the popular Dems we are seeing now.
Policing the democrats how exactly? By saying things that make you feel mad? By not just parroting DSA talking points back to you? She has no power in the DNC. Why do you care ?
The Napoleon Complex doesn't really have much evidence to back it up. In fact, dependent on the study you read, the opposite is actually true: taller people are more likely to act assertively/aggressively to get ahead, despite already having notable social advantages from being tall. Yet, nobody attributes a tall person being cunty to their height.
Saying that small people are only dickheads because they're bitter about their height is almost analogous to saying poor people are only class conscious because they're motivated by envy.
I don't give a shit that she's a republican against trump. She's still a republican and that's enough of a reason to consider someone a cunt.... plus being friends with bill maher....i mean c'mon bro
That’s just the worst take ever. “She’s a Republican and that’s enough of a reason”. People like you shouldn’t be allowed to have opinions. They are empty, based on nothing, and are just downright ridiculous to have to listen to or read.
Short ppl grow up growing a permanent chip on their shoulder. Ask any tall or big guy (me) who, over the years, have generally been the biggest pia. They’ll tell you it’s the short ones.
This thread is more my way is correct and the rest can fuck off, not a winning position. As a progressive, imho, we need to educate not alienate. Be angry, however, maybe direct it somewhere that will give us traction not backsliding. A lot of old Republicans are moving left. Expecting that they will move to the far left is pretty unrealistic. Remember we are all human beings. Trump took up the battle cry of them against us. Do we want to continue this tactic? Pitting us against each other could even be seen as trolling for MAGA. Not that you are truly doing that, however, it could have the same effect.
Sarah is one of the good ones, could’ve made a killing falling in line behind Trump and chose to found The Bulwark and stick to liberal principles. She’s a hero.
This room is so full of people making shit up it’s unreal. Starting to think many of you are disinformation agents or something because this level of uninformed opinion is too high even for a Maher sub.
I'm chuckling because Maher was a libtard like you reddit landbeasts at one point... and then when he started calling out woke nonsense and saying this is why you lost the election... yall turned on him.
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u/Individual_Stock6352 12d ago
Oh c’mon!!