US Politics, March 2023: "We want our own safe space, and we deserve it"

they use the word "woke" because it makes the ideology of the american left seem scary, alien, and not just a continuation of the broader liberal tradition (i.e., the expansion of rights and opportunities to more people).

kinda think the way to fight this stuff is to make them define 'woke' every time they use it

And to do it in a way that puts all the onus on them. "I'm not sure I understand. What do you mean?"

the humorous thing is you want to talk 'performative', go to any church

and talk to the people who go there at the church, then hang out with them later in the week outside of church, and compare the conversations you have

Also ironic lol at Desantis' office defining woke as "“slang term for activism… progressive activism” as if the right has no activism going on.

i don't know, i think this makes sense. they know that their own activists are based on hatred and the desire to promote their own preferred group (white straight christians) at the expense of everyone else. they assume that the left has a mirror version that is also based on the same kind of hatred. so much of the whole movement, maga-era but long before, is a battle against their own projected counterparts

I think the news and social media cycle resulted in a quick explosion of "anti-woke" sentiment but "politically correct" was absolutely weaponized and mocked. The attention concentrated on academics and anyone reactionaries deemed as too strident in their wording? Same deal.

And the institutionalization by organizations that codified some word choices while making minimal strides in actual behavior that followed so-called "politically correct" efforts are now mirrored in some diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

The conflation of all of the things that draw ire -- those institutional changes that seem like little more than window dressing and jargon, and concentrating on the individuals that draw the most ire instead of analyzing the actual underlying goals and stances -- makes "woke" or "politically correct" or whatever the next thing is into a dumping ground for cultural conservatives.
You also end up with a handful of disaffected people who aren't necessarily that conservative just tiring of the dialogue and using the phrase as a punchline.

I think the thing I've learned with age is that the people who get called angry, strident, shrill, etc. probably have very specific reasons why they appear that way to others, and it often has a lot more to do with the listener not understanding than it does the speaker being "angry"

organizations that codified some word choices while making minimal strides in actual behavior

I've a sad, sinking feeling that the movement pushing for reparations for slavery and segregation will only lead to some formalized breast-beating language similar to the land acknowledgment rituals being propagated by white liberal institutions and nothing more substantial. Even the tattered remnants of affirmative action amount to more than that.

the smartest thing to do is keep fanning the flames of Trump v DeSantis until both stab each other during the first caucus

I'd prefer something likelier to be fatal.

xxp have you actually attended a meeting or event where there was a land acknowledgment ritual or is this a thing you've heard happens that you're viewing as performative and social fluff?

I think the latter happens, but there are some intersectional groups where it has a meaning, especially when it comes to water/land rights and specifically protests about oil or carbon pipelines that run right through indigenous land

The restoration of water/land rights as legally established in dozens of treaties the government has unilaterally abrogated would be a substantial outcome. The land acknowledgement rituals are not different from liberal support for reparations and while this support is meaningful it doesn't constitute a meaningful stopping place for BIPOC people, as when 'organizations codify some word choices while making minimal strides in actual behavior'.

I don't hear anyone right wing or rightist-adjacent relatives using "politically correct" on, say, Facebook anymore. I don't see them use "woke" either tbh. Maybe they're aware of who might be reading and thus show a modicum of decency.

I was at a comedy show that started off with with a verbal land acknowledgement, I found that a little weird.

Side note: It occurred to me this morning, while watching John Oliver's piece on DeSantis, which spent a possibly excessive amount of time on "what Trump nickname will do the most damage", that the best way to harm him with Republican primary voters would be if Trump were to start referring to him as "Harvard Ron DeSantis." Being educated is about the worst thing possible in MAGA world. They're like the Khmer Rouge about that shit.

I’m feeling that, except that Trump went to Penn.

Most of his followers have no idea what Penn is.

I was going to mention that, but I think 90% of the country has no idea what wharton business school is, but harvard is a pretty big name nationwide

I went to the Edith Wharton school.

I still have my Edith Wharton tie.

Hmm yeah maybe. And anyway, if Trump went there it must be OK.

the blood of the Trump washes away all sins

that was a good episode by the way, put all together like that it really does seem like DeSantis is going for this calculated asshole shtick which I think may not play too well in a general election. gonna really be something to watch him try to go after Trump.

So many Florida friends don't want a repeat of their Hilary's-got-this 2016 moment that they want to believe the GOP will coronate DeSantis. To believe a man's invincible after winning reelection by his margins last November is a natural thing, but Florida ain't Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, or....Georgia.

North Florida is, essentially, south Georgia.

put all together like that it really does seem like DeSantis is going for this calculated asshole shtick which I think may not play too well in a general election

It plays horribly outside Florida and with anyone who's not a right-wing maniac. Add to that the fact that he just has a really unpleasant personality, an annoying voice, and carries himself like a short person (I have no idea of his actual height) and he is a terminally flawed general election candidate. He seems incapable of registering or displaying pleasure, ever. Meanwhile Biden, whatever else you think of him, always seems to be enjoying his day.

i don't know, he has some additional hatred in his back pocket, don't count ron out yet

If you read only one article about the roots of Ron DeSantis's career in the legal laundering of the torturing of innocents, let this be it. (Seriously, political journalists, read this, because his work at Gitmo has been waaaaaaaaay underplayed.) https://t.co/8sEfA2yvDg

— Rick Perlstein (@rickperlstein) March 6, 2023

Yeah, it's great

Ope, looks like Meatball Ron went to far for Newt:

A Florida bill that would require bloggers who write about the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, to register with the state proved a step too far even for the godfather of far-right Republicanism, the former US House speaker Newt Gingrich.

“The idea that bloggers criticising a politician should register with the government is insane,” Gingrich wrote on Twitter.

“It is an embarrassment that it is a Republican state legislator in Florida who introduced a bill to that effect. He should withdraw it immediately.”

I realized the other day, regarding my Pat Buchanan reference a while back: A lot of the conservative political agendas strike me as "dog chasing car" scenarios where, once they actually catch up with the car, they have absolutely no idea what to do. Or maybe they're angry some other dog got to the car first.

Of course the internet, but I sometimes wonder if the radicalisation of conservative politics comes from Boomers facing mortality and wanting to stamp society in their image before they lose control of politics. Of course us Gen Xs will gesture feebly toward the reins while Gen Y ascends to fill the power vacuum in a few years, but ...

The idea that bloggers criticising a politician should register with the government is insane

Newt is behind the times. Republican legislators in safe seats everywhere have grasped that floating insane ideas in bills costs them nothing politically and drives the boundaries of politics further toward normalizing white supremacist fascism, which brings them closer to realizing their ideal state.

drives the boundaries of politics further toward normalizing white supremacist fascism, which brings them closer to realizing their ideal state.

― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Monday, March 6, 2023 1:44 PM

sneaking suspicion says this might be the goal and our friend newt is concern trolling / dog whistling.

(stating the obvious: newt sucks. i just assume the opposite of everything he says. fuck`im.)

WATCH: Democrats need to "put more focus" on crime, says Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.).

Jackson: "It's a violent culture that we have to turn around." @kwelkernbc: "Do Democrats run the risk of running too far left on this issue?"

Jackson: "Yes, absolutely." pic.twitter.com/terJ0EoMxt

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 6, 2023

FUND THE POLICE FUND FUND FUND THE POLICE

The White House’s proposal would raise the net investment income tax, created by the Affordable Care Act, from 3.8 percent to 5 percent for all Americans earning more than $400,000 per year, in line with Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes for anyone under that threshold. The tax applies to capital gains and investment income. The plan also would expand this tax by applying it to more kinds of income from pass-through firms — businesses in which the owners pay taxes on their personal income taxes. Currently, these kinds of business owners do not pay this tax.

Additionally, the plan calls for expanding new rules reducing Medicare prescription drug payments beyond the measures approved last year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. The plan would give the administration authority to negotiate what price the federal government pays for more drugs than the limited number approved as part of Democrats’ legislative package last year, while also speeding up the process for negotiations. The prescription drug changes would bring in an additional $200 billion for the Medicare trust fund, the plan states. The proposal would also cap co-pays for some generic drugs, such as those used to treat hypertension and high cholesterol, to $2 per prescription per month.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2023/03/07/biden-medicare-taxes-gop/

holy shit the DeSantis Gitmo stuff is awful, can't believe I'm saying this but I think I'd rather have Trump

“And anyone who calls DeSantis a "fascist" should be run out of the room.” Ok well what if you’re tied to a chair and can’t run? pic.twitter.com/caeylxwwQC

— Screamer Jim (@HeheWaitWhut) March 7, 2023

Hamid should be tied to a chair.

feel like the difference between these two is that Trump would say something like "any journalist who reports fake news about me should lose their citizenship" for applause, while DeSantis would actually try to pass the legislation

See? DeSantis should be president. He gets things done.

The Biden administration is considering reviving the practice of detaining migrant families who cross the border illegally — the same policy the president shut down over the past two years because he wanted a more humane immigration system, officials familiar with the discussions said Monday.

Although no final decision has been made, the move would be a stark reversal for President Biden, who came into office promising to adopt a more compassionate approach to the border after the harsh policies of his predecessor, former President Donald J. Trump.

The Biden administration has largely ended the practice of family detention, instead releasing families into the United States temporarily and using ankle bracelets, traceable cellphones or other methods to keep track of them

From New York Times

Since Biden changed chief of staff and sorta started re-election campaign he’s done a handful of things in an attempt to appease right wingers and rightish centrists

luv 2 put ankle bracelets on desperate families, on the other hand, luv 2 imprison them. how do i choose between????

"Vote Blue No Matter Who"

and here we are:

Now solidly pro-choice Florida will pass a 6-week abortion ban because Ron Desantis can’t win the Republican nomination with it at 15 weeks.

— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) March 7, 2023

And DeSantis wants to personally supervise each abortion

i did not know de santis was a torturer at guantanamo but it makes sense. too bad republicans like this stuff so trump can't use it against him in the primary.

No, Trump can point out that DeSantis offshored all the torture to our enemies in Cuba, while he plans to bring the torture back here to THE USA

i was thinking he could call him like "jigsaw rob" or something

Apparently, no joke, the nickname being considered is “small D”

It's funny that the late night talk show hosts, or at least Colbert & Oliver that I saw, loved "Meatball Ron" and even praised Trump for nailing it, so then Trump had to distance himself from it and call it fake news. He must be hated by them in every way for his schtick to work.