US Politics, August 2024 -- "Unburdened By a Has-Been"

yeah really great post, I think a lot of people think "yeah it's always been nuts" and aren't realizing how progressively crazier it's gotten. like a lot of the most hysterical stuff people had been saying about him turned out to be true. he really was gonna try the Muslim ban and building a wall. he really did trash all our allies and cozy up to dictators. even telling them government secrets for some reason. he really wasn't going to ever acknowledge defeat and would refuse to accept the results of his re-election loss. he even led a mob into the Capitol and committed a ton of other crimes along the way. he stole a bunch of top secret documents and stashing them in his bedroom! now he's saying shit right out of Mein Kampf and telling his supporters if he wins they'll never have to vote again. but it really wasnt just like that overnight I think. I mean people were kinda scandalized back then that he lied about the size of his crowd during the inauguration despite clear photo evidence that it clearly wasn't the case, it was a huge story for a long time, it wouldn't even be a story at all today

scanner darkly's post is also good

we really don't need to see so many pictures of Trump, let's let him go

I reposted both of those great posts (Tracer and scanner) on FB and added:

"if I may be so bold, I think this also explains why some of the saltier friends I know on the progressive/radical/anarchist spectrum are also feeling left out, because this sea change has potentially made the Democratic party actually relevant again, as opposed to whatever performative "once every four years" fringe candidate they support, whether that be RFK or Cornel West (or, god forbid, Stein)."

and fwiw another lifelong friend of mine commented "It really is like waking up from a spell."

this fucking story he told about going down in a helicopter with Willie Brown that never happened (someone posited he confused him with Jerry Brown, Jerry Brown also said this never happened)

It was Bobby Brown.

Millie Bobby Brown, that is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoc0owSeIaw

sorry thought u meant this Bobby Brown

https://i.discogs.com/_Kbk45e4kMSnWYRixISeMDP2XWAUERUNXy-1y6ZqmZw/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:388/w:400/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTQxNzA0/MjEtMTM1NzU3OTQz/NS00MzU4LmpwZWc.jpeg

Wrote about Kamala, the candidate who wasn’t there. She hasn’t done an interview, answered a tough question,has no policy section on her website, and turned a vague vision for the country into a huge polling surge. https://t.co/aSRC8Ac8fb

— kang (@jaycaspiankang) August 9, 2024

(thread has excerpts if you don't care to read the whole thing)

Bobby Brown goes down (with Trump)

turned a vague vision for the country into a huge polling su

i.e. "oh, there's another choice besides the two guys I hate? count me in!"

three weeks ago flopson was confidently predicting a Trump victory, lol

― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Thursday, 8 August 2024 9:04 PM (forty-nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i was confident trump would win if biden stayed in (which was otm, is it not the consensus itt that if biden had not dropped out he would have lost? i thought everyone had come around to that view by now..) but i never made an unconditional prediction that trump would win no matter what. i’m less optimistic about harris than some of you guys are—i think it’s currently somewhere around 50-50—but things are wayyy better than they could be

i think it’s currently somewhere around 50-50

probably true, but we have half of August, all of September & October, plus a few days of November for "currently" to be far in the rearview mirror. most of us are mere spectators at this point, having already mentally committed ourselves to one or another course of action in the next few months.

the spectacle we'll be watching is far too vast and complex for us to make more than our pennyworth of difference. but I like having ilx within which to share our thoughts about that spectacle and what it may mean for us and the rest of the world. it feels less isolated that way.

I think "substance-free" is a little harsh. As I said above I think she should do some serious interviews and some press conferences, but I feel like some of what's going on is the commentariat itself is feeling a little eclipsed by events.

Like, for a few weeks post-debate the punditry really drove a lot of the Biden story and compelled him to sit for interviews and (correctly) judged him harshly. And then they got what they wanted and he dropped out and suddenly Harris emerged much more strong and polished and savvy than they expected and they lost control of the narrative. (The Walz pick amplified that, since so much of the pundit class was sure it should/would be Shapiro.)

yeah I think it's basically pointless to even speculate what the political future is right now, I think Biden actually could have beaten him even in the state he was in. not too likely but there's just way way way too much weird shit goin on right now and with Trump you never get a single quiet month

Kamala also didn't have years to prepare any campaign like other candidates, this was pretty unexpected and I suspect that while she has a vision she's not going to necessarily have it laid out comprehensively this fast. I'm not sure what the point of that New Yorker piece is when the other option right now is so horrific and with even less substance, let alone basic humanity and morality.

There's absolutely no reason for her to risk a misstep in an interview or formal press q&a before the convention. None.

I did like the idea someone brought up on bsky, though, about talking to local reporters during campaign stops to demonstrate the value of local papers and terrestrial radio.

Ideally she'd be articulating a vision of the future that aligned with my ideological and policy priorities (lol) but the longer she can coast on vibes the better.

1992 - hope, 2000 you can drink a beer with him, 2008 young and cool, "yes we can" steamrolling policy plans that most of Obama's primary voters wouldn't have liked, 2016 was "the most qualified candidate ever" vs. a guy yelling incoherently about building a wall and peeping on teenage pageant models, 2020 was "you won't have to look at the news every day to find out what fucked up shit happened now."

"I did like the idea someone brought up on bsky, though, about talking to local reporters during campaign stops to demonstrate the value of local papers and terrestrial radio."

this is what j.d. vance did outside in wisconsin and its the one thing he's done that i thought was a good idea. took only questions from local reporters first before going to the national people. i don't think i'd ever seen anyone do that and its smart.

I totally get the idea of not being at the press's beck and call, and that there's no need to capitualate when things are going so well. Just as a general observation, I think it's better to have the press on your side than not. (Not talking about Fox, but the mainstream outlets not popular here.) If they aren't, that's when they start magnifying every stupid little non-story (e.g., Walz's military record). It they are, they almost run interference on such stories. Maybe minimizing press exposure will work--everything so far has. I'm hoping, though, she puts an end to this story soon.

kinda fun to see an American journalist so pissed at American journalism today. i figure you guys hate Lawrence - he's a quiet blowhard - but he got really pissed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD-oTJ49nls

He's a blowhard but he's absolutely right. When is the mainstream news media going to stop airing every rant Trump blabbers away like it's something really newsworthy? I know the answer unfortunately.

To be fair, the MSM has given Harris and Walz loads of coverage over the last week. Difference is it truly was new and newsworthy, and also not an endless stream of unchecked lies.

"if I may be so bold, I think this also explains why some of the saltier friends I know on the progressive/radical/anarchist spectrum are also feeling left out, because this sea change has potentially made the Democratic party actually relevant again, as opposed to whatever performative "once every four years" fringe candidate they support, whether that be RFK or Cornel West (or, god forbid, Stein)."

i think people on the left who are angry at the dems are angry because the american government is enabling the idf who are committing genocide, not because harris somehow makes rfk less relevant (???)

sure, it's nice to see the dems express the most basic levels of competence as a political party for once, it's certainly a welcome change from biden sleepwalking to a loss, or the usual sheepish uselessness & compulsive left-punching, but none of that fundamentally changes why people are angry for extremely good reasons. the level of enthusiasm for harris who hasn't really done anything yet beyond exhibiting basic competence in comparison to trump or biden is quite frankly bleak and representative of a fundamentally broken system.

Oh hell yeah we’ve reached this level of deranged

Texas is in play. https://t.co/upsWWFXoVD

— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) August 8, 2024

.@VP has been clear: she will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. She does not support an arms embargo on Israel. She will continue to work to protect civilians in Gaza and to uphold international humanitarian law.

— Phil Gordon (@PhilGordon46) August 8, 2024

National Security Advisor to @VP

from that New Yorker article:

I think it’s fair to say that, so far, the mainstream press has handled Harris quite gently. This is not, in my view, a matter of partisan leaning—although I should say that, having worked in the media for about fifteen years, at several institutions, I have not had a single co-worker who openly supported Trump. (I don’t even know of anyone who I suspect might have voted for him.) But if the media’s liberal makeup inured all Democratic candidates from criticism, we wouldn’t have had endless coverage of Hillary Clinton’s e-mails, or a relentless call for Biden to withdraw from the race. You could argue that the overwhelming push in the media to remove Biden simply had to be followed by the lionization of his successor—but the media, especially those of us who churn out opinions for a living, cannot actually achieve that level of coördination. (I can’t imagine a more difficult and thankless task than trying to get the columnists of America to do anything, much less as a team.) There is certainly bias in the mainstream press, but it tends to follow more haphazard and chaotic patterns.

This is not a shift, this is what the Biden admin has been saying all along. The problem is their “concern” over Palestinian casualties is dealt with by giving Israel more weapons to kill them. There needs be a shift in policy. https://t.co/dCAZ4VglCC

— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) July 26, 2024

"Continue to"? She/the Biden administration never started in the first place...

Yeah the bias in the MSM is primarily toward novelty. In something like a presidential race — which goes on for months or years — that produces restlessness. Something always has to be happening, the more exciting the better. The crush of attention on Biden post-debate was a product of that, and the launch of the Harris campaign filled that void up through the somewhat comically over-covered veepstakes.

Now the restlessness sets in. Harris just doing better and better day after day starts to feel old. There must be something else happening, it can’t just be one successful rally after another. The Trump people obviously sense that and are trying to take advantage of it, making everyone talk about Walz’s military record for two days. The Trump press conference was an attempt to grab attention back by offering something new to look at — though it can be a double-edged thing, clearly. Harris meanwhile seems content to let them stew a little, which is understandable and not a bad strategy in the moment. The risk of it is the potential for the media to generate storylines of its own to fill the daily demand for novelty, so at the first sign of anything outside their control getting traction the Harris people should be ready to respond.

My guess is that after the convention we’ll get a series of hyped sit-downs with high-profile reporters and more availabilities on the campaign trail to hammer home the messaging. She’s playing it all well right now, really, even if it produces some day to day irritation in the press. She just can’t take the current state of affairs for granted.

“The clicks must keep coming”

THE CLICKS MUST FLOW

damn kamala street team up in this thread

Obviously Harris has been much better than in 2020; when she does start doing interviews, there's no reason to think she won't do really well. "Gotcha" questions only happen when you're not prepared, and you know what stuff she'll be asked (the Republicans lay it all out every day). "Border Czar"--factually not true. Pushing Biden aside--that answers itself in terms of how quickly the party lined up with her (i.e., it's what the party wanted). Any changed positions and her time as D.A.--if you know what's coming, just be prepared. So much stuff can be batted away easily by bringing up Trump. Walz's military record--24 years vs. Trump. In keeping with the the novelty/change idea, I think all those mainstream outlets would much prefer Harris and Walz to the exhaustion of another Trump term. But they have to do what they do, and she can easily handle it. Wait a bit, sure.

damn kamala street team up in this thread

― lag∞n, Friday, August 9, 2024 12:40 PM (twenty-nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

For me, yeah, I am totally on board. But a lot of my support for her is spoken to in Tracer Hand's excellent posts above. I'm sure I won't be on board will all of her policies, but the relief I feel in knowing she will likely take down Trump is a huge one and not to be underestimated.

let people feel excited

When Biden won remember it was a Saturday and the whole fucking country honked horns and celebrated? would be nice to feel that again

you can feel excited go nuts im not yr boss

i saw a guy sound a shofar in grand army plaza that day

Wanting one ticket to trounce another ticket, a ticket that’s interested in turning back the clock two or three centuries, ain’t street teaming. It’s common sense.

Like I said back when some of us were being accused of being “Biden stans” or whatever in these threads: it isn’t necessarily that we loved him! We just needed the other side to lose. Sometimes I think people forget that gray is an actual color and where many many people live politically.

liberals want the approval of leftists except when it comes to actually enacting leftist policy, then the leftists are wrong and bad and crazy and we need to “let people be excited” about a candidate that swears she will continue to aid a genocide.

like be excited and vote for her all you want, we aren’t stopping you!

Wanting one ticket to trounce another ticket, a ticket that’s interested in turning back the clock two or three centuries, ain’t street teaming. It’s common sense.

― Marten Broadcloak, mild-mannered GOP congressman (Raymond Cummings), Friday, August 9, 2024 8:25 AM (three seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

specifically the medias just in it for clicks leftists are just jealous of our excitement stuff is what i was referring to, everyone salivating over that tracer post is more understandable, i was certainly happy as fuck when biden dropped out, im still happy about it as a matter of fact

Sorry if that came across as harsh. I think it was a reaction to months of posts.

Also: table I hear you and I get it

to me what’s so exciting about this little window that’s opened isn’t so much that it leads to… kamala harris lol, it’s that it proves nothing is inevitable, that conventional wisdom can be wrong, that all the old guys who tell you you don’t know enough about the realities of politics, all the chaits and carvilles and whatnot, or your dad, or trump, they’re all just a deck of cards, and that’s potentially destabilising to the status quo in all kind of ways we can’t predict. american presidential elections feel so totally ossified compared to the way other countries do it, so it’s just wild when even one brick of the facade gets chipped away and we can see that other ways are not only possible but maybe preferable

agreed that the dems actually getting rid of biden was some miraculous shit, and then picking walz, thats two good moves in a row

if you want some actual water thrown on the fire so far its not looking like kamalas shifting at all from bidens genocide policies, hopefully theyre just treading water figuring out their plan, politically theyve got a needle to thread since theyre allied with israel but a big chunk of their voters are opposed to what israels doing, best would be for there to be a ceasefire, but if thing just keep going as they have been student protests start up in the fall well its not great, and genocide is just bad on its own merits

kamalas response to the protesters at her event was really bad too

she was trying to appear strong/in control. the crowd liked it.

on the news they are saying that frustrated trump wants to bring in kellyanne conway to help him attack kamala. #2016NOOOOOooooooo

it sucked "you want trump to win" is just a shitty unserious response to people protesting an extremely grave and it should be said important to your campaign issue