Post Ajp37ChXLLW6fEa0rA by Happycow@hachyderm.io
(DIR) More posts by Happycow@hachyderm.io
(DIR) Post #AjmkzdQJv4kBjZqei8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T10:59:56Z
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It would be nice if Biden talked up Harris more. Talked about how amazing she is and how much he trusts her etc. Lord knows I can't do that I don't like her, but I didn't pick her to be my vice president. Saying "only I can do the job" is Trumpian (alienating his base, and it won't even win over any Trumpees) It's also just not true.Remember how Obama talked about Biden. How they projected an image of unity? Everyone ate that up. Was it real? IDK. But that was how everyone saw them.
(DIR) Post #AjmlIvmJtuz4A9L732 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T11:03:24Z
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Having an old frail man as president isn't a big deal if you know he has total trust in his cabinet & vice president. If they all project that confidence together. But my impression is that Biden and his people think that Harris is a liability because she is a liability with working class white voters if they are racist or sexist. So they try to pretend she's not there. But at this stage it's not about changing minds it's about getting your people to show and feel optimistic.
(DIR) Post #AjmlWMMwLgdWOes6dc by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T11:05:51Z
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This could be as simple and doing some photoshoots of them working together. Do some joint appearances. Now and then say things like "Kamala knows all about that. And I agree." Play her up more. Biden isn't getting the full boost he ought to be getting for putting the first woman as our vice president. And what seals it for me is that Harris is the ONLY democrat who beats Biden... or does well at all in head to head polls against Trump. So, use that!
(DIR) Post #Ajmln4N6W2LBVAurj6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T11:08:52Z
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This is coming back to the ablism issue again. The refusing to demand that he be able to sit down for a 90 min debate. I have nothing but contempt for that kind of self-destructive refusal to accept support and help when you need it. Because it says that you think that everyone who is brave enough and self-aware enough to say "I need help" is weak. No, it's weak to stumble and wobble and do a worse job because you couldn't admit that you need help.
(DIR) Post #Ajmm9wwEJqzN6kFwLQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T11:13:00Z
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I'm certain they are scared that people on the right will say "Harris is really running everything" and they WILL say that. But why do they focus so much on what the people who hate them most say?None of the more moderate young people I know who care about politics, some of whom were excited to see HRC be president are excited about Harris at all. It's like she's not even there. A huge miss.I really need these fools to just win the damn election and stop shooting themselves in the foot.
(DIR) Post #AjmmYe1plIAHhTeX8S by knowuh@mastodon.social
2024-07-10T11:17:14Z
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@futurebird I was elated when Biden picked Kamala and talked about how he would be an interim president passing the torch. Many of us Kamala fans thought he was making a promise. But then, she has been kept out of the spotlight.This Ezra Klein Podcast is a great exploration of why the dems have been hiding Harris, and why she may be underrated and under appreciated -> https://overcast.fm/+oiPXOgJdE
(DIR) Post #AjmmsZpr3szaUFYQ40 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T11:21:04Z
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@knowuh "... and talked about how he would be an interim president passing the torch."I don't think *Biden Himself* ever said this. It was just an idea floated by pundit that was soothing to Harris fans and to grubby filthy leftists like myself. "This is just for now. He will pass the torch. Just vote for him this one time."But I think it's important that Biden himself never made such a promise, because if he did, and if he then BROKE that promise that's not such a good look.
(DIR) Post #AjmnJFibxnyZukszPE by knowuh@mastodon.social
2024-07-10T11:25:49Z
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@futurebird He called himself a bridge, and certainly gave loud signals to that effect in 2020 in Detroit:“Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else,” Biden said. “There’s an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of this country.”https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/09/politics/joe-biden-bridge-new-generation-of-leaders/index.html
(DIR) Post #AjmnVyQ7aazo1tIrcu by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T11:28:11Z
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Democrats are the kid whose entire life revolves around what the school bully *might* say. Democrats are me in middle school getting a backache because I was terrified two straps were "uncool" (only dorks use a bag designed carry heavy objects correctly)Democrats come limping in listing to the side like a sinking ship as the heavy bag full of books slowly pulls them over, never realizing what made one strap so "cool" was having nothing in your bag: because you aren't some nerd who likes books.
(DIR) Post #AjmoOjvNBcFAzx2GBM by jonquass@techhub.social
2024-07-10T11:38:01Z
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@futurebirdI just recently decided I'm a Democrat, so I feel the need to respond to the arguments as best I can.I'd argue that it's entirely reasonable to worry about your bully when they are making your life hell. Especially if they are about to become principal and institute pro-bully policies. And you can never graduate.Bullies target vulnerable people who can't fight back, making themselves part of the victim's life. So if this is the scenario, what's the solution? Should you "ignore" your bully? Should you fight them? Should you tell a teacher or your parents? If I'm being terrorized by a bully, and I start making strange decisions because of it, I get that one instinct is to tell me to act normal or point out how illogical I'm being, but isn't the solution that the other people in their right minds need to stop the bully instead of putting it on the victim?
(DIR) Post #AjmpS4Kvqn7z828rIm by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T11:49:54Z
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@jonquass It's counterproductive to let those who hate you to define you. There are cases where it's pragmatic to conform, yeah, but my point is democrats do this far too often. It fools no one.Like the immigration issue. Democrats keep saying how they too are "tough" and then wonder why people who care about that issue still don't like them. "look we have every policy you wanted"But what those people want is someone who shares their fears & hate. They don't really care about policy.
(DIR) Post #AjmpotYg5dtKMQSJg8 by LightFIAR@med-mastodon.com
2024-07-10T11:54:03Z
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@futurebird @jonquass Dems have been pandering to the right for a) owner-donor money and b) an absurd notion the strategy will help them win. A "trumps" b as it were. Dems' BASE and sane decent people understand the value and humanity of immigrants.
(DIR) Post #AjmqH9OIombFZb4lkG by jfrench@cupoftea.social
2024-07-10T11:58:50Z
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@futurebird > never realizing what made one strap so "cool" was having nothing in your bag: because you aren't some huge nerd who likes books.TIL
(DIR) Post #AjmqPRRxYiw1tmjwo4 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T12:00:37Z
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@jfrench When I realized this was the moment I decided that I would not be "cool" I would simply be a huge nerd forever. And in one of the many paradoxes of "coolness" this suddenly was how I became very very cool.
(DIR) Post #AjmrlWYbLqim3ywMPA by jonquass@techhub.social
2024-07-10T12:15:48Z
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@futurebirdLet's use an example of when I was bullied in school to continue the analogy because that might help explain where I'm coming from.In band, I sat in the back because I was a percussionist. I had a bully poking me with drums sticks while we were supposed to be quiet and eventually I yelled at him. We both get in trouble.If I told you about this, and your response was that I shouldn't have let his actions define my actions, sure I guess I was wrong for yelling at him, but what about the bully? How do I stop things without considering them, and it sounds like you're saying by considering them I'm defining myself by them. It feels futile. What about next time, what do I do?I wouldn't suggest conforming, and I wouldn't suggest making it your only defining feature, but not considering it in some capacity seems pointless as well.
(DIR) Post #AjmsXXxLS8OYIoPeme by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T12:24:30Z
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@jonquass I think you are responding as if I was talking about "Democrats" as in people who vote for Democrats, but I'm talking about the leadership. Leaders have a responsibility to set an example, to project better values. When Democratic leaders let the criticism from the far right shape how they present themselves (eg. hide the black woman because they are racist and sexist) they normalize the idea that there is something wrong with being black or a woman. That's all I'm getting at.
(DIR) Post #AjmsjiKSiEtrwr1lUu by jonquass@techhub.social
2024-07-10T12:26:40Z
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@futurebirdAh I did ask about who you were talking about in an earlier draft. That was something I was wondering about, thank you for picking up on it.I feel like the example of the kid getting bullied isn't fair then it should be about the progressive teachers and principal getting bullied by other teachers. Then the original analogy makes more sense to me.
(DIR) Post #AjmtIuGgJcNl702YXg by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T12:33:03Z
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@DaveMWilburn "I don't think it'd be the slam dunk that her proponents think it would be, or the disaster that her detractors insist it would be."Same. Though I don't think that Biden needs to have given her any big role for this image to change. Did Biden do much for Obama? I don't think so. But everyone saw them as a team because Obama saw to it that was the image he projected. It soothed white people to hear that he trusted this white guy totally and seemed to like him as a person.
(DIR) Post #AjmtazsMClb7iTHyOu by jonquass@techhub.social
2024-07-10T12:30:49Z
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@futurebirdIf we're talking about leadership, it's important to point out how afraid for their lives the Republicans are. They are literally afraid of their families being murdered. That's how they are kept in line to conform. Now the analogy is completely lost, how do you ignore credible threats of violence to your family without conforming?
(DIR) Post #Ajmtb1BBMGFZl96WNk by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T12:36:19Z
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@jonquass If those threats aren't real it's important to dissolve the paper tiger. You don't do that by bragging about how you have the best tiger gun and tiger fence. And some people who are convinced that imaginary things are going to get them can't be reached. It's more important that you get everyone in Philly and Pittsburgh to show up at the polls. Those are big cities and most people in them will vote for Democrats if they feel like it'd really make a difference.
(DIR) Post #AjmtvvmYcUCv6MYfZI by sbourne@mastodon.social
2024-07-10T12:38:05Z
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@knowuh @futurebird I'm not sure it's the Dems who have been "hiding" Harris. She's been all over the US, but none of her work is covered in the press. You can put her out there, but if it's not on the 6 o'clock news, who would ever know?
(DIR) Post #Ajmtvwih8KiC0fl6Bc by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T12:40:06Z
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@sbourne @knowuh ... saying "only I can do the job" isn't helping.Media never help, but I can't just put this on them.
(DIR) Post #Ajmu9m4HX8C51nRwJc by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T12:42:36Z
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@midgephoto She has some nasty conservative streaks. But that is true of all Democrats at that level. In some ways I worry she might be less open to liberal policy than Biden has been because the party would think that simply having a black woman as president ought to be "enough" for the left wing of the party and she would have nothing to prove in that area. (Whereas Biden has had to work hard to show he listens, with issues like student loans, unions, CHIP act etc... )
(DIR) Post #AjmuQRS5R81g0lX2Ku by jonquass@techhub.social
2024-07-10T12:45:38Z
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@futurebirdOkay?I don't know what we're talking about anymore. I don't disagree with what you say, but it sounds disconnected from what I said, so I'll say so long for now
(DIR) Post #AjmuocXDsloXKmSnxI by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T12:49:57Z
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@jonquass I guess I just wonder if the threats Republicans worry about are "credible" at all? Like is M13 really going to come to rural PA and "get" anyone?I don't know what to do about people convinced that they are in peril when they are not.
(DIR) Post #AjmvDqIPr7GtFlZ40u by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T12:54:33Z
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@jonquass Also, I want to add that I don't think that anyone should be bullied. If there are bullies at a school that school is failing its students. Bullying is NOT a "normal part of growing up" and if it's happening systematically and not being addressed that's just wrong.Of course the reality is that kids do get bullied. There isn't much the kid who is attacked can do about it. It's not their fault. Psychologically not buying in to the ideas the bully projects is probably a small help.
(DIR) Post #AjmwST2OiCQ3Ptbr9M by martin_piper@mastodon.social
2024-07-10T13:01:19Z
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@futurebird @midgephoto Obama and Biden were very much genuine.
(DIR) Post #Ajn1EqvhaJlFEVnywS by cshlan@dawdling.net
2024-07-10T13:58:10Z
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@kimI feel like that's more of an unconscious part of it rather than openly stated. Where I lived anyway. I'll admit I was a one strapper. But not to look cool, just because I was too lazy to struggle into both straps. I was actually happy to learn that it was possible to only use one once I got to school! But I've always been big so it affected me less. @futurebird @jfrench
(DIR) Post #Ajn1ErRFh0zwoMZB7Q by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T14:01:48Z
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@cshlan @kim @jfrench My bookbag was the same size as me. I've always been very short and .... well.
(DIR) Post #Ajn2zisvPeGtqaQ4kS by jonquass@techhub.social
2024-07-10T14:21:33Z
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@futurebirdI think the issue for me is that you started with an analogy about students being bullied being similar to how Dem leaders are being bullied. I think it was a bad analogy that caused more confusion than it needed to. The students are the normal voters in the analogy and the teachers and principal would be the government. Then the talk of paper tigers seemed to imply what you're now saying, but given how I've not been able to clearly decipher the metaphors you used, I felt it better to step away from the conversation.FWIW I still don't disagree with your major points, just mostly with their presentation. I think the packaging gets in the way
(DIR) Post #Ajn3EPPg5fB1ngk58i by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-10T14:24:18Z
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@kim @jfrench @cshlan The things with kids having 8 heavy textbooks to lug around seems to be less common now. I don't remember the last time I didn't use an ebook for my math classes and post the problem sets online.
(DIR) Post #Ajn3eWAla6EMIHDXAe by fixiemama@mastodon.social
2024-07-10T14:27:33Z
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@futurebird Just chiming in because I was paying attention back then -- Biden did a lot for Obama. Anything that needed to get through Congress, Biden was involved. The Am. Reinvestment and Recovery Act, which got us out of the Great Recession: Biden. Obamacare: Biden. He has always been buddies with GOP folks as well as Dems. Don't forget, the VP sits in with the Senate, which was already his stomping grounds. He was essential to Obama's successes.cc @DaveMWilburn
(DIR) Post #Ajn5Z25AEFnnQl6ob2 by paulc@mstdn.social
2024-07-10T14:50:20Z
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@futurebird And MSM is not making any similar demands on Trump who has been showing cognitive problems for years. George Washington taking control of the airport during the American Revolution.
(DIR) Post #Ajn60yhgNtjn3mS264 by CedarTea@social.coop
2024-07-10T14:54:51Z
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@futurebird The immigration issue is particularly maddening. I'm certain they've gained zero votes by lurching rightwards on immigration, but they alienated all the very active left who've been out there trying to keep migrants alive and kids out of cages. The level of disrespect toward those who are the most active out on the front lines of what is ostensibly their side is terrible strategy without even touching on the morality of any of it. Like, does a migrant activist even justify voting?
(DIR) Post #AjnAnFKQHCfcKzqKbA by pencilears@mastodon.eternalaugust.com
2024-07-10T15:48:59Z
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@futurebird a lot of people in my circles really dislike her for her perceived track record with trans rights.Like, all I saw in the lead up to the election was "Harris is a cop" "Harris is a tool of the state" "she put trans women in men's prisons and denied them gender affirming care"Being transphobic is social suicide for a young person so, if they like her, they just shut up about it.
(DIR) Post #AjnKFWHNkJB4bcyerg by edwardchampion@mastodon.social
2024-07-10T17:34:48Z
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@futurebird You know, if there were even a few words about passing the leadership to the next generation, it would be incredibly effective. But the Biden campaign team is astonishingly tone-deaf on that point. They don't understand that younger voters (a) are very angry about his position on Israel and (b) are ready to sit this out or protest by way of RFK Jr. because they do not feel included in our democratic process. And that's going to destroy the Democratic Party once Trump dies.
(DIR) Post #AjoC4jBknwC6yyeEU4 by lufthans@mastodon.social
2024-07-11T03:38:05Z
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@futurebird @jfrench based on kidling's experience the new cool is 4 straps, 2 for the backpack, 2 for the frontpack, especially during spring sports season with bats sticking up like antennas with shoes on the top of themit's like no one's heard of a duffel bag
(DIR) Post #Ajp2nxd19y2gPkI3gO by dangrsmind@sfba.social
2024-07-11T13:28:56Z
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@futurebird @jonquass some people need something to be afraid of so they don't have to think about the meaningless reality of their banal and mundane lives. They want to start in a superhero movie and save the world, but actually they're a cashier at Wal-Mart.
(DIR) Post #Ajp32TgKmZSXselPns by jonquass@techhub.social
2024-07-11T13:31:32Z
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@futurebirdNo, not from gangs, from their base. They are literally afraid of their own. The extremists aren't only threatening the others, they use the threat of violence to keep people from defecting once they are in. https://www.vox.com/23899688/2024-election-republican-primary-death-threats-trump
(DIR) Post #Ajp37ChXLLW6fEa0rA by Happycow@hachyderm.io
2024-07-11T13:32:17Z
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@futurebird @jonquass The most credible threats on the Republican side likely come from other Republicans if they don't fall completely in line.
(DIR) Post #Ajp3UxE2X89XcJ6ksq by Happycow@hachyderm.io
2024-07-11T13:36:41Z
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@futurebird Democrats fall right into Republican narratives and rarely figure out how to get out of them. They get caught up feeling they have to respond to accusations. One of the official platforms of Republicans is protecting Christians from persecution. This isn't a serious thing in the US. If they address it, they'll just give the impression that it's a real issue to be discussed.Dems need to talk about what they stand for instead of wasting energy trying to clear up Republican lies.
(DIR) Post #Ajp5UuE5srUMDvEoPg by megmuttonhead@mas.to
2024-07-11T13:59:03Z
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@futurebird @jonquass seriously. It’s willful paranoia.
(DIR) Post #AjqBhJ5Q4f1pgSR9Si by linebyline@bytetower.social
2024-07-12T02:43:14Z
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@futurebird I feel like not enough people talk about the fact that Trump is older than Biden was when Trump first started making Biden's age an issue.