This is awesome. I have been wondering why the states aren't taking Biden to court over his blatant violation of immigration laws. The Democrats have certainly become the no law and disorder party, but these constitutional violations are too much.
Sorry, I'm kind of late to the party, but I saw this article last night and had to laugh though I was too tired to comment. I was just having a discussion with my husband about the use of the phrase "*our* democracy" re: the January 6th "insurrectors." I kept hearing the words "our democracy" coming out of Democrat lawmakers mouths. Not "American democracy," "Western democracy," or just plain old vanilla "democracy," but "*our* democracy." I don't think that's an accident. "Our" is a pronoun with a definite antecedent, and in that single word Democrats (and a few "Republicans," like Cheney and Kinzinger) said the quiet part out loud. They're not worried about losing "American democracy," or "Western democracy," or just plain old vanilla "democracy." (One might suggest that those have been on life support for years, with the cemetery plot already picked out.) They are worried about the collapse of "our"--meaning Democrat/establishment elite/swamp/pick your favorite word--"democracy." Sorry for the ramble, but your article reminded me of that oddly appropriate turn of phrase: "our democracy."
It ranks right up there with "defending democracy by curtailing freedom."
Seconded, not only a good point but a bitter truth too.
We have an expression or two for what you talk about, ms (?) Gajewski, since Sweden has had this problem since the early sixties.
Without being to lengthy, the first expression we use which matters here is "demokratur", a joining of demokrati and diktatur, meaning that while there's many parties and you may vote for whichever party you like, that doesn't change anything since all the parties share opinions in 99% of issues, and are aligned in keeping power away from the people and firmly in the grip of the corporatist political/civil service apparatus.
The other distinction is between "value-based democracy" and "actual democracy", the latter simply referring to that democracy means rule of the people and that this should be reflected in voting; the parties/politicians may suggest but must abide the popular vote on each and every issue, and have criminal liability to carry out the will of the people as decided by the vote/referendum.
"Value-based democracy" however states that without certain given ideological values, it is not democracy no matter what else. That is the position of those who f.e. claims that freedom of speech, expression and opinion only extends to certain approved such. It is democratic in shape, but not in essence, content or execution.
The use of "our" also makes anyone opposing anything coming from the self-proclaimed paladins of "our democracy" enemies of democracy by association.
I'm not sure whether to be terrified by the way Fauci talks about public health or to see it-- optimistically-- as the enraged dying throes of a discipline whose most important job is done (and better represented by your local sanitation worker or wastewater operator than by Fauci) and who is now causing more harm than good in its restless and idle old age.
I like being optimistic better than seeing in this the last gasps of American democracy itself, but I'm not always optimistic.
You will likely see Antifa/BLM amp up again if there's election fraud in the offering. It's a classic - riot and loot and burn near the election office in critical districts locally and hope for a nation wide drop in votes for your opponent. Much more difficult in the US, being a very large nation, but not impossible simply due to the rich abundance of people willing to believe the hate-propaganda from Democrats and their stormtroopers and affiliated NGOs.
As I'm certain I've mentioned before, here or in other 'stacks, you USAmericans are having a rude awakening as to what liberal democracy actually is in reality: how to give the corporate administrators legitimacy so that they may safeguard the power and profits of their masters. The only real reason any westerner associate post-WW2 democracy as being good and true and right is because it was compared to the USSR, and well, that's not a high bar to clear.
But compared to the people actually being the ones to decide on the issues? Not even Switzerland lives up to that any longer.
Expect criticism of Biden/his masters to be called treason, working for Russia, and neo-nazism.
Tangent:
For a fun time, take a look at national socialism beyond all the stuff about race: amalgamation of state and party and the largest businesess and banks, state mandated homogenous schools system and state kindergarten, both with politically correct curriculum decided by the party, Füher-prinzip meaning what the Leader say is right is right as interpreted by the bureaucracy, militarisation of civil society, mass surveillance, political control laws akin to your 'war on terror'-stuff, state hospitals and state health insurance, and a lot more you might recognise from the Democrats' suggestions over the years - you see, all that business with the Holocaust and the war tends to obscure the socialism part of it, and as I used to point out when teaching: socialism is either internationalist striving for a global, cosmopolitan society under party rule, or nationalist. Right now, the internationalist socialists are at the helm of the s/s Discourse hunting their white whale called Utopia under the all-seeing eye of captain Narrative.
Sorry? I used to teach the stuff (politics, rhetorics, assorted sundry associated subjects) so it's like giving a bottle of rye to an alky with me, since my favourite side was not so much actual specific politics but the huge tracts of land, I mean theory, crafted around it and the rationalisations that goes with it.
Guess I'll go lock myself in the woodshed and think about what I did then? ;)
And here I thought if there was anyone in cyberpalworld I could kid with, it would surely be you...
But to clarify: I love your comments; I hope you know I share and appreciate your sensibilities; consider me banging desperately at the woodshed door screaming "Open up and come out! We need you!"
Oh you can kid me to your hearts content, never fear!
And cookies of contrition sounds delicous, just what I need.
As I'm fond if saying, "If you don't develop a sense of humour when teaching teenagers, you'll go postal."
And I'll see your cookies, and raise you a sponge cake topped with whipped cream and blueberry sauce. The real stuff, hand picked blueberries from just outside and real cream not that chemical stuff in a spraycan. Howcan people eat that, it's like eating sealant, isn't it?
In today’s world, even on a “free speech” platform such as Substack, I could never write what I actually think about the health “experts” that have done what they did for the past 2+ years.
We have an opportunity to begin correcting things in November. Probably our last chance. Even if we win that round, we can still blow it. Probably will.
One little quibble. The idea that no one was above the law was our great inheritance from England, where even the monarch had to show legal justification for, say, cutting off the heads of wives.
It's a considerable irritation to me that the Republicans are almost entirely morons and do not deserve any more than the Democrats to have the least scrap of trust of the populace. People tout DeSantis, and I always like a guy who can say "fuck 'em" and mean it, but there are areas where I feel a failure of courage in him too.
It's only when a majority in this country identifies as independent/unaffiliated that we may have a chance to restore Constitutional values and common sense.
Ain't gonna happen. Hoping for the impossible is why you lose. People are naturally tribal. Only antisocial folks claim to be independent. Another word for "can't decide." Independents always lose. If you want to win, pick a tribe and work to make it better than the other tribe. Most people vote and think they've done their job. That's why you lose. Politics is a participatory sport, won by the team that participates best. We don't often get good choices. Making the best choice of those available is how we win. Symbolic votes for sure losers is why we lose. The choices in November are clear. Anybody who withholds votes for even the worst pub candidate is directly supporting the seditious socialists. Priority 1 is defeating the seditious socialists, aka every dem. Priority 2 is pushing the pubs to better competence. That takes work from all of us. And time. Priority 974 is trying to make everyone think and vote just like you and me. Ain't gonna happen.
I would note that it didn't really work like that in practice, but since it doesn't really work like that in practice here either, I'll allow the quibble!
That quote is generally midunderstood. Shakespeare was not looking to kill all the lawyers because they were bad (although that is always how I use it, too...lol). The Shakespearean speaker was trying to do something untoward, and the first shot at getting it done was to get rid of the lawyers who would (legitimately) try to stop them. FWIW
One can only imagine what America would look like if the *exact* same madness that has taken place over the last two years had taken place under a Trump administration or any administration to the right of Mao or Stalin... I don't think there'd be a city left standing because everything would have been burned to the ground. To save"democracy".
Well, Trump had his chance and didn’t do anything of the kind, so you seem a bit off base here. Also “Any administration to the right of Mao and Stalin”? Isn’t that every administration in the history of the country?
"every administration in the history of the country" until this century! Trump certainly was not a perfect President, and he pissed off a lot of people, but at least he was, and is, sane.
That's a bit harsh, in MHO. Actually, I don't agree at all.
But you did say "Sane". He had the whole swamp, including the military against him and he had no prior experience, had to, basically learn "on a job". Say what you will but, POTUS is perhaps the most complex/demanding job there is. He was an outsider.
The swamp proved to be too deep for him.
God only knows where would the world be if he got the second term.
I don't think Rob is saying that Trump would be doing the burning, but that the people would be rioting under a Trump administration doing what Biden is doing now.
Anyone else remember the pictures during the first Iraqi election? The jubilant smiles, bright eyes and purple fingers? Dipping a finger in dye is one of the most cost effective methods ever to suppress vote fraud. Forget spending all that money on "I voted today!" stickers and use it for buckets of dye. Heck, purple dye in hand sanitizer. A two-fer of no excuses!
Watch, mail in ballots will disenfranchise the rights of people with lousy delivery, disproportionately affecting the poor. They will move to a show of hands in front of your cell phone.
I think there will be a LOT more oversight this time and I hope it doesn't just come from the GOP and allies. I think there will be way more poll watchers and ballot supervision, which is as it should be; the question is whether they just plan to cheat directly in our faces at this point.
That was the most extreme example of "attacking Democracy", but to their credit they did go through normal rule-making procedures for their big voting bill.
How they will ignore that loss and get those rules implemented anyway is anyone's guess -- but I don't think for a minute they aren't trying.
No, they don't care, but every time you pull something like this, you piss a larger and larger group of people off. Brandon and Co. made a lot of middle of the road Dem voters jump ship, and they'll be even angrier than previous non-Dems when they see shenanigans from their former team.
If we're at the point of election by gunpoint anyway, all of this is moot.
"CNN’s Washington Generals-level reporter" best quote ever!
This is awesome. I have been wondering why the states aren't taking Biden to court over his blatant violation of immigration laws. The Democrats have certainly become the no law and disorder party, but these constitutional violations are too much.
Sorry, I'm kind of late to the party, but I saw this article last night and had to laugh though I was too tired to comment. I was just having a discussion with my husband about the use of the phrase "*our* democracy" re: the January 6th "insurrectors." I kept hearing the words "our democracy" coming out of Democrat lawmakers mouths. Not "American democracy," "Western democracy," or just plain old vanilla "democracy," but "*our* democracy." I don't think that's an accident. "Our" is a pronoun with a definite antecedent, and in that single word Democrats (and a few "Republicans," like Cheney and Kinzinger) said the quiet part out loud. They're not worried about losing "American democracy," or "Western democracy," or just plain old vanilla "democracy." (One might suggest that those have been on life support for years, with the cemetery plot already picked out.) They are worried about the collapse of "our"--meaning Democrat/establishment elite/swamp/pick your favorite word--"democracy." Sorry for the ramble, but your article reminded me of that oddly appropriate turn of phrase: "our democracy."
It ranks right up there with "defending democracy by curtailing freedom."
Nah, not a ramble. I think you make a good point.
Seconded, not only a good point but a bitter truth too.
We have an expression or two for what you talk about, ms (?) Gajewski, since Sweden has had this problem since the early sixties.
Without being to lengthy, the first expression we use which matters here is "demokratur", a joining of demokrati and diktatur, meaning that while there's many parties and you may vote for whichever party you like, that doesn't change anything since all the parties share opinions in 99% of issues, and are aligned in keeping power away from the people and firmly in the grip of the corporatist political/civil service apparatus.
The other distinction is between "value-based democracy" and "actual democracy", the latter simply referring to that democracy means rule of the people and that this should be reflected in voting; the parties/politicians may suggest but must abide the popular vote on each and every issue, and have criminal liability to carry out the will of the people as decided by the vote/referendum.
"Value-based democracy" however states that without certain given ideological values, it is not democracy no matter what else. That is the position of those who f.e. claims that freedom of speech, expression and opinion only extends to certain approved such. It is democratic in shape, but not in essence, content or execution.
The use of "our" also makes anyone opposing anything coming from the self-proclaimed paladins of "our democracy" enemies of democracy by association.
Well spotted, thank you for the inspiration.
I'm not sure whether to be terrified by the way Fauci talks about public health or to see it-- optimistically-- as the enraged dying throes of a discipline whose most important job is done (and better represented by your local sanitation worker or wastewater operator than by Fauci) and who is now causing more harm than good in its restless and idle old age.
I like being optimistic better than seeing in this the last gasps of American democracy itself, but I'm not always optimistic.
He's a functionary in an apparatus.
The diametric opposite to the heroes described in Eleven Blue Men.
You will likely see Antifa/BLM amp up again if there's election fraud in the offering. It's a classic - riot and loot and burn near the election office in critical districts locally and hope for a nation wide drop in votes for your opponent. Much more difficult in the US, being a very large nation, but not impossible simply due to the rich abundance of people willing to believe the hate-propaganda from Democrats and their stormtroopers and affiliated NGOs.
As I'm certain I've mentioned before, here or in other 'stacks, you USAmericans are having a rude awakening as to what liberal democracy actually is in reality: how to give the corporate administrators legitimacy so that they may safeguard the power and profits of their masters. The only real reason any westerner associate post-WW2 democracy as being good and true and right is because it was compared to the USSR, and well, that's not a high bar to clear.
But compared to the people actually being the ones to decide on the issues? Not even Switzerland lives up to that any longer.
Expect criticism of Biden/his masters to be called treason, working for Russia, and neo-nazism.
Tangent:
For a fun time, take a look at national socialism beyond all the stuff about race: amalgamation of state and party and the largest businesess and banks, state mandated homogenous schools system and state kindergarten, both with politically correct curriculum decided by the party, Füher-prinzip meaning what the Leader say is right is right as interpreted by the bureaucracy, militarisation of civil society, mass surveillance, political control laws akin to your 'war on terror'-stuff, state hospitals and state health insurance, and a lot more you might recognise from the Democrats' suggestions over the years - you see, all that business with the Holocaust and the war tends to obscure the socialism part of it, and as I used to point out when teaching: socialism is either internationalist striving for a global, cosmopolitan society under party rule, or nationalist. Right now, the internationalist socialists are at the helm of the s/s Discourse hunting their white whale called Utopia under the all-seeing eye of captain Narrative.
Well, now there's nothing else left to say. And do you call that playing fair in a comments thread?
Sorry? I used to teach the stuff (politics, rhetorics, assorted sundry associated subjects) so it's like giving a bottle of rye to an alky with me, since my favourite side was not so much actual specific politics but the huge tracts of land, I mean theory, crafted around it and the rationalisations that goes with it.
Guess I'll go lock myself in the woodshed and think about what I did then? ;)
And here I thought if there was anyone in cyberpalworld I could kid with, it would surely be you...
But to clarify: I love your comments; I hope you know I share and appreciate your sensibilities; consider me banging desperately at the woodshed door screaming "Open up and come out! We need you!"
Oh you can kid me to your hearts content, never fear!
And cookies of contrition sounds delicous, just what I need.
As I'm fond if saying, "If you don't develop a sense of humour when teaching teenagers, you'll go postal."
And I'll see your cookies, and raise you a sponge cake topped with whipped cream and blueberry sauce. The real stuff, hand picked blueberries from just outside and real cream not that chemical stuff in a spraycan. Howcan people eat that, it's like eating sealant, isn't it?
This is not the way to convince me that Sweden isn't the paradise I'd thought...
That cake will do nicely. Send directions for rowing to your place. (May take awhile. First I need to learn how to row...)
Yes! Darn you to heck for offering such thorough analysis! For shame.
Please help me drag him back out! I'm one-handed with the platter of contrition brownies in the other!
I'd be delighted to assist you by holding the plate for safe keeping while you operate the door.
*muffled* B'right b'hnd you. *swallow* Hey, these are pretty good! 🤪
I made a double batch 'cause I know they're irresistible...
:D
A righteous rant. The gaslighting by these clowns is downright infuriating.
In today’s world, even on a “free speech” platform such as Substack, I could never write what I actually think about the health “experts” that have done what they did for the past 2+ years.
Meanwhile, Jay Inslee has had emergency powers for ~800 days. Totally normal. Nothing to see here.
We have an opportunity to begin correcting things in November. Probably our last chance. Even if we win that round, we can still blow it. Probably will.
One little quibble. The idea that no one was above the law was our great inheritance from England, where even the monarch had to show legal justification for, say, cutting off the heads of wives.
It's a considerable irritation to me that the Republicans are almost entirely morons and do not deserve any more than the Democrats to have the least scrap of trust of the populace. People tout DeSantis, and I always like a guy who can say "fuck 'em" and mean it, but there are areas where I feel a failure of courage in him too.
It's only when a majority in this country identifies as independent/unaffiliated that we may have a chance to restore Constitutional values and common sense.
Ain't gonna happen. Hoping for the impossible is why you lose. People are naturally tribal. Only antisocial folks claim to be independent. Another word for "can't decide." Independents always lose. If you want to win, pick a tribe and work to make it better than the other tribe. Most people vote and think they've done their job. That's why you lose. Politics is a participatory sport, won by the team that participates best. We don't often get good choices. Making the best choice of those available is how we win. Symbolic votes for sure losers is why we lose. The choices in November are clear. Anybody who withholds votes for even the worst pub candidate is directly supporting the seditious socialists. Priority 1 is defeating the seditious socialists, aka every dem. Priority 2 is pushing the pubs to better competence. That takes work from all of us. And time. Priority 974 is trying to make everyone think and vote just like you and me. Ain't gonna happen.
Who's "we?"
There was about 75 million of us in '20. Probably a lot more now.
I think you're miscounting.
We'll find out in about 6 months.
I would note that it didn't really work like that in practice, but since it doesn't really work like that in practice here either, I'll allow the quibble!
Which is why Shakespeare said what he said about lawyers.
That quote is generally midunderstood. Shakespeare was not looking to kill all the lawyers because they were bad (although that is always how I use it, too...lol). The Shakespearean speaker was trying to do something untoward, and the first shot at getting it done was to get rid of the lawyers who would (legitimately) try to stop them. FWIW
There's a line I love in a perhaps-bad movie called "A Murder of Crows" that goes:
"If it weren't for lawyers, old boy, we wouldn't need lawyers."
I learned a great lawyer joke this week.
Of course anal sex can get you pregnant. Where do you think lawyers come from?
It's my favorite line in all Shakespeare because it sounds as though it had been written yesterday. Made me understand his timelessness.
Fauci’s arrogance is unbelievable, beyond pathological.
One can only imagine what America would look like if the *exact* same madness that has taken place over the last two years had taken place under a Trump administration or any administration to the right of Mao or Stalin... I don't think there'd be a city left standing because everything would have been burned to the ground. To save"democracy".
Well, Trump had his chance and didn’t do anything of the kind, so you seem a bit off base here. Also “Any administration to the right of Mao and Stalin”? Isn’t that every administration in the history of the country?
"every administration in the history of the country" until this century! Trump certainly was not a perfect President, and he pissed off a lot of people, but at least he was, and is, sane.
And, as Confucius said:. "It is better to be pissed off than to be pissed on".
Sane, yes--but fucked up as hell.
That's a bit harsh, in MHO. Actually, I don't agree at all.
But you did say "Sane". He had the whole swamp, including the military against him and he had no prior experience, had to, basically learn "on a job". Say what you will but, POTUS is perhaps the most complex/demanding job there is. He was an outsider.
The swamp proved to be too deep for him.
God only knows where would the world be if he got the second term.
Once again... proof that the internet has destroyed sarcasm
Some folks really need that /s
I don't think Rob is saying that Trump would be doing the burning, but that the people would be rioting under a Trump administration doing what Biden is doing now.
Oh I see
Better go to mail in ballots. Out of an abundance of caution.
Anyone else remember the pictures during the first Iraqi election? The jubilant smiles, bright eyes and purple fingers? Dipping a finger in dye is one of the most cost effective methods ever to suppress vote fraud. Forget spending all that money on "I voted today!" stickers and use it for buckets of dye. Heck, purple dye in hand sanitizer. A two-fer of no excuses!
That's a good start, but we also need to make sure the people dipping their fingers are actually eligible to vote. And not corpses.
Watch, mail in ballots will disenfranchise the rights of people with lousy delivery, disproportionately affecting the poor. They will move to a show of hands in front of your cell phone.
I think there will be a LOT more oversight this time and I hope it doesn't just come from the GOP and allies. I think there will be way more poll watchers and ballot supervision, which is as it should be; the question is whether they just plan to cheat directly in our faces at this point.
Why not...they did last time.
They didn't cheat in our faces. They tried their best to cheat undetected.
That was the most extreme example of "attacking Democracy", but to their credit they did go through normal rule-making procedures for their big voting bill.
How they will ignore that loss and get those rules implemented anyway is anyone's guess -- but I don't think for a minute they aren't trying.
Wouldn't it look spectacularly obvious what they're up to if they try it again in November or in 2024?
Do they care as long as they stay in power?
Edit: You don't want LITERALLY HITLER to win, do you?
No, they don't care, but every time you pull something like this, you piss a larger and larger group of people off. Brandon and Co. made a lot of middle of the road Dem voters jump ship, and they'll be even angrier than previous non-Dems when they see shenanigans from their former team.
If we're at the point of election by gunpoint anyway, all of this is moot.