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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: July 1st, 2023

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  • the end goal of the Dem party should be a complete overhaul and something like a parliamentary system.

    On the one hand, absolutely yes. Trump has solid control of one of the political parties, but in general, is a very unpopular politician. Yet our political systems have become so dysfunctional that we run a serious risk of him destroying the rule of law and creating an authoritarian presidency. There’s no authoritarian-proof political system, but we can do a lot better than this.

    On the other hand, I think any reform that sufficiently addressed our current problems would be the end of the Democratic party as well. Getting a political party to sacrifice itself for the greater good is a tough sell. Not impossible, but I think it would look more like a popular takeover of the Democratic party to be used as a disposable vehicle. The Democratic leadership and their donor class will absolutely be opposed.

    The tea party and Trump have shown that seizing a party from its current leadership is not impossible.





  • I’m gonna disagree here. The impeachment resolution was a dumb idea, and should not have been introduced. It was never going to be successful. The more impeachment resolutions are introduced and fail, either in the house or Senate, the less likely they are to ever succeed. It looks more like boring partisan messaging, and less like an extraordinary situation. Introducing this resolution makes it less likely that Trump will be removed from office, not more.

    I’m not going to take a position on whether it was a good idea to vote against it, that’s more debatable, but as a message to their fellow Democrats they are right that the resolution was a terrible idea.




  • Sure the American public is going through a bad phase right now, but that’s pretty normal. The fact that having a demagogue capture maybe 15 percent of the public’s support (I’m only counting real MAGA) has caused the entire government to radically change is an indictment of the political systems, more than the public. Specifically gerrymandering, plurality voting, the electoral college, bicameral legislature with filibuster, lifetime court appointments, and an independently elected president. Probably more that I’m forgetting about. Human nature isn’t going to change, but we can change how a nation makes policy.