this post was submitted on 09 Jul 2024
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Pleasant Politics

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[–] Veraxus@lemmy.world 49 points 4 months ago (1 children)

The “media” is largely owned by right wing billionaires. They don’t care if he’s fit, they see him as a means to their ends.

[–] psvrh@lemmy.ca 21 points 4 months ago (1 children)

That went so well for Russian oligarchs.

I mean, the ones that weren't shot, thrown down stairwells, poisoned, irradiated and/or defenestrated.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Yeah but there’s a chance I could get richer!!

[–] psvrh@lemmy.ca 5 points 4 months ago

Well, you can.

Richer in polonium.

[–] morphballganon@lemmy.world 44 points 4 months ago (1 children)

He was already unfit the first time. Now he's 8 years older.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 18 points 4 months ago

And 34 times more desperate, with other desperation outcomes pending.

[–] LEDZeppelin@lemmy.world 22 points 4 months ago

You mean the same NYT that gargles his balls on a daily basis and employs “Trump whisperer” MAGA Haberman? No way!

[–] Orbituary@lemmy.world 20 points 4 months ago

This? This is what should wake them up? Not the decade and more of garbage and lies and hubris that preceded it?

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 10 points 4 months ago

Oh come the fuck on. He's been unhinged and unfit the entire time. Nothing will "wake up" the people who need to wake up.

[–] notannpc@lemmy.world 10 points 4 months ago

There was no time in the last decade that you could realistically describe Donald Trump as fit to serve as president. He has always been a terrible person.

[–] Delusional@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Dude is unfit to make hamburgers at fast food. Of course he is unfit for the presidency. He is certainly unfit to be a babysitter cuz he'll probably rape the child. But of course republicans don't give a flying fuck if their candidate is a child rapist because they have no moral compass whatsoever.

[–] floofloof@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 months ago

They seem to have a moral compass. It's just labeled backwards.

[–] Quill7513 7 points 4 months ago

No surprises here given that a profit driven media apparatus is going to favor the sensational. Look back over the last four years. What was the longest stretch you went without thinking about the office of the president. I bet for most of us, it was a wider window than 2017-2021. It wasn't perfect, or even really good but it felt less like there was a constant anvil hung over our heads by a frayed rope.

You know who hasn't liked Biden as president for that very reason? Every profit motivated news organization. We're less scared, and we're paying less attention to the news. In fact, the news is a fucking bummer and we already know the salient details night after night. There's a genocide going on in Ukraine, Palestine, and China. Our government is being inconsistent about the kinds of genocides that matter and the kinds of genocides that don't (well... Not really. Palestinians and Uyghers are Muslims and... Well you know... That's amongst our favorite groups to genocide ourselves). The fact that we know there's a problem and watching the news won't change anything leaves a lot of us checking out to focus on the things we can do and getting the mental health break during the news o'clock hour.

But now its an election year. Now we HAVE to talk about the republican candidate for president because he might become president. And guess what? He's even more unhinged than ever and the coverage for the news is great. They love it. Meanwhile, I can't blame the journalists covering the Republican candidate for president because it needs to be documented that he's unhinged. Meanwhile, though, what would we do with this info in a functioning democracy? We'd vote a different way than the fascist dictator. But every single system in America, while not explicitly DESIGNED to hand power to whatever fascist has the worst things to say HAS been slowly granting more and more power to fascist cronies in the name of stimulating the economy, keeping socialism at bay because it would be fucking horrible for our freedom if we taxed billionaires or whatever, and ultimately slowly stealing everything away from us so that our corporate overlords can maintain their control over us.

The purpose of a system is what it does. The system of government we employ in the united States hasn't been adjusted to prevent authoritarians from wielding power since we realized that was something they were interested in doing. Every Barry Goldwater ran for president, the fascists in our country have taken every chance to pull every lever in their own political favor. Goldwater transformed the Republican party to emphasize hatred in their platform, Nixon got the ball rolling for that the FBI and NSA needed to spy on us for "national security." Ronald Reagan reinvented what our government should do from ensuring society should benefit society to society should benefit our corporate overlords. Not to mention the large amount of international crimes his government committed to both make a quick buck and ensure the soviets didn't extract more benefit more value from their system of colonialism than we did from ours.

HW Bush kept the colonialism ball rolling and ensured a constant power vacuum in West Asia. Pat Buchanan ensured the most successful third party in American History would be a fascist party, both getting his fascist message more visibility AND tanking a major threat to the two party system that favors a slow march to fascism. W Bush and the Republican party of the 00s gave us... So much. Trump is OPENLY fascist and I don't feel the need to explain that.

Look. Here's where I'm at. In tired of people telling me America has checks and balances in place to keep a descent into authoritarianism possible, but where have those been the last 40 years? Why aren't they working? Is it maybe that they don't exist and we need to adjust the system because the purpose of a system is what it does?

[–] DavidGarcia@feddit.nl -2 points 4 months ago (3 children)

isn't it wild that two chemically necromanced relics are the only allowed presidential options?

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago (1 children)

At least one of those options didn't set the fucking office on fire last time he worked here.

[–] Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 months ago

Ya, the other one is asleep at the desk while the office burns down.

[–] taanegl@beehaw.org 5 points 4 months ago

Hasn't agism been a problem in the US regarding federal level politicians? My first problem regarding Kamela Harris as a great replacement (which she is) was that she might be "too young" for the electoral collages taste, which is also an institution of old white dudes. So... we know what must be done.

Abolish the electoral collage.

[–] Orbituary@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Amen. It feels like the gun control debate after a mass shooting: "Too soon to talk about it. We're all in mourning."

We NEED to talk about this. We can STILL VOTE FOR BIDEN and call out the fucking failures in our system.

Unfortunately, nuance and discourse don't exist in the minds of most people. So, fucking whatever.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

Nuance and discourse were brutally slaughtered in front of all of us in 2016.

Yeah, we're a little touchy about it.