The effectiveness of this comic is lessened by the nagging feeling that if the person who's on fire can calmly ask for help, then they themselves can do something about that instead of asking someone else to help them
But I'll say this - that does map to real life a bit, if that was the intention
.. Note I'm not talking about any 'pull up by bootstraps' bullshit the right likes to spew.
I'm saying that if you're able to spend time on bluesky, you're able to do something productive, and asking for someone to 'save you/us' is happening a bit too much around here, IMO.
"Resist oppression! Vote for the candidate that will kill you guys but much, much slower while we pretend that anything more than a miniscule protest is a violent misrepresentation of progressive values that we toootally embody."
Instead of whining on bluesky, maybe go out on the streets to protest like some people have been doing? Blow up the phone and email of your local state government and ask them to actually do their job?? Just a suggestion.
Or just sit in your dark room and complain all day. That works too I’m sure.
Tell them to stop? Hasn't worked.
File suits? Hasn't worked.
Protest? Feb 5 should be a good day of protests, but I don't think it will change anything.
As far as I can tell, our next options are strikes and violence.
I believe if fascists can't be jailed, they should be executed. But the issue with strikes is similar to the issue with violence. Cant be random, needs to be swift & organized. Ppl are talking about a general strike...in 4 years. I'm just not smart enough to know what the solution to this is.
That's... not an answer to the question, actually. If your argument is that the processes of Congress are blocked by the GOP via violations of the rules, that just makes me ask why the Democrats can't enforce those rules while they're the majority.
Biden had full statutory authority to forgive most
They didn't. Biden got much of his legislative agenda through, and when he didn't, it was because he only had 50 votes in the Senate and was blocked by two Democrats (Manchin and Sinema), not Republicans.
Neat. I don't see Democrats HAVING a majority in the second half, even assuming there are mid-terms, with their rush to confirm every fucking appointee. They could at least SIGNAL that they don't approve of all these Nazis they're nodding along to.
if any americans or canadians reading this would be interested, i’m making a discord server for americans considering asylum and canadians willing to help out. i’d be happy to send you all a link if you’re interested!
The US government is in the hands of the enemy, Washington DC has been overrun. The states need to step up, and the grass roots. Because we’re outside the constitution and outside the law, our federal elected officials have been neutralized. They have no power to do anything.
If Democrats stopped any of these things from happening, Trump would yell about the Deep State and crooked Dems, and his people would believe him and Dems would lose more elections because fence-sitting moderates would believe that the Dems acted unjustly and then the cycle would start again.
A majority of the U.S. electorate were warned about these things happening and they either didn't believe it, didn't care, or actually want these things to happen. At any rate, this is what they voted for and this is what we all have to deal with now.
That's why reaching out to moderates is always fucking stupid. Reach out to the left. Compromise with the left. Talk to the left. Because that's where the enthusiasm and passion is. Moderates can only offer cynical moral relativism.
The far left doesn't want any parts of the U.S. political system and won't vote for anyone who isn't 110% EXACTLY in line with their beliefs. The far right will vote for whomever anyone left of them hates, and THAT is why the right wins!
The far left showed up for the last election.The DNC rode in on the energy the protests generated.How much enthusiasm did noted moderate Steve Manchin generate for the party? When he destroyed climate change and voter protection legislation and confirmed Kavanaugh, how many votes did that bring in?
you cant reach the left. all they care about are identity politics and moral purity. they wont compromise. its "give me exactly what i want NOW or fuck you!" "I WoNt SuPpOrT GeNoCiDe!" and look where we are now.
And yes, because voter turnout wasn't what it should have been. I ask you, though, Democrats were heavily campaigning to centrists... they were gushing over Dick Cheney and the Bushes. They were abandoning vows to protect gay and transgender youths...was the centrist vote there for them?
"Identity Politics" implies that people merely existing is politics. It is not. The people who believe that they should have a say in another person's right to exist or express themselves are mistaken.
Sorry, they can’t introduce a bill. You have to be the majority to chair a committee, and only committee chairs get to introduce bills on the floor of the House. They’ll send their thoughts & prayers.
Dems: "But Biden helped people with their student loans!"
Me: "You mean after he fought previously to make sure they couldn't be included in BK? After he let the parliamentarian take away basic min wage hike? After he helped genocide a people?"
You forgot the pannel where the guy is playing with fire and someone tells him you will set yourself on fire if you keep playing and he ignores the advice
You need to make a donation first! Then we’ll take a vote to see what can be done. Probably nothing will happen because these fire extinguishers are really old. Maybe donate more money so we can get new ones in 2 years?
Who has the fire extinguisher? Last I checked, it's the federal level GOP, and state Dems (who are using it in overdrive). Maybe we should be giving credit where it's due and not feeding into the narrative that the people working for us are the same as the people working us against us, especially
seeing as how that narrative helped get us here in the first place. There are no magic spells federal dems can cast to fix this. They don't have the votes, and votes are literally the only way to change it. Acting like they have an extinguisher they're choosing not to use perpetuates the problem.
Harris voter. Everyone 18+ deserves it for not doing our due diligence enough as a polity to ensure this wouldn’t happen. Why are Democrats so weak??? Pinche mamónes de un partido
Blind loyalty to a political party that hates you is NOT setting yourself on fire.
The pattern has always been, Republicans start fires, Democrats LET them, marginalize people are on fire, and you stooges blame us for criticizing Democrats.
yes, if your answer to someone being on fire is to criticize the only people who would ever want to put him out, instead of actively working against the fire starters, then you are part of the problem, and a special kind of stupid.
She's not holding a fire extinguisher because he voted to take it away from her. It's actually being held by the person who set him on fire. But he's yelling at her anyway, because of course he is.
I hear you. Legal systems, be it in America or elsewhere, are intricate and sometimes frustratingly slow. It can be disheartening when we see things taking longer than we hoped or not resolving as expected.💔
Showing people how to organize, I mean the basic stuff like booking a venue,arranging travel/parking concerns, March routes permits needed ya' know the basics. Idk that stuff, do you? If you do, what are you doing texting on bsky right now.
Dems & Dem AGs R doing a lot more than U know. U R simply not educating yourself, & legacy media outlets R failing2 cover Progressive efforts & protests agnst th Trump Regime.
These guys hv th skinny: @democracydocket.com @democracynow.org @indivisible.org @maddow.msnbc.com @chrislhayes.bsky.social
Ive never seen somthing that could die with a straight punch to the jaw cause so many issues for people. Seriously with how mutated Musk is, I bet a punch to his weird looking chest could finish him off, hed pop like a shit filled pimple.
I dont care what they have to say, I need action. This "Republicans are destroying our democracy thing sounds neat but until I see movement theyre just a bunch of hot air balloons spitting hot gas in all directions.
I don't want to hear from then unless it's A) a call to real action or B) Bernie Sanders finally snapped and brought out an AK-47 on the floor of the senate that he was gifted during his honeymoon in the USSR
This comic doesn't name the dems at all, but a lot of replies in here are getting real defensive on behalf of them specifically. Why are you all so confident that was the target, and given that you clearly are, maybe sit with that feeling for a minute and see if it's saying anything to you.
Yeah but see she just didn’t really earn my vote. Besides both sides are basically the same one is not actively putting out every fire and their other is actively starting a bunch of fires.
"we're looking into it. theres a meeting about your burning happening next week. we plan to pen a moderately harshly worded letter to the fire explaining how we feel this is unacceptable. then we plan to sue the fire. eventually the court case will reach the volcano and be dismissed."
'We' - profoundly social animal. Can achieve profoundly amazing things...when we commit to it...with others willing to commit. We have to learn the skills of living, planning and engaging differently. Researching and writing for 6 years...putting a 'course in 'us'' together to help live differently
Democrats be like “A fire extinguisher would make a loud noise so we don’t want to disrupt the current peace… but we will make a formal complaint about how things are on fire and we need to find a solution ASAP.”
What else could they be doing that would actually stop this, that they're not doing?
Fundraising, whining, grandstanding, using tragedy to promote their individual careers doesn't stop this. Votes and lawsuits do. They don't have the votes, they're bringing the lawsuits. What else?
For one, up until yesterday dems were voting in Republican cabinet members. I think it's only John fetterman now. Also, the senate gives alot of power to the minority party. Why aren't they using this power to slow down the republicans as much as possible?
Nominees need 51 votes to be confirmed. There are 53 Republican senators. Voting against them is a meaningless gesture that does not impact the outcome. You're confusing that for "doing something," when nothing will in fact be done.
When I say democrats aren't doing anything, I don't mean literally every democrat. Senators could be slowing down everything by ALOT, but they choose not to. That is what we're critiquing.
They broke in to vote, because they had the votes to do so. We don't have the votes.
So, what's your plan? They're already in the building, without the votes.
Then what? What should they be doing that they're not doing?
The opposition in South Korea also had the votes to remove him because they held more seats, which Democrats don't, and even then the President was able to hold out for weeks when the police went to his fortified compound to arrest him because they were afraid of going in.
I bet Trump and Musk are shaking in their boots. I also bet Weimar officials tried similar tactics. As a nation the US has allowed this to happen and is still letting it happen. Good on the few who are resisting but I won’t be holding my breath. I also won’t accept what I am told by the “optimists”.
Look, America knew Trump was a fascist LONG time ago.
They wanted to have a taste anyways.
Like a Carolina Reaper.
The first bite/term wasnt too bad so they bit bigger.
Biden LET them.
Now, they're feeling the burn and want someone to help them BUT its all internal!
But they voted for a fascist 2x!
People acting like you're joking, but you're right. Dems in congress doen't have the power to do the things people are demanding they do. As a minority party without the executive or judiciary on their side all they can do is sue those in charge of the fire extinguisher to use it like the law says.
And suing the government is actually more of a state AG job, which state AGs are doing. Senate dems are filibustering right now, it won’t do anything but that’s about the extent of their power
"We will consider establishing a committee to investigate the possibility of potentially drafting legislation to eye the likelihood of possibly buying fire extinguishers"
Comments
But I'll say this - that does map to real life a bit, if that was the intention
I'm saying that if you're able to spend time on bluesky, you're able to do something productive, and asking for someone to 'save you/us' is happening a bit too much around here, IMO.
I really have to be less bleak, though I guess your actual message is very bleak, lol. UGH
Maybe the Dem party shouldn't have spread around so much gasoline to make it so easy for him?
Or just sit in your dark room and complain all day. That works too I’m sure.
Tell them to stop? Hasn't worked.
File suits? Hasn't worked.
Protest? Feb 5 should be a good day of protests, but I don't think it will change anything.
As far as I can tell, our next options are strikes and violence.
What am I missing?
If Biden had pulled a "Trump" all servers with student loan info on them would have been destroyed.
Biden had full statutory authority to forgive most
Because Obama was too concerned with centrists to force his supreme Court nominations.
Because centrist Steve Manchin torpedoed climate change and voting rights while nominating Kavanaugh.
Because Biden was too concerned with centrists to pack the courts.
Because Dem politicians decided to court the centrist vote by betraying every ally they made to win in 2020
Because Dems pushed the most centrist candidate they had long past his expiration date
A billionaire rummaging through the US like it's a garage sale. But he's just in the fusebox pulling out fistfulls of wire to sell the copper.
It will be soundly defeated, and they will say "Oh well, we tried..." 💔
https://www.deiwatchlist.com/
Me: "You mean after he fought previously to make sure they couldn't be included in BK? After he let the parliamentarian take away basic min wage hike? After he helped genocide a people?"
Damn straight not enough. Pathetic.
Who did the thing
Democrats did it
Was it good or bad
It was good
No, He did it
F the Demos
Republican voters absolutely did.
Stop blaming marginalized people for their oppression that has bipartisan support
you're an accomplice
suffering the consequences of ones actions doesn't make you a victim either.
It isn't like you were warned, or like trump didn't say he was going to do exactly all of this lol.
The pattern has always been, Republicans start fires, Democrats LET them, marginalize people are on fire, and you stooges blame us for criticizing Democrats.
Quit DARVOing us already.
DENOUNCING blind loyalty to a party that hates you is not setting yourself on fire.
It takes courage to just act.
"We didn't start the fire
It was always burning, since the world's been turning"
"Do what, in specific? What do you think we can do that we're not already doing." - us
(pause)
"dO sOmEtHiNg!1!" - you
What SPECIFICALLY do you think the Democrats should be doing that they aren't already?
And don't include anything that's impossible.
If you want to be an activist, go act. Don't expect politicians to do that for you.
We elect them to do their jobs; go do yours.
Oh, and you're texting on BSky now, hypocrite.
These guys hv th skinny: @democracydocket.com @democracynow.org @indivisible.org @maddow.msnbc.com @chrislhayes.bsky.social
I'm sure there'd be meetings and posts on social media making it quite clear that people being on fire is unacceptable.
"FUCK YOU, YOU SOUND LIKE MY MOM"
Imagine being from the Maple State right now though: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI0tOQmKx7w
https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/is-somebody-doing-something
Fundraising, whining, grandstanding, using tragedy to promote their individual careers doesn't stop this. Votes and lawsuits do. They don't have the votes, they're bringing the lawsuits. What else?
The people of south korea literally broke into their building to impeach their president when he tried to do a coup. Where is this energy from the dems??
So, what's your plan? They're already in the building, without the votes.
Then what? What should they be doing that they're not doing?
They wanted to have a taste anyways.
Like a Carolina Reaper.
The first bite/term wasnt too bad so they bit bigger.
Biden LET them.
Now, they're feeling the burn and want someone to help them BUT its all internal!
But they voted for a fascist 2x!
"BUT YOU HAVE ONE IN YOUR HAND"
"..."
"...????!"
"...getting warm in here, ain't it?"