this is it - ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

anneapplebaum.bsky.social • 48 days ago

this is it

Dems are still operating in a political paradigm where the public has a set of concerns, roughly reflecting the reality of life in America, and elections are about who addresses them better.

But that is not the political paradigm we’ve lived in, for a long time, and we’re getting further from it.

Comments

rhernamanallen.bsky.social•48 days ago

Same in UK. Labour/LibDems/Greens don't seem to realise what the battleground is or how the battle has to be fought.

umaija.bsky.social•48 days ago

The Democrats have no spine or strategy. They're part of the problem, as they're more beholden to corporate donors and interests than to We the People. The system is broken.

atsissel.bsky.social•47 days ago

The myth of the well-informed, rational voter.

karijohn.bsky.social•48 days ago

It still baffles my mind that people who I know are MAGA cannot see the truth about what they are about to face. More so that they fell hook line and sinker for the lies.

msdobalina.bsky.social•48 days ago

The white evangelical Christians fell the hardest and most loyally for Trump and every single bigotry he stands for. If we somehow survive this with our democracy intact, we need to have a very honest, "out loud" conversation about that.

mdksun.bsky.social•47 days ago

We need to start taxing churches is what we need.

ceejaa.bsky.social•48 days ago

📌

juddburrows.bsky.social•48 days ago

Agree. Excellent summary of current status, and especially the election cycle. Meanwhile the GOP is operating from the pinnacle of entitled narcissism where they think they can define and dictate or even create the reality they desire through propaganda and lies.

xinrtj.bsky.social•48 days ago

Only half agree. Yes, the blizzard of propaganda is a huge problem. But saying ppl never have real concerns - essentially, they don’t know the circumstances of their own and I know better than them - is dangerous politically. For ex, yes it’s a good economy but inflation &

xinrtj.bsky.social•48 days ago

the insane cost of housing, esp in blue areas are real-world reasons it didn’t always seem like a good economy. Dems dismiss those problems at their peril.

kimbutgar.bsky.social•48 days ago

It’s all about lies and propaganda. And facts and truth don’t matter to a large segment of this country

msdobalina.bsky.social•48 days ago

I don't see how we come back from this. Hard not to see Trump 2.0 as a grim tipping point.

richkieffer.bsky.social•48 days ago

IT’S YOUR MESSAGES & MESSENGERS STUPID! 🙄

Will Rogers was right, “I'm not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat.” We have Trump because Old-Guard establishment leaders and strategists keep picking flawed presidential candidates and party leaders.

richkieffer.bsky.social•48 days ago

retemily.bsky.social•48 days ago

How do we make the system more equitable without completely smashing it?

digitmusic.bsky.social•48 days ago

NOT! It’s too simplistic and doesn’t take into consideration the power of propaganda.

danancona.bsky.social•48 days ago

It’s part of it, but there’s a little bit of a story doesn’t matter/it’s just building channels angle to this, and I don’t think that’s quite right

preciouslarue.bsky.social•48 days ago

Absolutely. What we are facing is unprecedented. We've had the robber class before and they did have propaganda outlets in the newspapers but it was centralized. We knew who the players were. Now, we have bot-farms, nation states, individuals, social media CEOs...it's going to take a new paradigm.

shanahstone.bsky.social•48 days ago

We are living in Germany 1933 when Hitler and the Nazis rose to power. A large segment of Americans are just here for the ride to fascism.

justjoddat.bsky.social•47 days ago

It doesn't matter, because politicians will always do what AIPAC wants.

mdksun.bsky.social•47 days ago

Israeli tail wagging USA dog, as always.

theirminsul.bsky.social•47 days ago

Lmao

Like Woke Cultism and pandering to the financial interests of billionaire class oligarchs who find the Democrats represents the priorities of the working class and public.

Delusional.

excannbiz.bsky.social•48 days ago

seems like a hopeless spot to be in

dennispcrawford.bsky.social•48 days ago

We need to blame the GOP and their fossil fuels allies for the fires. It has the virtue of being true..

trascal52.bsky.social•48 days ago

Perhaps not. But what should the Democrats be doing instead?

craigm2062.bsky.social•47 days ago

So this is what the good guys need?

chimbly.bsky.social•47 days ago

Wealthy elites cracked the code on America’s poorly educated decades ago. Libs might win back a fraction of this demographic by adopting the RW’s power-at-any-cost Machiavellianism, and then kicking it up a couple of notches.

Talk about a Pyrrhic victory: beating the RW by turning into the RW.

oksportsfans.bsky.social•48 days ago

The point is taken, yet it is important to fight for normalcy and those things that anchor civil society in the rule of law and democracy. While new tools and strategies may be needed to meet the moment, we can not cast aside the very things we are fighting for.

docpolitx.bsky.social•47 days ago

I agree! But please resist the siren call to bend your political strategy to cull the support of those who have strayed from the path of liberal democracy. We have a moral compass, and I for one am prepared to live and speak by it. A public policy based on compassion will always present itself.

judy-inthecloud.bsky.social•47 days ago

I read this as Americans are victims of our own success because we can afford to watch news/entertainment 24/7 & vote based on the fantasy and lies we see therein.

Democrats keep trying to puncture that bubble, but we contribute to it ourselves.

thiotrix.bsky.social•47 days ago

Alternative hypothesis: Message (mostly) doesn't matter. Some percentage of the electorate will always be unhappy with "the system" and will vote against the incumbent, regardless of party or message. This would explains the regular oscillation between Democrats and Republicans gaining power.

mdksun.bsky.social•47 days ago

Until now. From now on the system will be rigged so no Democratic majorities are possible again.

wufnik.bsky.social•48 days ago

And yet Senate Democrats decided--again--that Chuck Schumer was just the guy the needed as leader. There is no better indicator of how hopeless Democrats are these days.

frombembeltown.bsky.social•48 days ago

Sadly, yes 🫤

poet521x.bsky.social•48 days ago

Taking the high road has accomplished nothing. Time to take the low road

lbuschmann.bsky.social•47 days ago

The White House has been awkwardly silent about the incoming administration, the tech platforms owners, and all sorts of (rabid) statements and moves, incl. opening a sewage of hate speech on their platforms. The dems have not pushed back once. Even while in power. What’s wrong with the party?

teufelhunden0352.bsky.social•48 days ago

The old guard isn’t listening. Until you get rid of Pelosi, Schumer & they’re like you’re just spinning your wheels like hamsters.
What we really need are independents who work for & answer to their constituents instead of political parties that seek to push their agendas & answer to rich donors.

jbronkhorst.bsky.social•48 days ago

Lagging, sure, but also protecting simple decency. Too easy to ‘put the dirty fight to their doorstep’, there is a lot to be lost in this paradigm shift.

jeannejax.bsky.social•48 days ago

Someone please send these 6 skeets to the best Dem communicator of all time Pete Buttigieg.

Tell him we need a Shadow Cabinet as suggested by Timothy Snyder?

Tell him to implement Marc Elias’s suggestions.

If I had a direct connection, I’d reach out myself. Someone out there must.

jeannejax.bsky.social•48 days ago

https://www.democracydocket.com/opinion/building-the-opposition/

jeannejax.bsky.social•48 days ago

https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/shadow-cabinet?r=9dvys&utm_medium=ios

mdksun.bsky.social•47 days ago

American bigots twice have rejected a woman candidate for president. Likely a person of color will never again be elected president, the country is just too racist. And you expect a gay man, who will likely have his marriage nullified by Trump Court fiat very soon, to have a snowball’s chance?

epolaris6.bsky.social•48 days ago

We are still in stable times under Biden but it's about to change. I think Dems should not worry so much about "what they're doing wrong." If Trump succeeds in what he wants to do, priorities most likely will be changing and the "Biden years" will be yearned for.

ggegan.bsky.social•48 days ago

The new reality it that the most robust propaganda machine will rule the day. Biden and Harris held fast to the belief that the majority of Americans are capable of independently discerning truth from malevolent fiction, but their faith was misplaced. Democrats now must adapt with utmost urgency.

ceruleanman.bsky.social•48 days ago

It's the same in the UK. Misplaced trust.

riloburu.bsky.social•47 days ago

i don't think i agree. they pulled back on messaging about wealth inequality to push border security and distanced themselves from trans rights. they ran the same game in hopes that they could flip republicans and squandered momentum

dixonjoe78.bsky.social•47 days ago

Adam Curtis explained it all in 2016

https://youtu.be/AiQSw-TaC60?si=yQBeIuUZQQKaHFEZ

michalziom.bsky.social•48 days ago

Same in Poland and the rest of Europe.

atorger.bsky.social•47 days ago

Nah. European countries are very diverse, and so are its domestic politics. Sure, one can always point out Hungary, but otherwise I'd say that most countries in Europe has a more sane political climate than the US. In the Scandinavian countries one might even call politics boringly well-behaved.

michalziom.bsky.social•47 days ago

This used to be the case, but 2008 crisis and its aftermath destroyed that here as well. Slower, still it's happening. Hungary, Poland 2016-2023, Germany, Italy, Spain - the post-truth populists are getting strong here as well.

lorion70.bsky.social•48 days ago

SEE AND SHARE AND USE. @indivisible.org @crew.bsky.social @rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social @moveon.org @maddow.msnbc.com @gtconway.bsky.social @georgetakei.bsky.social

ghostymcghost.bsky.social•48 days ago

Ever since we suggested the concerns of minorities should be of equal concern to society, the people rightfully of value have been desperate to set things right and reassert whose concerns matter most. What they’ve lacked is a battering ram that kicks out endless excuses to do terrible things.

narrativediffusion.bsky.social•48 days ago

This is what happens when you use propaganda on your own people for decades when you should be inoculating the them against it instead. American policy makers love the ability to nudge their people into any direction they want. Well, others can too.

idlebandwidth.bsky.social•48 days ago

What’s the one thing you’d want Dems to copy from the GOP playbook?

angeltechnician.bsky.social•47 days ago

going for the throat when they're given any of the numerous chances they have to do so in public debates? this civility nonsense is getting people killed

bluejay207.bsky.social•48 days ago

A mouthful of pedagogic words will not protect those of us on the frontline

epluribusfractum.bsky.social•47 days ago

To paraphrase a recent pundit, as democracies are about sharing, our growing wealth imbalance makes having a functional democracy more and more implausible.

michaelneedscoffee.bsky.social•48 days ago

Yep.

pbidca.bsky.social•48 days ago

How can we describe the existing paradigm?

olturdbird.bsky.social•47 days ago

I'm done w Dems. They will not save democracy. They can't bring themselves to believe half of this country follows someone like traitortrumpityturd. Drms r sniveling useless do nothings in tge face of insurrection.

peterbromus.bsky.social•47 days ago

Couldn't have said it any better.

diehoren.bsky.social•48 days ago

I agree. American political life today is like trying to work out the best route home with a drunken man. He doesn't really want to go home, and his opinions about the route won't be helpful.

niezabitowski.com•48 days ago

We see the reality as we want it to be not as it really is.

balooney.bsky.social•47 days ago

Dems pitched their agenda under the assumption that the electorate is composed of adults with basic levels of understanding of the world and possessing basic decency. And apparently that was their big mistake in 2024.

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