I am not going to reply to everybody. But most of the comments - yours too - underline my point.
For me, politics is about creating something better together. Alienating others in the way that’s being expressed here achieves absolutely nothing. It creates no improvement, only more hatred and division.
One big problem with American politics is the polarization between the individuals who should be collaborating. You too are part of the problem with this approach and almost every comment in this thread is just fuel for the fire for someone else.
This is some enlightened Centrist bullshit and you know it.
When someone has been instrumental in the dismantling of democracy in this country, you don’t get to play the “be nice!” card. There is no meeting in the middle with guys like him.
When one side is pushing the extremes, is it really fair to meet in the new middle?
Mr. McConnell’s legacy is the exact opposite of “creating something better together.” That you cannot acknowledge this shows how little you understand politics in the USA.
For me, politics is about creating something better together. Alienating others in the way that’s being expressed here achieves absolutely nothing. It creates no improvement, only more hatred and division.
If politics is about creating something better together, then alienating others in the way that Mitch McConnell did over the course of his entire career achieves absolutely nothing. It creates no improvement, only more hatred and division.
If it hadn’t become clear LONG AGO that if you play politics by the rules you’ll lose every single time, then your appeal to the better angels of our nature would hold. As it stands, we all suffer because RBG appealed to respect and decorum. We all suffer because Obama appealed to respect and decorum. We all suffer because James Comey appealed to respect and decorum. Hell, we all suffer because LBJ appealed to respect and decorum. We suffer because people on the left have spent decades fighting political battles with white gloves on. We reach a hand across the aisle and have a knife inserted into our spinal column.
Mitch McConnell succeeded beyond his wildest dreams because when he sensed blood in the water, he acted with ice in his veins. He abandoned all pretense to get whatever he wanted at every turn, naysayers and opponents be damned. He paved the road of his career with the guts of his enemies and never hesitated to lie, cheat, or steal to gain and maintain power, and we will all spend the rest of our mortal lives living with the ramifications of his actions.
Look around, Helen. American politics can’t get much worse, so if it’s a bloodsport they want, it’s a bloodsport they’ll get.
edit: How very, very convenient that you don’t even live in the US and so you’ll never be directly affected by Mitch McConnell’s actions and have the luxury of finger-wagging at those of us mired in his shit, all the way from the other side of the fucking ocean. How very convenient indeed.
Look around, Helen. American politics can’t get much worse, so if it’s a bloodsport they want, it’s a bloodsport they’ll get.
If you think the answer is to be as morally bankrupt as you think your opponent is, you are ignoring your own supposed values.
edit: How very, very convenient that you don’t even live in the US and so you’ll never be directly affected by Mitch McConnell’s actions and have the luxury of finger-wagging at those of us mired in his shit, all the way from the other side of the fucking ocean. How very convenient indeed.
Your are right. But American politics have a way of being everyone’s business and influence a lot of people - people from the EU included. I see this influence on our political system, and it is not pretty. The idea about not playing by any rules is just sad; if you have no compass you are truly lost and don’t really work for anything.
Side note: I am amazed that you think my nationality excludes me from having an opinion on this. It highlights the problem with a community called ‘politics’ on lemmy.****world only about American politics - and apparently only for Americans.
Nobody is saying you can’t have an opinion on it. They’re saying that the ignorance of your opinion is explained by that fact that this asshole’s boot isn’t on your neck.
If you think the answer is to be as morally bankrupt as you think your opponent is, you are ignoring your own supposed values.
This isn’t about values, it’s about winning. I gave up on values because all it got me was a bunch of symbolic but futile victories. My wife’s life is in danger, my black friends are having their history rewritten, and my gay friends now have to worry about the validity of their marriage thanks to values-oriented thinking. I’m fucking done with that chapter. From now on I only care about what I can win for them.
Your are right. But American politics have a way of being everyone’s business and influence a lot of people - people from the EU included. I see this influence on our political system, and it is not pretty. The idea about not playing by any rules is just sad; if you have no compass you are truly lost and don’t really work for anything.
Nice of you to say when you’re not living under the yoke of people who won with no principles and no values. Meanwhile in this world…
Side note: I am amazed that you think my nationality excludes me from having an opinion on this. It highlights the problem with a community called ‘politics’ on lemmy.****world only about American politics - and apparently only for Americans.
The beauty of free speech is that you can have an opinion on this, and I can have an opinion on your opinion. Namely that it’s bullshit and irrelevant. But keep spouting by all means. Meanwhile I’ll wipe the blood off my wife’s uterus and try to figure out the next tactical step I can take to keep her safe. Hope the scene’s not too gruesome from your moral high horse.
Final edit for clarification: You want to discuss non-US politics in this community? Then post a story about non-US politics. I notice you’ve posted exactly nothing, yet you’re here complaining that everything is US-centric. When you eventually do come up with something relevant and interesting, as soon as I show up to finger wag about what I think you should believe about your own country and leaders, feel free to tell me to take a long walk off a short pier. Until that time, both you and I are limited by the submissions that get posted, and which thus far have been US-specific. Unfortunately (for you) that’s how a crowd-sourced forum works. If you’re not part of the crowd, you have to engage with whatever content the crowd wants you to see. Don’t like it? Oh well!
I will not be shamed into being civil to people who are literally trying to get me killed. You may think this is hyperbole but for women who have even intermittently functioning uteruses, the rollback of Roe v Wade can get you killed. Get an ectopic pregnancy or certain kinds of complications in the wrong state and the doctors will delay or even refuse treatment. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if we started seeing violent attacks by grieving widowers and orphans.
You are never getting that from Mitch McConnell, or any other Republican holding office for that matter, because they’re not even in the same zip code of what your view of politics is. They want to create something that makes them and the people that donate to them rich. More recently, part of them have turned straight fascist.
I would love to have a sane other side to negotiate with, but as a Millennial there has never been a sane other side. Only these profiteering nut bags that have courted the kind of people who want to see anyone who is not a straight, white male of Christian faith heavily restricted by rule of law.
I am not going to reply to everybody. But most of the comments - yours too - underline my point.
For me, politics is about creating something better together. Alienating others in the way that’s being expressed here achieves absolutely nothing. It creates no improvement, only more hatred and division.
One big problem with American politics is the polarization between the individuals who should be collaborating. You too are part of the problem with this approach and almost every comment in this thread is just fuel for the fire for someone else.
This is some enlightened Centrist bullshit and you know it.
When someone has been instrumental in the dismantling of democracy in this country, you don’t get to play the “be nice!” card. There is no meeting in the middle with guys like him.
When one side is pushing the extremes, is it really fair to meet in the new middle?
Mr. McConnell’s legacy is the exact opposite of “creating something better together.” That you cannot acknowledge this shows how little you understand politics in the USA.
If politics is about creating something better together, then alienating others in the way that Mitch McConnell did over the course of his entire career achieves absolutely nothing. It creates no improvement, only more hatred and division.
If it hadn’t become clear LONG AGO that if you play politics by the rules you’ll lose every single time, then your appeal to the better angels of our nature would hold. As it stands, we all suffer because RBG appealed to respect and decorum. We all suffer because Obama appealed to respect and decorum. We all suffer because James Comey appealed to respect and decorum. Hell, we all suffer because LBJ appealed to respect and decorum. We suffer because people on the left have spent decades fighting political battles with white gloves on. We reach a hand across the aisle and have a knife inserted into our spinal column.
Mitch McConnell succeeded beyond his wildest dreams because when he sensed blood in the water, he acted with ice in his veins. He abandoned all pretense to get whatever he wanted at every turn, naysayers and opponents be damned. He paved the road of his career with the guts of his enemies and never hesitated to lie, cheat, or steal to gain and maintain power, and we will all spend the rest of our mortal lives living with the ramifications of his actions.
Look around, Helen. American politics can’t get much worse, so if it’s a bloodsport they want, it’s a bloodsport they’ll get.
edit: How very, very convenient that you don’t even live in the US and so you’ll never be directly affected by Mitch McConnell’s actions and have the luxury of finger-wagging at those of us mired in his shit, all the way from the other side of the fucking ocean. How very convenient indeed.
If you think the answer is to be as morally bankrupt as you think your opponent is, you are ignoring your own supposed values.
Your are right. But American politics have a way of being everyone’s business and influence a lot of people - people from the EU included. I see this influence on our political system, and it is not pretty. The idea about not playing by any rules is just sad; if you have no compass you are truly lost and don’t really work for anything.
Side note: I am amazed that you think my nationality excludes me from having an opinion on this. It highlights the problem with a community called ‘politics’ on lemmy.****world only about American politics - and apparently only for Americans.
Nobody is saying you can’t have an opinion on it. They’re saying that the ignorance of your opinion is explained by that fact that this asshole’s boot isn’t on your neck.
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This isn’t about values, it’s about winning. I gave up on values because all it got me was a bunch of symbolic but futile victories. My wife’s life is in danger, my black friends are having their history rewritten, and my gay friends now have to worry about the validity of their marriage thanks to values-oriented thinking. I’m fucking done with that chapter. From now on I only care about what I can win for them.
Nice of you to say when you’re not living under the yoke of people who won with no principles and no values. Meanwhile in this world…
The beauty of free speech is that you can have an opinion on this, and I can have an opinion on your opinion. Namely that it’s bullshit and irrelevant. But keep spouting by all means. Meanwhile I’ll wipe the blood off my wife’s uterus and try to figure out the next tactical step I can take to keep her safe. Hope the scene’s not too gruesome from your moral high horse.
Final edit for clarification: You want to discuss non-US politics in this community? Then post a story about non-US politics. I notice you’ve posted exactly nothing, yet you’re here complaining that everything is US-centric. When you eventually do come up with something relevant and interesting, as soon as I show up to finger wag about what I think you should believe about your own country and leaders, feel free to tell me to take a long walk off a short pier. Until that time, both you and I are limited by the submissions that get posted, and which thus far have been US-specific. Unfortunately (for you) that’s how a crowd-sourced forum works. If you’re not part of the crowd, you have to engage with whatever content the crowd wants you to see. Don’t like it? Oh well!
I will not be shamed into being civil to people who are literally trying to get me killed. You may think this is hyperbole but for women who have even intermittently functioning uteruses, the rollback of Roe v Wade can get you killed. Get an ectopic pregnancy or certain kinds of complications in the wrong state and the doctors will delay or even refuse treatment. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if we started seeing violent attacks by grieving widowers and orphans.
You wouldn’t happen to be a white, cis, male, would you? I ask because you seem to have a somewhat abstract concept of what politics is.
You are never getting that from Mitch McConnell, or any other Republican holding office for that matter, because they’re not even in the same zip code of what your view of politics is. They want to create something that makes them and the people that donate to them rich. More recently, part of them have turned straight fascist.
I would love to have a sane other side to negotiate with, but as a Millennial there has never been a sane other side. Only these profiteering nut bags that have courted the kind of people who want to see anyone who is not a straight, white male of Christian faith heavily restricted by rule of law.
deleted by creator