I remember a provincial Green Party candidate that once promised a whole whack of expensive government programs (valid programs, to be sure) as well as a giant tax cut for everybody. That said, he also didn’t come close to winning. They’re usually a fringe party, and fringe parties in most countries tend to attract the kookier sorts alongside the genuine idealists with actual ideas as well as ideals.
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To build on this, a repeat of a previous post of mine, without the bits that no longer matter for the thread:
Well, here are seven things Biden has achieved, none of which would have happened with the Abominable Orange in White House, or the Republicans in control of the Senate.
- $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package
- $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package
- 41 federal judges appointed, highest number any president since Reagan has appointed in their first year (and over twice as many as Trump)
- Halt on federal executions, after Trump restarted them
- Rejoining the Paris Climate Accords, after Trump had America leave (and generally being worlds better than Trump on climate change and environment)
- Overturned the Trump ban on transgender folks in the military (and generally being unbelievably better towards sexual minorities than Trump or the Republicans)
- Oversaw massive reduction in unemployment
More recently, Biden has taken an active part in standing up against Russia’s unlawful war of conquest and planned cultural genocide in Ukraine, whereas Trump has never met a dictator whose boots he doesn’t want to lick.
I’d say all of this (and there’s more) should make it clear that Biden, while not a perfect or optimal choice, is essentially in every possible way so much better than The Former Guy that it’s not even funny any more.
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The line I tend to use is that voting isn’t marriage, it’s taking the bus. You don’t pick your soulmate, you get on the bus that will take you closer to the destination you want.
And outside of elections you work to push the destinations that matter to you. Bothsiders are usually people who either do NOTHING between elections and then whine that there aren’t any perfect options, or people who work really hard on issues and get frustrated that there are no perfect options. I have no sympathy for the former, and am endlessly exasperated with the latter.
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The author of the '94 crime bill a racist?!
I find Tara Reade and this big list of other women more trustworthy than the guy who gaslit the entire nation about 2000=1400 starting the day after he won the election.
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It’s telling that you had to bring up the Republicans.
Also, their choices in SC justices.
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Whenever people bring this up, they conveniently forget that the Black politicians and communities by and large supported the crime bill. It was right around the time the violent crime rates in the US peaked, and Black Americans were being disproportionally hurt by the amount of random and semi-random violence.
In hindsight, the law was unnecessary, some parts like the “three strikes” thing were just plain bad, and it ended being used and enforced in massively racist ways, but at the time it was a good-faith attempt to deal with a serious issue.
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I would add that it is the responsibility of political candidates to stop that nihilism too. If you don’t fight for every vote don’t be surprised if you lose. If you alienate a group who would normally vote for you, don’t be surprised if they don’t turn out on polling day.
Joe Biden seems to be doing a better job of understanding this than other people have, even if I would have preferred Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders to be POTUS.
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Can you explain how mentioning only the Democrats by name is “bringing up the Republicans”?
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In a story about a Republican politician? That’s the definition of on topic.
It’s telling that you call that telling.
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how about if i mention the green party since meija absolutely wasted his vote on that collection of uselessness. the only thing the greens have done over the past 22 years is help the republican death cult get a 6-3 majority on the supreme court aided and abetted by mitch maconnell. seriously, my feelings are that anything which favors or even advantages the death cult is automatically divorced from civilization. the death cult will destroy this country if they are not reined in by the democratic party. at this point in time, after everything that has happened, with everything the death cult has done, to do something which gives them aid or comfort is a sign of either willful blindness or a deliberate desire for destruction.
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@Blamp We have another PHD in Russian “whataboutism”, thank you for all your hard work. Check your mail for the “russian stooge” medal…
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fringe parties in most countries tend to attract the kookier sorts alongside the genuine idealists with actual ideas as well as ideals.
Mmmm hmmmm …
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I got really turned off by the local (not very democratic) socialist agenda when I realized the basic agenda was: “advocate for the death cult to create utter chaos and despair, and then swoop in to suggest socialism as an improvement”. Well, uh…there ya go!?
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I only poisoned him so that I could nurse him back to health! I swear!
Yeah this attitude on the toxic left pushed me away from it completely. People who apply the logic of novelists to the real world should stay out of politics imo.
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