I cannot even disagree with that.
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What really scares me is the thought that anything Biden does will cost him those critical votes. Supporting Israel is going to cost him votes. Doing nothing at all is going to cost him votes. Supporting a ceasefire is going to cost him votes.
And this isn’t even about votes.
In a sane world, the president of the most powerful nation on earth would have options, such as…
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There was a time not long ago when it felt like we could criticize the President we voted for, and are planning to vote for again, without that criticism risking his chances of re-election. I can remember criticizing a lot of what Obama did and didn’t do in his first term. I criticized him not doing more to push for single payer healthcare system. I criticized him for his use of drone strikes in Iraq and Afghanistan. I criticized him for not ended those conflicts. I criticized him for not following through on his campaign promise of more transparency in government. And not once did I ever feel like criticizing him over those things was risking his chances of re-election.
Trump and the looming, very real, presence of fascism in this country has changed everything. And I don’t mean that we shouldn’t criticize Biden. I mean that every time I do, I find myself wondering, “Am I hurting his chances of re-election? Is someone going to read this and decide to not vote for him?” And I think the same thing when I read anyone else’s criticisms. And this probably isn’t rational. I don’t think my comments have that much power, and I doubt if any of yours do, either. The media, though…that’s another beast entirely. They should absolutely criticize him. But they also need to do what we in here do, and praise him when he deserves that, and I don’t see a lot of that happening in mainstream media, and that scares me.
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Ditto and ditto. It is truly exhausting.
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I’m pretty sure that the Administration saying “We’re not drawing red lines for Israel.” in October 27th was a huge mistake in foreign policy, trying to save lives, and not losing votes domestically.
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Biden’s historic student debt relief:
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It was a red line for plenty of people. I can’t imagine Palestinian Americans voting for him.
Why. Is. He. Still. In. This. Job.
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Because Biden doesn’t have the power to fire him. The USPS is an independent agency. The Postmaster General is technically appointed by the USPS Board of Governors, and only they can fire him. The President does appoint the Board of Governors, but he can’t remove them. Back when Obama was President, the Senate, then led by our wonderful friend Mitch McConnell, refused to confirm a couple of appointments, and the Board ended up not even having a quorum for a few years, until Trump became President, and he filled those positions. That Board then hired DeJoy. Biden has now appointed five of the current Board with three Democrats, one Independent, and one Republican. No more than five of one political party can be on the Board at one time. There are currently two vacancies, which I assume Republicans in the Senate are holding up. Both of them could be filled by Democrats, which would likely give them the votes to remove DeJoy. But right now, they probably don’t have the votes to remove him.
ETA: The whole point of the way it’s set up is to insulate the USPS from politics. But that only works when the Senate acts in good faith to confirm appointees. McConnell hasn’t, and so we have a highly partisan, politicized USPS.
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Yeah, I know… 
I’m just angry that this destructive asshole is STILL trying to fuck up one of the most effective public institutions in the country… say what you want, but dropping a letter in a mailbox, and it will get to it’s place in a couple of days…
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And it will get there no matter where there is. It might take a little longer, but the USPS will even deliver to remote, rural, sparsely populated areas. When the GOP was talking about privatizing mail delivery a few years ago, that was really what killed it. Amazon does a pretty good job delivering things, but they won’t deliver everywhere, and we can’t make them. Hell, even now, Amazon relies on the USPS to make some of their deliveries. The USPS is a great example that the government is not, by default, worse than private industry at doing things.
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Cause good public services to fail - say they’re worthless and privatize them at a higher price - no universal services- and no unions. Good luck getting mail in rural areas!
Rinse & repeat.
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(Reuters reprint)
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It’s a start. Research indicates the appropriate threshold for protecting trees is at 90 years, not 150 years, but this represents progress.
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Merry Holidays!
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