mtutiger

It's existence really makes governing incredibly hard in this country, at least in the environment that exists today where passing even simple and relatively uncontroversial stuff like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill is like pulling teeth.

If Archie were to follow his rule on guns, then he'd probably refrain from commenting on HR1 since he clearly hasn't read the bill or absorbed what is actually in it.

This is a distinction without a difference if I've ever seen one.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: people focus so much on left/right bias that they seem blinded to the ways that access can bias journalists as well. Foreign policy is a great example... there's not a lot of daylight between the Jake Tapper or Josh Rogins of the world and the folks ago were largely in favor of staying in that country forever. So no, I don't think that journalists were particularly objective during that period.

Also, the car insurance rates of even the safest drivers are influenced by the idiots as well.

Without rehashing all this again, you will never convince me that, even with the most perfect, well executed withdrawal, Jake Tapper had the objectivity to not color his coverage with his editorial view on Afghanistan.

To this end, too, so much time is spent (not just here but also with Dem social media people) on theoretical scenarios that I worry that people aren't actually focused on, you know, actually winning elections.

I guess the thing that I'm pushing back on is the assumption that there is zero cost whatsoever to overriding majority rule. I dont ultimately know how it would play out in reality, but however it does, it won't be at zero cost. Especially since it'd effectively be the end of the Republic.

I wouldn't either.

Why? You really think CA shrugs its shoulders and moves on in that theoretical case?

The Bluetooth piece was a thing of beauty coming from the same folks who screamed about Hillary Clinton and data security back in 2016. Almost like they are creating stuff to complain about.

I dunno. But the day that a theoretical overturning of the Presidency happens, this country gets even harder to govern than it is now. And yeah, states like NY and CA and IL, are they gonna sit that debate out? Not that it was ever really possible (at least this time), but just try to imagine a world where Trump succeeded on 1/6. I dont think the other 83 million, plus all the states that voted for Biden, just sit meekly and take that. That appears to be a basic assumption I see whenever this debate comes up

If our Presidential Elections become meaningless, it's easy to see the United States becoming completely ungovernable.

And with regard to the bolded, on one hand, I probably feel as jaded as the rest of my millennial cohort on some of the progress, but that doesn't discount political reality.... like, if I set about from scratch trying to set up a form of government, the United States system wouldn't be the way I'd set it up. It's not a coincidence that countries like Germany and France, whose democracies post-WW2 we helped piece together, did not emulate us. But, this is the system we have. These are the institutions we have. And it wouldnt matter if Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren were President, they would have to deal with this system. No amount of complaining would change that. So yeah, with the political reality as it exists, Biden probably has played his hand as best he can. I have my complaints (mostly related to immigration issues and on the speed of addressing supply chain issues) but he has gotten a lot done. More than I think Bernie or Liz would have. But I dont know that people understand or recognize the realities of this system... the Presidency is a powerful institution, but they aren't kings or dictators.

Yet he never said that he would.

It means that there are a majority who would see the government as illegitimate. I have no idea what that would entail, but I think the assumption that people would just bend over and take that isn't a guarantee either.

Yup.

This is a really good and undervalued point in this discussion... the baby boomers were already on the precipice of retirement age and the pandemic merely hastened the impact of their departure from the workforce. This is especially true in my industry... I'd been hearing back to when I was in college about the amount of opportunities on the horizon by pursuing this career path because of looming retirements. And it hasn't disappointed. Also a good point... one that we have learned since becoming single income parents. Raising kids are not cheap, but the income sacrifice between a caregiver remaining in the workforce versus staying at home with kids maybe aren't incentive enough to stay in the workforce anymore when you factor in the price of child care, not to mention the availability of it.

Watching The Sopranos for the first time, almost through Season 3. How it took this long to sit down and watch this series, I'll never know. Its amazing.

Property Taxes in Texas are no joke... its not New Jersey or Illinois bad, but they are still pretty bad. In terms of cost of housing in Texas, we are lucky we purchased in 2016... Austin is already going the way of Seattle or LA in terms of housing cost. And unless something changes, DFW, where I live, will go that way as well.

Probably right. Luckily, we don't have snap elections in this country lol

Not just that, but just the pretending thr problem doesn't exist in general.... it comes across as out of touch. Not so much elected politicians on this front, but people on the left on social media and such. In terms of how long it goes on, it's not just gonna magically go away, the increases in CPI will taper month by month over time... from what I've read, getting down to 4% or less by Q2 next year would be a win at this point

This is a legitimate concern for sure.

I'm not arguing that he can't win... but I do think it's undeniable the fact that his image has somewhat leveled off right now because he's largely absent from the public view, and the moment he emerges in a big way again, it'll decline and he'll have the same liabilities he had in 2020. That doesn't mean that he can't win. I just think, image wise, he's at a high point because he's been largely out of public view.