Like that's a self dunk. Why did Democrats vote with Republicans? Why weren't they instantly executed? Why were such opportunists allowed in the party?

https://x.com/freedomrideblog/status/1853181474133995937

    • underisk [none/use name]
      ·
      edit-2
      22 days ago

      They’re more than willing to put pressure on the left leaning members, and work against their reelection. They just won’t do it to anyone who’s pushing for neoliberalism or for achieving anything they use to get elected. Manchin basically ran the party for a while and now he’s a republican.

    • SevenSkalls [he/him]
      ·
      22 days ago

      It did take the Republicans like 15 times to even name a Speaker, which was hilarious lol.

  • Wheaties [she/her]
    ·
    22 days ago

    A serious party would hold the vote anyway, and withhold campaign funding from party members that act against it.

    Clearly they don't hold bodily autonomy very highly, or they wouldn't be compromising on it.

  • GoodGuyWithACat [he/him]
    ·
    22 days ago

    Political parties in the US aren't really political parties, they're cash networks. People can vote how they want and they can't really get kicked out.

  • GnastyGnuts [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    22 days ago

    Democrats are a bottomless well of excuses. "We had a majority, but we re-created the two-party gridlock between ourselves!"

    Other classics:

    "We have a majority to extend the eviction moratorium, but not enough people showed up to votes!" (for liberals who don't understand why this is a bad excuse, "we could have done it but we just fucked off from work that day" is an excuse that gets you fired in any other profession. And it's not like the expiration of the eviction moratorium was a surprise or something, calendars exist and the date was known)

    "We have a majority to pass Biden's agenda, but the parliamentarian won't let us!" (this is a bad excuse because the parliamentarian can be unilaterally fired and hired at the whim of the senate majority leader, who was a democrat. And you can't say "well it would be wrong to set that precedent", because the republicans already did that shit under Bush)

    smuglord : "Do you understand how your own government works?"

    The only correct answer is "like shit. It works like shit."

    • Runcible [none/use name]
      ·
      edit-2
      22 days ago

      the parliamentarian is also a made up office that has no power and no one is beholden to them. It'd be like if I went and just gave them my opinion every day.

    • sevenapples@lemmygrad.ml
      ·
      22 days ago

      "We have a majority to extend the eviction moratorium, but not enough people showed up to votes!"

      Chat is this real

  • FlakesBongler [they/them]
    ·
    22 days ago

    smuglord: Have you ever considered that you just don't understand that our government is dogshit? Like absolutely just awful? But it's ours and we have to participate in it because if you don't, I will gladly sit by and watch you get shoved into an oven

  • infuziSporg [e/em/eir]
    ·
    22 days ago

    Do you want an answer to that?

    Because the Democratic Party is not a political program. The Democratic Party is a brand.

  • SacredExcrement [any, comrade/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    22 days ago

    These people do such a phenomenal job of fostering voter apathy

    "Vote for us and we'll do all these things!"

    "Ok but what about when you had the votes but didn't do all these things you said you would do?"

    "We didn't actually have the votes then even though those were our party members, because they voted with conservatives many times"

    "So what will make this time different?"

    "You're just a TRUMPANZEE FAN PUTLERBOT"

    It is never the fault of liberal politicians for failing to accomplish things, even when it is quite literally liberal politicians' fault for not doing things.

    • edge [he/him]
      ·
      22 days ago

      It's the voters' fault for not giving them a 51 60 100 vote supermajority obviously.

  • sisatici [he/him]
    ·
    22 days ago

    Listen here tankie.

    Utilising the power you gained is the peak dictator behaviour. Every dictator has done so. No wonder you want your government to do that.

    You need to do as little as possible to not be dictator. Less things you do, less of a dictator you are. IT'S POLITICS 101 YOU IGNORANT BUFFOON

    • Belly_Beanis [he/him]
      ·
      22 days ago

      Non-meme answer: both Republicans and Democrats have party whips (other parties in other countries, too, but talking about the US here). A whip is a member of the party who holds office in congress and there's one for both the House and Senate. They are appointed by leaders within the party.

      A whip's job is to make sure other party members vote alongside the party platform. They do this in a variety of ways, such as offering to make changes to bills or threatening to withhold election funds for a person's reelection. Their role is an enforcer. Party members who step outside of what the party wants voted on become targets of the whip's attention.

      This is generally seen as a full-time position and as such, whips may spend less time involved with congressional committees or drafting legislation. A whip and their staff will use most of their resources on enforcing party discipline.

      It's how you know Democrats are full of shit when they talk about "not having enough votes," even when their party occupies the most seats in congress. They have two whips whose full-time job is making sure everyone votes consistently with what the president and other party leaders want done. If a whip is ineffective at enforcing party discipline, the party can appoint a new whip immediately since it's not an elected position.

  • Runcible [none/use name]
    ·
    22 days ago

    "This is different than today in that the president is on record as being against a woman's right to choose"

  • TheDoctor [they/them]
    ·
    22 days ago

    Who was the Joe Manchin of that time period? There’s always however many are necessary to ensure gridlock.

    • FactuallyUnscrupulou [he/him]
      ·
      22 days ago

      Biden, Lieberman and Moynihan were all more than happy to defy the party line for their own interests. Dan Moynihan was particularly shitty about abortion rights, he accused women abortion activists of being bad for the party image.

      • edge [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        22 days ago

        The dumbest thing is the way the party treats politicians that defy it.

        Lieberman fucks with Obama's plans then gets primaried? The party supports his independent campaign to defeat their own nominee. Biden is an anti-abortion shithead among other things? Rewarded with the vice presidency then the presidency.

        It's one thing to have no morals or beliefs, but at least have some control of your "party", don't just let high up members defy you at every turn.

        Unless it's from the left of course, e.g. Bowman and Cori Bush.

        • Hexboare [they/them]
          ·
          22 days ago

          It's almost like these people are playing an important vole for the democrats

  • glimmer_twin [he/him]
    ·
    22 days ago

    “No, you see, even when we have power we’re too incompetent to use it for anything good! So we have your vote yeh?”

  • miz [any, any]
    ·
    22 days ago

    the purpose of a system is what it does

    • CloutAtlas [he/him]
      ·
      22 days ago

      >Rich, white, slaveowning males living on stolen land breaks away from the British Empire to create a country even more favourable for Rich white males

      >Nerds glorifying you to the point of godhood and preserving your hastily scrawled constitution to the death centuries later

      Fellas, why are we doing a communism when governance was perfected by people who considered Scandinavians """tawny"""??? Look at the outcome! The richest nation in the history of the planet! Only 2 political parties that overlap 90% of the time! A fundamental ideology that's impervious to time and amendments!

      They didn't want the poor masses holding power then, and the poor masses don't hold power now!

      They wanted the coloureds to be an underclass of serfs and servants then, and the coloureds are still largely serfs and servants now!

      They wanted imperialism and genocide then, and they're still doing imperialism and genocide now!

      They wanted women to be second class citizens then, and women are still second class citizens now!

      The rich wrote the laws then, and the rich still write the laws now!

      • miz [any, any]
        ·
        22 days ago

        reminded me of this

        Colonists steal native land and rename it Massachusetts. Centuries of exploitation, slavery, and war go by to establish white supremacist authority in the region. Henry David Thoreau is born. He goes to live in a shack his friend helped him build and his sister and mom helped him finance. The property is owned and controlled privately and administered by an evil slave-owning empire. His mom visits twice per week to give him pies and clean his socks. He regularly goes into town to buy food grown by exploited farm labor and probably slaves too.

        Thoreau: "Ah, untapped, unspoiled nature. Living off the land and writing fancy boy essays. I'm truly the master of my own destiny."