If Biden had been up there saying that about a political opponent … it would make headlines all over the world.
It’s like the “only Democrats have agency” thing.
When Democrats fuck up we’re like wow they really screwed up, look at these bad choices, they’re fucked up.
When Republicans fuck up we’re just like well yeah that’s what they do. You don’t get mad at the sun for setting or a fire burning. Sometimes we act like they’re just immutable forces of nature instead of human jerks.
We don’t really hold Republicans to any standards.
The difference, as a rule, is Democrats CARE what people say. Look at what happened with Al Franken. If he had been a Republican he would have said “It’s a joke, get over it.” and would be in office today.
They care to a point. Most people want a populist anti-elite approach to politics and messaging but that’s off limits. In reality, what you see is the following dynamic:
Republicans get their cues by testing various talking points on their base to see what sticks. They respond to the response of their base and double and triple down on the most popular. So in a sense get their policy cues from their base, but I left out one crucial thing: they’re extremely disingenuous about it because the talking points are mostly just culture war tabloid style outrage bait — moral panics filled with lies and half-truths. Still, to the common Republican voter, this seems like a dialogue.
Democrats could do the same thing but with real stuff. Even appeals to emotion are fine as long as you’re being truthful, because a lot of the time you need to meet people where they are. But Democrats do not talk to their voters at all, they despise them and feel entitled to their vote because hey, look how bad the Republicans are. But then where do they get the policy if they don’t talk to voters? Oh, why, the Republicans of course! They triangulate a “common sense” position between their ivory tower ideas (mostly just “civility”), the Republicans and the (pre-programmed) Republican base. Except for the populism, you see, because that’s “going low” and they’re going to be the adults in the room who “go high”.
I hate this worthless octogenarian club of a party, sometimes more than the Republicans.
(I apologize that this turned into a rant. I do want Dems to win, I just want them to stop being, you know, them.)
The biggest surprise for me is in how America just stands by and says nothing about it
If Biden had been up there saying that about a political opponent … it would make headlines all over the world.
Trump does it and his behaviour is so normalized that everyone just shrugs their shoulders and moves on.
These idiots in positions of power saying and doing whatever they want aren’t the problem … it’s everyone else who just accept it all.
It’s like the “only Democrats have agency” thing.
When Democrats fuck up we’re like wow they really screwed up, look at these bad choices, they’re fucked up.
When Republicans fuck up we’re just like well yeah that’s what they do. You don’t get mad at the sun for setting or a fire burning. Sometimes we act like they’re just immutable forces of nature instead of human jerks.
We don’t really hold Republicans to any standards.
The difference, as a rule, is Democrats CARE what people say. Look at what happened with Al Franken. If he had been a Republican he would have said “It’s a joke, get over it.” and would be in office today.
They care to a point. Most people want a populist anti-elite approach to politics and messaging but that’s off limits. In reality, what you see is the following dynamic:
I hate this worthless octogenarian club of a party, sometimes more than the Republicans.
(I apologize that this turned into a rant. I do want Dems to win, I just want them to stop being, you know, them.)