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Fake American's avatar

"It is flat out hard. It only looks easy from a distance. What makes it hard is overcoming the negative aspects of human nature and groupthink."

This implies the center isn't the preferred haven for groupthink and complacency. In the instance of 10/7 the center seems to actually be energized to provide a solution for once while the right and left are throwing bombs. More often in recent times that is not the case. If the Republicans are the party of "no" then the center is the party of "can't" or at least "I can't be bothered."

While part of me thinks it is great the center is leading the charge because a long term and sustainable push to improve the situation might materialize for once, another part of me is extremely bitter that they can't be bothered on anything else. Does it literally take decapitating infants on livestreams to move the needle? Then the final, hopeless part of me remembers that it is still recent and the bill hasn't come due yet. We'll see how much appetite this holier than thou center has to make this happen come election day next year or even when hashing out the budget next month (if there is even a functioning Congress in place to do it).

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NLTownie's avatar

I can’t accept that the extreme anti-Israel contingent, complete with hang gliders on a poster, is the voice of the anything to do with “the left”. I think it’s the voice of the void between the ends of the horseshoe. Certainly, it could be where the anti-Semitism of the right overlaps the anti-Israeli views of what is being called the “extreme left”. I have never felt sympathetic to what some regard as the “classic” extreme left of the Marxist-Leninists.

I’ve always thought of myself as championing the left as generally defined as compassion and basic human kindness, of income distribution to achieve a more just society. How does social democracy devolve into cheering on the baby killers? If you take a horseshoe and extend the lines you get half of an infinity sign.

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R Mercer's avatar

It takes the situation getting so bad that something has to be done. Otherwise people will just suck it up, complain, and grind through their days.

Autocrats and oligarchs count on that. You can let things get bad and corrupt and oppressive so long as they don't get TOO bad, corrupt or oppressive... and if you turn the screws slowly enough, it can get pretty bad before the break point comes.

One of the realities is that the people will often turn on each other before they turn on the shitheads that are actually the problem.

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Bruce Brittain's avatar

Actually, the “shitheads” are the symptoms of the problem in D.C. The problem is a voter base untethered from reality who vote the shitheads into office. Our MAGA neighbors are responsible.

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R Mercer's avatar

There is a shared responsibility here.

People do vote this shitheads into office, but there are a lot of things going on that facilitate the shitheads being in position to get elected (and having the money and media support to get noticed and elected)... and who the particular shitheads are.

What most of these politicians don't realize is that they are easily replaceable. There are hundreds or thousands of people JUST LIKE THEM out there that would be able to fill their shoes, provided they get the necessary visibility and support.

This used to be provided by the GoP as an institution. Now a lot of it comes from the media and PACs.

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Bruce Brittain's avatar

Mostly agree. The media that makes MAGA voters possible is the large and profitable dis-information industry.

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R Mercer's avatar

It is this weird, almost incestuous cycle that just spins around and around and gets worse. It is kind of like dealing/using drugs.

It escalates because the dose that used to get you high no longer does.

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