If There Was A Single Thing That Cost The Dems The Election, It Was This

This election has truly been a rout for the Democrats.  Now the Republicans basically hold all of the cards, as they now fully dominate all three branches of government for the first time in literally decades.  And on November 5th, it looked like the Dems had it in the bag.  So what the hell went wrong?

It was a number of things, to be sure.  But the increasingly neoliberal, out-of-touch, and yes, elitist mainstream wing of the Democratic party came to utterly dominate the party in recent years while sidelining the genuine progressives like Bernie Sanders et al.  And if there was ONE decision they made that truly cost them the election, it was the conscious choice to allow the expanded child tax credits (a sort of "mini-UBI" in place during the pandemic) to expire, without extending or replacing them with something similar or better (like UBI for all).  This program, which cut child poverty rates in HALF while they were in place, was truly a resounding success by any rational measure, but child poverty and hunger then predictably rebounded after they were allowed to expire.  Yes, you read that right.

The Dems were apparently too hung up on identity politics and other wedge issues to embrace true economic progressivism.  They were basically blinded by their own class privilege, in other words.  So "woke" they were, that they sleepwalked into defeat.

Not that this actually justifies anyone voting for Trump or Republicans, of course.  Everyone should have known by now that he is a grifter, grafter, racist, rapist, insurrectionist, convicted felon, misogynist, serial liar, hothead, and madman.  But when people are hungry, and grocery and other prices are high on the heels of the worst inflation in four decades (even as it is finally abating), and a conman is promising everyone "a chicken in every pot", while the opposing party seemed to be out to lunch in that regard, or at least not nearly progressive enough on economic issues, such people may not vote rationally.  Most who voted for Trump would have voted for him regardless, but there were enough fence-sitters at the margins that genuinely voted with their wallets.

In other words, "it's the economy, stupid".  At least for the non-trivial fence-sitters who swung this election, it was.  Hindsight is truly 2024.  The Dems absolutely must remember this next time.  That is, IF there even IS a next time at all, of course.  Which, with the way things are going, is by no means guaranteed. 

This November's Election Is For All The Marbles

With President Biden officially dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, and VP Kamala Harris the most likely candidate in his place, the 2024 election just got that much more interesting.  This is of course right on the heels of the recent (and mysterious) assassination attempt on Trump (which we condemn, of course), which has apparently elevated him to "martyr" status among his cult-like base.  

Make no mistake, this election is for ALL the marbles.  And not just because the Donald has lost his marbles (he lost them long ago), but because the stakes are even higher still this time around.  A vote for Trump (or a vote for any third party candidate, or not voting at all) is effectively a vote for Project 2025, the latest Republican agenda, which would lead America into Margaret Atwood's worst nightmare.  What they are proposing is downright horrifying to say the least!  And it is also a vote for the Trump-Putin-Xi-Kim Axis of Evil as well.  Some may say that this election is essentially a choice between World War III and Civil War 2.0, but we think that Trump winning would make it that much more likely that we will get the two-for-one special, barring a miracle of miracles.

And to those who say that their vote doesn't count because it is rigged and the outcome is predetermined, keep in mind that such a thing really only happens when the election is close, and it becomes that much HARDER to cheat when the election is not close.  We still haven't gone so far down the rabbit hole of kleptocracy that we have full banana republic sham elections--YET.  (Though if Trump wins, he could very easily make that the case in the future.)  And if everyone who was eligible to vote actually voted, Trump (and the Republicans in general) really wouldn't stand a chance.

The lesson that should have been learned in 2016:  if you make the perfect the enemy of the good, we ultimately end up with neither. Seriously. 

P.S.  To all of the young(-ish) Trump supporting men out there who are still smug about Project 2025 because of your gender, race, etc., read the fine print.  One of the things on the agenda is to bring back the military draft.  Seriously.  That means YOU too.  So maybe you might want to reconsider which candidate, and party, you are willing to support.  And to all of the Serena Joy-esque self-hating misogynists out there, who think they personally will be spared, well, remember what ultimately happens to Serena in Atwood's novel.  Don't say you haven't been warned!

Like the song "Freewill" by Rush goes, "if you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."

Vote Blue, Like Your Life Depends On It!

We cannot emphasize this enough.  This one is for all the marbles, folks.  If we win, we will see the very first glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel that is America's long dark night of the soul.  If we lose, well, it's safe to say that all bets are off at that point.

The TSAP is of course neither Republican nor Democrat, and is clearly not a big fan of either corporate duopoly party in fact.  But we saw what happened in 2016 when too many people made the perfect the enemy of the good:  they ultimately ended up with neither.  And now Trump and the GOP are hell-bent on destroying for fun and profit what is left of everything that's still good about America.  So much damage is already done, but if the anticipated Blue Tsunami washes away the Red Tide that is currently drowning this country, there will at least be some hope of reversing it.  If not, the damage will most likely be irreversible at that point.

Thus, either the GOP suffers irreversible damage and essentially does seppuku, or America does.  The choice is ours, and we only get ONE SHOT this time.  This is literally a once in a lifetime opportunity to take our country back.  Republicans most likely will cheat as usual, but remember that cheating only works in close elections, not in landslides.

So get out there and VOTE BLUE like your life depends on it.  Because in many ways, it really does.

The GOP's October Surprise Gift to the Democrats

On October 6, 2018, Judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed by the Senate as a US Supreme Court Justice despite the cloud of suspicion hanging over him concering his accusation of attempted rape, his dubious judicial record, and his repeated lying under oath about his rather checkered past.  All but one Republican, Lisa Murkowski, voted in favor, and all but one Democrat, Joe Manchin, voted against his confirmation.

The Republicans are now gloating in their victory, of course, but that victory will soon prove temporary since the voters will remember in Novemeber.  This very foolish move on the GOP's part will come back to haunt them in the form of the Blue Wave--scratch that, the Blue Tsunami--when the Democrats take back both houses of Congress by a landslide, and not a moment too soon either.  And then Kavanaugh can finally be impeached for lying under oath (aka perjury), followed by Trump and his deplorable cronies (including Pence) as well.

What, you doubt that?  Well, we can make it happen if we get out and VOTE on Novemeber 6, just one month from now and less than a week after Halloween.  Hopefully our ever-shortening attention spans in the age of Facebook and Twitter will last that long.

"Remember, remember, the 6th of November."

Trumpcare 2.0 Passes The House

Well, the Rethuglicans finally did it.  On May 4, 2017, they passed a new and even crueler version of Trumpcare in the House.  Apparently it was cruel enough to win over the arch-conservatives, since it guts Medicaid and throws people with pre-existing conditions and chronic conditions under the bus.  It will ultimately result in roughly 24 million people losing their healthcare coverage if it becomes law.

Fortunately, though, it does not seem likely to pass the Senate.  Thus the Senate is working on their own milder version of it to appease the moderates, which means that if it passes, they will still have to hammer out the differences between the two bills.  It's either alienate the moderates to appease the conservatives, or alienate the conservatives to appease the moderates.   And that will likely be the sort of catch-22 that ultimately kills Trumpcare once and for all.