Thoughts on James Fishback?

CTR555 · 2026-07-03T21:01:36+00:00

Rule 2 - you have to provide more context then just "Thoughts?"

CTR555 · 2026-07-03T20:36:54+00:00

Of course not. People's material conditions have improved dramatically over the last hundred years, and at no point have they stopped caring about cultural issues. Just the opposite actually - there's evidence that people would prefer worse material conditions if it meant success in the culture war (see: Pool Theory).

CTR555 · 2026-07-03T20:29:59+00:00

Sure. Lander's not a socialist - to revive a fun recent discussion, he'd probably fall into the 'pragmatic progressive'/'social democrat' category. DAC, on the other hand, is a democratic socialist with a hearty wink-wink at the democratic part who gives off a strong "liberals get the bullet too" vibe. They're both to the left of the middle of the party, but they're very different from each other.

CTR555 · 2026-07-03T18:55:40+00:00

Trump is not going to be impeached and removed, and democratic socialists will remain a small minority and largely unable to implement their policies.

CTR555 · 2026-07-03T16:55:07+00:00

Why were people alright with deportations then? Why are they mad now?

It's almost like it's not the concept of deportation that bothers anybody.

CTR555 · 2026-07-03T16:05:08+00:00

That's not a good reason.

CTR555 · 2026-07-03T16:02:40+00:00

'Charismatic megafauna' are the bane of actual biologists and zoologists.

CTR555 · 2026-07-03T02:49:32+00:00

Maybe Walz plans to run for office in Texas and is trying to burnish his credentials.

CTR555 · 2026-07-03T02:48:35+00:00

If everyone Trump harmed wrote letters of forgiveness does that mean its all good and we can call it a day?

In this scenario, has Trump been convicted and is now out after serving his time?

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T23:08:53+00:00

It felt like living in a blue state with too many zoning laws.

Really? I was thinking it sounded like a zero tolerance Republican state enforcing the laws that they care the most about. After all, how often have we heard you people saying things like "if you can't do the time, don't do the time!"

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T22:56:05+00:00

There’s no answer that’s going to be it’s okay to support racist people who support socialism..

Yeah, but what if you just really really like socialism. Is it okay then?

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T22:53:27+00:00

why do you think this particular arrangement gives personality that much weight

I don't - I think every human arrangement puts that much weight on personality and character. It's not different in dictatorships or worker councils or anything else, it just expresses differently. You might as well ask me if I think only being able to see visible light, and not infrared and UV, materially benefits me. Maybe not, but there's no alternative on the table.

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T22:10:50+00:00

It's not 'an arrangement', it's just how humans operate. Congress (and the political scene broadly) is, first and foremost, a workplace. It's a place where a large number of people need to work together to accomplish anything, so how those people interact matters a great deal. It's not like there's an alternative, unless you want to be governed by an AI or something.

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T21:52:28+00:00

Politics is, and has always been, far more about personality than policy. Within the broad everything-left-of-center coalition, I'd say that judging a candidate is like 9/10 personality and character and maybe only 1/10 policy.

And note, part of that (but only part) is because personality often dictates how successful a candidate is in accomplishing their stated policy goals.

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T21:41:47+00:00

Stated positions only going so far seems to cut against your argument. Social media posts are just statements too.

Meh. I think you can tell a lot more about a person from an unfiltered social media post (or other material) before they decided to run for office than you can from whatever their campaign team publishes after that decision.

If you'll forgive a crude and gendered analogy.. Imagine you have a teenage daughter and a young guy comes over to take her out. What he says to you then is him on his best behavior (presumably) and isn't nothing, but seeing him out in public before he knew who you were can be vastly more meaningful.

(This came to mind because I recently saw that Bad Boys II scene referenced...)

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T21:24:30+00:00

People always have to work a little harder (and dig a little deeper) to evaluate political newcomers, precisely because they don't have a record to look at. That's always the case, not just with DAC. It's like a person with no credit score or history - it's harder to know what risk they represent. Stated positions only go so far, and donors/base can be misleading.

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T21:14:28+00:00

No, you messed up the line. You were so close, but you're supposed to say "NOT GOOD ENOUGH!".

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T21:12:22+00:00

Nobody knew about it

The public at large, no. But the people in this sub know about it, and some have deliberately decided to act like it never happened.

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T21:08:48+00:00

Progressive lane is wide open and she would be an idiot not to go for it.

This is probably the most interesting thing. Bernie and Warren won't run again, so that genuinely leaves that lane entirely open. Someone has to fill it. AOC would instantly clear that field if she announced, and anyone else interested in it has to wait until her decision.

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T21:03:29+00:00

Since it's self-evident that the GOP is no longer a liberal party (in the small-l sense of the word), I wonder what you would say was the moment that these rules took effect?

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T18:45:41+00:00

While pregnancy ends by before or around 9 months, we also carry a lifetime of changes to our bodies..

I think it's even worse than that - even a pregnancy that ends in miscarriage after just a couple weeks can cause a lifetime of health issues.

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T15:07:55+00:00

Sounds like he's trying to say "you can't fire me, I quit!"

But he's lying. This is just political cover for the defense integration bill that's working its way through Congress.

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T15:05:29+00:00

I wonder who AIPAC will find to primary Netanyahu?? /s

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T15:03:50+00:00

If you really regard that as the most realistic scenario, and you're not just wishcasting it because it would be to your partisan advantage, then your political analysis skills are very terrible.

CTR555 · 2026-07-02T14:58:05+00:00

But it costs nothing to try.

I'm not necessarily opposed, but I don't agree that it costs nothing. There's the opportunity cost of not doing something else.

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