Don't be rude (kidding). I've always argued that you have to complete an argument. Short replies always leads to lazy arguments. Most going the way of attacking the messenger rather then the argument.
Nothing personal here. You're not the only one that does it.
But people have a tendency to afford politicians with brilliance and inevitability when they do good stuff and 'mission impossible' when they don't measure up.
I rather just we given them their earned due. We need to stop worshiping politicians as the best since sliced bread when they do good things and when they fuck up and and clearly makes mistakes, call them out on it. And not argue personal traits and shit - that's weak. But rather policy stuff.
Example.
When Biden wrangled his hands about the idea of say student loan forgiveness, first stating he didn't have the authority to do it at all, which was wrong - he took some shit, but (and I'm not stating you) people (not here per say so this is not an underhanded way of attacking anyone in this community, if you did you know and I personally don't give a shit) immediately came to his side and said he just couldn't. For many reasons - they said he didn't have the authority (echoing his BS) or that he would take shit from rightwingers if he did etc. And then when it was clear how popular this was, he did it. He took shit, like we know he would and GOP made a point out of fighting him. But he has so far stuck to his guns, even after the high priests on the high court chimed in.
So, instead of defending stupid policy statements, he should have just fought the fight. People would attack him anyways, but it was popular with regular folks. And he did it, stuck with it and it is now a big positive in his belt.
I criticized him when he dragged his feet as it made him look indecisive and indifferent. And I applauded him for sticking with it and defended him for doing it. And ultimately if the program doesn't work out because GOP gets the political majority to stop it, or he lose in 2024 and the system is still dragging its feet, then I will always defend him for doing it. We don't control the future what ifs, but we control the now. Even if it fails, you should always fight the good fight. Because it is not about winning all the time or only doing shit if it is safe; sometimes you do it to show people that you are fearless in doing the right thing.
Just as a parallel. FDR was fearless in his fight to do the right thing. He even stated so in his famous speech about fear itself. But he didn't get everything done. And everything he did was not successful either. But we remember him for the fight and the vague notion of saving USAs economy with Keynesian economics, when it was arguably WW2 that got the ball truly rolling.
Politics isn't about doing all the right things, or getting all the policies done. It is about pointing the ship in the right direction. Who we are 20 years from now is determined many times just with words and movement politics. Not always with magic laws that fix everything. So sitting on your hands and refusing to fight for something might be very 90's politics, but in the waves from safe times to crisis times, you need more during crisis times. Great words, great actions but fearless movement politics.
Lets sidestep just for 20 seconds. What is Trump known for?
Any credible analysis of his years shows that he was a corrupt, psychopathic, xenophobic President and entirely incompetent. His cabinet reflected that and the incompetence due to it defined his admin. Yet his movement, Trumpism, sees him as a mover and shaker. That he did AMAZING fantastic things. Made the country great again, the oil flowed and everyone shook in their boots.
We know that is wrong, but 10 years from now there will still be a bunch of people who echo this nonsense.
That is politics.
Not individual laws. Not individual policies. Yes those are important. But there are thousands of laws on the books and most of us can only mentioned the big ticket items we think make USA unique. Like stuff in the constitution, feelgood stuff from the preamble, but individual laws in states that grease the machinery, doubtful.
But we do understand movement stuff that MADE laws happen.
Like the civil rights movement.
So why do people still think that Biden hasn't done a good job on the economy? After all, it is fucking booming with inflation going down, record low unemployment. Wages going up.
Well.
Because people still need to be sold on it. And Biden is really bad at selling it. He might be good on some stuff like labor and I think he has done an okay job overall. But politics is perception. And movements are not fueled by bureaucrats and bean counters.
I only bring peace. My arguments, as long and ranty as they can be is about me trying to avoid telling you to go fuck yourself. That is why I have nothing but scorn for people like Hey. They bring those arguments, I play by their rule.
But since I value you and everyone here - I try to explain myself, even if you just see a wall of text and all I see is a bunch of eye whites as you roll your eyes. C'est la vie.