I don't hate the left like some might think, I am however concerned about where the Dems have been headed. That's not to say I think the right is right about everything either, but I'd say brakes right now would be better than seeing how fast the car can go on a bumpy windy road.

Giving people what they want rarely leads to them changing. Most people need to be pushed towards change in some manner. The more power someone is given, the less likely they are to change. Putting someone into power, and assuming they'll change afterwards, is highly unlikely, though not impossible.

Hmh. Nah. Sorry, but what you're doing with that post is extremely transparent and (hopefully) everyone can see what you're doing here.

Holy crap.  I've been ignoring the whole Biden sexual assault thing.  But now there's contemporary evidence.



Apparently the date lines up with when Tara Reade, Biden's accuser, left Washington and her mother did indeed live in San Luis Obispo at the time.  It doesn't corroborate the charge she made about penetration, but it very much backs up that something happened and the capital stonewalled her.  Before the best evidence was that two interns recalled that Reade was removed as their supervisor around that time.

Unless there's a very good explanation coming up, this qualifies as some compelling evidence.

It's not "shaming." It's holding people accountable for their actions. Has society really gotten to the point where the concept of personal responsibility is dead and replaced with a paradigm where criticism=shaming? Also, pot, I'd like to introduce you to kettle. I mean, are you really trying to turn this back around on me an accuse me of somehow diminishing the plight of rape victims? If so, that's pretty low. I really hope I'm misinterpreting your intent, because if I'm not this will be the last time I discuss anything political with you.

Going back to that accountability thing, progressives that did not vote for Gore were a primary contributor to Bush's victory. Progressives that did not vote for Hillary in 2016 were a primary contributor to Trump's victory. They may have rightfully looked in horror at everything Bush and Trump did, but they cannot absolve themselves of contributing to their victories. They are responsible for their actions and the consequences of those actions. They have an obligation and a responsibility to be aware of the spoiler effect, to be aware that if their state is a swing state that the vote will be very close and thus their vote matters even more than most, and to be aware of what the potential consequences of voting third-party or staying at home are. I don't care if they felt that it would put a stain on their souls if they compromised some of their values and voted for a moderate Democrat (and it's funny that we berate the GOP for refusing to compromise with the Dems when some of us cannot even bring ourselves to compromise with moderate Democrats). Refusing to vote for a Democrat that fails a progressive litmus test helps put Republicans in office. Pointing that out is not shaming or guilt-tripping over some abstraction. It's a simple mathematical fact. (And, yes, as a two-time Obama voter I believe I share responsibility for anything bad he did, even if I did not approve of it, though I firmly believe that his tenure was an overwhelming net positive for America and the world.)

Elections have consequences. They are not a mere trifle. This election, like every one before it, will shape the future of America. The lives and livelihoods of 330 million Americans and billions around the world are at stake. The ramifications of a second Trump term are staggering: four more years of continued inaction on climate, possible war with Iran, further attacks on freedom of speech, of the press, of reproductive choice, and of the right to vote, continued incompetence in the face of current and any near-future national crises, and a near-certain conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court for upward of the next 20 years (depending on how long Thomas and Alito remain on the bench), among other outcomes neither of us want. A Democrat in the White House means those things won't happen. It's not conjecture. It's a fact. The idea that the Democrats are somehow just Republican Lite is a claim that has no basis in reality. They may not be a social democratic party in the vein of various center-left parties in Europe, but in both word and deed they are clearly well to the left of the GOP, and as I said both the party and its base are moving increasingly leftward, slowly but surely. The Democratic Party, and our political system in general, does need fixing, but progressives sitting at home or voting third-party because they're sore that most primary voters didn't agree with them on who should be the nominee is not going to accomplish that. It didn't in 2000, it didn't in 2016, and it won't this year, either.

I may come across as a bit abrasive about this, but after living through eight years of Bush and now over three years of Trump because too many progressives couldn't bring themselves to vote for a moderate Democrat, my patience has worn thin. Over nearly the past two decades since Nader voters helped cost Gore the 2000 election, I've been asking progressives to swallow their pride and vote Democrat. I've tried to be nice about it in the past only to be casually dismissed out of hand and be labelled as a shill for "corporatist Dems," among other things. Trying to argue with "never vote for a moderate" progressives about the importance of defeating Republicans has been probably even more frustrating than arguing with Republicans, because in the former case I'm dealing with people that share the same opinions as me on most if not all policy issues. But the point still needs to be made, because the lesson hasn't been learned. We. Need. To. Win. Elections. While I understand youthful idealism, I also understand the need for realistic expectations. Even when I was young, I understood that sometimes you have to take what you can get, that most people who vote Democratic don't lean as far left as I do, and when faced with two options you can't let the worse option win out.

Reade's accusation deserves to be taken seriously and should lead to an investigation and, if it proves necessary, a trial. If Biden is found guilty of what he has been accused of, then he should be forced to resign and otherwise be held accountable. If he is not found guilty, his accuser should be held accountable for lying.

But make no mistake. If you live in any remotely competitive state, failure to vote for Biden (if he ends up on the ballot this November) puts us at risk of a second Trump term and everything that entails. If four more years of Trump is an acceptable outcome to you, if you think that it's reasonable to just sit this one out and wait until 2024 for someone better, well, I don't know what to tell you. If the prospect of four more years of someone as god-awful as Trump can't motivate progressives to vote Democrat, I don't know what will. I sometimes wonder if how bad the GOP candidate is simply doesn't factor into the decisions some progressives make.

Let's just assume for a minute that Biden's stances on the issues are the only thing to argue over. Is getting all of your policy demands met ASAP so important that your vote absolutely hinges on the candidate supporting all of them? Is getting M4A right here, right now (well, not now-now, but within the next four years) really the hill some progressives want to die upon, even if it stands absolutely zero chance of getting past the Senate in our current political climate? Is the so-called "public option" not better than what Trump wants, even if it's still not the best solution? Is it really worth not voting Trump out of office over this issue, even though Trump and the GOP want even the ACA gone? I support M4A. I don't think health insurance should be tied to employment. But I'm also a realist. It's a complex issue with serious political obstacles that would exist regardless of who the Democratic nominee for President is. It will take time to make M4A happen, and it'll be worth it when we get there, but we won't get there by telling the Democratic Party to piss off.

I don't really care for Biden as a politician or a person, either. I don't really even consider myself a supporter of his, and I voted Sanders in the primary. But if he's going to be the nominee then he's got my vote because he's a far better alternative than Trump. Again, I look at this largely as a cost-benefit analysis. Come January 21, barring any major disruptions, either Biden or Trump will be President. There is no Option C. And one of those options is clearly better for America. Bernie understands this, and I wish more of his supporters would understand it as well and heed Bernie's call to vote for Biden. We need to do this, even if it's only to get Trump out of office.

My only consolation is that polling data (both for Trump's approval rating and for the election itself) and the results of the 2018 midterms paint a favorable picture for the Dems this November. But I'm still incredibly worried. This could come down to who has better turnout from the base. I was already grown by time Bush was President, so I remember everything plain as day, but even that man didn't frighten me the way Trump has. I have never seen a President this dangerous to America. I just want him out of the White House and back on reality TV where he'll do the least amount of damage to this country and this planet. I want more and better out of the Democrats, sure, but voting Trump out of office is my primary concern right now.

If your priorities are different, fine. It's clear that I can't convince you to show up and vote even if it's only to kick Trump to the curb (could you at the very least cast a vote for the Dems in the down-ballot races?). I just hope the "Never Biden" progressives don't cost the Democrats in November.