USA elections 2020 - 2021

[mongrel]

Form another article. Protests, the left and the power of democracy – Sheri Berman

Do you reckon the death of George Floyd has done as much damage to the reputation of US law enforcement officers as the killing of Steve Biko did to apartheid South Africa's ?

[Pontifex Maximus]

Okay, and? I'm pretty sure the Qanon supporters who stormed the Capitol, and the ones in Congress take it seriously.

Qanon is a larp and CNN is gaslighting you. If you need any more proof about my stance on populism what's going on right now with gamestonks is pretty informative. Left and right both laughing at the perpetually offended and defensive corporate fat cats. They've even exposed the game as of today. They're best strategies for dividing us are still working though, unfortunately.

Forgive ny typos I'm on my phone

[Ludicus]

My dear Legio, you wrote: “The modern far right...they’re regarded as pariahs by polite society”

I reject the idea of the far-rigth as a sort of victimized “pariah”. In some cases,they are rightly regarded as dangerous political organizations. Far right extremism is a global problem and consistently threatens to bring the classic triad:autocratic regimes, exacerbated ethnic nationalism, anti-immigrant backlash. For example, just a few days ago, Germany: AfD party challenges potential spy agency ... - DW

Mathias Middelberg, the spokesman on domestic policy for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative alliance, said the legal action exposed the AfD's nervousness around the agency's probe.
It is significant that they would prefer to prevent a possible public revelation rather than distance themselves more decisively than ever from extremists in their ranks like Mr. Höcke," he added, referring to the AfD's state leader in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, who founded Flügel in 2015.

On a slightly different note New Global Data on Political Parties: V-Party - V-Dem

Main Findings
V-Party’s Illiberalism Index shows that the Republican party in the US has retreated from upholding democratic norms in recent years. Its rhetoric is closer to authoritarian parties, such as AKP in Turkey and Fidesz in Hungary. Conversely, the Democratic party has retained a commitment to longstanding democratic standards.
This is a global trend: The median governing party in democracies has become more illiberal in recent decades. This means that more parties show lower commitment to political pluralism, demonization of political opponents, disrespect for fundamental minority rights and encouragement of political violence

See FIGURE 1. DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS SINCE 2000: ILLIBERALISM AND ECONOMIC LEFT- RIGHT POSITIONING.

[Pontifex Maximus]

Is issuing a slurry of executive orders on an unprecedented scale within days of taking office supposed to be evidence of re establishing democratic norms? Maybe some specific examples of exactly what Republicans have some to move us away from democracy would help

[Ludicus]

Do you reckon the death of George Floyd has done as much damage to the reputation of US law enforcement officers as the killing of Steve Biko did to apartheid South Africa's ?

Well,
The Death of Steve Biko, Revisited | JSTOR Daily

Like the death of George Floyd, the South African activist Steve Biko’s death galvanized a global movement against racism.

Or so it seems.

[Prodromos]

Is issuing a slurry of executive orders on an unprecedented scale within days of taking office supposed to be evidence of re establishing democratic norms? Maybe some specific examples of exactly what Republicans have some to move us away from democracy would help

Nothing says liberal democracy like... *squint*... rule by executive fiat, abolishing the filibuster, packing the courts, legalizing the industrial slaughter of unborn children, and violating free speech, freedom of religion and free association.

[Ludicus]

legalizing the industrial slaughter of unborn children, violating free speech, freedom of religion and free association.

Well, therefore I propose the death penalty for about 1 of every 4 American women.In Europe, almost all countries have legalized abortion on request or broad social grounds.

ABORTION IN EUROPE - WHO/Europe

The right to religious freedom, provided by many constitutions, is flagrantly abused by some religious zealots who impose their dogma and ideology on non-adherents, at times by misusing scientific evidence. The imposed exclusion of hormonal contraception, including emergency contraception, and the disingenuous statements about the ineffectiveness of condoms are but a refusal to work according to the fundamental principle of the ICPD Programme of Action. Such propaganda does not matter much to the highly sophisticated, well-informed societies of the advanced countries. But in many countries in the world, where religious doctrine may be what the poor and disempowered live by, such misinformation almost always amounts to a denial of the basic rights to correct information and access to the fruits of modern science.

Page 32,

If one compares the frequency of abortions in various countries, it is clear that the countries with the lowest rate of abortions are those where the general conditions are most oriented to the needs and where women have the greatest possible autonomy in access to sex education, contraception and abortion, e.g. the Netherlands
Developments in recent decades have been encouraging inasmuch as the regulations in many countries have been changed and are now less restrictive. The example of Canada is particularly worth mentioning. There, the long established view is that the abortion of an unwanted pregnancy is a medical treatment and requires no legal interference. Therefore, after long legal arguments, in 1988 the Supreme Court declared the law on abortion to be unconstitutional and abolished it.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

On the topic of Q-Anon. To see how obviously fake it is, not even Alex Jones believes in Q-Anon.

I have never met anyone that believe in Q-Anon either. So I'm assuming that this is really obscure or only a very specific demographic believes in this stuff.

[Lord Thesaurian]

-------
My dear Legio, you wrote: “The modern far right...they’re regarded as pariahs by polite society”

I reject the idea of the far-rigth as a sort of victimized “pariah”. In some cases,they are rightly regarded as dangerous political organizations. Far right extremism is a global problem and consistently threatens to bring the classic triad:autocratic regimes, exacerbated ethnic nationalism, anti-immigrant backlash. For example, just a few days ago, Germany: AfD party challenges potential spy agency ... - DW

I’ve never portrayed far right extremists as victims, and I reject whatever libelous insinuation you’re aiming at by suggesting otherwise.

[Coughdrop addict]

On the topic of Q-Anon. To see how obviously fake it is, not even Alex Jones believes in Q-Anon.

I have never met anyone that believe in Q-Anon either. So I'm assuming that this is really obscure or only a very specific demographic believes in this stuff.

Apparently expressing support for Qanon gets you to congress if you are a Republican.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/arti...d-execute.html

Greene’s views are just a bit more controversial. They include, but are by no means limited to, the following:
• The QAnon conspiracy theory, which holds that Donald Trump is secretly fighting a worldwide child-sex-slavery ring that was supposed to culminate in the mass arrest of his political opposition, is “worth listening to.”
• Muslims don’t belong in government.
• 9/11 was an inside job.
• Shootings at Parkland, Sandy Hook, and Las Vegas were staged.
• “Zionist supremacists” are secretly masterminding Muslim immigration to Europe in a scheme to outbreed white people.
• Leading Democratic officials should be executed.

[Cope]

On the topic of Q-Anon. To see how obviously fake it is, not even Alex Jones believes in Q-Anon.

I have never met anyone that believe in Q-Anon either. So I'm assuming that this is really obscure or only a very specific demographic believes in this stuff.

According to the Pew Research Center, less than half of Americans were aware of QAnon by the autumn of last year. Significantly more Democrats than Republicans had heard of QAnon, but only 9% had heard a lot about it. Almost 90% of Americans either had no knowledge of QAnon or thought it was bad for the country. The surge in awareness of QAnon which occurred in 2020 (only 23% of Americans had even heard of it a year ago) was likely due to discussion in the mainstream press/media.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

According to the Pew Research Center, less than half of Americans were aware of QAnon by the autumn of last year. Significantly more Democrats than Republicans had heard of QAnon, but only 9% had heard a lot about it. Almost 90% of Americans either had no knowledge of QAnon or thought it was bad for the country. The surge in awareness of QAnon which occurred in 2020 (only 23% of Americans had even heard of it a year ago) was likely due to discussion in the mainstream press/media.

It appears to me like Q-Anon is for some out of touch boomers. Also the Leftists who use it as a cudgel to beat Republicans with. I sure as hell didn't think that Trump was going to win. I was saying that he was going to lose as early as September.

Although I did expect the BLM riots would increase his support. It seems like he actually lost supporters due to his inactivity in the crucial first week. Plus the outbreak of Covid, the lock down, and the lack of preventive measures and financial support. Well that and the fact that he didn't really do anything his entire term.

It was clear that the Trump hype train was losing steam around 2018 when he didn't come through on any of his major promises, together with the Syria strikes, and the Iran bit which was not popular at all. Then on the internet when the Trump memes seemed to decline significantly... He who controls the Memes controls the Universe.

The Left just used Trump as a negative meme, lets face it, they didn't vote for Biden, they voted against Trump. Likewise in 2016 some of the Trump voters were voting against Hillary, while others were populist anti-establishment voters that would have voted for Jill Stein if she had a chance. So technically it is true, the Left can't meme, because their memes are in reverse.

[Ludicus]

I’ve never portrayed far right extremists as victims

Pay attention, you said that "they’re regarded as pariahs by polite society". (if I read it correctly, you haven't said, "I regard them")
And I say that I reject the idea of the far-rigth as a sort of victimized “pariah”. In fact, in a civilized society, they are rightly regarded as pariahs.
In a previous post, I even asked you to define "modern far right".Among others, the modern far right includes parties such as Golden Dawn, the Greece neo-nazis,and the Germany's far-right AfD party, already under surveillance. German state puts regional AfD branch under surveillance

[Cope]

It seems to me like Q-Anon is for some out of touch boomers. Also the Leftists who use it as a cudgel to beat Republicans with. I sure as hell didn't think that Trump was going to win. I was saying that he was going to lose as early as September. Although I did expect the BLM riots would increase his support.

It seems like he actually lost supporters due to his inactivity in the crucial first week. Plus the outbreak of Covid, the lock down, and the lack of preventive and financial support. Well that and the fact that he didn't really do anything his entire term.

It was clear that the Trump hype train was losing steam around 2018 when he didn't come through on any of his major promises, together with the Syria strikes, and the Iran bit which was not popular at all. Then on the internet when the Trump memes seemed to decline significantly. He who controls the Memes controls the Universe.

The Left just used Trump as a negative meme, lets face it, they didn't vote for Biden, they voted against Trump. Likewise in 2016 some of the Trump voters were voting against Hillary, while others were populist anti-establishment voters that would have voted for Jill Stein if she had a chance. So technically it is true, the Left can't meme, because their memes are in reverse.

The data from YouTube indicated that by the end of 2019, mentions of QAnon were limited to a small fraction of the most popular news channels operating on their platform. QAnon entered the mainstream discourse during the latter half of 2020, presumably because it was being mentioned by major outlets attempting to discredit Trump. Trump himself seemed fairly oblivious of the conspiracies, besides knowing that they were broadly supportive of his presidency.

Extrapolating a little further from the data provided by Pew, the percentage of Americans who had significant knowledge of QAnon conspiracies and supported them was likely <3%.

[Lord Thesaurian]

Pay attention, you said that "they’re regarded as pariahs by polite society". (if I read it correctly, you haven't said, "I regard them")
And I say that I reject the idea of the far-rigth as a sort of victimized “pariah”. In fact, in a civilized society, they are rightly regarded as pariahs.
In a previous post, I even asked you to define "modern far right".Among others, the modern far right includes parties such as Golden Dawn, the Greece neo-nazis,and the Germany's far-right AfD party, already under surveillance. German state puts regional AfD branch under surveillance

It doesn’t matter if I said I or they, pointing out the fact that the modern far right are regarded as pariahs by polite society does not imply the far right are victims, and I have no idea why you would bring it up ostensibly in response to a post that has nothing to do with it.

The data from YouTube indicated that by the end of 2019, mentions of QAnon were limited to a small fraction of the most popular news channels operating on their platform. QAnon entered the mainstream discourse during the latter half of 2020, presumably because it was being mentioned by major outlets attempting to discredit Trump. Trump himself seemed fairly oblivious of the conspiracies, besides knowing that they were broadly supportive of his presidency.

Extrapolating a little further from the data provided by Pew, the percentage of Americans who had significant knowledge of QAnon conspiracies and supported them was likely <3%.

The extrapolation isn’t far off the mark if we assume some representative portion of Q believers are willing to admit it. Around 5% of people say they “support Q Anon,” a percentage evenly distributed across age groups and educational backgrounds, and about half the number who admit to supporting the “alt right.” Safe to say the media’s attempts to lump all or even a significant portion of Trump supporters in with those groups is counterfactual and counterproductive.

https://civiqs.com/results/qanon_sup...ue&zoomIn=true

[Ludicus]

pointing out the fact that the modern far right is regarded as pariahs by polite society does not imply the far right are victims,

I'm saying that they like to feel victimized, the poor pariahs. Audiences are consistently made to believe that they are existentially threatened, and that's exactly the dangerousness of far-right rhetoric.Generally speaking, the victimization experience and the radicalisation process are two components that work sinergisticcaly. Victimization and radicalization is not an exclusive of Muslim extremists.
It's not difficult to understand.The myth of "white victimhood" rings a bell?
Real victimized pariah groups were the Jews in many countries of medieval Europe, for example.
----

they didn't vote for Biden, they voted against Trump

Reality check: don't expect a progressive revolution, but progressives helped deliver Georgia to Biden; Senate wins give Biden power to control Congress, and Biden is doing the best that he can. BTW, Biden is praised by the European left (see post 3963).

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Reality check: don't expect a progressive revolution, but progressives helped deliver Georgia to Biden;

I'm not. Especially since Biden isn't a progressive.

Senate wins give Biden power to control Congress, and Biden is doing the best that he can.

This is also what Trump's supporters say to defend his do nothing term.

BTW, Biden is praised by the European left (see post 3963).

We're going with this now?

[Cope]

We're going with this now?

On many - if not most - substantive issues, Biden is actually further right than Boris Johnson (healthcare, COVID-19 relief, climate change, military expenditure, taxation etc). Though because he makes the right noises and gestures on identity politics*, significant elements of the left are appeased, some to the point of sycophancy.

Biden's history is riddled with remarks and support for policies which would ordinarily be denounced as racist by liberals/leftists.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

On many - if not most - substantive issues, Biden is actually further right than Boris Johnson (healthcare, COVID-19 relief, climate change, military expenditure, taxation etc). Though because he makes the right noises and gestures on identity politics*, significant elements of the left are appeased, some to the point of sycophancy.

Biden's history is riddled with remarks and support for policies which would ordinarily be denounced as racist by liberals/leftists.

This is the second time that Biden has reinvented himself. There was the 1980's/90's Biden, then there was the Obama era Biden, now we are on the Progressive era Biden. The core has really not changed and Biden won't be radically different from Bush, Obama, or Trump. But that said I think Biden is less aggressive than Bush, more experienced than Trump, and more subtle than Obama. His presidency will probably be more similar to Bill Clinton's style.

[antaeus]

On many - if not most - substantive issues, Biden is actually further right than Boris Johnson (healthcare, COVID-19 relief, climate change, military expenditure, taxation etc). Though because he makes the right noises and gestures on identity politics*, significant elements of the left are appeased, some to the point of sycophancy.

Biden's history is riddled with remarks and support for policies which would ordinarily be denounced as racist by liberals/leftists.

Only in so far as the entire US political spectrum is further right than most European (including British) political conversations. It's all relative. The European mainstream centre, is somewhere between Biden and AOC. It's the same here in Australia... our politics have a distinct left skew relative to the US, so that even well established conservative politicians push policy which would be considered communist by many in the GOP.