All posts tagged: Democrats

The Anniversary That Democrats Would Be Wise to Forget

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Yesterday marked one year since Joe Biden’s debate meltdown against Donald Trump. Happy anniversary to those who observe such things, or are triggered by such things. Please celebrate responsibly. For Democrats, the debacle was a harsh awakening and the start of an ongoing spiral. Prior to that night, they could hold on to the delusion that the party might somehow eke out one last victory from Biden’s degraded capacity and ward off another four-year assault from Donald Trump. But that all exploded into the gruesome reality of June 27, 2024. Every interested viewer that night remembers where they were, their various feelings (depending on their perspectives) of revulsion, grief, glee, or disbelief. I was watching at home, thinking for some reason that Biden might exceed his humble expectations. He had managed to do this periodically on big stages during his presidency—including the feisty State of the Union address he’d turned in a few months earlier. But by the time Biden walked to his podium in Atlanta, it was clear that was not happening. Something …

JD Vance refers to Sen. Alex Padilla as ‘José Padilla’ in remarks blasting Democrats during L.A. visit

Published by Sam

[ad_1] Vice President JD Vance bashed Democrats at the state, local and national levels Friday during his visit to Los Angeles, accusing top California officials of encouraging violent protesters and Sen. Alex Padilla, whom he referred to as “José Padilla,” of engaging in “political theater.” “I was hoping José Padilla would be here to ask a question. But, unfortunately, I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn’t the theater, and that’s all it is,” Vance said. “It’s pure political theater. These guys show up. They want to be captured on camera doing something.” Vance’s comments referred to an incident last week in which federal law enforcement agents handcuffed Padilla after he interrupted a news conference by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Padilla was forcibly removed from the event but not arrested. Vice President JD Vance during a tour of a Federal Mobile Command Center at the Federal Building in Los Angeles, on Friday.Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images When asked why he referred to the senator as “José Padilla,” despite …

How Democrats Are Meeting (and Missing) the Moment

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Democrats have been deeply pessimistic about the future of their own party, according to polling, despite a recent rebound for the party brand in the generic ballot against Republicans, where they now lead by 2 points, their best performance since last August, according to YouGov’s latest survey. Pennsylvania state representative Malcolm Kenyatta—a newly elected vice chair of the Democratic National Committee since David Hogg stepped down—tells WIRED optics should not be the primary consideration when it comes to whether lawmakers with oversight abilities should consider risking the chance of an arrest. “Listen, I think we have a responsibility to do our fuckin’ job,” says Kenyatta, the grandson of civil rights leader Muhammad Kenyatta. “And what Senator Padilla was doing was his job.” House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries of New York has often used the baseball analogy of not swinging at every pitch to explain how he thinks Democrats should respond to President Trump’s deluge of executive actions and outlandish statements. For emerging leaders in the party like Kenyatta, the state of play has moved beyond …

Democrats, disillusioned, clear the path for Trump’s rampage

Published by Sam

[ad_1] Last week, I was standing at a busy bus stop in the late afternoon and a young man danced-walked up to me (he moved like Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk – while going forward). He was smiling and very happy. He leaned in towards me and announced that, “Black people, we are time travelers! It all makes sense! This is a spaceship! I can see it all so clearly now! Black people are time travelers!” I paused for a few seconds. I then replied, “Damn right. We are.” The young man danced-walked up to another Black person several feet away from me and shared his personal revelation again. He continued dance-walking down the long city block, the time-traveling Black town crier was waking up all those who would listen. I wondered if I was stuck in my own version of Terry Gilliam’s film “12 Monkeys” or its French original “La Jetée.” I concluded that this time machine, if it does exist, must be broken — or perhaps it is just operating in a way …

‘Forced Mixing’ Housing Plan To Integrate Migrants Pushed By Sweden’s Social Democrats

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[ad_1] Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News, The Swedish Social Democratic Party has approved a new integration strategy that aims to forcibly diversify the country’s residential areas, pushing for what party officials call a “socio-economic mix” of Swedes and migrants in housing developments. The policy, adopted at the party congress ahead of the 2026 general election, includes proposals to limit immigration to vulnerable areas and to use housing construction to engineer a more integrated society. “We are serious about the fact that we intend to break segregation and use housing policy as an engine in that work,” said Lawen Redar, the party official responsible for designing the new platform, as cited by Aftonbladet. Redar described the shift as a “U-turn” in the party’s approach, acknowledging that past strategies had failed. The new policy includes scrapping the right of asylum seekers to choose their own accommodation and banning municipalities from placing new arrivals in already struggling districts. Instead, migrants will be relocated to wealthier areas in an effort to engineer demographic diversity and “repay the integration …

Democrats get a do-over: Connolly retirement is an opportunity to promote youth

Published by Sam

[ad_1] Democrats had two options last December: They could promote the young, rising star in their party — one of its most beloved figures, appealing to both the Bernie Sanders wing and anyone who just wants to see more fight from the opposition — into the role of investigating the Trump administration or they could give the job to an elderly man no one had ever heard of because that’s just the way things have always been done.  Monday’s announcement that Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., is “stepping back” from his role as the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee confirms what was apparent four months ago: Democrats made the wrong decision. Connolly, 75, had already been diagnosed with esophageal cancer when he laid claim to the position of ranking member on the panel, asserting his right to the position by way of his time spent in Congress. Dems believed his seniority trumped the 34-year-old Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and her claim to be the more gifted communicator. “No one who sees me in action would …

A TikTok star says Democrats are “scared of wielding their power.” How would she be different?

Published by Sam

[ad_1] Kat Abughazaleh, a progressive political commentator and social media influencer, announced a primary campaign against Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., last month, promising a mutual aid-focused campaign strategy and striking a generational contrast against the 80-year-old incumbent. Abughazaleh, 26, made a name for herself online, analyzing conservative media at outlets like Media Matters and Mother Jones, frequently antagonizing of right-wing pundits like former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Her campaign used this notoriety to help raise more than $275,000 from 7,000 donors in its first week. She is urging Democrats to go into 2026 and beyond with an agenda focused on Americans’ material needs and with a resolve to wield power, if and when they do win. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. You pitch yourself as asking, “What if Democrats didn’t suck?” which I think is a message a lot of Democrats are ready to hear. However, I’d also like to ask why you chose to run in the district you’ve chosen to run in, especially given the fact, as I understand it, …

Elon Musk Thinks Democrats Should Love DOGE

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (Noa) using AI narration. Listen to more stories on the Noa app. When he is not sharing memes of himself as a conquering Roman centurion or shrieking while brandishing a chain saw onstage at a CPAC conference, Elon Musk occasionally adopts the pose of a reasonable moderate offering an open hand of compromise that Democrats slap away. “What @DOGE is doing is similar to Clinton/Gore Dem policies of the 1990s,” he wrote on X last week. “The current Dem party has just gone so crazy far left that it isn’t recognizable anymore!” As evidence, he shared a video compilation of Bill Clinton promising to cut the federal workforce. Musk’s allies have made versions of this argument too. In a February 12 op-ed headlined “Democrats Ought to Love DOGE,” Matthew Hennessey, an opinion editor at The Wall Street Journal, argued, “Left and right should share a desire for government efficiency. It’s as unobjectionable as liberty and as essential as justice. Nobody who wants America to succeed could possibly …

MAHA: RFK Jr. Confirmed To Lead HHS Despite ‘Traitor’ McConnell Siding With Democrats

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as the Director of Health and Human Services on Thursday, despite Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-INO) as the sole Republican to vote against him.  The vote – which is ongoing, came after a heated battle in the Republican-controlled Senate, which voted 53-47 on Wednesday to invoke cloture, setting up the final confirmation showdown. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic and former environmental activist, only needs a simple majority of 51 votes to secure the position. Kennedy’s nomination has been a political firestorm from the start. His past claims linking vaccines to autism and other harms sparked a fierce backlash from Democrats, who grilled him in contentious confirmation hearings last month. But despite their objections, Kennedy managed to navigate the political minefield, thanks in part to key Republican senators who were initially hesitant but ultimately threw their support behind him. CONFIRMED! Congratulations, Bobby.Congratulations, America.Thank you, President Trump. pic.twitter.com/LQMYO1vdZR — Nicole Shanahan (@NicoleShanahan) February 13, 2025 A GOP Divide Over RFK Jr. With Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee refusing to advance …

Why Democrats are switching off the news – a psychologist explains

Published by skeptic

[ad_1] Many Democrats appear to be switching off mainstream news channels and other media, following Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election. Around 72% of Democrats say they feel a need to limit their consumption of news about politics and government, according to a recent poll by AP-NORC. Research has highlighted the negative effects of news avoidance (resistance to, or avoidance of, news) on people’s political knowledge and civic engagement, the cornerstones of democratic thought and action. Research also shows what prompts news avoidance generally – and the return of Trump may be increasing the percentage of people in the US who are turning away from news and current affairs. Research from the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland measured how news avoidance varied across several nations between 2016 and 2019. It also attempted to identify the drivers of news avoidance. Researchers found the proportion of consumers who actively avoided the news varied significantly from one country to another – and for some, it was temporary. In their sample of five countries, they found news …