And they shouldn’t. I certainly don’t. It would be one thing if both sides abided by normal decorum and standards. But when one side sees that as an opportunity to exploit, then sticking to tradition is basically the same as unilateral disarmament. We need to fight back.

Examples of more progressive or at least factual/critical voices: @josephyoo.bsky.social @maklelan.bsky.social @montemader.bsky.social @pastorpauldrees.bsky.social

I see a lot of content from more progressive folks that makes me want to reconsider, but I feel like the idea that Christianity needs to be about radical acceptance and help for the disadvantaged needs to be more accepted before I will want to call myself a Christian again.

I would argue that “Christian nationalists” are not really all that Christian but I am probably the wrong person to make that argument since the current state of many “Christian” denominations in the U.S. right now has me questioning my faith.

I think the main issue is you have a bunch of geriatric dems who long for the good ole days when decorum and tradition and comity mattered. They are too stuck in the past to realize those things are all long gone. Time to bring in some fresh faces who see the current reality.

This is still incredibly dangerous, since it gives his supporters license to act without fear of consequences, but it also illustrates the importance of electing competent people at the state level who can push back on this corruption.

I think this is more performative dog whistle than anything. He is signaling to his supporters that he will protect them if they break the law for him. It doesn’t help those facing state charges, but most of his supporters won’t know the difference and will see him standing up for them.

It's just such hard work spending all day golfing, then having a big party with all your rich buddies in Mar-a-Lago, then having to oversee the construction of the new ballroom, and reminding Mike Johnson to keep the government shut down, etc. There's barely any time left for anything else. /s

I.e. When they replace all staff at the local McDonalds or Walmart with Tesla robots, or have the government buy robots to replace the people working in government offices.

They are betting on robotaxis and robots, not cars. Ignoring that other companies (Waymo) have better, safer, self driving tech that Elon doesn't even want to consider, I think it's clear they are looking for corporate/government cash more than the average consumer.

Why only a token example? It won't stop the rest from being greedy narcissistic sociopaths. Just raise taxes to where it becomes prohibitively expensive to remain a billionaire. And from those that try, we would have ample funding to fix just about everything else.

Exactly. But also why local/state elections matter and Democrats should be running for every office every election. Vote out every last Republican, especially when they refuse to do their job as required by the constitution/laws.

Came here to see if someone beat me to it.

State/city police should arrest these people and throw the book at them. False arrest, kidnapping, human trafficking, assault, etc. Not sure if it would hold up in court or not, but at least take them off the streets and make them explain themselves before a judge. Televise it. Unmask them.

Couple this with similar increases to corporate taxes, and it gives strong incentives to wealthy corporations to spend their money on things other than enriching the already rich, and also lets small businesses have a better chance at competing with them. A win-win.

Tax stock grants/awards as regular income at market value when they are awarded, tax capital gains as regular income, and add several additional high tax brackets above the current ones. ie. income >1M = 50% tax, >5M = 60% tax, >25M 70%, >100M 80%, >500M 90%.

While I don't disagree with a wealth tax on ultra-wealthy people, it would be very difficult to administer due to so much wealth being held as shares in companies they own, etc. Stick with simple and easy to administer, but go big.

Abigail Spanberger in Virginia just got 17.6% more votes than the highest vote total for any gubernatorial candidate recorded in Virginia history, as best I can tell (from the VDOE website), and we aren't even at final total yet. Anyone who sees this as less than a blue tsunami is ignoring facts.

Maybe I am naive, but I hope this moves enough of them to actually talk to some Democrats to end the government shutdown at least. Lives are literally at stake, and someone needs to blink first. I'm hoping this will let them see they are on the wrong side of history.

He's more concerned with building vanity projects to himself than actually being President right now. I am convinced he's outsourced the day-to-day to Stephen Miller or someone like him. Maybe he signs off on the broad strokes after a puppet show, but with no real understanding of anything.

There are good journalists out there, but thanks to algorithms and such I worry that they will only reach like-minded people. The majority of Americans are not necessarily going to find them. They stick to legacy media because it's easier and available, and may not even realize it's been captured.

Exactly. Between the relentless lies (many obvious to anyone with a brain), AI slop flooding social media, and billionaires buying up legacy and social media and turning them into propaganda mills, it's no wonder people end up confused about the truth. That's the plan - epic gaslighting.

Thank you for all you have done for us as constituents, and I look forward to voting for you (and the entire Democratic ballot) on Tuesday, and I will be bringing my son along again so he can learn the importance of voting for good leaders.

My son and I still remember that interaction fondly. Even in 2023, after redistricting made it so you were no longer our congresswoman, your staff still jumped in to help my wife (a Canadian immigrant) when we needed help getting progress on her green card renewal.

I don't have any daughters, but my son (age 12 now) came with me to vote back in 2020 when we voted early due to the pandemic. You were there (at a library in Chesterfield) greeting people in line and we got to meet with you and talk to you briefly, when you were running for re-election to Congress

Which is exactly why all of us need to be talking to younger voters, and convincing them to care. I get it; I didn't vote until I was in my 30's. I didn't care about politics that much. But we need to make them realize the stakes and that their voice matters.

But it seems to me that if the entire house is being replaced (re-elected or not), it would be difficult to prevent a new majority from being sworn in and taking power. The president has no say in this, and they could do it regardless what he wants.

Congressional elections (for the House of Representatives) replace the entire house every two years. I'll admit I'm not a lawyer or expert on the details.

Until we as a society make it clear that we side with the victims of state violence, and will hold those responsible accountable, they will continue to violate our rights with impunity because they know they will not face any consequences.

These officers need to be fired for cause, and prevented from ever working in law enforcement again. And the government (local, state, whatever) is responsible for all of this person's medical bills, etc. They did not deserve this, and this is the minimum to provide proper restitution.