James Belcher

Former Vice President Harris is correct in recognizing that the system is broken.

However, it’s vital to acknowledge the Democratic Party has enabled the system to remain that way.

That’s why the Democratic Party must take a moment for introspection.

The Mothership Vortex: An Investigation Into the Firm at the Heart of the Democratic Spam Machine How a single consulting firm extracted $282 million from a network of spam PACs while delivering just $11 million to actual campaigns.

The annoying spam texts destroying the Democratic brand:

$678M raised through those spam tactics

$282M to one consulting firm: Mothership Strategies.

$11M to actual campaigns (1.6%)

The party isn’t just treating donors like marks—it’s being fleeced itself yet continues to back Mothership.

Food carts
Rose gardens
Indie bookstores
Go to a Thorns match

One of the factors that caused me to leave me democratic politics for good was me trying to figure out what my next step could be after being a digital director in Congress and realizing it was basically just grifting bullshit like this.

Spoiler or Scapegoat? How Democrats took the wrong lessons from 2000, never looked back, and are still paying the price.

Position noted. I think you've been sold on decades of conventional wisdom about third parties.

Again, of possible interest *to other readers*:

Andy Ellis For Governor 2026

The Senate Foreign Intelligence Committee investigation dealt with that event, but you're going after the *idea* of third parties.

We're gonna need to agree to disagree, because I think they're part of the solution.

Of possible interest to other readers:

We disagree, for the reasons laid out in the lengthy discussion with the CUNY professor that I linked.

I'm grateful to everyone working on the electoral reforms we need, and to everyone building power outside of Ds & Rs.

Other part of the discussion:

I vote, thanks. I've already had this discussion today. Here:

Reforming the Democratic Party is not my project, and I'm not simply "objecting to things that make me unhappy". I'm pushing for a truly representative multiparty democracy. Rejecting lesser evilism is part of that.

“When you are in a situation where even the caregiver starts to faint, that means the entire humanitarian structure is collapsing. And this is exactly what we are observing today in #Gaza,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini tells @news.sky.com

Aid must flow into Gaza at scale.

"We need everything. Everything. And I cannot separate the food from water, from hygiene, from medicine."

::glares in "Donna Lee"::

When the terror of ICE is so evident that your city’s local street artists do what they can to help spread potentially information. Sign by Emeyewhisky.

Pete Buttigieg - The Lever Read The Lever’s reporting on the 19th United States Secretary of Transportation, 32nd mayor of South Bend, and former presidential candidate.

Pass.

YouTube video by Menemsha Films Mish Mish - Official U.S. Trailer

"...Mish-Mish Effendi, the Mickey Mouse of the entire region, which disappeared from Egyptian screens when the State of Israel was created. Through their animated images, we uncover the history of the Frenkel family, marked by exile, a trauma being repeated today."

[streaming free on Kanopy .com]

You are calculating which marginalized group you’re comfortable leaving to die and pretending that’s strategy. All issues we face — from gerrymandering to abortion to climate collapse to freedom of speech to trans rights — are a fight for liberation. There is no victory unless we all win.

Doing the thirties again is the most peaceful path I can think of. I don't know that the precise path can be engineered. I'm just grateful to everyone working on the reforms we need and building power outside of Ds & Rs.

"That was produced by an upsurge of rageful working class that created one communist and two socialist parties, and the greatest unionization drive in the history of the US—the CIO. Millions who had never been in a union joined...and they were led by socialists and communists."

Abandon Biden Becomes Abandon Harris, Focuses on Battleground States | Black Agenda Report Abandon Harris is now campaigning to defeat Kamala Harris in the battleground states, saying that genocide is a red line. A new poll shows Muslim voters evenly divided between Kamala Harris and Jill S...

My answer about structural reforms referred to how to get to a truly representative democratic multiparty system, not how to build leverage. They build leverage by organizing. See also: Organized vote withholding.

That's not my claim: My claim is that third parties can create leverage outside of the Democratic Party.

You've stated the path that's clear to you, and we disagree about its viability. Is agreeing to disagree unacceptable?

Portland voters' ranked-choice voting questions, answered This election is the first time Portland has used ranked-choice voting, so there are plenty of questions about the nitty gritty details. We took a closer look.

Ballot initiatives exist.

As I've said, big donors in the Democratic party will keep leftists marginalized.

I prize full democratic representation. We don't have it, and won't under our current system.

But you've made your dismissal clear: I and those like me are impractical. We're gonna have to agree to disagree.

Fixing U.S. Politics Although people tend to think of the American political system as a public institution based on high-minded principles, it’s not. Politics behaves according to the same kinds of incentives and forces ...

We disagree. FairVote and others working on electoral reforms can open up options beyond the two major parties.

Another take on that: hbr.org/2020/07/fixi...

Wolff was pretty clear about how the dynamic worked.

Wolff is pretty clear about how the dynamic worked.

The left takeover of the Democratic Party that you want won't happen until they ditch big donors. It's a party-level obstacle.

I don't have a roadmap, but groups like FairVote, Move to Amend, and the like *are* working to make it happen.

Too many people dismiss the possibility of such change outright instead of working to make it happen.

YouTube video by Bertelsmann Foundation How to Fix Democracy Season 2 | Richard D. Wolff

Third parties can push big *policy* wins that Dems wouldn't consider on their own. The fixation on winning national office erases this history.

It is massive. Thanks to Peter Deppeler on Twitter for the footage. #GazaGenocide #MarchForHumanity