r/TangleNews

Americans always like to think of themselves as rebels who stand up for themselves and who'll fight when the chips are down, but when I look at the United States these days I only see tiny pockets of genuine resistance such as in Minneapolis, or the way black representatives in South are standing up after the gutting of the VRA. The vast majority of the country seems to prefer to lie down and take it (such as the VA democrats who meekly accepted their court defeat) or just meekly wait for the next election to vote someone in and hope they'll solve the problem.

It really feels to me like the United States just flat out doesn't have the stomach to fight for its democracy. Between the unprecedented levels of corruption, the attacks on clean energy, the unjustified and illegal wars, and the gross economic mismanagement, I'd have expected a lot more popular anger and political activity. Instead, most people just seem to be keeping their heads down and hoping to ride it out.

Why is that?

I think this was one of the most intelligent and thoughtful pieces I've read by someone who is staunchly anti-abortion, and, frustratingly, it gets so so so close to self-awareness that it's almost painful.

In the piece, Audrey points to multiple issues facing the pro-life movement right now: the rate of abortions has only increased since Dobbs, maternal outcomes in restricted abortion access states are worse than in states with better access, and public opinion is only growing more in favor of abortion access.

And though she doesn't mention this, a source that she cites does--the anti-abortion movement is continually plagued with bad faith players who want to criminalize mothers, decrease resources for families, and generally make life hell for women and (birthed!) babies.

Both Audrey and her source call out a frustrating contradiction: it seems that opposition to abortion and support for women's rights and pro-family values is fundamentally at odds. You can never have one without losing the other.

To which I can only say--DUH. Abortion rights activists aren't out there because they just loooove terminating pregnancies. They're out there because they've done the math and have realized that by design, abortion restrictions exist to make life more untenable for women, and their families by extension.

I can only hope that for intelligent critical thinkers like this, the loop finally closes. The best way to protect children is to let their mothers have full autonomy over their own bodies and choose their own medical care.

Let me start off by saying that, just because I'm depressed, does not mean this is a critique.

I feel desperate about our information landscape. I got off Facebook because I couldn't stand to see how mean people were to each other and what horrible sources of information were flying around.

Last Friday, I felt desperate in the way of "Yes, in my soul I deeply know none of this is remotely ok, but what can I do about it?" This week, though, was a different and worse desperation. It reminded me of why I'm off Facebook. Being reminded that people are outsourcing all critical thought to a machine that has been sold to them as the "greatest invention of all time" made me realize that we're seemingly careening into an even worse information landscape. Worse, though, people see the corruption and truly don't care. They make wild excuses like we're just mad because Trump is doing corruption better than any of us could or people who are dumb enough to fall for crypto, deserve to lose it.

I am thankful that the Tangle is staying in the conversation. I make a monthly donation to their non-profit but feel desperate for what else I can do. I think I was holding out hope that there might someday soon (like maybe an off ramp starting in November?) be an end to this complete insanity and we could maybe reel the Overton window back in a little bit and maybe go back to chipping away at "insanity as usual". Thursday's piece about Indiana and Friday's piece have me feeling worried this might go on for so much longer than I can stomach.

This was posted yesterday on the official Facebook page of The White House. I would appreciate someone who thinks this is okay to explain why it is. My option is that this shows there is something really broken and wrong with the current leadership of our country.

I was aware of the grifting before hearing this, but so sad to hear about all the grifting as a group.

For everyone that thought Hunter Biden was a grifter, the Trump crime family takes it up an order of magnitude. The Trumps don’t even try to hide it. They are fine with payoffs right out in the open.

Will Trump ever be held accountable? I doubt it. MAGAs don’t care, and Republicans protect their own.

Another recent post asks Trump supporters "what does disqualifying mean?"

I'm not a Trump supporter. Before 2017 I was an independent and I didn't vote for Hillary. Today I'm a "vote blue, no matter who" voter.

So I ask myself: What would it take for me to support the impeachment of a President Newsom (or equivalent) in 2029?

And I'm afraid to say, I can't think of anything. When I try to think of the worst thing a president could do, I come up with stuff like Newsom having the six conservative justices hooded and spuriously detained under the section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act. But I'd still trust him more the next day than anyone the republicans would offer as an alternative.

I recognize that my willingness to accept any Democrat over any Republican means my brain is broken and my attitude is part of the poison ruining the country.

And that shows me how a Republican could easily wave aside Trump's corruption. I imagine they can tell themselves something like "better red than dead [at the democrats' hands]."

I'm just curious if Trump supporters can recognize that they're the same as me or if they're lying to themselves that there's some yet achieved line that'll cause them to break with Trump.

Look within guys. We're the same.

Listening to the reasoning put forward by Kmele and Isaac with regards to billionaires (the creation of, the continued economic existence of, the realistic true valuation of, etc) I felt missed some important thoughts.

I want to say that, for the most part, I want to agree with Kmele and Isaac, that the economic system under which we operate and (for many but certainly not all, not sure if most) thrive under perhaps appropriately rewards the behaviors of these economic titans. If they can bring their receipts like Isaac said he was thinking about writing, I'm interested in going down the path farther if presented with the economic and societal good that they allegedly are doing, for the most part.

However, what the guys I really feel missed is that, if indeed billionaires are fine to exist and the prejudice found on the left against them is overblown and unfounded, they really should be policing their own better. The most present and prolific billionaires that we can summon to mind these days, Musk, Zuck, Bezos, Gates, Buffet (can't believe they didn't even remember Trump here) are the ones often doing the most egregious harm or are the ones most publicly putting their thumbs on the scales of media, culture, and politics.

They touched on the idea of massive wealth inequality and the ills we're facing that can be at least partially addressed by evening the playing field, but they didn't talk about the undue power that the very few are wielding. Sure, they don't actually have all that much in cash, but their assets enable lives and attention and influence as if they do.

Maybe the larger percentage of billionaires are doing good, or at least good by the methods and organizations which made them so wealthy. However, the fewer that have decided that by dint of their wealth they deserve to be our masters are earning our ire for their entire class.

So glad his excellent piece on Trump’s corruption is gaining traction and getting exposure through other media outlets with large followings.

For quite a while Tangle's "my takes" were positing that Republicans might lose the gerrymandering war despite winning a few battles, or that it might be fought to a draw. While they weren't "predictions" per se they certainly ended up aging like milk. Isaac's optimism, if you could call it that, was totally unfounded.

When the GOP unleashed this tactic, Trump (or let's be real, his staff) expected that the VRA would be gone, and his demands were made well in advance to prime the pump. His side quest to destroy R holdouts in Indiana made an example of any Republicans having second thoughts, and now there are none. Republican voters maybe didn't punish the Indiana holdouts, but they definitely didn't reward them.

This strategy is leading towards a nearly complete Republican victory. They can gerrymander the deep south with impunity, because those courts are stacked. Democratic states like VA, that were historically competitive, will be blocked by mixed courts that still have Republicans on them.

CA's counter-gerrymander is the only front on which Trump's team appears to have "lost."

Sometimes it seems like nobody in this administration knows what they're doing, but when it comes to disenfranchising voters, the results are now clear: they are good at this. This is total dominance.

I found something interesting brought up in the discussion and that is when they said that this latest would be assassin seemed fairly normal psychologically. He didn't have all the warning signs you might see with extremists. They seemed particularly worried that we may see more "normal" people partaking in political violence and if this could be a worsening trend.

This got me to thinking. I have a family member that once said she hopes Trump is assassinated. This particular person while Democratic is not what I'd call an activist or left-wing, just kind of a normie Democrat that likes people like Obama and Biden. I have also heard others in my circle who I don't consider lunatics say similar things about Trump. These are not people who would say such things about Mitt Romney, Tim Scott or Nikki Haley.

I think Trump is a extremely polarizing person who not only causes polarization but welcomes it and feeds off it. He puts a lot of hate out into the world and seems to delight in making the left hate him as he defines himself by his enemies, not any principles. When you have someone like this as president, it widens the circle of people who would become assassins or be sympathetic to it. Widens it to the point that these are no longer basement dwelling crackpots with no friends, but psychologically normal and even likeable professional people.

To what degree does Trump have to take some responsibility here for the rhetoric and hate he has put into the world and how much he has turned the temperature up? While the number of people who would actually pick up a gun and plot out an attempt like this is very small, I guarantee you the number of people that would be relieved if Trump was taken out numbers in the multiple tens of millions, even if they don't actively welcome it or endorse it. And these are not people who would say such things about Republicans at large, but rather this particular person.

I don't think we can have a serious discussion about political violence that does not also discuss Trump's own rhetoric and intentional behavior that contributes to a culture of violence and polarization. Obama had many disrupted assassination plots against him, more than Trump did if I'm recalling correctly. But those came from genuine extremists and white supremacists, not normies. Obama did not use polarizing rhetoric and did everything he could to appeal to people's better angels and try to respect people across the political divide. The threats Obama received you could say were due to his race, not his actual behavior. And at that time, no president had received as many threats as he did.

Some in right-wing media are now suggesting that rhetoric against Trump, calling him fascist, a "king", warmonger, an authoritarian is what is responsible for these attempts on his life. And it seems they are cynically attempting to make all but the most milquetoast criticism of Trump impossible. Because somehow criticizing him is going to drive people to violence. And of course the very people making these arguments will never call out Trump's contributions to any of this.

Alright folks, it’s time. Consider this your open mic, your therapy session, your personal Festivus.

Got a boss who thinks “urgent” means every single email? A neighbor who mows the lawn at 7 a.m. on Saturdays? A phone that autocorrects “ducking” when you clearly meant something else?

This is the spot to unload. Big or small, petty or profound — if it’s gnawing at you, drop it here. Rant. Rave. Roast.

Rules are simple:
• No personal info.
• Keep it cathartic, not cruel.
• Upvote the stuff that makes you nod and say “YES, SAME.”

Let the grievances fly.

We have no idea where it is or what it looks like, what would you put in an awkward alcove?

As a big supporter of the VRA at the time and now, I wonder if it really matters anymore. SCOTUS has ruled, doing great damage, that partisan gerrymandering is perfectly legal. Given the fact/belief that black and brown voters lean Democratic, they are gong to be disenfranchised based on that partisan basis anyway.

And that partisan crud is now openly advocated and even bragged about.

I’m struggling to see how this latest SCOTUS on the VRA will make things worse. Your thoughts?

Alright folks, it’s time. Consider this your open mic, your therapy session, your personal Festivus.

Got a boss who thinks “urgent” means every single email? A neighbor who mows the lawn at 7 a.m. on Saturdays? A phone that autocorrects “ducking” when you clearly meant something else?

This is the spot to unload. Big or small, petty or profound — if it’s gnawing at you, drop it here. Rant. Rave. Roast.

Rules are simple:
• No personal info.
• Keep it cathartic, not cruel.
• Upvote the stuff that makes you nod and say “YES, SAME.”

Let the grievances fly.