Thanks for the recap, Megan. Didn't have a chance to catch the president's speech last night to our new Duma.

Looking forward to our resident right-wing influencers telling us that we shouldn't worry about Trump switching sides in the war in Europe or Trump waging economic warfare against the United States or Trump and Musk dismantling the federal government. No, what we should really worry about are the true moral causes of our time: Gaza and transgender athletes in women's sports.

Now, a reasonable person might say that we can walk and chew gum at the same time and that we can take interest in a whole host of issues. And this is true. It's just interesting what issues these influencers want us to take interest in. Oh, those issues and how terrible the (corporatist, centrist) Democrats are. Nothin' to see here.

Green waves his cane around pretty much every single time Congress is in session. So far that has not resulted in any meaningful change in the course of United States politics. He's just a left-leaning version of the weirdo Republican members of Congress that also engage in pointless performative political theater.

If you view his performance as "standing up to Trump," you are in for a long four years.

C = corporatist
R = regressive
E = elitist
S = sycophant
S = spewer
O = of
N = neocon
A = asshattery

"Why do Dems think their polite little paddle signs and wearing pink and booing are enough?"

Anything more would upset the flow of corporate donations. Jeffries was just celebrating a ~$3 million haul from billionaires in Silicon Valley

The Democrats’ Choice: Fight Trump’s Oligarchy or Keep Groveling to Billionaire Donors
as Politico reported that very day, Jeffries “quietly met with more than 150 Silicon Valley-based donors last week in California—an early step in Democrats’ efforts to repair relationships with a once-deep blue constituency.” According to one participant, “The singular focus was—how do we ensure Silicon Valley remains with Democrats because, right now, Silicon Valley is feeling very purple.”[..]
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/musk-resistance-democrats-billionaire-donors/

Good shit Seling

Libretto68 @3, if I'm making you uncomfortable, I must be doing something right.

Hey, let's keep our focus on the true culprits here--the Democrats!

@4 Yes, make sure you don’t vote for democratic candidates because of “billionaire funding” thereby enabling the election of Donald Fucking Trump. You are a fucking genius. (Actually, no you’re not.)

end*
'Citizens
fucking United'

OR

we End 'our little
experiment in
democracy.'

*and Free
Corporate
Democrats

@6: You're doing something right, yes - very far to the right, in fact.

TheTourGuide @7, you have to understand, the goal of these right-wing influencers is to get the Democrats to unilaterally disarm in the political arms race. Kind of like Trump seeking peace in Ukraine by getting the Ukrainians to unilaterally disarm.

nothing They
LOVE more than
seeing Dems at each
other's throats and 'citizens
united' accomplishes Exactly That.

discuss
(or Distract).

@7 wut? I never said to not vote for Democrats. Joe McCarthy wannabe keeps making shit up

@6 corporate Democrats are part of the problem and they refuse to build the resistance as they control the Democratic party so we have to make them a focus

@6, agree with @12. Corporate Dems, not popuist ones, are the problem, e.g., Pelosi, Schumer, Jeffries as opposed to Al Green, Jayapal, AOC, and Pelosi's soon to be opponent in the democratic primary in the Bay Area.

Next STU, dems should bring Seniors whose sole income is SS and interrupt the President over the future of SS, or lack thereof. Will connect to a lot more people in Middle America than cancer patients. Not that researching and fighting cancer isn't important.

Progressives think the Dems would win if they went further Left. Most actual Dems know this isn't based in reality. Running to the center is how Dems win the razor-thin margins in a Presidential race. Tying Dems to their fringe is how Repukes demonize them.

Dems were stuck last night, as they will be this entire Congress. There's not a proper way to "resist" a sociopathic Presdint giving an interminable speech to Congress. Certainly, there's not an effective one.

Setting off a pink smoke bomb in Serbia's Legislature did what? Jack shit.

@1 "Looking forward to our resident right-wing influencers telling us that we shouldn't worry about Trump switching sides in the war in Europe or Trump waging economic warfare against the United States or Trump and Musk dismantling the federal government. "

The rightwing commenters (like werebackbaby and others) who say these things aren't even hiding. It's pretty clear that your smears target leftwing Democrats like me who oppose corporatists and neoconservatives within the Democratic party. Those leftwing Democrats are certainly not saying anything that you accuse them of saying (the quote above). You are basically a liar.

No matter who the POTUS is, attending presidential speeches is a job requirement for senators and representatives. It only makes dems look bad when they pout and storm out, selfishly all of a sudden it's all about "them" instead of their constituents. Not to mention it's not showing solidarity with dems who remained in attendance.

And Megan's right about the paddles signs. It just adds to the juvenileness.

Professionalism is the best face to put forward.

@14 "Progressives think the Dems would win if they went further Left. Most actual Dems know this isn't based in reality. "

This is not factual. The razor thin margins exists because corporate Democrats campaign to the right by refusing to embrace popular stance on issues. Obama who pretended to be a progressive won twice and it wasn't even close

"Running
to the center
is how Dems win
the razor-thin mar-
gins in a Presidential race."

what utter
Nonsense. appeasement's
precisely what Got the Dems here
and just what Neolibs & Cons've been
pushing ever since Slik Willy sold us Out

and as long as
Citizens United stands
only Big Money gets to decide.

@15: “leftwing Democrats like me who oppose corporatists and neoconservatives within the Democratic party”

lol. I don’t think the words “corporatism” and “neoconservatism” mean what you think they mean. Let Wikipedia be your friend on this one. 😄

Geez, first Adrien Brody babbling away at the Oscars and now this. Clearly we need an orchestra on-hand during SoTU addresses to fire up some play-off music. Personally, I would prefer Bruno Mars' "Fuck You", but in the interests of decorum perhaps Van Morrison's "Talk Is Cheap" would suffice.

@16:

Fuck you. If googly-eyed MTG can get away with shouting "liar!" during a SoTU speech without even a peep of condemnation by the Rethuglicans, then Democrats quietly standing up and walking out is sauce for the goose. You want to hold Democrats to higher standards? Start with your own fucking house, first.

@16. Best face forward? They are speaking truth to power, numbnuts. Look who is barking from the dais! What kind of professional face is that, you petty coward? Show some guts and get off your fence, coward.

@17: we disagree. obama won because he had charisma. pretending to be progressive didn't play into it. he didn't run any further left of low-charisma harris.

low-information flibberdigibbets decide our elections, and they ran to the right this year. they liked MFer's dark charisma.

@18: what's your plan for legislation overruling citizen's united? it looks like a pipe dream at this juncture.

@21: I'm referring to walking out, not vulgar shouts from the peanut gallery - at least they stayed for the whole speech. I don't recall Rs ever walking out of a speech from D president. There must have been one or two maybe in all these years. Either attend or not attend, but never disrespect your colleagues and constituents by walking out.

@22: So exactly how does storming out speak truth to power? Pramila Jayapal and Bernie Sanders are the cowards here.

@23: “what's your plan for legislation overruling citizen's united? it looks like a pipe dream at this juncture.”

Indeed, Citizens United was rightly decided as a matter of constitutional law, even if it results in bad policies. Read the whole thing, the decision is far more persuasive than the dissents. It would take a massive lift to overrule, heavier even than the decades-long attack on Roe.

But! It might be possible to set up a work-around! Seattle’s own first-in-the-nation democracy voucher program (check your mailbox for yours right now) illuminates at least the contours of one possible framework to work around Citizens United: pay candidates from the public purse but only if they don’t take money from any private purse. 😃

Seattle’s program doesn’t work because it’s too small and too complicated. But a well-funded, more automated program would likely show better results. Don’t give up hope while the beakers are still bubbling in the laboratories of democracy! 😄

@23 bingo.

Identifying
the Problem's
merely the 1st Step.

finding the tipping point
and getting the levers
into place're Next.

"Citizens United
was rightly decided
as a matter of constitutional law"

nonsense.
a USSC fucking
clerk enabled Corps
to become peeps ages ago

not thru the
consitiution

and Big Money's
ridden that horse
to Citizens United

Phoebe... I expected ALL of that from you. But I would like to add for those that agree with Dweebe: Be sure to take a nice hot curling iron and shove it straight up your ass as you sit there with a professional demeanor. mmmmm Dweebe how's that feel?
And Megan!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!! Fuck you gave me so many feels. And your verbage is second to NO ONE!!! You're my new epic crush (the good kind).
And Kristo... I agree with Kristo... End Citizens United, that is the nail in the coffin for us. Gotta end that shit before anything else can change.

and if 'precedent' no longer
Matters to the USSC any
more, the Doors're
unlocked -- If
there's still
Time.

who knows?
maybe Roberts'll
wanna Redeem himself
his Legacy now Trashed and
ACB's no Ringer for the Madmen

@24 So, just so I'm clear... you think that walking out of a speech is more disrespectful and disruptive than literally shouting at someone? You've clearly never performed on a stage or been in front of people before lol.

Anyone knows what Kamala is doing these days?
Sure would help to have her hold a rally or two a month and highlight the latest crimes and craziness coming from the orange felon.
Heck, why not declare running for President in 2028 and start her campaign... Would give Dems and the rest of the Free World something to rally around and grab the headlines for a bit. ... Just saying.

Dems
AS A UNIT
shoullda turned
around & Mooned 'em

take the
Bull by the
Fawkin' Horn

feckless
for so Long
they've become
well-Accustomed

they'll
be Unemployed
& in fucking Greenland
befucking Fore the djt's 'Term' is ever 'over'

@23, 25: I was thinking about Citizens United while I was out jogging this afternoon, trying to improve on the public-funding framework I outlined @25. I figured some sort of public matching fund would be the way to swamp the billionaires. Nobody’s pockets are deeper than the government’s! 😆

Turns out those giant brainboxes at the Brennan Center were way ahead of me. I was thinking along the lines public matching for independent expenditures (so the more money the billionaires spend, the more money their opponents receive), but the Brennan Center attacked the equation from the opposite direction: a public fund that matches small donors with a 12x multiplier. That’s probably cheaper and less vulnerable to hacking than my idea … and as we know, a lot of these billionaires are actually pretty decent hackers! 🤣

So don’t despair! Citizens United doesn’t have to be the death knell of democracy if we don’t want it to be. We can beat it without scrapping the constitution or packing the courts. Good old ordinary legislation will suffice.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/answer-citizens-united-becoming-reality

@30: Yes. Showing the continuity of government and respect for adversarial views is critical even if all hell is breaking loose. You deserve that respect from your political representation in Congress.

If you're polite to Hitler, he'll stop being Hitler!

@23 "obama won because he had charisma."

Correct. People want to be inspired. This is actually why campaigning on doing the same stuff the Republican will but a little less is the worst possible approach. Moderate technocrats never win Presidential elections (except during a 100 year pandemic) but the Dems never stop insisting on trying. The craziest part is the party didn't even want Obama, that was supposed to be Hillary's year, but he saved them from themselves by sheer force of personality.

@35: Being polite/protocol/decorum is an optimal way of working with others, not for changing peoples' minds per se.

@37

speaking from
Experience
are ya?

"... a public
fund that matches
small donors with a 12x multiplier."
--@🛴🔨

Still
sucks.
all them
Billions, going
to Big Media, gatekeepers
each and Every one, shaping the Narrative

let 'em Run
on fucking Merit
meet-We-the-Peeps
one-on-one come have
the Sex with us if you Must

or
at Least
Convince US.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFdRCPbXdQw

Politely sitting through the president’s whole speech so I can heckle and call him names, respectfully.

@34, you’re a bootlicker, an idiot, and a tedious bore

@41b

like Honey
to the
Bee

@23 We do indeed disagree because Obama campaigned for universal healthcare, re-regulating Wall Street, repealing the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, sick leave, his opposition to the Iraq war, to set us on track to decrease carbon emissions by 80% by 2050, etc which played a significant part in his being elected with a great popular surge of expectation in the wake of the 2008 market crash. Given the preceding, there is no doubt that he campaigned much to the left of Harris

@24 I'm not surprised to see you go full Fascist.

FDR
was so
Popular
they had to
make it a Law
a Prez got Two
terms only -- FDR*
was not only a 'traitor
to his Class' -- he was Pro-
gressive as Fuck. the Citizenry
fucking LOVED him. well. Most of 'em.

*FOUR
FUCKING
TERMS. now,
That's Progressives.

Trump is throwing grenades and firing live bullets at our Republic and people are worried about decorum? Anybody who was not thrown out of that shit-show is a disgrace. Al Green got it right - pathetic he was the only one.

@45: You obviously don't know the meaning of the word.

@45 et fucking al:
feed thy trolls
@thine Own
Peril (and
@Ours,
too)!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhdih6WXTEc

@49 at least WereBackBaby isn't here commenting because he's still too busy gooning to the presidents speech and his collection of Hitler posters.

@48 Yes, I know exactly what that word means. I have a political science degree and grew up around men for fought Fascism in WWII. Trump is a Fascist. He is actively trying to destroy our democracy and betray our allies. Those who treat Trump with any respect are a disgrace to America. They gave my father and uncles medals for killing Fascists in WWII. I'm not going to demean their sacrifices by tolerating Fascists in America today.

@48

This is
when you
Apologize.