As #Trump wins (by a large margin) the Republican caucus in #Iowa, the prospect of a second Trump term edges closer....
What seemed unthinkable not so many months ago, now starts to look possible.
Whatever, #Americans might think (rightly or wrongly) about #Biden's record in Govt., the notion that Trump might be an 'improvement' to someone on the other side of the Atlantic looks delusional...
I'm just perplexed about how he gains any support at all, but clearly he's appealing to something?
@ChrisMayLA6 a second Trump term was always on the cards, especially given the pitiful attempts of the US justice system at bringing him to account for Jan 6th.
@ChrisMayLA6 even the Italians, for all their reputation of corruption, convicted Berlusconi.
The US however is too far gone, and has probably entered its final death spiral as a unified democracy.
Of course the media will want to paint all this as politics as usual, either because they are inept, or because their owners want to create a picture of normalcy because that's good for business.
@danjac@ChrisMayLA6 what I cannot understand is why a party that calls itself the “grand old party” tolerates a mafioso criminal like Trump. He is bringing democracy in general and the Republican party in particular into disrepute. 
Why do they not inject him from the party?
So unlike in Europe, where you have multiple left or right wing parties that form coalitions (e.g. in Finland we have neoliberal, nativist & Christian parties) in the US they all live under one big tent. These 2 parties therefore are really coalitions that change all the time - right now the nativists & Christian right are in charge.
@peterbrown@ChrisMayLA6 the 2 party system is also prone to entryism - again lacking room for smaller parties, the route for extremists to power is taking over a party from within, like a parasite inside a host, starting with constituency level party membership, school boards etc.
@peterbrown@ChrisMayLA6 you have someone like Steve Bannon who understands these dynamics and knew that once you subvert & take over one party in the US it's game over, because sooner or later, the 2 party system moves in your favor.
@peterbrown@ChrisMayLA6 the other side of the coin is the "long march" through the institutions - the courts, military, civil service etc. After all, a constitution only has power if it can be enforced.
@fkamiah17@ChrisMayLA6 Though do remember, this is the primary. It is not Trump winning Iowa, it is the republicans who braved the wind chill in Iowa to caucus him there.
@ariaflame@ChrisMayLA6 Yes, but the "who wins Iowa wins the presidency" refers directly to the primaries. Sorry for being Debbie Downer.
Edit: I've been corrected since posting this - it's Ohio, not Iowa. And may not even be true. Never mind, eh.
@fkamiah17@vaughnsc@ariaflame@ChrisMayLA6 Jimmy Carter won the presidency by unexpectedly winning Iowa. That got the myth started. It’s not true, but it’s good for business.
@Virginicus@vaughnsc@ariaflame@ChrisMayLA6 I was corrected by someone else earlier to tell me that it's actually Ohio this refers to which, according to them, is accurate.
@fkamiah17@Virginicus@vaughnsc@ariaflame@ChrisMayLA6 Exactly. I have a horrible feeling this year is ‘set up’ for next year when it all kicks off properly, what with all the decisive elections going on all round the planet, many of which will not go the desirable way.
@PaulNickson@Virginicus@vaughnsc@ariaflame@ChrisMayLA6 Agreed. Seriously considering actually hibernating this year, starting right after Halloween. There isn't enough booze in the world to cope with the potential outcome of this November. When Starmer and Biden are the "good" options ...
@fkamiah17@Virginicus@vaughnsc@ariaflame@ChrisMayLA6 It’s really grim isn’t it. I may take your tip and hibernate myself. After November on both sides of the pond there will be little incentive to stay awake anyway.
@fkamiah17@PaulNickson@Virginicus@vaughnsc@ChrisMayLA6 Referendums are a lot harder. Especially when the no camp was filled with both the racists and the people who thought it didn't go far enough and therefore since it wasn't perfect they didn't want a bar of it.
You know what though, the right wing want you to give up. They want you to despair and not fight for what is right. Don't let them win without even trying to oppose them.
@ariaflame@PaulNickson@Virginicus@vaughnsc@ChrisMayLA6 There's a vast difference between giving up and acknowledging that "voting left" rarely works once the "left" gets into power. And when your choice on the left is Starmer/Biden - who are actually centre right - the happy clappy "don't let them win without a fight" is half patronising, half redundant.
@fkamiah17@PaulNickson@Virginicus@vaughnsc@ChrisMayLA6 I'm not saying that voting is the only thing you should do. There's other things that can be done, to be most effective they start at a community level. Even if Biden is just a band aid (and to be honest given my expectations for him going in he's done better than I thought he would) it gives a bit more space for improvement.
@ariaflame@PaulNickson@Virginicus@vaughnsc@ChrisMayLA6 Yes, I agree that building from a community level is much more effective than a top down approach but sadly it's something that takes time and cooperation, both of which aren't available quickly enough, either at a national or international level.
I also agree that Biden's done a lot better (chiefly on domestic policy) than I thought too - but he's pissed it up the wall with Gaza.
@fkamiah17@PaulNickson@Virginicus@vaughnsc@ChrisMayLA6 Because the USA isn't funding their army. They don't need the USA funding. It's only still being done to placate the pro-Israel domestic group. They already have enough weapons. What the USA needs at this point is leverage, and not to push things so far that people with no self control inflate the conflict even further.
@Virginicus@ariaflame Fair enough, I didn't know that. "Mostly" is doing some of the heavy lifting there though. A breakdown would be interesting to read (although I'm not asking you to provide one, it's my job to find out).
It still doesn't answer the question of the continuing provision of specifically military aid since October 7.
Also, local organising by whom, and of what?
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@ariaflame@Virginicus Bookmarked for later. I've watched a few of his clips in the past but this one will have to wait until I'm fully awake after an absolutely 100% no argument siesta 😁
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