Bullshit. You see, now I am angry. We Americans elected Woodrow Wilson, a racist xenophobic terrible human being. Yet, despite that, we survived. For crying out loud, America elected Jackson, a guy who ran an honest to goodness genocide, and yet here we are. George W Bush ran the place for 8 years and we are still here. Nixon and all his baggage. The entire Whig Party. Coolidge did nothing, not a damn thing, as the entire global economy tanked and nearly ruined us... not to mention fucking up the 1927 flooding recovery. We as a county have had 10, maybe 12 good presidents tops; most have been mediocre men of various party and temperament. And we have had 10 or so that have been appallingly bad. Want to get started on the shit shows we elect in this country? Here you go. This shit of liberals whining need to fucking stop. NOW. We got 11 months to build or we are fucked. FUCKED. If the Democrats lose a single state house in 2017, the Republicans will have the 75% of state houses needed to pass Constitutional Amendments. SIT THE FUCK DOWN PEOPLE AND REALLY THINK ABOUT THAT ONE Hillary was a bad candidate that ran a poor campaign. She did not pump up the Senate races, she did not excite the base and she was unable to close the election against a reality TV clown. So, now, we fight or we die. Stop the fucking moping, make calls. Find the liberals in your state Democratic party if you want to fight back, get involved, get off the damn internet and FIGHT.America died on Nov. 8, 2016, not with a bang or a whimper, but at its own hand via electoral suicide. We the people chose a man who has shredded our values, our morals, our compassion, our tolerance, our decency, our sense of common purpose, our very identity — all the things that, however tenuously, made a nation out of a country.
Once in a while, it's prudent to remember that the United States is an experiment. Like all experiments, it's outcome is uncertain and it's going to produce some anomalies and unforeseen outcomes from time to time. I think that's where we are at right now. We don't look the same as we did in our founding days, that's supposed to be part of the experiment. Can we design a system that is dynamic, that can be augmented to suit the times? America may not look the same in 8 years. But it hasn't look the same... ever. It's a work in progress.
I feel like the same could be said of all of humanity, and I think that's a good thing. We will screw up along the way, whether as individuals, countries or all humanity. Like you said, it's an ongoing experiment.
It's bad, but not quite as bad as it sounds. They still need 2/3 of both houses on Congress. There is a mechanism for a constitutional convention, but it has literally been used 0 times, and no one even knows how to do it or what the legal requirements are. Seriously. It's in the Constitution, but since it's never been used it is unclear how it could be used, as normally these matters either operate on tradition, the history of court decisions, or both. Here, there are none, so it is unlikely to occur suddenly. Therefore, as long as greater than 1/3 of both houses stay Democrat (likely, given that Dems get more of the cumulative vote in House races in most elections--that's how gerrymandered we are), we're safe from oppressive bullshit that these theocrats might dream up.
AHEH.... If 3/4 of the state legislators demand a Constitutional Convention, they can do that also without the input of Congress.They still need 2/3 of both houses on Congress
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof
link
Apologies, not my intent. I am seeing this here and there, that "it will never happen," yet here we are talking about President Donald Trump. There is an incredible amount of nutty in the State Legislatures, in plces like Arkansas and Kansas to give examples. It is in my head that there are people out there now planning for that 3/4, and how to get it. The thing is that the people plotting this maneuver? They concern me a bit. 100% with you there. And honestly, I would like to keep it that way for now.I feel like you stopped reading my post after one sentence.
It is an unknown unknown.
I agree with everything else you said, but want to add one thing. We also have to stop pretending that Clinton lost the election as opposed to all those voters who literally couldn't be bothered to show up. They shouldn't be off the hook, either.Hillary was a bad candidate that ran a poor campaign. She did not pump up the Senate races, she did not excite the base and she was unable to close the election against a reality TV clown. So, now, we fight or we die.
Sorta. But again, I have a big problem with us saying it was Clinton's fault. Even if she sucked, she sucked less than Trump. Those who didn't show in essence voted for Trump. That she wasn't "inspiring" enough is not an excuse in my book.
Voting is only meaningful to the extent that it achieves a given outcome. Now, you can argue that there's a form of protest in not voting (I certainly considered it this time around), but voting is one of those situations where inaction is nonetheless contributing to a specific outcome. In this case, Democratic supporters not turning out is one cause (among several) for Trump's victory. Tautological though it may seem, Clinton would have won if more people who supported her (or at least disliked her less) had voted for her. Thus their decision not to vote literally took votes out of Clinton's (theoretical) total, which in turn was one of the reasons that Trump had more. It also fails pretty badly as a protest. The apathy of the average voter is not a new narrative, and any idea of a protest vote will be swallowed up by the traditional one.
I understand that, but that decision was tantamount to a vote for Trump.
Everyone was also repeatedly told Hillary was favored to win in every poll, so the impetus for liberals to make it out on voting day was markedly lower.
I don't share the author's despair at all. Trump isn't going to stop immigration. Even illegal immigration. He builds a wall, they'll dig tunnels; you've heard it before. The white electorate is shrinking. Trump's coalition is unsustainable. When these people realize that coal jobs are NEVER going to come back (solar is getting too cheap and the benefits to consumers over coal is too obvious), they'll have second thoughts. Automation, fueled by AI, will become ubiquitous, and soon the only jobs left will be tech jobs, creative jobs, managerial jobs, etc. The manual labor jobs that white rural America reveres are dead. Their way of life is not just dying, it has been terminally ill since the start of the 21st century. People can only sustain active hatred for so long, it will soon fade away into apathy and acceptance. It is up to the Democrats to reorganize under Bernie Sanders' leadership. They need to bring these people, with all their warts, into the fold. If we can create new jobs with new technologies, we can stave off the worst of the coming automation revolution. But eventually we will need to shift the paradigm of how we think about jobs, labor, and what is necessary for a society to function.
Regarding coal, it's mostly getting crushed by natural gas, not solar or wind. The last ten years of data shows coal has declined about 600,000 GWh, roughly a third of its 2006 output. In the same time, non-hydro renewables have increased about 225,000 GWh (of which solar makes up about 100,000 GWh). Natural gas increased about 500,000 GWh. Total generation increased about 140,000 GWh. Past performance is no indicator of the future, of course, but when people talk about the decline of the coal industry over the past decade, they're also talking about the rise of gas.
I agree. While the regulations cost money, undoing them won't budge the market much.
Not sure how good this data is but I may be wrong on cost per MW/h. But the data in the table bellow shows gas as being 30% cheaper so not sure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source#Energy_Information_Administration. From my college energy textbook I remember 30% cheaper being in the ballpark but i guess numbers vary based on how you calculate the total cost..png)
No. No warts. No racism, no homphobia, no xenophobia, no poor shaming, no science-denying, no anti-education stances. That is the most prescient divide here. Yes, it's partially economics, but it's these very very important things that are at stake here. If these attitudes can't be changed, these people can fuck off. Let them starve and not know why. So far, they have been fractious in the face of any reasonable discussion or compromise.They need to bring these people, with all their warts, into the fold.
I share your outrage at the fact this racist, misogynist pig will now be POTUS. I canvassed for Clinton; I was totally, 100% behind her. But I also don't think we can just get rid of racism and nationalism by extension. That is a slow process that requires re-education over generations, and in the meantime I think there are common ideas both Trump voters and Sanders voters share: anti-establishment, anti-elite, pro-working-poor. We should harness the anger and vitriol of the Trump coalition for our own ends. I don't think the targets of racism had any illusions that racism wasn't still alive and well in America before the election. I think the people who thought like that were people like me: white liberals.
It doesn't seem to me that Trump voters have anti-elite or pro-poor attitudes based on who they voted for. I just feel like we're beyond the point of compromise. One side is amenable to reason and understand facts; the other is entrenched and "post-truth". I've been hoping for (and calling for) my entire adult life a presidential candidate who's primary issue is poverty. The last time we had that was Jimmy Carter (I think, I wasn't alive). I was very pro-John Edwards in 2008 because that was his signature issue. I dunno. With republican congresses, I have no idea how any positive legislation is going to get passed ever. I'm frustrated to the point of revolt.
This sort of liberal elitism is how/why Clinton lost and how we ended up with Trump. If we as liberals believe that we can rehabilitate the homeless and the drug addicted surely we can educate and rehabilitate those who are afraid of gays blacks and immigrants. That's gotta be easier than trying to rehabilitate someone addicted to heroin. To give up on half the nation just because they are afraid of people they haven't met is weak and wrong imo.
We've been trying for generations. They just elected a literal fascist who has literal white supremacists in his inner circle. They're going to completely destroy the EPA and actively accelerate climate change. The gloves need to come off.
I had to look up Neal Gabler after reading this part, convinced he must have been high school age in 2004 when Bush/Cheney was reelected. No, apparently he was 54 then.We are likely to be a pariah country. And we are lost for it.