“What’s going to happen in this next election? I’m terrified about what could possibly happen, because our leaders matter. Who we select, who speaks for us, who holds that bully pulpit, it affects us in ways sometimes I think people take for granted,” Obama told Jay Shetty on his podcast “On Purpose.”
“The fact that people think that government — ‘eh, does it really even do anything?’ — and I’m like ‘Oh my God, does government do everything for us, and we cannot take this democracy for granted.’ And I worry sometimes that we do. Those are the things that keep me up,” she said.
“The bars are different for people in life. That I’ve learned,” she said.
Without naming Trump, she continued: “Other people can be indicted a bunch of times and still run for office. Black men can’t. You just learn to be good. And in the end, you benefit from that extra resilience.”
I’m fucking convinced you guys are going to vote that chud in again. Or let him be voted in again. There is nuance but it’s the same outcome.
The people who want to spite Biden’s genocidal support by not voting for him don’t realize that the alternative is a fascist dictator who actively relishes in the prospect of killing brown people. If you think Biden’s treatment of the Gazan war is bad, wait til you see Trump.
Same with the Ukrainian war. If Biden is milquetoast, Trump will guarantee your toast is forever black and inedible.
By the time the election comes we might already be in WW3 😒
Oh brother…her and her elite inner circle will be fine. When I say BOTH sides are guilty of using scare tactics to get votes, this is what I’m talking about. Democrats and the Left want to scare people into thinking the world will end if a Republican becomes President. They all said the same thing when Trump became President in 2017.
“Both sides” is a tired old argument that doesn’t hold water. If you haven’t seen the damage Republicans have done in the past 8 years on the Federal and State level, you need to look harder, my dude. The Democrats aren’t amazing, but they aren’t actively stripping people’s rights away and trying to erase minority groups from existence. There is no Democratic “Plan 2025”.
It’s a balance. I don’t agree with everything that the Republicans do, just like I don’t agree with everything the Democrats do. However, both parties are flawed and both parties are doing things in the interests of different groups.
As much as I share the same concern with Michelle, I would selfishly respond to her that if she just fucking ran for president she would win in a landslide and put an end to fucking Trump. Barack can spend the entire 4 years ridiculing the orange bezoar as first man.
It seems like most Americans are gonna vote for trump and he might win. Democrat voters have to blame their side if trump wins. They’ve run such a dog shit pr campaign. Biden has done good on the policy front but you’d never know because the media doesn’t cover it and the right-wing media only covers his mistakes.
I don’t understand why you think that. The last election wasn’t even close and Trump had the post office in shambles.
I’m terrified of the outcome no matter who wins… Our system is seriously broken if these are the best candidates we, the supposed bastion of freedom and democracy, can come up with.
Im gonna be real with y’all. Fascism in the US is already here and it’s only getting worse. Whether you vote Democrat or Republican you are voting to maintain a system that actively harms and kills millions. These days voting Democrat only means minorities in the US get a little more rights if they’re nice while everything else stays the same or gets worse and honestly I can’t tell if it was ever any better. It makes me genuinely sick that I have choose between two of the worst people I’ve ever had the displeasure of observing and any consideration of an alternative is met with active hostility or dismissal. I cannot fathom how people can accept being forced to choose between two genuine evils
My vote will accomplish nothing because there is no one to represent me
In this case, people accepting being force to choose between two genuine evils is because one of the two evils plans to make it so there is no chance at change and would likely turn to slaughtering people who don’t fall in line with the regime
I think voting, while important, is ineffective for fixing a political system. One man having the correct idea can’t change anything by one vote.
I’m climbing my career ladder and starting to control good portion of company resources. At least, it has more potential than a single stupid vote. How to make use of that power I need to figure out, but as nobody knows the solution, the only route is to think while trying.
in that case you have to vote to at least make sure that you get a dog instead of a wolf
I shouldn’t have to choose between evil and slightly less evil. My vote is already useless in the state I live in because it’s been gerrymandered into dysfunction so it’s hard to even find a reason to bother
Gerrymandering does not affect Senate and Presidential elections.
Gerrymandered districts elect state governments, and state governments get to make their own election laws.
I cannot fathom how people can accept being forced to choose between two genuine evils
The word forced is right there in your sentence, what’s hard to fathom? A third party vote is effectively a vote for Trump. I’m not going to argue with you if you still feel morally compelled to vote third party - but let’s not pretend otherwise.
You are correct of course. As has played out historically, the liberals have been utterly ineffective at combating the rise of fascism.
It was not until what, about 12 to 6 ish months ago that finally, you could actually tell a liberal that Trump and the Republicans /are fascists/ without a bunch of hoity toity himming and hawing about tone policing and catastrophizing accusations.
A sad, sad joke.
We are a historically ignorant country, still high on our own supply of American Exceptionalism, unable to grasp that It Can In Fact Happen Here.
We ruled by geriatric politicians who have not been able to connect with the actual politics or material concerns of anyone under the age of 40 in a way that would effectively improve their lives. The mechanics of our political system are ossified and incapable of being changed to even /allow/ for changing into a system that would allow for more effective representation of the many, many poor. We will never have ranked choice voting on a large scale, nor reform to the electoral college, nothing like that. Not that those things would even work in a society where over 50% of possible voters have the literacy level of 7th graders.
We are ruled by corporate overlords who do not give a functional damn about any social justice issues and only feign it as a brand and marketing strategy to lull those who might otherwise actually do something useful to address those issues in society into inaction, as they can pay for the conspicuous consumption of media and more animal friendly foods or eco friendly cars or whatever to allow them to /feel/ like they are helping to solve the problem, when in reality they are just continuing to fund it.
I hope I am wrong and some actual good change will happen. But I do not think it likely at this point.
What makes this time in America’s history so terrifying is that the difference between Democrat and Republican has only been greater one other time and it resulted in a civil war. You can’t say “both sides are evil” because it’s not even close. Democrats haven’t really changed and that’s not the progress they claim to represent. However Republicans have abandoned the concept of the US as a whole and are actively attempting to corrupt our voting and end democracy state by state. Republicans are so close to crossing a line that cannot be uncrossed and it will result, at best, in states operating as independent nations. In other words, a fucking disaster.
There is only one “evil” side right now.
I understand that. Neither option is ‘good’. But one of the options will (in my opinion) have a bloody good go at removing your ability to have the option at all in the future.
Unfortunately to Trump supporters this is a grandiose endorsement and exactly what they want.
I’m not American but what’s happening in the US and what will happen when/if Trump gets re-elected definitely worries me. It’s difficult not to sound overly dramatic or hyperbolic about the situation but it really does feel like the US is uncomfortably close right now to a christofascist state. And if you just rolled your eyes at that word, take a look at who’s currently second in line to the US presidency.
If Trump does win, I really fear for American democracy. Do you really think a man who encouraged an armed insurrection to support a subversion of an election will pause to think twice about removing the few rights large sections of America currently have? And if the process prevents him, do you think he’d think twice about dismantling the process? At gun point if necessary?
Hi, American here.
American domestic politics is absolutely fucked right now.
The Republican Party does not really even have any policy proposals for serious issues at the Federal level.
They spent years saying ‘Obamacare bad’, saying they could do healthcare better. Basically it is a decade later and they have no plan, not even a proposal.
Taxes? We still have morons like DeSantis basically saying ‘I dunno, maybe a flat tax?’ to applause during stump speeches and debates. The flat tax proposal is absolutely insane for a large number of reasons, but the Republican base eats it up.
Look, there are something like 50 million + Americans that believe in all or most of the QAnon conspiracy theories, that believe God himself appointed Trump as President.
Trump stacked the Supreme Court.
The Republicans have functionally made abortion illegal in about half the country.
Meanwhile the economy is /apparently/ recovering, though the prices of basically everything you need to routinely pay for have risen fairly dramatically while wages have remained basically stagnant. Wealth inequality has spiralled to obscene levels, rent has basically doubled in about half a decade.
As I write this, I believe that polls of Biden v Trump are still showing Trump ahead.
Even if Trump does not win, and even if the MAGA QAnon types do not do a bunch of terrorism (again), they still exist, and are hopelessly living in basically an alternate reality where anything that goes against their worldview is fake, a conspiracy, of the Devil.
It was about 3 years ago now that I told my friend group that the QAnon problem was so serious that we would need some kind of analogous concept to the de-Nazification program as was implemented after WW2 in West Germany to deal with it. They either laughed at or ignored me. None of those people are my friends any more.
We are fucked.
The only thing that motivates most Republican voters is hatred. Any politician who says Trans people bad, Critical Race Theory bad, Immigrants bad, Homeless People bad, anything like that receives applause from the audience.
And I write this /as a homeless person/ who will almost certainly not be able to vote in the upcoming election. I will be /lucky/ if I can even find and qualify for an actual apartment after basically a bunch of crimes that happened to me in the course of last year caused me serious physical injury and the loss of all of my possessions, ruined my credit score, placed my in incredible debt, lost me my job and my ability to do any other job until my physical injuries are healed, which I simply have to handle myself, while homeless, because the cost of engaging with American healthcare system to handle my problems now would be sufficient to outright purchase a modest home (outright) less than a decade ago.
Meanwhile, Trump has outright stated he would like to implement basically concentration camps for the homeless. He has stated he wants to eliminate the vermin leftists. He is very concerned with the purity of the blood of the nation, and has outright stated he will be a dictator.
And he is currently leading in the polls.
Again, this country is fucked. So, sorry Europeans, I would love to be able to assuage your fears, and become an activist or something.
Maybe send me some of your healthcare and I’ll get right on it.
Or maybe I am extremely tired, have no hope for this broken country, and could use the services of someone who can smuggle me into Canada or something.
Also American here. Vexikron is 100% correct. I will take my payment in Wegovy please.
I wish I could, I really do.
I appreciate the kind words.
Even if Trump dies tomorrow, the problem still exists. Trump is the worm in the apple, but half the apple is rotten.
That is true, no disagreement here. That’s the truly scary thing about the man - he clearly does represent a lot of people.
But right now, he is the immediate danger.
I’m not sure anymore. He got so elevated by some people but they hate so much. Idk if anyone could just slide into his place. I think they could be lost enough with the infighting that would try to fill in that hole. As in, that confusion could give us the gap to secure our processes and/or elect reasonable people.
The problem wit this reasoning is that it does not understand what Trump actually did.
It is /worse/ than being a charismatic maniac.
It is that by being a charismatic maniac… he revealed the entirety of the American society and political system to be a cruel joke.
He essentially normalized extreme hatred and bigotry to the point that nearly every single other Republican had to either emulate him, or at least shift heavily toward his positions and rhetoric.
Infighting is and will continue to happen, yes. But Trump transformed the Republican party into what is essentially fascist in all but name now.
And the problem with this is that electoralism alone cannot defeat a rising fascist movement which shows no signs of slowing down.
We, with history as a guide, /cannot/ defeat this only via voting.
As much as it pains me to agree with Tim Pool on anything, to any degree: A civil war of sorts, or at least massive social unrest something akin to the Pre-Bellum American society is already happening.
The core voters of the Republican Party are now driven by QAnon style insano-anti-thinking. There is no known cure for this, and it is very easy for any random dumbass that wants to be a politician to appeal to these kinds of people, /so there will be more and more of them/.
It’s difficult not to sound overly dramatic or hyperbolic about the situation but it really does feel like the US is uncomfortably close right now to a christofascist state.
To add to this: while it may sound hyperbolic to some folks, for plenty of us we’ve seen this brewing for decades. White evangelicals and right-wing politics unified in the 1980s in a way that was a clear danger to democracy, and they’ve only solidified their power since, given how mainstream their views are now.
IMHO Frank Zappa said it best in 1986: he got called out as being hyperbolic, but he clearly saw the writing on the wall. He’s of course not the most scholarly source, but damn it Jim I’m a biologist, not a historian. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlePLLlfH4Q
Me too and I’m not even American, dissolution of NATO, serving Ukaine on a platter to Russia, possibility of more war in Europe with Putin getting bolder.
No pressure Americans but your elections are kind of important for the future of the world.
Yeah but a bunch of white college kids who don’t even know what Mer7aba means have decided that the way to serve the Palestinian cause is to let the guy who handed Jerusalem and the Golan Heights to Netenyahu back into office to teach the establishment a lesson so we’re fucked.
I’m starting to think they’re actually just right wingers who know that saying what they ACTUALLY want will get them dumped by all their cool allies club friends. Probably why they keep insisting on dumb fuck takes like “bErNiE wOuLd Be A cEnTrIsT iN pOlAnD!” and “AmErIcA hAs No LeFt!!!”
I agree with most of what you said, but they’re not wrong when they say America has no left. Our “left” wing party is still right of center. The handful of actually left wing politicians are drown out by the rest of the party.
I hate that the Democrats aren’t actually a left wing party, but I’m pragmatic enough to understand that it’s the best use of my vote that has any chance of actually winning / not helping TFG get back in office.
Imagine the worst outcome you can think of on the issue that’s most important to you, and that’s probably likely no matter who we elect. Both parties rule as conservatives, and conservatism in recent memory has meant a slow-burn of lost liberty.
Don’t worry though. No matter who we elect they’ll still run us further into debt in order to fund the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, because it’s making our legislators and their backers obscenely wealthy. War is one of the shitty things for which there’s always bipartisanship.
You’re part of the problem.
There is no ‘both sides are bad take’ here.
There’s Biden who at worse maintains the status quo and then there is Trump who will become a literal dictator.
No I’m not exaggerating. You fucking centrist morons can’t see you’ll be on a train for the gas chambers if he is elected again and will be shocked when it happens.
LOL
I’m a Green.
Though you’re partly right. It is the centrists who truly paved the way for fascism in this country. 40 years of lesser evils really added up.
Then I hope you’re voting for Biden if you are eligible to.
Centrists will be the death of all of us.
They’re not the centrist though. They want someone to the left of Biden. You want someone to the left of Trump.
You’re the centerist here. And yes you will be the death of the Democrat party and probably the entire country along with it.
I can’t vote for the American president.
But if I could I would still have to vote for Biden because of first past the post voting. Third way candidates are a wasted vote.
Would I want to vote for Biden? Of course not.
Do you live in the U.S.?
You’re spending too much time on Reddit and Lemmy. Republicans will always support Ukraine (they hate Russia too!). The issue isn’t about support, it’s about limits. We have to have checks and balances when financing a war, this isn’t a free for all. The Republicans are just making sure the money is being spent how it’s supposed too. All of a sudden, they’re called “traitors” and “ass-kissers.” Which is just ridiculous. How soon we forget Ukraine was once considered one of the most corrupt countries on Earth.
That’s not what Trump’s actions suggested the last time in office, I have no doubt republicans hate Russia, maybe even more than Democrats, it’s Trump specifically I’m worried about.
Trump won’t pull support for Ukraine, that’s just a scare tactic from the Left. The entire government is united on the issue of stopping Russia, Trump alone can’t do much about that. If anything, he’ll just crack down harder on how/where the money is spent. Again, I hate this “just give them what they want!” mentality coming from the Left. There should always be questions, concerns, limits…etc…when giving billions of dollars to any country.
Michelle, if you’re reading this, relax. You have enough money to easily move to any country on the planet. You’ll be fine.
Have you considered she may be empathetic to those who don’t have the money to easily move to any country on the planet? It’s a good thing to be concerned for the welfare of others IMHO.
Yes, I did and I think she absolutely can be “concerned” or “worried”. I just doubt she’s “terrified”. If she’s that empathetic to those in need what is she actually doing to help them? Her wikipage says that “In 2021, the former first lady announced that she has been “moving toward retirement”.[90] Though she continues to be active in political campaigns, the former first lady has said she is reducing the amount of work to spend more time with her husband.” It doesn’t mention any actual work she did since 2007. I don’t know them but for me she and Obama just look like another rich couple enjoying their lives and not engaging at all with common people. But now she’s terrified for them? I don’t buy it. Just my opinion though.
When I say I’m dying to see the new Godzilla movie again (it was excellent, by the way), I’m not literally dying.
That said, I honestly don’t know what the Obamas are doing, and they certainly don’t need me defending them. I wouldn’t rely on what makes it to wikipedia as a source of how much they’re trying to improve the world, though. Given the backlash she received for trying to reduce childhood obesity, and the backlash Barack received just for existing, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re trying to donate/contribute with as little fanfare as possible to avoid further backlash. Just my opinion, though.
I don’t think the paycheque is of any concern to her. She’s written how many multi-million selling books?
I’d be concerned whatever the outcome.
You reckon Jan 6th was a one off?
