And I say that as someone whose politics lie somewhat to the left of the Green Party (meaning that I am always sad and politically disenfranchised).

I don’t disagree. But there is a good chunk of the Liberal vote that is more likely to swing Conservative when Carney’s honeymoon is over than swing ND. I’m not happy about it. I don’t know what Avi (who I greatly admire) could do that Ed Broadbent and Jack Layton couldn’t. 🫤🫤

Maybe. But it has been tried for decades and doesn’t seem to have worked so far. I don’t see why that might change. The Conservatives are a big tent that accommodates everyone from Fascist nut-jobs to middle class people who want to pay less tax. Splitting the progressives divides and conquers.

Thus forcing us every generation or so to suffer thru Conservative governments that nearly 2/3 of us most certainly didn’t want. It’s no wonder that people are losing faith in democracy. FPTP means that we don’t actually have one.

Avi I really like you. I liked meeting you at Julian Sigger’s parties “back in the day.” You hold your own among the greats from your family - and that is really saying something. But it grieves me to no end to see the progressive vote - which hovers around 60% in Canada, split between 2 parties.

Fascists in the throes of their ecstasies always seem to believe that the “party” is never going to stop. And they are always wrong. These fools seem to forget that, sooner or later, they will be called to account for themselves.

Even if the President issues blanket pardons to everyone in the chain of command involved in these strikes, the cases could be taken up by the ICC (whose job is to prosecute war crimes when the countries involved are unwilling to do so). Hegseth may find himself unable to travel.

Yellowjacket wasps. Total douchebags.

You MUST have something to do with it! Your picture is on it!!!! 😊🤭

Freedom to carry weapons. Freedom to say terrible things about others not like them. Freedom to limit the power of disadvantaged groups. Freedom, if understood as the ability to create fear in others, means that really only certain groups are “free” while, as a whole, society has less of it.

America seems to struggle with the tension between “freedom to” and “freedom from.” For much of the world, freedom “from” - hatred, oppression, gun violence, hunger, homelessness, fear, persecution, etc is prioritized. For Americans, especially White ones, freedom means freedom “to.”

Fascists weaponize tolerance for their own ends. Karl Popper called it the tolerance paradox. A tolerant society cannot survive unless it refuses to tolerate intolerance. Both-sides-ism. Devil’s Advocate Positions. “Prove me wrong.” It always ends in “free speech for me and not for thee.”

Of course

❤️❤️

I have to wonder what real news people like @jdickerson.bsky.social think about this. I suspect it would be analogous to waking up one day to find an idiot had been elected your president. Oh wait…

The “MAGA ethos” always needs an enemy - and barring that to create one. It claims strength but then whines that it is undermined by books, art, comedy, or even the law. And it requires people to believe that people who are “different” (the enemy within) are more dangerous than true adversaries. 😞