Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

“How Harris Lost the Working Class” by @davidsirota.com jacobin.com/2024/11/harr...

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How Harris Lost the Working Class: Workers rejected Kamala Harris because she chose to campaign in a fantasy world where villains other than Trump are rarely named and nobody has to choose whether regular people or billionaire oligarch...

How Harris Lost the Working Class

Link Preview: How Harris Lost the Working Class: Workers rejected Kamala Harris because she chose to campaign in a fantasy world where villains other than Trump are rarely named and nobody has to choose whether regular people or billionaire oligarch...
Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

during the 1920s and 1930s, “fascist” was a descriptive term, referring to particular political movements and politicians. by the 1960s, those movements and politicians were so fringe, so widely considered beyond acceptability, the term became a mere epithet. in the 2020s, it is descriptive again.

Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

if they had actually understood what they were doing as politically motivated, they would have known that if you come for the once-and-potentially-future king, you'd better not miss. for all the accusations of lawfare, that wasn't in fact how they saw what they were doing. and so here we are.

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Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

"How Baltimore Locals Beat A Right-Wing Media Tycoon" by Marcie Jones www.wonkette.com/p/how-baltim...

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How Baltimore Locals Beat A Right-Wing Media Tycoon: And told him to F on off!

How Baltimore Locals Beat A Right-Wing Media Tycoon

Link Preview: How Baltimore Locals Beat A Right-Wing Media Tycoon: And told him to F on off!
Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

liberal elites are constrained by manners — which they understand as scruples — from fully adopting, endorsing, or even tolerating certain cultural signifiers perceived as working class. right-wing elites have no such scruples, so are able to adopt any cultural signifiers that help them win power.

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Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

people act like i’m not resisting because all i do is sit on the couch and watch tv and eat junk food. what they don’t notice is i’m eating Cheetos.

Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

[new draft post] It's the parasocials, stupid drafts.interfluidity.com/2024/11/08/i...

It's the parasocials, stupid

Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

to salve the wound, Trump / Elon can console Zelensky that while, sure, there will be territorial concessions and no NATO membership, there won’t really be much of a NATO anyway so that’s not giving up all that much, is it?

Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

from “Exit Right” by @gabrielwinant.bsky.social www.dissentmagazine.org/online_artic...

Text:

The accountability of the Democrats to antagonistic constituencies produces both rhetorical incoherence— what does this party stand for?—and programmatic self-cancellation. Champions of the domestic rule of law and the rules-based international order, they engaged in a spectacular series of violations of domestic and international law. Promising a new New Deal, they admonished voters to be grateful for how well they were already doing economically. Each step taken by the party's policymakers in pursuit of one goal imposes a limit in another direction. It is by this dynamic that a decade of (appropriate) anti-Trump hysteria led first to the adoption of parts of Trump's program by the Democrats, and then finally his reinstallation as president at new heights of public opinion favorability. Nothing better than the real thing. Text: The accountability of the Democrats to antagonistic constituencies produces both rhetorical incoherence— what does this party stand for?—and programmatic self-cancellation. Champions of the domestic rule of law and the rules-based international order, they engaged in a spectacular series of violations of domestic and international law. Promising a new New Deal, they admonished voters to be grateful for how well they were already doing economically. Each step taken by the party's policymakers in pursuit of one goal imposes a limit in another direction. It is by this dynamic that a decade of (appropriate) anti-Trump hysteria led first to the adoption of parts of Trump's program by the Democrats, and then finally his reinstallation as president at new heights of public opinion favorability. Nothing better than the real thing.
Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

terrible circumstances, but this is a wonderful observation by Martha Derthick, via @adamgurri@mastodon.social www.liberalcurrents.com/a-practical-...

Text:

As political scientist Martha Derthick put it:

> Congress loves action—it thrives on policy proclamations and goal setting—but it hates bureaucracy and taxes, which are the instruments of action. Overwhelmingly, it has resolved this dilemma by turning over the bulk of administration to the state governments or any organizational instrumentality it can lay its hands on whose employees are not counted on the federal payroll. [1] Text: As political scientist Martha Derthick put it: > Congress loves action—it thrives on policy proclamations and goal setting—but it hates bureaucracy and taxes, which are the instruments of action. Overwhelmingly, it has resolved this dilemma by turning over the bulk of administration to the state governments or any organizational instrumentality it can lay its hands on whose employees are not counted on the federal payroll. [1]
Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

gack! it’s @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com here! i forgot to edit the crosspost!

in reply to self
Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

touting a record stock market as an indicator of Biden’s great economy seems kind of dumb now, doesn’t it?

Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

alignments and outcomes: working class + professional class ⇒ social democracy professional class + plutocrats ⇒ liberal plutocracy (“neoliberalism”) working class + plutocrats ⇒ fascism (this is an old thing i periodically repost,)

Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

management of the US dollar is now in the hands of… the people who’ve been buying a ton of bitcoin in a bet on the imminent death of the US dollar.

Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

the resolution to the debate about “deliverism” is it only works if what gets delivered is substantial, material results prior to the election. if what’s delivered is just the legislation, mb some change that will eventually bear fruit but takes time, opponents gin up cynicism and fear no problem.

Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

i’m not quite sure but i’m pretty sure this is really Barry Cynamon, one of the most amazing people, now on BlueSky. @cynamon.bsky.social

Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

if you are blaming “we” or “the electorate” or “the American people”, you are not doing anything useful.

Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

i am so terrified and heartbroken i am almost catatonic. but the future is not yet written. the worst outcomes are far from certain. we still, all and each, have our parts to play in writing this story.

Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

all things to everyone, it turns out, is no things to anyone.

Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

do people do event studies of heart attack rates around elections?

Steve Randy Waldman
@interfluidity.com

suddenly everybody is on-board with american carnage.