You may have noticed that in recent weeks, the Biden administration has been rolling out a hell of a lot of new regulations. Earlier this month it was big student loan reforms and a massive improvement in how public lands are managed, then this week we had better pay and working conditions for working Americans, minimum staffing ratios for nursing homes, and even improved service on airlines.
That’s not only because it’s an election year, though Joe & Kamala certainly do like to point out that where the Other Guy rages (and wants to raise inflation!) they’ve been busy making Americans’ lives better. But the bigger reason is that the administration wants to get new rules finalized prior to May, to keep them from being tossed out in the next Congress via the Congressional Review Act, which Donald Trump and his cronies used to reverse a bunch of Barack Obama’s environmental regulations.
. . . The requirement that coal plants find a way to eliminate 90 percent of their emissions by 2032 effectively accelerates the end of coal for power generation, which was inevitable anyway. Roughly 70 percent of US coal plants have already closed, and last year, coal generated only 16 percent of electric power, a new record low. In addition to the emissions rule, three other final rules also impose strict new limits on mercury, coal ash, and pollution of wastewater, to put an end to the environmental degradation caused by coal.
. . . The other option, obviously, would be for utilities to meet coming demand with renewables, as administration officials pointed out when previewing the new rule. Thanks to the IRA’s hundreds of billions of dollars in incentives, carbon-free power generation, including battery storage, already beats the cost of building new gas plants. Going forward, the administration is confident renewables will be the far more cost-effective and reliable way to meet increasing demand by 2032, when the emissions limits fully kick in.
I genuinely don’t understand where this comes from. I haven’t seen a single serious person argue that we shouldn’t criticize the Biden administration or the Democrats. What does get pushback is the idea that we shouldn’t vote for them in November. When someone is suggesting the solution to the very real issues the Democratic Party has is to enable the GOP and give them more power they absolutely should get chastised.
Agreed on everything else though. If everyone who was upset about Biden actually got involved and voted in the primaries it would be much easier to get representation that actually serves our needs. The DNC only has so much control.
There are several places it comes from.
First, there has been a meme campaign about Biden being better than Trump that seems to go out of it’s way to “call out” those of us who are fed up with the behavior of the Democratic establishment (DE). They imply we are fools who don’t comprehend how bad Trump is. The people those memes are directed at don’t really exist. They are a myth put out by the DE to sideline progressives. There has also been a recent wave of right wing bots that perpetuate the myth to further drive the wedge between progressives and the DE. Those bots aren’t going to be convinced, and progressives don’t need to be.
The second is that it is nearly impossible to criticize the DE without getting lectured about how much worse Trump is. Being a tiny bit better than fascist is apparently enough for Democrats privileged enough to not suffer under even Democratic policies. I think this video shows a great example. I try to always mention that Republicans are worse when criticizing Democrats, but that rarely makes a difference.
The third place is from old timers like me who have watched Democrats coddle fascism ever since Reagan. What we are living through now didn’t start with Trump, and it wasn’t just the fault of Republicans. Many of us have been fighting Democratic mediocrity since before most Americans ever heard of Bernie Sanders. The DE is routinely snide and dismissive of the left, even as they fail to grasp the Republican threat. They say the country wants centrists, but run to the left with their rhetoric before every election. In that context, both of the previously mentioned items tend to strike a nerve.
Maybe if it was actually believable, but there’s so much propaganda now that unless you repeatedly and proactively affirm that people should vote for Biden, I’ll assume that any criticism is just more right wing attempts at voter suppression.
If Biden wins the election, then we can have a lot more open criticism of Democratic policies because the bots, trolls, and agents provacateur will go away.
Has it occurred to you that making that assumption could also result in suppressed voter enthusiasm? Put yourself in the head of a genuine lefty who’s fed up with Democratic shenanigans. What messaging might keep you in the fold, and what will drive you away?
Something else to keep in mind is that it’s not just voting that we’re talking about. Democrats need volunteers, donations, and word of mouth. Broad enthusiasm is critical for all of that. Who wants to volunteer for a movement that denies them a voice?
For decades now, every election has been called the most critical of our lives, and sadly it’s been pretty consistently true. We have elections every two years. Criticism in the first year is called unfair because they just took office. Criticism on the second year is always called disloyalty in a critical election year. Disinformation is only going to be getting worse, so waiting for that to end is not viable.
Okay.
I’m sorry, I got bored. Can you make that into a tiktok video for easier consumption?
I’ve really got to stop being optimistic about devout Democrats. It really is the party of James Carville and Hillary Clinton - ignorant, elitist, and tone deaf until the end of time.
LOCK HER UP
I mean uh…sorry, that just came out. I meant um…something something Bernie something something DNC?
So I’m a right wing troll now? Think about it logically for a second. What do right wing trolls want to do when they jump into internal Democratic disputes? I’m pretty sure their primary goal would be to drive a wedge between the activist left and the establishment. Now, what am I arguing for? If you look back on this thread, I’m encouraging Democratic loyalists to post more content about Biden’s accomplishments instead of trying to shame voters. It’s basic conflict resolution. You aren’t going to get any kind of reconciliation by being rude and dismissive. My whole point is to bring as much reconciliation to the Democrats as I can without compromising my political beliefs.
There is a serious rift in the Democratic party that you seem to be somehow completely unaware of. It didn’t start with Hillary, or even Bill or Bernie. Look into the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago if you want to understand how deep and far back the rift goes. You aren’t going to pave over the differences by belittling or dismissing legitimate disagreement. The only way to get to a unified front against Trump and his fascists is to acknowledge the differences in a respectful way, and then emphasize what can be gained by working together. That’s way more important than trying to win some kind of smug victory in an online forum.
The idea that I’m a right wing troll is ridiculous, and I think you could learn a lot by exploring why you jump so easily to that assumption. If people like you didn’t exist, right wing trolls would have to play your side as well. They want us sniping at each-other. Compare it to Hamas’ strategy in attacking Israel. They knew that Israel couldn’t help overreacting and destroying their own credibility. It’s the same thing Osama bin Laden did to the US. When right wing trolls spread their disingenuous bullshit, their whole goal is to get a reaction from Democratic loyalists that further alienates the Democratic establishment from it’s base.
I mean, okay, let’s give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you’re being genuine here. Surely you acknowledge the absolute deluge of obvious propaganda, rehashed from 2016, trying to convince young, idealistic, uninformed voters to either not vote or to vote 3rd party. It’s not an unreasonable assumption that anyone making comments in that vein is an agitator or a useful idiot. It’s correct most of the time.
Getting drawn into one-sided good faith debates with such people is playing into their hands. Ridicule and dismissal defeats them.