Hardkill

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Posts posted by Hardkill

  1. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    38 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    Not so much killed as kicked out of Palestine.

    You make it sounds like Arabs just wanna kill Jews. Nope. They just want their farmland back.

    This is not a conflict against Jews, it is conflict over land that Jews decided to grab for themselves.

    I would think that it's a mix of both.

    They obviously want their land back, but also many of them (not all of them) have always hated the Jews because of how ethnocentric they are.

  2. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    10 hours ago, BlueOak said:

    @Hardkill

    They won't pay as much of a price, because they are intentionally deporting Democratic voters, and potential democratic voters. This is part of their calculation in going after brown and Black people, taking out their political opponents. Rule 101 of the fascist playbook.

    Independent voters will hate it too if it gets too revolting. Moreover, if this angers enough Democratic voters, then it probably will fire up the Democratic base.

    Also, how are they really going to know which ones are Democratic voters? 

    Even though Democratic candidates win about 85-90% of black voters and the majority of Latino voters in elections, many black and brown people in America are conservative leaning because of how traditional their backgrounds are. In fact, almost half of Latino voters in America voted for Trump in 2024.

    So, we'll see.

  3. Posted

    Some of you on here may hate me for saying this, but now that I've looked into this One Big Betrayal Bill more in-depth, there's actually ONE other good thing that came from it besides the extension of the middle class tax cuts, and that is the historic funding for updating our immigration enforcement and border security. I didn't think that Trump and enough Republicans in Congress were serious about that. I thought they were all bark and no bite on that matter because they never really addressed it during Trump's first term despite all of their blustering about it back then, the small amount of legislative accomplishments even when the Trump and his party had both Congress and the presidency from 2017-2019, and Trump's incompetence.

    To be clear, this bill went from one extreme to another. The amount of funding the bill will provide to ICE was definitely overdone. More likely than not more people in America including many immigrants, are going to suffer such unimaginable horrors and such inhumane treatment. If such negative effects occur from the bill pertaining to immigration and border security, which again, is probably is going to happen, then I really hope that Trump and his party all pay a truly major political price for it this year, 2026, 2027, and 2028. 

    However, a lot of the border-related stuff that was in the bill was needed given how outdated the infrastructure for our border security and immigrant enforcement was almost 2 decades.

  4. Posted

    2 hours ago, Lyubov said:

    Yea they do but if coked out Elon ran a third party stooge during a general that could suck away votes for a Republicans more than Dems I would think. Considering a lot of his fans voted Republican this last election. And he has a sizable fan base. 

    Yeah, but we don't even know for certain if Elon is really serious about this third party idea of his. He says a lot of crazy things.

  5. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    13 minutes ago, Boethius said:

    In speaking about his faith, Obama did not sound like Christian Nationalist. And a surprisingly large number of people who voted for Trump had also voted for Obama (and in 2016 were considering voting for Sanders), so that being white is not a prereq either. I see a path forward for a democratic politician with the proper balance of policies and some rizz.

    Yeah, but the fear and anger of the declining percentage of white people as the percentage of black and brown people is growing in our country has now been greater than ever before. The fear and anger of Christianity in America dying in this country has now been greater than ever before. 

    Also, Democrats should try to win back the majority of white people in this country after not having ever won the majority of whites at the presidential level for decades.

  6. Posted

    4 hours ago, Boethius said:

    Social moderation and economic populism is the way to go, I believe, and it seems like a lot of the NY Times commenters seem to be getting the message on that, so I have hope. We just need to get more people like Rep. Chris Murphy into positions of leadership and power.

    Yeah, I really think the Democrats may have no choice, but to also sound like white Judeo-Christian Nationalists as they promote more left-wing economic populism. 

  7. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    On 7/3/2025 at 7:35 PM, Deziree said:

    I see a democratic win in 2026. Gavin Newsom is a good candidate. The Democratic party now hinges on good candidates who aren't fluff. 

    He's going to need to really prove himself to have a broad enough appeal for the country and be a true fighter for the working class.

    Even then, it's not clear that he will be able to overcome the smears made on him by the right-wing and anti-mainstream media in this day and age.

  8. Posted

    On 7/3/2025 at 9:04 PM, sholomar said:

    Honestly don't care that much. Despite the bluster by leftists about Trump being the end of the world there  isn't THAT much difference between them. It's good to have gridlock because the fringes of both parties are both looney. They'll all keep printing our money and increasing the debt. They'll both keep being corrupt and giving handouts and bailouts to the top and bottom while the purchase power of the middle class decreases. 

    That's the kind of false equivalency that plays right into the hands of authoritarians like Trump.

  9. Posted

    34 minutes ago, Lyubov said:

    Not much to be proud of these days. Why would you be proud of the USA in 2025? 

    Good Question.

    To me, the No Kings protests far outshining Trump’s humiliating parade, liberals maintaining control of the Wisconsin State Supreme Court, and Omaha, Nebraska electing the first Black mayor in the city’s history (and the first Democrat to win the mayoralty since 2009) are probably the only things to be proud of so far in America in 2025.

  10. Posted

    I get what you guys are saying.

    America is still better than most countries on the planet, including every least developed country and every developing country in the world. 

    However, I don't think the USA is necessarily better than other developed countries in the world like Canada, UK, France, Australia, Scandinivia, Japan, or Israel, and other developed countries out there in the world.

    Also, I worry that America may no longer become a great country.

  15. Posted

    1 hour ago, DocWatts said:

    I make my living as a software developer and graphic designer, and I do some non-commercial writing on the side.

    I'm not a professional political activist - just someone who tries to be civically engaged, and is encouraging others to do likewise.

    Oh, cool. Our country could definitely use graphic designers like you to help clearly illustrate American politics.

    For someone who isn’t an activist, pundit, or professional political expert, your Substack—and your writing on U.S. politics—seems really impressive!

     

     

  16. Posted

    31 minutes ago, DocWatts said:

    I wrote this SubStack article while I was grieving the passage of MAGA Murder Bill today.

    I opted for something less polished than I'd usually write - some of my recent forum posts here informed this article - in order to this get information out there, and offer a call to action.

    ______________________________________________________________________________________________

    Today is July 4, 2025.

    Six decades ago, America began an experiment: could it create—and sustain—a true democracy?

    The United States began with the trappings of democracy—but only for a privileged few. It wasn't until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that the U.S. could truly be considered a full democracy in practice, securing civil and political rights for all Americans.

    In 2025, that noble experiment appears to be on its last legs—the tragic victim of longstanding neglect rooted in ignorance, hate, and greed. As of the time of this article’s writing, it’s unclear whether the patient will survive.

    Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”—or the MAGA Murder Bill, if we’re being honest about what this legislation entails—contains many bitter pills that will shape America into a poorer, crueler, and less free nation. You can read a short high level summary of the bill here, but if you want to cut to the main takeaway, it’s this:

    17 million Americans are being kicked off their health insurance and $3.4 trillion is being added to the national debt. This is being done to give an enormous tax handout to billionaires, open a series of detention camps within the United States, and hand Trump a private paramilitary with which to fill those camps.

    Going forward, it’s important to take honest stock of where we’ve been, where we’re at, and where we’re going.

    While America is overpoliced and its prison system is no stranger to human rights violations, the existing prison system is going to look quite tame compared to what’s coming as a direct result of the Big Fascist Bill.

    You can read about Kilmar Ábrego García’s experience at CECOT if you want a preview of what MAGA is hoping to do to American citizens. A denial of any semblance of due process, psychological and physical torture, and inadequate access to food and water are the norm for these types of facilities. And if anyone thinks that this will stop at immigrants (regardless of their legal status), I’ve got a lucrative pyramid scheme that I’d be happy to sell them.

    The intent was always to use immigrants as an onramp for implementing fascism. This process will begin with folks the regime thinks it can get away with disappearing, but it won't end with them. American citizens who pose a threat to this regime can and will be kidnapped and trafficked to these gulags. ICE is already doing this - and it’s going to become far more common once the American Gestapo is handed a budget rivaling what most nations spend on their entire military.

    If we wanted to put a dividing line between the United States being a democracy and it being a hybrid regime, this plus the recent SCOTUS decision that killed nation wide injunctions may well have pushed us over that line.

    A hybrid regime is essentially a failed democracy that's in the process of authoritarian consolidation, but isn't a full-on authoritarian state yet. It’s a political system that retains some formal features of democracy—such as elections and a constitution—but these are increasingly hollowed out in practice. In such a regime voting still happens, and on paper you still have 'rights,' but those rights function more like optional guidelines than guarantees. If they get in the way of the ruling faction's ambitions, they're ignored, reinterpreted, or swept aside entirely.

    The American Dream, when you boil it down to the essentials, is a dream of progress. The basic idea, however imperfectly realized, is that our kids should be better off than we were, and that it’s our duty as citizens to make that happen. That dream, today, hangs by the thinnest of threads.

    As of 2025, any pretense that our leaders are public servants that are bound by our laws and accountable to the people has been gradually eroded to the point where a convicted felon was able to not only evade legal consequences for inciting an insurrection, but was invited by voters to take another bite at the coup-apple.

    So What The Hell Do We Do About This?

    First off: self-care. Grieve if you need to. Spend time with friends and loved ones. Make arrangements to ensure your safety if you're among the groups being targeted. In short—secure your own oxygen mask before helping others. You won’t be much use to anyone else if you’re an emotional wreck.

    We survive this through organization, solidarity, and principled yet uncompromising opposition to this regime and its enablers. Find your organizing home - whether that’s Indivisible, 50501, or some other grassroots organization.

    This is undeniably a dark and disturbing turn, but the fundamentals haven't changed. Trump is an unpopular autocrat, and his Cult of personality is incredibly unlikely to survive him. His regime is going to make life for 80–90% of the country noticeably worse than it is now.

    Americans haven't had to fight for our democracy in generations, and this moment is going to demand more of us than a lot of us were expecting. This regime is NOT all powerful - the only way this is over is if we give up. Don't obey in advance. Don't try to placate or reason with MAGA - they're our version of the Nazis, and need to be socially ostracized. No more humoring folks who want a dictator.

    We need to be loud and uncompromising as humanly possible in standing up and denouncing this. Your family and friends who "don't follow politics" need to be confronted with the ugly reality of the police state that’s being imposed on us.

    Between an America that lives up to its professed ideals and a full-on fascist dystopia is a huge spectrum of in-between outcomes that will be determined in large part by the consequential everyday decisions of millions of ordinary people.

    The American fascist movement spent half a century quietly building its power on school boards, in local elections, and in the media before it burst into the open in 2016. It would be the height of arrogance to think that we're going to overturn that in one election or one protest - and it would be folly to conclude just six months that the resistance is doomed and efforts to push back against this vile regime are in vain. The civil rights movement put in more than a decade of disciplined work before Jim Crow finally crumbled. Defeating the Confederacy and ending slavery took years of protracted effort and struggle.

    We need to have the same mindset as an American GI landing on the beaches of Normandy - we're in this together for the long haul, whatever it takes for however long as it takes.

    A fascist America is NOT inevitable - unless we stop fighting.

    Thanks for his post.

    Are you actually a professional political activist?

  18. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    30 minutes ago, Raze said:

    I think Trump will cause so much damage democrats will do well in 2026 and 2028.

    The issue is they’re going to try and maintain the establishment status quo and kneecap any progressive insurgency.

    You can see how they tried it with Mamdani, Cuomo had something like triple the amount of funding. They’ll be even more intense in races they view as more important like congress or presidential primaries.

    I think they’ll succeed, the progressive base really is not organized or coherent enough to challenge the establishment. The Bernie Sanders losses and the whole stuff and backlash seemed to have shattered them.

    While polls show democrats are unhappy with the party and leadership, the candidates they rate highly are different people with the exact same establishment views and positions. 

    What if Democrats lose again in 2026 in 2028 because either Trump and his party cancel those elections or because too many people stay home and not vote in large enough numbers for the Democrats because of how toxic their party brand is as well?

  20. Posted

    18 minutes ago, hoodrow trillson said:

    The Republican Party went through the same thing when Obama got elected twice.  Absolutely destroyed by Obama.  The Democratic Party will be back (assuming this doesn’t turn into an actual authoritarian state lol)

    I’ll tell you what though, even though people are angry at the Democratic Party and shitting on them — this era of American history with Republicans will be seen as a stain in the history books.

    I hope you're right. 

    Though I don't see the light at the end of tunnel right now.

    There's no clear viable strategy at this point to save itself, let alone save the country.

  21. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    According to the consensus of numerous Independent experts, it's the worst bill ever enacted since the mid to late 1800s.

    The Democrats better fucking figure out how to use this as major ammunition for the 2025 off-year elections, 2026 midterms, 2027 off-year elections, and the 2028 presidential election year.

    However, I fear that Trump and his party could steal or cancel all elections starting in 2026. I also fear that the Democrats and progressives will bungle it up again, especially in 2028.

     

  22. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    1. The Democratic Party lost horrifically to Trump/MAGA. 2024 was winnable. But Democrats blew it — paralyzed between loyalty to Biden and fear of change. Now the far right controls the narrative and the government.

    2. Biden’s exit cost them big. Yes, he was aging. But forcing him out late meant:

    • Losing the incumbency effect
    • Losing party unity
    • Gaining confusion, infighting, and scrambled messaging

    3. The DNC under Ken Martin is a slow implosion.

    He promised modernization and unity. Instead:

    • Mismanaged 2024’s transition
    • Alienated progressives and youth
    • Failed to build long-term infrastructure

    4. David Hogg got pushed out as DNC Vice-Chair. A young, energized activist removed for being too vocal. The message? "Sit down, fall in line, or get out."
    Great way to keep the next generation engaged, right?

    5. And now? The DNC is facing a funding crisis.

    • Donors are pulling out
    • Grassroots enthusiasm is dead
    • No vision, no inspiration — and it shows

    6. The “Big Betrayal” bill gutted Biden’s biggest win. The Inflation Reduction Act — climate investments, tax reform — rolled back. Meanwhile, Trump-era tax cuts were extended. So… what did Democrats actually defend?

    7. Trump owns the narrative. He speaks in emotion and clarity. Democrats speak in half-apologies and policy memos.You can’t beat propaganda with bullet points.

    8. Right-wing media is a war machine. Fox, YouTube, TikTok, podcasts — cultural dominance. Democrats? Still living in the MSNBC bubble, clinging to legacy media. This isn’t just bad strategy. It’s suicide.

    9. The courts are fully captured.
    SCOTUS has shredded:

    • Voting rights
    • Student debt relief
    • Climate authority
    • Executive power

    And Dems still won’t touch court reform. They act like the rules are fair.

    10. Economic populism was the one unifying message — and they ran from it.
    The working class wants bold action.
    Democrats gave them donor-tested slogans.
    Trump moved into the anti-elite lane. Again.

    11. Now they’re terrified of Zohran Mamdani.
    He won NYC’s mayoral primary on rent control, public goods, and worker-first messaging.
    The DNC is panicking. Why? Because he connects. Because he exposes their timidity.

    12. I don’t think Gavin Newsom can save them either.
    I like some of what he’s done. I respect his pushback against Trump.
    But right now, he governs safely within the donor bubble. He hasn’t shown bold economic vision.
    Could he be pushed left like Biden was? Maybe. But I’m skeptical.

    13. And I’m not just focused on him.
    There are leaders I respect:

    • Josh Shapiro
    • Tim Walz
    • Andy Beshear
    • Wes Moore

    But even the best of them can’t fix a party this broken — not alone. It’s the system that’s collapsing.

    14. The party’s approval rating is at a historic low. That’s not about “messaging.” It’s about people giving up — on leadership, on vision, on a party that talks equity but won't confront power. And I’m starting to feel that too.

    15. I’m not feeling optimistic right now. I want to believe we can turn this around. I want to believe someone will rise to the moment.
    But watching the same mistakes play out again — while the right consolidates power — is exhausting. This doesn’t feel like a crossroads anymore. It feels like decline.

    16. Still, I believe in the people — not the institution. Maybe the Democratic Party can change. Maybe it has to be rebuilt from the ground up.
    Either way, it won’t be saved from the top. It starts with those of us refusing to settle.

     

    The party needs an exorcism. Or it needs to be replaced.

    * Sorry if I bolded too many words.

     

  24. Posted

    1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

    Objectively it's hard to do more damage that Bush did with Iraq.

    But Trump is more corrosive to domestic politics.

    The Bush administration's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were no doubt unmitigated disasters that cost over 6,000 American lives and trillions of dollars, failed to achieve lasting peace or stability, and left both countries in worse condition than before in many respects. Moreover, Bush ended his presidency with the worst recession since the Great Depression. 

    However, do you think that all of the things that happened during the administration of Trump's 1st term including how he governed, eroded our democracy, and the historic amount of hard right judges he appointed on the federal level courts, what he's currently doing and more of what he will do during his 2nd term presidency all not worse than what Bush or any other past Republican president ever did?

  25. Posted · Edited by Hardkill

    42 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    It's an interesting question whether than decorum was net positive or negative.

    There is something good about removing the mask, uglier though it is.

    There is a perverse kind of authenticity to the devilry of today's Republicans. The pretense of goodness is gone. It's just bald-faced devilry now.

    But the policies of Trump/MAGA are more destructive to the country than even the policies of Reagan/Bush type of Republicans.

    The Republicans during presidencies of Eisenhower and Nixon had really good policies for the country some of which moderate if not progressive leaning for the country before the party shifted more and more to the far right.