#democrats&8217;

[bronva]

DCCC chair choice puts House Democrats' new leader in the hot seat

DCCC chair choice puts House Democrats’ new leader in the hot seat

Incoming House Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has a tough decision to make.  As he prepares to take on the role of House minority leader when Republicans take control of the House of Representatives in January, he’s been tasked with picking the person who’ll be responsible for leading the party’s campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), into the 2024…

[bighermie]

Dailywire Article

That was the plan all along

[sawbuckplus]

Bernie has a point.

[abigailspinach]

Thunderdomism’s Last Stand

But the idea that the ‘establishment’ anointed Kamala Harris and locked the nomination down for her turns the whole matter pretty much on its head. What locked in Harris was the overwhelming resistance of Democratic voters and activists to anyone else. It was national columnists and a significant number of Democratic elites who were pushing for the thunderdome primary.

A good bit of this was support for Harris herself. A lot of it was the fact that with the incumbent president and presumed nominee out and no time to run anything other than a fake primary Harris had democratic legitimacy on her side. Eighty million voters literally chose her in 2020 to be the person who took over for Joe Biden if he couldn’t serve. Democratic primary voters in effect reconfirmed that this Spring since Biden and Harris were again running as a package deal. Few things are more embedded in American political culture than the idea that vice presidents succeed presidents.

Democratic legitimacy in this context isn’t some political science concept. It is what makes her the one person who most or all party stakeholders could rally behind even if she wasn’t necessarily their personal choice. That was never going to be possible with any other potential nominee. If the pick was somehow Gretchen Whitmer, on what basis would Shapiro or Newsom supporters – or Harris supporters, for that matter – ever think that was fair? Most people who actually operate in politics realized this from the first moments people began to suggest Joe Biden should leave the race almost a month ago. It applied even more to the millions of Biden loyalists who had to be dragged kicking and screaming to accept Biden’s withdrawal from the race. For most of them Harris was the only acceptable alternative since she was his loyal deputy.

Finally, the Democratic Party is defined by the support of women and African-Americans, and especially African-American women. The idea that in an unprecedented electoral emergency situation they were going to skip over the President’s loyal black woman vice president for no clear or tangible reason but the opposition of elite columnists and consultants never made any sense if you’re familiar with the Democrats’ voting coalition. It would be the equivalent of deciding to toss a few sticks of dynamite into the Democratic coalition at a moment of unprecedented crisis.

The thunderdome primary and convention idea was always the fantasy of the DC chattering class. From its very beginnings early this year it was premised on the need to shunt Harris aside. One New York Times columnist referred to it, in a gentle but awkward tone assuming immediate recognition, as “the Kamala Harris problem.” What shut it down was the rush of support for Harris from people across the Democratic Party, high and low, who understand its inner workings and the points made above. You only imagine those are the actions of “the establishment” if what you understand as the Democratic Party is only what you see in Washington, DC. The Thunderdome primary crowd was always either oblivious to or at war with the actual mass of the party itself. They were simply invisible. If you can’t see those people, you’ll think the DC power players are acting on their own. But they weren’t. But they were very clearly reacting to what the mass of the party would allow.

There is one exception that proves the rule: one endorsement that was key to Harris’ rapid ascent to the nomination, that of Joe Biden. From one perspective who is more the establishment, who more wields its powers than an incumbent Democratic president? But that’s the point. What finally made Biden’s departure from the race inevitable is that he had been abandoned by almost every elected official and power broker in the Democratic world, either explicitly or by silence. Biden had been abandoned by every part of what passes for the Democratic establishment and had lost his ability to control it. It was his tweet endorsing Harris that did not cause but triggered the rush toward Harris, resulting in something like a million individuals contributing roughly $100 million in 36 hours.

Harris’ key role in this has hidden in plain sight. A crisis at the pinnacle of leadership is always a most dangerous moment for any heir apparent. She had to prepare herself for the task of taking over for Biden in all its details (not to do so would have been the height of irresponsibility) while simultaneously not allowing even the hint or glimmer that she was taking even the slightest steps to hasten or encourage openness to his fall. For all the stories about Harris’ office drama she appears to have managed this flawlessly, with not so much as a single leak or even speculation about her actions. Once Biden made his announcement she moved rapidly to channel and direct support for herself in a way that all potential challengers threw their support to her within 24 hours. The “establishment” didn’t shut down the Thunderdome contested convention that columnists and reporters were demanding. The convention remains wholly open. Once Biden ended his campaign all the delegates had a total free choice. What killed Thunderdome was the mass of the party making it impossible for anyone to challenge Harris.

[trukker94gurl]

Could Hillary Clinton Be Democrats’ New Choice for 2024? | Live With Josh

Could Hillary Clinton Be Democrats’ New Choice for 2024? | Live With Josh https://link.theepochtimes.com/mkt_app/epochtv/could-hillary-clinton-be-democrats-new-choice-for-2024-post-5535871?utm_source=andshare

This is SCARY

[mitchipedia]

House Republicans are taking the US economy hostage by threatening to default on the US debt—again—and they won’t say what their demands are or even who the Democrats should negotiate with.

The White House argues — quite reasonably — that the time to argue over what the government spends is when you pass a bill about what the government spends (i.e., a budget), not when the government has to raise money to pay for spending the Congress has already mandated by law. Republicans haven’t even come up with a budget yet. So they’re demanding negotiations over the debt ceiling, which is wrong in itself. But they’re not willing to say what their demands are....

[Meanwhile], the House Freedom Caucus is telling everyone who will listen that Kevin McCarthy is a chump who doesn’t control anything. If you want to resolve the crisis you need to talk to the people in charge … which is them, the House Freedom Cacuus.

[darkmaga-returns]

Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant.

Apparently, the Democrats will try to send as many weapons as possible to Ukraine before Donald Trump’s inauguration, already anticipating that the next president will end or at least reduce military assistance. According to a recent report in the Western media, there is a plan to speed up the shipment of weapons, delivering various equipment to Kiev by the end of the year. The main problem, however, is that logistical difficulties and the situation of military stockpiles could significantly hinder this project.

According to the Wall Street Journal, US President Joe Biden and his team are making efforts to send massive military aid packages to Ukraine, using the remaining 7 billion dollars of the previously approved assistance budget. The Pentagon also intends to guarantee the release of at least more 2 billion dollars to finance new military contracts with Ukraine before the end of Biden’s term.

The new packages are expected to include about 500 anti-aircraft missiles, including projectiles for the Patriot and NASAMS systems. The aim is to expand Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, as this is known to be the country’s most critical point, making Kiev’s positions vulnerable to Russian missile, drone and aviation attacks.

[mightyflamethrower]

10 Biden Allies Who Promised Us He Was Fine Weeks Ago

[minhhhh123]

Week 5: Digital Citizenship, Hashtag Publics, Political Engagement and Activism

Different views of digital citizenship

With the development of technology, the Internet has become a necessary part of every individual's daily routine. Additionally, social media has emerged as the most widely used platform for entertainment and communication. In today's interconnected world, where virtually every aspect of our lives is influenced by digital technology, the concept of digital citizenship has become increasingly relevant. Digital citizenship expands the concepts of traditional citizenship to the online sphere, while traditional citizenship concentrates on rights and obligations inside a physical nation-state (MediaSmarts, 2023).

Hashtags

A hashtag is a term or phrase that appears before the hash symbol (#) and is used in a post on social media to help people who are interested in a particular topic find it when looking for a tag or hashtag that starts with #. Its goal is to increase interaction and draw attention to the post (O’Brien, 2023). It is obvious that hashtags facilitate communication, give context, allow users to join in on conversations, and request information. Hashtags have significantly aided in connecting with not just politics, but also other events or topics. Hashtags can connect many people around the world about an event or issue that is being discussed a lot on social networks such as Twitter and Tumblr.

Political Impact

The Internet has brought about profound changes in how citizens engage with politics, transforming the practices of stimulation and organization. Political engagement has transcended among traditional methods, with the advent of digital technologies allowing individuals to participate in active citizenship and involvement in politics (Weare, 2006). People are aware of the importance of communication platforms in advancing social justice, bringing important topics to people's attention, and inspiring collective action. They gain knowledge on how to use their virtual voices to support constructive change, take part in significant projects, and contribute to a more democratic society.

References

O&#8217;Brien, C 2023, ‘How to use hashtags effectively on social media’, Digital Marketing Institute, Digital Marketing Institute, viewed 24 March, 2024, <https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/how-to-use-hashtags-in-social-media#:~:text=A%20hashtag%20is%20a%20word,your%20posts%20and%20encourage%20interaction.>.

Smarts, M 2023, ‘What is Digital Citizenship?’, MediaSmarts, viewed 24 March, 2024, <https://mediasmarts.ca/digital-media-literacy/general-information/digital-media-literacy-fundamentals/what-digital-citizenship>.

Weare, C 2006, ‘(PDF) the internet and democracy: The causal links between technology ...’, THE INTERNET AND DEMOCRACY: THE CAUSAL LINKS BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND POLITICS, viewed 22 March, 2024, <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240242229_The_Internet_and_Democracy_The_Causal_Links_between_Technology_and_Politics>.

[bighermie]

Dailywire Article

[abigailspinach]

I suspect this won’t matter. A lot of facts aren’t known. And I’m not sure all the players have yet put their cards on the table. But I wanted to address the topic Nicole put on your radar yesterday. Republicans are making another push to change the electoral law in Nebraska and thus take away a single electoral vote which Kamala Harris is likely but by no means guaranteed to win. We start by making clear that Nebraska has every right to do this. All but two states allocated their electoral votes on a winner-take-all basis. It’s shifty and inappropriate to do it so late in the cycle for a clearly partisan purpose. But there’s no issue here of voting rights or election rigging. They can do this. I should note here that I don’t think it will end up making a difference. But, yeah … it could. It’s certainly possible that Donald Trump could become president again because of this.

Now, we don’t know whether Nebraska Republicans will be able to come up with the votes. We’ll come back to that. But if you remember when this came up earlier in the year, Maine (the other state with this system) said they would also make the change if Nebraska did. In other words, if Nebraska made the change, then Maine would counter and cancel it out. Nebraska Republicans were struggling to come up with the votes anyway. So that seemed to be the end of it. There wasn’t any point.

Then a few days ago Republicans started making another push. When I first saw this I thought, well, what’s the point? Maine is locked and loaded to counter and neutralize it. Well … about that. At the time Democratic leaders in Maine made very clear that they were ready to do this. The Democratic House Majority Leader put out a statement. It is my strong recollection that they also said that if Nebraska came back and tried to do it later they’d counter it then. So basically, don’t try Nebraska Republicans. There’s no point. But then I noticed earlier this week a reporter at I think Politico saying that a new law takes 90 days to go into effect in Maine. So Maine has run out of time. Certainly this reporter had her facts wrong. But then I noticed that the reporter had previously worked at one of the papers in Maine, which kind of shook my confidence a bit. You see where we’re going here. This seems to be true. In Maine a law takes 90 days to go into effect. Nebraska has no such restriction. You can overrule that with a super-majority. But Maine Democrats don’t have legislative supermajorities. We’re way under 90 days before the election. But critically we’re now under 90 before electoral votes are cast on December 16th.

When I first saw all this I thought I must be missing something. Certainly it was reasonable to figure that the leaders of the state legislature in Maine had a handle on the rules for passing laws in Maine. But it seems like maybe they didn’t? And since the new Republican effort seemed to start up almost to the day after the 90 day limit passed it really seems like they were waiting for it to pass to make another effort.

I mean, seriously, WTF?

So far, I haven’t seen anyone in a position of actual authority … the Democratic state legislative leaders, the Democratic governor address the calendar issue. Maybe they know they’ve got it covered? Maybe they knew they goofed and they’re trying to come up with a workaround? The reporting on this has so far been very limited so it’s not clear to me whether this is something in Maine’s constitution or whether it is a legislative rule in which case legislatures can often meet as committees of the whole and re-write their legislative rules. In other words, I think we still need to know a bit more about what the nitty gritty details are in Maine.

We also don’t know whether they really have the votes in Nebraska to do this. There seemed to be significant Republican resistance to doing this at the time. Some of that is just generalized resistance at electoral game-playing. Some of it is more focused on the fact that it requires people from the district which gets to choose its own elector to give that up. What all this adds up to is that it’s not clear they can get the votes to do this in Nebraska. But truly having the presidency on the line has a way of concentrating people’s attention. So I would not put a lot of money on them not being able to do so. That’s another factual question we need to see more reporting on.

In any case that is where this stands. I think it’s pretty unlikely this will matter. It’s not too hard to imagine a situation in which it does. Have Harris win the three Blue Wall states but lose Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina and she only becomes President with that single Nebraska electoral vote. That’s not a crazy scenario. But elections tend to fall more clearly in one direction or another. Beyond the consequences of this imbalanced switch, if it happens, it remains stunning to me if we’re here because the top political officials in Maine either hadn’t figured on this rule or hadn’t thought out its potential impact in this scenario.

I’ll keep you posted as I find out more details on this.

[trukker94gurl]

House Democrat Calling for Biden to Freeze Iran&#8217;s $6 Billion Has History of Backing Gaza Aid

House Democrat Calling for Biden to Freeze Iran’s $6 Billion Has History of Backing Gaza Aid https://link.theepochtimes.com/mkt_app/us/house-democrat-calling-for-biden-to-freeze-irans-6-billion-has-history-of-backing-gaza-aid-5509743?utm_source=andshare

[fadingsunsjvj]

Huckabee Sanders to deliver Republican response to Biden&#8217;s State of the Union https://t.co/sY6jbEu03N a suggestion: Arkansas Democrats should push for more employee ownership of businesses and workplaces.— James Vernon Jennings the Video and Playlist Host (@fadingsunsjvj_v) February 2, 2023