For When I'm Feeling Ranty

[lookatmerawr]

https://apple.news/Aok_buUWbSwCoqJRfwSzo5g My Take

So sick of corporate media coverage of literally anything election-related, but mostly anything related to Bernie.  I love how afraid they are to announce him another winner when he clearly brought one of the strongest performance (more on that later).  The argument that Warren was the only one who buffeted attacks reveals that CNN used the centrist Democrats as proxy moderators to further spin and frame his issues as impossible, etc.  So, yes, he had more attacks to fend off, and everyone's desire to repeat debunked talking points came off as him not being able to prove them wrong when it was obvious that people were bull-headed in their dismissal of his obvious rebuttals.  Any moderator worth their salt would have been able to understand (or stop arguing) the points of his proposals and insist that people making untrue points stop repeating their lies that have already been addressed THREE TIMES that night.  But it serves their purpose to allow people to continue repeating that BS after it was already struck down because they don't want anyone to start thinking of Medicare for All as a good plan (given that it's already so popular with the American people). What bias to suggest that CNN didn't frame plenty of questions in an entirely biased way.  Yes, they did better than MSNBC, but there were plenty of attempts to smear him either with their own feigned ignorance, hideously-worded questions, or the way they didn't bother to insist on clarification from people who were spouting untruths to the American people by repeating talking points that are Fox's territory. It was hilarious to read that John Delaney served as a foil to Warren and Bernie (in the mind of this author, who’s either being intentionally stupid about how poorly Delaney performed or just wishful thinking in his ability to dupe the readers).  He was ineffective, intentionally dense, and no-one has ever liked him (plus he just kept repeating his talking points even after they'd been shot down and bullishly insisting "No, I am right" without any substance to ever back this up).  The only reason he got the opportunity to make his case over and over (or, if we're being honest, make his non-case while ignoring the substantive rebuttals and just repeat his words ad nauseam) was because the moderators wanted somebody to argue their stance so they could go after progressive proposals. NOW to the point that was most infuriating to read that only further highlights how the media is SO determined to ignore the fact that the people arguing AGAINST M4a have to use straw-man attacks that WERE shot down repeatedly and are putting on their blinders to the will of the people and the ability of its proponents to enumerate the benefits-- they're pulling a Delaney approach and just showing their bias by even dismissing the legitimacy of a well-defended policy position.  Furthermore, the only reason they're outnumbered is because-- as many of the candidates pointed out-- big money is fighting (and using the candidates as their champions) to push back against positive change for Americans.

[lookatmerawr]

The State of Patriotism

The myriad things that annoy me about a single group of people (all happening to be white, by some strange coincidence, I'm sure) dictating what it means to be American:This conversation has been going on since Kaepernick decided to kneel for the flag in protest OF POLICE VIOLENCE (which gets entirely passed over by people straw-manning this form of protest)-- and everyone acts as though someone who makes money is too entitled to the benefits of this country to criticize it.  As if being rich makes up for systemic racism and watching people being shot/strangled, etc just because they're black.  As if because he personally didn't serve, the freedom that was earned by the actions of our service members didn't apply to him.  Is that the case? If we, personally, aren't the ones fighting, the freedom gained by our independence doesn't belong to all of us? By that logic, no-one currently alive today deserves to exercise their freedoms because none of us fought in the Revolution.  What further bothers me is how absolutely tone-deaf this is to the history of African American contribution to our military efforts-- including those who didn't want to fight.  This is a group of people who fought for the freedoms of white Americans that their brethren couldn't even benefit from themselves for many more years to come.  To pretend that the history of defending the country only belongs to White America is ridiculous.Furthermore, the idea that criticizing the country is unpatriotic.  What was the phrase Donald Trump ran on, again?  Make American great AGAIN? That seems to imply that he didn't find America to be great to begin with, doesn't it? And considering 90% of Republicans still somehow support him, it seems that criticizing America isn't what's really grinding their gears, is it?Who determines what it means to be an American? Do people that immigrate here have less of a say? If so, again, interesting to forget that none (or, rather, very few) of us are really "from" here-- we're all the children of immigrants with the only variation being recency (except, again, for Native Americans).  So, what, being lucky enough to be born here a little sooner than the other generations entitles us to declare exactly what America is about? It's not something like the Constitution, which proclaims freedom of speech for all? To insist on silencing the voices that challenge our country to become better is what's unAmerican. It's been pointed out that the same argument can be applied to people who have been complaining about some long-overdue civil rights victories...if one is upset about the country moving forward, you can always go back to where your ancestors come from (except those tend to be millions of times more liberal than we are) or even pick somewhere more in line with your personal views.  And how about the defense that that -wasn't- an explicitly racist attack the other day? As thought the pigmentation of the Squad's skin wasn't the motivating factor for that particular bit of vitriol? Because 3 out of the 4 were BORN HERE.  Just because they're darker, we can assume they're less American? Oh, wait, I'm sorry.  It was supposedly because they espouse the ideals of helping their fellow citizens.  They want to improve the country.  There they go again, exercising that pesky free speech, as if they're Americans or something.  And yet Bernie Sanders, who started working toward the populist agenda, who is white and has been advocating for radical change in America...has never been told to go back where he came from.  I wonder if it has something to do with the lack of melanin, that it never occurred to people to attack him with claims that just because he looks a certain way, his loyalty must belong to another country.  That because he's unsatisfied, it must be due to his unhappiness with some place he "invaded" (obviously not my sentiment, but the tone that gets taken).  He's never been asked to leave the decision-making to the rightful heirs of freedom.It's a disservice to what our service members have accomplished throughout history to conflate wanting America to be better to being unAmerican.  If you didn't love a country, you WOULD just leave it.  Wanting to help it grow, like a nurturing parent, is how you show that love and loyalty.  And everyone deserves a piece of that freedom that supposedly defines America.