U.S. Politics: The Biggest Trade in WNBA History

[AuraChannelerChris]

Or...lasting long in general.

 

[Phillies]

so is no one going to ask why 15 or so million votes went missing between election and why russia specifically targeted the swing states

Just read an article that said that a lot of those missing votes are still being counted. Apparently, the west coast states still have a large number of votes left to be counted with a majority of those votes being Democratic ones.

 

[PrinceOfFacade]

Just read an article that said that a lot of those missing votes are still being counted. Apparently, the west coast states still have a large number of votes left to be counted with a majority of those votes being Democratic ones.

Well, Kamala already conceded, so future votes for presidency are now void.

The remaining ballots only apply to state and local elections.

 

[RileyXY1]

Very unlikely that many Dems will outright defect to the GOP, outside of possibly some people in the broader media sphere, but they were just grifters to begin with. The mainstream Democratic party as a whole, on the other hand, very well might learn all the wrong lessons from Harris's defeat and pivot rightwards, especially on immigration and the economy. Already progressivism, the left, and pro-Palestine activists are being scapegoated by many Dem talking heads, as if Harris's entire strategy over the past couple months hasn't already been a hard pivot rightward (and that obviously didn't work).

I don't think an 'establishment Democrat' will win another election in the foreseeable future. I don't think a rightward shift in the party rhetoric can possibly change that. You can't 'out-right' the right. If Democrats want to win, they need to go the other direction, and they need to start crafting their own populist narratives. Populism is a tool that Trump clearly wields very well, and if the Dems want to compete, they need to learn how to use it too. Luckily, this should be easy for them. Right-wing populist narratives are based entirely on lies and misrepresentations of statistics, while left-wing populism has no reason to be. We have the truth on our side.

Although people won't see it that way. This election showed just how unpopular the left wing is among average Americans. I believe that 2026 will be an even clearer example of this as the Democrats will get their asses kicked even harder than this year. I think that a shift right for the Democrats will lead to my prediction of the Democratic Party completely dissolving and a new left-wing party rising to take its place.

 

[Divine Retribution]

Although people won't see it that way. This election showed just how unpopular the left wing is among average Americans. I believe that 2026 will be an even clearer example of this as the Democrats will get their asses kicked even harder than this year.

This is a very surface-level read of the situation, but I also agree it's likely the one many Democrat pundits are going to make if that's your point. The Democrats failed to control the narrative this election and they failed spectacularly. The GOP blamed Biden (and Harris by extension) for economic woes when, in fact, most of the pain points that actually exist in the economy are a result of the pandemic, corporate price gouging, and the housing crisis is its own can of worms but immigrants, illegal or otherwise, are definitely not to blame for that either. The Dems utterly failed to counter this.

Add in a total failure to appeal to their progressive base between a dissatisfactory response to the Gaza genocide and platforming reactionary war profiteers like the Cheneys, and a failure to capitalize on or even really talk about the huge labor wins the NLRB was able to make under Biden, and you get where we are now. None of this to say that it's entirely on Harris's shoulders, either. Biden should have dropped out months before he did. Racism and misogyny undoubtedly played a huge hand in the outcome as well. It was never going to be an easy election. But we play the cards we're dealt, and Harris objectively did not play them very well.

I think that a shift right for the Democrats will lead to my prediction of the Democratic Party completely dissolving and a new left-wing party rising to take its place.

I think this is optimistic, honestly. I would love an actual left-wing party in the U.S., but if the Democratic party completely dissolves, I think the GOP will seize the opportunity to cement its influence permanently. I think it will crack down on leftist organizations and activists, I think it will erode protections for things like unions and protests (eventually outright banning them), and I think it will gain complete control over the media (something it's already on the track to doing) and be able to completely crush leftist narratives. I genuinely think there's a very high chance that the U.S. would rapidly devolve into totalitarianism if this happens and there would be no saving it. I'm not being hyperbolic.

 

[Phillies]

I believe that 2026 will be an even clearer example of this as the Democrats will get their asses kicked even harder than this year.

I think that is going to depend on how hard people get hit with Trumps tariffs. There is already a story going around PA that a company in SW PA cancelled their employees Christmas bonus so that they had enough money to buy a years' worth of inventory before Trump takes office. The employees were confused, and they had to have the president of the company come in to explain to them how tariffs work. They actually believed that China and other countries paid these tariffs.

 

[Missingno.Fan]

I am very afraid that a civil war will break out. Or at least massive amounts of civil unrest, like more than what is going on now.

Also does anyone know what would happen if Trump (or any other president elect) were to pass away before he is sworn in? I’m not suggesting another assignation attempt, but of natural causes.

 

[Divine Retribution]

There will not be a civil war. A civil war between who, exactly? The party with almost all of the militias and the majority of military and law enforcement personnel and... the Democrats who reject basically all of those things? Outside of a few comparatively tiny leftist groups like the SRA (represent), JBGC, etc., there's nobody to have a civil war with. It would be an occupation, not a war, and I don't for a single second trust most liberals to actually resist instead of taking the path of least resistance and falling in line with a militant far right regime.

 

[AuraChannelerChris]

Also does anyone know what would happen if Trump (or any other president elect) were to pass away before he is sworn in? I’m not suggesting another assignation attempt, but of natural causes.

Stupid people thinking he was murdered when it's blatantly obvious that the guy can barely walk well. His right leg suddenly goes off.

JD Vance becoming the president by default.

Though his death may cause unrest among his cultists because there's no damn way they'll remain loyal to JD Vance, or to each other. In other words, they'd eat each other.

 

[JourneymanN00b]

Well, I learned that Amish Shah has lost to David Schweikert in Arizona’s 1st District. Which I saw coming when the Democrats in that area were foolish to nominate this backstabber and depress progressive turnout in a previous post that I made in July.

Based on this loss and some other races that were called since then, I am ready to say that the Republicans will retain control of the House and be in the orange convict’s pocket.

So, we are now officially in a WORSE position than we were in January 2017, as the orange convict will now have more power in the Senate (53 seats as opposed to 52 back then) to go with the House majority, which means he can now do whatever the hell he wants now. And no amount of protests is going to change that.

Unions are going to get ****ed, and overtime is going to be obliterated because of Project 2025. And I agree that the Democrats are the Party Who Cannot Win because of the previously cited reasons. At least the DNC chair has a modicum of accountability and is retiring after this year. Plenty of the current Democratic leadership should be heading towards the exits in order for them to fix the numerous mistakes that they made over the past several years, folks.


Also, this election is yet another piece of proof that there is no God. The people who keep telling us religious drivel that “God’s got this” (I had several people tell me to keep praying to God for comfort over the past three days) have zero legs to stand on. If there was a god who actually cared about humanity, then we would not be going through this. We would not be having the Antichrist running the world to the ground, and we would have him rot and die in prison. Anyone who says that God will give us the strength to get through this garbage is taking the coward’s way out in my opinion.

 

[RileyXY1]

So far, Democrats have flipped four seats (that were not givens due to redistricting, so AL-2 and LA-6 don't count), three of which are in New York. They've taken NY-4, NY-19, and NY-22, all of which are blue leaning districts that Republicans won in 2022. Laura Gillen, Josh Riley, and John Mannion have all unseated incumbents Anthony D'Esposito, Marc Molinaro, and Brandon Williams. NY-22 is the big one here because Democrats have been trying to flip that seat for years, but moderate GOP incumbent John Katko kept holding on despite how much the Dems wanted him gone. And then, when he finally retired in 2022, Brandon Williams won the open seat. They also took Oregon's 5th District, which the GOP flipped in 2022 after a conservative Dem incumbent (Kurt Schrader) got primaried. The new Congresswoman, Janelle Bynum, made history as the very first African-American to ever represent Oregon in Congress. Republicans meanwhile have so far only officially flipped PA-7, PA-8, and MI-7, aside from the three gains they made in North Carolina thanks to redistricting. Notably red district incumbent Marie Gluesenkamp Perez was able to survive another election against hardcore MAGA candidate Joe Kent, who in 2022 primaried Jaime Herrera Beutler, who was one of the 10 GOP House members that voted to impeach Trump in 2021. Perez's district was also the one that had the massive ballot box fire last month. Also hardcore MAGA candidate Michelle Morrow, who was running to be in charge of NC's public school system, lost.

 

[Ascended Dialga]

If it's any consolation to my fellow New Yorkers, in addition to the three seats that the Democrats flipped that RileyXY1 mentioned, the Proposal 1 ballot measure has passed.

 

[RileyXY1]

This is a very surface-level read of the situation, but I also agree it's likely the one many Democrat pundits are going to make if that's your point. The Democrats failed to control the narrative this election and they failed spectacularly. The GOP blamed Biden (and Harris by extension) for economic woes when, in fact, most of the pain points that actually exist in the economy are a result of the pandemic, corporate price gouging, and the housing crisis is its own can of worms but immigrants, illegal or otherwise, are definitely not to blame for that either. The Dems utterly failed to counter this.

Add in a total failure to appeal to their progressive base between a dissatisfactory response to the Gaza genocide and platforming reactionary war profiteers like the Cheneys, and a failure to capitalize on or even really talk about the huge labor wins the NLRB was able to make under Biden, and you get where we are now. None of this to say that it's entirely on Harris's shoulders, either. Biden should have dropped out months before he did. Racism and misogyny undoubtedly played a huge hand in the outcome as well. It was never going to be an easy election. But we play the cards we're dealt, and Harris objectively did not play them very well.



I think this is optimistic, honestly. I would love an actual left-wing party in the U.S., but if the Democratic party completely dissolves, I think the GOP will seize the opportunity to cement its influence permanently. I think it will crack down on leftist organizations and activists, I think it will erode protections for things like unions and protests (eventually outright banning them), and I think it will gain complete control over the media (something it's already on the track to doing) and be able to completely crush leftist narratives. I genuinely think there's a very high chance that the U.S. would rapidly devolve into totalitarianism if this happens and there would be no saving it. I'm not being hyperbolic.

I believe there was no way Democrats would have won this election except if Trump had won in 2020.

 

[Divine Retribution]

I believe there was no way Democrats would have won this election except if Trump had won in 2020.

We can debate this all we want and it wouldn't really matter, because it doesn't the change the fact that Harris actively went in the wrong direction. If the Democrats don't want to keep losing, they need to have some honest introspection into why, and it sure as hell wasn't because she didn't go far enough to the right.

 

[PrinceOfFacade]

I am so sick of this 'Democrats vs Republicans' bull****. This is going to be our downfall.

 

[Divine Retribution]

In a way I kind of agree. The Republicans and Democrats are two sides of the same coin and they agree on pretty much every fundamental issue when it comes to economics and foreign policy (or neo-colonialism as it should be more accurately termed). The problem is the whole damn coin. The problem is the failed framework of neoliberalism that both parties champion that perpetuates the material conditions that allows figures like Trump to arise in the first place. The problem is that the owning class would happily rather fabricate two-minutes-hates about trans people and immigrants to distract from what is actually causing the economic hardships that working class Americans face. We need to invent artificial conflicts to hide that the true conflict that affects us is class conflict. The problem is that America is built on a foundation of bones, a font of unimaginable human suffering, from the millions of indigenous people we wiped out to build it to the workers in the global south whose subjugation we endorse to get cheap access to bananas and lithium, and we don't want to face up to that fact.

The Democrats will never fight for actual change, because at the end of the day they are just a softer face of the same hegemony, the same coalescense of capital interests, that the Republicans more nakedly represent. We do need to do away with "Democrats vs. Republicans". We need to accept that the actual conflict is and has always been class conflict, and the only solution isn't to "meet in the middle" or "reach across the isle" or whatever nonsense centrists like to peddle to push the Overton window further to the right and follow the path of least resistance, the solution is to do away with the one-party system masquerading as a two-party system altogether, to recognize that all members of the working class share the same interests, that mutual aid is stronger than competition, and to build something better ourselves, from the ashes of the old.

In an immediate sense, this means educate, agitate, organize.

 

[RileyXY1]

We can debate this all we want and it wouldn't really matter, because it doesn't the change the fact that Harris actively went in the wrong direction. If the Democrats don't want to keep losing, they need to have some honest introspection into why, and it sure as hell wasn't because she didn't go far enough to the right.

I think that after the dreaded Great Red Wave of 2026 they'll really be asking what went wrong.

 

[Missingno.Fan]

I am so sick of this 'Democrats vs Republicans' bull****. This is going to be our downfall.

Agreed. I wish there are more parties that have the power that Democrats and Republicans have. I think this because many people are too extreme these days and with only two parties it turns into an “us vs them” kind of situation.

 

[RileyXY1]

Agreed. I wish there are more parties that have the power that Democrats and Republicans have. I think this because many people are too extreme these days and with only two parties it turns into an “us vs them” kind of situation.

Are you suggesting we move over to a parlimentary system like what many European countries have? I think that might be a good idea to fix the polarization.

 

[Trainer Yusuf]

Seems like Syrian Arab Army (ie. Assad government) is collapsing very fast.

If this occurs, this will likely end up as Russia's Afghanistan (much like how the Soviet-Afghan war became USSR's Vietnam).

None of the Islamists like Alawites, or Kurds, so war, and ethnic cleansing will not end. Secondly, Israel, and Turkey will compete for influence, especially since the Islamists also don't consider Golan Heights to be a part of Israel (which of course it isn't under international law).

List of Russian military bases abroad - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Russia has no other active military base in the Mediterranean, so if Russian forces are forced to withdraw, this will leave only Belarus as the most westward military base location. This is a very fancy way of saying this will allow Ukraine, and Belarusian opposition to kick Russian army out of Belarus, and Ukrainian territories.

Russia will still retain military influence over Caucasus, and Central Asia, so this will only kick the can further down the line. It is unlikely that Georgian protests will be successful so far.