Ideally, I’d love for Dems to just start taking credit for everything MAGA brags about. Since apparently the Republicans aren’t in charge.
Maybe you should swear in the Democrat that Arizona elected, Mike? Since they are required.
Democrats are the ones in control and yet a Democrat is not sworn into her elected duty blocked by republicans.
Tired of these hypocrite they’ve crossed the line into blatant liars.
“The enemy is both dangerously strong and exceptionally weak at the same time.”
This is a thing that fascists say. The Trump admin and the Project 2025 people ARE fascists so that tracks
they same porn-addled mike johnson that sworn in 2 republicans the moment they were elected earlier this year, like within 24hrs.
Republicans have never demonstrated the ability to govern in my life time.
Obviously you are imagining things the only things the Republicans have is a majority in the House and Senate, the support of the supreme Court, the White House and the richest man in the world and most oligarchs. Oh and some really crazy fascist MAGA cultists. It’s practically nothing and these crazy people act like they run the government. I mean really.
Everything is fine.
MAGA doesn’t care about reality, all they care about is hating those that aren’t them.
I mean Trump’s policies are actively destroying everything and farmers. But no matter what he does, they will blame the democrats and their base will eat it up. It is perfect. You can do whatever the hell you want and you win no matter how shitty everything gets.
Now I know how the Christian god feels. What a great gig!
“Everything bad is their fault, everything good is my idea”
Even when you lose you win if you don’t care about the score lol
And the faithful wonder why the bastard won’t make an encore appearance. I wouldn’t either.
And the Democrats have also made abundantly clear what the Republicans have to do in order to get their votes.
For the unaware, the Democrat leadership are asking that the rate hikes for US health insurance are reversed, some individual US senators might have slightly different demands but the GOP need 7 more votes to pass a budget resolution.
See this is what I don’t understand. They need 7 more votes to enter a continuence, not a budget. If they wanted to re-open the government they could have actually wrote a budget, and reconciled that budget, using only 51 votes for all the portions closed down… then argued about the portions they can’t get passed (cutting health care). There is nothing that the Democrats can do to block an actual budget reconciliation being done.
Stop kicking the can down the road with a “continuence” and draw up a budget. This whole thing seems to me like they can’t get Republicans to agree on a budget, to get 51 votes
Theres a distinction between a “fiscal budget” and a “spending bill” I guess.
The fiscal budget for the year has already been decided. There is no Fiscal Budget 2: Skidaddle Rougarou.
Both can be reconciled. Continuences can’t be. Aka, they haven’t made an finalized measure for this, and thus keep kicking it forward with continuences
Is there precedent for that?
SNAP, Medicare, Medicade, are all funded through standard budgets as far as I know. So precedent would be the Inflation Reduction Act.
That passed through reconciliation August 2022. I don’t see how SNAP or Medical budgets could be stopped right now without having undergone a budget change.
You’re right…
Maybe the GOP can’t pass the Byrd test, lmao. Like an addict can’t piss clean, a Republican can’t lower the budget expenditure.
No idea what any of this means. Rate hikes good or bad?
A rate hike for the health care insurance means your monthly health care insurance costs will increase.
It’s up to you to decide if that’s good or bad.
Ok that makes sense
People actually will lose cover, because the rates are going up in the order of 100% or more, for low income people. It’s not a small increase. Many will not be able to afford it, so, effectively, the GOP are removing the healthcare from 10-20 million people…
Are poor people even considered people?
- conservatives
Has any leftist attempted to create engagement with these people to inform them?
Like if I gave you ten minutes, could you get maybe 5 pieces of shareable content that addresses any of this. Now articles or opinions pieces. Like a random marvel Facebook group that actually posts political memes all day
It means people have to pay more in order to get healthcare. So, definitely bad.
The DNC are trying to prevent that bad situation from worsening.
Hey, average web surfer here. I just want you all to know that I see posts like this and it is the message that I’m left with. I actually don’t know what the democrats or even people on the left are saying about this. I just see these posts. I think democrats are the reason the shut down is happening
Their reason for voting against the funding bill has been quite clearly stated on platforms and news programs everywhere. Even searching “why are democrats voting against reopening the government” will get you a fairly decent answer. They haven’t changed the answer in the past three weeks, or hidden their demands, or anything like that.
I’d recommend you get in the habit of looking stuff like that up before you’ve made up your mind about something, because it’s a really helpful life skill for an “average web surfer.” Deciding what your opinion is before you have all the facts just means that you’re letting someone else think for you.
So you don’t actually know anything, but you think the Democrats are the reason.
Fucking typical. I think people like you are the reason the government is shut down.
Assuming you are posing this concern in good faith, the answer is it is a very real issue that has everything to do with the platforms presenting meme based/photo based information. Virtually all major social media outlets sku heavily right and promote right leaning content well above similar content on the left. Its not that the left doesn’t have this kind of content, it is that it isnt being shown as often by content providers.
If you find everything you are seeing is posts like the picture here, please recognize you may be a victim of propagandizing efforts and reconsider what platforms you explore.
Certainly here on lemmy, you can find many more short form/meme type messaging from the left/liberals than you can the right. It’s a notable exception to the general trend
Sku? I think you meant ‘skew’. Took me a while to figure that one out.
Understood almost immediately by taking the context into consideration.
The information is out there, maybe reconsider where you’re getting news from? Democrats are asking for healthcare to be protected, and are planning a vote for releasing the Epstein files. Republicans are opposing both.
Republicans are exclusively at fault because they have the speaker position AND a majority of members in both houses and can get back in business whenever. They just don’t have all their own members on board yet, so they need enough Democrats to join to reach a majority, and none will do it.
So Republicans are stuck with a majority they can’t use, and have to negotiate, and refuses to negotiate.
I’m just pointing out that it doesn’t matter if the information is out there. I’m a low watt fence sitting lefty. Like majority of people. If people hate Trump and wanted to do something about it then maybe recognize people like me aren’t reading stuff that isn’t in meme format. You get a few seconds of our time. But I appreciate the explanation i quickly skimmed.
That seems to be a long way of saying that you’re being intentionally ignorant of the world around you, blaming anyone who tries to explain what’s happening, and that you can’t be bothered reading anything longer than…
Never mind, I’ve already lost you.
Sure.
But am i the ignorant one here?
That seems to be what you’re aiming for, yes.
“seems”
I’m a little confused.
You’re a fence-sitting-lefty?
Without being rude… what behavior on the right are you in favor of? Is it the reduction of rights for literally every minority? Is it the clearly stated planned process in Project 2025 that is being implemented? Is it tariffs, to punish our “trade partners” (read: farmers, citizens, small businesses)? Do you think trans people are not human?
I’m cranky, clearly, but honestly looking for some insight. What makes you not a staunch lefty? I don’t think an informed lefty can possibly be fence-sitting; the political landscape is just so polarized and the right is just trashing everything they can get their hands on.
If you’re just uninformed and not paying attention, then you need to start looking around. There are tons of left memes right here, so if you’re not seeing them, then you’re not looking. If you’re seeing the right-leaning memes more, then check your sources and biases.
Oh so good information on the left must be searched while good information on the right is actively searching for me?
See any problems there?
Why has the left failed to understand this
The firehose of
bullshitfalsehood plus, A Lie Can Travel Halfway Around the World While the Truth Is Putting On Its ShoesThis isn’t that the left has failed to understand, this is that the left actually values accuracy where the right doesn’t.
“They’re eating the dogs!” he said, just making shit up. Proving that they are not, in fact, eating dogs requires a bit of work. The right works on ‘feels’ and their ‘guts’ where the left values truth and reality. It’s easy to make something up as a meme and just post it, with no intent to ever defend it. Some amount of people will see it and believe it’s true.
A thing that separates left and right is that we are skeptical and require proof before we believe.
Oh so good information on the left must be searched while good information on the right is actively searching for me?
[Emphasis mine.]
I would strongly disagree with the idea that the right is putting out “good information.” I will agree that they are searching for gullible people like you. In this thread alone, we have the most powerful people on the right stating the shutdown is caused by the dems. It took an intern 10 minutes to print a “the democrat shutdown” sign, but takes significantly longer to write an article that describes why that isn’t accurate, and that article won’t be read by the people who need to see it. Falling to their level and making a ‘the republican shutdown’ sign and holding a press conference with it just enforces the ‘both sides’ narrative that only discourages people from voting.
I don’t have a solution, but it certainly isn’t “meme harder”. It’s more like “encourage critical thinking and expect people to be informed before voting”. I’ll even put out a point: Democratic leadership wants to encourage education by making it affordable to everyone while republican leadership constantly pushes to de-fund teachers, schools, and programs that would let the poors into college. I could back that up with examples and proof, but it would take that time I’m talking about, go looking for counterpoints instead and spend your own time making yourself better.
donald trump famously said, “I love the poorly educated”. I don’t think he loves them because they are amazing people, or that he wants to take care of them. He loves them because they are rubes and marks and he is a con-man.
This is your wake-up call. There is no such thing as a ‘fence-sitting lefty’. You are either:
- ignorant and can be shown how to think for yourself. At which point you also get angry and become a real lefty.
- ignorant and intentionally staying that way – good for you, I also want to just bury my head in the sand sometimes. Please don’t vote republican because their meme game is better.
- a saboteur or bad-faith actor claiming to be left while actually holding right-wing views and trying to sow discord to weaken your political opponents.
You’re still missing the point. Accuracy doesn’t matter first. Engagement does. Nobody listens to a perfectly factual argument if they’ve already tuned you out. Humans don’t operate on data — they operate on emotion, identity, and story. That’s why propaganda works. That’s why memes work.
If exaggeration, satire, or outright lies are what make people look long enough to even hear a truth later, then that’s the cost of entry. You can’t correct someone who never engages. You can’t educate someone who scrolls past you.
The moral panic over “lying” misses the bigger picture — refusing to adapt to human psychology isn’t virtue, it’s self-sabotage. When the other side is willing to weaponize story, fear, and spectacle, and you cling to purity, you’re not defending truth — you’re surrendering it.
Sometimes, yes, the ends justify the means. Because the alternative is letting the “truthful” side lose to those who don’t care about truth at all — and that’s how you end up with demagogues, fascists, and history repeating itself. If preventing that requires bending the truth to win hearts before minds, then it’s not immoral. It’s necessary.
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. - Winston Churchill
I commend you for using yourself as an example. You’re right. The bar to participate in politics should be raised above you. Unfortunately… that’s not really democracy, anymore. But good argument. I still stand by your right to vote. Even if it hurts a bit inside.
No it shouldn’t be raised up. The left need to wake the fuck up and start playing the game. You all are outclassed against the right wing. It’s not money or anything else that’s making the left lose. It’s their own ignorance and ego. They keep calling the right wing stupid while being beat every single day by them. There is no self awareness on the left.
You could of course read a news paper article or two on this, as an average web surfer, rather than trust a random Lemmy user to provide you an answer. Open up NYT, US Today, Washington Post or any of the other news sites there are out there. (And with that, I would advise you to avoid Fox News, as that’s not a news source, but rage bait source)
😆 you really don’t get it. I could read it but me and millions of others aren’t going to. But we vote. Right now I see a lot of very impressive pictures and headlines and shorts telling me Democrats caused this. Also that leftist really are dense and ineffective. On the other side are guys like you saying I’m stupid and just Google it. I’m not going to be the way. You’ll have to live with that. You could produce content to engage me like the right does which if there is enough content it could sway opinions slowly over time. But you won’t. You’ll call me an idiot. Cause you’re smart. So smart. Keep doing what you’re doing. Stay informed with your nice little group. With a little propaganda machine at all your fingertips with tools that act like force multipliers such as AI, you guys just keep not doing any of the stuff that historically worked to swing voters, instead get people to drive miles to random cities and stand around for the day then go home. So my point is I’m not reading shit little probably didn’t read this ramble which is my point. But you’ll look at and give it a few seconds at least. Again which is my point. Hopefully you understand now. The people to sway the country back is not you or your fellow lefty political article readers. It’s me, average guy. Just looking at things and moving on.
You took more time writing this up than it takes to read couple articles.
Get you priorities straight.
No, priorities are what they are. Not going to read something because you told me to
I could read it but me and millions of others aren’t going to. But we vote.
You probably shouldn’t, if you refuse to be informed. You’re going to be talked into making decisions based on all manner of misinformation from sources foreign and domestic. You’re going to form opinions based on lies, rumors, and propaganda. You’re essentially saying that your vote is for sale to whoever pays Mark Zuckerberg enough money. Honestly, if you’re going to commit election fraud, at least insist that they pay you.
Right now I see a lot of very impressive pictures and headlines and shorts telling me Democrats caused this.
That’s not because the content doesn’t exist on the left. There are tens of thousands of liberal and leftist creators making content and putting it out there; in fact there are probably more leftward leaning creators making political content than rightward-leaning creators. You’re just being targeted by algorithms and ads; maybe because that’s the sort of thing you’ve clicked before, or maybe because you’re in a demographic that’s traditionally sympathetic to right-wing talking points. In either case, you’re letting billionaires sell your opinion off to the highest bidder, for their own profit.
On the other side are guys like you saying I’m stupid and just Google it.
I’m not saying you’re stupid. I’m saying that you’re making choices that are going to harm you in the long run, because you’re refusing to do the bare minimum to stay informed.
[just Google it.] I’m not going to [by] the way. You’ll have to live with that.
No, you’re going to have to live with that. You’re not helping yourself out there. It’s like sitting in a burning car and saying “I’m not going to open the car door myself. You’ll have to live with that.” Honestly, I don’t love the idea of someone dying who doesn’t have to, but between the two of us, you are the one who is more harmed by your intentional ignorance. (I don’t use the word “ignorance” in an insulting way here. You’re being ignorant, in the sense that you’re ignoring current events.)
Yes, in a sense we’re all locked in the car with you until you agree to open the door, but I’m not even going there at this point. You making hostage demands about your media diet strikes me as something you thought was a good idea when you wrote it, but it’s really not.
You could produce content to engage me like the right does which if there is enough content it could sway opinions slowly over time.
-
No, I couldn’t. I’m a software engineer, not a journalist.
-
Tens of thousands of actual journalists are. You’re not being served their content, and because you’ve insisted on not going out of your way to find it, you’re never going to see it.
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It isn’t our responsibility to make you a responsible citizen.
Cause you’re smart. So smart. Keep doing what you’re doing. Stay informed with your nice little group.
You know why we’re informed, right? It’s because it only takes a very tiny amount of effort to be, and we’re willing to expend that effort. If you’re not, you’re going to be expending more effort in the long run as people take advantage of your willful ignorance to take things from you.
With a little propaganda machine at all your fingertips […]
So you recognize that it’s a propaganda machine, and you’re fine with it? “I know that the food machine is shoveling straight manure into my mouth, but the real problem is the people who went and found a burger to eat because instead of bringing me a burger they’re telling me to close my mouth!”
[…] with tools that act like force multipliers such as AI,
AI isn’t a force multiplier. I say this as someone who works with it all the time on a technical level in my job. It’s a convenience tool at best. At worst, it makes stuff take longer.
you guys just keep not doing any of the stuff that historically worked to swing voters, instead get people to drive miles to random cities and stand around for the day then go home.
Historically, what swings voters and changes opinions is talking to people with whom you have (1) mutual trust and respect, (2) who have a baseline understanding of current events, (3) in person. Not AI or social media or anything like that. All of that stuff can inform, but if you’re being served everything but reality from the algorithm, you aren’t going to be getting information either.
As for protests…huh? They worked amazingly well during the Civil Rights movement.
So my point is I’m not reading shit little probably didn’t read this ramble which is my point.
I did.
But you’ll look at and give it a few seconds at least. Again which is my point. Hopefully you understand now. The people to sway the country back is not you or your fellow lefty political article readers. It’s me, average guy. Just looking at things and moving on.
Maybe. But hopefully it’ll be people who don’t intentionally avoid doing whatever they can to actually learn about current events, as you seem dead-set on doing right now.
I didn’t read any of that but I can tell you I’m not the one uninformed or delusional here. You need to understand that and why it’s important
wOrD hArD. iS oK. 👌👌💯🍆💦🍑🥵👉👌🙏🙏💯💪
😆
It’s over your head anyways
I didn’t read any of that
Then you are not qualified to comment on it. This is basic courtesy stuff. Do you also not return the cart after grocery shopping?
I’m willing to bet they let someone else do the groceries for them. That’s seems to be more in line with their rapport.
-
It’s your responsibility and your civic duty to stay informed, but if you’re unwilling, and just want to eat propaganda slop, then it’s not up to us to educate you. So shrug you do you.
Here’s something to explode your noggin. I’m not a US citizen, I don’t even live in the USA, and I’m better informed about what’s happening in your country than you. And that’s not because I’m some lefty political article reader. I read articles on all sides.
And would you have said to Doctor King that his Million Man March was pointless?
Your self confessed low information diet, and refusal to correct that, just means you vote for policies and people that don’t actually help you, or you don’t vote, which has the same effect. You hurt yourself and the people you love, but right wingnuts don’t seem to mind that… It’s crazy to me that there are people trying to rule every important aspect of your life, including what healthcare you and your family can have, and how much tax you pay, and whether you get sent into war, but you don’t care enough to do more than look at pictures. This has to be one definition of insanity tbh.
Yea almost like most voters that matter are the same way. So why are you still trying to wrap your head around that. Trump knew from day one. But you probably called him an idiot and chuckled because his message seemed silly. He ran circles around all of us. Years later it still seems nobody on the left can even figure out this basic concept
So your head is stuck up your arse and you refuse to exert the effort to extract it.
God help us if the majority of the country matches your level of apathy, 'cause we’re all fucked six ways from Sunday if so.
Do you just look at pictures, and never read anything?
Nope
I am left wondering if you are a bot?
No but just a guy that’s frustrated with how messaging on the left is non existent. Like ya call me dumb because I don’t know. I’m not reading articles all day. Just looking at pictures. The right figured it out that you need to engage at this level. The left will ignore human nature. One side is succeeding and one is failing. We have Nazis publicly being Nazis with no shame. Just saying
The right figured it out that you need to engage at this level.
Of course you mean they have to pander and lie right?
Sure, one man’s lie is another’s truth. We have to engage. But we don’t. Maybe we don’t by design.
Sure, one man’s lie is another’s truth.
It’s not. There is the truth and then there is lies and omissions.
We have to engage.
Nope, we’ve tried that. Tell them to get fucked and kill them with shear numbers of voters.
Maybe we don’t by design.
I mean maybe but it doesn’t really matter.
You haven’t engaged in anything. You’re literally the “we’ve done nothing and we’re out of ideas” meme.
And truth is subjective. Always. Especially in politics.
The Democrats are asking for the following:
- Extension & expansion of health-care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This was set to expire at the end of 2025, and would drive up insurance costs for millions of low-income and middle class families if not subsidized.
- Reversal or protection against Republican-led cuts in Medicaid / other health programs. The BBB removed a lot of people from Medicade coverage, they want to prevent it from getting worse and guarantee protection for US citizens.
- A meaningful say in any continuing resolution (CR) or stop-gap that reopens the government.
Essentially, Republicans are trying to ram through legislation that fuck over a lot of people. Democrats are trying to prevent a lot of people from being fucked over, and have essentially told Republicans that you need to work with us on these things…like, you know, a functional government is supposed to do.
The reason you see simple messaging from the right and not the left, is because lies are simple. If you’re just making shit up, you can make it as simple and meme-worthy as you want, it doesn’t matter. The truth is always more complicated, so if you want to tell the truth, you have to explain in something other than memes and simplistic pictures like this one. You need articles, or at least a paragraph or two of explaining, which means reading.
I’m not reading articles all day. Just looking at pictures.
You don’t even need to read an entire article. Most reasonable news sources put it in a quick info box for you. Or you could pull up a democratic senator’s Bluesky or Mastodon account and see what they’ve posted about why they voted against it. There’s probably info on Tiktok and Instagram, too.
In this modern world, the issue is never that the information isn’t available; just that you didn’t look for it.
Correct. I don’t. Millions of swing voters do not. So where do you fit into that equation? Is Bill Clinton supposed to do all the work
Your passionate defense of laziness aside, the fact that you’re unable to think of a single Democrat other than Bill Clinton is…well, it sure is something.
Do I read this right? You’re saying “the right is winning because they’re posting clickbait bullshit (technical term here, not just a sloppy swear) consumed in memes or tiktok-style videos”?
Aren’t you terrified that’s the life so many (and I think you’re putting yourself in this camp as well) are choosing to live?
💯 that is a major reason that they’re winning.
When people say ‘well they’re just more funded duh’ what they’re not addressing is all that funding is to create shit posts and media to engage their base. All that funding goes into producing images of chickens throwing snowballs asking if climate change was real then why is it snowing in July. We are basic simple creatures as a group.
It doesn’t matter what I think because this is what the world is. The left is failing to accept it and that’s why we’re losing.
Check this out. How much of the likes and shares and comments do you think are bots? Notice any patterns? Patterns are important because you can rewire people’s brains and opinions through repetition.
I’ll take the downvotes too but I agree. We need to approve funding for things even Democrats don’t agree on in order to feed people? Get the fuck out.
It isn’t the Democrats’ fault that the Republicans are trying to strip health insurance for millions and make it more expensive for everyone else. That’s what they’re voting against, and it doesn’t take too long to discover that if you are even a little bit curious.
I don’t know what any of this is about. I keep seeing things saying Democrats shut down the government.
I am begging you to do a single google search and read a source that’s left of, like, The Blaze. Not even the entire article. Just the first few lines. I bet you’ll find out the answers to your question.
No, and you’re not understanding why is a big problem on the left.
No, it’s a big problem for you because I’m not validating your selfish decision.
The world does not exist for your gratification.
MAGA believes whatever they’re told most recently, just like Trump. My Nextdoor app feed proves this to me.
One of the double speaks an authoritarian spokesperson has to perform is the opposition is both strong and weak at the same time. Strong, so they can be blamed for anything that goes wrong, and to stoke fears in the faithful, and weak because no one is allowed to be stronger than the authority.
I know that is 1984, but it really reminds me of the “could god create a boulder so large that he could not lift it” thought experiment.
The christian god does seem to have some stuff in common with an authoritarian dictator.
Isn’t that weak so they can’t be blamed for what goes wrong and strong because they are the absolute authority?
Oh no, they don’t ever see themselves as weak.
Their opponents are simultaneously strong and weak
They want to be blameless and every “step” further away is better. They aren’t “weak” because then you could blame their weakness.
Their display looks like a high school civics class project.
Nah nah nah dawg.
The antifa deep state led by Soros and his Jewish space lizards are holding the government hostage. Except Israel, those guys is cool.
Imagine if Biden or Obama had a shutdown, and they had Soros step in and privately fund the military.
Adelita Grijalva - learn that name, people.
If any Democrat is controlling government, it’s Adelita Grijalva. Now hand the keys, Mike.
Please please can we stop trying to catch their lies? ALL THEY EVER DO IS LIE. It’s not a gotcha. It’s pointless. Their people don’t care and we all know they are full of shit. You can’t beat a fascist in discourse.
It’s not just important to discourse. It’s important to know when they’re lying, even if that is always, and more importantly, what the truth is. You cannot let only their narrative exist
Yes, plus, it’s not the people who already know they constantly lie that they are trying to convince. It’s the people who don’t pay a lot of attention and occasionally get something. They’re trying to tell that person that Democrats are doing this for them.
It’s important to know when they’re lying
Is their mouth open? Then they’re lying.
Documenting all of it is really important, even though it’s fucking exhausting.
Ultimately it isn’t really for fascists or the willfully ignorant to be swayed; it’s so that in the future humanity is able to review and learn lessons to improve upon the past.
I hope.
This is kinda why I’m just tempted to purge some of my socials. It’s just non fucking stop. I already spent a decade listening to TFG bullshit every week when he was president the first time and even when he lost the second time, the news still covered his pathetic ass constantly. I wanna be informed don’t get me wrong, but so much of this news is just noise.
I know how I’m voting, not that we can simply vote fascism out, so what the fuck is the point of destroying my mental health every single day just to hear what trump said or what bullshit the GOP is doing in Texas or Tennessee. I’m losing my mind and all I’m trying to do is survive and I can’t even do that. All this fucking wonderful technology and I’m freaking miserable. Sigh, sorry for the rant brother.
AOC or Jasmine Crocket should go “Cool, if you are not in charge then I nominate myself for Speaker of the House”.
What an awful, awful little man.
Did the democrats make you go to Grindr too Mike?
I honestly don’t like this. While there are Republicans who are closeted, there’s no evidence Johnson is one of them and the creepy shit we do know makes him seem even straighter.
“The government is reopened. Everything we democrats want is from now on in effect. If the republicans have a problem with that, they can shut down the government. You’re welcome!”
