The threat of misinformation, conspiracy theory and social media to our democracy

[David Horn]

(04-23-2022, 01:19 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: Obama could not have killed the filibuster; he had too many Manchins. In our house are many Manchins. If it were not so I would have told you.

Obama only went cautious because he knew how much he could pass. Pelosi passed his agenda; the Senate could not. He had zero margin for error, and even that only for 7 months. His army was not behind him. After that, young voters gave up on him, first in Massachusetts, and then in the midterms. He lost his congress, and so his administration was effectively over. That's just not enough time to do all the things you propose above, and I favored too. The nation is too divided to accomplish anything. The other side is implacable. This is the cold civil war and stalemate rules. But if his young voters who had elected him had stood with him, he could have kept his congress and become the next FDR. There is the do-over. It looks instead like we will do-over the error.

When you play at the big table, you can either use a defensive posture, lose little and gain little (or nothing), or you you can go for the gold. Going big is no guarantee, because the phrase go big or go home is exactly right. Stil, it's the better choice.

Obama chose the cautious path, and Biden is too. Trump went big and went home. But who is having the most lasting impact? Leaders lead ... period! You might argue that Trump was and still is a terrible leader. Agreed. But in the end, he's still having an impact. Many more proficient slimeballs are waiting in the wings for the next round. They may go home too, but they also may not. If they are not opposed with equal fervor to their own misguided machismo, they will get to try again and again until, eventually, one will make it. Heaven help us then.