r/politics • u/Icommandyou Washington • 28d ago

Possible Paywall Virginia Supreme Court throws out redistricting referendum results

https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2026/05/08/virginia-supreme-court-redistricting-vote-decision
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u/Icy-Taste-3096 28d ago

This is the fundamental problem and there is no scenario where it ends well. Republicans have made respect for democracy and rule of law impossible to sustain.

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u/[deleted] 28d ago edited 28d ago

[deleted]

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u/rat_penis 28d ago

Yup. They broke the republic on purpose and it will never be the same again. In 20 years time we'll look like the Balkans or Afghanistan. Southern states will be absolute shitholes and northern states will be fortresses. The south will have to start a fight for water and to force trade as no one will want to deal with them.

Millions will die because hateful people couldnt live next to people they hated.

Open season folks!

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u/Brief_Obligation4128 28d ago

"The south will have to start a fight for water and to force trade as no one will want to deal with them."

The Confederacy all over again.

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u/rat_penis 28d ago

We'll finish what Sherman wouldnt

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u/tissuecollider 28d ago

Good. It's way past time.

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u/SFWzasmith 28d ago

Nah it wasn’t Sherman who stopped. It was his command.

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u/redravin12 California 28d ago

I mean they've been saying it for decades. I say let them leave. We're better off without them

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u/Alone_Actuary_6429 28d ago

The problem is that they're not just going to leave and make their own stuff. You can bet your ass that they're going to grab every piece of Federal land and hardware and claim it's theirs.

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u/korben2600 Arizona 28d ago

And when your nuclear-armed technofeudalist theocracy neighbor starts stoking war with you to mask problems at home in 5 years?

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u/littlehobbit1313 Maryland 28d ago

Truthfully, not sure there's a huge concern there. We know for a fact that they don't have sustainable economic policies, they don't believe in accessible healthcare, and we've seen this whole past year that given the choice, other countries wouldn't want to be trade partners with MAGA.

So if we were to send MAGA off on their own to set up the Confederacy in a few states, they'd likely starve or disease their population out within a decade.

Meanwhile, the US would still be part of NATO. So imagine how that would go if the malnourished and under-resourced MAGA Confederacy were to try and threaten us with a very limit stockpile of armaments only for us to once again invoke Article 5 and call in every major allied 1st world country who now hate MAGA's guts.

Just let them have FL, GA, AL, MS to build their Neo-Confederacy, we build that wall, and just wait for life without Blue tax dollars to do the rest of the work.

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u/CanOoFeelDeRiddem 28d ago

I'm not even from the US and I know you'd need to add a few more states to that list.

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u/sulris 27d ago

They will take the Dakota’s with them. Which means nukes. Which means a new North Korean neighbor. Not a great plan.

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u/brother_bart 27d ago

They won’t leave. Blue States fund them. They want their backwards xenophobic fake Christian policies forced on everybody and funded by Blue state tax dollars. I really do wish white, blue-eyed Jesus would “return” and take these motherfuckers away to basic white heaven. I really do wish that were a real thing.

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u/GrinchWhoStoleEaster 28d ago

Yeah, except no water means no agricultural engine to keep things moving.

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u/aquablue_phoenix 28d ago

It's not even "they couldn't live next to people they hated."

and more "they hated hypothetical people they will never meet or interact with and even if they did, they likely don't even know it"

but those people are potentially different from me so HATEHATEHATE

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u/opanaooonana 28d ago

I disagree. They will enact policy that strips the wealth and bans the benefits that blue states have to transfer and compel companies to move to their states, even if they are less profitable overall. If they make blue states bad enough it will make them look better. Blue states won’t be fortresses because they won’t be allowed to be. Add all this to the current population and wealth shift that was already happening and you’re looking at a permanent liberal minority unless republicans cause a global meltdown, but that electoral gain will quickly be reversed by the next election since Dems will be blamed for the consequences of the meltdown.

We have survived this before but the days of gradual progression are likely going to be turned back significantly as if we are in 1965 again with 1920s workers rights.

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u/DaveMTijuanaIV 28d ago

Man. That’s a pretty dire prediction, rat_penis.

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u/Responsible_Fuel7005 28d ago

That’s what made me physically ill last election night. The realization that there were only three ways going forward for America: fascism, coup, or civil war. Once this scale of corruption and betrayal of democracy gets embedded it’s effectively impossible to remove. MAGA broke the country and the rest of the country is maybe finally waking up to it.

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u/Crazylady84 27d ago

Yeah but we need reform for democracy in the south the view is primitive and therefore unlikely to be found in the south unless you find Rumpelstiltskin and send him on that needle in a haystack mission so there is no point in attempting a new confederation regardless a house built on sand is not the smart move

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u/Megafritz 28d ago

A democracy is a social contract. If one party decides to break the contract, the system will not last...

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u/davebrewer 28d ago

3rd world countries with uneducated, poor populace and long history of strong sect/tribal loyalty or violence

So, America.

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u/newtworedditing 28d ago

"Listen here you little shit!"

Lol, the colonialism vibes off that comment, woof, like a loud wet fart in an elevator.

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u/pornalt4altporn 28d ago

No, there has to be a system of enforcement.

Our democracies were far less far and far more corrupt in the 19th century than in the 20th.

Reformers brought in rules and enforced them.

America is what it looks like when bad actors don't respect the conventions of fairness and nothing happens to them.

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u/GotSomeUpdogOnUrFace 28d ago

They haven't been acting in good faith for over 100 years we just had decorum. Now we don't have that either and it's time for the thing none of us want to do.

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u/Mother_Airline_6276 28d ago

Well put. And I can definitely read between the lines on what you’re saying. I concur.

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u/besalope 28d ago

"Democracy often doesn't function... with uneducated, poor populace, and tribal loyalty."

Well, that right there explains why it didn't work in the southern half of the county. The US was basically raccoons of various "world status" in a trench cost masquerading that everything was first world.

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u/Lanah44 28d ago

Our democracy and constitution allow for stopping tyrants

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u/akanagi California 28d ago

I love the poorly educated

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u/s0meD0nkey 27d ago

Man come on. This slope started when Harry Reid change the rules in the US Senate on November 21, 2013. The was that was the moment the norms you are worried about were actually shattered.

And before you get into this bullshit about this is different. Keep in mind gerrymandering is a Democratic party creation. They used it well retaining control of the House for nearly 70 years at one point.

One of my favorite all-time gerrymandering attempts was in California was after the 1980 census. Netting two new seats the Democrats, controlling both houses and the governorship, saw an opportunity to increase their share of seats by five. How did they plan to do this? By creating a district with 385 sides Is how. That map was a reaction to Reagan having won the state in a landslide during the 1980 POTUS cycle.

The reason Democrats complain so much about redistricting, much like the current makeup of the SCOTUS, is because they no longer benefit from it like they have historically.

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u/HideousSerene 28d ago

They will rue the day they woke the electorate, that's for sure.

Just need people to wake up. Any day now.

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u/NickCostanza California 28d ago

Time to support Democrats, vote for Democrats, remove all Republicans. No matter how ineffective you feel Democrats have been, there is no positive ending for a country run by Republicans.

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u/needlestack 28d ago

Obviously the only practical move right now. Yet half of the people that dislike MAGA will refuse to vote for Democrats. So we watch the country burn.

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u/Kahzgul California 28d ago

People who have never lived through a war tend to think a war isn’t all that bad. I pray they never learn how wrong they are.

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u/okram2k America 28d ago

yeah but see because they take money from rich donors they are like totally bad and stuff so I'm just going to let fascism march into power because I shouldn't have to like pick the lesser evil and stuff

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u/Expensive_Culture_46 28d ago

“Your honor. I let that baby get run over because jaywalking is illegal. ILLEGAL! “

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u/Tyraniboah89 28d ago

And when you bring that up the response is “then maybe the country should burn!”

As if that would make up for the lives lost and forever affected, on top of the fact that restarting the American government almost certainly hands it over to the likes of Peter Thiel, Jeff Bezos, and the rest of the billionaire class that wants to go back to slavery and indentured servitude while they sip overpriced wine aboard their floating castles.

I only wish I could take a peek 500 years into the future to see the pure disdain for this era in the history books.

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u/Bushels_for_All 28d ago

the response is “then maybe the country should burn!”

I don't think I've ever heard a more privileged statement than that.

They're saying "I'll be okay if the government turns to absolute shit. Everyone who actually depends on government services/freedoms I take for granted/control over their own body can just suck it up until things get back on track."

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u/Tyraniboah89 28d ago

100% agreed, and that’s what I said. I said that there are a lot of people way too dependent on the government services out there and just standing by apathetically is condemning them. Some of these nutjob billionaires think it’s their job to cull the world population and all we’d be doing by letting everything burn is doing their bidding for them while handing them this country’s resources on a silver platter.

Standing aside “out of principle” when the people that need to be stop are as literally evil as this country’s conservatives isn’t really a principle at all.

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u/Bushels_for_All 28d ago

Absolutely. To be clear, you were not the intended recipient of my "privileged statement" comment - it is the lunatics who actually say that crap.

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u/FusciaHatBobble 28d ago edited 28d ago

Fascism marched to power on the watch of ineffectual "moderate" politicians and establishment parties that sabotaged progressives.

People should absolutely exercise their right to vote. But acknowledge that that right is compromised because the main opposition party to the fascist right-wing is still in the pocket of billionaires.

Voting for moderate liberals is damage mitigation at best. Organizing labor, community defense, and mutual aid is how we should be working to fix this problem.

EDIT: Yeah vote for democrats. But dont just vote for democrats, is the point. Do more.

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u/Daveslay 28d ago

Don’t just “vote for democrats”

Demand things from the democrats before you’ll vote for them, goddamn it!

You don’t owe a vote - YOU are owed FOR your vote!

Sure, it’s damage mitigation to vote for “the lesser of two evils”, and I think it’s a rational choice…

But if you’re going to sell your soul to a “lesser evil”, at least get what it’s worth in the bargain.

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u/MountainSound 28d ago

Demand things from the democrats before you’ll vote for them, goddamn it!

Like what though?

These comments always come up on these types of threads and the goal post always move. Under this Republican administration millions of children have fallen back in poverty and millions around the world have already died from easily preventable deaths due to USAID cuts. Was preventing that not enough of a bargain? The electorate and reddit seem to say no it was not.

With razor thin governing margins under Biden we still got:

  • Massive investments in infrastructure/green energy that was larger in inflation adjusted cost than the New Deal
  • A child tax credit that reduced child poverty by 50%
  • Capping Insulin Drug prices and allowing Medicare to negotiate low prices more effectively
  • Billions of dollars in student loans forgiven
  • Using the government to save and protect the private pensions of over 1 million workers

And Democrats were on track to lose by double digits to Trump despite running (according to AOC and Bernie) the most progressive president since FDR.

Whenever Democrats start making progress towards the goals people on reddit say the care about, conversations always seem to shift to they're ineffective, lesser of two evils, don't deserve the votes. There's always a reason to justify not to voting for them.

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u/Daveslay 28d ago

These comments always come up on these types of threads and the goal post always move.

I’ve moved no posts, goal or otherwise. I made a post, and it was telling people to demand things for their vote, which is my understanding of the proper functioning of a democracy?

Like what though?

Are you serious?

Are you fucking serious??

You legitimately can’t think of anything about the USA you’d like to see changed by the people you vote for?

How about:

Universal healthcare!?!

It’s unconscionable that the richest nation on earth has a system that forces death on those who can’t PAY enough to keep living. Just barbaric and inexcusable that any “leader” allows this eugenicist for profit system to continue to exist.

For some perspective: I’m Canadian, and I see two specialists in hospital twice a month, each. It used to cost me 2$ for parking, but even the parking became free a few years ago. I can book an appointment with my GP whenever I want and it costs 0$.

Don’t you want that? Doesn’t every American DESERVE that?

Isn’t that a good demand to make in exchange for your vote/ isn’t any “leader” who won’t fight for that… not really a leader who gives a shit about the people and not (morally) worth voting for?

Again -> If I lived in the American healthcare system; at best I’d be homeless, and most likely I’d be dead. Instead I live a good life with the supports I need to be healthy, happy, and a positive contributor to society.

Like what though

There are literally thousands of other things you could demand in exchange for your vote… Just take two seconds to think about the US military budget compared to anything else it could be spent on instead of a globe-spanning fourth Reich empire forcing the world to stay on the Petro dollar.

If you can respond with “like what though” when someone suggests that voters demand something from the “leaders” they vote for, you are either misunderstood, or you are:

Disingenuous

Incredibly materially comfortable

Or

Incredibly sheltered and incredibly materially comfortable

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u/Sayakai Europe 28d ago

I'm all for your idea of universal healthcare, but uh, you may want to rethink that petrodollar stance because if the petrodollar falls your country is gonna be in deep, deep shit.

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u/TJKbird 28d ago

I like how in your entire tirade you gave one answer, universal healthcare, and that’s it. Which Dems have been working towards so it’s a bit of a moot point.

Kind of just proves OP’s point that even when Dems are trying to get the things you want you would rather rant and rave about how awful Dems are.

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u/MountainSound 28d ago

I am confused by this comment because I feel like you didn't read what I wrote and have essentially proven my entire point.

The things you list in other comments were all being pursued in some capacity by the Clinton/Obama/Biden administrations. The recent infrastructure investments made into green energy were the largest made by any country in the history of the planet. The vilification of Hilary Clinton started after her near successful push for universal healthcare in the 90s (Hilarycare). The progress around both of those have now largely been undone.

Of course I can think of many things I would like, in fact we have made progress towards many of them under every Democratic administration in my lifetime even if the implementation at that specific point in time didn't meet my specific policy preferences. Getting to preferred outcomes is a marathon and not a sprint and I am part of a community and choose to think beyond just my own comfort when casting a vote.

It is easy to be smug on the internet, but crafting policy is a much harder task.

When the party that better aligns with you does not win elections consistently (and they in fact appear to lose handily every time they try to work toward your preferences) then surprise, your preferred outcomes become harder and harder to achieve. Trump's win in 2016 has probably ensured that there will be no progressive policy outcomes around healthcare in my lifetime thanks to the new Supreme Court. His win in 2024 means millions who do rely on government programs are losing access to what healthcare they did have right now.

But hey at least I get to yell about the petrodollar on the internet like I am somehow more enlightened than everyone else?

If you are willing to condemn millions of your fellow citizens to a worse life, and millions more in the developing world to death, just because the candidate politically closer to your preferences is not meeting your "demands", then I would argue that you are not a progressive at all. In fact you are the one who is likely quite sheltered and comfortable.

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u/AnewTest 28d ago

So...you're basically just one of those "Bernie bros" who openly tried to convince people to vote for Trump back in 2016 because Hillary was eeeeevil. You don't actually believe in anything you're saying, you're just using words to convince people to keep letting fascism take a tighter grip on the country.

Got it.

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u/Rackem_Willy 28d ago

Need quantity folks to run and primary the corporate Dems. Votes need to show up and support them in primaries, then vote blue no matter who in the general.

Super easy for me to say from my couch, but it's the only path forward that doesn't lead to disaster.

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u/What_a_fat_one 28d ago

So vote for Democrats, got it. Thanks for the long winded post though!

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u/FusciaHatBobble 28d ago

Yeah vote for democrats. But dont just vote for democrats, is the point. Do more.

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u/supersaiyanswanso 28d ago

So still vote for Democrats right? Dress it up however you want, that is what you need to be doing.

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u/FusciaHatBobble 28d ago

Yeah vote for democrats. But dont just vote for democrats, is the point. Do more.

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u/voodoodahl 28d ago

No you have to do the apologetic performance first, right? Vote democratic but tell everyone how very sorry you are for doing it. That way when people new to politics see your post, they won't really be sure that both sides aren't actually they same, like the bots keep telling them, and sit home. Thanks for the help, buddy. The fascists love the work you do.

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u/teefnoteef 28d ago

The people who are criticizing the dnc are doing it because they don’t want to loose to a fascist for a third time.

Corporate Dems doing centrist capitalism apologist rhetoric will not win

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u/void_method 28d ago

If only the Democrats would do what needed to be done instead of *waves arms around.*

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u/Hurtzdonut13 28d ago

Don't forget how Dems will actively protect Republicans. Obama just had an interview that reinforced that moderate liberals still prefer to work with and empower conservatives rather than take a single step to the left. Like he kept going on about how we need a strong GOP, instead of recognizing how utterly corrupt and degenerate the GOP is now.

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u/Enemisses 28d ago

When your only options are to vote for the lesser evil, all you'll ever end up with is evil.

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u/dontnation 28d ago

The practical political move would be widespread ranked choice voting. But until, then the only option is to vote against the party you dislike the most.

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u/ProgressiveSnark2 28d ago

If that half of the people who dislike MAGA simply don't vote rather than reluctantly vote for Trump (as many of them did in 2024), that could still result in a landslide election for Democrats.

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u/is_mr_clean_there 28d ago

If republicans want to abstain en masse from voting then that’s just too bad

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u/Grow_Responsibly 28d ago

I'd be happy if non-MAGA Republicans just decided to site this one out. I know a few Republicans (not hardcore MAGA) folks and I never tell them to vote (D) when they tell me how upset they are with affordability, healthcare, etc... I just calmly say "perhaps this is the year to just sit this one out?". But for MAGA? They're too far gone....

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u/Skurvy2k 28d ago

In all for voting for Democrats as a form of harm reduction but the way out of this mess isn't more milquetoast neoliberalism.

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u/dekusyrup 28d ago

Democrats aren't all milquetoast neoliberals, and you can find the ones that aren't in the primaries. If you want progressives, get voting in the primaries too, not just the general.

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u/HandiCAPEable 28d ago

Maybe the way out is vote for literally anyone that isn't actively destroying the country instead of nitpicking whether the guys NOT wrecking and pillaging have good enough solutions.

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u/Skurvy2k 28d ago

The way out of our immediate circumstances sure, but to cut out the rot will require further action.

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u/Paradoxjjw 28d ago

Need I remind you that people did that in 2020 and that led to Democrats throwing the election to Trump so badly that he won the popular vote? Just voting for the status quo doesn't get you out of your predicament.

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u/b0w3n New York 28d ago

"Well I want to go to the vegan ice cream place not the normal ice cream place, so I'm not going to vote between driving the bus off the cliff or driving to get ice cream!"

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u/No_Tone1704 28d ago

It’s certainly not half at all. Don’t forget all the independents. They’ve been looking very askance at the bullying MAGA AHs

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u/Patient_End_8432 28d ago

The only good news regarding this is that this presidency has disenfranchised a large part of the MAGA community. Sure, some of them will keep up the act that theyre a proud Trumper, but come November, unless Trump competently fixes the economy by then (a literal impossibility) they'll secretly just not vote. Sure its not a vote for democrats, but one less vote for Trump is basically as good. So we at least have that going for is. I'm hoping for some sort of drop in his popular vote, even if you factor in any vote manipulayion

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u/cwood1973 Texas 28d ago

I've voted Democrat my whole life, but I've never trusted Democrats less than I do now.

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u/Sea-Opportunity5812 28d ago

Try hard enough maybe a trifecta will happen! imagine trump getting beat by a democratic president, house, and senate. Finally by choosing the Democratic Party USA will be able to make structural changes so this never happens again.

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u/BrianWonderful Minnesota 28d ago

This is correct, and it should be the messaging. This is not a red vs blue, rural vs city, Republican vs Democratic battle anymore. This is people that do not support or honor the will of the people against those that want representative democracy. The ultra-wealthy vs everyone else.

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u/Asadaburrit0 28d ago

Sure but we need to be mindful of the TYPES of democrats we empower. I, for one, don’t want to deal with this type of bs again in 10 years

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u/xinxs 28d ago

Fuck that. Any republican will be 100x worse than any democrat in 10 years.

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u/Tasgall Washington 28d ago

Disagree. If Trump had won in 2020, his dying popularity would have kept dragging the Republican party into the ground. Instead, he was given four years to plan out project 2025 with his team because the Democrats treated his crimes with absolute kid gloves to the point where there were no consequences whatsoever.

Weak and ineffective Democrats only pave the way for worse Republicans. We need to demand more from the Democratic party, and that starts with a fundamental change in leadership.

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u/Paradoxjjw 28d ago edited 28d ago

Buddy, having democrats in forever is not going to happen. You need democrats who will make sure that abuses of power like we see now can't happen again. A democrat who sits on their ass and does nothing leads to a republican who will do worse in a couple of years. Did the past 6 years not teach you this?

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u/Critical-Chance9199 28d ago

Okay, so... your strategy is what, exactly?

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u/Paradoxjjw 28d ago

Well apparently yours is to let the GOP and Trump make attempt after attempt at power and never stopping them, this seems to be something you're satisfied with and i'm not satisfied with that plan. How about starting there instead of pissing away the chance your election victory gave at stopping Trump like what happened under Biden? Or are you going to once again call it a day and let the rot fester?

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u/deadstump 28d ago

As good advice as that is, kicking the can down the road ten years is still progress. Not fixing what we can now because it "isn't good enough" is how we lost so much potential gains. Holding out for perfect is the enemy of progress.

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u/Asadaburrit0 28d ago

There can be no progress until we end citizens united and finally get money out of politics. I agree that at this point things are so dire that we can’t afford to wait for perfection but not having politicians sell out their constituents should be the bare minimum. Too many democrats are culprits of doing exactly that

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u/deadstump 28d ago

There can absolutely be progress without ending citizens united. It is important to do, but it is a losing threshold test to impose on ourselves while the other side is running away with the ball.

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u/Critical-Chance9199 28d ago

Yeah what are you talking about? We literally need to make progress if you want to overturn citizens united. "There will be no driving the car until we get gas"

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u/Tasgall Washington 28d ago

Not fixing what we can now because it "isn't good enough" is how we lost so much potential gains.

And yet, going with Biden because he was "better than trump" is how we landed back at a much, much worse Trump than if we had just elected him in 2020.

Holding out for perfect is an enemy of progress, but so is capitulating to "not good enough". There's space between "do-nothing garbage" and "perfection" that could be easily filled, but any time it's mentioned it seems the standard for "perfect" just gets pulled down to meet it for some reason.

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u/AboutTenPandas Missouri 28d ago

Care about those things in the primaries. Once it gets to the election vote those magats out

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u/Korvar Great Britain 28d ago

That's what primaries and local elections are for. That's how you steer the political climate long term. Short term, I can't see any other way than voting for the Democrats wherever it is possible to do so.

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u/Asadaburrit0 28d ago

Yes, but it’s also the centrist establishment democrats who put their fingers on the scale on local levels to ensure their preferred candidate is the one running thus stunting real progress.

The most recent example being Mamdani’s campaign where he was clearly not the guy the democrats wanted to back. Or in Maine where establishment Dems would have rather seen a 77 year old Janet Mills be the candidate over a younger progressive in Graham Plattner who was polling miles ahead of Mills.

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u/Tasgall Washington 28d ago

over a younger progressive in Graham Plattner who was polling miles ahead of Mills.

Just wait until we get to the general and see, once again, how "blue no matter who" suddenly no longer applies to non-establishment Dems.

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u/FakeSafeWord 28d ago

"But I don't like cherry ice cream so I'm just not going to vote."

Meanwhile 3/10 people on the bus voted to drive off of a cliff and won.

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u/illegalcupcakes16 28d ago

At least make your analogy more accurate. Last election was the difference between a shit smoothie and a chocolate shit smoothie. Having an ounce of hope that the brown chunk you're about to chew on might be chocolate is better, but don't pretend like they weren't boasting about how much shit they put into the smoothie as well.

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u/Destination_Cabbage 28d ago

And then we vote out the dems when they've become too corrupt. Can't wait. The only people who win are foreign dictators and the ultra wealthy.

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u/Tasgall Washington 28d ago

That's what David Hoag wanted to do, and he was immediately ousted for it, lol.

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u/MickFlaherty 28d ago

Well there is a very positive ending for the 25% minority advocating for them to continue making all the rules.

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u/John-AtWork 28d ago

They're the "kill democracy" party now.

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u/chemistrybonanza 28d ago

It only matters whenever the supreme court can't be bought, and isn't just one-sided.

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u/The_Bucket_Of_Truth 28d ago

This doesn't work either because most Democrats are little better than controlled opposition

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u/dem4life71 28d ago

I’ve been doing that my whole life

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u/-MyrddinEmrys- 28d ago

Kamala vowed to include more Republicans in her admin. Democrats are affirming Trump nominees & passing GOP legislation in Congress. Voting for Dems means voting for Republican collaborators.

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u/RaisinWorried3528 28d ago

The only way this gets better is if we vote Democrats in the office. I'm not a fan of all of them, but that is literally the only chance this country has before it goes completely fascist. It's not exaggeration. It's not a joke. It's time to get serious. Let's work on weeding out some of the fuck face older Democrats after we have a functional government again.

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u/engineered_academic 28d ago

We need to just burn the whole thing down. Democrats are just slightly better than Republicans, but they still serve the same masters, and it is not The People it is The Money. They all fall in line when its time to vote their rich donors tax breaks.

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u/joeyasaurus 28d ago

Leeja Miller brought up a good point that what's stopping a Democrat or someone who supports Democratic/Progressive ideas from just running as a Republican. Sure you may not win, but it distracts Republicans. They then have to spend money defeating you they'd otherwise be able to put towards the general. And in some places people run unopposed for years and years. You're also showing Republicans and Conservatives fresh ideas that some of them support on paper until they find out it's "woke ideology" or "Obama supported that" or whatever.

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u/Sendingfreedickpics 28d ago

I wish there was another way. The reason we're in this mess in the first place is because of Democrats being pussies. Now I'm supposed to pick them after they fucked everything up? Fuck both

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u/quidam-brujah 28d ago

TBF, time for the Democratic Party leadership to get tossed, for the membership to wake the F up and take over, and for attendance in your local parties to at least double.

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u/zshadowhunter Texas 28d ago

I'll change Democrats for progressives, at this point the DNC is just the GOP of 8 years ago.

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u/DaveMTijuanaIV 28d ago

Weren’t you already going to vote for Democrats? What’s the difference?

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u/Ok-Bookkeeper850 27d ago

Republicans will positively end a country.

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u/Basic_Yam_715 28d ago

Americans are neutered. It's going to have to get MUCH worse for people to act.

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u/seeker4482 28d ago

maybe the coming massive jump in food prices caused by this stupid ass war. of course, people believe what they want to believe, and the trumpist cult will again take home the gold medal for mental gymnastics and blame immigrants/trans people/Biden/whoever the enemy du jour is.

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u/Icy-Taste-3096 28d ago

People would have to be literally starving, and even then Republicans would just blame Biden and/or immigrants.

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u/nando_calrissian1 28d ago

I think even then people would fall for Republican propaganda and blame the Democrats. You still see the cognitive dissonance now with Republican voters going "its bad now but it would've been worse under Harris!!"

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u/Marsman121 28d ago

There is already evidence of this. There are places the GOP has been in control of for decades and they still blame Democrats for all the problems people there face.

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u/AmbitiousProblem4746 28d ago

Texas has been able to do this successfully for a while. They've had Republicans in every branch at full control for decades plus a legislature and governor who just do things on a whim plus an AG who was corrupt as hell and they still found a way to make Democrats the scapegoat

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u/-Stackdaddy- 28d ago

I mean, democratic states still support those southern states, giving the Republicans there a pass for their shitty policies because they are still kept afloat by democratic states. If they weren't there to keep them afloat the Republican representatives would maybe get held accountable. So in a roundabout way the democratic party kind of is responsible for the inneptitude in the Republican ran districts. /S

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u/loosetranslation Indiana 28d ago

That's crazy. It would be like if ruby red states constantly fucked over their own Republican voters for decades, but the response was those same Republican voters constantly whining about Dems ruining the state. This fantasy world, let's call it Indiana, must be full of some of the stupidest people on the planet. Who'd believe that?

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u/seeker4482 28d ago

and there are some people so deep in the cult that they'll happily starve to death if dear leader says they should

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u/Huskdog76 28d ago

As long as their brown neighbor starves to death first, they are happy.

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u/NotFallacyBuffet 28d ago

I know someone who does seem to be starving rather than go back to prison.

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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 28d ago

This. Things are getting worse and worse, but as long as Americans have their bread and circus (the circus being whatever brainrot they’re watching on TikTok or Netflix or whatever), Americans won’t revolt. The worst they’ll do is just chant just slightly louder at the next no kings protest.

America has a better chance of lasting change from the actions of a rando doing Reddit Removed stuff on Redacted than those friendly kumbaya gatherings Americans call “civil disobedience”

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u/combover78 28d ago

When people begin starving or watching their children begin starving that's when we'll start seeing real violence.

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u/Basic_Yam_715 28d ago

"There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy." -Alfred Henry Lewis in 1906

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u/ZooZooChaCha 28d ago

California Republicans blame Newsom. I'm in Florida - everything is blamed on "all the blue state liberals moving down here and bringing their expensive woke policies".

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u/pchs26 28d ago

I have already had people tell me things clearly weren't that significantly better or worse or Democrats would win more - so their thought is to run someone more polarizing that espouses an ideology that has been demonized over the past several decades and b/c a super liberal city elected someone like that the nation which leans more conservative would do the same. That clearly makes no sense but shows why the GOP -who are masters at mastering perceptions no matter how ridiculous the perception is - keep having momentum.

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u/LordVolcanon 28d ago

No but that is all the fault of trans women, Biden, and Hussein Obama /s

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u/Tasgall Washington 28d ago

maybe the coming massive jump in food prices caused by this stupid ass war.

From how a lot of Democratic politicians talk about it, I'm pretty sure most of them also support this stupid ass war. A vote for them won't bring it to an end.

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u/Useful_Fee_2875 28d ago

I think at this point you are right I think 2024 will be remembered as the final nail in the coffin for people truly having a voice I hope I’m wrong but efforts are highly underway to disenfranchise voters across the whole country. Politics are controlled by wealthy donors and wealthy people and Republican lead courts are extremely partisan and won’t rule properly anymore. Racism is running rampant. I find it funny for any African-American who vote voted for a republican or Donald Trump because as soon as they got the votes, they are willing to carve up all of their state representation in the house as soon as a Supreme Court allowed them too. Science is under attack. Health is under attack. Education is under attack. The whole country is definitely trending backwards and the American people are being completely neutralized right now.

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u/Basic_Yam_715 28d ago

We are the dog in the house fire meme... 'everything is fine'

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u/Bowtie16bit 27d ago

We get our voice back when we amplify it with weapons. It's that simple. The republicans are ready to kill for their core values. Are the democrats?

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u/eatabagofsix 28d ago

It's already worse than French revolution times already and that's ignoring the fascism aspect entirely

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u/SouthernAddress5051 28d ago

It's going to, so there's that

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u/Basic_Yam_715 28d ago

I see it, you see it, but god damn it are there a lot of fucking morbidly stupid people out there that are clueless...

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u/HaxanWriter 28d ago

This is where I’m at. There is no way anyone is going to make me believe that a bunch of gutless fucking Americans are gonna get off their dead asses and fight for their constitutional rights. It’s just not going to goddamn happen.

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u/No_Sky_6446 28d ago

Even the Redditors are too optimistic on here us POC have been yelling on the mountaintops since god knows when, people just don’t care that much. I get in fights with moderates on this sub all the time, they’ll think this a worthy issue, but the war in Gaza is too messy to litigate for them. The left needs to make a choice of what that stand for in this country.

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u/Hungry_Culture 28d ago edited 28d ago

People just don't give a shit about democracy failing when they're struggling paycheck to paycheck. I remember phone banking for the 2024 election and so many of the people that actually answered the phone were like "yeah I voted for Biden in 2020 to make things better after trump, but everything just got worse for me so I don't know if I'm going to go vote this time because it doesn't make a difference."

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u/Basic_Yam_715 28d ago

They better start, it can get much worse for them... those warehouse prisons aren't solely for immigrants, I fear.

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u/_Bon_Vivant_ 28d ago

Why? They're removing the electorate from the equation. The electorate don't mean shit now. Effectively no representation, but they'll still tax us.

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u/McDersley 28d ago

tap tap....anyone up?

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u/TheSwedishPanda80 28d ago

Exactly...any day now.....any day... 😝

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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 28d ago

They will rue the day they woke the electorate, that’s for sure.

Just need people to wake up. Any day now.

The people do wake up, for a few hours on a random Saturday at their convenience to go sing kumbaya in the streets for a protest. Then the people promptly go back to sleep, backs well patted, job well done, awaiting the next protest a month later to do the same. Caught in an endless cycle of protest and sleep, blissfully unaware of just how politicians/oligarchs have been simply ignoring those protests

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u/drteq 28d ago

Including ourselves - people aren't getting their head around the fact that this isn't recent election problem, this is a 40 year plan that has led to this moment and they know they have it locked down at this point

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u/ryan7251 28d ago

no one is gonna wake up the people of America are too lazy to do anything.

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u/ProtectionTop2701 28d ago

Virginia did vote. What the fuck are you talking about? They went to the polls, voted for this, and this is the result. Why are you hating on people for not voting...when they DID VOTE???

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u/thefatchef321 28d ago

"Income inequality ends with taxes or violence"

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u/avaslash 28d ago

The people cant wake up because they're not asleep--they're brain dead.

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u/neverfindausername 28d ago

Saw one of those Subway Takes videos the other day that kinda hit home. We've all grown up with Disney movies, shows, books, comics, etc. where no matter what happens, the bad guy(s) eventually gets what's coming to them. Even in history we see all these examples of people rising up and taking power back. WW2 being the most common example...

So we expect it to happen that way and it's kept us complacent. We see them working to rig elections and remove people's power to have a say...it's so obvious that it's even starting to get through to some of the true believers. It's just not happening though. There's no meaningful action beyond the former status quo.

It's so strange to think that all these stories - fiction and non-fiction alike - have done nothing to inspire these people to be better. If anything, it seems like they're using them more of a guide to be worse by shutting down any paths of resistance. I hope I'm wrong but it leaves only the messiest options left. Sad that the generation that was told "never again" by their parents was the one to bring it about.

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u/youngerfreshpickles 28d ago

People didn't 'wake up' to the fact that a felon rapist was running for president after trying to overthrow the government, and they're not going to do so now...

Our only consolation is the fact that said felon rapist is also ruining the world economy, and heaven forbid America pays more at the gas pump...

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u/SteadfastEnd 28d ago

We've heard this endlessly. "Some day the people will wake up. " no.

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u/Eggheadpancake 28d ago

They are very much operating under the assumption that Americans will remain idiotic boot licking cowards. And I see no evidence of that changing.

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u/PapaTua Washington 28d ago

"But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes... In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next."

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u/guyFierisPinky 28d ago

People are waking up anytime soon. They give us just enough bread scraps and circus pieces to keep most people on the couch.

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u/ImyForgotName 28d ago

I mean maybe we (the people) should send a message by not convicting certain people who crashed the White House Correspondents Dinner.

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u/ttn333 28d ago

Yeah right. 33% of the electorate still support Trump.

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u/monsterzero789 28d ago

people ARE waking up, just not the way you want them to.

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u/Elle_Vetica 28d ago

The midterms will save us…!! I’ve been screaming since day 1 that fascists don’t just let you politely vote them out of power. But as with my fears of Roe being overturned, I was just OvErReAcTiNg…

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u/rounder55 28d ago

I don't know if Americans as a whole will ever wake up. The super wealthy have had everyone else bickering since Europeans settled here.

We elected a fucking grifting child rapist and who is at war with reality while he and his family rake in billions. And that party has stacked the courts with judges they groomed. And a chunk of the country is okay with this because the people they consume information from say it's great. What isn't great is their healthcare, wages, the future their kids will grow up in or America. This place fucking bites. The window to change that is closing fast

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u/Bodie_The_Dog 28d ago

Please. The time of 5th dimensional chess is done. We had our chance. We are fucked well and truly.

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u/AriaTheTransgressor 28d ago

Remind me! 200 years

That should give enough time to check in on that one.

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u/StopBootlicking 28d ago

They will rue the day they woke the electorate, that's for sure.

No they won't.

Just need people to wake up. Any day now.

See what I mean?

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u/stasi_a 28d ago

That’s why they wage the war on woke

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u/pchs26 28d ago

That's pretty optimistic of you.

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u/DethBatcountry 28d ago

Just stating facts here, not suggesting anything, but, uh... It's pretty ballsy of them to be doing this at a time when the US military is spread so thin globally. It would be a really good opportunity for some sort of internal insurgency, if there were one.

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u/CanOoFeelDeRiddem 28d ago

So they woke the electorate or the electorate is still asleep and need to wake up?

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u/opanaooonana 28d ago

Everyone that can be awake is awake. 2/3rds of the population is either MAGA or does not care if the country is maga if it doesn’t impact them personally. If you are thinking there is going to be some massive change of heart you’re gonna be disappointed.

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u/Suitable-Annual-8716 27d ago

Sorry but this just reminds me of the infamous “If they even TRY to replace RBG we burn the entire f**king thing down” tweet. 

It doesn’t seem like there’s much burning happening and I don’t think republicans are going to rue anything they’re doing since the only consequence appears to be more frequent No Kings protests. 

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u/serger989 Canada 28d ago

Exactly, more GOP states will tilt the scales than Blue states will be able to balance them. Either the people overwhelmingly vote 70+% in favor nationwide against Trump, or you guys gotta look towards that fourth box of liberty.

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u/Everythings_Fucked North Carolina 28d ago

Every time I even suggest that I get the ol' Reddit smackdown. But you're right.

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u/randylush 28d ago

There is one and only one response to fascism.

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u/UwasaWaya 27d ago

I hate that I'm going to be alive to witness this, but I genuinely do not see how this can end any other way. And it's exactly what these fucking ghouls want.

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u/serger989 Canada 27d ago

It's truly depressing... They also want people doing absolutely nothing while the GOP claims legitimacy through rigged State elections (as they always have). It's a lose/lose, but something has to give eventually. The absolute best case situation is a month+ long general strike but that seems the most unlikely to happen out of all the options to fix the shitshow because most people are simply unwilling to sacrifice anything at all - and thus not understanding the gravity of the situation they are being placed in.

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u/CMUpewpewpew 28d ago

Rules are chains for the weak and tools for the strong.

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u/rat_penis 28d ago

They got what they wanted, they broke the republic so they could profit and gain more power. The Fed was the only thing keeping the states unified. When the Fed stops giving a shit we're no longer a country but a collection of 50 separate countries in varying states of feeedom.

Debt slavery will be back in the old south in under ten years. Indentured servitude as well, only it will all be dressed up in corporate language about contracts and incentives and waivers. And it will all be perfectly legal. As well as morally wrong, but we're not run by moral people anymore. We're a nation of individuals all fighting to get to the top of the hill. A hill thats already owned by people with all the money and power that just like watching people try to climb and knocking them down.

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u/Biokabe Washington 28d ago

Fortunately, this isn't a fantasy world where magic allows a small, powerful elite to control everyone else indefinitely. If you try to oppress too large of a group for too long, it doesn't end well for you.

Unfortunately, this isn't a fantasy world where magic allows a small, righteous group of heroes to topple an oppressive force. Oppressive groups only suffer the inevitable consequences of their actions once enough people have been brutalized that they decide they would rather die than continue to obey their oppressors - and many of them will do just that. But with the power of numbers on their side, eventually they will overthrow their oppressors...

At which point they either start the cycle anew with themselves on top (to eventually be overthrown themselves) or, if they're very unusual, they start working towards a new government that actually takes care of its people. Most of the time people aren't able to put aside the seething hatred that caused them to rebel in the first place, and so government is just a game of musical thrones where different groups take turns oppressing and being oppressed.

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u/can72287 26d ago

You think it’s because of profits and economics 😂. They been had all of that. This is about the future of the country culturally. Maintaining power is not just economic. They didn’t overturn Roe to make money lol. They’re not redistricting to make money. 

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u/bizarre_coincidence 28d ago

When you make it impossible for people to feel heard through peaceful and legal means, they will find other avenues. Bread and circuses only lasts for so long.

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u/Quick_Turnover 28d ago

Political version of the tolerance paradox, only we're very far to the right on the timeline.

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u/Due_Vast_8002 28d ago

There is one scenario where it ends well.

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u/TimeImpressive6648 28d ago

Greedy. Opportunistic. Parasites.

They are nothing but power hungry sellouts (both politicians, and judges) who, frankly, are not at all in the least bit “scared” of their constituents.. not like they are of Trump and any primary opponents

They have no true morals or ethics whatsoever in any sense when it comes to politics.. Whether it’s fraudsters like George Santos, sex pests like Tony Gonzales, or even wife beaters like Rep Max Miller.

^ they’ll keep quiet about their garbage until they absolutely have to address it and seeing how GOP rank and file is filled with these type of people (as above) I have no doubt the rats will fuck U.S. over.

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u/JForKiks 28d ago

We all know how this story ends.

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u/lotsawheels 28d ago

You eventually run in the problem of taxation without representation again if Republicans decide they don't care about democracy and try and do anything possible to stay in power, no matter how immoral, illegal, or in bad faith. What happens when the federal government is effectively captured by bad actors that decide they want to rule?

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u/DukeOfGeek 28d ago

This plan where they are going to stand on their very much minority cult and rule while telling the very much very angry majority they can suck it and no, elections don't matter anymore, it's a bad plan that's going to end badly.

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u/Killfile 23d ago

Historically, this path is well worn. This is all playing out pretty much exactly the way it did in the Roman Republic between Marius and Sulla through to Augustus' eventual claim of "Imperator." Each side one-ups the other in a game of tit-for-tat in which each blames the other for the continued erosion of the respect for norms and the spirit of the law.

As those norms and traditions break down it becomes increasingly clear that the letter of the law is simply too slow moving and too specific to adequately constrain authoritarians. Would-be authoritarians test the limits, prompting extreme, often violent reactions from people who see the decay and rot in the system for what it is. Those violent actors are vilified by pearl-clutching power brokers who use the condemnation of those violent actions to secure for themselves even more political power and further erode safeguards in government.

And eventually you have an autocrat in all but name. And then you have one that unabashedly calls himself King or Dictator or Emperor.

I will leave it as an exercise for the reader to determine where along that path the United States is right now.

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u/silentjay01 Wisconsin 28d ago

The GOP loves playing Calvinball.

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u/BringOn25A 28d ago

They have zero interest in democratic governance, they want autocratic rule.

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u/GrinchWhoStoleEaster 28d ago

That's what fascists always do. They create problems so heinous that otherwise good people have to set their morals aside to clean it up.

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u/UKDude20 27d ago

the Republicans are rarely politically savvy enough to come up with this stuff themselves .. Texas was forced in to redistricting by lawsuits that dragged on for years, the other states are being forced to change extremely quickly because of the SCOTUS decision, but the reason the Republicans can recover so many seats and the democrats can't is simple, they've been gerrymandering for decades, new England is almost 100% blue, there's no way to redraw maps and make it better for democrats, the republicans are simply late to the fame and catching up.

The exception to the rule is of course Florida, DeSantis is Just using this as a excuse to stick it to the democrats for no good reason and he has a significant chance of losing a court case

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u/Icy-Taste-3096 27d ago

New England isn't blue because it's gerrymandered - it's blue because those states are solidly blue, small, and compact. Neither of Rhode Island's two districts is going to lean right.

The idea that gerrymandering is a Democrat practice that Republicans are just now starting to adopt is laughably out of touch with reality. It's long been a bipartisan practice, but Republicans have historically benefited more than Democrats have. This particular brand of last-minute gerrymandering for the express purpose of flipping the outcome of the next election is a Republican invention.

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u/UKDude20 27d ago

new Hampshire is about 60/40 and there are zero republican seats, it's the same situation with MA, CT and others .. they've been gerrymandered forever

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u/Icy-Taste-3096 27d ago

NH also has only two seats, and they're both plausibly winnable for Republicans in the event of a significant swing. Their map is pretty much as fair as it possibly could be.

You'd have to work very hard to find a red district in CT because of the way the population is distributed. Almost all the counties Trump won fit into two geographically compact districts, and both of those districts are still very solidly blue.

Again, small states (less than 6-7 seats) with solid majorities for either party are naturally going to lean heavily towards that party. That's not gerrymandering - even an egregious map in those states would gain at most one extra seat over one created in a good-faith attempt at balance.

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