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MarkS's avatar

It is good to ask ourselves: what is the biggest threat to democracy in America today?

A functioning democracy means that ALL CITIZENS, whatever their financial means, have EQUAL ACCESS to the fundamental right to VOTE.

Which party or group is currently threatening that right? Which party or group is engaged in a massive effort to re-write laws to give their own partisans power to overrule elections? Which party or group is purging members who stand up for the rule of law and fair elections?

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Bruce Miller's avatar

MarkS. Say it quickly.

Bingo.

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Neil Kellen's avatar

That would be the Democrats.

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Jim C's avatar

I realize it's tough to buy ammunition these days so people feel the need to shoot each other on the Internet with high-minded rounds like - Oh yeah! and Who says. and What about. Aren't there lots of Comment sections in a lot of web sites that are target ranges which would welcome your thoughts. Would be wonderful to read thoughtful comments here, and there are many, without having to wade through this.

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Jmac's avatar

Is requiring ID suppressing the vote?

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Alejandra's avatar

Two wrongs will never make a right, correct? We ought to fight this rampant polarization. Double standards just add fuel to the fire.

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Neil Kellen's avatar

Sometimes, "ya just gotta throw down"...

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MarkS's avatar

Correct. I have no double standard. I oppose the fascists from the left AND the fascists from the right. The problem is that there are so few who do.

As of now, I cannot place Bari among the people who oppose both.

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Jul 14, 2021
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MarkS's avatar

You are a fool if you believe there is no fascism from the right.

https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/humans-have-deep-seated-deranged

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Alejandra's avatar

Why should it be a completion about which type of fascism /radicalism is winning? If either type wins, we all lose. Let’s start by refraining from making hasty generalizations about individuals’ moral character based on political party affiliation. I think it is pointless.

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Jul 14, 2021
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Bruce Miller's avatar

Precisely. Think Chile. When Allende's excesses were replaced by Pinochet's.

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EZTejas123's avatar

Good point. H.R.1 is a serious and fundamental threat to our rights.

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Bill Horan's avatar

Made me chuckle. Thanks!

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EZTejas123's avatar

When someone’s right, they’re right.

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MarkS's avatar

And there we have it. The fascism from the right, to which Bari and most everyone else here are blind (if not active participants).

When they complete their takeover, I'm sure the right will be just as kind to the Jews as they always have been historically.

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NCmom's avatar

Do you know ANYTHING about the Abraham Accords? How many bombs did Hamas drop on Israel while Trump was in the Oval office? Ever notice WHO is actually committing anti-Sematic violence??? Typical illiberal leftist - objective facts never get in the way of beliefs.

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Neil Kellen's avatar

Fascism ALWAYS comes from the left. ALWAYS. You are willfully ignorant.

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Commentorinchief's avatar

LOL. Have you read HR1? I seriously doubt it. It literally makes it illegal to prosecute people that do not have the right to vote, like foreigners, that vote illegally. That is just one of the insane parts of this bill. Judging from your hyperbole you may actually be for that though.

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Beeswax's avatar

Your characterization doesn't describe me, a lifelong liberal and a free speech absolutist. The right's efforts to suppress the vote are amoral, anti-American, and will be catastrophic for democracy if allowed to stand.

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Neil Kellen's avatar

The way I see it, Republicans should "get in the game" and learn to cheat as well as the Dems. Then we wouldn't need voter integrity because the lack of it would cancel out.

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MarkS's avatar

That's good to know, but people like you and me (who oppose fascism from the left AND fascism from the right) are exceeedingly rare, as most comments here show. And Bari, with her "common sense" (has she ever heard of Thomas Payne, I wonder?) totally ignores fascism from the right.

I think the right is winning, because at the end of the day corporate DEI officers and left-wing twitter warriors have no real power.

Once elections are in the hands of right-wing secretaries of state in Texas and Florida and Georgi and Arizona and Ohio and North Carolina, who can and will simply declare that the rightist candidate (Trump 2.0?) has won the 2024 POTUS election, American democracy will have ended.

The principled Republicans like Liz Cheney and Brad Raffensperger will be long gone by then, replaced by trumpista minions, with the vast majority of Bari's subscribers cheering them on.

Bari: do you really think is going to work out just fine for you and your people?

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Harry Potter's avatar

I have no idea what you are talking about. The legislation in the states is merely protecting the integrity of elections. This madness that people cannot produce a valid ID is utter bs. If you want to see where the fascist are look for the group of people that want to make it easy for illegal votes to be cast. For non citizens to vote, as my goofy leftist home state of Vermont has done. Look for those who think violent physical intimidation is ok, such as BLM, ANTIFA, or those that are okay with censorship via social media and mainstream media. The right is all but powerless in this country. For every Texas or Florida there legions of California’s, Oregon, Illinois, New York, heck the whole northeast and mid Atlantic.

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EZTejas123's avatar

After his comments today about Fulton County, you might be right about Raffensperger . He'd still be incompetent. Just principled. I guess

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Beeswax's avatar

Unfortunately it swings both ways. The news is so siloed now that my many liberal friends and family members think I've turned into a Republican because I oppose CRT and will turn to Fox News (horrors!) to watch Glenn Greenwald on Tucker Carlson. I assure them that I still believe in reproductive rights and universal health care, and no, I don't believe the election was stolen. This causes them some confusion; apparently our political views must be either red or blue. The color purple does not compute. In fact, they are so entrenched in leftist politics that they will rationalize the suppression of free speech if it means "making the world less racist." This is a shocking reversal of values they once held dear.

But the opposite is also true. I'm not sure the crowd here on Bari's site is as uniformly conservative and oblivious to the threat from the right as you believe. In any case, liberals need to reclaim the word "Freedom." It should not become a Q-Anon buzzword. And we should not be ashamed to be patriotic and defend what is best about this country.

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Alejandra's avatar

I agree with you completely. Best way to combat radicalism is by supporting and promoting moderation and respectful dialogue on both sides. I am also liberal, but who is best to criticize radicalism on the left but ourselves? Also, as far as I am concerned, Bari is no fan of Trump.

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EZTejas123's avatar

Deep breathing exercises seem to work for me.

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Jul 14, 2021
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MarkS's avatar

The threat to all of us from both the left and the right is very real.

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EZTejas123's avatar

The House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader might be fascists at heart, but I doubt they're are anti-Semites.

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Neil Kellen's avatar

They are. But they hate everyone, even themselves, so it's not like the are just singling out the Jews.

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