Monday, March 27, 2017

Tired of Winning Yet?

Via the New York Times, on the Republican failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act last week:
"....[I]t was the biggest defeat of Mr. Trump's young presidency, which has suffered many.  His travel ban has been blocked by the courts. Allegations of questionable ties to the Russian government forced out his national security advisor Michael T. Flynn. Tensions with key allies such as Germany, Britain and Australia are high, and Mr. Trump's approval ratings are at historic lows."
Stay engaged. Resist. Speak out. Write. Call. Email. Do what you can.

And remember to celebrate every goddamn win.

As another reminder, the actual world we live in still imposes constraints on the executive branch of the US government. I make this observation because politicians, from time to time, often make sweeping promises of revolution and other forms of really big anti-establishment change. Yet, in our political reality, the Affordable Care Act has not yet been repealed, even with a Republican-controlled executive and legislative branch.

Please please please, I beg of you (again): I would love for the US to have more than two major political parties. But, when Jill Stein or any third party candidate runs for President despite their party holding exactly zero seats in Congress, remember that there's close to zero chance of them being able to actually implement a radical platform given the constraints of our political system. If this candidate were somehow able to widely implement their platform without garnering legislative support and building political allies, it would likely mean we were, unfortunately, living in a dictatorship.

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