Quote :

"I would be interested to hear more about the circumstances of your political transition. I'm also reformed. But I don't think I'm a communist yet."

I'm not a communist, either, and I'm sure plenty of socialists would deny I was one of them as well - ideological purity tests and infighting being the hallmarks of the left - but I now consider myself solidly socialist and no doubt 2003 GrumpyGOP would have called me a Red without hesitation.

Susan Smith made me a Republican in 1994 when she drowned her kids, blamed an imaginary black guy, and avoided the chair. I was 9 years old and, upon learning that Republicans were the ones who supported the death penalty, determined that's what I wanted to be.

NC Amendment 1 made me an Independent in 2011, because even if I didn't feel strongly about gay marriage as such I did not want North Carolina to be humiliated as one of the last states fighting a lost cause that was obviously going to be viewed badly by posterity.

Donald Trump made me a Democrat in 2016 when he got nominated and finally forced me to confront the GOP as an amoral machine designed to accrete power at any cost, and rank-and-file republicans as a mix of proto-fascists, quislings, or slack-jawed meme consumers with no higher aspiration than "owning the libs."

The pandemic provided the big push into socialist territory. In the broadest sense, it finally made me recognize the total disregard for labor by capital. In a much more narrow way, I can point to the exact moment I went from "liberal" to "socialist." It took place in the Oregon Convention Center almost exactly two years ago, when I was already fed up watching a group of for-profit hospitals exploit the COVID crisis, you the taxpayer, and me as a worker, and one morning they yelled at us for giving out too much bottled water to people in the post-vaccination rest area. "Only give water to people who look like they need it," said people who were making almost $1 million a week off of vaccines and labor provided to them for free by the government.

4/14/2023 9:34:54 AM

Great summary. Thanks!

Donald Trump and the resultant sycophantic behavior definitely pushed me far to the left.

4/14/2023 10:24:53 AM

^^

what are the key principles of socialism to you

4/14/2023 10:29:01 AM

Nice post Grumpy. I've also moved left over the years.

I remember having reactionary takes in the 90s and 2000s. The disdain for the poor and buying the narrative that some people were just in the situation because of their "culture."

Similar to your experience during the pandemic, "liberalism" fell apart. I was already jaded with the illusion of meritocracy. Being able to work from home while others could barely make it doing jobs to keep goods and services going and watching billionaires have a dick measuring contests of flying rockets into space.

4/18/2023 11:56:19 AM

Man, wtf?:

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/18/1170624504/mcconnell-says-republicans-will-block-effort-to-replace-feinstein-on-judiciary-p

4/18/2023 3:42:25 PM

Greatly Old People

4/18/2023 4:30:11 PM

The real WTF is why is Feinstein still in Congress?

4/18/2023 11:24:35 PM

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/montana-transgender-lawmaker-zooey-zephyr-silenced/

4/25/2023 10:23:57 PM

Republicans care a lot about decorum if you didn't know.

4/26/2023 6:44:21 AM

https://www.wral.com/story/gop-uses-state-capitol-protests-to-redefine-insurrection/20833343/

Quote :

"It’s the third time in the last five weeks — and one of at least four times this year — that Republicans have attempted to compare disruptive but nonviolent protests at state capitols to insurrections. .... “(What) they did today was equivalent, at least equivalent, maybe worse depending on how you look at it, of doing an insurrection in the Capitol,” Sexton, a Republican, told a conservative radio station on March 30."

4/28/2023 9:31:40 AM

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/05/1174127990/republican-legislatures-look-to-put-local-issues-in-liberal-areas-under-state-co

Quote :

"Lawmakers in statehouses across the country have spent the past several weeks debating bills that would bring local issues like zoning, education and police powers under state control. In recent years, national culture war debates have driven a surge of new legislation, known as preemption bills, in Republican state houses aimed at rolling back laws passed by more progressive cities. Mayors and advocates say the trend risks alienating voters who lose faith in the power of their local leaders. "What we're seeing lately is an increase of home rule grab type legislation," said Clarence Anthony, the CEO of the National League of Cities. "This year, there are 600 different preemptive laws that are being proposed by different legislatures throughout America. That, in fact, is a rise and it's very concerning to our municipal leaders." Bills targeting education, transgender and LGBTQ rights, housing policy, gun rights and policing are among the most prevalent in the legislative sessions this year, according to the NLC. ,,, ,,, ,,,"

5/5/2023 3:24:02 PM

almost as if there’s a dedicated movement to end democracy

5/5/2023 4:42:03 PM

If it turns out desantis and trump are both not viable as national candidates, whos next in line? Are they just going to try to take desantis to term?

5/5/2023 9:24:33 PM

I think you're assuming that the GOP primary process will meaningfully consider national viability.

5/6/2023 8:34:28 AM

I’d bet at this point trump will not be the nominee.

I think only a 50% chance now it’s desantis.

5/9/2023 11:25:37 PM

https://www.al.com/news/2023/05/tuberville-on-durham-report-if-people-dont-go-to-jail-lets-dont-have-elections-anymore.html

Quote :

"If people don't go to jail for [Special counsel John Durham's investigation], the American people should just stand up and say, 'Listen, enough's enough, let's don't have elections anymore...'"

Boy, that escalated quickly.

5/18/2023 8:44:53 AM

Quote :

"LET'S DON'T HAVE"

5/18/2023 1:35:16 PM

https://twitter.com/keithedwards/status/1660258785087340544?s=46

Quote :

" Maybe the worse retail politician ever. Just brutal to watch"

I can’t stop watching

told y’all he wasn’t it

5/22/2023 12:20:36 AM

LOL!

"What's your name?"

"I'm Tim [Somebody]."

"OK."

So natural!

5/22/2023 6:10:58 AM

I get to post a Jamelle Bouie column for free. thanks, WRAL

https://www.wral.com/story/the-four-freedoms-according-to-republicans/20869769/

5/22/2023 10:29:06 AM

https://www.wral.com/story/tensions-in-heavily-gop-tenn-county-after-conservative-takeover-reflect-wider-battle-over-elections/20872690/

5/22/2023 1:23:30 PM

https://www.newsweek.com/ron-desantis-approval-rating-2024-polls-1805073

Desantis disapproval rate almost 70% among Latinos

[Edited on June 7, 2023 at 5:17 PM. Reason : ]

6/7/2023 5:16:07 PM