Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Michael's avatar

I think probably AOC/Bernie were pretty smart even if they get nothing concrete out of it.

For one thing it sends the signal "I can be bought -- you can work with me" which is probably useful to their faction in DC if people currently assume they are radical kooks. Plus some people will actually respect them more for cold-blooded gamesmanship.

Also I've heard speculation that supporting Biden reassured people they wouldn't fight against a centrist replacement, which of course makes it easier for Biden to drop out. Plausible.

Expand full comment
Manqueman's avatar

Tossing out two quick, like, observations.

Of course it has to be Harris but I don’t even want to imagine the events on 1/6/2025 in the House if she wins the election. OTOH, odds of a 1/6-related problem is unlikely because the odds of winning the Electoral College even without Republicans pulling shit is approximately nil. But what if…?

As for Gramsci, what’s going on is actually the reverse and it’s not hanging on a state of potentiality but is in fact happening. The relatively new—at least historically anomalous—progressivism of the New Deal and Great Society is being killed to a reactionary reversion of the 1880s or the kind of nation the Founding Father’s envisioned—one in which a wealthy elite ruled, free to accumulate further wealth without the least interference from the state. (I read the Tooze piece but little stuck. Will be going back for a reread.)

BTH: will be happy to eat crow after I’ve been proven wrong on either the above points which will be late this year at the soonest.

Expand full comment
19 more comments...

No posts