Hardkill

I had to make this Megathread. The federal courts in the US, especially the US Supreme Court, has gotten so corrupt that we may not have a democracy anymore in a few years, especially if Trump and the MAGA Republican take back government of the whole government trifecta. I know that there have already been a number of threads made on here about the terrible, frightening, and unjust decisions made by SCOTUS and other courts at the national level. However, there are still A LOT MORE examples that haven't been highlighted about the unethical behavior, abuse of power, or illegal activities by judges, court staff, or other officials within the federal judicial system. Look, obviously there's nothing that I or most people like me can do about all of this. However, I believe there needs to be a discussion about how enough people in our country can be inspired to rally together in some kind of strong coalition or movement at the grassroots to address corruption in the federal courts. The exposure of the corruption and promotion of transparency by the left-wing, the mainstream media, and public awareness campaigns out there to try to bring attention to the issue and push for reform still hasn't been working well enough to motivate enough people out there to help generate the level of public demand needed to effectively pressure lawmakers and court officials to make good material changes to our federal judicial system. Nothing seems to be working at all so far. I wish enough people would wake up to grave danger our country is in and realize how much of why we are sleepwalking into an authoritarian regime in America is because of the how rotten and shaky our whole court system has gotten. I hope this big thread of examples on this issue will generate good, fruitful discussions on possible strategies that could work and on whether or not there is any hope out that this will fixed for the country before it becomes too late. So, let the examples begin.

It’s a valid question you bring out. However, it’s looking like Biden and his entire party have now been the ones who been underestimated by the polls. Look at the extraordinary amount of times the Democrats have overperformed in all of these elections since 2022. Also, Trump had significantly underperformed every single 2024 GOP presidential primary. I think there are a lot of quiet Biden voters this time around who don’t want to bother responding to the polls or pollsters. They that many young throughout the country really don't want to bother by any of these polls because they either have decided to completely tuned out of the news after going through the trauma of COVID or they are too busy partying with their friends or are intensely focused doing on the ground grassroots activism for issues such as climate change, reproductive rights for women, affordability, etc.

That's why this really is going to have to be a decades long ideological war for greater liberty and justice for all. We can't such just do nothing and surrender to the radical right wing.

Then, why did Noam Chomsky and many other like you said that Bernie Sanders and his progressive movement has made a critical impact on the country by shifting the overton window more to the left in our country and making issues that once were unthinkable to being much more mainstream? Besides, we don't have to win the people over through radical left movements. Even Noam Chomsky said that you can influence the American people, especially the younger generation of folks to support more liberal/progressive ideas by reviving the labor union movement, support the women's rights movement, grow the climate change movements, promote the civil rights movement for racial minorities, etc. According to US History, none of those things have ever been "too radical." In fact, all of these movements have lately become the most prominent they have ever been since like the 60s or the early 70s. The Democratic party has become the strongest it has ever been in over a generation and the level of liberal/progressive influence I've been seeing in our country is the greatest I've ever seen in my entire life.

Prove it.

During Obama's presidency and even somewhat during Trump's first term as president, Democrats also made a terrible mistake by not putting in the real work to really build a groundswell of widespread support for a wide liberal/progressive movement in America. The left-wing movements in the 2010s such as Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and the Fight for $15, had some successes, but they were still too weak compared to the right-wing movements that emerged then such as the Tea Party, Trumpism, and the Christian Right. The Right-wing since the late 70s having constantly expanded the intellectual and organizational base, with think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation; books such as Jude Wanniski’s supply-side primer How the World Really Works; and journals such as The Public Interest and Commentary helped pave the way for the Reagan revolution once the Republicans attained the White House. The left-wing lost too much momentum with their movements during the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Even after the election of Obama in 2008, the Dems and libs didn't adapt to changes in the media landscape and invest enough in building their own media infrastructure to counterbalance the conservative media machine. By not combating this ecosystem effectively, they allowed conservative ideas and narratives to dominate public discourse and shape political opinion for decades since the late 80s to early 90s. The Democratic leader since the 90s including Obama, Bill Clinton, and Hillary Clinton were too afraid of being a partisan advocate for liberalism. That's why Bernie Sanders and his progressive movement eventually emerged by the end of Obama's presidency and that's why the Democrats, liberals, and progressives have realized since late the 2010s and 2020, that they have to rebuilding their entire party's infrastructure in order to effectively fight back the Republicans and MAGA.

RFK jr. has zero real experience with politics or holding any kind of office in the government. He also is as crazy as Trump is in his own way. He would be very dangerous to the country in his own way. His running mate Shanahan also has no idea what the hell she's doing either. Also, there's obviously no path for him to win the presidency. He needs to stop being a spoiler by dropping out now.

What solid proof do you have of that?

Actually, Trump apparently lost a lot of undecided voters to Biden after that debate: https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-presidential-debate-2024-election-hispanic-latino-voters-1918893

Or maybe some superhero like Superman, Supergirl, Batman, Flash, the Green Arrow, the Green Lantern, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, the Martian Manhunter, Thor, the Hulk, Ironman, the X-men, Captain Marvel, Captain America can save our country from Trump who is a megalomaniac supervillain. Pick any hero you like. Haha.

Again, it would be a disastrous electoral mistake for the Democrats if he dropped out, because if that happened then the party will become greatly divided and weakened. People will really began to question the governance of the party holding the white house. Here some examples of what you can expect to hear from millions voters around the country if he drops out of the race and then the Democrats have a bloody, miserable open convention for choosing another nominee: "They can't even agree among themselves, how can they govern effectively?" "The party is in disarray, and it's a mess. They can't seem to get their act together anymore." "The party is in chaos, they don't have a unified vision or leadership." "The party is torn apart by infighting and can't get anything done." "They're too busy fighting each other to focus on the country's problems." "The party is in disarray and lacks leadership." "The infighting is crippling their ability to lead and make decisions." "They're so divided, they can't even pass their own legislation." "They're too focused on their own internal struggles to care about the people's needs." "They're so focused on their own power struggles, they're neglecting the needs of the people." "The party is being held hostage by its extreme wings, they're not representing the majority." "They're tearing themselves apart from the inside out, it's a political circus." "The party is being torn apart by its own factions, it's a total disaster." "The party is so divided, it's like they're working against themselves." "This is absolutely embarrassing! I've never seen a political party decide this late in the game to lose faith in their own leader. Unbelievable!" Essentially, it would be like 2016 all over again, if not worse. That's one BIG reason why the Dems lost to that world-class buffoon back then. Here are the immense electoral advantages of being an incumbent president being able to run for re-election: Bully pulpit: has a unique platform to shape the narrative, set the agenda, and dominate the media cycle like an incumbent president can. Executive experience: Able to claim exceptional executive experience and credibility by already having been the POTUS. Natural constituency: Incumbent presidents have a natural constituency within their own party, which can provide a base of support Top name recognition: The incumbent POTUS automatically has such exceptional name recognition throughout ALL of the country that is impossible for any non-incumbent presidential candidate to match. Momentum and aura of inevitability: Incumbent presidents get to claim credit for all of their accomplishments and momentum, which can be very, very difficult for a non-incumbent to match. Ownership of the incumbent's legacy: While Trump has at times successfully leveraged his outsider status and has had a certain kind of anti-establishment appeal, voters even still in this day and age prefer the familiarity and stability of an incumbent over the uncertainty of an outsider. Unrivaled fundraising ability: Incumbents can tap into established PACs, which provide significant funding and support. The incumbent's party provides established financial support, infrastructure, and donor networks. Incumbents have established relationships with high-dollar donors and bundlers, who can collect and bundle contributions from multiple sources. Incumbents receive contributions from companies and individuals with government contracts or seeking favorable treatment. To be clear, being the incumbent presidential candidate does not guarantee re-election. If his performance and luck are lacking, then he will lose re-election, exactly like how Trump lost re-election to Biden in 2020. Biden's performance and luck this time around are still looking good now for his electoral prospects and incumbency in his case would help turn his supposed "bleak" prospects into victory for him and his party in power. Look at Truman in 1948, when almost everyone thought back then that he would lose to the non-incumbent GOP candidate, Dewey. Yet, Truman won another presidential term handily because he was the incumbent president and his performance and luck during his first term as president were good.

Btw, check out Biden's post-debate speech: It's a damn shame this side of Biden wasn't present at last night's debate.

If Trump loses, then it will be 1000% the RNC and the Republican leaders' fault, from top management down to the voter from not stopping from running again. They could have nominated anyone else this time around, and yet they are still too afraid to stop Trump from constantly destroying their own party ever since 2018. Why?!?!

We'll see.... So far progressives don't like him at all and virtually every conservative and Republican in the country see him as one of their top enemies. He also needs to show the people that he is a bold liberal or progressive willing to fight like hell against the established interests and present liberalism or progressivism as a broadly appealing ideology like the way the Roosevelt presidents did. I worry that he may the kind of corporate politician who doesn't really have it in him to do that. Yes, it is essential that we have a presidential candidate that doesn't come off as too radical for the public. However, I've come to realize lately that if a Democratic president comes off as being too non-partisan and too conciliatory, then he will end up playing right into the hands of the right-wing and the Republicans. Also, the people will eventually feel like he's another traditional politician who promised us "hope and change," but in the end let us down. That was the kind of mistake Obama made looking back.

Then, that means that both of them have turned into monsters with supernatural abilities.

It's not clear how well he would do in the presidential primaries until he has been tested under the white heat of the primaries. For all we know, he could turn out to be a major disappointment in terms of his electability. I thought that Cory Booker would do well in the 2020 primaries, by being the next Obama; however, he turned out to have an extremely disappointing run. Same with Kamala Harris and Julian Castro, both of whom began their 2020 presidential campaigns as top tier candidates who were expected to have very strong runs. Yet, they also turned out to have extremely disappointing campaigns as well. Also, I really don't think that Newsom truly has that once in a generation broadly charismatic personality that appeals to the entire spectrum of voters throughout all of America like FDR, TR, JFK, Reagan, or Obama in 2008 all did. There is no savior out there that's going to come down from the heavens and save our country. It's up to us, the people, get out there and vote like hell against Trump.

That's a misleading statement. Presidential elections are fundamentally based on the referenda on the performance of the party holding the White House. Trump is the worst president ever and a total fraud, while Biden is one of the most competent and wisest presidents we've ever had. He's also the most progressive president we've ever had since LBJ in the 60s. Look at the difference between how things were in 2020 versus how things are now. It's undeniably night and day. Also, polls this early on mean nothing. Furthermore, most Americans do not want a radical right-wing dictator who is also a bona fide convicted felon who's running for president only for his own survival and to escape justice. Most Americans also don't want a failed, chaotic, and mentally unstable freak running the country.

Dude, it's just one debate. Also, Biden did many times better than Trump did in terms of substance, truth, and logic.

I have put in many years of work with a number of things in my life such as athletes and fitness, improving my game with women, getting a good paying job, and managing my anxiety. Yet, I haven't made anymore significant progress in any of these areas at all over the last years even after having tried every possible thing I could. Some people close to me have told that I should just give up and accept the fact that I've already reached my peak in all of those areas of my life.

Then, I don't see why I should be very bullish about the future if I work hard and smart.

No, no, again. We all have to try as hard as we can to succeed in life. However, what about being realistic or pragmatic?

But isn't the idea that effort and risk-taking will eventually lead to any kind of significant improvement for you overly optimistic? In reality, some limitations are insurmountable, and no amount of effort can overcome them. Innate abilities, genetic predispositions, trauma, and irreversible events can create permanent barriers to growth. Additionally, systemic injustices and structural barriers can limit opportunities for improvement. It's also essential to acknowledge that while effort and risk-taking are essential, it's crucial to recognize that suffering unnecessarily for no potential gain is not only pointless but also harmful. Pushing oneself to the limit without a realistic chance of improvement can lead to physical and mental exhaustion, demotivation, and decreased well-being. I think it would be a grave mistake if we romanticized unnecessary suffering. We all need to make informed decisions about where to invest our time and energy, and prioritize our well-being and quality of life. Can you imagine how incredibly tragic it would be if an investor used all the expertise, methods, and tools that worldclass experts offer out there and still lost every single bet he ever made throughout his entire life until he died as a failed old man and got absolutely nothing out of all of those years of trials and tribulations that he suffered through?

But even if guys like him tried the most effective ways of game, isn't it still possible that they would still be doomed failed to improve their game to any significant degree at all? I mean couldn't that be such a reality like how the reality with sports is that most aspiring athletes people will never be able to become pro athletes or even division 1 college athletes no matter how hard they try and no matter what methods they use to try to achieve that goal? How about the fact that most people will never to become as charismatic or likable as someone like Obama was no matter how many speeches they give, no matter how many constituents they interact with, and no matter how much good consultation they get from their advisers and campaign team? Couldn't it be that no matter what you do, you are what you are?