this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025
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People are storming the streets and town halls, Elon is dissolving the whole country and Trump is busy tending Putin's toes. Where the fuck are the democrats in all this crisis? It feels AOC is doing all the heavylifting while all the rest of them smug bunch are just watching with "told ya dis was gunn happen" drawn on their face.

Please tell me my ignorant ass is just blatantly wrong because I ain't getting any news.

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[–] FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org 30 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Nothing. Democrats are fucking useless. They have no power now because they blew the election in every single way possible. They did literally everything wrong. It was almost as if they tried to lose on purpose.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago (1 children)

People always try to claim I'm an asshole for saying democrats are just republicans other division.

They try to claim I'm saying bOtH SiDeS. No. I'm saying there aren't two sides. There's republicans, and republicans disguised as democrats. Just there to give the illusion of choice. You don't have choice. You have corporate masters who own the media, who decide what news you see, they own the land, they own the companies. The republicans are there to be the ticketmaster, and take all the blame. The democrats are there to be the band performing at the local concert hall. To give the illusion of hope.

Well besides Pearl Jam, and maybe a handful of others, every band likes ticketmaster. They get to raise their prices, ticketmaster takes the heat, and the customers still pay. It's like pro wrestling. The good guy and the bad guy are fake fighting in the ring as a showcase of the battle for all to see on a public stage. Then they go back to the dressing room, and they're buddies. Once they're out of public eye, the good guys and bad guys are all the same. Sharing family photos, having a beer. All part of the same system.

Just look at the country. Democrats take one step forward, three steps to the side, and then republicans push them back three steps. Gradually over the coarse of time republicans make advancements in their agenda, and it holds. All of the democrats advancements get erased a few years later. We're still living with NIXONS signed bills. We don't even have most of Obamas signed bills anymore.

And its because they were never meant to last. The democrats give hope, and a few years later after nobody is looking, republicans cancel it. Meanwhile republicans sign a bill and it's there forever. And yet.....no serious 3rd party has ever come about. There's never been a 3rd party in my lifetime that anyone (who wasn't an oblivious baffoon) ever thought had a serious shot at winning. It's all the same system. Just like pro wrestlers are all working for the same system, politics is all the same rigged system. It's all owned by corporations, and big money interests. Your vote means nothing. Regardless of if your guy won.

[–] Benjaben@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

Your vote means nothing

I was with you until this, and maybe this is what people take issue with. Our vote fucking DOES mean something because if more folks voted against Trump, things would be a LOT less terrible.

They would still be unacceptably shitty though, no argument there, and I've been trying to show people for a long time myself that "Dems & Repubs vs. us" is a much more accurate description of the conflict than "us dems vs. us repubs".

Even so, our vote matters a fucking lot when the Republican half of the regime is doing this kind of damage. I can't really imagine anyone coherently arguing otherwise unless they are also arguing for immediate armed revolution. Voting matters, more of it would help with the far-reaching horrible outcomes of this administration in particular.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

What are the democrats actually doing to help?

I hope we don't start getting the same sort of lists that we got about Biden's accomplishments, where they counted Obama's accomplishments, had multiple duplicate entries, counted proposals as accomplishments, and considered a fresh coat of paint on air force one as an accomplishment.

[–] Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They're busy with strongly worded letters, no doubt.

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[–] hitstun@fedia.io 15 points 1 day ago (3 children)

If the Democrats had any guts, they'd revolt against their leadership and re-organize into a new far more aggressive left-leaning party. But they don't have any guts, so that won't happen. Maybe the new DNC chair can channel our anger into change?

[–] MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

they'd revolt against their leadership and re-organize into a new far more aggressive left-leaning party

This is literally what we've been trying to do through primaries that no one will show up to. We can talk about the need for a progressive party all we want, but a good chunk of the reason the Democrats are the way they are is because centrist Democrats show up to vote in the primaries. Progressives do not.

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 10 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Democrats have shown time and time again that they don't give a shit what voters think which is why they keep losing elections. Biden and Harris wouldn't even turn their back on Netanyahu even when it meant Trump would get reelected as all tbe polling showed. Progressives don't bother with it because they'll be ignored either way and you can only be ignored so many times before giving up on them listening. Blaming the voters for the actions of the party is just giving them cover for their ineptitude. Voters don't decide their policy.

At this point they do little else than act as controlled opposition for the Republican party, so this is just our reality for the foreseeable future. Maybe if the leadership gets ousted, we'll have a chance but it looks more like a new party will need to be formed and the Democrats go the way of the Whigs.

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 3 points 1 day ago

And progressives have shown they won't show up to contest and defend elections outside of a few seats. They won't invest in downballot races in case they lose the main race.

[–] MegaUltraChicken@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Progressives don't bother with it because they'll be ignored either way and you can only be ignored so many times before giving up on them listening.

Unless your contention is that the DNC has literally been changing/destroying primary votes, we simply have never shown up in the numbers needed to make the necessary changes in leadership. "Centrists" have, and they continue to do so. Sitting out does absolutely nothing to advance progressive causes inside or outside of the party.

[–] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 4 points 1 day ago

As if voter turnout is the end-all-be-all metric for determining what people want. The DNC got up to quite a bit of fuckery in both 2016 and 2024. They had no issue sidelining Bernie from debates and news coverage, creating super delegates, and just plainly putting their thumb on the scales. In 2024, we didn't even get a primary because old Joe went back on his "one term" promise and ran against every sane person's advice, dropped out, and then a new equally unappealing candidate was hand picked for us. Who gives a shit what most centrists want when it's clear that all they're doing is choosing the "safe bet." It's no different from the person whose favorite music is whatever they're currently playing on the radio. These people aren't choosing anything. They're just doing what they're told.

Sitting out does absolutely nothing to advance progressive causes inside or outside of the party.

So does losing election after election because the DNC keeps backing the absolute worst candidates.

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[–] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Democrats only have the power that you give them. When Trump lost an election, his followers ransacked the Capital. When Pelosi opposed Republicans, her husband got his face smashed in.

What exactly do you expect AOC to do?

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[–] MudMan@fedia.io 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I mean, they DID tell you dis was gunn happen. Twice.

Spent four years drilling "but her emails" into your thick skulls and then you did it again because egg prizes or Gaza or Cheney or whatever.

Takes balls to sit out the rise of fascism, but let's be honest, it's not undeserved.

[–] distantsounds@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Biden DID say he was not going to run a 2nd time. Biden broke many promises, gaslit voters on Gaza, and was a televised corpse at the debate. trump is fucking terrible but Biden slow walked it back to trump by not giving another candidate enough time to run a campaign. It takes balls to think Biden could stand up against fascism when he can’t even stand up to genocide. This is deserved, but the voters never had a chance.

[–] MudMan@fedia.io 0 points 1 day ago

What in the absolute hell does that even mean? How does that work? There was an election, there were two candidates, one was Trump. There WAS a chance. An obvious choice, at that.

Should Biden not have run in the first place? Obviously. Whether his approach to Gaza would have change anything is debatable (he'd have been crucified regardless), but let's say it would.

It wasn't Biden who had to "stand up against fascism". It was the electorate. And they didn't. You talk about it like it was not their choice, like it was an oopsie inflicted upon them by evil Dems and not a choice they made. They continue to make, in fact. That is insane.

As democracy gets eroded I will be more likely to cut them some slack, but as of now? Anybody that didn't vote for Harris is a collaborationist.

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

"Deserved" is a bit loaded. Americans are exceptionally stupid and ill-informed, but that applies to our elected leaders, as well.

Does someone who is easily manipulated deserve to be manipulated? If so, isn't that precisely the form of myopic conservativism that has overrun the right wing? Government for the people, by the people, is intended to protect all the people and enshrine our rights. Protecting victims from predators ought to be a primary function of law, and if you don't believe that, then yeah you deserve the leadership we got.

[–] Ledivin@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It turns out that when you take all of the power to do anything away from someone, they can't do anything 🤷‍♂️ who could have possibly seen this coming?

[–] SubjectivelyGood@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Conservative parties have frequently been the minority party but have consistently been able to obstruct, block, and fight against progress because they fight dirty. The Democratic party has always been the party of "we can't sink to their level" or the "at least we aren't the Republicans" party. If they were willing to be aggressive at all, we would still have Roe, minimum wage would be higher, and green energy would be the norm. However, the Democratic party has been content to be the party of not rocking the boat, or the party of the status quo, rather than the party of Republicans and Democrats have worked together to give rise to these freaks.

[–] harryprayiv@infosec.pub 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)
[–] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

the republicans are in complete control of every branch of government and there is very little democrats can do other than talk really loud

[–] Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Isn't that the only thing they do

[–] SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

The american voters gave republicans the presidency, the senate and the house.

They also got control of the SCOTUS so the democrats don't have many options right now.

Hopefully the people smarten up for the 2026 midterms and actually vote.

[–] andrewta@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Exactly. What specifically are the democrats to do at this point?

[–] EndlessApollo@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago

Literally even a single thing at all would be nice

[–] knightly@pawb.social 15 points 1 day ago

Pretend they are Republicans and start breaking the rules.

[–] thesohoriots@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago

More emails asking for donations? Have we tried this? Man I’m stumped

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[–] Donebrach@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

So like you didnt vote for people and are mad those people are not in positions to do anything? Like “where are the democrats?” Short answer: not elected.

[–] zephorah@lemm.ee 4 points 1 day ago

Congress is in charge of the money. I think they need Johnson acting to do anything about Elon though.

Someone more up on the mechanics should clarify.

[–] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

On a federal level, there really isn't much they can do that I'm aware of. It would have been nice to see them blanket oppose Trump's cabinet picks but that would only be symbolic since they don't have the numbers. They can't get any laws passed, and even if they could, Trump has no qualms about disregarding the law, which the Supreme Court says is fine.

If they wanted to go outside the law I guess they could try to organize some kind of coup, but failure at any stage would not only be career suicide but possibly actual suicide given that treason is punishable by death, and this administration would be gleeful to carry out that sentence against Dems. And if it did succeed, that still wouldn't do anything about the oligarchy propping up Trump, they'd just have another puppet (Vance) to fall back on.

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[–] sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml -1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

There is little the democrats could ever have done to prevent fascism without losing their funding. This is just becoming much more clear now that we are at the advent of fascism.

[–] Microplasticbrain@lemm.ee 5 points 1 day ago

Thats not true they could have given up the elites to form a more grassroots par-hahahha im sorry I fucking can't

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[–] BothsidesistFraud@lemmy.world -4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (5 children)

The best thing that Democrats can do is come up with a popular governing vision and then storm back in the 2026 midterms.

Personally I would think this would have to compromise on immigration and the worst culture war excesses of the left, while emphasizing support for the working class and most importantly good governance.

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