11 thoughts on “Friday Open Thread”

1. Apropos of the quotation … The Colorado Sun has an article

   Aging volunteers devoted to managing Colorado’s wild horses wonder who will step in when they can’t continue

   Looking around at the Democratic Party meetings I attend, I suspect the same question might be relevant for that organization.  In HD 9, 5 of 6 leaders are 60+. Of 56 possible precinct organizers, 26 are VACANT and I'd guess half of the others are 60+. [Even weeks before the 2024 general election, about a third were vacant.]

   Log in to Reply

   1. Was it as big a problem when Morgan Carroll was running the state party?

      Log in to Reply

   2. I think a lot of us folks under the age of 50 don't quite realize that organizations exist because people make them exist. However, in our defense, the folks running a lot of organizations are unwilling to give up control to younger folks until they're fed up with their position.

      Most helpful would be to encourage young adults to be active and involved in organizations and to encourage folks in leadership positions in organzations to do more mentoring.

       

      Log in to Reply

      1. the folks running a lot of organizations are unwilling to give up control to younger folks until they're fed up with their position.

         I think that is a giant problem for the Democratic party in full. We need the passion, new ideas, & energy we get from younger people new to the position.

         Log in to Reply

         1. It is a giant problem in so many areas of society. Love them to death, but the boomers have had a really hard time giving up power and control.

            Log in to Reply

            1. Most people just want to be “arm chair quarterbacks,” regardless of their age. Those of us who DO instead just comment see the massive problem of a lack of people who want to put in the work, whether it’s local Dem parties, or local elected office. People would rather complain than jump in and do the work, in my experience. I’m trying right now to generate interest in some local offices up for election later this year. Crickets.

               Log in to Reply

   3. To be fair, politics has often been seen as old man's game and not just in the United States. Plus the kind of people who have the time to organize and affliate with a party and do a bunch of activies are people that tend to be retired, semi-retired or otherwise have the time to do it. Everybody else is busy with their life including family, career, mandatory duties, etc. They just don't have the time. I'm more busy than I wish I was and my politics fix only manifests as sometimes consuming and commenting on news or blogs like here. I obviously support my local Democratic chapter but I just can't fit in trying to do the activies, protesting or volunteering, much less trying to get a leadership role there. 

      Log in to Reply

2. Why Democrats Need to Reject DEI

   DEI is an "own goal" that has zero upside.

   Please read before you scream at me.

   Log in to Reply

   1. I mean I sorta agree but on the other hand, it can also indicate weakness and failure to stand your ground. Nobody likes weak-willed people. I also want to point out that Republicans hold deeply unpopular positions towards stuff like abortion, labor, heathcare, freedom of religion, gay rights, etc. Yet they never have gotten meaningfully punished at the polls for that and never really try to distance themselves from it. Voters still reward them anyways and my theory why is that Republicans look like they have strong resolve, which is something voters appreciate even if they hate GOP policies.  I would go as far as to state my belief that Dems can flip that by keeping strong resolve AND touting their policies that most voters actually like. For such woke or kinda lame polices people don't like, just throw in populism and nobody will care. The GOP does that all the time and it seems to work good enough.

      Log in to Reply

3. Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman has a lot to say about the Abominable Big Bill and its cruelty and distructiveness.

   Reverse Robin Hood and Trumpian Totalitarianism

   Trump’s big beautiful bill is a sadistic monstrosity

   The OBBBA is, in fact, so terrible that we need to ask how any party in a democracy imagines that it could get away with taking money away from 80% of the American public.

   My answer is that the G.O.P.’s vicious tax and spending plans can’t be separated from the party’s contempt for democracy.

   By giving their bill a ludicrous name, because those were Trump’s words, G.O.P. politicians were engaging in performative self-abasement, demonstrating their willingness to humiliate themselves in order to curry favor with the Leader.

   So by calling the legislation the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Republicans were in effect confirming that yes, Washington has turned into Pyongyang on the Potomac, where political survival depends on slavish flattery of the dictator.

   Republicans, in particular the ones running and/or in office, are completely shameless.

   Log in to Reply

4. Poor little Putie-Pute.  He’s ordering his economic minister to not cause a recession (I’d suggest not standing near an open window in a tall building, too).  Interest rates are 20%, inflation is 10%.  The only sector of the economy that is healthy is the arms industry.  Sounds like Stagflation to me!

   Putin warns his officials not to allow recession

   Oil prices aren’t where he needs them to be since they provide one third of the nation’s revenue, and one of their “shadow fleet” supertankers just collided with another supertanker in the Strait of Hormuz, creating a huge oil slick.

   Log in to Reply