r/PoliticalOptimism

Ugh, this bill won’t die… I’m posting this as seeking optimism more so cause it’s just exhausting that they won’t take no for an answer.

As for the implausibility of it, I still don’t see how this will pass. Even hardline GOP in the House, like Rep Luna who is leading the revolt in the House holding up other legislation, has said Johnson’s effort to attach reconciliation is not plausible.

They’ve tried doing this before I believe and the SAVE ACT was stripped out of previous reconciliation bills via the parliamentarian. I know some doomers say this is a ploy to get the parliamentarian fired but Thune has been protective of her and if he had wanted to he’d of fired her by now. Plus I believe if he did then you’d have a lot of GOP Senators vote against this bill out of spite.

So is this all theatrics? Also I kind of doubt this even makes it past the House given the Freedom Caucus seems to be against this method as Johnson is signaling it’ll be a very narrow version of the SAVE Act.

Here’s some good news!

I’m very concerned for not only for the people in north carolina but this is a huge setback overall in terms of education.

The reason I marked this as optimistic is that the European conservatives know that Donald is temporary and they believe in a saner GOP (who knows whether THAT will actually come) post-Donald that may be recommitted to upholding the Western alliances and NATO.

So I never considered myself to be a "patriotic" person in general. There are a lot of things I love about America. And there are also a lot of things that I don't. It's always been that way and it will always be that way. It's never going to be perfect.

I spent a lot of my life criticizing "The People" as a collective for a lot of decisions that they have made along the way (myself included). But today? I'm very proud of The People.

During this adminstration, I've been seeing Democrats, Republicans, and fellow Independents like myself all come together in ways I didn't even think were possible in 2024 with this current political climate. I am happy to have been proven wrong on that.

But not only that, you're all doing a great job too! America is fighting really well. Because now, we are at the point where the politicians from both sides of the fence are shitting themselves. And I'm going to take that as a good sign for The People. I know they're bringing back the whole "Communist" Red Scare tactics right now but that's not because they're scared for us, it's because they're scared OF us. That's proof that our efforts are working, so keep going. (Take breaks when needed, of course)

And for all of that to happen during the 250 year anniversary, that's the icing on the cake.

I'm really proud of you guys. I'm proud to be American and regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, you're my brothers and sisters and I love you all.

So have a good holiday, have fun, and stay safe.

And to all of our friends across the world who stand with us, THANK YOU! We love you too.

Do you think this is truly in the cards, especially after what’s happened in the past years? I hope so…

I don't know about many of you, but for me, even when I know that a doomer take might be wrong, I still can feel a bit of fear about it. No matter how much I try to logic my way out of thinking something over, that tiny part of my brain telling me that the possibility existing is a sign that it is certain constantly screams at me. And when it comes to people saying that the results of the 2024 election were rigged by Trump and Musk, that has been a constant battle in my mind for almost two years.

I recently saw a post online describing how the FBI was being sent to Georgia in order to investigate the "fraud" surrounding the 2020 election. Now obviously this is at the least a nothing burger, and at most, something that will just lead to false evidence that gets thrown out in court again. But for one comment, they suggested that this whole ordeal was a "disguise to hide the fact that 2026 and 2028 will be rigged just like 2024 was!" This comment got over 600 likes, and none of the replies were pushing back on this.

I know that there are some people on this sub that think that 2024 election was rigged. And although that part of my brain I told you about earlier is trying to scream at me, I think that logically, there isn't a lot to go on for that. I've said a lot of this in earlier posts of mine but to recap, there isn't a lot of concrete evidence, the evidence that exists is vague quotes from Trump or Musk, those quotes could easily be seen as attempts at "trolling" or discrediting elections so they can claim fraud when they lose, the court cases about 2024 were all thrown out, the ability to alter the results nationwide to make such an increase in Republican wins doesn't add up when you remember how other nations were going on a similar path as us, Harris had a lot of flaws in hindsight and had a large hill to climb, being able to rig electronic machines as well as states/counties that used paper ballots feels like a bit too much, elections such as the Wisconsin Judges (Musk was literally paying people to vote a certain way), or the 2025 elections were Democratic wins despite Trump supposedly being able to alter results of a win, and the fact that voter suppression tactics like gerrymandering wouldn't be needed if this tool was capable of being used.

After the 2024 election, I was dumbfounded at how this could have happened. And I was someone who thought that this had to be the result of some type of fraud. But looking back, it feels like something that was a perfect storm, but one that I wasn't paying attention to.

One of the replies to that doomer comment I mentioned asked "Why aren't Democrats in congress paying attention to this? They've gotta be bought and willing to look past this." But that made me ask, if Democratic leadership like Schumer or Jeffries were willing to look past this "obvious plan to steal elections/having stolen an entire presidential election", why weren't the outsiders like AOC, Bernie, Mamdani, or others saying anything? They don't take corporate money and they would be willing to discuss something like this if they thought it had merit.

But that's the point, it doesn't have any real merit. If it did, they would call for investigations, demand looking at 2024 and the systems, and calling for justice. I get being suspicious if you felt that leaders weren't investigating this, but if even the people who are less susceptible to corruption and being bought aren't looking at this, than I don't think it's something to look at either.

And when it comes to 26 and 28, I think that we need to focus on the most likely things to happen. Specifically in regards to gerrymandering and voter suppression tactics. I've mentioned this a ton on other posts but I think that the more likely avenues for a party that is facing investigations and removal from power is to do more sketchy things that can be argued in court, such as new maps. Things like Martial law or overturning an election are much more likely to get the average citizen focused on a plan's existence and how wrong it is, rather than it just being a boring court case that they don't think affects them.

This is why I think that Musk and Trump made those weird claims about 2024, they weren't boasting about a stolen election, they were trying to get your attention on looking for impossibilities to avoid paying attention to smaller tactics, while also making Democratic voters terrified at the idea that Democracy is dead, simultaneously being vague enough to play it off as a "joke" if called out for it.

I don't know if the recent onslaught of people claiming 2024 was stolen are from Democratic voters who honestly believe this or are bots trying to get potential voters to avoid going out in November since, "It'll be rigged, what's the point?", but regardless, it feels like the amount of these comments I've seen has grown exponentially since the beginning of this year.

We have a tumultuous road ahead of us, especially when tactics like Gerrymandering can enter full effect near 2028 and those effects can be felt. But even then, people giving up doesn't help anyone. And worrying about an entire election being subverted, while I do understand why, I think it just isn't helpful.

With both the midterms and 2028, there will be a lot of issues that will arise. Mostly in attempts to quietly alter the scales by Republicans while they cry "rigged" when they lose. But we don't have the luxury of worrying about monsters while Republicans make shadow puppets. The effort of fixing the damage this country has faced while helping those struggling is too important to focus on stuff with no real proof.

Now that doesn't mean we shouldn't look out for attempts to subvert an election, it just means we can't do what Republicans do and cry fraud the second we think we may see something. And in the event of us discovering that something large enough to alter the results of 2024, I'll admit that I was wrong. But until then, the small damage is enough to watch, worry about, and circumvent when we see it.

https://people.com/olympian-david-hearn-indicted-lawyer-statement-12011615

should we be worried about this?

i never understood why stores throw away good food once found a garbage at a dollar general FILLED TO THE BRIM with ice cream still cold too just feels like a huge waste and its good this will lessen it

What a hero especially right before July 4th

Hello everyone. This post is largely directed at the American posters here, but it’s a pretty general pep talk, so enjoy it from anywhere if you’d like.

A lot of the doom posting I see circles around precedent and history.

Precedent and history matter. We learn from the past. These things carry weight, to varying degree, in how our leaders govern. These things matter but they do not need to bind you, or anyone.

I see the claim repeated a lot that no country has ever voted itself out of fascism. I am not sure I agree with that claim on its face, but then we get into a discussion of what fascism actually means.

I’m here to tell you that even if you can’t find a precedent, it doesn’t matter. Make the precedent yourselves. You can right your country, peacefully. It will be a long path to fix a lot of what has been broken, but I believe in you.

Enjoy your weekend, and look after your neighbours. Especially those most vulnerable right now.

All the charisma of a damp sock this guy

With July 4th being tomorrow, I thought I’d give everyone here a sliver of hope (however small it may be) with this article from The Bulwark that talks about positive quotes on the benefits of immigration from Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan(!)

Admittedly, this article starts off on a down note talking about Trump’s war against immigrants, but it definitely ends on an inspiring message for the future of our nation, which is absolutely necessary on what is a very tumultuous (putting it mildly) 250th birthday. This Saturday, in the words of Bill Pullman, we celebrate our Independence Day!