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Lillia Gajewski's avatar

What I find ironic is that I, an uneducated bumpkin (I only have a BA and that from a state school) from the backcountry (meaning the expansive Midwest where Starbucks only became popular about a decade ago) know that the "Democratic" Republic of the Congo has no monarchy, and never did. And yet my social and education betters get taken in. Yup, about right.

As for the rest, yes, it's all virtue signaling, but while it's laughable, it's not without its consequences. There are the basic, immediate ones, in that doctors will be put through hell along with parents in custody battles. There's the stress and the legal fees. And even if it turns out "okay" in the end, it is an unnecessary nightmare.

But this also distracts from real problems, like streets that need maintaining, children that don't learn, people that are left behind, and that's part of the charm, at least for the ones that do the signaling.

Finally, and this is the one that really will wake you up at night, you're dealing with a group for whom the ends justify the means. So, no, they can't get this done, but when they don't get it done, they will use that as an excuse to rewrite the system because the system is "undemocratic" or not "socially just" and based on "white supremacy," or some variation on that theme. Look what happened with Dobbs. The court overturned Roe, which even "ultra MAGA conservative" RBG suggested would happen because the ruling was faulty, but rather than take another tact and work with the states or figure out how to approach the issue in a way that might not violate the constitution, we immediately hear, "This is why you have to elect Democrats so we can pack the court and save democracy."

So, yes, this is laughable and annoying but it also bodes poorly for the future if it's not brought to a halt and people don't demand better of their "leaders."

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MAMatt's avatar

My high school political science teacher once said “The only reason the [federal] government is good is that it’s set up to not work”. That was 32 years ago and I’ll never forget it.

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