The Brits know how to do an election night.
We can't do it the same way, because we have a zillion different federal, state, & local offices up for grabs on the same day, plus ballot initiatives & referenda.
But one night with elections to a single legislative house is so pure, it's fun.
UK politics can be grim, but election night there with constituencies being largely ungerrymandered, losers standing next to winners of podiums, and the "election season is 6 weeks, not 2 years" default is incredibly wholesome
also "if/when you lose, there's no lame duck season, the next guy arrives tomorrow at 10am" is a big UK W vs the US system, we should totes get rid of that
Tbf we also have our "ask electors to pick" and "ask congress to count" cosplay, which tbqh we should really move past, because while it's all fun and games as weird cosplay, we've found out to our detriment what happens when folks refuse to dress up and act it out
tomorrow we get my favorite constitutional oddity which is that there's a ~ 1 hour period in which all UK executive authority formally vests in the King
I'm still bullish on the US vs the UK long term, but as an aside, I'll gladly take "we pretend to give this guy total authority but if he tries to use it we'll chop HM Royal Head off again" over "the president is immune from all the crimes, as long as he's abusing his official power during them."
I'm incredibly bullish on America's future. I get it's a bit hard to see these days--the death throes of unpopular authoritarianism is pretty scary and there are real problems in the immediate term--but I definitely think America's best days are still very much ahead.
Because a lot of the problems we are facing is /because/ this is authoritarianism's last chance. They wouldn't need to rig the vote if what they offered was popular
My worry there is unlike 1776, everything is so hyper-militarised that unless the military joins the resistance, all those billions of dollars thrown into the military-industrial complex will be used to crush the people. How can they effectively resist?
Let's remember that the military has already literally *mutinied* against Trump once (on Jan 6, 2021, illegally taking orders from VP Mike Pence instead of the actual CnC).
My worry there (I'm sorry, I know I keep coming up with negatives but this is what nags my brain) is that if Trump takes over again he'll purge people from the Military that would stand against him. It might not be legal, but he's the sort who'd try. I honestly DO hope they would stand up to him.
If Trump wins then America is in for some very dark times, and that will last for generations. But if and when he loses, whether to Biden or to Harris, the country absolutely can dig its way out of this hole, and folks need to remember the future beyond that is, in all likelihood, pretty great
Barring nuclear war, I don't think it'll last for generations. I'm pretty sure Trump's next autogolpe will end Euromaidan-style.
Trump won't be able to make the US military more supine than Yanukovich's was in 2013. And he needs it to be well beyond that: closer to Russia's military in 2011.
And the country needs to get its head out of its ass and fix some very basic issues concerning its reliance on governmental norms since it’s obvious they are no longer respected these days.
The Heritage Foundation is already, and very publicly, working on a purge list of DHS officials. It will be easier for Trump to turn DHS into a personal militia than the armed forces.
The 25th was de facto re-interpreted for a day to have the "principal officers" be "Nancy Pelosi and Gen. Milley." It was what the country needed, but it wasn't by following the typical chain of command.
never lose sight that (a) the future can be good, as well as bad, and (b) there's no shortage of demand for better, or smart and dedicated people working hard to make that reality too
In 2020, the biggest recipient of donations from active duty service members, by quite a bit, was socialist Bernie Sanders. The enlisted ranks are overwhelmingly drawn from very poor working class people, who then receive full government benefits, gov provided healthcare and housing, etc.
I joined because I was homeless and needed a way out, and like half my platoon was there from similar dire straights. The rest were in it for college money or just something to do (this was pre-9/11 so the stakes were lower). There was exactly one dude there for ultranationalism and he sucked lol
