Reddit reviews It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics
We found 10 Reddit comments about It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
What's your take on David Faris' new book It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics?
His arguments strike me as broadly compatible with yours, but he argues for a platter of considerably more ambitious things.
In short, he argues that once Democrats run the table again (like in 2009), they should ram a bunch of reforms through that are explicitly designed to undo unfair Republican advantages. Such reforms include:
These things seem philosophically in line with your proposal to fix the Electoral College, so I was wondering what you thought of each of those ideas.
Also, if you could amend the Constitution with whatever changes you like, would you simply abolish the Electoral College? Would you abolish the Senate too? (I would.)
>And we don't have an equal and opposite force exerted by a liberal propaganda machine.
Michelle Obama is one of the smartest and classiest people ever, but sometimes I think she gave bad advice when she said "when they go low we go high." It only works, in a political environment like the USA is dealing with right now, if people care about someone going low. Not enough people do. The book It's time to Fight Dirty is awesome in how it lays out solutions like giving DC and Puerto Rico statehood, expanding the SC and so on. I don't know how realistic it is but it's a good blueprint. I'm fucking sick and tired of the Dems trying to play by the book and the fact they still respect traditional norms. Fuck that. It's time to go Moscow Mitch on their asses.
https://www.amazon.com/Its-Time-Fight-Dirty-Democrats/dp/1612196950
> If equal rights is a motivating factor for you, then you really only have one choice and that is to vote Democrat.
Equal rights to me means the rights of everyone, not just the people I agree with. Democrats tend to be a little too selective about which groups deserve which rights IMO. Like this, but the umbrella also represents other Constitutional rights. Republicans aren't better, they just favor other groups. My view is that it should cover everyone equally, but that feels like a minority opinion.
> Also, could you explain what frightening ideas the Democrats have said they would do if they have power?
Off the top of my head: stuffing the SCOTUS, breaking up Democratic strongholds into multiple states, allocating more Senators to states with large populations (or eliminating the Senate altogether), eliminating the Electoral College, etc. In fact, here's a book, written in earnest by a liberal Democrat, that offers a breadbasket of ideas many in the party are seriously considering for after they win back Congress and the White House.
I'm not going to quibble over the merits of these ideas. What's frightening to me is the serious consideration of proposals intended to create a "lasting" (read: permanent) majority. While I understand the appeal from an emotional standpoint, I think history is rife with examples warning against this type of arrangement.
Why? For one, it seems like the surest way to bring one of the most ambitious social experiments in history to a disappointing conclusion. Broadly, a one-party state that controls the Legislative, Executive AND Judicial branches is an oligarchy. What is the point in having a Bill of Rights if the court is packed with justices who will arbitrarily reinterpret those rights to suit the whims and political expediency of Congressional leaders? It gives the illusion of legitimacy, but really it's a democracy in the same way North Korea is a democracy.
To circle back to what I said earlier about equal rights, this concept is terrifying to me personally because a group with a tenuous relationship to freedom and equal rights is openly talking about how they can rig the system to grant themselves the ultimate say in the matter. I 100% do not trust them with that kind of power.
To be clear: I'm not saying "IF TEH DUMBOCRAPS WIN, THE US WILL TRYANNY AND WAR IN TEH STREETZ!!" What I am saying is that I am hesitant to vote for people who fantasize about how they could take over and rule over me the rest of my life. I don't want to enable Trump any more than I want to enable that agenda. I don't trust either party with my life, safety, liberty, economic security, etc. Hence why I'm conflicted.
That's a lot of metaphor and hyperbole. Keep in mind, we still need to win the election first, before we can start crushing anyone. And running against gerrymandering might be a good way to do that.
And believe me, I read the book.
https://www.amazon.com/Its-Time-Fight-Dirty-Democrats/dp/1612196950
But I honestly don't think gerrymandering is the answer for dems.
We should split CA into like seven different states, all of which lean left. Is a good idea. Check out It’s Time to Fight Dirty by David Faris
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1612196950/?tag=slatmaga-20
Twelve ways for Democrats to defeat the biased political system.
You uncap the HoR to ensure you never lose the presidency and from there pack the courts and make PR and DC states, split California into multiple states.
DSA, I would guess. They’re the only organization you’ve identified not committed to a candidate or party, but an ideology instead.
Honestly, though.Progressives are at a disadvantage right now. Manchin won’t last in WV. Jones won’t last in AL. If Dems win the Senate, House and WH in 2020, do the following please:
Then, we have, like 14 new Senators, and people who can actually vote for them. Read this: It’s Time to Fight Dirty by David Faris
We just need the will to change
https://www.amazon.com/Its-Time-Fight-Dirty-Democrats/dp/1612196950
This book just released in April. I haven't read it yet, but it's getting good reviews.
I really wish I lived in the world you’re describing, but that’s not how I see it. The Democrats have consistently underestimated the threat Trump poses, and under-reacted in opposing him.
I think we would do well to spend less time assuring ourselves that:
“it could have been worse”
“we can still undo this later”
“he’s obviously guilty, it’s a matter of time”
And more time thinking of how to effectively resist and block his agenda, here in the present tense. Quite frankly I think our Republican friends across the aisle do a consistently stronger job of this.
I’m a big fan of the Indivisible Guide, written by former democratic congressional staffers who witnessed the rise of the Tea Party, and have written a guide on how to emulate the most effective portions of their model of political organization.
As well as David Faris’, “It’s Time to Fight Dirty”: How Democrats can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics