God it’s so fucking frustrating that this shit is happening because Rep. Tricia Cotham (was D now R) flipped. And you’d think she’d be like a moderate semi-independent vote considering she ran as a dyed in the wool dem. No. Full on culture wars, full on conservative authoritarianism. I can’t imagine how angry the people who voted for her must be.
this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
236 points (95.4% liked)
politics
19097 readers
3177 users here now
Welcome to the discussion of US Politics!
Rules:
- Post only links to articles, Title must fairly describe link contents. If your title differs from the site’s, it should only be to add context or be more descriptive. Do not post entire articles in the body or in the comments.
Links must be to the original source, not an aggregator like Google Amp, MSN, or Yahoo.
Example:
- Articles must be relevant to politics. Links must be to quality and original content. Articles should be worth reading. Clickbait, stub articles, and rehosted or stolen content are not allowed. Check your source for Reliability and Bias here.
- Be civil, No violations of TOS. It’s OK to say the subject of an article is behaving like a (pejorative, pejorative). It’s NOT OK to say another USER is (pejorative). Strong language is fine, just not directed at other members. Engage in good-faith and with respect! This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban.
- No memes, trolling, or low-effort comments. Reposts, misinformation, off-topic, trolling, or offensive. Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.
- Vote based on comment quality, not agreement. This community aims to foster discussion; please reward people for putting effort into articulating their viewpoint, even if you disagree with it.
- No hate speech, slurs, celebrating death, advocating violence, or abusive language. This will result in a ban. Usernames containing racist, or inappropriate slurs will be banned without warning
We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.
All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.
That's all the rules!
Civic Links
• Congressional Awards Program
• Library of Congress Legislative Resources
• U.S. House of Representatives
Partnered Communities:
• News
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
This should be considered fraud and she should be arrested.
This whole thing was fucking planned and everyone involved should go to prison: https://news.yahoo.com/turns-rep-tricia-cotham-north-170000213.html
I dunno how anyone from the southeast US expects politics to be different at this point. Deception is kind of a prerequisite down there.
Who said anything about expectations? Just because you don't care about injustice in the South doesn't mean the rest of us have to follow along with your cynicism.
I never said I didn’t care.
I said, corruption and deception in politics is common in the GOP down south.
I said, I am surprised they didn’t see this coming.
You’re arguing with the wrong person.
When she flipped, the first thing I asked myself was “is she stepping down?” Staying in office disenfranchised the voters who elected a democrat.
I feel like you should automatically just be kicked out if you do something like that?
That's the point. That's why she lied.
The fact that people like Sinema and Cotham are brazenly cheating Democrat voters proves that the party isn't doing enough to enforce loyalty. These people are worms who should be put out of a job irrespective of the cost and have their careers obliterated.
Loyalty isn't the issue. You either represent the interests of the voters who voted for you or you step down, regardless of party. Otherwise, it's tantamount to (and potentially actually is) fraud.
Not in any way that's legally enforceable. That's why it has to be enforced through party apparatus.
I don’t know about enforcing loyalty or what that would even look like. Democrats (at least at the national level) vote more in lockstep than they ever have. The problem is when you have margins so small that one vote is the difference between having or not having a veto-proof majority, a single flip makes an enormous difference.
People defecting on single votes isn't really what I'm looking at regulating here- though voting with the party certainly is an element of party loyalty. What I'm saying is that there should be a will among the activist, voter, and donor class of the Democratic Party to make an example of people who do what Cotham did. The fact that she did it proves that we're not doing enough to nail these fucking worms to the wall.
How would the party do this?
Stonewall them when they get in office. Spend more political and financial capital to make sure they don't get elected and don't pass policy. Ensure constituents know they're a cheater. Support primary challenges against them. Go out of their way to make sure that they don't succeed in their new party.
This logic could be used to say that Bernie should be punished for wanting to support unions. Enforced loyalty is not loyalty; it's bootlicking. Note that I' not saying that these people (not Bernie) aren't assholes and liars who cheated to get elected.
Bernie can't be punished by his party because he doesn't have a party.
Parties need to be able to expel their own members and nobody should be able to simply switch parties mid-session.
I don't think that would necessarily be legal- but I think that parties should be able to sue for damages on the material support given to candidates when those candidates switch parties.
Agreed but even if she couldn't switch, could she still obstruct votes like Manchin and Sinema?
That's when the party should be able to expel her and force a special election or appointment. Of course these decisions should be weighed carefully because if the person is popular they can still come back but they'll be pissed and vote accordingly.
I for one can't wait to watch her bank account mysteriously grow insanely fast relative to her pay. Suddenly she commands a hefty profit for each "speaking engagement" she goes on and any book she writes will get anonymous purchases in the thousands. Uncanny how profit seems to follow turn coaiting.
For good reason we used to tar and feather people. Their fear of the public has vanished. The rabble has forgotten it's power.
I'm gonna propose a bill that would ban assholes, see how the north Carolina legislature likes it
Oh wait, I forgot, they're the victims here. Imagine the heavy burden of knowing constantly that someone out there is not exactly like you. My god, the horror
This is just the beginning. They will work their way to banning any and all trans related healthcare.
If I were a resident, I’d have to either move out of state or seek care on a grey market. This is absolutely by design.
Fascism has to be stomped out, by force if necessary.
I’m so fucking sick of this bullshit. Fuck the General Assembly. My vote means nothing, but I still vote.
They know this will lead to suicides. That's what they want.