Overreach used to signal the beginning of the end of the overreachers' ability to overreach

[Stinky The Clown]

Democrats have overreached.

Republicans have overreached.

Soon enough, the overreachers have lost the ability to overreach, usually by electoral routs.

The GQP's current level of overreach feels to me bigger, more draconian, and more long lasting than at any time by any overreacher in my recall. Some of it is just plain silly, some of it truly hateful and harmful. What they are unable to get nationally they are doing on the state and local level. Signaling of their hatred/fear of women is just stunning. Similarly their war on Black people is not just about keeping themselves in power by limiting their ability to vote; it is truly hateful. Gay? Trans? Bi? Note to gender identity and sexual minorities: You are subhuman to them.

When and how does this end?

We are just starting to see some popular pushback. Simply by way of example, this morning we were regaled by Mitch McConnell on Face the Nation referring to Major Traitor Verde and those of her ilk in the Putin wing of the GQP as lone voices in the wilderness.

On the other hand, whether by actual popularity or by cheating and gerrymander, the overreachers are able to overreach because the people who get to say they can have such power have voted to say they can.

Again, when and how does this end?

Popular pressure and voting can change the trajectory of the overreachers' overreaching. But that seems not to be coming. The divisions between citizens in this country seem massive and intractable. I am unable to explain the previous, failed, twice impeached president's continuing popularity. The obvious explanation is that some of our neighbors literally hate us and wish us harmed or dead. Is that the only explanation?

What to do?

Overcome Fox News? That seems to be one nexus. Pass campaign finance laws. That seems unlikely. End the filibuster so the "good stuff" can become law? Seems like no chance with Sinemachin in the way.

So really. What are your thoughts about when and how this ends?

[abqtommy]

1. We mobilized and voted in Joe Biden as President in 2020. If we want to maintain our

momentum we can make good things happen. If we can't do that then we deserve
whatever we get. I for one am a reliable Democratic vote in EVERY election. Let's do
this! Putting every reTHUG Fascist in jail/prison would be a big help to us.

[old as dirt]

2. I used to use the concept of overreach for the NRA.

After the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, the NRA went silent for a week or two, until they felt that the coast was clear for them to have a press conference.

I saw the NRA press conference on CNN, where it was carried live in split screen with coverage of a spree shooting in Pennsylvania that broke out during the press conference.

Now, how did this happen? And could it have been avoided?

The NRA had enough political power and enough guns and enough money to make them feel Omnipotent.

And they used their presumed Omnipotence to flood the USA with guns.

A situation arose where their levers of power and manipulation were too crude. Through Overreach, they managed to create a situation where they needed a Micro-Interventionalist akin to Maxwell's Demon, just to spread out all over the USA and prevent gun violence for 30 minutes, so they can safely hold a press conference.

They created a situation where they needed a fleet of millions of Micro-Interventionalist Bumblebee Drones, when all the really had was a crude fleet of Nuclear Weapons.

For another example of Overreach involving the NRA, consider the school shooting at Parklend High.

There was a civics class happing at the time of the shooting. The students were busy studying the lobbying power of the NRA when the shooting broke out.

Perhaps Maxwell's Demon could have delayed the shooting until after the class was over (or, better yet, make it occure before the class began).

But they didn't have that power. The only power they had was the crude power of deciding whether or not to flood the country with guns.

This is what I call Overreach. And Overreach can lead to Bad Timing. Very, very Bad Timing. Because with enough Overreach, no time is a good time. I'm not a Statistician, but I suspect that they would agree.