Centrist Simon Steele

Thanks, Jaxom--yeah, you're right, these aren't them, but they're absolutely in this genre. Maybe I'll check these out if I never find this other book.

Hey everyone--I have posted this in reddit a few times (different subreddits) to no avail, so this is kind of a last ditch effort before I give up. Back in 6th grade (1990ish) my teacher would read to us. I remember two books: the Hobbit (which started my love of fantasy), and another book I'd like to go back and read but I can't remember it's name. Here is what I remember--and it has elements of fantasy to it (a party of warriors venturing out, each with their own strength) though I'd say it's probably historical fiction. I remember the main character is a native American young man who can't become a warrior (I think) in his tribe because he has a bad leg. He hears about a place that natives believe has magic to it--a hot spring I think. So he sets out on a journey to go and see if he can heal his leg there. Along the way, he collects a small party of warriors. I remember they each represent one aspect of strength--like one is super fast (but weak in other areas), one is really strong, and there is an old man native who I believe is good with a bow and arrow. There is a bad group of natives after them I think. I remember the old man has like 1 arrow in his quiver he never uses and keeps saying he'll save it, then at the end he kills the antagonist with it and says something like, "That's what I was saving it for." I also remember the hot springs does not heal the protagonist's leg, but he does get attacked by a bear shortly after, and it slashes his leg before he drives it away or kills it. When his leg heals, it is better (maybe not fully healed, but he is no longer limited by it like he was). I remember my teacher pointing out that the protagonist was not an expert at any of the skills important to the warriors--running, shooting a bow and arrow, and being strong (each of his friends represents one of those), but that he good in all areas by the end of the book making him a good leader. Anyway, that's about all I remember. I figure if you guys don't know, I'll just let it go. P.S. I think one reason it's hard to find when I Google for it is because it was likely written by a white author (given the timeframe) and (rightly so) most things that come up in my searches are written by indigenous authors.

...I have heard that, lol.

Just finished Watership Down for the first time. I'm 44 and nearly cried multiple times. What a great book. I think I shall watch the movie next. ETA: As a dopey American, I subconsciously thought of the title "Watership Down" as similar to "Black Hawk Down"--which isn't so far off considering how the book unfolds--but, you know, we don't really have "downs" in the U.S.--which, I believe are a specific type of rounded hill unique to Britain.

I agree, but Trump (and this is why I don't agree with the dementia argument) is an expert at dog whistles. Look back at his little speech with Netanyahu (2018, I think) where he kept saying "there is one solution I know we can agree on" and he kept playing with the words to promote a one-state solution. He's always done this--it's how he slips out of everything, I suppose. But his call for blood baths is heard the "correct" way by his "patriots" I'm sure.

I'm guessing some foreign leader will bail him out--secretly, of course.

I don't know man, I'm a little surprised. The Republicans he has shit on only to then receive their endorsement used to be surprising. Then again, I guess Pence is the only one he ordered murdered, so maybe that left a bad taste in Daddy's mouth?

It's got to be the Democrats testing the waters for Biden, I think.

A big reason I chose to leave academia (aside from a huge pay increase) last year after getting my PhD was related to this. Back in 2019, I pitched to my committee (for a preliminary comp exam/dissertation proposal) the idea of researching how gamer culture is radicalizing young, white men. All they could hear were "video games." They literally said no, go do something with "veterans" (because I'm a vet). Within two years, this became a growing area of research. I remember one of my advisors brought it to me after hearing about it on a podcast saying, "That's kind of like your idea! Why didn't you do it?" This issue is pressing and at least is beginning to be researched.

I don't know--these reports often seem to be optimistic, but when you look around, it's hard to reconcile what the reports say versus what people are experiencing. I know where I live, our rent and housing costs are still rising consistently year to year. I'm in affordable housing, and my rent has gone up about 600 bucks a month since 2019. I looked around to see what's available, and everything (that's comparable to my current spot) is about 2300+ a month. Last year it was closer to 2100 a month. The issue with data, I'm guessing, is that we have red states where housing costs actually are extremely low, and blue states where it's extremely high and we're not seeing any relief. The blue states struggling with this should be concerning for all of us who don't want to see a repeat of Trump. That said, who knows what will ultimately resonate with voters. I just think being cautious about being optimistic on the economy would be the wise move. As others as said, maybe run on "we've made progress, but we have a long way to go."

That's fair--I think Biden should really bait him into his whole "one state solution" he loved touting while he was president. That's pretty hard to ignore if you're concerned about Palestinian people (which I think we all are).

I kind of feel like Trump's cognitive decline is overstated too, and that pushing it might result in a similar bind the Republicans now find themselves tied up in after the SOTU. Biden clearly is fine. I've seen Trump videos that claim to show his decline, but it seems like the same old idiotic bullshit as usual--and I think if Biden were to debate him and Americans saw Trump's decline as being trumped up (so to speak), then it would hurt Dems chances. Just my gut on this. Trump has been an idiot since he rolled onto the scene, and I don't think that's going to hurt him now. To your other point about the economy--I agree. Running on the economy, when lots of people are feeling squeezed dry, seems a bad idea. I know Biden can't do much in terms of deflation, but at the end of the day--wages are low, and people who rent are seeing skyrocketing rental rates, food is ridiculously overpriced--basic necessities feel out of reach. I'm not sure what the answer is on that, but I think running on the economy would feel like "oh, Biden doesn't care about our problems" whereas often what we hear is, "No, he cares, he just can't do much about it."

I agree--especially because my phrasing "the Voters Dems need" is pretty vague, so it leaves a lot open to interpretation. I don't think you're wrong at all about those who are waiting to inspired won't vote. I was thinking more about two specific groups: the Obama to Trump voters who, if I remember right, helped put Biden in office, and the young vote--which was big enough in 2020 and 2022 to not only stop Trump from winning with record turnout on his side, but stopped a red wave--allowing the Dems to gain an even stronger hold on the Senate, while giving Republicans newfound majority in the house a slim majority. I'm worried about the youth vote as they are particularly angry about Israel and Palestine. My son is 19--he's intelligent, thoughtful, kind--but when I try to talk to him about why voting for Biden is infinitely better for Palestine than Trump would be, he just can't accept it. I think a lot of young voters are in that conundrum. What seems so rational to me in my 40s would have been really hard for me to square in my 20s. I think Biden needs to get ahead of that one specifically if he wants those voters to keep turning out. He needs them, and we need them to be honest. But to be clear, I don't know if young voters are expecting Biden to give them what they want so much as they just have trouble validating voting for a guy who is supporting Netanyahu's increasing aggression. I get it. I've heard Kamala starting to take on lead on this, and I think her voice will be really important in helping Biden secure a win.

I'm a socialist, and I legitimately don't mind Biden--he's been the best democratic president in my life, but you're saying what we've been hearing since 2016. At some point this whole, "let's get past this one more election" wears thin for voters the democrats need. I think the same advice applies to them (the old-school liberal leadership): "you want to cling to your power and corruption, but you're going to have to let it go before Trump gets elected again."

Lol, that's a left-wing rabbit-hole? I used to be in the military--the number of servicemembers I saw acting like sociopaths, excited to hurt and kill is only rivaled by U.S. cops.

I'm pretty worried about Biden's chances due to this issue specifically. Young people are really moved by the horror of what they're seeing happening to Palestinians, and they're feeling unheard by the Biden administration. He needs to figure out something on this as the youth vote was instrumental in the midterms in not losing the Senate and not getting completely destroyed in the House.

I think people have a right to not vote and bitch and moan. I voted for Hillary (grudgingly) and Biden (grudgingly, but now I appreciate him), but I respect people who don't vote as a strategy. The two party system is beyond broken, and people have to send messages. Of course it doesn't help that Trump is back, and him winning is going to hurt a lot of people. But I think Democrats have, for too long, campaigned on "we're not as bad as the others" which has really disenfranchised folk. Additionally, I really don't think these kinds of voters are that numerous. If you look at states that make voting easy and accessible, their voting participation is really high. Typically people aren't voting because of Republicans making it really hard for them to vote. In Colorado, our youth population is pretty active in voting--but voting is easy here. Would I like to see more vote? Certainly. But I just don't think we can sit here and say, "If you don't vote, you can't complain" hoping that will encourage and motivate. We need to give people a reason to believe that voting matters.

Personally, precisely that for me. He ran on peace, on closing Camp Delta (in Gitmo), etc. Then he got in, upped the drone strikes, seemed to have little care for amassing civilian deaths, then instead of closing Gitmo, he worked behind the scenes to keep it open. Also, Obama was a guy who ran on progressive change. Then, even while still in office, he starts lecturing voters who want actual progressives. He took clear sides on the young/old divide in the party, and he sided not only with the old, but the ancient. By 2020, his anti-left stances were infuriating.

To me it feels unjust given how they gave states control over women's bodies. As to the "anyone can be banned"--the Supreme Court can 100% write the decision so that doesn't happen. It's clear Trump incited an insurrection--you'd need clear evidence that any other candidate did the same. The insurrection is specific to the 14th amendment, so you couldn't say "Biden's off the ballot because he wasn't tough on the border and that's insurrection"--the word has a specific, legal definition. The Supreme Court--if they had any scruples--could dismiss any BS cases that come their way. On the other hand, I guess never underestimate the discord Republicans will sow if given an inch.

Is Carter younger than Biden? He has to be right??

Biden's pushed through quite a bit of legislation in a difficult political climate--and despite the infrastructure bill not being what we need, that's not on him. It's a lot better than what we've had. Biden's done a lot of quiet things too--supporting unions (I know about the whole railroad issue too), hell, how is he the first President to formally acknowledge the Armenian genocide during World War I? He tells Putin to his face what he thinks of him, and let's be honest--he's the best democratic president lots of us have ever had (Clinton and Obama for me). He's not perfect, but I'm surprised how much he's accomplished.

I'm pretty angry about how the Supreme Court case is looking to go. They're pro states rights as long as it doesn't hurt the white upper class. I live in Colorado, and I think it's pretty clear that the Colorado Supreme Court looked at the evidence and concluded Trump violated the 14th amendment by instigating an insurrection. The arguments being made at the federal Supreme Court and the questioning line of the judges seems so far away from the case, I have little hope at this point. I know their justification is, "If we let this happen to Trump, it sets a precedent," but maybe work a little harder guys? Maybe make it clear in your ruling what counts as an insurrection (not a liberal being president), and what it takes to prove that. That evidence against Trump is substantial. ETA: Since it's been awhile to post, I also want to say I'm extremely worried about Biden being our nominee against Trump. I hesitantly voted for Biden in 2020, and I'll happily vote for him this year (I think he's done an excellent job), but his age coupled with several other issues are going to make this a hard election to win, and if he doesn't win, it's going to be Trump. I am teaching a Holocaust unit now, and I focused a bit more on Hitler's rise to power (in my prep for the unit) this time, and I'm devastated and terrified between the similarities. The one good thing in our case is Trump is way older than Hitler was.

I think the Lynn Cheney name could be a joke--I know people who watch the Majority Report tend to say it this way a lot because Sam Seder (the host) couldn't get her name right.

Isn't it crazy to think that Palin was ahead of her time. Usually we say that as a compliment.

Well, to the bolded, you know what I mean be "fun" then. Ha. I'll be sure to post a positive review once I read it. Solidarity, friend.