just democrats doing democratic stuff

 Proposed law SB-1287 targeting campus speech. Intercept has the rundown. CAIR-CA has a factsheet running down the objections to the bill - It attempts to censor and chill the 1st amendment rights to free speech and assembly of students on California’s campuses. This bill will place unconstitutional restrictions on students’ right to free expression based on their viewpoint and content alone, which fails the strict scrutiny standard required by the first amendment.

This was back in June, but LA mayor Karen Bass called for a mask ban in protests just before coming down with COVID herself. I don't know where we're at with that but mask bans have now been enacted in Nassau County, NY, and NC. Jews for Mask Rights has an open letter for the NY legislature. 

the discussion is locked

But r/oakland has an interesting discussion on the merits, advantages, and disadvantages of Kamala Harris as a presidential candidate. lot of different viewpoints - and some gossip:


I worked for her at the DA. She is fine, but not amazing as a politician. Important: she is liberal but not overly progressive, but also she is not Trump or even Trumpian in nature. Many of her views and policies reflect this, even though some are uninspired.

Unimportant, but interesting: she creates toxic work environments that suck to work in. Most of her staff quits on her in a year or two, which means she typically rotates through staff quickly. This has and will continue to impact her ability to operate effectively in Washington.


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 Obama was much further to Biden's left on paper, but once he got into office he never seemed affected by outside pressure. Biden spent his whole career doing one set of things, and then once in office he made partnerships that clearly steered him to make some big changes.

I think it's true that every progressive knows that Harris isn't a true believer. But she also knows which way the wind blows. I think she's flexible. I don't think she's a real progressive, but I absolutely believe she can be a partner to progressives.

(And for any moderates/liberals/conservatives/independents, this can be a reason for you folks to vote for her too.)