It's a race to the bottom and whomever gets there first wins!

Principles of the very wealthy

The prerogatives of the wealthy will not be undermined.

The sacredness of private property will not be questioned.

Wealth is a function of hard work first, with luck and family of origin a distant second.

Adam Smith is to be embalmed and revered, but his works not scrutinized.

CEO's are to be admired uncritically unless popular opinion renders one of them unfashionable.

Being in or associated with an 'out group' is to be assiduously avoided, unless one owns a non-profit that deals with that sort of thing.

The poor and mentally ill will always be with us, hence efforts to try and help the poor/mentally ill is primarily a publicity exercise in virtue signaling.

When you're wealthy, it's comforting to believe you live in a just world and that somehow your condition is ordained.

Opinions are only valuable if they come from people like you. Exceptions: your oncologist, your interior designer.

Because of its unpleasantness, death is not to be contemplated nor frankly discussed - ever, unless it's another person doing the dying – and then only if that person is a close family member.

Assume everyone you know is transactional. Otherwise, they're probably crazy and best to avoid.

Any plan proposed by Democrats conflicts with one or more of the aforementioned principles. Hence they are not the right team.

It's highly unlikely there was any election shenanigans

My immediate family of 6 all voted straight blue - but I'm sure we all have in mind at least an equal number of acquintances who
were intending to vote for Trump. The values of the professional class that tend to be political junkies (like us - yay!) do not match those of most of the nation. Does that mean we have to beclown ourselves to appeal to them? Won't do a bit of good. Most of us are too old to play that game and will just wind up looking like posers. If you are a DUer of adequate or better means think about reaching out to other like minded Democrats that may not be so fortunate. Build local alliances. Join discussion clubs. If possible learn about the ethics of local business owners and do not fund assholes. Consult a financial advisor. Maybe take a page from the Republicans and help start an anti-Heritage Foundation. If not disabled, work harder, learn more, make more. Success is the sweetest revenge. Then when some degenerate wants to climb into your lifeboat, you can hit em with your oar. Hard.

This is going to be unpopular, but here we go...

The DNC dropped the ball because it failed to teach possums how to add. It's true! Don't tell me it's too much work.
That makes you a surrender monkey. Trump reached out to possums. Effectively I might add. Joe Rogan has had
several possums on his show and some are complaining that Kamala didn't make her agenda clear enough to the
possums. Should we be suprised that they decided to play dead election day. Dems must expand their appeal!

on edit: (I suppose I should have put in the sarcasm tag)

I see a lot of self flagellation going on here.

The "media" will no doubt want to discuss ad nauseum how the Harris campaign dropped the ball. But here's the thing.
It didn't. Harris ran a great campaign on traditional Democratic values. Nor did the Democratic voters drop the ball. We
did the right thing. We - along with a minority of moderate old school Republicans, recognized the threat and voted. It wasn't enough. There aren't enough of us. By "us" I mean people who possess a greater circle of concern than simply enlightened self interest. All the suggestions regarding "the message" fail to understand that playing to one portion of the electorate invariably alienates another. If you're a friend to all, you're naturally perceived as a friend to none.

I used to believe that everybody had the capacity to understand fairly complex issues if the information were presented to them in a friendly and un-threatening way. Everybody can be taught about climate change for example, and has the capacity to understand the threat to themselves and to their family. Everybody can surely understand how the accumulation of vast wealth and the influence it buys can't possibly be good for them. Or so I thought.

A majority of Americans cannot think their way out of a paper bag - nor do they have any interest in doing so. Talk of greater opportunity reads as work harder or learn new things. Such a messagae doesn't resonate with the stay at home dullards, the man boys, the "spank me daddy" evangelicals or the man-babies who get upset there's not a job waiting for their privileged white ass.
Just because.

Too many Americans are too far gone. They persist in wanting to break it all down because they falsely think they have nothing to lose. Many don't vote at all. Other mistakenly believe that their freedom to vote and "bet" on a better outcome will always be an option - like game of chance - a wheel of fortune - a scratch off lottery ticket. These folks are just fine being who they are. They have no desire to be curious, because that might involve changing.

Now there will be a tremendous brain drain in this country because those who have a mobile skill-set will leave. I'm too old to leave, but if I were 20 years younger I'd be making plans. There's something appealing about relocating to an altogether foreign land because you get to meet new people who haven't managed yet to break their country or your heart.

Democracy Dies in Broad Daylight...apparently.

Despite the problems with its opinions page, the NYTimes managed to endorse Harris.

Not defending the paper per se.., just making an observation. Maybe New Yorkers would've burned the
building down.

Putin threatens his oligarchs too. It's his MO.

Trump has promised for the record to use the power of the state to suppress and punish his enemies. Maybe newspapers and media outlets should be owned by people with less to lose.

I need to re-watch the film Idiocracy and figure out how to make money in such a society.

How do you say "Tomb of the Dickless Martyrs" in Farsi.

Asking for a friend.