I think it's safe to say the Dems of today are the GOP of the Tom Delay era in terms of corruption/corporate whoring.

get your SO to watch her - I think she has both smarts and charisma, I've been very impressed.

Sure, we all want to avoid greater evilism. Question is, best way to do that.

He has no power and he can't make any difference....

oh yeah?

Ms. Goldman Sachs speeches seems oblivious in her entitlement to the fact that this sort of shit pisses people off.

She simply doesn't care. Who'd stop her?

And Kaine's pitch (and the general tone of the DNC proceedings last night) . . .

He broadened the call to other wandering Republican voters: “If any of you are looking for the party of Lincoln, we've got a home for you here in the Democratic Party.”

. . . is nothing more than an admission that the Democratic Party of old is being gentrified. The DFHs will have to move out as the rents rise; the new Dems want to plant a Rose Garden where the scruffy residents were growing food to supplement what they could get on their declining incomes.

Gentrification wasn't halted in city neighborhoods; the residents had to move out to gawd-knows-where-as-long-as-it's-invisible. The same is happening in the Democratic Party, and the proceedings last night worked hard to make sure we were invisible there, too. Now another segment of America gets to feel what gentrification is, first-hand.

It was Justin Amash, Tea Partyer, and John Conyers that forced the Amash Amendment vote just after the Snowden leak.

Another is the ISDS/surrender of sovereignty in the TPP, et al. Framing that as unpatriotic or treasonous might be the way to go.

Places like Facebook and TOP seem to have a strong "shared sacrifice and personal and collective responsibility".

"Zuckerberg is such a great philanthropist."

"You are lucky Markos let's you post here..."

Corporate benevolence is totally a thing.

JFK

There are so many sides to the coup these days that it is hard to keep track

I have been told that this is an excellent book

The Deep State: The Fall of the Constitution and the Rise of a Shadow Government

Here is the PR for the book. Author worked on the hill for 30 years with key positions on budgets. He knows his shit

Every Four years, tempers are tested and marriages fray as Americans head to the polls to cast their votes. But does anyone really care what we think? Has our vaunted political system become one big, expensive, painfully scriped reality TV show? In this cringe-inducing expose of the sins and excesses of Beltway land, a longtime Republican party insider argues that we have become an oligarchy in form if not in name. Hooked on war, genuflecting to big donors, in thrall to discredited economic theories and utterly bereft of a moral compass, America’s governing classes are selling their souls to entrenched interest while our bridges collapse, wages, stagnate, and our water is increasingly undrinkable.

Drawing on insights gleaned over three decades on Capitol Hill, much of it on the Budget Committee, Lofgren paints a gripping portrait of the dismal swamp on the Potomac and the revolution it will take to reclaim our government and set us back on course.

Here is one review on amazon.com

5.0 out of 5 stars Important information - decide for yourself.
By dave ferree on February 9, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
This is a book worth your time, written by a retired career Congressional staff insider. Author Mike Lofgren has unique and critical insight into the workings of both the Republican Party and the Congress. And his take on both are depressing, bordering on frightening. He takes no prisoners with harsh judgement of the GOP, the Democrats, and corporate America. According to him, the Republicans are essentially shills for big business and the Democrats are just plain hapless.
In a nutshell, the Deep State as Lofgren describes it is a combination of elected and appointed members of the legislative and executive branches; and corporate insiders, especially the military-industrial complex, Wall Street, and Silicon Valley. Together, fueled by enormous amounts of money, they effectively control the country, regardless of which party is in power or the wishes of the electorate. Lofgren believes the ‘Deep State’ in its current form began with the Manhattan Project during WW II. He describes the country’s situation in detail with specific examples. He points out the main dangers the country faces due to the Deep State, and finally, he lays out specific corrections he believes the country must take to save itself.
Readers will have widely different views about Lofgren's thesis based on their perspective. I have a few observations. First, I think he's mostly right. But I wonder why he played the game for so long and only vents his concerns after retirement. He could be viewed as quite hypocritical. At times, his rhetoric is quite shrill (over the top). Also, although the 'Deep State' might be reaching new heights of control and manipulation, I do not think this is a very new phenomenon. Think about the Railroad Barons of the 19th century and many other examples. People with vast resources have always wielded great power for possible mischief. That's not to say we should not heed Lofgren's warning and strive to retake our democracy.
Mike Lofgren says the worst and most vexing problem we face is money in politics and the ills exacerbated by the ‘Citizens Untited’ Supreme Court decision. He’s exactly right. His suggested solutions, while mostly right on target, are daunting. In the current state, its difficult to see how we get there.
This is a book that should cause people to think and act. I highly recommend it.

she should know better. I think they're both sociopaths. One has to wonder what's wrong with people, that they are such poor judges of character. It seemed patently obvious from the get-go that HRC was smug, condescending, dismissive, scheming, and utterly unable to admit to or learn from mistakes. Over the years ambition has ripened into a complete moral collapse, and lust for power has turned into an utter lack of conscience (war mongering, lying, cheating, election-rigging, regime change) while Nixon-like paranoia vis a vis secretiveness (no press conferences, no release of transcripts, private server, etc) will create, if she gets in, the most opaque administration since God knows when. Why is it more people don't see this?????? A zen koan is a short snippet of story, or a question or statement, that seeks to explain a larger truth (a poor definition, but there are two dogs on my lap currently and that will have to do). I think Hillary's koan is the Qaddafi Cackle ("We came, we saw..."). How anyone could watch that and not shudder, not recoil, and not conclude that this person is a sociopath, is just beyond me....it's SO FUNNY when people are sodomized with knives!