Bush to Clinton to Bush to Obama to Clinton

It's pretty much assured, as it was in April 2015, that we're going to get Hillary Clinton for President. From Bush to Clinton to Bush to Obama to Clinton. Think about that.

And we're going to let them get away with it.? If we didn't have Obama in there it would be Bush to Clinton to Bush to Clinton. But we all know Obama is the same thing anyway. After Clinton's four years, that will be 32 years of that lineage. Who knows what comes after that.

I'm tired of this man. I feel like I live in a different country now, not the kind I thought I lived in most of my life. More like Thailand or England with their monarchy bullshit. I can't believe they still do that. Hell, I guess we do too.

It's been an illusion all along.

prez.jpg

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Shahryar's picture

so that'll be 40 years. This is even longer than Jefferson's 24 years.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

... since 1928 that there would be no Nixon or Bush as part of a winning presidential race for the Republican Party.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y13INFBrcc]

I don't why people like Michael Moore and Bill Maher are supporting this high corruption.....

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Big Al's picture

what they pretend to be.
Like a lot of the Daily Kos liberals/progressives, they're all that when it's about a republican president, or candidate, but when it's a dem president, or candidate, anything goes. Evidently they're tribal in nature.

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Centaurea's picture

This means that for the Boomers (like me) and Gen Xers, we've spent all or almost all of our adult lives under the reign of Reagan-Bush-Obama-Clinton. Decades upon decades. No wonder so many of the over-45 crowd are having trouble opening their eyes to what's really going on. To them, this is normal. This is how life is supposed to be.

To open one's eyes, to be willing to question the worldview that one has held for 40 years, and to change it -- that takes self-awareness and courage. Some of us are doing it (heck, some of us have been questioning things as a matter of course forever), but I see so many people my age clinging tooth and nail to the old worldview, the old way of life, the illusion. Maybe that's natural human behavior, but it's not going to serve them well, given the state of the world in the year 2016 and the radical changes that are likely on the way.

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"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi

"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone

turned 18 in 1964 (but the voting age was 21 at that time) and are 70 now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomers They are no longer a majority of the population, though: Millennials are. However, everyone older than Millennials probably outnumber the Millennials. GenXers, however, believe Obama is a liberal.

In any event, getting elected is all about who shows up at the polls. And LOTE voting.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

Unfortunate, but not as bad as we were earlier in life.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Unfortunate, but not as bad as we were earlier in life.

I'm not sure what you mean. I was never for either Clinton.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

people in high school supported Reagan. Though it was hard to tell how large a percentage they were, because those who were against Reagan from my generation often weren't activists; they were just irritated and cynical. The percentage of us actively working against Reagan and his crap seemed pretty small. Though valiant: we did some good anti-apartheid work, some good work in favor of HIV positive folks, some good work against nukes and for the environment. But there weren't many of us.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

Boomers might even remember Eisenhower, a little; would remember Kennedy and Johnson and Nixon. These leaders obviously had their bad points, but they existed before the most recent coup altered the American political landscape in the late 70s and established the current political reality.

I'm an old enough Gen-Xer that I can just remember the way things were before that coup.

What's amazing here is that it's the people who can remember a different (though admittedly not a very positive) political reality--AND who got an education, assuming they're white, that would be the envy of anybody under 50--who are flocking to the fascist, warmongering status quo candidate. The "This message brought to you by the Capitalism Death Cult" candidate.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Lily O Lady's picture

night Kennedy was elected. I remember standing on the street when his casket passed by on its way to the Capitol. I remember LBJ and his television speeches.

I remember Vietnam. My senior English teacher was widowed by that war. Earth Day happened my senior year.

In college I campaigned for McGovern and his negative income tax, now known as a guaranteed income. I couldn't believe that people didn't see that the New Nixon was still Tricky Dick. Watergate proved that to be true.

I remember how irate everyone was when Nixon said, "If the president does it, it isn't illegal." How times have changed. That same statement now seems perfectly acceptable. I blame that on the rehabilitation of Nixon into an elder statesman.

I can't vote for Hillary. I won't vote for Hillary. When I was young we thought things were getting better for people, the biosphere, everything!

My mom always said not to leave a mess behind when you move out. I'll do what I can not to leave a mess behind me.

Edited because: curse you autocorrect!

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

OLinda's picture

You used to hear mentions of this at the beginning of the campaign. Then, it just dropped off. Don't know why. Bernie didn't mention it as far as I recall, and I don't think Trump did either. It has always been a big deal to me. Don't understand why more people didn't bring it up. Why do you think that is?

The thought of Bill back in the White House makes me ill. The thought of the sight of both of them walking across the White House lawn again also makes me ill.

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reflectionsv37's picture

For some reason, the 2nd Clinton doesn't seem to scare them as much. Maybe when it's Chelsea's turn people will start to complain about it again.

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“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
George W. Bush

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

Community service, in my view.

One of the most powerful aspects of propaganda is its camera eye effect. It is extremely hard to resist that particular aspect.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

hellinahandcart's picture

"The thought of Bill back in the White House makes me ill. The thought of the sight of both of them walking across the White House lawn again also makes me ill."

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doesn't emphasize the issue. He should. Maybe they need to install a revolving door at the White House.

Obama on the other hand, promised change we could believe in. And he sure didn't look anything like a Bush or a Clinton. Him and his change - they weren't at all hard to believe in, at the time... but he turned out to be more of a smooth talking place-holder than anything else. Obama's been like Lucy, who pulls the football away just when Charlie Brown gives a mighty kick... to where it used to be... and falls flat on his ass.

So now Obama deftly hands the football off to Hillary... a quick lateral pass! We're meant to have another kick at it - are you ready? This election could be almost funny if the real world was a cartoon.

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native

It's hard to believe that he ran just for the purpose of losing to Hillary. On the other hand, he spent not a cent on the primary and a sharp ten year old running for POTUS would have known better than to say some of the things Trump said and Trump is not a maroon.

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Trump's ego tends to overtake his better judgement. He really is enormously proud of himself. But unlike Hillary, he actually believes most of what he says he believes. Unfortunately, much of it is self-serving nonsense.

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native

I don't know how it serves his ego to say things so egregious that no decent person will want to vote for him, so he hands Hillary a historic victory over him.

Right now, I'm thinking of his mocking the movements of a physically challenged person, very similar to the way that Limbaugh did with Michael J. Fox. Maybe too similar, now that I think about it. Or to talk about blood coming out from an unspecified place in a woman's body. The stuff is just too far out and I don't think he's that stupid. It's so extreme, it's like he's begging to be reviled, begging to lose.

Plus not spending a cent on the primary, not preparing for debates....it's all pointing toward a guaranteed loss of historic proportions to one of the least liked candidates in U.S. history. Someone he may have had a chance at defeating if he had played it smarter.

I think most, if not all, politicians have enormous egos, especially those who run for President. They have served it by trying to win the highest office in the land, , maybe getting a mistress or two and/or a few $1,000 haircuts along the way.

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Bisbonian's picture

be worse than Hillary. Sometimes, he has to try REALLY hard.

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

that he would run for the purpose of losing. But it seems like the only rational explanation. On the other hand, if that were his goal, he could have chosen a worse VP candidate. From the perspective of needing to shore up the religious right, despite his lifestyle and potty mouth, he chose a pretty good one. Or, his kids did, if the official story is to be believed.

I don't know. I know only that I hate this election and the prospect of the next 4 to 8 years a lot.

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TheOtherMaven's picture

and he's playing the role to perfection. The problem is, Shillary, the designated Face, was born to play a Heel and Her essential Heelness keeps showing through.

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Mark from Queens's picture

keeping their candidate out of public view as much as possible, minimizing her debate appearances and greasing the palms of the media would not be enough to distract from the fact that she represents to the American public quintessentially their two most loathed characteristics in politics: monarchy and privileged insider. Sooner or later she would have to come out and face that music.

Now that she's close to the finish line, after being propped up with every advantage by every two-bit, two-faced agent, a sudden, sinking-of-the-stomach reality is setting in and about to turn the proverbial face of America pale. Like a Jack-in-the-Box popping up on an unsuspecting populace who hadn't really been paying attention and are now about the have to face the stone cold reality of this development...

Oooohh nooooo, here they come again! The Clintons? Back in the White House?? Again???

It's gonna get ugly.

Sorry I'm late to the thread. I'll just add some of my past prognostications on the infernal situation now inexorably upon us.

Wrote this back in December:

Is this not The Elephant In The Room?

If Clinton is the nominee, it will be a non-stop torrent of attacks against the idea of monarchy.

Just think of it, an actual former President, himself, back in the White House, again.

The whole world snickered and shook their heads at us electing two Bushes. Out of hundred of millions of people in this vast and varied country, we still can’t come up with Presidents not named Bush or Clinton?

Now we’re going to test the patience of an already restless, pissed off middle class electorate still slogging through an economic crisis to imagine how cute it would be, if we could just have Clintons back for a Round 2?

If nothing else can convince you an HRC candidacy will go down like the Titanic in the GE, this should give you serious pause.

Even against abysmal Repug candidates this will be very difficult to overcome.

And to the Neoliberal clown carrying water for the oligarchy, BBB, I wrote this in Nov:

Clinton vs. Trump will be the political equivalent of Dancing With The Stars meets Survivor celebrity spectacle, with the two well-known figures enmeshed in a fight to the death of trying to out-tough talk each other into the White House (caveat: I’ve never seen more than a minute of these shows and may be mixing them up).

By the end of October 2016 Hillary will be promising major battalions of Army, Air Force and Marines to be lined up throughout the Mexican border, simultaneous bombing campaigns on four different continents, stripping away all welfare programs to make way for austerity, promising a return to her husband’s Three Strikes policy in order to appease fear-laden white voters with tough-on-crime/law and order promises and of course, more cabinet positions for the savvy Economic Terrorists who have cut $30 million worth of checks to the family.

The possibilities for ugliness, venality, crassness, dystopia and mind-numbing pandering in that scenario are endless.

At least they had a good time together at Trump’s daughter’s wedding though. And there’s sure to be lots of American flags every time she’s on stage. So you should feel more assured than having had to suffer yesterday through Bernie’s grumpiness at Georgetown where he dared not to be swimming in red, white and blue, forced to explain over and over how the system has been hijacked by wealthy interests.

and in Oct 2015:

And the flip side to this is people start looking at the whole electoral process as a charade, which confirms their instincts that it doesn’t really matter who you vote for because it’s already been appointed by the powers that be (read: Bush II, 2nd Clinton Inauguration). One looks around and sees endless war, a huge gap between rich and poor and slogs along. But on a very visceral level they understand something is deeply wrong.

And when they hear someone like Sanders pointing this out very clearly, they perhaps for the first time in their lives feel a candidate addressing that malaise in a way they find believable, honest and refreshing. That is what will reenergize people to at least give it one more chance. The thought of Clinton becoming the nominee, for many across the entire political spectrum (I daresay the majority), is highly unpalatable as it is confirmation that the fix is in.

60% of citizens don’t vote, and this is exactly why. I have a feeling a good many of those could come out for Sanders. If it’s Clinton, be prepared to watch a mass exodus from the polls as the air pops right out of the balloon Sanders is floating high. For many, I believe, the thought of the former First Lady in 1993 coming back to become President, with the former President standing next to her, is a scene that is just not going to sit well with people who have to endure two disastrous Bush presidencies and the absolute verification that this country has become a monarchy not unlike the one the Continental Congress of 1775 sought to unseat.

As for your belabored point, that revolution is hard and feared. I call BS. Please re-visit the famously bold and apropos more than ever words of that last great and perhaps greatest of Democratic voices, FDR: “Let us never forget, we are a nation of revolutionaries and immigrants.”

Hit the books my dear compatriots. Did you know during the 1930’s massive Farm Alliances in the Midwest shut down highways to prevent their harvest from going to market because they were being bankrupted by Wall St speculators? Did you know the entire city of San Francisco was paralyzed by a General Strike in 1934? The talk throughout the country was revolution, which is what in the end both forced FDR’s hand in many ways and buttressed him to go up against the oligarchs of his time. They sure as fuck felt revolution in the air, and the blood-sucking oligarch capitalists backed off as a result, which ushered in arguably a period of relative prosperity for the middle class in the ensuing decades, in which unions were strong, the rich were taxed at very high rates and there were firewall protections against big bank speculation shenanigans.

I say, then, to the ignorant masses you point to, or to be kind, the bamboozled consumers who believe the American Dream is garage and attics filled with cheap disposable goods made by slave and child labor in SE Asia and are ever just one lottery ticket away from becoming rich - pick up a goddamn book and learn your true history.

No, no. As Americans, revolution is in our blood. The writing is on the wall. Walk down the streets and engage strangers. Ask them about their jobs, the cost of living, how much rent is, their kids college, the small businesses in their towns, their healthcare premiums, the cost of drugs, if they want another war, etc. People are fed up, and know something is amiss. Every poll bears out that big majorities of people believe an oligarchy control the elections with their money, get their wishes in legislation and have unfairly accumulated ghastly wealth.

Sanders is the only candidate addressing these things head on in a way people can understand.

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

the campaign, especially the primary, but the only music she is going to have to face is Hail to the Chief. That makes me nauseous.

The rich and/or powerful are very different from you and me. (Deepest and sincere apologies to F. Scott Fitzgerald for mangling his elegant observation.)

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A tad less certain that Mrs. Hedge Fund, Chelsea will, but who knows? Hillary could not have been more closely identified with Goldman Sachs, yet she is going to be President on the theory that Trump is worse.

The two most disliked candidates in U.S. history and one of them will be POTUS anyway, because Americans assume she is the lesser of the two evils.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

at this point.

I don't think they'll trash my vote for Stein b/c they still think she's not a viable threat to their power; but I could be wrong about that.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

riverlover's picture

And I mean it.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

She covers her bases.

Unfortunately she wins and is our next Pres, we have to hold her accountable. We have some leverage with Bernie and Liz. Unfortunately it will all be spent defending Social Security privatization, but we have to fight.
We are going to get zero progressive legislation but we can defend the last bastions we have.

Nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts.....we are screwed.

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lunachickie's picture

want to throw a monkey wrench into the process? Here's where you start with your civil disobedience, because this is a classic bullshit law that DEMANDS challenging.

I'll be over my cowardice of the primary when I go vote this time. Fuck them, I am taking a picture of my ballot if I have to fucking go to jail to get it.

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Bisbonian's picture

All of Oregon does, and several states allow it. Seems to work. I'd like to see more of it.

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

riverlover's picture

but can't guarantee that it would be counted. Wrote in Teachout for Gov, no idea if that was counted. Nice people at my local voting place.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

lunachickie's picture

While I loved the convenience of early voting, lately, I suspect that it's as bogus and fixed as the shit done on Election Day. Because why the hell would people who hate me and think of me as "rabble" do me any favors?

Fuck that, I'll be there in the flesh this time, no matter how long it takes.

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Bisbonian's picture

either way.

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

jwa13's picture

"... it doesn't matter who votes. What matters is who COUNTS those votes --"

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When Cicero had finished speaking, the people said “How well he spoke”.
When Demosthenes had finished speaking, the people said “Let us march”.

lunachickie's picture

but at the end of the actual Election Day, they probably have to be sneaky about fixing it in front of others who could end up as witnesses. Whereas with a mail-in ballot or early voting, with less people around, maybe that doesn't happen?

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earthling1's picture

and Bernie won the primary by a landslide. I didn't hear the Clinton campaign questioning the results. I'm convinced my.ballot was safe all the way to where it was to be counted.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

except, perhaps, locally.

too late to figure out how to influence them; what we need is more communities of self-defence.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

lotlizard's picture

They're questioning and challenging the legitimacy of the system, while the oh-so-"moderate" (so-called) Left is totally covering for the rigged status quo and every Clinton–Obama (= Bush–Cheney continuity) policy.

A pro status quo "Left" is useless and good for nothing, like the salt in the Bible that has lost its savor (i.e. no longer has any salty taste).

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thanatokephaloides's picture

A pro status quo "Left" is useless and good for nothing, like the salt in the Bible that has lost its savor (i.e. no longer has any salty taste).

IOW, fish tank gravel.

Wink

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

accountable that were not tried with Obama vis a vis a strong public option, why say that? There is no way I know of to hold a POTUS accountable anymore, short of armed revolution and I'm not sure we'd get away with that, given the NSA, Homeland Security, etc.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

..... to make a photograph of a voted ballot for any reason.

This, however, is the first election I know of where TPTB are making sure everyone knows that.

Things that make you go "hmmmmm....."

Diablo

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

lunachickie's picture

if you live there.

What's the point of TPTB going out of their way for that? I don't get it....

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thanatokephaloides's picture

It's time to get misdemeanored, then if you live there.

No offense intended to you, luna (Cat, you should know me by now!!) but that's NOT a good idea. It could provide TPTB an open, legal excuse to not count your ballot -- any of it -- at all.

What's the point of TPTB going out of their way for that? I don't get it....

They. Want. Hillary. Clinton. To. Win. This. Election. With as little muss-and-fuss as possible.

Please remember that I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado. TPTB around here like Forever War. It fills their pockets without any nasty considerations like employing Serfs. These folks wouldn't mind Chump, either, but their reaction to Dr. Jill Stein resembles that of a vampire to the consecrated Eucharist.

Diablo

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

that convinced the President he must endorse Hillary.

Though they work for the same people, personally B.O. does not particularly like Hillary. That's an understatement.

So apparently Michelle and Valerie Jarrett convinced him. I expect both of them to get rewards.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

lunachickie's picture

do you remember where you saw that? I'm not surprised a bit--mostly, I want to say I saw the bit about Michelle, too, and I can't remember where, myself Wink

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

I searched it on Google and couldn't find it.

Second time this week. I've been letting my standards slip, here; gotta step up.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

lunachickie's picture

there are so many lies and so much noise, it's a wonder we can search and find anything more than a couple days old, huh?

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Obama and Hillary made their deal in 2008, when she promised him she and Bill would campaign their hearts out for him and she would not challenge him in 2012. Obama is keeping his end of the bargain, either because he is honorable and/or because the Clintons have something on him or someone close to him.

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It's been an illusion since 1620 C.E. (No clue what the deal was when Jamestown was first settled, but it was probably an illusion then as well.) I hate to say it, but Americans are sheeple. Part of what keeps us that way, I think, is another illusion, namely, the illusion that the U.S. is a democracy and the choices we and our fellow voters make are responsible for what we do and don't get. That is one of the reasons I keep pointing out that the U.S. is, and always has been, both a republic and a plutocracy: It never was intended to be, and never was, a democracy.

The illusion was maintained from the off because the Constitutional Convention was secret, something history teachers tend to rationalize. The notes of the secret convention (themselves very likely incomplete, IMO) show how the vaunted Framers distrusted and feared* the rabble and were loathe to give them power. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/yates.asp

Keeping power out of the hands of the rabble was the reason that the Senate has so many more powers than the House. The Constitution originally provided that only state legislatures would elect Senators. And guess who controlled colonial lawmaking until 1776? Yep, appointees of the King(s). Guess who owned a lot of the land when, according to the Constitution, only landowners could vote? Yep, recipients of land grants from the King(s) and the heirs of those recipients. Sure, some of the loyalists went to Canada or England, leaving the rabble to buy or appropriate their property, but not all of them.

*When the Constitution was first circulated for ratification, it lacked the Bill of Rights, which was, of course, based on rights granted Brits by King John in the Magna Carta of 1215 C.E. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John,_King_of_England

The rationale for not mentioning any states' rights or individual rights, only federal powers, was that the federal government had only the very limited powers that Article I specifically granted it and the Constitution did not affect the rights of the states or the people. The good news is that the rabble didn't buy it. The all too easily never-satisfied rabble demanded from their new federal government a pony a unicorn the same rights that evil King John had granted Brits over a half a millennium earlier. The bad news is the federal government ignores the Bill of Rights whenever it wants. But, I digress:

The rabble insisted on the Bill of Rights and the Framers, hungry for ratification ASAP, did a Wimpy: We'll gladly pay you provide you the Bill of Rights on Tuesday very soon in return for ratification of the Constitution as it is today now. Lo and behold, the Framers actually kept that promise--and only six months later! Why? Maybe because the rabble had just taken up arms against the last guy who they felt had screwed them (Georgie Trey, who was either physically or mentally ill periodically, depending up which scientific analysis you prefer. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1843211/ http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22122407) I suspect that the rabble-fearing Framers did not want to risk a reprise of 1776.

In my opinion, the New Deal and the War on Poverty were also "given" us (with our money) to avoid risk of popular uprising, but that is another century and another story entirely.

Or not.

By the way, if you think you are tired of Obama, wait until Hillary is My Damned President Madame President.

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as a bailout for the capitalists who once again trashed the country. There was a strong socialist/communist presence even in rural areas like MN and WI and CP USA provided much of the organizing for civil rights and for keeping homeowners from being foreclosed upon.

Also with the New Deal came a renewed effort to demonize and then stamp out the Left. It seems to be that FDR in general was to the left of anyone now in either party who is both elected and prominent, but FDR treated the symptoms and not the cause.

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"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

riverlover's picture

I think that you may be correct that just enough crumbs get tossed to the masses to pacify for a time. This is not how we were taught the way things work? I should go sit in on some civics classes at my local HS, but that requires photo ID to enter. What a mess.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

I learned nothing in high school or beyond that prepared me for the reality of U.S. politics.

My take on the New Deal: http://caucus99percent.com/comment/195476#comment-195476

I have made other posts about it here, but the search function here defies me constantly and I lack the patience to pour over My Comments until I find the posts I want.

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Lily O Lady's picture

non-essential for the modern cog in the corporate machine.

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

One was bones thrown to the rabble to keep them from doing what the Russian people had done twelve years earlier. This protected all the rich, as well as keeping some people from starving. The other side was to rebuild confidence in the banks and Wall Street so that Mr., Mrs. and Ms. America would once more feel safe putting their money into banks and buying securities from Wall Street.

What the rich got from the New Deal, in my opinion, far exceeded what the poor got from it.

I have no idea how far left FDR was. Until Hoover/FDR, Republicans were considered the liberal party. So, growing up Democratic, especially in NY, does not necessarily shout "liberal" to me, though I suppose it was possible. I think FDR was sufficiently brilliant to see what he had to do to protect his class of demi Tsars and to save the country as it circled the drain. With a healthy dose of ego and humor.

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TheOtherMaven's picture

Look up "Shays' Rebellion". That's what scared them into realizing they needed more centralized power than the Articles of Confederation granted - and kept them scared enough to keep their promises of a Bill of Rights. (Note: At least half the states that ratified the brand-new Constitution made their approval *totally* contingent on having a Bill of Rights within the first session of Congress.)

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

just happen to think that rising up against the King, whether King John or King George, was a closer parallel to rising up against the then new federal government.

I'm not sure that Shay's Rebellion affected Article I. I realize some politicians of that time cited the rebellion as a reason to write a Constitution, rather than amend the Articles of Confederation, but I see no reason to take politicians' explanations and rationalizations of their power grab literally because they gave those reasons in 1787 anymore than I would take them literally if I heard them them today. Wiki seems to be similarly cynical:

The Constitutional Convention[1]:31(also known as the Philadelphia Convention,[1]:31 the Federal Convention,[1]:31 or the Grand Convention at Philadelphia[2][3]) took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although the Convention was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation, the intention from the outset of many of its proponents, chief among them James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, was to create a new government rather than fix the existing one. I imagine that Jefferson, author of the Virginia Constitution, sided with Madison and Hamilton. (Even though Jefferson was away, he was in communication via diplomatic pouch.)

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we refer to ourselves as a single Nation rather than as a Union of States. So that in common parlance we say the United States is, rather than the United States are, which would be grammatically correct.

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native

thanatokephaloides's picture

I find it interesting that we refer to ourselves as a single Nation rather than as a Union of States. So that in common parlance we say the United States is, rather than the United States are, which would be grammatically correct.

That change happened between 1865 and 1870, as a result of the War Between The States. We faced the fact that most of the laws any citizen obeys, and all the rights any citizen has, needed to be the same throughout the country. (Which they would be if the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Federal Constitution would be enforced as they should be, but never have been.)

It was also during this time period that "The United States of America" became an "it" (or a "her") rather than a "them" as it had been before.

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

"The construction crew are working hard to finish the building by December."
I'm not sure when Americans decided to go another way.

Anyway, the United States does = a group of states that threw in their lot with each other, but it is also the name of one nation. "One nation, under God," according the pledge of allegiance that the Rooskies, with their filthy, atheistic ways, forced us to amend. I'm so glad we get to hate them again.

Damn that Putin--and the horse he rode in on!

Wink

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

That the dominance of the Clintons and Bushes dates not really from 1988-2008, 2016-2024 but from 1980-2008, 2016-2024.

Our two royal families, and their frenemy. (Dontcha just hate it when the boss promotes some outsider who's caught his eye over you?)

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

riverlover's picture

still up down the street. But I want a mega-political sign, and ask for help. I have plastic signs that can be used. Suggestions? Jill is too easy, I want a car-wreck (not really) sign that makes people think and wake up. I live on a slow-down curve, mailbox gets plow hits most years.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

earthling1's picture

"NO INCUMBENTS
EVER

With a gaudy red line through it.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

earthling1's picture

It's about ISDS
Stupid!

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Bisbonian's picture

Jeb, Chelsea.

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

movie buff's picture

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"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum." --Noam Chomsky

Bisbonian's picture

I was gonna mention her, but I couldn't remember her name, and wasn't motivated enough to look it up.

More coffee.

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

lunachickie's picture

every time I think of the Bush twins, I think of this:

(Jenna and little Babs feature prominently, hehe)

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sojourns's picture

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"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

We won't have another chance if Hillary is elected. Stock up - don't bother if you live near a target - and start learning some primitive skills. Hard to start going into winter, but there we are.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

Stock up - don't bother if you live near a target - and start learning some primitive skills.

So choosing to hold out in my Colorado Springs home town will end up saving me money and grief. I'll just "Be Eaten First" !!

Bad

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

movie buff's picture

For half a century (1952-2004, minus the anomalous Goldwater year) the GOP ticket always included someone named Nixon, Bush, or Dole. Such a vulgar display of dynastic power must have made the "party of the people" jealous. How else do you explain how they fixed things to ensure the Queen's coronation?

Here in the US we've always prided ourselves on how we broke away from royalty, yet we keep voting to concentrate power in so few hands, as if we have a subconscious need to recreate the world from which we fled. At least in the UK they have the decency to treat their own royalty with the mockery and contempt they deserve.

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"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum." --Noam Chomsky

I love your signature line as well. It shows how street smart Lincoln was, as well as being brilliant in other ways.

Putting up with adversity is like getting old. It's not great, but the only alternative is worse. So, yes, those who are unfortunate put up with being unfortunate.

But, when you are wealthy and/or in power, you do have choices. What you choose when you actually have realistic choices, yes, those choices do say a lot about you.

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Big Al's picture

"There is no US election. There is power consolidation. Rigged primary, rigged media and rigged 'pied piper' candidate drive consolidation."

Obama's emails Wikileaks released show how he was the chosen on and Clinton. This election has been a setup from the start, what many of us knew all along. And you know it was for Bush before that.
Bernie knew that, he had to know.

They take everybody for a ride with these presidential elections and it's been proven. We should be really pissed off.

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a further consolidation of corporate friendly judges from federal district judges on up to the Supreme Court. I think Clinton is more likely to appoint "law and economics" judges than Trump would have been. The "Chicago School" judges believe in such a thing as "free markets" and will use the full weight of government(No, they don't see the irony) to prohibit any regulatory efforts. This bought and paid for coterie believes body parts should be freely traded and adoptions be run on for-profit markets.

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"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"

This represents the end of the Republic and the beginning of the collapse of the American Empire.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

TheOtherMaven's picture

depending on when you start and stop counting. The end of the Roman Republic began the Empire, and it expanded for about two centuries before reaching limits it could not or would not exceed. After that it was a slow contraction and gradual disintegration, lasting maybe another two centuries (the Eastern half, doing business as the "Byzantine Empire", kept going for a millennium after that!).

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

during the Republic, after Carthage was demolished in third Punic War. But our Republic seems to be on thin ice if it's still here.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

thanatokephaloides's picture

I believe Rome conquered most of the Mediterranean during the Republic, after Carthage was demolished in third Punic War. But our Republic seems to be on thin ice if it's still here.

I've now got this sick remake of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar running through my head, with Hillary Clinton as Caesar, etc.

Hillary: Let me have men about me that are fat;
Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o' nights:
Yond Donald has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.

Wink

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Bisbonian's picture

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

I'm not ready to call her Nero yet but maybe Tiberius's manipulator, Sejanus, who helped make sure the Republic was good and buried.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

thanatokephaloides's picture

(the Eastern half, doing business as the "Byzantine Empire", kept going for a millennium after that!).

Actually, the "Byzantines" never knew themselves as such. As far as they were concerned, they were the Romans (ρωμαίοi) and after the fall of the Western Empire in 476 CE, there were no others. And you're right: those Romans kept right on Romaning along until May 29, 1453 (O.S.), when Constantinople fell to the armies of Mehmed II.

The term "Byzantine" is a coining of post-Renaissance Western historiographers to describe a "Roman" Empire which did not include Rome. It was coined from the name of the tiny Greek fishing village over which Constantine I built his new capital city.

Today's name for that same city, Istanbul, is exactly as Turkish as Sofia Milos. It's a compound of three Greek words, εις την πόλιν (in[to] the city), with just a little Turkish accent.

Smile

(Have you viewed Terry Jones' Crusades, by any chance, T.O.M.?)

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

If they have an organized religion that can use the threat of heresy and going to hell, to keep people in line, as emperor Constantine discovered with Christianity. Paganism doesn't cut it in that regard.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

From Bush to Clinton to Bush to Obama to Clinton.

the main reason i didn't want Clinton in '08 or '16. Bush/Clinton. rinse. repeat. i've had enough. the country isn't any better for it.

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

have it locked up (yet). Wink

Seriously, we started watching campaign rallies (online) a couple of weeks ago, and we're floored by the difference in the campaign rally attendance.

Here's just one example of the contrast, from a WJC and DT rally in Pensacola, FL. We had to use a surrogate-led rally for FSC, since she has personally participated in so few rallies. And, we're finding that there are no, or very few photos s of the audiences at FSC's rallies--so we're forced to get the best screen grab that we can find.

WJC's attendance tally in this venue was in the hundreds. The attendance tally for DT's rally was 15,000 plus.

(BTW, well aware of the politics of the Panhandle, since we have property there, and realize that it would be expected that DT would draw a considerably larger crowd there, than would FSC. We're going to be watching some of their rallies online as they campaign in the 'swing states,' over the final two weeks. So, it could very well be that the size of her crowds will pick up appreciably, since the claim is that she is almost double digits ahead in many polls.)

Here you go,

Bill Clinton Rally, Pensacola, FL  (October 2016).png
[WJC Campaign Rally, Credit: Screen Grab, Pensacola, FL]

Crowd At Trump Rally, Pensacola, FL  (Sept 2016).png
[DT Rally, Credit: The Last Refuge, Pensacola, FL]

We're got a vacation planned immediately following election day. Either way, we'll definitely need time to 'recuperate from' what will be one of the worst travesties that we've witnessed in our lifetimes.

Biggrin

Hey, thanks for this essay, and have a good one, Al!

Mollie


“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit and therefore– to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)

The SOSD Fantastic Four

Available For Adoption, Save Our Street Dogs, SOSD

Taro
Taro, SOSD

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Mark from Queens's picture

I think this is an important aspect that we all know and accept as undisputed fact, but there hasn't been enough documentation of it.

It is strange, isn't it, that this elephant in the room hasn't been discussed more? Because it makes for the greatest script for the essence of the Emperor's New Clothes parable.

Would love to see more on this. Wonder if anyone's compiled footage in one place?

Jimmy Dore did something last week, comparing an embarrassingly lackluster group of disinterested folks waiting on line to get into an HRC rally that featured a pathetic HS cheerleader-style (literally, the only thing missing was pom-poms. So typically clueless of the hapless campaign to play perfectly into reinforcing the image we've all had from the beginning of her supporters being so infantile and sophomoric), comparing it to a packed stadium of ecstatic Bernie supporters giving him a rousing, deafening one minute straight wild standing ovation when he took the stage.

I also remember when hearing of the #BLM protest of a Bill Clinton appearance in Philly, looking further into it and finding some footage that showed how embarrassingly small the gathering was - literally that was in a high school gym, again half-filled.

The biggest juxtaposition of this for me personally, however, was on the very same day Bernie spoke to 30k in the S. Bronx, which included many young black and brown folks who were over the top excited to be there and a diversity that mixed Woodstock with Hip Hop Nation, she was speaking to "maybe 500" at Purchase College in Westchester, where 50 protesters got up and said "if she wins, we lose," turned around and left. That pretty much says it all. There's just so many of these. Didn't she have to cancel rallies, just after she "won" the primary, due to lack of interest.

Yet there's not much in the way of video or pictures. Guess they must be really tightly controlling the optics, by either confiscating phones or not allowing them in, because so little documentation of these events make it online. Everybody knows she can't draw a crowd, nobody understands that more than her campaign. And they've been in public relations damage control very the get-go because of it.

We know the spineless, complicit media hasn't and won't do it. But there's a huge opportunity for citizen watchdogs/journalists to do our own reporting, or just simply taking pictures and putting them up online.

This Emperor's New Clothes fraud must be exposed for many reasons. When she wins, possibly in a landslide (ugh, what a con game) it'll be incumbent on us to prove she has no fucking mandate at all. No one came out for Her. No. One. They voted out of fear, non-stop, over-the-top, relentless fear-mongering. That ain't a mandate. The narrative must be she has no real support, notwithstanding the faux feminists and sleepwalking Dem partisan flunkies.

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

Mark from Queens's picture

Indeed, they have secrecy guidelines to deal with the paltry support they expect at her scheduled appearances.

Here's the Jackpine Radicals essay:

"These WikiLeaks dumps have so many interesting tid-bits. It turns out Her campaign has a policy for controlling the narrative and concealing the small turnout at her fundraisers and campaign events…

Less than 100 people – NO cell phones, NO press.

Over 100 people YES cell phones, and ONE print pooler will be escorted in for her remarks only and then escorted out. NO tv cameras.

Over 500 people in a public space – YES cell phones, OPEN press (all press access including tv cameras).

At fundraisers in private homes NO tv cameras no matter the size. ONE print pooler only.

And how to sell to the attendees on the odd requirement of requiring them to turn in their phones? Simple! It’s for “fairness”…

Since the event is not open to cameras from the media b/c of space, we will be asking you to check your cell phones so images aren’t released from the event that were unavailable to the media. We take our relationship with the press seriously and don’t want them to be at a disadvantage.

I wonder how many rules like this were used for the Sanders campaign events… Or even Trump’s, for that matter. My favorite part is Huma’s understatement to the poor saps who would be responsible for carrying out the phone confiscation:

This is not ideal but i realize there is precedent we have to follow.

https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/5240

Contemplate the cumulative impact on morale this would have for the young campaign staffers who have a daily front-row seat to this ongoing charade…"

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

Lenzabi's picture

Born in 1964, so a Boomer-Xer on the cusp year. I find none of this as normal.

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So long, and thanks for all the fish

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

would have to recognize the change. Things have been extremely ugly in this New American Century (to quote a phrase).

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Lenzabi's picture

Yes they have! I even knew costs of things as a kid, so the 1973 oil crisis, I saw the recession hit with inflation and houses and cars were going to be out of my grasp by the time I hit adulthood and I knew it. Cars I owned at any time were old, used and almost ready for the junk yards.

Houses, well again, rentals is all I have lived in since I moved out of my parents' house long ago.

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So long, and thanks for all the fish

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