In a bold and stunning move, Senate Dems tap Schumer as their leader.

OK, far from bold. And far, far away from stunning. As is done in a fraternal organization where the leadership moves "up the chairs", Wall Street's darling is now the Minority Leader in the Senate. Once you become 2nd Vice President at the Elks Lodge, you simply wait your turn to be Grand Poobah (kinda like Her Heinous, btw). Like the generals who insist on fighting the last war. Like an MLB baseball team that hires a manager who has lost at every franchise he's managed (because he's a good 'baseball man'), Chuck Schumer is the Democratic leader in the Senate.

Thirsting for new ideas and a new direction, we get the 'same old, same old'. Not that there was ever much doubt. If there was EVER an exclusive "members only" club, it's the United States Senate. While I truly hope that he does a good job, I'm afraid that his definition of 'a good job' is very different from mine. I don't look for much introspection from the guy who said this during the POTUS general election campaign:

“For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.”

Oh well:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chuck-schumer-senate-minority-leader...

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Comments

but look at the bright side of Chuckie becoming leader.
1. It makes the owners happy.
2. He will be instrumental in giving us the sequel "Return of the Clintons Part 4. Chelsea's Revenge"
3. He can ensure the party doesn't wander too far into the dark and forbidden Progressive Forest.

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I guess it could be a vampire flick as well.

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He may stop doing those sunday morning press conferences where he expresses such earnest concern for some issue or the other, declares "what we must do" about it, and then promptly forgets about it all. Those outside of the NY media area are probably not aware of this, but it happens every sunday like clockwork.

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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

edg's picture

Shumer will bring new thinking and massive disruption to the job and will set Democrats on course for taking back our country and making America great again. Then, in his spare time, he will...

/snark off

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divineorder's picture

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

Wink's picture

for a second.

(not)

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

Pricknick's picture

the democrats changing their ways.
Anybody who still thinks the party can be salvaged?

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Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

flowerfarmer's picture

the party can be salvaged?

Hell, no.

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detroitmechworks's picture

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

You mean like chopped up and sold for scrap?

Sure.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

riverlover's picture

Quelle surprise! Flush that Party.

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Amanda Matthews's picture

fecal matter.

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I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

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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

Cassiodorus's picture

Ask the folks in my diary who think there will never, ever be a realignment.

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"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

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Wink's picture

Vote out the remainder in 2018, Rinse, repeat. Eventually we get ourselves a blue team.

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

is always thinking outside of the box.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

Azazello's picture

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

Consider that neither head of the DNC who presided over widespread losses was fired and Tim Kaine who was head of the DNC in 2010 and lost 63 seats in the house saw it as a call for more bi-partisanship and was rewarded with the plum of being HRC's VP. Now, as to Schumer -

In the essay that I wrote about Schumer's crazy abandon the blue collars strategy S'More Tales From Around the Democratic Campfire I cited the intro part of the Schumer quote:

“The number one factor in whether we retake the Senate is whether Hillary Clinton does well, and I think she’s going to do really well. [...] For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.”

In the comments untimely ripped made the following incredibly astute observation:

The most remarkable error laid bare in Schumer's strategerizing is the bizarre notion that Republicans who jumped the fence to vote HRC would vote Democratic downballot!

WTF? I've never heard any politician ever suggest that crossing the party lines at the top of the ticket would bring downballot success as well. In fact, one of my particular worries was that HRC's candidacy might bring out Republican women to the polls -- women who, otherwise disquieted by stuff like their party's assault on Planned Parenthood (my concern began long before the party nominated a fucking cro magnon) would likely stay home, but who would vote R downticket once they were in the booth.
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Untimely's comment has haunted me because he/she is right on the money! Luring moderate Republicans to vote for Hillary wouldn't redound to double advantage for the downballot Dems, it would actually work to their disadvantage, with more chance of a loss of the Senate than regaining it.

So, is Schumer a moron? Consider that his seat was never in any danger in New York, but who did he think the moderate Republicans Hillary was appealing to would vote for downballot? I'm with Untimely ripped that any logical thinking person would think, why more Republicans of course.

And now in installing Schumer who advocated the strategy leading to their own demise, Democrats are enshrining him as the most powerful leader?!

Here's where I'm going to go out on a big big limb. What if the Democrats don't want to be the majority Party? What if the plan all along was for HRC to repeat the pattern set by WJC - a Dem President working with Republican majorities? That's the game plan for passing the Venn diagram of programs and cuts where neo-libs and neo-conservatives intersect.

The good news in this election is that the Republicans own all of it. Let's just see how much of an effective loyal opposition the Dems under Schumer run. I predict almost complete capitulation.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Alphalop's picture

solid steel I bet.

Here's where I'm going to go out on a big big limb. What if the Democrats don't want to be the majority Party? What if the plan all along was for HRC to repeat the pattern set by WJC - a Dem President working with Republican majorities? That's the game plan for passing the Venn diagram of programs and cuts where neo-libs and neo-conservatives intersect.

This would allow them to pursue their goals while trying to play the role of the "Good guy trying to stem the bleeding by trying to work with a terrible congress." that the third wayers have been relying on to implement their conservative financial policies for decades.

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"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me

Sister Havana's picture

After all, apparently it's much easier to fundraise off "LOOK AT THIS HORRIBLE THING THE REPUBLICANS SAID OR DID! Oh, if only there was some way we could stop them..." than "This is what we accomplished, and here's what we do next."

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ggersh's picture

wjc loved having a R clowngress as an excuse to pass all the he got paid for later to the Foundation.

Also Obama had a majority for 2 years and what did he do with it, absolutely nothing.

her heinous was counting on the same dynamic and the D party and all of it's super delegates went right along with it, after all they all benefit from the status quo.

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Cassiodorus's picture

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"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

I'm observing astutely!

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

in regards to Schumer and like I said, I only got the import of your comment much later when my subconscious was chewing it over.

Almost everyone focused on the disloyalty and cynicism displayed in the Schumer strategy, you're the first person I saw who noticed the sheer unadulterated stupidity of the strategy as it related to down ballot races and the balance of Congress. If Schumer isn't simply an incredible moron, then what he revealed is that the leadership strategy might actually be to create a permanent minority but with a figurehead Democratic President, because that would be the predictable outcome of sacrificing the blue collars for Republican moderates.

When you get that as a working theory, it starts to make some of the previously inexplicable actions of the Dems start to be explicable - like running crappy candidates or no candidates when there are obvious better options on the table or like providing no discernible support to potential up and comers who skew liberal - they might start to take the "we stand for the proles" kabuki seriously.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Nonetheless, I wasn't prepared for the shocking stupidity of HRC actively seeking Republican votes. "Hey, Republicans, I know you're appalled and discouraged and demoralized by your Presidential candidate, but guess what? It's still worth getting down to the polls, because you can vote for me! And then you can vote for all the people who will prevent me from doing anything you don't like!"

But ultimately, this has always been the Clinton way: total disregard for the downballot, just get me my 50%+1 electoral votes. The most damaging outcomes of that attitude were the devastating mid-term elections of 1994 (with Bill in the White House) and 2010 (with Clintonite Kaine in charge of the DNC).

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

Not surprisingly interpreted as "they weren't Blue Doggy enough" I participated in not re-electing a Congressional Blue Dog who actually said he would vote to repeal the ACA in an effort to attract Republican votes (which he didn't get, insert Trueman quote here).

Since every single Democratic loss is always interpreted as a failure to not be Republicanlike enough, one simply has to come to the conclusion that they are irredeemably stupid or simply do not care about winning. Even this last disruption of the coronation was announced by Kaine as the public's call for "bi-partisanship" instead of the rejection of an individual candidate with numerous blots on her candidacy.

I cannot understand anyone who still feels after all the available evidence compiled over the years that the Democratic Party provides any sort of haven or hope for the 99%. We have to find other shelter.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

regarding 2008-10. The Dems had no idea they would actually acquire control of the entire government. And immediately went to work undermining that. From Obama's faux bipartisanship. To the clarion call of "we need 60! votes!". To the handwringing about blue dogs and their recalcitrance. They sweated out those two years until they could get back to that "we must cave in to the republicans" position they love. Notice all of those games (except obama's back-bending, of course) disappeared once they were in the minority.

NY state provides the most naked example of this phenomenon. We finally acquired control of the state senate and immediately, with the blessing of scumbag andy, five dems moved into the republican conference to artificially give republicans control of the senate. And they didn't forfeit their party membership OR face a primary challenge. This was done with the party's approval (if not demand).

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

You inspired me to brave the murky waters of DK and get the diaries I wrote (some of them) out of there. Now I won't have to go back again!

A while ago, I wrote two diaries: "Big Tent, My Big Ass," and "Third Rail vs Third Way, or Why Do We Even Bother." In the latter, I make the argument you're making here (from the perspective of a couple years ago).
Once I get it reformatted, I might republish it.

But thanks for giving me the motivation, because I was mondo averse to going over there for any reason whatsoever.

Sadly, it made me remember a few folks that I miss that I don't think are here--YucatanMan and Celtic Merlin among them. And SixSixSix.

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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

jwa13's picture

please republish when you can. I would be great to have some perspective on thoughts that were going down "back then" --

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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”.

detroitmechworks's picture

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

You want unicorns. /s

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detroitmechworks's picture

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMh0pV0r5jI]

Of course, I just want an honest politician, but everybody seems to think I want something POSSIBLE.

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Alphalop's picture

Wanna let them talk you into playing leapfrog...

Screw them and their damned horns. Wink

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"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me

riverlover's picture

SMH.

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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.

In an early sign of winter, perhaps, the entire countRy is covered in special snowflakes having a meltdown over their tender SJW "pain." Here's a development that could actually benefit from a few overturned cars. Where the fuck is everybody?

I saw a hilarious article this morning. Over half of the Portland protestors didn't vote in the election.

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detroitmechworks's picture

Because my ballot was "Lost in the Mail".

As was my invitation to the protests, apparently.

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Late Again's picture

on your local Craigslist. Look under 'Gigs'.

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"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained." - Mark Twain

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

Alphalop's picture

This move will just solidify the Democratic parties slide into irrelevance clearing the field for a new progressive party.

FSM knows the last one wasn't anything close to progressive, and only become more and more regressive.

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"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me

Any chance of the Dems lurching temporarily to the Left, in a pathetic attempt to kill momentum to start a third party, has now been crushed. Fewer people will continue playing the sucker game of "reform from within."

Because yeah, THAT has worked out so very well for we peasants during my lifetime!

Thanks, Democratic Party Lords and Ladies. Schumer was a swell present. We commoners really appreciate this wise choice of yours. Just continue down the chute to the rotating knives...

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"Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes

Cassiodorus's picture

from the folks around here who think there will never, ever be a realignment.

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"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

Didn't you hear? They've tapped Sanders as their new "Chair of Outreach"? Could they be any more obivously craven? I hope Bernie declines, given that he is not a democrat any longer.

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ggersh's picture

can they keep getting rewarded for losing, it's a bridge to far.

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Alphalop's picture

Sure they didn't win, but they tried didn't they?

Oh wait...

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"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me

ggersh's picture

it's 3 strikes before you're out.

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

riverlover's picture

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jwa13's picture

... a truly GREAT game. During CalvinBall play, the participants (or, maybe, only ONE participant?) get to set the rules "on the fly". Works out pretty well for one of the "participants" (read: OLIGARCHY); not so much for the observers/bettors/marks/shills (read: THE REST OF US). A link to CalvinBall (which is a hoot, BTW) --

http://calvinandhobbes.wikia.com/wiki/Calvinball

"... Sooner or later, all of our games turn into CalvinBall ..."

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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”.

riverlover's picture

that analogy. Next panel: Hobbes leap-attack!

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riverlover's picture

Poor Bernie, at least he gets the poor cousin award.

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Wink's picture

He could have gotten the cleanup committee chair.

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

Wow.

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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

Alphalop's picture

The "Look, the rubes are almost on to us, how can we use the the credibility that Sanders has with the left that hasn't already been squandered to keep those damn trouble-making assholes in line" position.

They shortened it to Outreach because they thought the other was too cumbersome (and honest).

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"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

Chair of Reach Around.

But then somebody objected that would be too honest.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Alphalop's picture

think we were making some headway with the democratic party finally.

At least we would get something out of the deep and hearty rogering they have been giving to us for decades without being afforded even that little "courtesy".

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"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me

divineorder's picture

....as long as he get he Budget gig.

Sanders, for his part, hadn’t given much thought in previous years to running for a leadership position. When a reporter asked him Tuesday night if he wanted to chair the DPCC ― the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, which Schumer is vacating to become leader ― he responded with his own question: “What is DPCC?” (It will now be chaired by Michigan’s Debbie Stabenow.)

In 2014, Schumer added moderate Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) to leadership to counterbalance Warren’s elevation. At the same time, he said that Warren was being elevated as a “liberal liaison.” This was seen as an effort to undercut her, and is echoed in the title Sanders was given.

Sanders will also serve as the top Democrat on the Budget Committee.

“That is a heavy responsibility,” he told reporters. “It helps shape the priorities of the United States government, and I am going to do everything that I can to make sure that the budget that leaves the United States Congress is a budget that represents the needs of working families and a shrinking middle class, and not millionaires and billionaires.”

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

Wink's picture

fish to fry and a revolution to start up. Outreach? I got your Outreach.

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

Think Barbara Billingsley in Airplane.

He will be the interpreter and liaison between the DFH branch of the party who still hang in there for whatever misguided reason and the Third Way upper echelon.

Let's have a pool for how many times he has to say "Perfect is the enemy of good" and "it can be improved upon later".

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Citizen Of Earth's picture

leading the lambs to slaughter.

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Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.

riverlover's picture

They don't obey sheepdogs, but run when nipped. We may turn around and bite .

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Thornrose's picture

On the linked HuffPost piece, it lists him on Budget.

Budget: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

Am I missing something?

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Thornrose's picture

Here are the Democrats who will be the ranking members of committees for the 115th Congress:

Agriculture: Sen. Debbie Stabenow (Mich.)
Armed Services: Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.)
Appropriations: Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.)
Banking: Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio)
Budget: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
Commerce: Sen. Bill Nelson (Fla.)
Energy: Sen. Maria Cantwell (Wash.)
Environment & Public Works: Sen. Tom Carper (Del.)
Finance: Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.)
Foreign Relations: Sen. Ben Cardin (Md.)
Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.)
Homeland Security: Sen. Claire McCaskill (Mo.)
Indian Affairs: Sen. Tom Udall (N.M.)
Judiciary: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.)
Rules: Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.)
Small Business: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.)
Veterans Affairs: Sen. Jon Tester (Mont.)
Aging: Sen. Bob Casey (Pa.)
Ethics: Sen. Chris Coons (Del.)
Intelligence: Sen. Mark Warner (Va.)
Joint Economic Committee: Sen. Martin Heinrich (N.M.)

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Thornrose's picture

Just because he's the ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee doesn't mean he's the Chair or has much influence.

Sorry about my confusion. In the words of Emily Latella, "Never mind."

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Amanda Matthews's picture

in this instance I'm not the only one here who said Sanders wouldn't get jack shit after the election no matter how far he bowed to her. And since she lost, oh well. He should have know.

Excuse me, Now I have to go yell at myself in the mirror.

EDIT: on/one

EDIT EDIT: Just read my post. Somehow I either imagined typing out a whole sentence, or I deleted it accidentally (I do that sometimes.) So I put it in OR back in, whichever applies.

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I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

is the CEO of EpiPen, who raised prices astronomically of late. Is corruption an ongoing requirement to fail upward in the Democratic party?

Is stupidity? Because even though he ran a brilliant campaign and has had a stellar career in the Senate, Bernie threw away the political capital he earned in the primaries by capitulating to Clinton. One would expect that now, free of her grasp, he would use his (perceived) remaining power to effect true change in the Dem party. Instead, he leases himself out to Schumer as an Outreach sheepdog. I fully expect him to be a surrogate for Chelsea when she runs for the House in 2018. The Clinton Foundation cupboards would be practically bare by then.

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More disappointed in Warren, actually. Both of them have just pissed away their credibility.

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ThoughtfulVoter's picture

Being the influential orator and crusader that Bernie is, he will undoubtedly have power as the ranking Dem on the budget committee and therefore be able to make real his campaign promises of less money for the war machine and more for the infrastructure. I am very excited to see that he got this appointment!

I believe that Bernie can do some real good in this position on two levels, with how he can 1) be involved in allocating funds, and 2) have the opportunity to bring others along in his thinking because he is not an antagonist, and can influence others, he will also get some Repub to accept some of his ideas...both which will benefit the 1%!

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riverlover's picture

A happy ending there, though. Think zero-gravity. That's where we are. I am sure to be sick, but I have an anti-emetic drug now. Enough when needed for a month. I will hoard that. Along with hydrocodone.

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sojourns's picture

Nothing but self-congratulatory bullshit.

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

leadership role: Outreach. Don't kvell or fall off your seats. Yep, Bern was so successful as Clinton's sheepdog, he agreed to reprise his role to save the Dems from oblivion in 2018 and beyond. And Keith Ellison, who Bernie wants as head of the DNC, is talking reparations and Bad Trump.

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detroitmechworks's picture

We don't think well of Goebbels.

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

also been heard talking no-fly zone in Syria.

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Mary Bennett

purse. Pure 100% bullshit pandering.

How can people be so stupid as to believe it?

And WTF is Bernie thinking? Dems lost the white working class, which is 40% of the electorate. I know! We'll entice them back with a Muslim racist who wants to take their money.

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F*%king Schumer? Did Corporate Democrats see a different election result than the rest of us?

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It is a two pronged offensive.

Chuckie, (D-Tel Aviv and Wall Street), will hold the line on wimpy, anti-war Democrats in the Senate; meanwhile the neo-cons who infested the Clinton ménage are slithering through drainpipes and under doorways into Trump Towers.

Antiquities dealers, step right up. Verily I say to you, your investment will increase as the leaves on a mighty oak which grows from one small acorn. Just as soon as the Cradle of Civilization is bombed into radioactive slag.

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Mary Bennett

He is far more concerned with benefiting Israel then representing NY. He's a proud mouthpiece for Netenyahu and sees his job as draining the US of as much money as possible to finance the utter destruction of Palestine. In his spare tine, he shills for Wall St. The Dems couldn't have picked a more perfect spokesman.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Why should anything change when TPTB have us fighting tooth and nail over social issues, revisited and ad nauseam? And, WTF, with Michael Moore in the streets with the protestors demanding that people should not stand down until Hillary is in the White House? The fix was in and continues to be in with the same old divide and conquer politics. I'm thinking that the oligarchy shape shifts so fast that regardless of outcomes, contingency plans are ready to roll.

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mouselander's picture

In one simple and straightforward graphic:

OnePercentGraph.jpg

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inactive account

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

Not every Captain is so willing to go down with his ship.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

Same strategy. Kiss ass to corporate America and wait until the Republicans screw up. But please, keep that powder dry. Chuckey brought you power brokering through mediocrity. Just wait long enough for Trump to screw up and Chuckey will bring you another empty shell like Obama. Even Obama didn't believe that he should run for the Presidency, but Chuckey convinced him, since Chuckey knows that principles don't matter, just as long as you can dress up and look presidential. He'll find someone else for Trump to grind up in the next election. The D's just don't get it. Trump is the real thing, unpolished as hell, but there he is with all of his multitude of warts. To Schumer it's all a game of connections and appearances. You never want to go to bat for an important cause, cause, you know, keep that powder dry.

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Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.

Citizen Of Earth's picture

Fucking Schumer is standing there in the background with his sociopathic grin.

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Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.

ThoughtfulVoter's picture

Meanwhile, Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) have joined the lower rungs of the caucus' brass, as has Manchin (D-W.Va.). They join Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Mark Warner of Virginia in a caucus structure so large that rank-and-file Democrats struggled to explain the arrangement.

All 10 Democratic leaders will now attend leadership meetings.....

from http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/senate-democrats-settle-on-leaders...

Here's more from New York Post:

Sen. Charles Schumer was elected Senate minority leader Wednesday and pledged that Democrats have heard the message of the American people that it’s time to change a “rigged” system.

In one of his first moves, Schumer promoted independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to join the leadership team to continue championing his progressive revolt against income inequality and special interests.

“We heard the American people loud and clear,” Schumer said after his leadership election at the Capitol. “They felt that the government wasn’t working for them. They felt that the economy was rigged against them in many places. And the big government was too beholden to big money and special interests.”

The longtime Brooklyn politician said Democrats learned on Election Day that they didn’t connect with many American voters.

He expanded the leadership team from seven to 10 to better represent the geographic and ideological diversity of the Democratic Party with the addition of Sanders, named chair of outreach, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, vice chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, and Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin as conference secretary.

http://nypost.com/2016/11/16/democrats-elect-chuck-schumer-as-senate-min...

And this from Salon News:

Democrats also decided to name Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont as their ranking member on the Budget committee. Although Sanders is best known for his outspoken opposition to large banks, and thus could have been expected to be named ranking member on the Banking committee, his appointment to the influential Budget committee indicates that he will be given much more power than would traditionally be allotted to a self-described “democratic socialist.” This may indicate that the Democrats are planning on combating Trump’s effective right-wing populism by embracing the left-wing populism that made Sanders such a potent adversary to Hillary Clinton during the Democratic presidential primaries.

http://www.salon.com/2016/11/16/meet-the-new-boss-same-as-the-old-boss-m...

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Alphalop's picture

“We heard the American people loud and clear,” Schumer said after his leadership election at the Capitol. “They felt that the government wasn’t working for them. They felt that the economy was rigged against them in many places. And the big government was too beholden to big money and special interests.”

Notice the usage of the word "Felt".

He never acknowledged that we RECOGNIZED that it was all these things and were sick of it.

We just felt that way.

{insert Emoticon of head bashing on keyboard here}

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"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me

gulfgal98's picture

Dash 1

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

Alphalop's picture

I have seen you use that one before and always cracked me up. Smile

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"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me

put an * before and after 'dash1' so if it would look like $dash1$ , except use *'s instead of $'s

see the blue link 'Textual smiley' in the wording below your comment box when posting. lots of smiley shortcut codes in there.

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With their hearts they turned to each others heart for refuge
In troubled years that came before the deluge
*Jackson Browne, 1974, Before the Deluge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SX-HFcSIoU

Amanda Matthews's picture

many places."

Here's one problem. He forgot the end of the sentence...

"They felt that the economy was rigged against them in many places THANKS TO US IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.".

Well, I fixed that sentence. Old Chuckie can't be fixed.

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I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

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