The Art of Deflection: The Final, Extensive and Exhaustive List of Excuses for Why Hillary Clinton Lost the 2016 Election

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At this point, the amount of excuses to explain away Hillary Clinton's loss is so lengthy, it would be a great premise for an entire encyclopedic revival. Good-luck Wikipedia. Many of these excuses are nothing but outright bullshit and attempts at deflection, but some did indeed have an impact in differing degrees on the outcome of the election. Since the election was so close, Clinton supporters often claim that all these "reasons" had an effect, but let's be honest... some were campaign crippling while others were simply annoyances that barely moved the dial. Then there are the triangulated talking-points from some useless neoliberal think-tanks... most belong in this pathetic category.

Without further ado, here is the list, sometimes sub-divided in order to classify and clarify the entire mess, remember this is primarily the talking points and excuses emanating from Clinton world. For the real reasons Hillary lost the election, look for my next posting The Real and Factual Reasons Hillary Clinton Lost the 2016 Election. Take a deep breath, and here we go:

Voters
Non-voters- Useless, lazy and uninformed, the Democrats use this group as a favorite all-time punching bag since it is easy to blame something that isn't quantifiable and can't defend itself. The cowards ambrosia.
Independents- Not Democrats, not in the Party, should have zero say in the Party's primary. The stale tactic of tacking rightward in order to attract this group, was tested, tried and failed. Again. To sum up: primary- boooo, go away. general- I've always loved you, why don't you love me back?
Democrats- 8-10% of Democrats that voted for Obama, switched and voted for Trump. Strong contender for "most ignored reason".
Republicans- Courted by using Trump's character as a disqualifier, and her neoliberalism as a plus. As expected by anyone with a minor in political science, the Republicans in the end came home and voted for their Party and the "real" conservative. Nice try corporatists.
Progressives- Democrats' favorite punching-bag, this election was no different. From disgruntled Bernie supporters, to Jill Stein voters, to people who stayed home, to even those who did support Hillary Clinton... it is always your fault. Always. Besides, where else are you going to go? (developing....)
Alt-Right voters- Though a factor, this group has been voting for Republicans for a long time now, and to finally realize that 5 to 10% of the US electorate is openly racist or bigoted...welcome to facts.
Jill Stein voters- See Progressives. How dare anyone campaign to Hillary's left? Possible Russian provocateurs.
Gary Johnson voters- Libertarian, conservatives and disgruntled center-right voters found solace in this candidate. Hillary believes erroneously that these voters would have switched to her if he wasn't around... which is complete and utter nonsense.
Men- Sexist and misogynistic, men never warmed to Hillary and obviously it is entirely their fault.
Women- That special place in hell is furnished and ready to go since around 35% of women rejected Hillary Clinton. This firewall was supposed to make-up for the lack of men, and could be the main reason Hillary lost the election. It turns out, women have wallets too... or purses.
African-Americans- Where did you go? Strongly courted in the primary, and thoroughly ignored during the general, another Clinton firewall that came crashing down. Turns out losing 5-10% of the African-American vote is a Democrat killer... but let's be honest, she was up against impossible Barack Obama numbers.
Hispanics and Latinos- Ay caramba... as many as 30% of Latinos found their conservative bonafides and voted for Trump, yet another group Hillary smugly thought she would sweep and didn't. Too bad primary Hillary didn't show up, she was caliente on immigration.
White Working-Class (WWC)- Racists, sexists, misogynists and rural idiots for voting Trump, all the while ignoring that the majority of this group voted for Obama, twice. Huh? Eerily close to the BernieBros definition...
Millennials- New name, same flavor of get these lazy kids off my lawn. A classic.
Seniors- Long lost to the mental anguish that is FOX News, this group keeps dying, and keeps voting Republican. There will soon be no more seniors (see: dying), and demographics will win the day.
Illegals- From foreigners to dead people, fake news polls show this group heavily went for Hillary Clinton and according to Donald Trump gave her the popular vote victory. This sentence is factual... and that should terrify all of us.

Bernie
The Primary- Usually a boring, mundane political process, this primary, which started with 5 of the strongest candidates in Democratic history, quickly weened to three, then two, was nothing but a Hillary dismantling from the Left that crippled her horribly for the general which she never fully recovered from... or she squeaked-by a victory against nobodies, with every odd in her favor. Tomato tomaaaaaato.
BernieBros- Sexist, misogynistic progressives who also harbor deep racist tendencies. Or a Bernie voter. One or the other, you figure out.
Messaging- Every day Bernie was out there filling stadiums and gyms, bashing the oligarchy, the establishment and everything wrong with America, all the while, delivering a real message of hope and change. Hillary and her supporters didn't like that, and still don't, even though they adopted most of Bernie's ideas into their platform, but shhh, don't tell anyone, or people might find out they made promises. Bernie had a strong message, and that hurt Hillary.
Violence- Right when Don the Con was starting to incite his folks to violence, Hillary and her folks thought that was a really nifty idea. So they started a narrative, with the help of some media and DNC friends that Bernie and his supporters were also turning violent. The whole episode was a big pile of shit, and permanently turned many on the left away from such odious tactics and the people peddling them. People don't vote for lying idiots.
Tactics- See above. Yes, Bernie pounded away at the fact that Hillary was probably corrupt, because she is, and that she was exactly the problem with American politics. Boy was he wrong! In the other corner we had Hillary with her cadre of slime operatives, hell, it was a hall-of-fame bipartisan lineup, and they delivered indeed. Though winning the primary with almost every dirty trick in the book, the divisions within the Democratic Party were sewn, and she never recovered from losing a good portion of the base, possibly something the Party might have done permanently. Big tent, my ass.
Progressivism- Bernie, though not perfect, is the closest we have seen in a very long time to what I would term a proper progressive. His ideas and plans to change America are actually not new but very old, tried and true, before the word socialism brought out the Commie boogeyman. To then have Hillary proclaim herself as "the progressive who gets things done", while having lived a fat, comfortable neoliberal life, is an insult to the word progressive. It also reminded anyone in the know that Hillary was going to run a bullshit campaign of optics and poll-driven data, all this in the beginning of a contested primary against a real progressive... Frankly, people who call both Clinton and Obama "progressives" have no idea what they are talking about, and are doing a great disservice to the Left. Just stop it. Stop it. Enough. Post-truth bullshit.

Sexism and Racism
Donald Trump- He belongs at the top of this list, tiny-hands down.
Sexism- There is absolutely no debate that Hillary being a woman faced sexism and misogyny, especially running against a proud serial-groper. However her blatant overuse of the woman card became in itself... sexist. There were points in this campaign which "being a woman" was the only plank in her platform, annoying most with its counter-productiveness. Obama had a similar, and perhaps steeper hill to climb, but to his credit, was much more tempered in his history-making messaging. Not Hillary, the message became so pervasive that it trickled down to her supporters who began using it as a cudgel of censorship and disagreement. Being called a sexist, particularly if you are a man, was en vogue. Not a vote grabber.
Racism- Way back in time, when the Democratic Primary headed towards the South, Hillary began securing many African-American endorsements and was building a real firewall against Bernie Sanders. However always in panic mode, she sent her civil-rights surrogates out to smear Bernie Sanders' involvement in the Civil Rights movement. Gross. One, those "leaders" should know better, and two, what the fuck Hillary. So let me get this straight, while Bernie was being arrested in Chicago for fighting for desegregated housing, and you were campaigning as a teen for that insane Republican Barry Goldwater, you come out as the civil rights hero? When people insult my intelligence, they usually lose my vote. Food for thought. Anyways, from Flint to hot-sauce, it all disappeared in the general, and so did between 5 to 10% of the African-American vote. Go figure.
Deplorables- Tapping her inner 47% Romney, Hillary decided it was really time to lash out at the Trump supporters, declaring half of them to be a "basket of deplorables". Hear that? It is the echoing sound of such a massive blunder it will endure to the end of times... Even though half of Trump's supporters were indeed deplorable, insulting a whole swath of the electorate is a suicidal proposition, no matter its veracity. We are violating some serious pee-wee level basics of politics 101 here, perhaps even kindergarten. All this coming from the most experienced, battle-hardened professional politician ever. Even her surrogates spun-away while shaking their heads in disbelief... Lost in all the madness is that Romney at least had the decency to say his comment in private, whereas Hillary's was staged, at a public rally, and said with such relish and gusto, meaning it was all planned which is a complete condemnation of the both the candidate and the entire Clinton team. All one can say is wow... (hattip: writeinres)

Emails and James Comey
Emails- At first I felt bad for Abuela Clinton, I too have family members that struggle with the intricacies of technology... then I remembered she has soooo many people working for her, from her personal own IT tech guy to an entire department that invented the internet. Weird that. Nevertheless the idea that a career politician should know the rules regarding the classification of materials, and how to handle them, should be a high priority. Oops I guess. Apology accepted mammie.
James Comey- Democrats have been nominating Republicans to positions that make their pants go poopey for a good 30 years now, and FBI Director is no job for cowards. Enter James Comey, hold-over from Bush Jr's posse of savants, and all seemed fine until the prospect of 8 more years of a Democrat woke him up. Interfering in an election would be a kind description for something I have never seen on this lovely little planet in my lifetime. Even with his terrible timing, the sequel letter to Congress, Rogue One, only confirmed to me his ill-intention. It all adds up to a big stinking pile of nothing in the end, and if I was Hillary, I'd be pissed too. Just saying. Thanks Obama.
the FBI- An extension of James Comey, they are probably all those people in the background doing all the actual work digging in Hillary's emails, at best. At worst, they are James the Hitman Comey's henchmen.

Russia
Vladimir Putin- The mastermind behind Hillary's fall, not to mention the man who is always supporting the wrong side in the Middle East, you can't make a better James Bond villain. Dreams of world domination? Check. Using any means necessary? Check. Shark tank? Check. Look, did Russia try to interfere in the US election? Of course, what kind of aspiring superpower do we take them for? It just finally worked for someone else, and that's what's really pissing us off...
Hackers- They should invent security against these people, because everyone knows the best wifi hot-spots are in Russia.
The Hacks- Watching the inner workings of the Clinton campaign through their emails was nothing but a constant reminder of why they didn't deserve our votes. Democrats tried to deflect from the actual content of the emails, so let me summarize: lies, more lies, money, mo' money, DNC collusion on all levels, arrogance, hubris, entitlement, and a general disdain for the voting public. No matter your political stripe it was hard not to walk away disgusted with Clinton, the DNC and the Democratic Party after reading the leaks. Way to go neoliberalism, it turns out nobody likes you.
Paid Trolls- Samantha Bee's show did a great segment on paid Russian trolls and how they baited Americans into online pie fights in order to influence their votes. How unseemly. Then we heard that the Clinton campaign did the exact same thing through their PACs. The winner, by knock-out, Russia.
Wikileaks- Of course Democrats, particularly under Obama, would be at war with Whistleblowers-R-Us. We like our post-truth.
Julian Assange- Vladimir Putin stooge. Rapist.
Hillary Clinton critics- Of all places, this belongs here. The people who got everything wrong last election like to accuse Hillary critics of being Russian agents, or, facilitating Russia's takeover of America. I kid you not, this is common-thought in the defeated wing of the Democratic Party... tin-foil hats included.

Media
Social media- Just like her emails, technological advances evade Hillary Clinton. Unfortunately for all of us, not Donald Trump. One Twitter account destroyed all the professionals that were in Clinton's entourage. Ouch.
Newspapers- Clinton had every single endorsement, and still lost. An indictment of two past-their-prime institutions watching their power wane away.
TV Media- Where to begin... this section could be its own book, so I will just say this. Like newspapers, every outlet had a clear biased-slant for Hillary, though fixated on Trump's antics. Months of watching pundits look at each other incredulously as history marched right pass them, was a complete waste of time. Trump surrogates challenging the premise of human intelligence on a nightly basis, was an insult to us all. Failure on all counts, of all media, they got everything WRONG.
Fake News- We have had "fake news" since "news" was invented, it just used to be more nuanced. With the advent of FOX, and the invention of the word truthiness, the rest is downhill history. Now facts are optional and everyone everywhere can have a platform. What could go wrong?
Facebook and Twitter- Facebook, for being a platform of spreading false news and hilarious memes, and Twitter, for allowing Donald Trump to use it. I thought Silicon Valley was pro-Democrat?
Online Media- The only group to not come out of this election completely discredited. Sometimes wrong, sometimes right, but one thing is for sure, way better than anything you can find on the tee-vee. Their existence is a fault to all establishment types including the left. A bright spot in a dim landscape.
Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy- 30 years of right-wing attacks have taken their toll on Hillary Clinton, regardless if they are true or not. BernieBros are newly-casted into this category, accused of right-wing shillery by suggesting that 1 billion dollars raised through the rich might be corruptible... out with you treasonous stain! Gotta love bipartisanship.

The System
The Electoral College- Whether you are a supporter or detractor of the Electoral College, the rules of the game were known before heading into the contest... a low-point of "sore-loserdom" is when you start complaining about the rules not being fair when you lose. Grow-up sport. Nevertheless Clinton pulled-in nearly 3 million votes more than the Donald something that will wax his hide for eternity, and the only thing Democrats can hang their hats on this election season. Joy.
Gerrymandering- A legitimate complaint when talking about the House, which has been in development for the better part of two decades, however where were those vaunted coattails that Hillary promised down-ballot candidates? It turns out nowhere to be found, and the cherry on-top are reports that little of the over-promised money never "trickled-down" to other candidates from the Clinton machine. Shocking.
Fundraising- Hillary had to spend too much time with donors raising money, taking her time away from crucial campaigning in swing-states, not to mention the horrible optics it provided. Even Clinton supporters admit this was a mistake, however lost in the tsunami of angst is the analysis of why such a thing happened. Simple. Clinton ran a campaign heavily-reliant on spending hundreds of millions of dollars on teevee advertisement to make-up for the many faults in both her candidacy and messaging. Hence the hundreds of fundraisers, PACS, dark money, double-talk, and good old pay-to-play and legalized bribery, all in the open for voters to watch a career politician do it right. Trump used a free Twitter account and promised to drain the swamp. #AsthekidssayFAIL #DraintheDemSwamp

Barack Obama
3rd Term- First heard during the primary, Hillary's use of "Obama's 3rd Term" became commonplace into the general election. Big mistake. Though people seem to like Obama, you would be hard pressed to find people content with his legislative achievements. Obamacare, once promised as the salve to cure all medical ills, has turned into the Heritage Foundation conservative stop-gap it always has been. The Iran deal? Cuban rapprochement? All could be a legacy move, but Republicans will have none of that, and I fully expect all three to be shredded beyond recognition. Apart from that people are hard-pressed to find anything else, positive that is. Guantanamo, Middle-East wars, Drone Wars, whistle-blower prosecution, surveillance state expansion, continued loss of rights, revolving-door of lobbyists, etc, etc, etc, etc... it seems his real legacy will be the continuation of the neoconservative-neoliberal war for resources, a policy that Hillary help implement under a Democrat, and was certainly going to continue and expand if she had won. A leading candidate for "least discussed reason" because, look at Obama's approval ratings! In the end, the voters wanted nothing to do with Hillary or a 3rd term of Obama, and for good reason. What a great guy though.

Conclusion
Not Guilty- So many data-driven little boxes, thrown in with a healthy spoon of willful ignorance and crazy, what you get encapsulates every single human being in America, no matter who you are, who you supported, or what you think. How convenient. This country failed Hillary Clinton, and that is the only conclusion that matters.

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Jazzenterprises's picture

most of which I dug from memory so I ask humbly for help if I missed any excuses, I will update accordingly.

My head is in a whirl, and I think that's the point... in the end all we are left with is a big shit-covered wall.

On that note, Merry belated Christmas and continued happiness to everyone during the Holiday Season!

Peace.

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Progressive to the bone.

Steven D's picture

Can't wait for the next post.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Sandino's picture

Just before the election the ACA rate jumps kicked in. I think originally the timing was meant to remind people that the democrats brought them health insurance (as opposed to health care), but the massive rate jumps and continued worthlessness of coverage (with huge deductibles and very narrow networks making care inaccessible to many despite huge premiums) ended up driving people to Trump. The county-level correlation between ACA and Trump victory was very high, and may be the least reported major factor in the demise of the democrats.
Thanks Obama!

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Jazzenterprises's picture

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Progressive to the bone.

Jazzenterprises's picture

Sowwy.

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Progressive to the bone.

Pluto's Republic's picture

It happens.

As long as I'm posting, let me say that this is a really robust essay. It goes into my reference directory. Thanks for taking the time.

I look at this topic a lot, as an anthropological phenomenon. I've been analyzing it from another angle:

When did Hillary lose the election?

While the "when" question has some quantum variables, I've got it pinned down to September 23, 2016, with fairly convincing proof. That is important (to me, at least) because it eliminates all events that occurred after that date, ie. Holy Mary pass of the FBI, Russian hack, and a substantial part of the Wikileaks exposure.

Will throw that on the pile soon.

Thanks again for a terrific roundup.

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because it would also delete your reply. It's all good.

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I am really looking forward to you r version of the timeline,7

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glitterscale

of mine yesterday who say's it's mostly sexism - that even women don't like women "bosses" and we "just aren't ready for it." She probably will NEVER bring that one up with me again as I went into full rant mode of why that is merely spin and propaganda. But hey, some women just will NOT admit that Hillary herself failed and some still think Obama has actual "accomplishments." Good God. I really should have asked her for a list of his accomplishments but instead I started to rant. Well, she now knows not to even get me started I guess!!

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

Jazzenterprises's picture

more than a few times, luckily all on Daily Kos, but that mentality of literally "beating people down" with the sexist card became pervasive and destructive. A real shame for so many reasons but most importantly, the long-game fight for women is far from over and we just took many steps backwards, completely self-inflicted. Ugh.

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Progressive to the bone.

Pluto's Republic's picture

Hillary could have won.

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jwa13's picture

... I caucused for Bernie in Colorado (old guy amongst a bunch of young Berners) and was pleased to note (at the time) that the young guys/gals who were caucusing (over 50 percent, I guess, were in their 20s/30s) treated each other with respect, as equals (regardless of age, sex, national origin, etc., etc. - to hell with this "identity politics") -, all with valid points of view. Best caucus I ever have been privileged to participate in -- we need to ensure that they keep coming out. I have seen the future -- and it can be better than what we old guys have left to our heirs.

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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”.

to my friend that to blame Hillary's entire loss on sexism/misogyny she actually belittles and trivializes real sexism and misogyny. Great point.

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

Deja's picture

Except I'm not a bro lol. Facts, shmacts.

Then I became a boy crazy millenial female - only backing Bernie because that's where the boys were. Except I'm middle aged, had a man at the time and never hooked up with another Bernie supporter, male or female.

Oh, and I'm also a racist because he didn't really get arrested fighting for civil rights of people who didn't look like him.

All of it makes perfect sense. /s

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asterisk's picture

You Red menace pinko commie. /s

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The only TO I ever got over there was when a bunch of self-declared "feminists" jumped all over my sheet for calling them on their victimhood crap and for seeing sexism around every bush.*

This, while my single mom was a feminist before the word was much known, who left Friedan's "Feminine Mystique" that I picked up at 12 and related to. I was trying to warn them, but they threw me down on the ground and washed my mouth out with soap instead.

Perhaps I was impolitic, but I doubt it. By the same token I was starting to get pissed off at self-declared "feminists" who were dragging the movement by the hair back into the caves. So dunno.

* I don't even dare bring up the African Americans who see racism wherever they go. While they have it tons better than American Natives, my respect grows when anyone, no matter what race, stands up for the downtrodden regardless of race.

I maintain that if you expect to see the bogey man, you will see him. If you are obsessed with feminism you will see it where it does not exist. If you are obsessed with race, you will see it wherever you go. That isn't to say it doesn't exist. BUT SEEING IT WHERE IT DOESN'T EXIST HURTS THE CAUSE, DAMMIT!

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elenacarlena's picture

run, and I did vote for Jill Stein. Where's the sexism?

No, it's specifically Hillary that we don't like.

If you have to vote for any woman that runs to support women getting ahead, then should we have voted for Sarah Palin?

Policy over people.

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

We were only being sexist by not liking Sarah, amirite?! I'll use that one next time, thanks!

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

Your list, essay, is fantastic.
I keep thinking of something - how often Her Heinious went to CA and NY. Reason. Her hubris, arrogance, assuming she'd get the "swing states" - after all, they were always Blue, so why bother going to them - WI, MI, for example - they had "no place else to go" - amIrite? No reason to listen to the Bernie supporters who were Democrats and screaming for the DNC, Brooklyn people to listen to them, and how they needed help in those specific places. Naw, don't listen to people on the ground who know what they're doing. Nope, just keep an eye on the "model" - shades of Mittens, remember how shocked they were to lose.

By buying CA and NY Shrillary could build up popular votes and prove how much the people loved her.

Think we dodged a bullet. Don't think Trump will be as disastrous as both Clintons back in White House would be.

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Jazzenterprises's picture

was separating the real reasons she lost the election, as opposed to the fluffier excuses. Her hubris, entitlement and dismissal of all things swing-state will be covered in my follow-up post which will cover the more factaul reasons she lost the election.

Great points.

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Progressive to the bone.

gulfgal98's picture

of any real issues and policies that would make the average person's life better and the people saw that. They put their hope and faith into Obama to do the right thing after the collapse of the economy and Obama failed to deliver. Torun as Obama's third term or as the status quo candidate during a year when people were desperate for real change was absolutely political malpractice.

Instead, Clinton ran a completely money driven campaign based upon identity politics, starting with her campaign slogan "I'm With Her." IMHO, that slogan said everything about the Clinton campaign. It was ALL about her, not the people. It was a personal vanity campaign with a terrible candidate who has all the charisma of a three day old dead fish. The arrogance and hubris of the Clintons was on full display during the campaign.

For all his negatives, Trump did reach out to those disaffected people whom the neoliberal Democrats and our government have left behind. The Democrats still have not learned a damn thing from this campaign. They do not care about winning, only about keeping the big money flowing. The Democratic party deserves to die for this very reason.

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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

Jazzenterprises's picture

Here, here!

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Progressive to the bone.

riverlover's picture

I am not sure how much she interacted with them, a Rapunzel with no wish to throw down her hair (dirty hands might touch it!).

I think an additional reason is Bill Clinton. He showed himself to be as much of a loose cannon as DT. And those of us old enough to have weathered 8 years of BC, and the dramas, had second thoughts on more. CF is also a biggie, but most of the public still believes the propaganda if the good it does around the world. Now that the foreign funding is drying up, in 6 months that cover may be blown.

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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.

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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"

Fionnsboy's picture

Especially about her slogan saying it all-- it truly did. Bernie was all about us-- our suffering, lack of hope, lack of opportunity, lack of affordable health insurance and education and on and on and, us getting empowered as activist citizens, rather than dumb-ass consumers. On the other hand, we were invited to go 'over there' (and the more cashola you forked over, the closer you could get-- a private audience! A PHOTO WITH HER!) where she was with the rest of the cool kids, and if we didn't, we were dreamers, then sexists/racists living in our parents' basements, then, ultimately, betraying deplorables. It's ALWAYS been all about Hilary. To me her entire campaign was summed up in the last debate, when she had one last chance (since she, probably wisely, hid from people) to offer some scrap of anything other than a 'nothing burger' as to what her campaign stood for, other than personal aggrandizement for her and her ilk, and bland platitudes that were, in most cases, obvious fictions that her previous record contradicted. Instead, she spoke during that debate on THREE SEPARATE OCCASIONS, about expanding the war in Syria!!!!!!! Can you imagine??????????????????????? As if anyone in this god-forsaken country would benefit from/cared about that, other than the MIC/War-Hawk people (all of whom backed Hilary-- why wouldn't they?) I knew she was going to lose the election then. If I wasn't clean and sober for 14 + years I would have leaned back and cracked open a frosty.

God knows what depths we will sink to with Trump and Ryan et al, but we won't be going to war with Russia over Syria, the Clinton Foundation will finally stop being the world's largest money-laundering scheme, and real progressivism might finally have a chance to grow, now that that big ugly smelly tentacled ginkgo tree (no offense to ginkgo trees) of faux-progressivism has been cut down-- and if this puts a stake through the heart, finally, of Clintonian Neoliberalism and all its collusions, corruptions, betrayals, deaths, and lies, than I say bring it on.

Oh, and the other thing!!!!! Her word salad response to NODAPL, which was finally finally finally coerced from her when her silence on that pressing issue was beyond deafening, said everything we needed to know about what her behavior would have been had she been foisted upon us re: true progressive/environmental causes. I'm posting it again so we may all refer to if when things get horrible with Trump, as a reminder of what might have been:

We received a letter today from representatives of the tribes protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. From the beginning of this campaign, Secretary Clinton has been clear that she thinks all voices should be heard and all views considered in federal infrastructure projects. Now, all of the parties involved—including the federal government, the pipeline company and contractors, the state of North Dakota, and the tribes—need to find a path forward that serves the broadest public interest. As that happens, it's important that on the ground in North Dakota, everyone respects demonstrators' rights to protest peacefully, and workers' rights to do their jobs safely.

This was on the day the protesters were attacked with dogs, mace, tear gas, and rubber bullets. Quintessential, enraging, focus-group tested, run-through-the-model Clinton speak for 'fuck you little people.' I think it was Barbara Ehrenreich (of Nickeled and Dimed fame) who said something about if you were looking for humanity in any of HER's word-salad responses, you'd be accused of anthropomorphization-- which to me was the second funniest line of the whole campaign (the first being a fake news story that claimed Hillary had ordered 30,000 guillotines, to purge her enemies once she won.) They'll be no more of that Clintonian doublespeak, anyway.

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Semper ubi sub ubi

Pluto's Republic's picture

There are these…. feelings…. that course through the soul when regarding Hillary. You described mine, too.

And this horrible price we must pay:

God knows what depths we will sink to with Trump and Ryan et al, but we won't be going to war with Russia over Syria, the Clinton Foundation will finally stop being the world's largest money-laundering scheme, and real progressivism might finally have a chance to grow, now that that big ugly smelly tentacled ginkgo tree (no offense to ginkgo trees) of faux-progressivism has been cut down….

I am perplexed, though, why Americans cannot see and understand what they did, and what that means: They overthrew the establishment of both Parties in the same election — one in the Primaries and the other in the General.

If the two-party kabuki of perma-divisiveness in the US had not flattened the people's cognitive grasp of their identical populist movements, the power of their alliance could be harnessed to change everything. (The truth is, everyone wants the same thing, once you remove the poisonous slogans.) That window is still open…. for a little while.

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Fionnsboy's picture

I daresay, Bernie went to 'enemy territory,' (as most Dems called it) i.e., Liberty U, where Clinton and Obama feared to tread, and gave one of his finest speeches, i thought-- and one that certainly resonated with some of the attendees (does anyone else remember that earnest young-- man?-- an alumnus/ae of Liberty who wrote a few diaries at TOP about how inspiring and transformational that speech had been to him/her, how he had seen Bernie as a Christ-like figure in his care for the old, sick, disenfranchised, etc, and was now committed to his campaign?) and then participated in that post-election town hall thingy where he convinced (so they say-- i didn't really pay too much attention) a Trumpian, of not so much the error of her ways, but of her belief systems-- that such times bring either an FDR figure if we're lucky, or a Berlusconi 'strong man' to defer all things to? Great leaders unite, and Bernie did that by seeing our Just Complaint is pretty much the same from both 'ends.'

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Semper ubi sub ubi

Pluto's Republic's picture

The shared populist alliance.

The object lesson taught/learned at the Neoliberal think-tank laboratory, Daily Kos, when they tied Jane Hamsher above a faggot of sticks and set her on fire for her maladroit attempt to make that connection.

They would rerun her gruesome execution every time her name was mentioned in any context.

One knew then the place was run by an invisible hand, and it was a sickness upon this world.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

Those who question Bernie's motives in the election must factor that in.

Bernie went to 'enemy territory,' (as most Dems called it) i.e., Liberty U, where Clinton and Obama feared to tread, and gave one of his finest speeches...

If you'll recall, early on Bernie also made a plea to Trump voters to take him for a test drive. He saw that he was promoting what they were looking for, and thought they might be turned off by Trump at some point along the way. He clearly saw it as a single movement, and what's more, he thought he could lead it. This defined him as an independent, and as such, the One who could represent both.

I happened to be in New York at the time, the state that brought us all three: Bernie, Hillary, and Trump. The Democrats there were horrified at Bernie's gambit. They treated it like a scandal with actual pearl clutching going on. Everything about it was "unnatural." But, political New York is a bubble, and the polarization between Parties is the law.

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Mark from Queens's picture

I'm wolfing down dinner on my way to work but had to drop this here.

Keep up the great discussion, generated by this fine essay.

"Biblical Argument for Bernie," by Jim the Evangelical Pastor:

So I got my Bachelors degree in Religion from Liberty University, and I also got my Masters degree from Liberty University in Marriage and Family Therapy. In 2004 I worked for the George W. Bush campaign. I spent about 8 years as a Conservative pastor. And also as a schoolteacher at a conservative Christian academy. And today I serve my community as a therapist and also a pastoral counselor, somebody that folks from churches might go see to get counseling whenever they want to see somebody who’s both a clinical counselor but also a pastor.

So I serve all those roles. I think I’m pretty much a card-carrying Evangelical Christian. I still subscribe to a conservative evangelical theology. And what that means, a lot of people get confused when they hear the word ‘conservative,’ they assume you mean politically. ‘Conservative theology’ means that I believe the Bible is trustworthy, I think that God inspired it, Jesus was absolutely real, and really died on the cross, and really did resurrect three days later; and I am an Evangelical Christian in that way.
So, how did I come to find myself supporting Bernie Sanders? How did that evolution take place? How could it be that in 2004 I was working for the George W. Bush campaign, and today in 2015, as a double Liberty University graduate, under Jerry Falwell—when I went to school, Jerry Falwell was the Chancellor—how is it that I could be now supporting Bernie Sanders, who’s a very progressive, very liberal guy; he describes himself as a ‘democratic socialist.’ How do I find common ground on those two things?
Well a lot of people I think falsely believe that in order to do that you have to give up one of your sides. Either you have to not really be a progressive, and you’re just an Evangelical who just likes Bernie, or you have to not really be an Evangelical, and just secretly be a Progressive who’s faking it and pretending to be an Evangelical, but wouldn’t actually pass the litmus test of being an Evangelical.

As I heard Bernie Sanders crying out to the religious leaders at Liberty University, in his hoarse voice, with his wild hair, this Jew, and he proclaimed justice over us. He called us to account for being complicit with those who are wealthy and those who are powerful and for abandoning the poor, ‘the least of these’ who Jesus said he had come to bring good news to. And in that moment, something occurred to me, as I saw Bernie Sanders up there, as I watched him I realized: Bernie Sanders, for President, is good news for the poor. Bernie Sanders for President is good news for the poor. Bernie Sanders is Gospel for the poor. And Jesus said, “I have come to bring Gospel—good news—to the poor.”

And lightning hit my heart in that moment. And I realized that we are Evangelical Christians, that we believe the Bible. We believe in Jesus. We absolutely shun those who attempt to find nuance and twisted and tortured interpretation of scripture that they would use to master all other broader interpretations, to find some kind of big message that they want to flout. We absolutely scorn such things. And yet somehow, we commit to the mental gymnastics necessary that allows us to abandon ‘the least of these,’ to abandon the poor, to abandon the immigrants, to abandon those who are in prison. I listened to Bernie Sanders, as he said he wanted to welcome the immigrants and give them dignity. As he said he wanted to care for the sick children, and mothers, and fathers, who do not have health care. As he said he wanted to decrease the amount of human beings who are corralled like cattle in the prisons. As he said he wanted to do justice for those who have nothing and live homeless. And I remembered the words of Jesus, who warned his disciples that there will be judgment, and on that day he will look to his friends, and he will say ‘Blessed are you, for you cared for me, for I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick, and you cared for me; I was hungry, and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was in prison, and you came to visit me; I was homeless, and you gave me shelter.” And the disciples said, “Jesus, when did we do any of those things for you?” And he said, “If you have done it for ‘the least of these,’ you have done it for me.”

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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

Deja's picture

Stay safe at work; and thanks, again!

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Fionnsboy's picture

Bernie reached out to 'the other side' and changed hearts. Hillary called them deplorables. There you have it.

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Semper ubi sub ubi

I went all in- money, time, tried to help in Las Vegas, etc.

Like so many others, I was confused and then angered by his behavior at the convention.
When I learned that he had nominated HRC after she told him to keep Nina Turner off stage I couldn't believe it.

The evasions and lies over the tax returns had begun in April. Jane, Weaver, Devine, and Bernie all lied repeatedly on tv. It became obvious they had no intention of ever providing the returns to anyone.

The lake house bought in August. More F***ing lies. Meetings with Chuck Schumer. Speeches endorsing Her when he knew what she was. Revelations from Podesta about preexisting agreements and leverage. It made me sick.

So I am a bit mixed on Bernie, to say the least.

I won't close my eyes to all Bernie did. Did the energizing of populist fervor in Dem Party pay for all the betrayals to come? I have to add them all up together- clinton, obama, sanders, stein. So, no. Not even close to worth it.

I am outraged by what those liars have done.

Crazy Horse was my first hero. He is the only one still standing.

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Bisbonian's picture

that same Phoenix rally, and that started the long roller coaster ride for us, too. He has been "unfriended".

But Crazy Horse is still on my list, in spite of some objections. Sitting Bull, Black Elk, and more recently, Chase Iron Eyes are, and Tawasi, too. Father Berrigan, Pete Seeger, U. Utah Phillips, and a few others round out the list. No one elected.

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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 had forgotten - I read it a long ago. thx.

"I see a time of seven generations, when all the colors of mankind will gather under the sacred tree of life and the whole earth will become one circle again." Crazy Horse.

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where the punchline goes "Madame, when danger threatens, it threatens all alike." It does seem we have a (tight) window in which to get people to unify around some key things.
Everybody knows the Finance System screws everyone; the Parties are corrupt; they want a chance at a secure life...
A cleverer person than me could express a half dozen things we should be doing that go far beyond Left/Right (aka Divide & Conquer).

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

Because our perceptions are being managed by the mainstream press--
OR--
Because we know the real political power doesn't lie with the parties anymore. They're just the gatekeepers and front men for those who make the real decisions.

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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

and congratulations on 14 years.

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Fionnsboy's picture

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Semper ubi sub ubi

Deja's picture

Up top in your comment. Excellent! I had forgotten being accused of that for being a mid-aged, female BerniBro.

Where does a progressive on the environment and Medicare for all type, mixed with a leaning toward libertarianism regarding personal freedom (helmet, seatbelt, 2nd amendment - with progressive limitations on certain things) go?

I'm as lost as my avatar looks, and I thought Bernie One Kaboby was my only hope.

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"it's important that on the ground in North Dakota, everyone respects demonstrators' rights to protest peacefully, and workers' rights to do their jobs safely."

IOW, go ahead and protest your hearts out, as long as you don't stop the project or slow it down. Amirite? That's how I read those words.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Jazzenterprises's picture

There no two-sided coins to DAPL. Either you are on the side of the people, or the corporate thugs. Classic "private side & public side" doublespeak. We all know who she would have favored in the end...

God knows what depths we will sink to with Trump and Ryan et al, but we won't be going to war with Russia over Syria, the Clinton Foundation will finally stop being the world's largest money-laundering scheme, and real progressivism might finally have a chance to grow, now that that big ugly smelly tentacled ginkgo tree (no offense to ginkgo trees) of faux-progressivism has been cut down-- and if this puts a stake through the heart, finally, of Clintonian Neoliberalism and all its collusions, corruptions, betrayals, deaths, and lies, than I say bring it on.

Preach on!

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Progressive to the bone.

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

I read For Her Own Good back in 1984. My favorite quip of hers is- we watch television because we long to live in a world without television. (That is, the worlds created on television are inhabited by people who interact and are active, rather than sitting and passively watching television for hours like most americans do.

Great comment.

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To run as Obama's third term or as the status quo candidate during a year when people were desperate for real change was absolutely political malpractice.

It was a personal vanity campaign with a terrible candidate who has all the charisma of a three day old dead fish. The arrogance and hubris of the Clintons was on full display during the campaign

They do not care about winning, only about keeping the big money flowing. The Democratic party deserves to die for this very reason.

Edit. [Add translation by Sandy.]

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sojourns's picture

Best summary I've read.

This - "Apology accepted mammie." cracked me up.

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

that cracked me up. Good read.

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could fit in a number of boxes, such as vast right wing conspiracy, but considerations of hillary's health, both physical and mental, fainting and whatever, didn't help.

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bygorry

Jazzenterprises's picture

however her and her team never used this one as an actual excuse for losing, if anything they stayed far away... I will definitely cover this issue in the next posting under the whole right-wing nonsense. Thank-you.

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Progressive to the bone.

even before wikileaks confirmed it.

For me, it was the final straw. I could not give my stamp of approval for meddling with the will of the people. A vote for her would have been a vote for dirty politics, a vote for cheating.

Couldn't do it. If they want any reality in their list, I'm sure I'm not the only one who drew the line at her cheating in the primary. But we know they don't want reality, they want excuses not to change one iota - including the notion that they must cheat to win.

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Shahryar's picture

why can't they (Hillary and her team of advisors and sycophants) say she ran a bad campaign?

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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

Pluto's Republic's picture

I'm starting to think that there was and is something so very wrong about Hillary, that history itself obstructed her. Would she have won if her campaign was perfect?

Even her team knew that. The extraordinary leaked documents show a thread of reactive panic and fear that was ever-present. They knew. And they tried desperately to trick fate.

It seems to me, the rocket-liftoff of Sanders campaign proved there was a great void in America that she could not fill. Furthermore, so many delegates and activists knew in advance that she was the wrong candidate for this time. A walking calamity.

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gulfgal98's picture

She was a terrible candidate to begin with, but this was even more true:

...there was a great void in America that she could not fill. Furthermore, so many delegates and activists knew in advance that she was the wrong candidate for this time.

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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

You can't learn from your mistakes if you can't even admit that you made any. The only "apology" I ever heard was after the DNC email leaks came to light and it was half-hearted with a lame generic "mistakes were made" comment.

WHAT were the mistakes and how can they be corrected in the future? If the Democratic Party can't own up to mistakes THEY made, then they have no future.

As for non-voters:

Hillbots say we should just move on, but I don't want to. I want to keep pounding away at the Democratic Party until they own up to their mistakes.

Mike Figueredo at the Humanist Report had a really good take-down of Hillary posted yesterday.

Hillary Clinton Calls Out Vladimir Putin in Most Hypocritical Rant Ever (10:25)

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCutIKaa2oQ width:400]

He nails it.

She said "Vladimir Putin himself directed the covert attacks against our electoral system - our Democracy - apparently because he has a personal beef against me."

Me! Me! Me! It's always about you, isn't it Hillary? Sorry to burst your little elite bubble, but it was the Progressives and the Deplorables who had the beef against you.

But I digress.

When she says "directed covert attacks against our electoral system" that implies more than just leaking emails. It implies that he didn't just leak the Podesta and DNC emails, but he rigged the election itself. If another country actually hacked our election, that would be considered an act of war.

When she uses language like this, she's willing to get us into a war for her own agenda.

Even Markos is shocked! Shocked, I tell you! /s

Hillary said these "hacked" emails were an attack against our country.

No Hillary, this is a distraction of the substance of what was in those emails. Whether or not Vladimir Putin leaked these emails, it doesn't erase what you were caught doing.

The worst part was when she said this is about the integrity of our Democracy and the security of our nation. If our Democracy had any integrity, the primaries wouldn't have been rigged.

Your minions at the DNC limited the debates to only 6. The DNC forbid candidates from participating in non-sanctioned debates.

You moved red states up on the primary calendar because you're more conservative and you knew that would help you - giving you an early lead and demoralizing the support for Bernie Sanders.

You and your DNC goons created media narrative to smear Bernie Sanders and his supporters. You tried to spear him for being an atheist. You called his supporters "Bernie Bros" and claimed we'd gotten violent at the Nevada Convention.

You always seemed to benefit from "voting irregularities" in states that always seemed to hurt Bernie Sanders.

You basically mowed down Bernie's grassroots campaign because you thought it was "your turn."

And "security of our nation?" Let's start with the private email server you installed in your house. You risked national security all so you could hide your corruption.

You're also trying to delegitimize Donald Trump's win. You thought you'd win, and that Donald Trump would use these same tactics on you, but you lost and now you're using the same tactics on him.

In one of the Presidential Debates, when Donald Trump said he might contest the election results, you said . "That's horrifying. Every time Donald thinks things are not going in his direction, he claims whatever it is is rigged against him."

HYPOCRITE!!

Memo to Hillary (and the Democratic Party)

And yes, this election was about change. But you represented more of the same - namely more power and wealth for the elites and endless wars. You were the poster child for the Democratic Party as it exists today.

Don't tell me you can relate to "everyday Americans" when you're attending glitzy gala fundraisers raking in more and more money. You haven't been able to relate to "everyday Americans" for quite some time now.

You got your ass handed to you in this election because of YOU, so you can just go wipe it with a cloth and quit blaming everyone and everything else.

And don't try to talk to us about "shared values" because we don't value greed, dishonesty, evasiveness, secrecy, or corruption. Just go! Leave! And take Markos with you.

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Deja's picture

Especially love this, spot on morsel!

If our Democracy had any integrity, the primaries wouldn't have been rigged.

BUT, but, PROVE IT WAS RIGGED, sore loser, they said. Now look at their pathetic, hypocritical asses!

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Deja's picture

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It was their turn. Somebody else had to do something bad to deny them their thing which rightfully belonged to them.

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Alligator Ed's picture

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where the robot/computer melts down when presented with logically irreconcilable propositions. To acknowledge a flaw, but to be superior and perfect... How can two such things be [followed by sparks and smoke]

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

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

because then they'd have to go about correcting them- and correcting them would involve most of them being "retired." They can't carry on the neoliberal agenda if they admit the agenda is an electoral loser. When you consider the depths that so many sunk to- Boxer, Pelosi, Lewis, to name a few- to prop up the neoliberal agenda through hillary clinton, you see how serious they are about holding onto power. As Nancy Pelosi sagely tells us, there's nothing wrong with the Democratic party! We won a majority of votes!

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Very nice list. So which ones are the most favored among democrats? I suppose depends on which sub-group of democrats. Sorta my list:

Hillary primary voters
1. Putin and Russian hackers/Comey (This one is Hillary's choice in speech to rich donors.)
2. Sexism
3. Racism
4. Media

Bernie primary voters who remained in party
1. Ran as candidate of status quo
2. No cogent economic message for anybody
3. Poorly organized and arrogant campaign
4. Rejection of Sander supporters

There is one factor not listed which I think is real enough but which most thought had no effect. It was Hillary's choice for VP. The choice of Kaine I would argue was horrible as it sent a message to black and Hispanic voters about the political rewards they should expect form Clinton. Clinton supporters wanted to play identity politics and having a Harvard law school grad Kaine ensured failure at it.

Given that Hillary is blaming Putin/Comey, I expect the Clintonistas dominating the DNC will continue to make this an issue going into 2018 and 2020.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

… I'd go with

2. No cogent economic message for anybody

Economic impact was at the top of all the polls that drilled down on voter issues along the way. But it's more complex, of course. During the final debates I noted that it was the first ever issue-free presidential election. There was no substantial discussion, on Hillary's part, about any issue, ever. It was her word salads that deserved the moniker "deplorable."

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More than a few people noted that they could name Trump's positions as bad as they were, but few could summarize anything what exactly Clinton stood for other than she was not Donald Trump. In looking back now, I admire how Bernie was able to get his basic policy positions out to so many people during the primaries--no doubts about his positions and what they were. Even during the primaries Clinton lacked clarity of her positions and defined herself more in relation to Bernie. She really repeated the Russian influence charges, but that really went nowhere beyond the choir--but again that was about Trump. My theory is that she and her staff religiously read the NyTimes and thought playing an anti-Putin card would be political winner.

I happened to see a Samatha Bee clip where she offered advice to Hillary democrats not to abandon Hillary's base to accommodate white working class voters. She then offered up a defense of Hillary on the the economy/jobs issue by showing bunches of clips where Clinton said the word "jobs". Ha ha she laughed, Clinton did speak about jobs. There seems to be a growing argument that Clinton did in fact push the eocnomy/job issues in the states she lost. Because you know, she repeated the word "jobs".

Of course, this was just naivete on Bee's part. Repeating the word "jobs" doesn't mean jackshit if all it is is something as you describe--a vague word in a salad of bullshit. Anybody could string up a bunch of non-sequiturs repeating the word "jobs".

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Alligator Ed's picture

She talked about all the jobs coal miners would lose. A very astute move in coal country.

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Jazzenterprises's picture

for my next post which will cover the real reasons she lost. Great points, thank-you. To you too Pluto Wink

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Progressive to the bone.

as VP, or future Sec Treas, or Atty General, any position in the Cabinet, she would have won.
That this did not even cross her mind ...

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

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Fighting for democratic principles,... well, since forever

for her donors. If she could not complete her term, they'd have the next best thing waiting in the wings to step up.

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mimi's picture

to nod vigorously to everything she said and everything a reporter said and she started clapping to her own words. And she did that a long, long time ago. Of course, she nodded even more, when she "won" over Bernie Sanders:
[video:https://youtu.be/0k94Ww12U50]
These are fake words from Bernie that got fake news nods.

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MsGrin's picture

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'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member

detroitmechworks's picture

There are two kinds of people you work with as an actor.

There are actors, and there are celebrities.

Actors concentrate on the work. Anybody who they have to work with, they listen to, work off, and generally try to create a great experience for the audience. The phrase that defines their attitude is "The Show Must Go On" and they fucking mean it. The only excuse actors accept for not going on on opening night is an actual broken limb, or death.

Celebrities are escorted onto the set by their entourage. They do not mingle with the others, and concentrate only on their own career and performance. The phrase that defines their attitude is "What's in it for me?" If there's a better offer, they have no problems leaving a commitment in a heartbeat, letting their entourage clean up the mess.

Hillary is a Celebrity.

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

mimi's picture

to repeat the oath given to him on his inauguration: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Yesterday I had a dream in which the audience on the Washington Mall erupted in mocking laughter, listening to this celebrity's attempt to perform properly at his inauguration. One can dream, right? It's American to do so.

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I won't be able to watch at all, and I will be thanking everyone out here who tells about the experience! What a horrible thought among so many horrible thoughts. I couldn't have watched the Shill either, so no loss there. And I like your dream!

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

Pluto's Republic's picture

Too much praying going on.

Makes me nervous. Can't they pray at home before they get there?

This is my government, not their church.

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1. team guy

2. f***ing all-star

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Strife Delivery's picture

Watching Clinton's campaign was like a slow-motion horror film. You as the viewer can't do anything to stop the oncoming terror that is about to be unleashed onto the characters of the film, in this case, us. She licked her chops, staring at the glass ceiling that she is so close to. And when that glass ceiling would be broken by her ascending her throne, the hundreds of glass shards raining down would lacerate the poor shackled to the cold earth by her neoliberal policies.

Sadly, in this horror movie, we traded one monster for another.

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I comfort myself with the fact that Count(ess) Hillary would have been far more dangerous than Frankenstein's Orange Monster.

Smile

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Yaldabaoth, Saklas I'm calling you. Samael. You're not alone. I said, you're not alone, in your darkness. You're not alone, baby. You're not alone. "Original Sinsuality" Tori Amos

I think the final nail in Hillary's coffin was delivered by Herself, no less. Labeling downtrodden voters with a conservative bent "deplorables" didn't sit well with them. And then there's the spillover effect on other suspect groups of voters, keeping them wondering if Hillary was calling THEM deplorable also. I still think that I'm one of those deplorable groups that voted for Jill Stein because I expect to get freebies from the government.

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that she and Obama wanted to "means test". What? You have savings and a pension? Exhaust them first, SS is for the poor!

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Roy Blakeley's picture

proceeded to make things worse. The basket of deplorables comment was, in a sense, a blunder, but it was also a revelation, a look at how she actually views working class people of this country. Going ballistic on Comey, instead of welcoming the inquiry and saying that they were sure that nothing new would be found, was a major mistake. This diary is about fake reasons they lost, however. Real reasons were legion, starting with a fundamental lack of a message as well as gross operational incompetence.

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Jazzenterprises's picture

many in her entourage at the time and later admitted this was a massive mistake. Thank-you, I will head-up and update immediately. Knew it!, there's always yet another excuse... however admittedly this will reappear in my real reasons she lost follow-up post.

Thanks again!

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Progressive to the bone.

later admitted this was a massive mistake.

when I heard that comment in the final weeks of the election I thought 'how stupid do you have to be to say such a thing' even if it was a private event but, then, I'm a nobody unlike a "vetted" and "experienced" presidential candidate who knows best. bad candidate, bad campaign. plain and simple.

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Christine.MI's picture

Wish you would've included when her Heinous shook that scrawny finger in the Greenpeace activist's face when asked about oil donations.

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Jazzenterprises's picture

Yes, I will cover that incident, and probably all the other ones as well in my next essay- The Real Reasons Hillary Clinton Lost the 2016 Election. You will find these incidents under the heading Hubris.

Peace.

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Progressive to the bone.

I was a total Hillbot in 2008, till she lost the nom, then I became an Obamabot, what else would any sentient being do after 8 years of Bush. Keep in mind the option was mcnasty and la palin.

In the aftermath of the economic meltdown I gradually grew a rather large grudge against Big Dawg for repealing Glass Steagall, and I started studying up on just why he did that and found out about the third way and neoliberalism and while I was doing that, Hillary was cultivating her bankster base. And I got to where I didn't think the Clintons should have another term: they rented out Lincoln's bedroom enough already. I ain't with her, and I didn't vote for her, I didn't send her any money, but I did send Bernie some money and I really resent the way she (her) and her minions treated Bernie supporters.

So, here's a fundamental question: Why has the country devolved into electing only Bushes or Clintons (HRC bragged that she would be Obama's third term, meaning, I assume, her promising another four years of no bankster frog marches)??? WTF? aren't there other people who want to take a turn at running this exceptional, formerly great country besides Bushes and Clintons?

Oh. Turns out there are.

I strongly doubt Trump is a good pick, and I think we may come to rue the day he was elected. But the same would be said, eventually, had Hillary-the-Hawk been elected.

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~annominous

featheredsprite's picture

Her horrified response was purely class based and working class women could see it. It was obvious that Hillary and company had never had a blue collar job in a manufacturing plant, or even a clerical job in a manufacturing plant, never worked in a warehouse, never worked the midnight shift at the local convenience store, and never worked in a food truck that catered to laborers.

And every time she expressed shock and dismay, it was apparent that she had no real connection with working class women.

[Yeah, men are dirty-minded pricks. So?]

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Life is strong. I'm weak, but Life is strong.

thinking about sex! (And the other 10% thinking about sports). BTW, I'm a man and contrary to what i just said, I don't like sports. I spend 10% of my time thinking about science.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Alligator Ed's picture

This country failed Hillary Clinton, and that is the only conclusion that matters.

So true.

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