See, This Rite Cheer Iz Yur Problem

This is it in a nut shell.

DCCC Names Cheri Bustos Chairwoman of Heartland Engagement

In that role, the third-term congresswoman will be mentoring Democratic candidates and helping shape an economic message in rural areas — both of which she’s already been doing.

Who is going to tell the Democrats that any organization that has a program called "heartland engagement" is destined to NEVER engage the heartland? The term itself is redolent (that means "stinks" to you heartlanders) of condescension and superiority and the ongoing idiocy of the Democratic consultancy class.

Here's my free advice to Democrats and it's based on something my grandmother told me when I was very little - that I would get better results and be a happier person through being nice as opposed to acting nice.

Democrats keep trying to find a "message" that will "resonate" with average Americans and makes it look like they care, when through their actions and inactions they have proven the opposite. The only core value that Democrats have consistently demonstrated is expediency - do the absolute minimum in order to obtain office and stay in office. They have offered no visions or roadmaps to the world as they imagine it, and remain perpetually surprised when no one can gets excited by a trip to their destination -Just Enough.

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Bollox Ref's picture

We 'Heartlanders' get to have our own 'identity'.

Thanks Dems! Everything will be fine from now on, no probs.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

riverlover's picture

We know what we're doing!

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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.

Why isn't the entire country the "heartland?" And who decides?

The states that were the 13 colonies that birthed this country and many of its Presidents are not part of its heartland? Neither is the state with the most electoral votes? Seems odd. Just another way to divide us?

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@HenryAWallace

Seems odd. Just another way to divide us?

Precisement, monsieur!

Smile

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

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@HenryAWallace @HenryAWallace No disrespect to Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, but by being detached physically, they can hardly be heartland. But everything else is one big rectangular blob.

EDIT: So they really mean "flyover states"

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

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness I believe you have it surrounded, Mr. Garibaldi!

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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

Raggedy Ann's picture

It was painful to listen to. When asked if she supported Nancy Pelosi, she didn't answer the question but she didn't say she was against NP. That smells like fear to me. They are trying to play the game by engaging people to carry their water - people they think we might trust.

Trust no one in the dem party. That's my philosophy. Diablo

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

detroitmechworks's picture

@Raggedy Ann letters after their name.

PhD , Jr, r, d, gcie, 3rd, or mba...

All make me nervous recently.

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

riverlover's picture

@detroitmechworks excpt in a power play. Most folks don't know now.

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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.

detroitmechworks's picture

@riverlover but I was high and said what I thought. Smile

Too many use it as a trump card to silence opposition, and often even before the people they want to not speak have opened their mouth.

So, nothing personal... but I tend to be leery, especially when they lead with the letter as an argument winner.

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

Pluto's Republic's picture

@detroitmechworks

I think people who want to be taken seriously in their field — and to end up in the right rolodexes — are forced to author a book, at the very least. When I cite people who represent a certain point-of-few, I'll pick the one with some form of notoriety, all else being equal, because that rubs off on my work as credibility. I remember a certain amount of surprise on my part when I realized in 2006-07 that President Obama had written a book or two. Well, of course he did. Just being a politician would not put him over the top.

And speaking of the "top", I think people should consider whether a one-leader, weak democracy scales well enough to represent a population this large. So easy to game the system. Or to put it another way, you need a largely ignorant and really, really unformed population to fool most of the people most the time, at this scale. So far, propaganda has been quasi-working to keep Americans in the dark, but only when it is pushed at an incredibly intense rate by a media that is licensed by the pushers. To shore up the authority of a "one man standing on the head of a pin to-rule-them-all," winner-take-all Democracy — the State will be forced to curtail access to information, drastically. And the people are going to have to give up representation to cling to this thing they idealize.

That's what seems to be taking form out there in the future.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Alligator Ed's picture

@Pluto's Republic @Pluto's Republic

you need a largely ignorant and really, really unformed population to fool most of the people most the time, at this scale. So far, propaganda has been quasi-working to keep Americans in the dark, but only when it is pushed at an incredibly intense rate by a media that is licensed by the pushers.

meaning that the atrocities of our governance and international conduct are so brazed that only the blind and deaf can remain ignorant. This then necessitates your second point:

the State will be forced to curtail access to information, drastically.

But by then the last part of your comment will be unnecessary

And the people are going to have to give up representation to cling to this thing they idealize.

Because by then we will effectively be under martial law to quell rebellion in the streets. Ignorance is bliss--until you awaken to the true horror.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Alligator Ed We don't have representation anyway.

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

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

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@detroitmechworks Degrees are there to assure any academic institution I might work for that I've had, not only the correct training in skills, but--much less discussed and more important--the correct acculturation.

Now that corporate is taking/has taken? over everything, this matters a lot less, but once upon a time the idea was that transmitting, not only information, but also the academic approach to information and its associated skills, to the next generation, was of deep importance.

Americans have always tended not to like academics because of their long association with things like aristocracy and well-funded monasteries (that's where we came from) but there are a few important things that went along with our particular tradition of rationalism.

Using a degree as a conversation-stopper or a crutch to rely on in argument breaks with the tradition of rationalism that the process of getting a degree is supposed to put into your head. Therefore, anyone who does this shows that they should never have been given the degree in the first place, as they are using it to pull rank the same way any wealthy stockbroker might use his economic power. It's taking what should be a sign of participation in a tradition and turning it into an assertion of cheap privilege.

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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

Pluto's Republic's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

...transmitting, not only information, but also the academic approach to information and its associated skills, to the next generation, was of deep importance.

This is what humans have relied on from the beginning of time to secure their individual survival and the survival of the entire community. We've aways stood on the shoulders of those who came before us to build on the craft and innovate new discoveries and applications. The community would pour all their knowledge and skill into each new generation, because that generation's Time would come. They would be called on to lead the community to safety and abundance. Without that education, how will they take care of the elders and the children?

And yet, that is the very thing that seems to be broken. This is very grave.

The new generation is now born into a crushing life-long debt they will never be able to pay down. They are denied good health and a serious education — the primary components of Liberty. If they break down, they may be incarcerated based on old laws they never consented to, and will be stigmatized for life. They may be blocked from the globally competitive work force, many will find food and shelter only by mercy of family and friends. Their human capital is wasted. They don't know where to find their power. When their Time comes to lead and support the community, what resources will they have? There may be an oligarchy to organize them as serfs, and extract low-level work. But that's not going to be enough in the world that lies ahead. The necessary
social investment in the people has simply stopped. Selfishness, greed, and denial took over. What good can come of this, I wonder.

I don't recall a civilization that delibritely short-changed their own children. History always told the opposite story. It's disorienting.

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____________________

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

@Pluto's Republic

...I don't recall a civilization that delibritely short-changed their own children. History always told the opposite story. It's disorienting.

That's why there used to be a future in which people existed to read history...

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Pluto's Republic's picture

@Ellen North

I am a recent fan of governments that include a counsel of wise Elders.

I suppose that was the original idea behind the Supreme Court, but that got twisted early on. The supreme court was never supposed to take over for congress and legislate. But since no one speaks eighteen-centurish anymore, so to cognitively parse the antique US constitution, the task falls to the weary court, who must channel the founders with their surviving neurons.

That was never the plan.

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____________________

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

@Pluto's Republic

Good points! Especially in qualifying the need for Elders with their being specifically 'wise', quite unlike many of the greed-consumed ancient evils in politics dependent upon the masticated brains of their (unpaid) supporters, by that point apparently retaining the intellectual capacities of Gummy Bears and evidently supplying little cognitive nourishment.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Pluto's Republic Academics are, indeed, part of the repair and maintenance department of civilization. Along with parents and, occasionally, religious institutions. Though they have often abused their position to introduce foolish prejudices into the works.

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

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

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@detroitmechworks Jeez. When were you gonna tell me? Smile

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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

detroitmechworks's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal Smile

I just find titles and designations of civilian rank to be about worth the paper they're printed on.

I have much more respect for those who don't use it as the exclusive buttress for arguments... such as the folks here.

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

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@detroitmechworks Any PhD who uses their degree as a buttress for arguments doesn't deserve it.

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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

@detroitmechworks was just a delinquent juvenile.

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There is no such thing as TMI. It can always be held in reserve for extortion.

dance you monster's picture

@Raggedy Ann

Afraid of the position she's been put in (as a target) or the one she could screw up (as this is intended to groom her, to give her a chance to become a real player despite being from whatever the heck the heartland means to these people)?

Okay, she's the only Illinois congresscritter not from Chicago, and hence from the heartland of . . . some other county (doesn't matter which, the PTB couldn't find it on a map anyway) in Illinois. But she does have family roots in the Dems, so if she doesn't completely screw this up, it'd shore up a political dynasty, which Dems loves them some more of (think Pelosi, think Hillary). And if she does screw up, well, those Chicago congresscritters are safe and sound in their non-heartland sinecures.

The wiki on her has some cringe moments. But then again, she is definitely going to tug the heartstrings of disaffected Dems with this:

Shortly after taking office, Bustos joined the bipartisan No Labels group.

So, a Third-Wayer is gonna be the one to bring the Dems back home. I don't think she can pull this off.

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@dance you monster @dance you monster Quad Cities. Used to be a big agricultural equipment manufacturing area. UAW put her in? Or she was running against a particularly repugnant (R)?

They were hit hard by trade agreements. Should have been good Bernie territory.

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

karl pearson's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness Bustos is a good friend of Dick Durbin. She was born and raised in Springfield, IL.

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@karl pearson

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

detroitmechworks's picture

Now it's heartland, or homeland, or fatherland...

So they're calling rural folk nazis now. (See, I can overreact to a friendly gesture too,dems. See how annoying that shit is? Try sitting down and talking less, and listening more.)

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

Pluto's Republic's picture

@detroitmechworks

"...first term Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, who castrated a live hog during the Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address last year. Ernst, who grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm, was selected by GOP leaders to deliver the party's reaction to the president's annual speech before Congress."

I wonder if the Democrats are trying to build on that success?

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
lotlizard's picture

@Pluto's Republic  
Her crowning moment of awesome could be, taking part in the sword dance, then castrating a live hog at the next meeting of the GCC in Riyadh.

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@lotlizard

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

On health care looks like she does not support single payer She seems to be relatively liberal. I tried to google her and John Deere as they are big in her district, and starting using H1B visas to fill mechanical engineering positions. Found nothing.

But she does have a background in PR.

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@MrWebster
So shes an expert bullshitter.

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

just barely lost to heartland engagement; they'll bring it out if this messaging doesn't work though.

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Orwell: Where's the omelette?

lotlizard's picture

@jim p

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enhydra lutris's picture

that I would get better results and be a happier person through being nice as opposed to acting nice.

Democrats keep trying to find a "message" that will "resonate" with average Americans and makes it look like they care, when through their actions and inactions they have proven the opposite.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

@enhydra lutris

DEMS -

You can act like you care about providing healthcare to all Americans by enacting the exisiting ACA

OR

You could have genuinely cared about providing healthcare to all Americans by enacting something with real long term unrepealable benefits - the ACA with a Medicare For All public option and Pharma negotiation.

They chose to play the role rather than becoming the reality.

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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 "

Alligator Ed's picture

@Phoebe Loosinhouse We need unadulterated Medicare-for-all/single payer. Which would include Pharma price caps, importation of biosimilar drugs. Anything less is bullshit.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Alligator Ed Fuck Medicare for All. It's now the compromise option. Now I want a fully-funded, well-regulated National Health Service.

I can play this moving-the-goalposts game too, fuckers.

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

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

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

*applauds loudly*

That's the spirit we need!

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Song of the lark's picture

it quite a beautiful word, actually two of the most important and meaningful words we have. They echo memories passed down through much of human existence. Of the heart and of the land. Anyone who has marveled at growing things, or grown their own food, or had their heart soar, or more powerful yet. Had their heart broken knows the power of these words.
It's not the words. It's the people who use them.

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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.