Establishment Democrats have learned absolutely nothing
I was reading this Politico article when I realized that this sounded very familiar.
With Republican Senate primaries from West Virginia to Montana promising to pit Trump-inspired insurgents against more mainstream candidates, Democrats are considering ways to step in and wreak some havoc. The idea: Elevate the GOP’s most extreme option in each race, easing Democrats’ path to victory in a range of states tilted against them.
Wait a second. Didn't the Dems do the exact same thing with Trump in 2016?
So then I was reading this article when I realized that it also sounded familiar.
For Democrats, one of the most important races for governor next year is taking shape in Illinois....Six months before Democrats have even held their primary, party leaders have already lined up behind a venture capitalist of their own: J.B. Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune who, along with his wife, contributed nearly $20 million to support Hillary Clinton last year. With a net worth of $3.5 billion, Pritzker will certainly be able to compete with Rauner’s own war chest. But by backing one of the wealthiest candidates ever to run for governor, the Democratic establishment is ignoring the rising tide of populism that has upended American politics, setting up a battle between two private-equity plutocrats.
Deja vu. Didn't the Dems do the exact same thing in 2016?
Even in these days, when the liberal base is in a frenzy against racism, establishment candidate Joe Biden still managed to say this.
Early in his stump speech for Democratic Senate candidate Doug Jones in Alabama on Tuesday, former Vice President Joe Biden began to wax nostalgic, recalling a bygone era in Washington when our politics were more cooperative. “Even in the days when I got there, the Democratic Party still had seven or eight old fashioned Democratic segregationists,” he told the crowd in Birmingham. “You’d get up and you’d argue like the devil with them. Then you’d go down and have lunch or dinner together. The political system worked. We were divided on issues, but the political system worked.”
Ah yes. The good old days of southern segregationists.
Establishment Democrats are completely tone deaf.
Even corporate lackey and establishment mouthpiece Markos denounced Biden's comments, but not before qualifying it.
Markos Moulitsas, founder and publisher of the progressive blog Daily Kos, agrees with Biden on this much: “The left’s effectiveness will always be constrained so long as part of it indiscriminately attacks those with money and success.”
Which brings me to this article and I got a funny feeling that I've seen this before.
Progressives and young Democrats complain that party leaders ignore Republican-leaning areas of the country and employ dirty tactics in order to defend against progressives attaining leadership roles.
...Earlier this year, the Florida Democratic Party chair race was decided in a similar fashion: Billionaire donor Stephen Bittel circumvented party rules to become eligible to run, defeating five opponents who banded together to stop him. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair race was also manipulated behind the scenes. Delegates were threatened so that they would switch their support from Congressman Keith Ellison to the establishment pick, former Secretary of Labor Tom Perez.
Additionally, the Green Party filed a lawsuit last week against the Democratic Party alleging voter intimidation, voter fraud, and electioneering in a Pennsylvania State Assembly special election in Philadelphia that occurred earlier this year. The election was held after the two previous Democratic state representatives for the district resigned due to federal fraud charges: Leslie Acosta plead guilty to money laundering charges in 2016, and her predecessor Jose Miranda resigned after pleading guilty to corruption charges. Unfortunately, corruption in Philadelphia, a Democratic stronghold, is a pervasive trend.
Ah, yes. Corruption.
The Democratic Party is swimming in it.
Whether it is rigging elections against progressives, or good old fashioned bribery, the Democratic establishment has it in spades.
As I pointed out the other day, Berniecrats are having a great deal of success, but only in Red and Purple states.
In Blue states, where a corrupt Democratic establishment rules, they are freezing out real progressives.
This can also be seen in the establishment push-back against Medicare For All, which relies on anonymous attacks from Hillarybots.
This open and unaddressed corruption is the Democrats biggest problem, bar none.
What was the public's greatest fear in 2016?
Terrorism? The Economy? Russia? A new season of The Kardashians?
Nope and nope.
It's government corruption.
As the presidential election campaign drags on, it may come as no surprise that corrupt government officials are one of the greatest fears many Americans have, according to a new study.
This isn't an aberration. As many as 81% of Americans think the government is corrupt.
75% and 81% means this isn't a partisan topic.
Normally the voter's greatest fear would be the topic for endless policy debates, committee meetings, and political pundits yelling at each other.
Instead we've gotten an oppressive silence in Washington and the news media.
It's as if the entire establishment doesn't want to talk about the most important issue on people's minds.
It isn't just the political establishment.
Progressives and liberals are guilty of not taking this concern seriously.
For example, consider how people consistently support liberal issues by themselves. Progressives and liberals keep scratching their heads why they won't win more elections when they are on the right side of the issues.
In fact, the reason is obvious, if you listen to people's concerns.
a CNN/ORC poll conducted in February of 2016 showed that the vast majority of Americans believe that the U.S. economic system generally favors the wealthy (71 percent) instead of being fair to most people (27 percent). The idea that income and wealth should be more evenly distributed among Americans has won the support of 60 percent or greater since 2012, but Americans are skeptical that government officials will act to protect their best interests.
When you think about it, it makes perfect sense.
People overwhelmingly agree that we need more equality, more social programs, more of everything you normally associate with the government.
But why would you want to hand over more power and money to a bunch of corrupt assholes?
It's an obvious and important question, and if you can't answer it then your stand on the issues don't matter. You don't win elections.
What's more, it isn't just a case of aiding corruption. It's a case of rational fear.
If you believe the government is both corrupt and heavily armed (and most people do), then fear of Big Government is entirely rational.
It's not just an immediate problem (i.e. the crushing of progressive causes, the rise of wealth inequality, etc.), there is also a long-term problem that is even more dangerous.
Dig a little deeper, and it sometimes seems like the history of the populist right – with its calls to “organize discontent” and its endless war against “the establishment” and the “elites” – is nothing but a history of reformatting left-wing ideas to fit the needs of the billionaire class. Think of Ronald Reagan’s (and Mike Pence’s) deliberate reprise of Franklin Roosevelt. Or the constant echoes of Depression-era themes and imagery that one heard from the Tea Party movement.
The lack of real progressive populism, due to endemic corruption in the Democratic Party, has left open a window for fake pseudo populism on the right, stealing the language of the left.
Historically this is called fascism.
Comments
OT
DKos slips into obscurity
Taking Pleasure in their misery?
How horrible of you. You're awful! You're a monster!
Yer so Bad...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdRViFCvvUo]
(Sorry, couldn't resist the opportunity for a Tom Tribute.)
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Yep
I'm still a bit resentful, but I'm trending toward indifference.
There is nothing wrong with a little Schadenfreude!
It kinda makes me happy.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCQGQ5qBQTA]
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
LOL
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
@detroitmechworks I'll miss Tom.
I'll miss Tom.
Not just bad.
You're deplorable!
@gjohnsit DK used to make $$ off of
DK used to make $$ off of eyeballs. Am guessing their funding stream now relies more on big donors so eyeballs are not required like they used to be.
'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
They're still sending out emails
on a more or less weekly schedule asking for help to keep their large staff well-funded doing important things.
Curious about that bump
Curious about that bump in late February. And, yes, I am a petty person who roots for the failure of the GOS.
iirc,
the bump in February was the Resist movement, when I also think Markos was whoring himself around for more eyeballs after the election fiasco and dK and others might have merged their lists. There was also speculation around that time that he was buying page-hits from India or someplace.
Sure disappeared fast, didn't it?
@gjohnsit
The site owner wanted to make the site irrelevant and created an astonishing success!
I suspect that a number of those still there likely have to be paid by the post, to Correct The Record, so to speak.
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.
RT is #365 in the US
It's more popular than Daily Kos by a longshot.
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
ha ha ha.
Of Course they won't change a winning strategy
Every single Democrat is being lauded for standing up to "Tyranny". Even the Rethugs are getting some of the adulation. (YAAAAY MCCAIN!!!)
Trump is their freaking sin-eater, and as long as they can continue to lay the blame for all of their ills on him, they don't have to change a fucking thing.
It's a brilliant strategy if you have no morals, and are totally willing to depend on people not paying attention to the past.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
Who is stupider?
Biden or Markos?
Uh, the old fashioned segregationist Democrats of yore are Republicans of today. And my attacks on the rich and successful are not indiscriminate. They are direct, pointed, intended, and supported by data.
I hope more of the crooks do some time in some of those private prisons where they just might eat green baloney.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
More OT
Coming from this insufferable prick too.
I have no idea how but I'm on his mailing list and get periodic updates. I suspect simply living in an affluent TN county is enough reason. Anyway, his updates are always red meat to the idiots who put him, Marsha Blackburn, and Trump in office. He's miffed that Real Republicans have to share with someone who can't keep his mouth shut. It makes grafting harder on the old guard of political and corporate thievery to make their dishonest livings.
Take it to the bank, it's genuine and authenticated, that anything Corker says is self serving.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
Pie fight - in the upper levels of government
Really, how much more childish can alleged "grown-ups" get?
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Marcus Moosetits, again
"Like me!" -- Markos
It's no accident that the word "boss", spelled in reverse, is "double-s o b"! And Markos is definitely a boss, no doubt about it!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Markos is compensating
He's fanatical against racism and sexism to compensate for his open classism.
I don't think that is the only thing for which Markos
is compensating.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Marcus Exiguus
The question is: just what is the shortness for which he's doing this?
[video:https://youtu.be/mrjStSqu_w4]
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
We have no problem with "Tiny Hands"
so I figured a bit of shortness-of-penis humor would be accepted here.
I am raising money to start a company that sells tiny condoms for men that the current market is just not a good fit.
They will be very expensive, targeting a "tiny" market of 1%ers.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Wherever Corvette owners meet,
that's where your market is.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
And guys with extremely loud Harleys.
Niche market, I know, but it is a sure thing!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
gun shows
Gun shows, amice. Her market is at gun shows!
In this case, she should set her table next to the sellers selling the biggest guns! Hotchkiss, Napoleonic Cannon, Howitzer, Mortar, that stuff!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Package the condoms like ammo.
. . . and disarm them twice.
Carlisle, PA.
It's a twofer.
Car shows (yes, plural, http://www.carlislepa.com/carlisle-events-car-shows/) with the slogan "Your Weekend With More Horsepower. Guaranteed."
And across town the War College.
Thar's a whole mess o' compensatin' goin' on in Carlisle.
isn't that oxymoronic ? ....
... to be fanatical against racism and sexism ?
I start to be fanatical about getting some sleep ... and some good news.
https://www.euronews.com/live
@mimi
Sending hugs and hopes that your wishes come true quickly. (Also wishes that your your hopes do, just to double up on it!)
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.
@gjohnsit Markos is just one
Markos is just one person and doesn't seem to say all that much on his site (my one interaction with him should be popular here - I pointed out that Obama was a 'moderate Republican' on economic policy, and Markos responded "Bullshit". I responded with a series of experts saying the same thing and finally with Obama himself saying he was - Markos did not reply.)
But what's surprised me is how many people on the site disagreed when I tried to say the top issue is economics, inequality, plutocracy and instead insisted no, it's racism and sexism most important.
I believe the problem
is that many Democrats either don't believe wealth inequality and a shrinking middle class is a problem, or believe that there isn't a political acceptable solution (because free markets are sacrosanct).
Or have managed to convince themselves without any proof that these economic problems only happen because of racism and sexism.
These people have convinced themselves that they are the "pragmatic" ones, despite their long losing record.
sacrosanct
Despite the fact that unregulated "free markets" do not and cannot exist, they're sacrosanct anyway.
Sounds like the makings of a Dangerous Cult to me!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
"Bullshit"
Yep, that sounds like a Markos argument. One of his more cogent actually. I'm surprised he didn't raise his game and include a 'fuck', just to prove his point.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
You're only surprised...
because you are not yet wise to the con.
The Dems deliberately push sexism and racism to distract from their classism, using identity politics to divide the 99% and keep us from forming a united front in favor of our shared economic interests.
Once you figure that out, everything else about the Dem's agenda makes a lot more sense.
The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?
@Not Henry Kissinger I don't think there
I don't think there's a conspiracy to do that much. I think it's more that a lot of voters are much more focused on discrimination, and a lot of politicians give them what they want.
Nope. You've been spending too much time at TOP.
Take another look at the Princeton graphs above. There is actually quite a bit of support across the political spectrum for increasing economic equality. Identity politics is what the duopoly offers for us to fight over since they and the people who make them wealthy don't agree with most of us on the importance of some measure of economic equality.
I asked him if he had ever touched an animal inappropriately.
He said no, because he's a vegetarian.
"Bi-polar? I'm Bi-winning!!!" -- Charlie Sheen
Ha. Not really. Remember "the women's study set"
For anyone who doesn't know or remember, the origin of the term "pie fight" on dkos is this video:
https://youtu.be/QwZ-26HpztY
(Can't get it to embed for some reason
)
It was an ad that was running on dkos, a trailer for the new Gillian's island show that was a paid ad, I believe, and it was considered outrageously sexist by some, defended by others, and it turned into a massive argument. Eventually kos weighed in with a rude dismissal of the complaints from "the women's study set" who were upset. Of course they became further outraged, things got even worse, and apparently a great many left the site in protest. The original dkos pie fight. Kos didn't give a rat's ass about the complaints of sexism, in the ad or in the argument on the site. He didn't even consider appeasing the women and their male allies who deemed this clip unforgivably sexist.
I don't think he cares at all about the issues of racism or sexism. I could tell a long story from personal experiences there back in 2010, when I learned first hand just how much of his persona is fake on the issue of racism, Latino issues in particular, but it's too detailed to get into here and now.
I think kos pretends to care about those issues now, because that's the way the wind is blowing within the current Hillary-led dem party messaging. Which the site simply reflects and parrots. His current persona serves his own purposes at this time. That's all it is.
Holy Fucking Crap
OK, I'm not exactly what you might call the most militant feminist. In point of fact, I think that significant parts of feminism have jumped the shark. But sheez.... that's not really an appropriate ad for a site claiming to support women.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
Markos' defense was
(and it seemed reasonable) was that he didn't control the content of thr ads because they were randomly chosen by some ad company that inserted them into reserved spaces on the site (fora per view fee) and rotated them. Obviously, he found some workaround for that, since then.
But you still see a lot of "sexy chick" type ads on DailyKos. I particularly enjoyed the Halloween costume ads every Halloween. I always clicked on those.
"Bi-polar? I'm Bi-winning!!!" -- Charlie Sheen
pie fight
Try:
[video:https://youtu.be/QwZ-26HpztY]
And all that hullabaloo over a second-rate pie fight video!
Here's a first-rate pie fight video!
[video:https://youtu.be/bWmH5FFgX44]
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Thanks Sean. I was hoping someone would figure it out
I tried several times my usual way of adding YouTube videos, but all it would display was a small empty box. What's the secret?
I wasn't at dkos at the time of The Great Pie Fight, I heard about it after I joined but it was long before my time there. But one boring day I took the time to find and read some of the old diaries and comments from the incident, including kos's famous knock on "the women's studies set" -- as he then referred to those who were upset about it.
I just find it interesting how he's now viewed as a champion of the fake and pathetic version of feminism that has taken root thanks to Hilz and her perpetual presentation of victimhood as feminist. And I believe it's as fake as everything else about him.
@CS in AZ
OK, that was just stupid. And whatever the product was, I'd certainly never buy it. What exactly was that fluffy topping made of?
Made me think of this revolting classic, which totally needs to be read in full at source, preferably without having a mouthful of anything screen-staining at the time:
http://exiledonline.com/feature-new-york-times-hack-eats-horse-sperm-pie/
The recipe given onsite as follows:
Yes, it was a RUSSIAN!!! racehorse who spermed propagandist reporting and spat in the face of one of the worst of them all. No doubt an under-(stable-blanket)-cover Russian government spy implanting the notion of this by cleverly using Facebook advertising about Black Lives Matter long before either of them ever even existed! (This being the real reason that Hillary lost the Presidential election 15 years later, although, oddly enough, apparently not the Presidential election she lost before...)
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.
He's always had a streak
of authoritarianism, even well before the diaspora.
Since when does Markos Moulitsas
represent "the left"? Whatever it is that he does represent, it sure isn't the left.
native
Of course they're corrupt.
What I don't see is Democrats who recognize this. They were perfectly happy with eight years of Obama, as legislature after legislature went to the Republicans and as Obama singlehandedly revived an austerity agenda which was championed by both Clinton and the "Contract with America" people and which had been dead for eight years afterward under that supposed paragon of evil George W. Bush. Maybe for awhile they were out there offering a nice Democratic Party gloss on Occupy, which was crushed by Obama and a couple of dozen Democrat mayors (you know, before their offices were offered to Republicans).
At the same time they're out there proudly proclaiming themselves as "progressives." They sat there and did nothing while the primaries became a farce and while Sanders volunteered for a low-level position with the campaign that cheated him of the nomination. Now they're out with their standard excuses -- "the Republicans are worse," "the Green Party is a non-starter," "we need the money," "Democratic victory," "maybe we'll actually do something," "Fascism," "Russia," blah blah blah. They have no clue that forty years of their own behavior brought us to the present precipice.
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
ask me to vote for that.
no.
now and forever, no.
as the man says, you are the ones who brought us here.
imo,the first sign of decency for any pol is to denounce & renounce both parties.
@irishking Yes, let's have
Yes, let's have everyone progressive would lean toward Democrats if they had to pick renounce both parties and split the Democratic vote, while the Right doesn't split their vote and wins.
It reminds me of California ending Gerrymandering by adopting a 'fair' citizens commission to draw districts (so fair it has equal representation for R and D while the State has 2-1 D's over R's).
Very fair - except none of the Republican states did the same, so only they benefit from Gerrymandering, and we get results like Dems getting more votes in 2012 and fewer seats.
In this case, what would be more 'fair' nationally is for Dems to match Republican Gerrymandering to balance it and help whoever gets the most votes get the most seats.
Until it can be made more fair for BOTH sides.
Losing a thousand legislative seats is no biggie --
but "splitting the vote" is a cardinal sin y'know...
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
@Cassiodorus No one said losing
No one said losing a thousand seats is no biggie, and it has nothing to do with the topic.
It's like saying "and Stalin's purges were no biggie" sarcastically - a red herring.
It's not a "red herring."
All the nice Democrats freak out when we vote Green, yet they have nothing to say when we just refuse to vote. It's the same phenomenon: both protest votes and protest nonvotes are mere protests, yet all the nice Democrats are only hyper-concerned when we have someone other than the Democrat to vote for. What they all refuse to recognize is that Democrat politicians are not entitled to our votes -- they have to earn them.
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
It appears this party system has become trapped in a
cycle it can't escape. You see that, particularly in the government, where plans, processes and systems sort of feed off themselves making it impossible to think or operate outside those plans, processes and systems. It's illustrated by a common refrain when workers are asked why they're doing something, "that's the way we've always done it".
I was just thinking yesterday how there will be nothing changing with the democratic party within the next three years and it will not be able to serve up a presidential candidate that will provide any inspiration whatsoever in 2020 (Bernie is too old, face it.) That probably leaves the next seven years certainly without any hope from Congress/Senate and the president. More than likely it will continue even after that, but we can be certain about the next 7 years.
Seven years. While they go about their crimes. We are easily led from one election to another in two year increments.
I agree with everything but this
Change is not just inevitable, but seems to already be happening.
gjohnsit, that is because the Democratic Party of the present
day is nothing but a vast patronage machine. Rank and file and donors are both complicit here. No Medicare for All or even public option because jobs at insurance offices and HMOs, as well as opposition from large donors. No peace policy because of remittances from servicemen and women and defense contractor jobs as well as pressure from the MI complex. Sorry, but we need to face facts here.
A new party, which I would like to see, or even an insurgent part of the Democratic Party MUST have, right after its dismantle the Empire peace plan, a put Americans back to work plan, financed by tax on financial transactions. And, sorry, I'm a jerk, ok, that needs to be put Americans who live right here back to work plan, not someone's cousins from abroad.
Mary Bennett
tipped for "new party"
but honestly there can be "enough jobs" for everyone in the world. The unemployment rate is an invention, not a given.
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
More jobs and getting back to work isn't the (complete) answer
Certainly I agree that is a large part of what will be necessary. If we somehow did enact universal healthcare, and somehow end the imperial military efforts to rule the world, a great many jobs would be eliminated and no longer necessary. This is not an insignificant hurdle, politically speaking.
For instance, last week some of my coworkers, generally liberal-minded people, strongly anti trump, were talking about how Raytheon got some big new contract and is hiring again, good news for Tucson because Raytheon is a major employer here, with many good paying jobs and excellent benefits. Three people in my department have spouses who work there. They might theoretically be against endless war, but still would not likely embrace a movement or party that says it is going to make them unemployed, if we win. The military scaling back is similar, here and in any town that has a military base. Our economy would be rocked, and no one can see how we make it, without all those jobs and government money flowing our way. And it is a lot of money.
Jobs ... how many people truly want to do the jobs they have? I wonder. I like mine ok overall, and I sure can't afford to lose it, and I remember the stress of being unemployed. But the truth is I'd quit in a second if I suddenly had enough money to live reasonably comfortably and had access to healthcare without it. I'd much rather have an early retirement than work for the rest of my days. I want to write and research what interests me, and rescue dogs -- not commute through traffic five days a week to sit in a cubicle and produce documents and memos for executives to present and take credit for. Does anyone love working in fast food, or retail, or in coal mines, or factories, or amazon warehouses or driving delivery trucks? I guess some probably do. But I think a lot don't.
I'm not against technology helping to reduce drudgery and allowing people to work less, have more free time, and earlier retirement. I want the employees of the military and their contractors and the insurance industries and the mines and oil companies to still have a good life, without keeping those jobs. Because we don't need those jobs anymore. Those jobs are harmful. But people won't vote for eliminating them, not without a strong, real and meaningful alternative. Not vague promises of "retraining" and infrastructure.
I think we need to offer both a solid infrastructure investment with very big and specific projects and funding to create new jobs, and a much more robust basic living and free healthcare guaranteed to all, to free up some of the masses to not toil away at jobs they don't want just to survive.
People usually cannot think outside the box.
"Those immigrants are stealing our jobs!" As if they were planning careers as leafblower operators and some Mexicans came along and stole their chosen opportunities. Yeah, capitalist jobs are not how I want to spend the rest of my life either.
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
One take on it
Brand has to speak in a great hurry --
before Maher cuts him off...
The ruling classes need an extra party to make the rest of us feel as if we participate in democracy. That's what the Democrats are for. They make the US more durable than the Soviet Union was.
I don't think Maher is nearly as smart as Brand
He just has a show and an agenda. Brand was much nicer than Maher, and nicer than I would have been.
@gjohnsit Yet Maher made a
Yet Maher made a valid point about Chips and Brand agreed. But I like Brand better than Maher.
CHIPs wasn't the point
Maher started pitching lesser evilism, and Brand responded by pointing out that lesser evilism wasn't enough.
Maher tried to cut him off (even as the crowd cheered Brand).
@gjohnsit Maher pointed
Maher pointed out that Republicans had ended Chips and Democrats wouldn't have, Brand agreed that was terrible.
It might be - we'd all agree - not enough for what we'd like, but it's a damn good argument for lesser evil in the meantime, and one of *many*.
Brand didn't offer any reason not to vote for Democrats because of things like Chips, and you didn't either. They both made valid points.
Neoliberal will never waste a good crisis
Even if Clinton had squeaked out a win we would still have the same Congress as we do now and they're the ones that failed to renew CHIPS. Maybe she would have been able to save chips by putting Medicare or social security on the table like Obama and the 90s Clintons wanted to do.
Then you should watch the video again
because that is exactly what Brand did.
He said quite clearly that Hillary-type lesser-evilism made Trump "suddenly appealing".
Maybe he said it too quickly for you.
Try this.
If establishment Democrats can win with lesser evilism we are never going to get GOOD policy. (They make money out of it.) It's only when a few of the more flagrant lesser evil Democrats go down that we'll capture the attention of the others.
CHIPs is What Percentage of the Budget?
In comparison to the $80B that was increased for the $1T per year Pentagon budget.
And Hillary would have asked for a similar amount.
Hillary totally would have bagged the Iran deal, she was bagging it on the stump when she was covering herself in Obamage.
It's a gotcha question about Drumpf vs Hillary, and Brand hit it square on the nose with little time to explain -- the hegemony would have remained the same -- and CHIPs wouldn't have been canceled outright, but CHIPs would have been on the auction block if corporate wanted it.
It is not a good argument for the LoTE, as Brand tried to bring up with Bernie being cheated, but Mahrer doesn't believe he was cheated because his head is up his corporate sponsor's ass.
HBO is socially liberal but fiscally conservative, like a Clinton, which means that human rights are malleable in the face of economics.
Hillary wins and we get tax cuts for corporations, hot war in the ME, and continued market based everything and citizen as consumer -- the same as it has been for the last 30 fucking years.
Hegemony. Brand smashed it, but we're too stupid as a people to notice.
Drumpf put us all in the steerage section, which should have us ALL facing him and the other more reputable, Oligarchs with torches and pitchforks, and the DNC pointed us at Putin -- to wipe up spilt milk and alleviate the sour grapes.
“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu
@k9disc Chips is an
Chips is an EXAMPLE.
Millions of children will not receive healthcare that would have under Hillary because of that one policy. Comparing it to the Pentagon budget does not change that.
You could wipe out ever dollar the government spends on every non-entitlement program and say the same thing - compare it to the Pentagon budget! It's a false argument.
Hillary would not have increase the Pentagon budget more than Republicans - at worst.
There a long list of policies with massive harm she would not do Republicans are trying to.
There's no evidence should would have killed the Iran deal - she was bragging about her part in getting the diplomacy for it started during the campaign.
In contrast, trump is acting as an agent of Netenyahu and calling it the worst deal in history.
Hillary would not be pushing the repeal of the ACA that came within a vote of passing, the massive tax cuts for the rich and corporations that might pass.
This topic of how bad Hillary would have been is getting sort of pointless now other than for historical purposes, though it'll come up again as the Dems have their two factions fight.
The point is to address the problems affecting both parties - though I say not equally - and society more broadly, affecting the system.
To try to get democracy working by organizing the public to stop being divided over secondary issues and unite on the one that matters,to fight plutocracy.
And I'll argue against Republicans, or centrist Democrats, or third party voters if they're threatening the 'least bad candidate', or the 'don't vote' crowd, anyone against that effort.
@Craig234
This really needs to be read in full at source, but here are some examples - emphasis mine:
https://theintercept.com/2015/09/09/hillary-clinton-goes-militaristic-ha...
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.
@Ellen North Thanks for
Thanks for that article; it raises some important flags. Here's another that's a bit different but credible: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/hillary-clinton-iran-nuclear-deal-...
@Craig234
And thanks for yours! Quite interesting!
I've copied this section (emphasis mine) from the article:
I repeat from the above: '... Clinton secretly dispatched two key deputies — including her top campaign foreign policy adviser, Jake Sullivan — to test the waters for negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. Those under-the-radar meetings, which remained secret for more than a year...'
And joining '...with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in urging more detailed planning for the possibility of a military confrontation with Iran. That included the possible U.S. response in the event of a surprise Israeli attack...'
'...her top campaign foreign policy adviser ...??? Was this also after she'd left public office? (Too cold and tired to check details right now, about to curl up in bed with a cat and a book.)
Sleepy or not, it sounded to me more as though she potentially was, rather typically, sending out spies with the hope of being able to assuredly drag America into bailing out Israel for attacking Iran by having the American military step in, as an excuse to please equally bloodthirsty Bibi, certain billionaires and other Israeli-centric donors, and attempting to manufacture some excuse for it being 'in America's interest' to invade and occupy yet another country to enrich various corporate interests and kill/main/dispossess lots more civilians...
And I'm wondering why - when Hillary was no longer in government, period, never mind no longer Secretary of State - nobody seems to have been questioning why she was apparently kept in the loop on the Iran talks to '...hint at a harder position than the one Obama wound up accepting ...' and - in office or not -to get together with a warhawk Defense Secretary to plan a military attack, should another militaristic country 'just happen' to initiate a war crime by surprise-striking the targeted country first. And the same with Dick Cheney and a bunch of other Bush admin warhawks, even longer out of public office than was Hillary.
Oh, silly me - it was going to be Her Turn as President next, even though she said herself, as an excuse for criminal behaviour in endangering National Security for convenience and personal profit, that she'd failed to understand basic security protocol integral to her job as Sec of State and stated that she still had no understanding of it while running for the Presidency. And Dick Cheney and the rest were still going to be running the corporate/war machine from the shadow of the White House.
And that Israeli attack would have been almost as surprising to those planning for it, 'just in case', as the content of the above paragraph which I just wrote was to me - if Obama had gone with that scenario. He did exercise some restraint over Hillary, apparently even when she was no longer his Secretary of State and had no business pushing attacks on other countries to please her donors. Not that anyone - in or out of public office - ever does.
I really feel that a nuclear bullet's been dodged twice now... even if they're all still in there, pushing a 'useful idiot with a pen and the ability to sign things' into instigating even more global disaster than he'd already be creating on his own, out of pure greed and rampant ignorance, and in so many immediately lucrative ways.
And at least Trump has not so far indicated that he enjoys and is amused by people dying a horrible death - at this point...
We cannot continue to vote for evil, to encourage it to grow.
Edited due to repeating a couple of words in the course of sentence reconstruction. It's a knack, lol; what can I say?
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.
Who knew?
Who knew Harold Ford, Jr. was still relevant?
Maher is a dishonest twerp.
At the close Brand says that he voted for Corbyn, a genuine socialist.
Maher immediately jumps in with the cocaine joke and goes to break.
.
please look in the mirror
Mr. Maher.
that's our boy.
aaarrgh.
@Nastarana OK, let's face facts -
OK, let's face facts - Bernie's Medicare for All bill with 12+ Democratic co-sponsors.
Not enough? Elect better Democrats. I'd say 'or Republicans' but is it really possible to elect pro-Medicare For All Republicans in today's Republican Party?
Another fact - you cite anti-peace spending based on checks from service members and defense contractors. You really think it's service members having an influence on that?
What do you think is fuelling the vituperation at DK?
I don't think it is jerkiness as much as it is fear of what they stand to loose, from remittances to nice middle class jobs for their kids all the way up to ambassadorships. That is why I think a new party or faction within the old party must have a robust jobs program, a new WPA. Its' not like there isn't work that needs doing.
Mary Bennett
Always reminds me of Clinton on Colbert's show
During the primaries Bubba Clinton went on Colbert. He marginalized Bernie Sander supporters as losers, and then went to profusely praise Trump. Dang, there went Bill's chance to make even more millions of dollars.
“Gleichschaltung” of the political comedy racket
http://investmentwatchblog.com/total-coincidence-its-not-political-its-j...
Thanks for the new (German) word: And very appropriate.
That group of comedians might be the most potent propaganda tools for establishment. I don't watch them ecept for the occasions youtube clip, but at least in a few cases some of them have said stuff about Russia the country that is from a certain perspective, racist.
Time for a new word?
--> Gleichschaltungswebseite (GSW)
(TOS in the original German?)
So the Democratic Leadership...
is running against its own constituents. AGAIN. No surprise.
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
It's called
Karma. Oh, sweet Karma.
Dem party won't change; also, rain is wet
Sorry but it seems to me the party is very predictable and this is what they do. Always. Sadly the people who "haven't learned anything" yet are the voters who keep voting for them anyway, and thinking someday this rote behavior will pay off with better policies and better government.
What's most surprising is that people are trying to help them
and yet the establishment rejects that help. Sure, the Democratic establishment knows they need new messaging. They've given it a few tries such as this:
Clearly they have learned nothing and yet intrepid groups of
political satiristsDemocratic activists produce works of art which languish in obscurity.CENTRISM.BIZ
Warning: shameless repost of a political satire site I find immensely funny.
A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard
He actually said that??
LOL! He actually said that?
Gosh, I wonder which rich and successful person he had in his mind when he said that?
Maybe he'll teach us all a lesson on constraint by "Going Galt."
"Bi-polar? I'm Bi-winning!!!" -- Charlie Sheen
Same as it ever was
once a Goldwater Girl, always a Goldwater Girl.
Guess who was one of Obama's biggest donor
Penny Pritzker who was given an ambassadorship after he was elected. This is what most presidents do. People who give up huge amounts of money get paid back this way. Are they even qualified for the position? Who cares? Most of the positions are just fluffy assignments anyway. Look at some of the people Trump appointed.
Callista Greenwhich's political history has been well documented, right? This is why she was appointed the ambassador to Italy. I'm sure that her previous history of adultery will go unnoticed by people in the Vatican. They have a habit of ignoring the sexual innuendos that has plagued the Catholic Church.
Now that her tenure is over, she can now help her husband govern I'm Chicago.
Obama is getting his reward for selling out the citizenry when the banks crashed the global economy. What's a half million dollars between friends. He learned from the Clintons that if you do good things for the financial institutions and corporations you are well rewarded.
And people wonder why we don't trust our government officials.
Will they even question their actions when they are close to death? Somehow I doubt it.
Another great essay, gjohnsit.
I Can Recall....
Listening to Make It Plain on Progress Radio on a weekly ride up to NH in rush hour traffic. The host was, infuriatingly, all in for HER. One evening he had a particularly shrill, wimpy, near-hysterical, know-it-all person on, and I thought, "Who the hell is THIS twit? It must be some juked-up caller." Alas, no, it was Markos! Turns out he was on this show every Thursday evening. Thereafter it became a case of tuning in just to learn how to hate all he stood for the more. Sniveling and pedantic, sneering and interuptive, and an intellectual lightweight, with a high, sniggery laugh, I thought again, "THIS is Markos?" As above, so below: no wonder so many people on TOS are assholes. It's like people on NPR (who were also all in for HER) still parroting HER's propensity to answer a question with, "Look, ...." to which I always respond, "No, YOU look." I suppose some focus group in Iowa said that it made HER appear tough. Ugghhh-- them and their little buzzwords! Away with them, I say!
Semper ubi sub ubi
let me hear you cry now..