The Democrats are still in trouble

The Democratic Party favorability hit a new all-time low. Gee, maybe they aren't talking about Russia enough?
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It's no surprise that Republicans hate Democrats, but it's a problem that only 23% of Independents like Democrats. The only good news in this poll is that people hate Republicans even more.

Now you may write off this one poll, but that isn't the only poll to show problems.
This CBS poll shows that people just aren't excited by the Dems.
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Only 28 percent of independents think things would be better with the Dems in charge, and that's not good.
Why is that the case? Simple. Only Republicans seem to think they know what the Dems stand for.
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Now why would people think that?
Consider the Democratic response to Trump's tariffs.

Nothing better illustrates the Democratic Party's inability to adapt to the changing nature of its political coalition than the party's paralysis in the fierce debate over President Donald Trump's sweeping new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.
While the tariffs Trump announced last week have ignited fierce blowback from a wide array of congressional Republicans and business groups usually allied with the party, Democrats have been almost entirely tongue-tied on the issue.
...This silence speaks volumes about the Democrats' inability, or unwillingness, to recognize the evolving nature of the party's demographic and geographic base. While many Democrats still think of the party as the home of blue-collar industrial regions hostile to trade, in fact, the party is now centered in the major metropolitan areas that are integrated into global markets and at the forefront of the transition into the information-age, digital economy.

Before you know what the Democrats stand for you need to know who the Democrats stand for.
This comes up again on the issue of Wall Street.

A dozen Senate Democrats are threatening to torpedo any semblance of a unified economic message from the opposition party ahead of this fall’s midterm elections, trampling over the fiercest progressive voices in the party to do so.
Democrats in the Senate joined the Republican majority to end debate on an amendment to a broad financial deregulation package late Monday, advancing the most significant revision of banking rules since the historic 2010 Dodd-Frank law.

When it comes to big money, "centrist" Democrats are united in flipping the working class the middle finger.
However, the most interesting trend in the Democratic Party today is who is running for office.

More than 50 such military-intelligence candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination in the 102 districts identified by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as its targets for 2018.
If on November 6 the Democratic Party makes the net gain of 24 seats needed to win control of the House of Representatives, former CIA agents, military commanders, and State Department officials will provide the margin of victory and hold the balance of power in Congress. The presence of so many representatives of the military-intelligence apparatus in the legislature is a situation without precedent in the history of the United States.

Am I the only person alarmed at the idea of the CIA gaining more influence in our government?

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Raggedy Ann's picture

who is alarmed by that. I, too, am alarmed. Many c99pers are probably alarmed. The MSM viewers, not so much, IMHO.

As an independent, I have zero faith in either party of the duopoly. We, obviously, need a new party - one that is not beholden to the oligarchs. Will it come about? Hard to say. I believe nothing will change without revolution. I could be wrong, but I'm not seeing any evidence to the contrary.

Here we are, a year later under Herr Drumpf, and the American people are as complacent as they have ever been. Nothing is changing. Nothing. Will. Change. Without. Revolution.

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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

@Raggedy Ann @Raggedy Ann
There is a new tax cut. Employment is up. The MSM has nothing but good news on the economy. Why should people fear Trump?

And if he can cement a new treaty with North Korea, perhaps recognizing them as a legitimate government and withdrawing all US troops and aircraft in exchange for denuclearization with international inspections and guarantees, finally ending the Korean War "police action" look for a Republican wave in Fall.

A friend of mine graduated High School in 1952, joined the Marines three days later, was in Korea six weeks later. Next month he will be 85. Isn't it time this was over?

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

The Aspie Corner's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness Considering he just replaced Rex Tillerson with the even wingnuttier Mike Pompeo, I doubt anything good will come out of it.

Besides, Trump flip-flops like a fish out of water anyway. Par for the course for 'Murica's leaders anyway.

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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.

@The Aspie Corner @The Aspie Corner
Democrats have been crowing about a blow out in November. I don't think so. And a treaty may be unlikely, but what if he did?

What if he came up with a deal and Dems filibustered it? What would the public think?

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

Meteor Man's picture

And going for total control of the political system. I clicked over to your wsws link and am curious about this:

And they are welcomed and given preferred positions, with Democratic Party officials frequently clearing the field for their candidacies.

. . .

the Democratic Party has opened its doors to a "friendly takeover" by the intelligence agencies.

The GOP is solidly and historically pro military. The only challenge to American military aggression in the last 50 years has come from the left wing of the Democratic party. The genuine progressive challengers in the midterms are uniformly anti- military.

It may be a small quibble, but I wondered if these candidates were being actively recruited by the DCCC or if the MIC sees the Democratic party midterms as a window of opportunity to consolidate political power and is recruiting these candidates and directing them into a friendly takeover.

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"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn

@Meteor Man

but I wondered if these candidates were being actively recruited by the DCCC

I've been seeing articles for months saying that the Dems were recruiting ex-military. I thought that meant ex-grunts, but it turns out it was ex-spooks.

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If the Dems take over, it will be owned by the CIA. lose/lose

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

CB's picture

is to get white men out of the party. /s Other factors why she didn't win.

  • James Comey
  • Russia
  • Vladimir Putin
  • Barack Obama
  • Russia
  • Sen. Mitch McConnell
  • The Media
  • Russia
  • Bernie Sanders and his supporters
  • Russia
  • Jill Stein
  • and… Russia

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

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Anja Geitz's picture

@CB @CB

To be introduced in front of an enclave of foreign business interests as "the candidate who should have won".

Well, I guess we know what she's going to have carved on her tombstone, lest we ever forget.

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

CB's picture

@Anja Geitz

I wonder how much she got paid? How will they ever get their money back? Hillary's only remaining ties are to the US spook agencies.

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Anja Geitz's picture

@CB

Maybe that's why she had to go to India?

I know it's catty of me to say, but she looked like hell. Must've been a rough 2 years for her.

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

@Anja Geitz

She is hell. The mask is slipping.

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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.

@CB

The only way for the Dems to make a comeback is to get white men out of the party. /s

BTW, does anyone else remember that Archie Bunker was the hero that always did the right thing in the end?

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snoopydawg's picture

@CB

Yeah tell that to the millions who are dead because of her compassion or the hundreds of thousands that are still stuck in poverty and prison because of her compassion.

Dear Ceiling Cat, how can so many people be so blind about what her soul actually does?

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

CB's picture

@snoopydawg

It is why she is not now Madame President. One has to have a pretty low moral compass to lose to a carny huckster.

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@CB Lee Fang, from The Intercept, (through Greenwald) has this to say about Hillary's India rant:

"Hillary Clinton's remarks here represent such a clear view of how the wealthy view themselves as inherently moral, and mask their contempt of the poor using pseudo social justice language"

Fang points to this on youtube...part of the speech.

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@MrWebster @MrWebster

Edit: And eliminates the Poors, those useless eaters with nothing left to drain out for Their Betters.

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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.

earthling1's picture

we need to revive the Anti - War Movement.
Our own military, in league with our spooks, are officially at war with the working men and women of this country. The poor have been marginalized and defeated, and the middle class has been split into the top ten percenters and the upper working class.
The top ten consisting of primarily professionals whose only interest is protecting their 401 plans. And the upper working class are just trying to hold on to their homes, most not even having a 401 of any substantial size.
The continued bloating of our military empire will result in the starvation of our people and collapse of America as we knew it.
The exact opposite of MAGA.
IMHO.

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

@earthling1
Yeah MAGA

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Beware the bullshit factories.

@Timmethy2.0

We always knew it had to mean something like that, only I always thought that last letter must indicate something like 'asshats'. It seemed to fit so well...

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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.

@earthling1 but I'm seeing the MIC turning on it's host (that's us) in my crystal ball. When the rulers can't own the world as they would like to, and the sensible rest of the world won't play war with the US anymore, and we the people rise up to say hey, stop this madness, then the MIC will have to eat their own. The script is probably already written into the 'pat-riot act'. Not going to be pretty for freedom and all the other BS they have been killing for.

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@QMS
when the government gets completely taken over by thieves, it destabilizes society.

At this point the most likely outcome isn't revolution - it's a coup.

I could see the American people supporting that coup.

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@gjohnsit The novel by Sinclair Lewis in 1935 reads like the screen play for our times. Wake up people!

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snoopydawg's picture

@QMS

remember when the British newsman was showing the riots in the US because it had over extended itself with war while screwing we the people? Those people finally rose up and kicked their government's ass.

People shouldn't be afraid of their government, the government should be afraid of the people.'

V is my favorite movie

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Hillbilly Dem's picture

This so, huh? You just wait. When the joementum from Nancy Pelosi's "Better Deal" kicks in, you'll be singing a different tune, I tell ya. Now if she can just figure out exactly what the Better Deal is and why it's better. (Nota Bene: I'm not holding my breath)

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"Just call me Hillbilly Dem(exit)."
-H/T to Wavey Davey

better jobs, better wages...lower costs...that means things cost less...

I presume you've seen this debacle from the official rollout -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=10&v=inExYjhJSLI

@Hillbilly Dem

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JVolvo2

Hillbilly Dem's picture

@JVolvo2
In fact, Jimmy's show was the first and ONLY time I heard about Nancy's glorious marketing campaign, the Better Deal. They are truly hopeless.

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"Just call me Hillbilly Dem(exit)."
-H/T to Wavey Davey

@Hillbilly Dem @Hillbilly Dem

Probably more: Better take this deal you can't refuse - or else

Edit: after all it's members of a more vicious CIA running for Dem office everywhere, isn't it? Just when you thought it couldn't get worse that fast.

Funny, the subject passed the first time before I edited, but now it's too long so it's now in the text section rather than my breaking it up...

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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.

mimi's picture

Democrats want next U.S. secretary of state to be tougher on Russia - Reuters Staff
Can you believe that?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. Senate Democrats on Tuesday blasted President Donald Trump’s stance on Russia as too soft and indicated that his approach to the country accused of meddling in U.S. elections will come up when they consider his nominee for secretary of state next month.

Saying that outgoing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “was not close to tough enough on Russia,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said he hoped that Mike Pompeo, nominated to head the State Department,“will be a lot tougher and we hope he can persuade the president to be tougher, because the president is not serving American interests.”

Do I understand this correctly that Schumer or other Senate Democrats threaten to retaliate if Pompeo will become SoS and not be tough enough against Russia?
Wacko
Help
Aggressive

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mimi's picture

@mimi

Tillerson's Sacking Will Shock America and the World - but Delight Israel. - Chemi Shalev Mar 13, 2018 6:17 PM

The secretary of state’s cardinal sin was that he didn’t kowtow to Trump to the degree that the president craves and requires

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@mimi Take a deep breath, close your eyes and rest assured there is absolutely no truth in the spin they spew.

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mimi's picture

@QMS
that the successor for Pompeo at the CIA is a woman, who worked under Bush on the development of the torture recipe of water boarding. Great. Fantastico. Now we can feel safe.
Aggressive
Sigh.
Who is Gina Haspel? Trump says he has named first woman CIA director

Confirmation hearings, though, will likely focus on her involvement with secret CIA "black sites" where suspected al Qaeda terrorists were detained overseas.

She briefly oversaw the CIA prison in Thailand where "enhanced interrogation techniques" were used on senior al Qaeda operatives Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Raham al-Nashiri. These techniques included waterboarding, according to Senate Intelligence Committee's report.

There is also the matter of Haspel's role in the destruction of CIA waterboarding tapes. According to the Associated Press, Haspel helped carry out an order to destroy the tapes. After a Justice Department investigation, there were no charges for Haspel.

Human rights groups have spoken out against the president's pick.

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@mimi

Human rights groups have spoken out against the president's prick.
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@QMS and went poof is now in the britches of prezzy' p()icks. Go figure. Must be some physics about conservative matters.

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@mimi
That we have a CIA director that openly commits war crimes?

Or that a wealthy woman "breaks the glass ceiling"?

If you have to think about it, then you are wrong.

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mimi's picture

@gjohnsit
disagreement about what YOU think I bother to think about.
Stop
Peace.

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@mimi @mimi
It was a rhetorical question.

Interestingly, I didn't know she has an open arrest warrant in Europe.

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mimi's picture

@gjohnsit
relieved I am about explanations from Marcy Wheeler and grateful how TRN and Aaron Mate bring her in and clarify what the nomination of Haspel would mean.

It's harder to get all the clips of US main stream media here in Germany (not that I like to feed myself with them, but you still need to watch them to 'get' them). Sorry, that I didn't catch your rhetorical question as being a rhetorical question.

"Alles wird gut" is the idiotic saying among German TV producers, when everything isn't good.
Heh. Houston we have not 'a' problem, we have several problems.
Wink

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mimi's picture

@gjohnsit
support in Europe to do what my conscience tells me would be the right thing to do. Thank You Marcy Wheeler.

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@gjohnsit

Gee, is the desire for the continuation of that cover-up of CIA torture and, perhaps, ongoing tortures under this sadistic freak somehow perhaps connected to the Dems are running a CIA slate for election?

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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.

snoopydawg's picture

@mimi

If Obama had prosecuted the people who were involved in the torture program, she would be.

This goes for the bank CEOs. Instead of them being in prison there is another bank deregulation bill soaring through congress.

This is what comes from looking forward.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

OzoneTom's picture

@snoopydawg

Barring an action/inaction-driven extinction-level event before that I do not expect any change short of a concerted uprising.

And things are going to have to get waaay worse before we get to that point (and it could be quick), but it's going to happen and I dread that time as necessary as it is.

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@OzoneTom

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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.

mimi's picture

@snoopydawg
the buck stops right here, when it comes to torture. This is all going way over the bearable limits.
I admit sometimes I got tired and irritated about the constant repetition covering this whole mess of Russiagate as if we would never be able to "get" what it means (we do, even if it's said only a couple of times), but this time it's necessary to reveal everything about Haspel and Pompeo.

As you follow this way more intensely than I ever could or would, am I right in seeing the "Sane Progressive's" videos purged? Or am I just a lazy imbecile, who doesn't know how to do research properly?

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@snoopydawg

Because those 'looking forward' know that they have a golden parachute awaiting their leaving of public office, and need not worry about falling into the hole everyone else will land in...

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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.

... Only Republicans seem to think they know what the Dems stand for. ...

Lol, I suspect that a lot of people do know what Dem leadership stands - and kneels - for and that's why they're dying, thereby giving the Republicans the remaining seats required for the 'Runaway Con Con' which ALEC and the Trilateral Commission and the rest have been pushing for, where the US Constitution becomes re-written to suit The Psychopaths That Be. Then it will suddenly be recognized as the basis of law in the country...

Sounds like the billionaires are selecting spy agency stand-in proxies for full-blown corporate/military rule with all political positions carefully selected to vote for whatever's desired to pass...

Edited to add a 'which' and to capitalize ALEC. If I've managed to miss anything else, I'll be back when I'm done sobbing in the corner... might take a while.

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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.