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I went to a Beto town hall in August. He clearly was not 100% progressive, but I figured he was progressive enough. That is how I would categorize all of the Texas dems who are running that I have heard speak or have read about.

Stacking him up against Ted Cruz makes him look like Jesus though. In the toilet republicans are running this state . . . so . . . . I just hope straight ticket voters sweep them all in.

otherwise bigoted, even in elementary school. My father was like Archie Bunker in that respect. Not only did it sicken me, but I somehow always knew that statements like that "Arabs are X"or "Jews are Y" or "Women are Z" were dumb overgeneralizations. Without making any conscious decision, I never eve thought in generalizations or stereotypes or insults to any group. However, back to Beto. It often amazes me that people support a politician without even having read his or her wiki. According to Beto's wiki: High school assholery aside, Beto was charged with a DUI to which he tacitly admitted by taking classes; a burglary arrest about which nothing further was done, possibly because of Beto's family connections and money; and an insider trading charge. He got into Texas politics at about the same time as he married the daughter of a very wealthy Texas real estate mogul, possibly just a coincidence. Or not. And, while people are styling him as a progressive (whatever that may mean to you), he, like DWS and many other center right Democrats in Congress, is a proud member of the Congressional New Democrat Coalition. Of the insider trading charge, Beto said, "I probably did it" or something equally lame and equivocal. And, unlike Martha Stewart or most of us, he got away with only disgorging the money he made on the insider trade. FYI, for insider trading for Martha Stewart and the rest of us: II. PENALTIES; SANCTIONS General. Violation of the prohibition on insider trading can result in a prison sentence and civil and criminal fines for the individuals who commit the violation, and civil and criminal fines for the entities that commit the violation. (The company whose securities were traded) can be subject to a civil monetary penalty even if the directors, officers or employees who committed the violation concealed their activities from the Company. Criminal Penalties. The maximum prison sentence for an insider trading violation is now 20 years. The maximum criminal fine for individuals is now $5,000,000, and the maximum fine for non-natural persons (such as an entity whose securities are publicly traded) is now $25,000,000. Civil Sanctions. Persons who violate insider trading laws may become subject to an injunction and may be forced to disgorge any profits gained or losses avoided. The civil penalty for a violator may be an amount up to three times the profit gained or loss avoided as a result of the insider trading violation.

—

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 3:34pm

And the crimial activity skirmishes?

I don't consider any New Democrat "progessive enough" for any seat, much less progressive enough to be mistaken for Jesus. I don't even see them as the infamous "lesser of two evils."

Your mileage apparently varies on that score. Fair enough.* However, a politician engaging in insider trading ain't nothing.

Reading between the lines--and not even so much of that--his wiki reads like that of any elitist conservadem who lives as though the rules and laws are only for us hoi polloi.

*Fair enough, as long as we are not selling his candidacy as part of some revolutionary re-fashioning of the Democratic Party. True, he says he is not accepting corporation donations, but, between his family money and his wife's, and the connections of the two, he probably can get by very, very nicely with donations from humans.

Submitted by mhagle on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 3:41pm

I am just hoping he'll be OK

I am not dismissing the offenses. He just happens to be running against satan.

At the town hall, I asked: "what are we going to do about the climate crisis?" His solution was the canned wind and solar response. The one point he made that was excellent was how as he travels the state (kudos for that!), the farmers are all telling him they can't grow the same crops as they used to.

His answer to the woman who asked about a solution for student debt was completely unacceptable IMO. (We need student debt forgiveness.) He said that doctors with student debt should come and work in a town where the town pays off the student loan. Very out of touch. And the woman's student debt story was completely heartbreaking. He didn't seem to get it.

—

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:04pm

I learned, I hope, from Obama 2008 versus Obama 2009

@mhagle @mhagle

not to put much stock (pun unintended, but not deleted, either) in what politicians say and do while they are in campaign mode. Things about Beto, other than his campaign rhetoric, speak volumes, IMO. I've also learned that I never want to vote for New Democrat or any conservadem by any other name because he or she is supposedly a lesser evil than his or her Republican opponent. For example, Obama was supposedly far better (for whom?) than McCain, yet wealth traveled to the wealthiest during the Obama administration at a faster rate than it ever had in all of US history

Second, I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that many of us became Democrats because we saw Democrats as the party of the common person, more worker than wealthy. And also because we relied on them to check the frickin' Republicans. New Democrats mean politicians who, far from checking Republicans, are complicit with them. At the very least, Republicans make no bones about believing that a rising tide lifts all yachts and the rest of us can twist in the wind while we wait for trickle down, or Charlie Brown's football, whichever comes first. So, I see Democrats as the greater of those two evils.

Again, I realize that your mileage varies. I just thought I'd give you my perspective because I know I am not alone. I can't relate to considering Beto Christ and Cruz Satan. If we must speak in gospel hyperbole, it's entirely possible to have two demons opposing each other; and I'd probably see the New Democrat as the more evil, the more diabolical, the more dishonest, especially long term. Therefore, I would not vote for either demon. It might be that, in the short term, things get worse before they get better. However, IMO, as long as we keep voting for Democrats because they're supposedly not as bad as Republicans, Democrats have zero reason to even consider change.

However, that is not why I made my first post on this thread about Beto. I made that post simply because I think facts matter, for their own sake. Besides, people were posting as though the worst thing poor, progressive Beto ever did was write something arguably sexist as a teen. And no part of the preceding sentence was reality.

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:54pm

It really was the party platform

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that many of us became Democrats because we saw Democrats as the party of the common person, more worker than wealthy. And also because we relied on them to check the frickin' Republicans.

And that's how it performed.

But to your point, there really is a vast difference between local elections and the people you send to DC. I believe they require completely different approaches on the part of the voter. In local elections and politics, officials actually do govern. You can go strangle them regularly if they screw up. The issues are entirely different. But the state can't protect you from the evil karmic shadow the globalists at the Federal level can cast over your future. Those officials serve corporations. Everything else is noise. There was a time federal leaders could be a force for the domestic good, but FDR was the last of them. The Council on Foreign Relations formed so that none like FDR would ever return. Elected officials at the Federal level are compromised, thus powerless tools when there is conflict between the plutocrats and the people. That's the problem with a Republic.

#5.1.1.1 #5.1.1.1 not to put much stock (pun unintended, but not deleted, either) in what politicians say and do while they are in campaign mode. Things about Beto, other than his campaign rhetoric, speak volumes, IMO. I've also learned that I never want to vote for New Democrat or any conservadem by any other name because he or she is supposedly a lesser evil than his or her Republican opponent. For example, Obama was supposedly far better (for whom?) than McCain, yet wealth traveled to the wealthiest during the Obama administration at a faster rate than it ever had in all of US history Second, I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that many of us became Democrats because we saw Democrats as the party of the common person, more worker than wealthy. And also because we relied on them to check the frickin' Republicans. New Democrats mean politicians who, far from checking Republicans, are complicit with them. At the very least, Republicans make no bones about believing that a rising tide lifts all yachts and the rest of us can twist in the wind while we wait for trickle down, or Charlie Brown's football, whichever comes first. So, I see Democrats as the greater of those two evils. Again, I realize that your mileage varies. I just thought I'd give you my perspective because I know I am not alone. I can't relate to considering Beto Christ and Cruz Satan. If we must speak in gospel hyperbole, it's entirely possible to have two demons opposing each other; and I'd probably see the New Democrat as the more evil, the more diabolical, the more dishonest, especially long term. Therefore, I would not vote for either demon. It might be that, in the short term, things get worse before they get better. However, IMO, as long as we keep voting for Democrats because they're supposedly not as bad as Republicans, Democrats have zero reason to even consider change. However, that is not why I made my first post on this thread about Beto. I made that post simply because I think facts matter, for their own sake. Besides, people were posting as though the worst thing poor, progressive Beto ever did was write something arguably sexist as a teen. And no part of the preceding sentence was reality.

—

IMAGINE if you woke up the day after a US Presidential Election and headlines around the the world blared, "The Majority of Americans Refused to Vote in US Presidential Election! What Does this Mean?"

Submitted by mhagle on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:32pm

You might be right about it all

We are desperate in Texas.

I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

It seems hard to imagine that Beto could be worse than Ted. But I don't know.

I do know that the state republicans cost my my my family $7800 this year by messing with the teacher's retirement health insurance. I know that. We have been selling lots of stuff to make up for that. To make sure my kid gets her meds. So that she can be OK.

#5.1.1.1 #5.1.1.1 not to put much stock (pun unintended, but not deleted, either) in what politicians say and do while they are in campaign mode. Things about Beto, other than his campaign rhetoric, speak volumes, IMO. I've also learned that I never want to vote for New Democrat or any conservadem by any other name because he or she is supposedly a lesser evil than his or her Republican opponent. For example, Obama was supposedly far better (for whom?) than McCain, yet wealth traveled to the wealthiest during the Obama administration at a faster rate than it ever had in all of US history Second, I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that many of us became Democrats because we saw Democrats as the party of the common person, more worker than wealthy. And also because we relied on them to check the frickin' Republicans. New Democrats mean politicians who, far from checking Republicans, are complicit with them. At the very least, Republicans make no bones about believing that a rising tide lifts all yachts and the rest of us can twist in the wind while we wait for trickle down, or Charlie Brown's football, whichever comes first. So, I see Democrats as the greater of those two evils. Again, I realize that your mileage varies. I just thought I'd give you my perspective because I know I am not alone. I can't relate to considering Beto Christ and Cruz Satan. If we must speak in gospel hyperbole, it's entirely possible to have two demons opposing each other; and I'd probably see the New Democrat as the more evil, the more diabolical, the more dishonest, especially long term. Therefore, I would not vote for either demon. It might be that, in the short term, things get worse before they get better. However, IMO, as long as we keep voting for Democrats because they're supposedly not as bad as Republicans, Democrats have zero reason to even consider change. However, that is not why I made my first post on this thread about Beto. I made that post simply because I think facts matter, for their own sake. Besides, people were posting as though the worst thing poor, progressive Beto ever did was write something arguably sexist as a teen. And no part of the preceding sentence was reality.

—

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:53pm

Short-term, Beto is probably preferable to Cruz.

Long-term, IMO, voting for bad Democrats only encourages bad Democrats, leaving us no one at all to check Republicans, unless a miracle happens and a Green or righteous indie somehow defeats both huge machines.

But, that the view that I have, at long last come to; and I don't need it to be yours as well. When we vote, we should each vote according to our own respective consciences. And, I am 100% certain that each of us will do exactly that.

Submitted by lotlizard on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 9:11pm

Jesse Ventura was able to beat the duopoly in Minnesota

@HenryAWallace
We could use more outsiders like that to stand with the people against the duopoly, which in both its incarnations is the people’s enemy.

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Wed, 10/03/2018 - 2:55pm

Amen, Reverend (said the choir).

@lotlizard

Getting rid of first duopoly bozo to pass the post would be nice, too (HAW posted, greatly understating.)

Submitted by WindDancer13 on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 3:45pm

Ted Cruz

One more shitty Dem vs Ted Cruz...One more shitty Dem vs Ted Cruz

Sorry, I have to go with one more shitty Dem. Most of them are criminals in one way or another. If not by law, then by humanity.

Let Texas get used to having a Dem of any kind first, then start sneaking in people who are a bit more progressive, then a bit more, and then . . .

otherwise bigoted, even in elementary school. My father was like Archie Bunker in that respect. Not only did it sicken me, but I somehow always knew that statements like that "Arabs are X"or "Jews are Y" or "Women are Z" were dumb overgeneralizations. Without making any conscious decision, I never eve thought in generalizations or stereotypes or insults to any group. However, back to Beto. It often amazes me that people support a politician without even having read his or her wiki. According to Beto's wiki: High school assholery aside, Beto was charged with a DUI to which he tacitly admitted by taking classes; a burglary arrest about which nothing further was done, possibly because of Beto's family connections and money; and an insider trading charge. He got into Texas politics at about the same time as he married the daughter of a very wealthy Texas real estate mogul, possibly just a coincidence. Or not. And, while people are styling him as a progressive (whatever that may mean to you), he, like DWS and many other center right Democrats in Congress, is a proud member of the Congressional New Democrat Coalition. Of the insider trading charge, Beto said, "I probably did it" or something equally lame and equivocal. And, unlike Martha Stewart or most of us, he got away with only disgorging the money he made on the insider trade. FYI, for insider trading for Martha Stewart and the rest of us: II. PENALTIES; SANCTIONS General. Violation of the prohibition on insider trading can result in a prison sentence and civil and criminal fines for the individuals who commit the violation, and civil and criminal fines for the entities that commit the violation. (The company whose securities were traded) can be subject to a civil monetary penalty even if the directors, officers or employees who committed the violation concealed their activities from the Company. Criminal Penalties. The maximum prison sentence for an insider trading violation is now 20 years. The maximum criminal fine for individuals is now $5,000,000, and the maximum fine for non-natural persons (such as an entity whose securities are publicly traded) is now $25,000,000. Civil Sanctions. Persons who violate insider trading laws may become subject to an injunction and may be forced to disgorge any profits gained or losses avoided. The civil penalty for a violator may be an amount up to three times the profit gained or loss avoided as a result of the insider trading violation.

—

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 4:49pm

You have no reason to say sorry to me, Wind Dancer. I am not

@WindDancer13

asking anyone to vote for or against Beto. (And if I did, it wouldn't and shouldn't matter anyway.) The most negative thing I've said about views different from mine is ymmv--and I do not intend that as a negative.

Please remember, the thread starter and most of the posts on this thread before I posted were made as though Beto had never done anything worse than use the words T & A in something he wrote as a teen. Since that was not so, I made a factual post.

Also, he's been touted, not as one more awful Dem, but as some wonder child progressive; and I do not believe that to be the case, either, for reasons stated in my first post on this thread. No matter how one intends to vote, truth matters, or it should, IMO.

Please see also my reply to MHagle: https://caucus99percent.com/comment/372272#comment-372272

Thank you.

Submitted by EdMass on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:19pm

Was just trying

to point out the absurdity of holding teenagers responsible for actions then vs who they are now. Your posts were most welcome to expand the discussion.

Thanks

—

Firesign Theater

Stop the War!

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:25pm

Is this about Kavanaugh? Boy, am I naive and overly literal!

@EdMass

Submitted by EdMass on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:30pm

Nope. Beto

Getting a ride cause he's the next Kennedy, Obama, Space Jesus...

—

Firesign Theater

Stop the War!

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:58pm

Thanks. Good to know I didn't miss the entire purpose of

@EdMass

the OP after all. But, now that I think about it....maybe politico had a different motive than you to break the "big" Beto T & A story at this juncture. As an October surprise, it's a "nothingburger," to borrow a term from Hillbots.

Submitted by mhagle on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 4:17pm

Ted Cruz is the bottom of the barrel . . .

@WindDancer13

Actually, he is at the bottom of the outhouse described in JTC's cool story thread this morning.

There have been no Ted Cruz signs out until a few days ago. Now the republican signs are up. I feel like vomiting as I pass them, and I suspect that many others do as well.

Yes . . . we are so in the toilet here, that the standards are low.

So, Mr. O'Rourke has indiscretions. That's a drag. I just hope we get lucky.

—

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by mhagle on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 4:58pm

duplicate post ... sorry

—

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 4:56pm

A felony, even one that goes unpunished, is not

@mhagle
a mere indiscretion.

I understand that you will vote for Beto and/or against Cruz no matter what; and I wish you only peace for that. But that is no reason to re-characterize Beto's crimes, or at least the felony that he owned up to.

Submitted by mhagle on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 4:59pm

I appreciate your information

I am glad you gave me the additional information. It is important. Especially in the big picture.

—

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:27pm

(((mhagle)))

The info is not for you, but for anyone who happens to read the thread. To paraphrase Reagan, my 80% friend is not my enemy; and, in this case, you're more like my 99% friend. I wish you only good things, no matter who you vote for or against.

Submitted by mhagle on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:39pm

It is all hard and complicated . . .

No answers. Anywhere.

Climate crisis is my main concern. And my kids and my family.

You can't live in rural Texas and not have friends who are religious fundamentalists.

Complicated.

—

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by UntimelyRippd on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 6:13pm

off-topic, but pertinent to our dialogue the other day:

@HenryAWallace @HenryAWallace

Beto was charged with a DUI to which he tacitly admitted by taking classes

This is a crystal-clear example of the epistemological crisis I see in our judicial system. He tacitly admitted nothing of consequence related to his guilt (at least, based on what you've said here). He was given some set of choices, and he perceived that the lowest-risk, lowest-cost among them was to agree to take the classes. If he did so without pleading guilty, then the only thing he admitted, tacitly or otherwise, was that he either:

A. He was not confident that he would be found not guilty -- and to be clear, if i were to be pulled over on my way home tonight, stone cold sober, and accused of DUI, I would not be confident that I would be found not guilty, because I have no confidence -- none -- in our justice system.
or
B. Agreeing to take the classes (and whatever else the judge might have required) was going to be less hassle, take less time, and cost less money than fighting.

otherwise bigoted, even in elementary school. My father was like Archie Bunker in that respect. Not only did it sicken me, but I somehow always knew that statements like that "Arabs are X"or "Jews are Y" or "Women are Z" were dumb overgeneralizations. Without making any conscious decision, I never eve thought in generalizations or stereotypes or insults to any group. However, back to Beto. It often amazes me that people support a politician without even having read his or her wiki. According to Beto's wiki: High school assholery aside, Beto was charged with a DUI to which he tacitly admitted by taking classes; a burglary arrest about which nothing further was done, possibly because of Beto's family connections and money; and an insider trading charge. He got into Texas politics at about the same time as he married the daughter of a very wealthy Texas real estate mogul, possibly just a coincidence. Or not. And, while people are styling him as a progressive (whatever that may mean to you), he, like DWS and many other center right Democrats in Congress, is a proud member of the Congressional New Democrat Coalition. Of the insider trading charge, Beto said, "I probably did it" or something equally lame and equivocal. And, unlike Martha Stewart or most of us, he got away with only disgorging the money he made on the insider trade. FYI, for insider trading for Martha Stewart and the rest of us: II. PENALTIES; SANCTIONS General. Violation of the prohibition on insider trading can result in a prison sentence and civil and criminal fines for the individuals who commit the violation, and civil and criminal fines for the entities that commit the violation. (The company whose securities were traded) can be subject to a civil monetary penalty even if the directors, officers or employees who committed the violation concealed their activities from the Company. Criminal Penalties. The maximum prison sentence for an insider trading violation is now 20 years. The maximum criminal fine for individuals is now $5,000,000, and the maximum fine for non-natural persons (such as an entity whose securities are publicly traded) is now $25,000,000. Civil Sanctions. Persons who violate insider trading laws may become subject to an injunction and may be forced to disgorge any profits gained or losses avoided. The civil penalty for a violator may be an amount up to three times the profit gained or loss avoided as a result of the insider trading violation.

—

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.

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 6:13pm

Literally, you are correct about Beto. However, I would bet

@UntimelyRippd

the deed to home that he was guilty of the DUI and perhaps more, like speeding. There is no mortgage and, usually, I don't bet more than a buck.

I realize what I bet is not proof of guilt, either. But there are good reasons we let jurors decide cases, even death penalty cases, and use "reasonable person" as the standard in court cases.

My apologies, but I don't recall our discussion the other day. I am piss poor about remembering who posted what. I do not try hard to correct that flaw. Among other benefits, not remembering who posted what means I carry very few grudges from one day to the next or from one thread to the other. Of course, there is always the "total asshole" exception to any rule, but that has nothing to do with you or I would have remembered.

Submitted by doh1304 on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 2:57pm

People today would make the victorians

look like libertines. We are so obliged to flagellate everyone for every possible offence that we see offences to flaggelate everywhere. In high school he said that a play was sexist! That proves that he's a misogynist and unfit for public office! Next he will be accused of sitting next to a girl in class when he was in 3rd grade, and he'll be too afraid to point out that the seats were assigned by the teacher. Or he'll accuse the teacher of being a man.
There is no scenario so absurd that it isn't happening every day.

—

On to Biden since 1973

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 3:01pm

And what of the DUI, burglary and insider trading charges?

Submitted by doh1304 on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:04pm

Then don't let anyone use a fake sexism charge

@HenryAWallace
to obscure them.
BTW, I agree with you wholeheartedly.

—

On to Biden since 1973

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:23pm

I didn't let them. They forgot to ask me. (-;

Submitted by janis b on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 3:06pm

Please see HAW's comment above yours.

There has always been another way of perceiving and responding to each other. It makes no different what age/generation it comes from.

Submitted by doh1304 on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:08pm

I followed HAW all the way to the top

@janis b
And agree completely, but see my response sbove.

—

On to Biden since 1973

Submitted by janis b on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 8:34pm

Thanks for the clarification

@doh1304 @doh1304

doh

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 3:39pm

Scolding hall monitors

...eager to conform for authoritarian prestige. That's how I saw TOP. Perhaps it was a microcosm of the New Neoliberal Way stretching out ahead of us. We're going to need a lot more prisons.

—

IMAGINE if you woke up the day after a US Presidential Election and headlines around the the world blared, "The Majority of Americans Refused to Vote in US Presidential Election! What Does this Mean?"

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 3:45pm

Apparently, we won't be needing them for Beto.

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 4:08pm

The monied will retain their immunity.

That's never been on the table as an issue.

How do you think social change comes about? If you have a drunk driver problem, what's the solution? In my universe you build the most awesome public transportation in the world. However, in the state where I am staying, if you're stopped for a DUI no matter how marginal, you really should just take a gun and blow your brains out at that point. You'll do mandatory prison for which you have to pay $500 per day. You will never get to vote again, for what it's worth. You'll probably get a neck tattoo. Heh. Your family will be impoverished and stressed into malfunctioning damaged people for life. You will never get a job or be able to rent an apartment when you get out of prison. Background checks will designate you as scum — and the future is background checks 24/7.

That's how they do social change where I am.

—

IMAGINE if you woke up the day after a US Presidential Election and headlines around the the world blared, "The Majority of Americans Refused to Vote in US Presidential Election! What Does this Mean?"

Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 4:20pm

Holy hell

Is it really that draconian where you live? They have to pony up $500/day for their prison time? I'm thinking that has to be a tad unconstitutional. Something about cruel and unusual punishment? I know at the federal level that people who have a criminal record can't qualify for public housing and other benefits which we can thank the Clintons for, but putting people who can't work into that much debt is insane. How are the drunk driving rates there?

—

There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Wed, 10/03/2018 - 9:25am

I don't know what the insurance rates are

@snoopydawg

...but from the ads that run, it seems that lots of people pay for auto insurance by the day, just on the days they drive. Pretty weird.

I probably wouldn't know this stuff about my home state, but I'm in a new place so I pay attention to all kinds of stuff that homeys wouldn't notice. In this state, all jails and prisons charge prisoners for their stay. They charge for parole, too, but few prisoners accept parole because they know it's a racket to yank them back inside. They do the "full time." Prisoners pay for everything, from band-aids and aspirin to soap. Phone calls are as much as ten dollars. Every DUI goes to jail for a day or two to a couple of weeks, unless it is charged as an extreme DUI, which is typically six months. Second DUI starts at 30 days mandatory to who knows how long. The cost of fines, court costs, car impounding and storage fees, mandatory license suspension fees, and legal fees ranges from $10,000 to $25,000 for a first offense. Those with no access to cash that day get mandatory funding with borrowing fees as high as 29 percent interest. The first year of interest is due and payable at the time of sentencing.

Then there is the cost of bail, fees for driver's license reinstatement, mandatory car ignition breathalyzer rental at $1,500 per year, mandatory drivers classes and classes for alcohol addiction. Offenders who get a sentence with probation must pay all costs for monitoring and surprise drug tests. I've heard that auto insurance doubles at least, but I've also heard that regular insurance companies drop DUIs, who must enroll in a special insurance pool that only the very wealthy can afford. All of the above is privatized and sub-contracted. The state only employs clerks and security guards.

I met someone who got a DUI eight years ago. He still doesn't have a license because he can't get one without paying the whole loan off. He pays monthly but his balance has remained about the same from the beginning. There is no sensible public transportation system, so ambition and opportunity are limited. The entire time he was in jail, which was nearly a year (because he had a gun in the car, which is legal unless you happen to get a DUI), the prison refused to give him his HIV drugs. He got very sick and was hospitalized for weeks (which he was also charged for) and now those drugs don't work for him anymore. It was a private prison. First offense. Lost his health, his car, his dog, and all his possessions. Took a plea.

It sounds crazy, but it's normalized in this state. I wrote about it in an essay awhile back. Under constant pressure from MADD, legislators dropped the legal blood-alcohol limit to a level that is triggered by a half-glass of wine. Hundreds are arrested daily. I look at the mug shots sometimes. It's a cliche. Almost all of them are ethnic and obviously poor. The prisons are work-houses, actually. It's much easier to get drugs inside than it is on the street. Jails are highly segregated, of course. They also house vast numbers of the mentally ill, who offend every day and will never get out. The suicide rate among guards is an epidemic.

My friend believes that all Americans should go to jail for a little while. He thinks they will have happier lives and be more organized and respectful. He's probably right, but I don't know.

—

IMAGINE if you woke up the day after a US Presidential Election and headlines around the the world blared, "The Majority of Americans Refused to Vote in US Presidential Election! What Does this Mean?"

Submitted by travelerxxx on Thu, 10/04/2018 - 10:30am

Advancement

Wow! And here I used to think the Chinese were cruel when they would charge the surviving family 35 cents for the bullet used to enforce capital punishment on the condemned. Hell, they were just ahead of their time!

#6.3.1.1.1 ...but from the ads that run, it seems that lots of people pay for auto insurance by the day, just on the days they drive. Pretty weird. I probably wouldn't know this stuff about my home state, but I'm in a new place so I pay attention to all kinds of stuff that homeys wouldn't notice. In this state, all jails and prisons charge prisoners for their stay. They charge for parole, too, but few prisoners accept parole because they know it's a racket to yank them back inside. They do the "full time." Prisoners pay for everything, from band-aids and aspirin to soap. Phone calls are as much as ten dollars. Every DUI goes to jail for a day or two to a couple of weeks, unless it is charged as an extreme DUI, which is typically six months. Second DUI starts at 30 days mandatory to who knows how long. The cost of fines, court costs, car impounding and storage fees, mandatory license suspension fees, and legal fees ranges from $10,000 to $25,000 for a first offense. Those with no access to cash that day get mandatory funding with borrowing fees as high as 29 percent interest. The first year of interest is due and payable at the time of sentencing. Then there is the cost of bail, fees for driver's license reinstatement, mandatory car ignition breathalyzer rental at $1,500 per year, mandatory drivers classes and classes for alcohol addiction. Offenders who get a sentence with probation must pay all costs for monitoring and surprise drug tests. I've heard that auto insurance doubles at least, but I've also heard that regular insurance companies drop DUIs, who must enroll in a special insurance pool that only the very wealthy can afford. All of the above is privatized and sub-contracted. The state only employs clerks and security guards. I met someone who got a DUI eight years ago. He still doesn't have a license because he can't get one without paying the whole loan off. He pays monthly but his balance has remained about the same from the beginning. There is no sensible public transportation system, so ambition and opportunity are limited. The entire time he was in jail, which was nearly a year (because he had a gun in the car, which is legal unless you happen to get a DUI), the prison refused to give him his HIV drugs. He got very sick and was hospitalized for weeks (which he was also charged for) and now those drugs don't work for him anymore. It was a private prison. First offense. Lost his health, his car, his dog, and all his possessions. Took a plea. It sounds crazy, but it's normalized in this state. I wrote about it in an essay awhile back. Under constant pressure from MADD, legislators dropped the legal blood-alcohol limit to a level that is triggered by a half-glass of wine. Hundreds are arrested daily. I look at the mug shots sometimes. It's a cliche. Almost all of them are ethnic and obviously poor. The prisons are work-houses, actually. It's much easier to get drugs inside than it is on the street. Jails are highly segregated, of course. They also house vast numbers of the mentally ill, who offend every day and will never get out. The suicide rate among guards is an epidemic. My friend believes that all Americans should go to jail for a little while. He thinks they will have happier lives and be more organized and respectful. He's probably right, but I don't know.

Submitted by mhagle on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 4:25pm

Sandra Bland

I can never forget her.

She was pulled over and thrown into jail because she did not signal right when a police car with lights and siren on raced past her. I never think to signal when an emergency vehicle is coming up behind me. The officer tasered her, dragged her out of the car, and threw her on the ground. She was on her way to a new job that would have changed her life.

Texas is fucked up. Beto is better, all things considered.

—

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by snoopydawg on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:28pm

The cop was pulling her over

Either way she didn't signal when she moved over either thinking he was going to pass or pull her over. A motordick pulled me over for a seatbelt violation and I made sure I signaled when I pulled over, but I thought of Sandra as I was doing it. Belt was on and we did a he said she said for 5 minutes.

—

There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 4:45pm

Deliver me from duplicates!

Submitted by mhagle on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:07pm

It does make me sad though . . .

. . . to learn of these indiscretions. Crap.

—

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:32pm

I struggle greatly with happy denial versus miserable reality.

On balance, I think being in reality is almost always preferable, though more unpleasant. The situations in which I believe denial/delusion are preferable are limited and mostly physical, as when a child is trapped under a car and someone instinctively lifts the vehicle, without regard to the reality that the vehicle is actually much too heavy for that person to lift. (Sorry for the digression.)

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 4:43pm

I am not understanding how your post

relates to my snark about apparently not needing a prison for Beto or, for that matter, to any of my posts on this thread.

I'm don't know why you ask how I think change comes about. I used to assume I knew. Elect Democrats/defeat Republicans; write your representatives, march, volunteer, canvass, donate, demonstrate. All of it adorable, but not reality. At least not since the DLC formed and the crook from Arkansas got elected and re-elected POTUS. Maybe never, but I'll settle for since 1985.

Now, I assume I cannot bring change about because I cannot compete with the Kochs, ALEC, and all the other wealthy individuals and organizations that seem to own the governments of most or all of the planet.

I don't understand what your DUI hyperbole was intended to tell me that relates to my posts. Surely there is something between committing suicide if caught driving under the influence and not suffering any consequences really worth mentioning from three arrests (that we know of). Moreover, as I posted upthread, IMO, the DUI pales in comparison with insider trading.

I don't think you are saying that letting a judge's kid off easy on a DUI has something to do bringing about social or political change, but I don't know what you did intend. Apologies for missing your intent.

Submitted by Pluto's Republic on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 6:04pm

It's my fault entirely

I was utterly incoherent. You are fine. I'll try again later.

—

IMAGINE if you woke up the day after a US Presidential Election and headlines around the the world blared, "The Majority of Americans Refused to Vote in US Presidential Election! What Does this Mean?"

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 6:17pm

I understood what you posted, but maybe you didn't say

everything you meant to say. Whenever you're ready...

Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:00pm

It's getting so a guy...

can't even decry sexism without getting grief for it.

Just another example of how a discreet yet vocal segment of the feminist movement simply refuses to stop its ridiculously counterproductive tactic of alienating men who are otherwise sympathetic to its cause.

—

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?

Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 5:59pm

Update:

@Not Henry Kissinger @Not Henry Kissinger

He appears to be apologizing after Cruz's people found the quote. So he wasn't actually responding to any feminist group's denunciation, but (I guess) just getting the jump on the story to avoid friendly fire from those groups in the future.

So this is what it has come to: you've got male Democrats so scared of the wrath of #MeToo that they are apologizing in advance.

Not only that, I envision a not insignificant chunk of his supporters (both male and female) become somewhat less enthused about his candidacy simply because they think he has nothing to apologize for in the first place.

And so, on the strength of mindless sexual divisiveness, does Ted Cruz back into another six year term.

—

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 6:23pm

I understand suffragettes, though I cannot

@Not Henry Kissinger

imagine everything that they had to endure in order to get the vote. Similarly, I understand the feminist movement of the Sixties, except that Gloria Steinem can now kiss my entire ass. I don't always understand the contemporary version.

Submitted by lotlizard on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 9:28pm

Gloria Steinem, the CIA operative.

@HenryAWallace
And Barack Obama? And Markos Moulitsas?

Was that our fate — the post-war Baby Boom generation’s fate? Was there no way to avoid it?

To have been taken in and led around by the nose, time after time after time, by CIA operatives and fake torchbearers for fake hope and fake change?

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Wed, 10/03/2018 - 1:22pm

It wasn't exactly a level playing field.

@lotlizard

The differences between a power hungry, diabolical organization with all but unlimited funding and humans with no funding who are simply trying to go about staying alive are too numerous for one post. However, institutional "memory" and archiving and long-term--really long-term--planning leap to mind. So does the ability to dumb down Americans in general and brainwash them with fake history.

I have to stop here or I will be typing for weeks.

Submitted by Not Henry Kissinger on Tue, 10/02/2018 - 10:37pm

Comment of the Day.