Beto
Good job, Beto. You're rolling in cash.
Gee, I wonder how that happened?
Beto O'Rourke reportedly raised $6.1 million in his first 24 hours as a presidential candidate, according to his campaign, surpassing Bernie Sanders and every other 2020 Democrat who has disclosed their figures. MSNBC's "Morning Joe" crew discusses with WP's Robert Costa and NYT's Yamiche Alcindor."This is huge," co-host Joe Scarborough said jokingly. "He now has enough money to write apology notes to everybody for having a self-deprecating joke."
"He's popular," co-host Mika Brzezinski added. "The kids love him."
"I know, they love him, and now he can apologize to all the kids, for actually daring to have a self-deprecating joke that elevated his wife as a great mom," Joe added, referring to a comment from O'Rourke that his wife mostly raised their kids while he was i Congress and running for Senate. "Because I know in today's Democratic Party that is truly offensive."
"The kids" love him. Even if it doesn't show in the polls.
There's just something new and sexy about the phrase "I lost to Ted Cruz" that make all the kids swoon.
Now we've got four establishment "progressives" - Harris, Beto, Biden, and Booker.
The establishment is about to split their vote.
They are giving Bernie a wide lane on the left.
Comments
Smells
of big donors.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Ya think?!
But Morning Joe said it was "the kids".
Beto O'Rourke's political career drew on donations from the pro-GOP business establishment
Trust Fund Babies
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
It's embarrassing how...
...obviously lacking he is when it comes to maintaining substantive commitments to most issues. It's, more or less, "I don't know where I stand on most issues; but I'm just so damn cool, you're gonna vote for me for Class President, er....ummm...President of the United States! And...we'll work out the details later. OK?"
Here's something I was going to turn into a post at C99P, last night...but, I went to bed, instead. And, then I woke up to see it being posted on more than one major media outlet, this morning...Jimmy Fallon's take on Beto. He pretty much summed it all up for me in a little over two minutes...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQDQ-Q4kW5Y]
"Freedom is something that dies unless it's used." --Hunter S. Thompson
How funny
As I said somewhere else here, people want to know what he is actually running on? Here's a panel to answer this question.
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
Yeah, Beto's "the" freakin' poster boy..
...of the Third Way/neoliberal wing of the Democratic Party; not to mention the personification of everything that's wrong with the vapid identity politics of our era. He practically acts, and physically looks, like someone who was written out of the final cut of this SNL skit...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKOb-kmOgpI]
Politically, Beto is free of all additives and substance, whatsoever. Purely natural! A veritable living, human version of that old Microsoft commercial with the tagline: "Where do you want to go, today?" But, instead, it's: "Who do you want me to be, today?"
Stomach-turning, really...
"Freedom is something that dies unless it's used." --Hunter S. Thompson
Beto?
Beto? It just smells, period!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Money is important
but without the context of the number of donors we don't know just what is going on.
Someone wrote (and I don't know if this is possible) that this number includes $4.5 million rolled over from his Senate run. If so that would put the actual donations in the Harris range, which is plausible.
Beto met with Obama recently, I could see Obama making a few phone calls to donors on his behalf. A full $5400 donation for the primary and the general would only take 1130 donors, or 565 married couples to give you $6.1 million. How important is it to the establishment to beat Bernie's opening day numbers by just a little bit?
On the other hand, Beto just finished a race a few months ago where he raised a lot of money and not just from Texas. That email list is probably still good, and the people who donated before probably still like him.
EDIT: If the number of donors was worth bragging about, his campaign would be bragging, so I'm guessing it's pretty low.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
Here's the tweet on this
So yeah it looks like his real numbers are down.
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
Nice catch!
So that leaves $1.6 million in other contributions, which could be from as few 300 large donors or 150 couples, or could be some legitimate number of reasonable donations. Again, in the range we saw for Harris.
It's still real money that he can use to get his campaign started, and the early money is the most important, but doesn't show unusual grassroots support.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
Maybe they're oil donors?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/15/beto-orourke-frien...
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.
If you read the comment thread, there are a lot
of holes in the claims of this tweet.
"Without the right to offend, freedom of speech does not exist." Taslima Nasrin
seems to me that it's fundamentally stupid
to produce a rolling average over 4 polls when various people were announcing their candidacies during the time frame.
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.
Ha ha
Too bad that Obama's ideology never showed up.
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
Wow
Does anyone think that Barack Obama would campaign for Bernie Sanders if he manages to win the nomination?
Not the current Obama who is out getting his rewards
for protecting the banks. $400,000 for a speech is a nice chunk of change don't you think? On top of his and Michelle's $65 million for their books and whatever he's getting paid by Netflix. With these types of bennies who wouldn't want to be president?
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
The American presidency is basically a career move and no one
even tries to hide it anymore. The way the Obamas have enriched themselves thoroughly disgusts me. I was speaking to acquaintance about this, and she said something to the effect of, well, what else is he/they supposed to do? Gee... I don't know... does Habitat for Humanity not need anymore homes built? Does everyone in America know how to read? Is every abused animal rescued and homed? IF ONLY there was some way the Obamas could occupy their time!
Barry is just following Hills and Bill's example
Remember that they left the WH dead broke and immediately got a loan for $2 million which they then bought a house with a mortgage of $10,000 month. Sweet that the house came with lodgings for the secret service agents which they charged the government $10,000 month. Bill then started giving speeches for lotsa $$$$ while Hillary carpet bagged her way into a senate seat setting up Her running for president.
But you're right that there are a lot of houses that could be built for low income persons. This would help Barack minus the karma that he is due.
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
"The kids love him"
And the kids want to know what he stands for, exactly. (Not just the kids, I imagine.) I don't see the point of him in this race or him in general.
ETA: watching him reminds me of this video
Two apiece...
Two from Hillary's donor syndicate (Harris, Booker).
Two from Obama's (Beto, Biden).
Let the games begin.
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?
I am sorta with Kyle Kulinski (Secular Talk)
He thinks that the big major donors are currently with Beto as they have surveyed the field and they see no other viable candidate. Well, the point of the choice is first and foremost to stop Bernie. Tulsi and Warren they think they have already defeated.
The primary season will be hard to watch as there will be dirty trick after dirty trick, and lie after lie aimed at Bernie.
Beto is Harris' backup plan
There was so much hype about her candidacy, but that filtered out very quickly after she declared. Lotsa people heard his Iowa speeches and were left wondering what he said that pertained to what his campaign platform is based on.
In one picture of him talking to some women he's squatted down on a bar top. It looks very weird.
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
Lmao!!
Read this article about how no drama Beto arrived on the scene.
Beto wants to be like Obama, but is more like Trump
Just that headline is funny. It talks about how his wife sits next to him and doesn't say anything for almost 4 minutes... really it's a hoot.
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
Amy O'Rourke
I don't think Amy O'Rourke is a happy camper when it comes to her hubby seeking high political office. Jimmy Dore talks about how she cried for days when Beto told her he was running for Senate.
I feel a bit sorry for her, $$billions notwithstanding. She's married to a self-absorbed leech. Not a fun road to travel.
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
One of the perks of higher office
is horn dogging. He reminds me of someone. Anybody remember John Edwards?
Bingo.
and I wish him similar success.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
I love the smell of vapidity in the morning....
Is it the goofy grin? I seriously don't understand the whole Robert Francis O'Rourke 'thing'.
Sorry,.... Beto...... (my bad).
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
The 3rd largest military budget in the world
I don't mean KSA. I mean just our spy budget alone is bigger than Russia's navy, air force, and army combined.
Trump supposedly hates the intelligence industry...while giving them a huge budget increase.
You really can't compare them like that.
Russia and China don't pay their soldiers anything like what the USA does. Their procurement chains are not full of pork. And dollar comparisons with foreign currency conversions can be wildly inaccurate. for a start multiply China's figures by four. And the ruble doesn't have the international standing (world reserve currency, all oil business done in dollars) that the dollar does, so the currency conversions don't reflect actual buying power.
Better to compare on the number of soldiers, number and type of ships and aircraft, number of artillery pieces and the like. The Russian and Chinese forces will not look that small anymore.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
well, for starters the chinese have one aircraft carrier,
and the US has eleven.
with two under construction (1 will finish next year) and two more planned to launch in the next 15 years.
france has 1
the Royal Navy has 1 (and one under construction)
Russia has 1
italy has 2, but of course, they are "light" carriers. as they had to be.
india has 1, purchased from russia for $2.5 billion. contrast that with $10 billion price tag for our top-o-the-line gerald ford class carriers.
basically, our carrier fleet is twice the size of the rest of the world's, and our carriers are twice the size (or more) of those others, with the exception of the Royal Navy's 65,000 tonne version (ours run a bit over 100K tonnes). we literally have FOUR TIMES the carrier tonnage of the rest of the world.
similarly, our international footprint outweighs that of the rest of the planet. direct comparisons are difficult -- our 38 major foreign bases are outnumbered by the combined "major bases" of the rest of the world's military, but what gets counted as major for them gets ignored for us. realistically, even dismissing all the tiny little radar stations and whatnot, we have more meaningful permanent deployments abroad than all the other countries combined.
and so on.
also, that 610 billion doesn't include the various research and other expenditures related to our nuclear weapons programs, nor the cost of the VA, or interest payments on war-driven debt, or widows' pensions.
i'm not sure what to say about pork, corruption and general inefficiency, but i'm fascinated to discover that you are privy to specific knowledge of the supply chains and other economic structures of the Russian and Chinese militaries. i expect the NSA and CIA would be eager to learn from you.
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.
The aircraft carrier is a classic example of preparing for the
last war. The carrier was new and innovative in WW II before I was born and I'm an old coot. The nuclear submarine trumps the Aircraft Carrier. Besides inertia and fighting the last war, the US needs/wants them because their is no other way for it to fight a war on the Eurasian continent. Russia and China are already there.
Who else has had them? England, Japan and the USA. England and Japan are island nations and North America is just another giant island.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
No. I learned about them as part of the USA supply chain
in the 1970's.
Details were classified as "secret". Knowing classification mania, they probably still are.
Yes, I was part of the war machine or as I told a postal manager who was a reserve Naval officer (our plant manager actually) "one of those idiots in the bureau". That brought a smile to his face because EVERYONE in the field thinks of the DC establishment as "those idiots in the bureau". I was in the field (Great Lakes Naval Base) before our field activity was consolidated with one in Pennsylvania and I moved to DC instead. I figured as long as I had to move, it might as well be a career enhancing move.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Yemen ain't cheap.
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?
OK, let's do a real comparison
Let's compare the Russian navy to the U.S. How many aircraft carriers does the U.S. Navy have? Eleven, ten of which are currently operational. These are all modern, nuclear powered ships, that can cruise for years without refueling. How many aircraft carriers does Russia have? One, the Admiral Kuznetsov, which was built in the late 1980's. Here is a description of it in Wikipedia:
"Admiral Kuznetsov is conventionally powered by eight gas-fired boilers and four steam turbines, each producing 50,000 hp (37 MW), driving four shafts with fixed-pitch propellers. The maximum speed is 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph), and her range at maximum speed is 3,800 nautical miles (7,000 km; 4,400 mi). At 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), her maximum economical range is 8,500 nautical miles (15,700 km; 9,800 mi).[citation needed]
Admiral Kuznetsov has been plagued by years of technical problems. The vessel's steam turbines and turbo-pressurised boilers have been reported to be so unreliable that the carrier is accompanied by a large ocean-going tug whenever it deploys, in case it breaks down. There are also flaws in the water piping system, which causes it to freeze during winter. To prevent pipes bursting, the water is turned off to most of the cabins, and half the latrines do not work.[16]"
I will add that the Kuznetsov does not have catapults for launching planes, but instead has a kind of ski-jump built into its front deck. Apparently, this more or less works.
According to Wikipedia, the Russian Navy has "Approx. 178 aircraft". The U.S. Navy currently has 2,623 manned aircraft, and the associated Marine Corp. adds another 1,304 aircraft. Plainly, when it comes to air power and the ability to deploy it abroad, there is simply no comparison between the Russian Navy and the U.S. Navy.
See my comment above.
You're spot on with your details, but I argue further that there is no comparison between the US Navy and all the other navies in the world combined. i mean, jesus, 4,000 aircraft.
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.
The Russians don't need 11 carriers.
They just need 11 hypersonic missiles.
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?
That's about it
and if this multi billion $ spy network is the same that got us into Iraq, we ain't getting our moneys worth.
Great discussion on military expenditures and might
Lots of points I never considered or this closely looked into before.
I'd also recommend a couple of books by Tom (Dispatch) Englehardt that provide some more details of US military and "global security" expenditures:
Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World
and
The United States of Fear
They are both published by Haymarket Books outta Chicago.
Those carriers weren't built to threaten Russia
They were built for "gun boat diplomacy" against weaker armed opponents.
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
Add to that
considering the time it takes to build up, equip and bring these carriers on line, the original type of enemy and warfare envisioned may have changed 100%. Sort of not going into the battle with the navy you want, but with the one you have.
So was the Arizona...
No matter how expensive, obsolete war tech platforms are only ever good as targets.
And a 'weaker armed opponent' with a Russian S-300 anti aircraft system and Chinese Silkworm anti-ship missiles is more of a threat to a US task force than the task force is to it.
So say the Iranians.
Point is, our industrial age obsession with the number of weapons and the size of the military budget bears very little relation any more to our actual ability to win a fight.
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?
Exactly!
Called "power projection".
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
We do know this much...
"Former Obama bundler reaching out to top Democratic Party donors to gain support for Beto O'Rourke's 2020 candidacy
Obama bundler Louis Susman is actively working the donor circuit to increase support for Beto O'Rourke's 2020 campaign for president.
The former Obama backer has put together a string of senior Democratic Party donors who are willing to contribute to the former congressman's presidential operation.
In an interview with CNBC, Susman says he's been talking with family and friends about backing O'Rourke.
He also noted that all of his efforts are in "coordination with the campaign."
Susman is a senior advisor to Perella Weinberg Partners and Atlas Merchant Capital."
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/14/former-obama-bundler-reaches-out-to-dono...
The Robert Redford candidate
at last.
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
I was wondering when someone would think of that movie
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Candidate_(1972_film)
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Sirota had a good analysis of his voting record
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/20/beto-orourke-congression...
Someone posted a great tweet that laid out why he would lose if nominated...
Peter Douche's Liaison @SilERabbit
Beto checks all the boxes:
✔️Voted to deregulate banks
✔️Loves AIPAC
✔️Supports fracking
✔️Voted with GOP a lot
✔️Voted to fast track TPP
✔️Broke No Fossil Fuel $ Pledge
✔️Didn't back Medicare4All
✔️Didn't back FightFor15
✔️Lost to Ted Cruz
HE'S PERFECT!
9:14 PM - Mar 13, 2019
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Beto = Baito
who best represents the new money sourced democratic party? According to the faithful it sure ain't ...
Bernie
Tulsi
AOC
Omar
question everything
Ohhh
So he got those 6 mil $ in campaign contributions the old fashioned way, he earned it!
Here's a ?
How does one declare no PACs, no Corporate $ and then rake in Million$ from High Level Bundlers and then go on to claim "grass roots"?
Bundlers can donate way above the individual limit and say it's just fine?
Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!
Firesign Theater
Stop the War!
Here's Beto's policies
Damn I didn't listen to him because I was distracted by his arm waving.
Hasn't anyone said anything to him about this? Ever?
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
He even copied the arm waving from Vermin Supreme
. . . but it's a lot more enjoyable when Vermin does it.
I see a lot of
bobbing and weaving too, lots of foot movement in addition to the arms and hands. He does not want to be stationary, to avoid being hit. Looks like he is in training for a boxing fight, lightweight division.
Since he needed an appropriate handle
I have dubbed Beto, The Hollow Candidate. I believe that covers it all.
In before this scrolls off the front page...
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/beto-orourke-presidential-campaign-fundra...
As unlikely as it sounds, I've got no reason to believe this isn't accurate. A little more than half of Sanders' contributors, three times the number Harris had for about four times her total.
I don't see any way to shoehorn a $4.5 million payment from the party into this.
Looks like this guy is good at raising money.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
Qualified
I'm sure he's moved to the front of the line then. From what I can glean, this is the main (or perhaps only) requirement for endorsement by the Democratic party machine.