We may be Sick of the Impeachment Drama, but Those who Spoke up Bravely against Russiagate may need to do so again. Bernie’s Election Fortunes Could Well Depend on those few Brave Voices

Many of us watch with dismay the spectacle put before us, as august members of the house intelligence committee appear to wrap themselves into pretzels, parsing out who said what to whom and what could they have meant or didn’t – all in one conversation that lasted perhaps 20-25 minutes in all. To me, it is obvious that what is really being played out in these elaborately staged impeachment hearings and the carnival-like clamor whipped up by the MSM around them, demonstrates how extreme partisanship can overtake the country’s government institutions, reducing the legislative duties to an afterthought. That even as extremely poor policy decisions made by the same Trump these Dems are so keen to be rid of, get hardly a mention, much less a push-back, official or otherwise (didn’t they all just pass that Patriot Act with nary a raised eye brow?).

Personally, I kind of doubt many of those who voted for the various representatives of this house really intended their elected officials to spend their entire time over the past 3 years chasing Russian and Ukrainian ghosts, using every spare minute of legislators’ time to figure out some way to upend the 2016 elections that gave us Trump. Sure, some people do seem so caught in TDS that perhaps they welcome just the process we are seeing (hooray! We finally get Trump on something) but I’d be skeptical about assuming it’s a majority of the country’s vote eligible citizenry. From either side of the aisle.

Naturally, those who are truly concerned about the welfare of the country and the health of its democratic institutions have grown understandably sick of the frenzy of back and forth memes and over the top Twitter barbs. By now it should be clear to anyone who followed even part of these - not so solemn - hearings and perhaps tuned in to this or that breathless commentary, that nobody is going to emerge as winner from the charade now unfolding before us. At the same time, there is a sizeable fraction of the politically engaged on the democrat side who are far more interested in the primary process and strongly support this or that candidate or policy, who are utterly dismayed at the sight of this much-ado-about-nothing hearings taking the limelight and would rather entirely disengage from a spectacle which obviously has nothing to do with what truly ails this country. However, while I understand the sentiment all too well, I am also of the opinion that perhaps we, on the progressive side, are ignoring these impeachment goings at our peril.

To start with, I believe that staying disconnected, in the sense of not expressing the disturbing misgivings we feel about these proceedings that have absolutely nothing to do with what really ails this country, is a mistake. As is pussy-footing around the obviously glaring constitutional issues around the conduct of foreign policy which these hearings raise. I realize it is an unpleasant spectacle at best, and at worst, one that is completely distracting from the primary campaigns going on as we speak. However, I also happen to believe that the silence will not serve us well, especially we who are on the core Bernie supporters side. Here is a snap summary of my reasons, which I present for your consideration:

l. This Impeachment circus may, in the end spell disaster for democrats. And, like it or not, this is the party for whose nomination Bernie is running. No matter what happens, I see a democratic party greatly weakened by these proceedings. A party that is now supposed to be conducting primaries to choose the next candidate for president, and the policies that go with such a candidacy. Nancy Pelosi’s calculated gambit may not pan out in the sense of either leading to actual impeachment or, at the very least, causing such great outrage among democrats that they will come out to vote in droves, come Nov 2020. But the very opposite may happen - the whole exercise may fizzle in the end, leaving even die-hard democrats wondering what the hell it was all about, and possibly starting a finger-pointing process to pin the blame somewhere. For that is the nature of TDS –instead of a cure we will likely witness a metamorphosis into some other, still more lethal form. So even if Bernie wins the nomination, the primary process may take place under a dark cloud of an imploding DNC which may unfortunately embroil even Bernie, sucking one and all into a toxic morass, and drowning the policy debates in which Bernie excels.

2. I read somewhere that it is possible that the real purpose of this charade is not so much to depose Trump but to neutralize the progressive wing of the party. Effectively take the wind out of the many sails who’d otherwise be engaged in steering the boat to directions better aligned with a government that benefits the people. Indeed, what tangible benefit, I ask, do the people derive from these impeachment hearings? How many have hope for better healthcare, more equitable education, better paying jobs? How has justice for the poorer and less privileged been served? How effective has been the fight to clip the wings of the MIC and the rest of the rapacious lobbies?

But perhaps that’s exactly the purpose. With all the oxygen in the room taken up by this clown show about nothing, important items on the progressive agenda are effectively muted. Including those causes where we strongly disagree with Trump’s policies, except no one seems to care much about THOSE disagreements.

3. This is not the worst part however. For us, that is. If this impeachment business makes its way to the senate, Bernie will have to vote for it, and may even need to do some grandstanding in a speech or two. Mitch McConnel may well choose to drag the hearings into February, forcing the democrat presidential candidates who are senators to attend the senate, cutting into campaign appearances. Again, the limelight will shine bright on “something impeachment”, even as Bernie’s causes will suffer from both his absence on the campaign trail and the demands upon his attention.

Furthermore, the more he says during the hearings in support of impeachment, the more likely he is to lose potential Republican and many independents’ votes, come November. And Bernie will NEED a large fraction of the independent vote in crucial states as well as some republican cross-overs.

4. Unfortunately, the way I see it is that, if anything, these misguided impeachment hearings may well energize Republican voters, including those who never did care much for Trump. From what I hear and read so far they are all aghast at the proceedings, and getting more so by the day And in case it all fizzles out after the senate, predictably, fails to impeach, then many more people, now on the fence, will feel the democrats took them for ride to nowhere, and will punish them at the polls. At the very least, this means that many a purple state may well go red and many state representative seats will flip to republicans, as even independents who might otherwise be inclined to consider a democrat nominee, will decline to do so out of sheer disgust.

5. I have no idea what other people see in this circus mounted for our supposed entertainment, but to me it is completely obvious that what we have here is another gambit by the Deep State to mount a coup against the current administration, using, as a ploy, a disheartened Democrat establishment, driven to near insanity by TDS. If Plan A was Russiagate, which fell apart after Mueller failed to deliver, Ukraingate is clearly Plan B, following largely the same pattern, this time using a “whistleblower” who is more like a leaker. A whistleblower who was, for all intents and purposes, a CIA plant at best and/or a Democrat operative at worst.

The impeachment case rests upon the flimsiest of all possible cases. It all hangs on the fact that a corruption investigation by Ukraine of malfeasance committed under a previous democratic administration, was demanded as a quid pro quo before releasing military assistance (of the kind Obama’s government never approved but was pushed by congress). The said malfeasance happens to involve the then VP, Biden, who now just happens to be a candidate for the democratic nomination. One who is, arguably, a front runner, though in truth he is fast fading entirely due to who he is (a centrist and a corpodem to the bone) and what he isn’t (a change candidate. Forget the hope). That’s it. It’s all just about Biden, who coincidentally was a point man for a corrupt regime change operation, from which his son apparently benefitted to the tune of some Million or so. The same Biden who was likely talked into a misbegotten presidential candidacy by a desperate – and possibly plotting – DNC.

What we need to worry about is that the same Deep State now so concerned about Trump will be even more concerned about a Bernie president. If the plots against Trump can be this far-fetched and this flimsy, yet nearly neutralize his ability to act on his preferred policy, would TPTB not hatch similarly mad schemes to at least neutralize a president Bernie (possibly aided this time by the RNC) therefore preventing enactment of any of his professed policies? Just because the deep state threw its weight on the side of the democrat establishment this time doesn’t mean they won’t switch their nefarious little neocon hatched plots to the republican side in a jiffy.

6. All in all, I do worry most about a greatly emboldened deep state that, come what may out of these hearing, will be the real winners. They will be the winners if we tacitly agree to their little ploy of keeping their “whistleblower” (who is anything but) under wraps. They will be the winners when they succeed in completely overshadowing the primary process with this bogus shit show. They will be winners if Bernie has to come out forcefully in support of an impeachment process that is full of holes, both legal and ethical (they already chucked up a win when Tulsi had to back off her original position when cast doubt on the process, even if she remained in favor of “transparency”). The deep state will be even greater winners when year after year no one dares challenge the MICs exorbitant budget and their buddy intelligence agencies that were shown to be politically compromised and ethically challenged. But more than anything, the deep state wins when the progressive message is getting drowned out in the hysterical vapors that come from a House, now completely paralyzed in carrying out its ostensive duties. Heck, the deep state just won another one, when Pompeo’s announcement about “legalizing” the settlements did not draw the sound condemnation one would expect, and barely a peep from the Democrats.

When everything is quiet on the progressive front, the Deep State wins, because they showed the progressive camp to be too weak-kneed to speak up when dissent and righteous indignation were called for.

For this and several other reasons I didn’t mention, I believe that even if Bernie has to speak in favor of this pugnacious reality show, we, his supporters, and the many people on the [real] left, especially the ones who spoke so loudly and clearly against Russiagate, we cannot and should not remain quiet. I will therefore urge the good columnists and bloggers out there to chip in with their voices and sound the alarm bells. I hope at least some who so capably denounced Russiagate as the hoax that it was, will also rise to the still greater challenge this time. We need to have strong voices from OUR camp, because, among others, should Bernie be the nominee, we will be able to point to those voices and perhaps garner a measure of support for Bernie he wouldn’t get otherwise. Support that I am absolutely convinced he will need to win. And some of us need to speak up because to not to do so will only embolden a deep state hell bent on crashing us all under the boots of the vampire squids of the MIC and Wall Street. It will take some bravery to do so for the columnists with a public perch. And it’ll no doubt beget nasty push-back. Yet I believe there must be some who will be able to muster both the courage and the clear-sightedness needed, because these dangerous times demand no less.

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snoopydawg's picture

Thanks for doing it.

Unfortunately, the way I see it is that, if anything, these misguided impeachment hearings may well energize Republican voters, including those who never did care much for Trump. From what I hear and read so far they are all aghast at the proceedings, and getting more so by the day And in case it all fizzles out after the senate, predictably, fails to impeach, then many more people, now on the fence, will feel the democrats took them for ride to nowhere, and will punish them at the polls. At the very least, this means that many a purple state may well go red and many state representative seats will flip to republicans, as even independents who might otherwise be inclined to consider a democrat nominee, will decline to do so out of sheer disgust.

I have seen a few people saying this same thing for the reason the democrats are going through this impeachment theater. They have to know that the senate will never convict him unless it's something their donors want. But with Trump giving them so many things they have long wanted...

I agree with all the points you make here.

6 - All in all, I do worry most about a greatly emboldened deep state that, come what may out of these hearing, will be the real winners.

That it's acceptable for the intelligence agencies to try to first keep Trump from winning and now to remove him is mind boggling. That they have just shrugged off their decades of lying to us or twisting facts and now think that the president and his party are captured by Russia also boggles it.

Kudos and I hope to see you here again soon.

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

Especially the part about Bernie being forced to support this sham Impeachment, which I hadn't thought of before now.

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

Pluto's Republic's picture

...the quality of the people — their character, intelligence, and sense of wellbeing — including the most vulnerable people amongst us.

The Democratic Party is where the (real) Left goes to get itself neutered.

The two party system is designed to grind people down to their lowest common denominator . To polarize the public and stunt the growth of enlightened thought and action. To blur the vision of the utopia that sentient beings will naturally manifest wherever they evolve. That is the entire point of our exquisite complexity. The two-party system is designed to crush our finest instincts and grind them down into the powder under our feet. It is designed to preserve people as domesticated beasts of labor and contain women as fertile livestock from which to produce more stunted sentients.

Accepting this current reality is the only platform from which meaningful political action can take place. The decisions made from this platform will be the kind of decisions that will rescue all of us. When part of us are neglected and left to die, we are each degraded and weakened; our life-force is diminished. Elevating the wellbeing of the People has always been the immutable formula of a successful society. When that formula is not enforced, civilization collapse and good riddance.

Which other online communities saw the Hoax for what it was the minute it was born and stood up for the truth without once wavering? I'm curious about that. I would like to know. Intellectual honesty is a difficult and lonely path. I wonder how they fare.

I don't think a pep talk at this point is going to bring anybody into the light. However, I do believe that there is a vast population out there, right now, who have their light hidden under a bushel. If they saw for one moment a possibility for social transformation and the fulfillment of their destiny, they would rise up as a vast monolith, cast off all other allegiances, and vote for it. I can feel them in our midst with the same certainty that I can instantly recognize a false flag tactic anywhere in the world. I have few talents beyond that one, unfortunately

There is one more point I would add to your list.

On or around December 7th, a tiny committee at the very top of the Department of Justice is going to drop a 500 page criminal investigation that is focused on the Deep State, primarily operating out of their teaming nest underneath the State Department. Their tendrils reach deep into every corner of the globe. Their covert operations are executed in over a hundred countries yearly leaving chaos in their wake. Their think tanks and NGOs produce a toxic mental filth designed to destroy populations and topple governments, releasing their natural resources for seizure by the American Empire.

Certainly, the entire scope of their evil will not be exposed. After all, the DOJ has a hot nest of their own Neocons and spooks who are doing their worst, subverting the intentions of the people, and covering up their crimes with classified documents. At best, the SpyGate report will be a small-scale bloodletting (just as the New Deal was, back in the day). But it is an opportunity for the bold to flip the playing board. In our deeply surveilled society, the DOJ Necons can terrorize every member of congress and the entire judicial from bottom to top. Still, there are possibilities once the disruption begins. Mistakes will be made.

I admit it's hard to imagine Bob Barr, a careerist fixer from the Robert Mueller school, taking on the Praetorian Guard that infests the Federal Government and twists the nation's foreign policy into a brainless killer zombie. Their 'show' impeachment of a war criminal — using a trite protocol offense — will not protect them. It only displays to the rest of the world how deep the corruption reaches in this nation.

So, there's that.

Use my words however you wish, if it helps.

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____________________

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

@Pluto's Republic "The Democratic Party is where the (real) Left goes to get itself neutered."

The two party system is the Punch and Judy show that wears the skin of democracy, designed to justify all the hours spent by past and future school kids toiling away on their civics lessons.

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@Snode
in contrast say to the multi-party system in Israel, where the party that builds a government is forced to align itself with the ultra-orthodox religious party to get enough votes to elect a prime minister thus giving the party power orders of magnitude above the number of its voters.

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snoopydawg's picture

@Pluto's Republic

changed reports for the FISA warrant on Page. CNN has the article, but the author goes to great lengths to call it bogus. The media won't let go of their pushing the Russian propaganda either.

But even when the truth comes out during these kabuki impeachment hearings people are still holding on to their belief that Russia is the bad guy in the last election. See the first tweet I posted in my impeachment essay.

No quid pro quo! And yet Adam is still spouting false statements from the Mueller report today. On record.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

@snoopydawg

Can't remember where or when. I have a couple of essays in the pipeline, one that addresses Trump's stash of declassified documents. He has the warrants from way back. But It finally dawned on me then, from something he said, that that dawg has an ace or two in the hole. I hope he has some horrendously nasty stuff so he can take a few of the bastards with him when he goes.

I was digging into his Ukraine chatter, and it seems to go back pretty far. Trump has been collecting opposition research and evidence on the hoax origins from at least the summer of 2017. The Biden-Burisma investigation and CrowdStrike inquiries were nothing special. Just are of the same. Pretty weak tea for an impeachment. He was smart to focus on Ukraine as the incubator of the Russian Hoax. I just don't understand how Trump can't spot a Neocon and regularly hires them for his cabinet. But he was able to figure out that Ukraine is the foreign home of the corrupt Democrats and their camp followers, the political grifters.

I just assumed the DemoCons like to be close to their NAZI roots and feel the generational bloodlust of their Russian hatred, as they savor the bitter rage of their last great defeat at Russia's door. Instead of flying the Nazis back to the US after WWII, and breeding them with the CFR Families — they should have dropped them in the ocean. The US would be a better nation for it.

I only recently figured out that Ukraine is a top vacation destination for people who happen to have Family Foundations. I wonder why? No wonder the Neocons are so insanely angry that the Russian Parliament accepted Crimea's Legal Referendum to Reunite in 2014. Crimea is where all the good beaches are.

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____________________

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

@Pluto's Republic

have to know that they left a trail to their shenanigans in Ukraine a mile wide. The main stream media have written written about back when it was happening and so did the alternative media sites. So I still don't get why they are going after Trump on Ukraine unless it's to just muddy the waters. I'm seeing lots of articles and diaries trying to derail the truth getting out recently. Every one is saying that the Ukraine stuff has been debunked as has the 'conspiracy theories' about how Russia Gate was created by Hillary's team.

This is 3 years old, but a good rundown on how it got started.

Hillary’s ‘Russian Hack’ Hoax: The Biggest Lie of This Election Season

What was previously a stance reserved for right-wing neoconservative hawks and Cold War hold-outs has now infected America’s left-wing, and is a firm plank in the Democratic Party platform, as evidenced by Hillary Clinton’s constant anti-Russian rhetoric throughout this 2016 election cycle. Along with the White House, Clinton has now transformed the Democrats into the vanguard of Washington’s new anti-Russia movement.

Remember that it got its wings when Wikileaks released Podesta's emails just to keep people from focusing on their content and it worked. But now it has taken on a life of its own thanks in part to Rachel Maddow.

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@Pluto's Republic a salubrious climate and is historically important, the sort of place that Important People think they should own. Not to mention the money making opportunities for upscale developers.

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Mary Bennett

Pluto's Republic's picture

@snoopydawg

Thanks, I found a copy. 'CNN sets the narrative'.

An FBI official is under criminal investigation for fabricating evidence related to the agency's surveillance of Trump campaign aide Carter Page, according to CNN.

According to the report, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's review of the FBI's warrant applications under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) revealed an altered document which - we assume - was used to bolster the application to obtain the warrant and/or subsequent renewals.

Evidence of the fabricated document was turned over to John Durham, the federal prosecutor tasked earlier this year by Attorney General William Barr with launching a broad investigation into the FBI's activities surrounding the 2016 US election.

As CNN notes, however, "it's unknown how significant a role the altered document played in the FBI's investigation of Page and whether the FISA warrant would have been approved without the document." What we do know, however, is that it was significant enough to warrant a criminal investigation.

At least the People learn that the FBI cannot be trusted. And the FBI lies and distorts the nation's historical records. That's a good thing for know for citizen protection.

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____________________

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

@Pluto's Republic

People used to question what they were told by the intelligence agencies before Hillary started accusing Trump of being Putin's puppet, but since then we've had Mueller being the hero who would save the country. Well that's before he snoozed through the congressional hearings...lol. Guess we need to find a way to wake them back up. But even when true information comes out people don't believe it. Propaganda or mass hypnosis? Both?

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Pluto's Republic's picture

@snoopydawg

...sometime after I posted. They scolded CNN and insisted that there were no mistakes in the Page FISA warrant. Then gave CNN a whole new narrative that makes no sense. So, I guess the moral to the story is the FBI doesn't lie if WAPO is watching.

Maybe you can figure it out:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/fbi-official-under-criminal-investig...

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____________________

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

@Pluto's Republic of this impeachment spasm, that it was rolled out to distract from and traduce Barr and Durham. Sure enough a few days after the impeachment crap started, Barr and Durham announced that the investigation had become a criminal investigation. Barr is interesting because he is ex-CIA, but there are plenty of CIA people that hate Brennan, Clapper and their clique.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

... @Roy Blakeley . I will highlight this in my timeline.

Sure enough a few days after the impeachment crap started, Barr and Durham announced that the investigation had become a criminal investigation.

.
It's 'game on' time at the DOJ, as well. Good to know.

I saw something that I consider to be a colossal error coming out of the Deep State turn-coats. They've started smearing — of all people — John Durham. One glance at his face and bio should have warned them off of such a moronic act. They are going to regret this.

As the author of this essay pointed out, the mistakes that are made by the Deep State are systematically destroying the Democratic Party.

The Deep State is fast becoming the Derp State.

But, since the Deep State operates from the non-partisan level of the Elite Establishment and Our Overlords — they can easily jump from Party to Party to stir the kabuki pot. This is something that anyone paying attention has already noticed.

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____________________

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

@Pluto's Republic

I share your analysis of why the quality of the State in America is so impaired.

The quality of the State cannot rise beyond the quality of the people — their character, intelligence, and sense of wellbeing — including the most vulnerable people amongst us.

The two party system is designed to grind people down to their lowest common denominator. To polarize the public and stunt the growth of enlightened thought and action. To blur the vision of the utopia that sentient beings will naturally manifest wherever they evolve.

With the almost insurmountable nature of the political landscape, how does the American population find the possibility of meaningful and timely change? How does the population realise “for one moment a possibility for social transformation and the fulfillment of their destiny”, while the whole system (political and media) remain (seemingly) unmalleable?

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Pluto's Republic's picture

@janis b

....although I thought they might be rhetorical. Fools rush in.... Anyhow, I went waaaay off topic. Let this serve as a disclaimer if I do come back to deposit it.

Meanwhile, my first thought was, "This is a conversation we should have over dinner." I think you may have answers of your own. It is doable, after all. And it must have happened somewhere up ahead, because this reality is rapidly circling the drain.

Cheers

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____________________

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

@Pluto's Republic

since I really didn’t expect any answers, even from you, with your far-reaching understanding.

How I wish I had answers of my own. Maybe they’d develop naturally after a dinner or two.

Doable, is at the moment inconceivable. Somewhere up ahead might actually be found in the past, ironically or not.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

@janis b

... an idea that was put forth by the inventor of democracy. He thought it was superior to democracy in times like these, where a very large State has a public component that is intellectually inferior and lacking in necessary knowledge. So do I. Are you familiar with the Philosopher Kings?

A home-grown variation of the Philosopher Kings has kept one large civilization together, evolving continuously across time and space, for the past 10,000 years.

The US does have a prototype school that produces philosopher kings, although the product they turn out is distorted by the school's fixation on fad economics, like capitalism and interest-based finance. And they provide too little understanding of philosophy and anthropology. That would be Harvard.

There are modern systems for visionaries to consider, as well, now that the technology of the 21st century is here. But an antique system that worked for a handful of people with an average lifespan of only 45 years; people who possessed communication that was no faster than a horse, may have been adequate just for the 18th century. But it proved to scale poorly and was thus easily corrupted across generations.

It turned out only to be the ideal roadmap to the dystopian dead end where we now find ourselves: a model brainwashed population and breeding corral that provides funding for a brutal and murderous Empire. But we would exist for that purpose, alone, until automation arrives and the Great Depopulation begins.

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____________________

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

@Pluto's Republic

I would like to envision that the training of philosopher kings start at the beginning, long before one reaches college age. Some subjects (or parts of) in the mainstream curriculum could be substituted with ones that value and support the wellbeing and creativity of every individual. Providing children with skills that enable them to navigate this difficult current world, and build caring and meaningful relationships would be so beneficial.

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@Pluto's Republic @Pluto's Republic

for my next essay - now in the works. With due credit, of course.

Declining Empires are no fun to deal with - from within or without. They lash out, go irrational, fling mud every which way in the hope that something somehow will bend the power curve, now fast curling away from them.

Collectives of humans can be similar to the single human. When they go crazy all one can do is watch - and wait - and perhaps get out of the way.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

@Sandernista2

....be posting here more. I like the way to break out your ideas. It's quite engaging .

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____________________

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

follows from point #2. It looks like Pelosi and Schemer are willing to lose BOTH the presidency AND Congress if that is what it takes to keep the Democratic Socialists out of Congress. I imagine they figure the public will be fed up with Orange Julius by 2024, and then they can recruit some nice corporatist warmonger to run against Ben Sass.

Meanwhile, the forces of darkness managed to pull off another South American coup with nary a peep of protest from just about anywhere while the impeachment circus was going on.

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Mary Bennett

The key for me is the fact that, if and when this goes to the Senate, and assuming it remains a totally partisan deal, the Dems (who have had control of the timing and the narrative up to this point), totally lose control to the Rep leadership in the Senate (i.e. McConnell) and, to some extent, Chief Justice Roberts, whom I would expect would be asked to rule on relevancy of the Biden/Ukraine mess, and I'd bet he'd be willing to get the President's defenders much more leeway than Shifty Schiff did in the hearings of the past two weeks.

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lotlizard's picture

He’s still at it, too. Not only was Ron Paul one of the ones who saw through Russiagate from the start, here he is in May, going to bat for Julian Assange.

Those following Assange news will know that this week Sweden conveniently dropped its on-again, off-again rape case, eliminating the middleman in the extradition setup. Obviously, at the time the podcast was made, this hadn’t happened yet.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxzOfWkGAL8]

Not mincing words, the former Republican candidate for president comes right out with the question, “Are the U.S. and U.K. trying to kill Julian Assange?”

Number of 2020 Democratic candidates for president defending everyone’s right to the truth about what government is doing in their name, as well everyone’s right to fair legal process, by speaking up for Assange: 0.

Even fewer than the number who so far have called Bolivia a coup.

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bondibox's picture

While reading your article, this piece was fresh in my mind

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/21/opinions/house-democrats-winning-strategy...

The contrast could be starker. I'll just leave it at that.

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F the F'n D's

Pluto's Republic's picture

@bondibox

...for actual compelling crimes that the President has committed, such as the war crime he committed in April 2017. I also believe sufficient damage has been done to the American people, as thousands of them fall daily through the rapidly disintegrating social safety net.

However, any impeachment must occur before the 2020 elections. Otherwise, we would be left with a President Pence for the remainder of Trump's second term. Here's how that works:

If the impeachment is successful before the 2020 election, then the god-fearing albino President Pence will stand for the Republican Party. (Shoving him forcefully aside would not be a winning strategy for Republicans, at this point.) A Democratic victory over candidate Pence would be a foregone conclusion.

But if the Impeachment attempt fails before the 2020 election — after the this backstabbing Democratic Party shitshow, based on a petty and easily refuted accusation, has been witnessed by the entire nation — the charismatic Donald Trump will easily win a second term.

Conversely, I do not support an impeachment attempt during Trump's second term.. Even if the Democrats mustered the moral decency to charge the President with the only valid crime he has committed — a war crime — their courage and intellectual honesty would have come too late. Their impeachment victory would merely provide the evangelical Taliban a foothold under President Pence that will drag Americans into the dark ages of superstition and false gods. This is pure catnip for the brainwashed population. No. If Trump wins in 2020, it would be better to let him ride until 2024.

The damage has been done.

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