Things I Learned from the Dem Debate

Elizabeth Warren is like Aunt Eller with an empty picnic basket.

I looked deep into Pete Buttigieg's eyes, but could not see his soul. I did hear him tell me that he wants to start a movement for moderate Republicans. So there's that.

Joe Biden's solution to the problem of violence against women is to "keep punching at it and punching at it and punching at it". Joe also does a mean Knute Rockne wax figure impression.

Tulsi Gabbard is really hoping Hillary jumps in the race so she can "keep punching at it and punching at it and punching at it".

At this point, Kamala Harris is running purely out of spite.

Julian Castro asks Joe Biden, "Don't you remember?" and is hounded out of the race by the Dem establishment. Cory Booker asks Joe Biden "Are you high?" and no one bats an eye.

Bernie looks better with his hair cut.

Andrew Yang wants to give everybody a thousand dollars a month, which will help raise a lot of people just enough above the poverty line to disqualify them from food stamps.

Ten years ago, Tom Steyer became a human being. What he was before that he'd rather not talk about.

Watching Amy Klobochar speak gives me that same uneasy feeling I get watching Michael J. Fox speak. Is that wrong?

Beto O'Rourke was inconspicuous by his absence. Spanish translators nationwide breathe a collective sigh of relief.

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Cassiodorus's picture

In this scene:

Ernst Stavro Blofeld (the voice and the foot, holding the white cat) was played by Donald Pleasence

Mr. Osato (the man with the gray hair in the business suit) was played by Teru Shimada

Helga Brandt/ Number Eleven (the woman in the red dress) was played by Karin Dor

James Bond (absent from the scene) can be Bernie Sanders/ Tulsi Gabbard/ Andrew Yang/ Tom Steyer/ anyone with an idea. Remember that the movie "You Only Live Twice" ends with Bond's success, so we're imagining the eventual success of anyone with an idea.

Which Dem candidate is playing Pleasance's part, which Dem candidate is playing Shimada's part, which Dem candidate is playing Dor's part?

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"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

Alligator Ed's picture

@Cassiodorus Senator Klobachar. Although not athletic by nature, I am told, she throws a mean plate or cup. Her voice is not menacing except for the remote possibility this Minnesota witch might possibly become president (assuming she assassinates/incapacitates all her Dem rivals and the Cheeto).

The other positions don't interest me--except maybe the cat. I find cats to be tasty little snacks.

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Cassiodorus's picture

@Alligator Ed understood the neoliberal idiocy on display when any of the Democrat Right idiots show their faces to be an object of cinematic fun. Thanks.

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"The war on Gaza, backed by the West, is a demonstration that the West is willing to cross all lines. That it will discard any nuance of humanity. That it is willing to commit genocide" -- Moon of Alabama

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@Cassiodorus

Secret Squirrel

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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?

Don't know if anyone noticed, but one of the things Harris criticized Tulsi during last night's debate was for was going on FOX News. Then, after the debate, guess who Harris did an interview with? yep, FOX News. I guess when you used to be "a top tier candidate" but you're slipping in the polls, you forget and you're desperate to get any kind of media attention.

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@JCWeb
I thought Kamala got way too much attention from the moderators for a bottom tier candidate
I thought she must still have some big donor and/or corporate media support
Her movements and articulation were more exaggerated and grating to me
I thought Tulsi got too little attention from the moderators even for a bottom tier candidate but I expected that from the fear based crew
I did not like her use of the term Democrat instead of Democratic
Sounds so Republican

Andrew Yang and Corey Booker were wonderfully funny at times

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Will Rogers Guthrie

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@JCWeb an opportunity to remind Harris and the audience that Pres Obama also went on Fox. Including at least one major sit down with the execrable Bill O'Reilly.

Bernie Sanders too could have snuck in a Spartacus moment on Tulsi's behalf as he's appeared on the network a number of times.

Tulsi a/o Bernie could also have noted how rarely or relatively infrequently they are invited to appear in prime time on Msnbc and CNN. Rachel Maddow? She's shut out Tulsi, but not Pete, and probably not Klobuchar.

We could have had such a lively discussion last night if the attention had been turned back on the smug media panelists and their corporate bosses and the way they seem to be going about trying to put their thumbs on the scale in order to influence this Dem primary process.

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@wokkamile I posted some more thoughts on the other post-debate thread (the more serious one) here. My sense is that, in responding to people like Booty and Harris, Tulsi needs to have a sense of the audience, which is potential voters watching on TV, not the MSM heads asking the questions, the DNC establishment or its corporate shills like Buttigieg and Harris. So, pivoting and attacking the media (as she did in the Oct. debate) was not her strongest point, IMHO. On the Assad point, she could have explained it further by pointing out that she met with both Assad and Assad opponents, that her opposition is to arming terrorist groups that are part of the Assad opposition in Syria, and also throw in the fact that Kerry (as Secy of State) and Pelosi (as House Dem leader) also met with Assad.

The trickier and more nuanced response on Assad/Syria (something that definitely would not have worked in the context of the 90-sec sound bites in these debates) is to point out how the evidence on Assad's use of chemical gas, at least with respect to the Douma incident, is mixed, given the quashed Henderson OPCW engineering report suggesting that the attack was staged.

Speaking of Fox, has anyone noticed another example of DNC hypocrisy -- not allowing Fox (and someone like Chris Wallace, an excellent questioner, as one of the moderators) to host a DNC Presidential debate, yet using Fox News polls as one of the "qualifying" polls to determine who gets to participate in these debates?

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longtalldrink's picture

On all accounts, especially these:
Elizabeth Warren is like Aunt Eller with an empty picnic basket.

I looked deep into Pete Buttigieg's eyes, but could not see his soul. I did hear him tell me that he wants to start a movement for moderate Republicans. So there's that.

and my favorite:

At this point, Kamala Harris is running purely out of spite.

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Well done is better than well said-Ben Franklin

Hawkfish's picture

Is the token gay republican in the field.

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We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@Hawkfish

Is that even a thing?

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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?

Centaurea's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

Now there's an idea. If only old Abe had been a Dem, I wonder how different politics might have been during the 20th century.

(The Log Cabin Republicans wanted to name themselves after Lincoln, but "Lincoln Republicans" was already in use by another organization.)

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"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

so I didn't have to. I planned to watch it, then simply forgot. From what little I've heard, I was better off for not watching it.

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EdMass's picture

@tle

Turned it on, heard the first ? from Maddow, she directed the first response to EW and I shut it off.

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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!

typical Msnbc cold warrior mentality from Joy Reid smearing Tulsi for her "Kremlin" ways re Assad etc

I think I see Michael Moore in that clip sitting on the far end of the desk. If so, I wonder if he spoke up at all in defense of Tulsi after Reid went off.

And more McCarthyism from Republican operative Steve Schmidt (the guy who discovered Sarah Palin)

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@wokkamile I want to see the section of the Kremlin website they are talking about. Weird how these American news personalities know what straight out of the Kremlin means.

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lotlizard's picture

@Le Frog  
except nowadays it’s “the Kremlin” or “Putin” instead of “Zion.”

“Protocols of the Elders of Putin” — because “it’s the Russians” is the new “it’s the Jews.” No proof necessary, “everybody knows” it’s true, amirite? Thank you, Democrats, nice job — I guess the “Demo” in “Democrats” stands for “demonizing.” Thank you, complicit media people. Thank you, elites. Have fun in Berchtesgaden.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@lotlizard

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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?

longtalldrink's picture

@Le Frog @Le Frog @Le Frog with all things bad. You know straight outta Compton is considered the definition of ghetto. The Kremlin...the definition of voter tampering. Smile

"Weird how these American news personalities know what straight out of the Kremlin means."

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Well done is better than well said-Ben Franklin

longtalldrink's picture

@Le Frog @Le Frog with all things bad. You know straight outta Compton is considered the definition of ghetto. The Kremlin...the definition of voter tampering. Smile

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Well done is better than well said-Ben Franklin

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@wokkamile
According to the Style section, Tulsi shouldn't wear white after Hillary Day.

Tulsi Gabbard’s White Pantsuit Isn’t Winning
The Democratic presidential candidate has made white the staple of debate night appearances. It leaves a chill.

...Her white suits are not the white suits of Ms. Clinton, nor even the white of Ms. Williamson, whose early appearances in the shade often seemed tied to her wellness gospel and ideas of renewal and rebirth. Rather, they are the white of avenging angels and flaming swords, of somewhat combative righteousness (also cult leaders). And that kind of association, though it can be weirdly compelling, is also not really community building. It sets someone apart, rather than joining others together. It has connotations of the fringe, rather than the center.

And it is a reminder that clothes, especially when it comes to the optics of politics during an era of the ubiquitous screenshot, are only as meaningful as the content that fills them.

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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?

Hawkfish's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

But if it is that funny, maybe I should start?

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We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@Hawkfish

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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?

snoopydawg's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger

But it will come roaring back if she decides to jump in. Count on it. Hopefully someone will ask why the f'ck Hillary is even running like he did about Tulsi.

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

Alligator Ed's picture

@snoopydawg Reminds me the Rolling Stones' immortal 19th nervous breakdown:

Here she comes, 19th nervous breakdown.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEseb6-hssc]

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mimi's picture

@Alligator Ed @Alligator Ed
that video to end asap.

It's as excellent as it is devilishly bad, imho.

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afraid to go home and face CA voters? Too bad about your house and town burning up but I have been busy doing Big, Important stuff like running for President. Has she ever, in her career, been even mildly critical of PGE? I won't even bother to ask if she ever contemplated prosecuting PGE.

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Mary Bennett

@Nastarana

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

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

That was the first thing that made me distrust him.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal he went corporatist, so the MSM trusts him. But apparently not as much as their preferred Pete, Joe and Amy.

He's struggling to stay in the race, money problems and not enough polls to make the Dec debate. He had a good line against Biden on legalizing marijuana -- "You must have been high" and is overall smart. But I'm not sure what he stands for or if he has any firm principles other than looking out for #1.

And with another curious black pol from the East now entering the race for no good reason, one Deval Patrick, Booker will feel squeezed further. I wouldn't mind not seeing him at the next debate, along with Klobuchar, the billionaire guy, and Yang. Hoping that Harris drops out soon too. Her time in the spotlight has come and gone.

If there are only 6-7 on the debate stage next month, all the better.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

Cory Booker would definitely be the most fun to get stoned with.

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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?

Dawn's Meta's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal a wonderful AA woman from the area. Booker was the mayor at the time. As we went through downtown, she said to us "look at these boarded up buildings...what has he done for us?" We talked quite a bit about him as it was clear he was aspiring. She said not to believe a word of it.

Clearly, almost spitting at the mention of his name. She was middle class by education; not sure about income. But she sure knew her local politicians and was up on national politics as well.

People should go out and ride buses in places like Newark to find out what real people think about their supposed leaders.

That one conversation made me a real skeptic of Booker ever after. Look to your neighborhoods Mr. Mayor.

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A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.

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Alligator Ed's picture

True to form she gave Mayor Boot a boot in the butt during the debate.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyZbQg82Wus]

The Boot is a sociopath without principles, lying and cheating with ease.

For more depth, includes the above exchange, so you might want to skip it.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42mK1Yuprm4]

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@Alligator Ed
She's getting like Mike Tyson. Knocking them out before they even know it.

What's he thinking? As if she doesn't have a polished comeback to the Assad smear just sitting in the back pocket of her pantsuit. Talk about walking into a punch.

And also good on Tulsi for popping Buttigieg's Mexico trial balloon in the process. Sneaky Pete doesn't float something that big without some heavy backers providing the gas.

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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?