"How To Survive This Election"

Just read this article at Counterpunch by Peter Cohen, an anthropology professor at Columbia University. It elucidated for me almost word for word exactly how I feel about the situation. Although I must also admit that I've been gathering more and more steam for an active commitment to volunteer for Bernie, though I felt just as the author has that the bald-faced, lies and cheating of 2016 led to a rejection of feeling compelled to follow coverage of the never-ending quadrennial presidential election that was increasingly like watching ESPN.

It reminded me again of the one aspect that angered me above all else. I recalled having an intense phone conversation outside a venue at which I was scheduled to play with an old friend who was trying to convince me that no matter what I thought about how the 2016 primary was conducted we all had to come together to elect Hillary. I was having none of it. I told him how fucking demonstrably evil it was that the coalition of collusion between the DNC and Hillary's camp and their courtiers in the media had just for all intents and purposes crushed the most essential civic spirit of support for a candidate that drove the kind of passion and commitment that literally is the force behind any real substantive change. Having been at the rallies (apologies for link to the Pestilent Neoliberal Cesspool), watched the Twitter coverage bypassing a colluding media, there was inarguable evidence, I told him, that Bernie's campaign was the winning one and would have crushed Trump. I said that I would never again have fealty to a party or its candidates that would do such a thing. There was no way I was voting for Her. And we weren't alone in this regard. Many chose not to vote for her, including lots of two-time Obama voters.

So it is humbling to see just how extensive, passionate and committed the following Bernie has yet again engendered, against the backdrop of all of this and to do it all over again. My cynicism for the process and deep loathing of the mainstream media and their role to protect the Duopoly charade hasn't allowed me to to muster up any real drive to get involved until now. Last night I chucked Bernard a few bucks. Damnit, the guy is a wrecking ball, a force of nature, a fearless warrior, the humblest of servants, a mensch of the highest order, an unflappable fighter, a reservoir of righteous indignation. His message is almost 100% Occupy. It's not him, it's Us.

To me this piece pretty much summarizes the zeitgeist of C99 since its inception.

Having closely followed the 2016 Election, from the clear signs of manipulation and potential fraud in the earliest Primaries to the finger-pointing and hysteria over alleged Russian “election hacking” after one of the most unpopular US Presidential candidates in History beat another of the most unpopular of the US Presidential candidates in History, I resolved to stop following the media circus that passes for “politics” in our country. I thus managed to steer clear of what promised to be a remake of the 2016 Election – until last week when the CNN attack on Sanders finally drew me in.

Moved by a morbid curiosity, I soon found myself rubbernecking in this slow-motion train wreck, as the ensuing onslaught by Warren, Clinton, Biden and the usual DNC corporate media suspects rolled out, including the NYT’s wink-and-nod endorsement of Warren and Klobuchar (lucky for them there were still three women in the race so that they could ignore Gabbard).

But lending one’s neurons to the cynical machinations of our faux politics is highly corrosive for the soul: it’s difficult not to be tainted by the sheer insincerity, hypocrisy, mendacity and negativity of the spectacle, even as one seeks to deconstruct and expose it.

The current lamentable state of US electoral politics is not an aberration that can be blamed on anyone individual or political party. While Trump is both its product and poster child, he is not its cause but merely an example of the sort of person who naturally who thrives on it. Our electoral and legislative system runs on money the way our economy runs on debt, our industry runs on oil and our campaigns run on petty personal drama and distraction. The reality TV that Trump mastered before entering politics was the perfect preparation for the meaningless spectacle of US party politics and we will not beat him – or stop the emergence of something even worse – until we root out the deeper culture from which he emerged; a culture that, whether by chance or design, prevents us from seeing the true roots of our problems.

The division of our population into “Liberals” and “Conservatives” and the near-total erasure of the rest of the political spectrum; the ever-mounting mutual demonization of these two groups via identity politics, emotionally-charged buzz issues (Gun Control, Abortion, Gay Marriage…), and an obsessive focus on personalities rather than policies all mask the deep structural similarities between the two “sides”: support for Endless Imperial War, the unchecked expansion of corporate power, the dismantling of our civil liberties, the transfer of wealth to the economic elite and rising social inequity, the deepening of the Surveillance State, the War on Whistleblowers and increasingly, journalists, to name a few.

Rather than simply expressing opinions, however, it can be helpful to make predictions that can be verified based on one’s observations and assumptions, so here are a few predictions:

1) The attacks against Sanders will get increasingly ugly and transparent as his popularity rises;

2) We can expect more cheating of the kind we saw in 2016, but this time there are likely to be quicker responses, including possible lawsuits;

3)The attacks are likely to have the effect of bringing more media attention to Sanders and thereby ironically increasing his support;

4) If the DNC are forced to deploy Super Delegates to shut down a Sanders win, it will trigger a crisis not see in the Democratic Party since 1968;

5) If Biden gets the Nomination, he will name Warren as his Running Mate;

6) A Biden-Warren ticket (or a Biden-Anyone ticket for that matter) will result in a second Trump Term in November;

7) A Sanders Nomination will mean a Trump defeat in the General.

With these predictions on record, I will now return to my former strategy of ignoring the corporate media electoral noise. Still, there is one positive thing in this Election that we can focus on: the Sanders campaign and its potential as the launchpad for a truly transformative popular movement of national renewal....

Reports from the ground in Iowa testify to the emergence of an extraordinary spirit and momentum there not seen since Occupy. It is this sort of movement and community building, and not the election of any one individual to the White House, that we should look to at this moment as our greatest hope for meaningful change. For those who see defeating Trump as the main goal of this election, the latest polls are also showing Sanders topping his rivals in General Election matchups (just as they did in 2016, when they also showed Hillary in a dead heat with Trump). There is thus absolutely no reason that we have to choose between desperately needed policy change and beating Trump.

What we really need in this country – if there is still any chance left of saving it – are three things: (1) the birth of a broad popular movement for structural change; (2) the development of a serious program for Election Reform to take our democracy back from the banks and corporations that both major parties currently serve; and (3) a mass popular rejection of Corporate Media with its management of the political debate and manufacturing of consent. The Sanders campaign is the best vehicle we have for achieving these things. Not only can we have a positive politics in 2020 but, a from the looks of what’s happening right now in Iowa, we already do.

They're gonna try to steal it again, folks, we know that. It's been all over Left media these past few days. But all the shenanigans and corruption this time will have a boomerang effect. We've already seen it in the polls.

I'm seeing this more and more as an existential moment of now or never. In which the nobility of this enduring fight between empathy and selfishness is touching the hearts of many, and will possibly probably be enough to steer this big, fucked up ship away from social and political (and hopefully ecological) oblivion. At least for a while.

Which is why I'm very close to accepting an invitation from another Dad in my neighborhood who belongs to the Queens DSA to hop a ride with him to go canvass in New Hampshire this weekend.

We better strap ourselves in, and then be prepared to fight when necessary. It's way past time for the collective dander to be up.

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Mark from Queens's picture

I’ve also realized over this past year, to my dismay, that there were a good many friends who in 2016 were big Bernie supporters but who have had over the course of last year become inexplicably lukewarm on him this time around. I don’t know if they were soured by the same viciously stupid and insidious MSM who propagated non-stop RussiaGate nonsense for three years, with the attendant lies that Bernie hurt Hillary/didn’t campaign for her/Bernie Bros/Jill Stein, etc, or whatever machinations of the full throttle propaganda machine were to denigrate and/or blackout Bernie.

It was frustrating to notice an inexplicable and marked drop-off in excitement and/or commitment to him this time around. He hadn't changed at all; in fact he was of anything more progressive and outspoken, all aspects that appealed to friends who had supported him. Yet one seemed more interested in Warren, and another for Kamala,(?!), and another seemed interested in Buttegieg (just as nauseating). I even overheard some younger people at a table next to us for lunch at a Thai place a few months ago talking favorably about Mayo Pete. The dangerous and pernicious propaganda machine of the MSM had led all these folks to think of voting as if they were just shopping around, and identifying with their personal attributes rather than the polices for which they were advocating.

Similarly I recently had a text exchange with a pretty radical mom I know from the Balkans who said this:

I hope Sanders wins the nomination. But more so hope that the Democrats get the Presidency this time. I’m counting down the months and hoping DJ doesn’t drag us into a war meanwhile...

What’s obvious to me is the degree to which people are filled with fear and burn out from Trump Derangement Syndrome. At the same time they've been showered in fear with negatives about Bernie from an MSM who have gotten into high gear to stop him.

Which means they’ll vote for anyone.

Which means Bernie has to win the primary.

Which means he’ll draw in disaffected Republicans and tons of Independents, and win the general election in a fucking landslide.

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

@Mark from Queens and burn out not from TDS but from Trump, full stop --a perfectly normal reaction by fairly well-adjusted adults to a president showing clear signs of being a bit unhinged with tendencies toward a wannabe brutal dictator scheming to destroy what's left of the Good in this country.

It's the fear and loathing of this game show not-so-funny clown turned president which will drive anti-Trump voters to the polls probably in record numbers. All the Dem candidate needs to do is embrace this feeling and highlight it in the GE

Meanwhile my major fear remains that Trump when defeated will declare the election was rigged and refuse to step down. I don't think this is hyperbole but rather something entirely in keeping with his erratic personality and low self-esteem.

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WoodsDweller's picture

@wokkamile
if Trump "refuses to step down". It's not like he has a choice. Send two security guards to the Oval Office, put the cuffs on him, and march him out. What's he going to do? Pull out his battle axe and hew down legions of his enemies? His orders would have no effect. The new President gets sworn in and starts issuing executive orders to undo everything Trump did (other than the judges he's appointed). I'm concerned about a lot of things, but a temper tantrum by a senile fallen tinpot dictator isn't one of them.

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"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

@WoodsDweller Trump and the republicans have been laying the ground for election fraud from day 1. If he loses, he calls the election invalid and refuses to cede power. The republicans fall in line behind him. Conservative media goes rabid and whips up the base. Think Broward County all over the US with election officials under siege. It goes to Trumps justice dept, then to the courts with many newly minted Trump appointed judges, and finally to the supreme court, home of Bush v Gore. The republicans are so close to taking over I don't think they'll back down.

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@Snode unreasonable scenario, and the way the Rs have acted in pod-person like loyal unity so far is not a good omen. And didn't Trump openly and on numerous occasions during the 2016 campaign utter his suspicions that the election was going to be rigged? Laying the ground work from Day One for a contested election, a refusal to accept an adverse outcome. And even after he'd prevailed in the EC, he disputed the PV results, claiming the 3m votes for Hillary were from illegal immigrant voters.

This guy is perfectly capable of throwing the country into civil war over the election, for his own selfish purposes. It is always all about Him, and what he thinks is his rightful due.

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@WoodsDweller as simple as you state. Trump would have 2.5 months to organize a fortress defense. Many of his backers across the land would be encouraged, via national tv appeal, to come to D.C., locked and loaded, to defend their Don, ringing the WH in the thousands with their tent encampments. Perhaps some senior military officers loyal to Donald would cast their lot with him and provide significant trained military support. Question too of whether some/most of the Secret Service would also be loyal.

We would definitely be in uncharted waters. But it's not at all a far-fetched scenario. Especially since his former counsel thought it important enough to mention during testimony before Congress.

Btw, such a scenario was also brought up during Nixon and Watergate prior to the resignation. But Nixon had already shown signs of abiding by the usual norms of our political/legal process. Donald is a wild card in this sense, who has shown more signs of being a crude Mafia Don who doesn't think the norms and the laws apply to him. He's Special after all, that Stable Genius.

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WoodsDweller's picture

@wokkamile

Zero military units are going to break their oath. Besides, I doubt the modern military would be effective that way. It takes the whole system behind them to work, otherwise they're just a few guys with rifles and no supply chain.
It won't get to the Supreme Court because it won't even get to appellate courts. If the Democrats nominate Biden, Trump wins fair and square. If they nominate Sanders, Trump will be lucky to get 100 electoral votes. Either way, the election isn't going to be close enough to steal.
There might be a few hundred armed protesters, but if they pull their weapons they'll be gunned down by the jack booted thugs. Nobody gets to massacre the plebes but them.
Don't whip yourself into some frenzy over this. People were worried Bush Jr. wouldn't step down, but he did. Ignoring an election simply isn't an option.

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"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

@WoodsDweller Trump by a larger margin than other available Ds, but it won't be a huge margin, and there will not be any slide of land.

Recall that the Trump Cult Party is 92% or so united behind the Donald. There won't be many defectors in Nov. That means he starts with at least his 42% + a few more pct. They won't be no shows come election day. Ds will be highly motivated to get him out so will have high turnout, matching or probably exceeding Rs GOTV. If they nominate Bernie and not Biden, it will be a historic turnout.

But no huge margin of victory. Not in this era of highly polarized politics. Those days are over for a while.

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WoodsDweller's picture

@wokkamile
in a Presidential election is 60/40. That means you win practically every state.

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"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

@WoodsDweller Don't forget Trump won 83.4% of the counties in 2016. Obama did not carry that many more. He might have won 21% of the counties. Do you really think Sanders is going to carry 25% of the counties? Because that is what it would take to have a landslide victory in the EC.

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@WoodsDweller beat Donald square and fare, call it a clear, solid victory. But the Don would get much more than 100 EVs.

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@wokkamile Do you really think Sanders will win more than 25% of the counties in the US? Where are his huge pick ups going to be? Here is a map of Iowa from 2016. Which additional counties will Trump lose to Bernie to win the state? Then maybe we can go through the rest of the states as they come up this spring.

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Centaurea's picture

@wokkamile

Are you speaking of Republicans? Remember that as of late 2017, only 24% or so Americans identify as Republican. 31% are Democrats. The rest, 42%, are independent.

Recall that the Trump Cult Party is 92% or so united behind the Donald. There won't be many defectors in Nov. That means he starts with at least his 42% + a few more pct.

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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

Creosote.'s picture

@Centaurea
during last month of his presidency, signed into law regulations putting the Department of Homeland Security in charge of every aspect of presidential elections. From premises, staff, machines, to record books, ballots, and ballot counts.
Can someone comment on what this could mean for 2020?

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@Creosote. of the DHS role, but it sounds like the Obama admin just intended an assistance role, mostly in the area of cyber security, to state/local govts in administering elections, not a complete take over as you suggest.

I don't know if the Trump admin has stretched the order beyond its intended purpose. Bears watching, but I don't think the feds will be running the elections. If so, I think it would have made much more of a news splash.

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Creosote.'s picture

@wokkamile
My initial information came from Sane Progressive, who I feel is a solid source.
And of course the pre-holiday timing offered great cover.

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@Centaurea I was referring to the R Party. Not sure though I understand the point you are trying to make.

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Centaurea's picture

@wokkamile

was that you're over-estimating the vote that Trump will presumably go into the general election with.

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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

@WoodsDweller

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

Centaurea's picture

@The Voice In the Wilderness

If Bernie (or any other Dem) beats Trump, Pence won't have anything to say about it.

If Trump refuses to participate in the usual transition process between Election Day and Inauguration Day, the new administration-to-be can prepare around him and without him. The current transition process has only been the usual process since the 1950s anyway. Nothing in the US Constitution requires any particular process in order to transfer power.

On January 20, 2021, the new POTUS takes the oath of office. Under the Constitution, that's all that's required for the new POTUS to take power.

If at that point Trump decides to hole up in the White House with an assault rifle and a month's supply of Big Macs, the new POTUS can order law enforcement to remove Trump.

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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

travelerxxx's picture

@Centaurea

If at that point Trump decides to hole up in the White House with an assault rifle and a month's supply of Big Macs, the new POTUS can order law enforcement to remove Trump.

There's an easier way to get him outta there. Simply inform him that his Twitter account and Internet service is suspended until he vacates the premises. He'll be out of there before the Big Macs have a chance to cool...

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@Centaurea
be the next POTUS. Not Biden, not Bloomberg, not Bernie.

As you can see by my sig, I support Bernie, but I think his time was 2016 and he was cheated. The general public is not afraid of Trump. It has been four years and the world hasn't ended. The comic opera impeachment is a black eye for Democrats. Even Reagan was re-elected.

I went to look at my Democratic Primary ballot. Tulsi is on the ballot but there are no committed delegates running. She is in the beauty contest only. Bernie has delegates but they are way downballot. The first delegate listed is my state Rep. I thought he was an okay guy but he is committed to Biden! Biden has the endorsement of both Senators and my Congressman. It will take a miracle for Bernie to win Illinois. Now blend in the "glitches" in the automatic registration system and you have the perfect storm for Biden. Add in that the biggest Democratic voting group in Illinois is African-Americans who overwhelmingly love Biden and it will take a miracle to elect "The Jew" as I have heard AA's refer to him.

EDIT: Title should say re-nominated, not re-elected. I misspoke.

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

snoopydawg's picture

@wokkamile

that will not change the direction this country is going. Trump's election was the result of Obama's crime spree presidency and because the primary was rigged for the worst candidate in history. Would Hillary being doing the same things as Trump is doing? Not in plain site, but as we have seen so many times Trump is continuing the disaster things that Obama did. And Bush did before him. And Clinton.

BTW it has been democratic presidents that have committed the biggest assaults to the safety net. Clinton's welfare reform took billions out of welfare. Biden was the author of the crime bill, the bankruptcy bill, and the f'cking patriot act that stripped us of our liberties. Obama then passed the NDAA that removed habeous corpus. Stipped $8 billion from food stamps. Committed 3 coups. Destroyed Libya and Syria. Put the troops back in Iraq. Refused to close Gitmo.... ect the list is long.

So again lesser evil voting is why we have Trump. Bernie is offering a chance to change, bt again the DNC and its goons are doing everything to keep him from office.,

Meanwhile my major fear remains that Trump when defeated will declare the election was rigged and refuse to step down

This trope was all the rage during Bush the Lesser's presidency. Guess what? HE stepped down. Trump will too.

Many of his backers across the land would be encouraged, via national tv appeal, to come to D.C., locked and loaded, to defend their Don, ringing the WH in the thousands with their tent encampments. Perhaps some senior military officers loyal to Donald would cast their lot with him and provide significant trained military support. Question too of whether some/most of the Secret Service would also be loyal.

The military swears an oath to protect the constitution not the president. As do the secret service and I doubt this scenario would fly. It's just baseless fearmongering. IMO>

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30 users have voted.

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

@snoopydawg Let’s see...I remember hearing how Clinton was going to run or install himself for a third term, that W Bush wouldn’t leave office and his supporters would riot over Obama, and that Obama himself was going to stay in office somehow. None of those things happened. This is typical modern partisan scaremongering and we’ve heard it all before. Only the names have changed.

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Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

@Dr. John Carpenter at the illegitimacy of elections. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/03/donald-trump-2020-....

I don't think the armed forces (maybe the national guard) would get involved, but we have a militarized police force that seems barely contained now. If Trump survives the impeachment he will seek as much revenge as he can get away with. The republicans are full on board with Trump, and they don't need to be. Pence would just step in and they would still get what they wanted.

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Socialprogressive's picture

@Dr. John Carpenter
Clinton, Bush or Obama ever making public statements that they might stay in office beyond their expiration date. But Trump has. When the haters say it, I'm not too concerned. When the president says it, then I start to get concerned.

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When I offer to wash your back in the shower, all you have to say is yes or no.
Not all this "who are you, and how did you get in here?" nonsense.

@Socialprogressive

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Socialprogressive's picture

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When I offer to wash your back in the shower, all you have to say is yes or no.
Not all this "who are you, and how did you get in here?" nonsense.

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

@The Voice In the Wilderness a headline writer put on it. Trump doesn't joke, he's more about revealing his inner thoughts and wishes through remarks casually tossed off.

So we have Donald openly talking about not stepping down, rigged elections (the seed he wanted planted in the mind of his backers in 2016 in case he lost), and his former lawyer testifying before Congress that Trump would not step aside easily if he loses.

Plenty of evidence right there this is no wild speculation. Do you need a sworn affidavit from Trump certifying same?

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@wokkamile
I put zero credence on anything that comes out of Trump's mouth. It's all verbal diarrhea.

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

Mark from Queens's picture

@Socialprogressive
first, so he appears tough to his zombie dupe supporters, and then backtracks when nobod'y paying attention or he's scolded by people around him, who have been pressured by other heavyweights to fall in line.

These dead-enders are probably at most 15-20% of the population. If Bernie wins big, as it appears now, that'll mean a good 30-40% of the population, plus the rest of those who would have deemed him the rightful winner and will side with him. That's 4 out of 5 people the way I see it.

There's gonna be no civil war. These douchebags are all paper tigers. Like overgrown children playing with their guns toys. They'll sooner shoot themselves, their wives or cousins in a drunken card game.

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

Roy Blakeley's picture

@snoopydawg I occasionally allow myself a bout of intellectual Onanism in which I try to decide which are more dangerous, Trump and the proto-fascists that surround him (i.e. the Red Team Fascists) or the blue-team fascists such as Brennan, Clapper, Comey, Nuland, Hayden, etc. My current thinking is that the blue-team fascists are more dangerous because they are a bit less obvious and are being embraced by the Democratic Party and the liberal media. The Red team is a little too clumsy, although Hitler and Mussolini remind us that gaping a**holes can rise to power.

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snoopydawg's picture

@Roy Blakeley

the blue-team fascists such as Brennan, Clapper, Comey, Nuland, Hayden, etc. My current thinking is that the blue-team fascists are more dangerous because they are a bit less obvious and are being embraced by the Democratic Party and the liberal media.

The anti war movement died during Obomber's tenure big time. Destroy Libya? Yay for Obama bring freedumbs and no democracy there. Gaddaffi was a rapist right so he had to go. Hillary spread that rumor of him giving his troops boxes of Viagra, but then the empty dry boxes were found on tanks after it had been raining.

Honduras is a mess because Hillary backed the coup. Ukraine? Ugh there are so many things about Obama's brutal coup there that are affecting us now. The proxy war with Russia and then we had Hillary make up Russia stole the DNC emails which started Russia Gate and everything that has flowed from that.

Yes the dems are much more dangerous because of people's blindness to it and tribalism.

I forgot to add that Biden helped get NAFTA passed after Bush 1 failed to get it done and then Clinton signed it into law. This begat the hollowing out of the country. Then the dems helped Trump get NAFTA 2.0 passed and they re-upped the patriot act themselves.

Oh yes dems are much more dangerous and damaging because people still see them as the party that protects workers and unions. We know that they are the fake opposition party and there is only one party in DC. The donor/elite one.

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22 users have voted.

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

@Roy Blakeley From day one I felt Trump saying the quiet parts out loud and being such a borish lout about it was going to be so much better than HER and business as usual. Though there’s still way too much of people acting like Trump is an exception and long standing policies began when he took office, people are starting to wake up to the shitty things our government does. That I even hear some of this stuff discussed in the mainstream is a positive to me.

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12 users have voted.

Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.

@snoopydawg a LOTE argument above. But on that subject, under the dire circumstances, the upcoming 2020 election will not be your father's usual dismal LOTE election, even if Ds make the mistake of nominating Biden.

I have a free hand here in CA, as it will go D no matter what. But were I living in a close state, I wouldn't hesitate to give the D my vote, even as I would have to hold my nose were it Biden or Bloomberg. This is Democracy at stake, not just another set of unpleasant RW policies and fed judges to endure.

Others here obviously disagree and take a remarkably sanguine attitude towards the Donald admin. I would call that being dangerously naive.

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snoopydawg's picture

@wokkamile

This is Democracy at stake, not just another set of unpleasant RW policies and fed judges to endure.

Others here obviously disagree and take a remarkably sanguine attitude towards the Donald admin. I would call that being dangerously naive.

Then why has Schumer helped McConnell get more of them appointed? Why have democrats been voting with republicans to get them seated? DiFI, Manchin of course and other dems have not done everything in their power to keep them off the court.

Naive ehh? Again if Trump is so dangerous to the country then why have democrats helped to get his legislation passed? The list has been listed numerous times, but the most recent was Nancy's dereliction of duty to try to put stops on what Trump does when she got the increased military budget passed. And if he is so dangerous then why did democrats only get the patriot act repassed when it should have sunseted? This isn't the first time dems have given him more power to spy on us. You know, the most dangerous president ever.,

War? Democrats have become the new Cold War party and they have been on board with everyone of his military adventures and were upset when he did not do what they wanted him to regarding war. If this is being naive then the shoe fits.

I'd love for dems to throw his butt out of office, but only if it would change what is and has been happening here for decades. It won't and it's obvious to me from what they are impeaching him for and especially for what they are not. Kids in cages? Nancy doesn't seem to be bothered about that anymore. Detention longer than what the Flores agreement says? She doesn't seem concerned about that either as well as many other issues.

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4 users have voted.

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

@wokkamile
the guy who tried to get an Indiana law to require women to report every missed period to the police for possible abortion prosecution.

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

Wally's picture

Edit/add:

VENCEREMOS!

Wider Margins Help Prevent Superdelegate Coups

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27 users have voted.
WoodsDweller's picture

@Wally
It's 30 points or they steal it.

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34 users have voted.

"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

Wally's picture

@WoodsDweller

But 30 pts will make me twice as happy.

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13 users have voted.
lotlizard's picture

or helicopters, either.

Also, urge everyone on your staff to use hand sanitizer, and think about hiring a food taster.

https://www.rt.com/usa/332206-bernie-secret-service-codename/

“Intrepid.” Indeed.

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33 users have voted.
Hawkfish's picture

@lotlizard

I thought he was referring to the frequent assassination in the late republic of figures like the brothers Gracchi and Marcus Junius Brutus. That’s the real “nuclear option” I fear. We still don’t have anyone who can take over from Bernie quite yet, so I hope he can hang in there for a little longer.

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22 users have voted.

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

Cassiodorus's picture

@Hawkfish of the later Empire.... what comes to mind is this fellow Flavius Stilicho, who was the magister militum (head of the army) for the emperor Honorius, who ruled in the west part of the Empire from 395 to 423. Stilicho stripped the Roman border guard along the Rhine in 402 to fight the Visigothic king Alaric I. Well, here's the Wikipedia version of what happened:

Stilicho hurried back to protect Honorius and the legions of Gaul and Britain were summoned to defend Italy. Honorius, slumbering at Milan, was caught unaware and quickly fled to Asti, only to be pursued by Alaric, who marched into Liguria. Stilicho defeated Alaric at Pollentia, on the river Tanarus on Easter Day (6 April 402). Alaric retreated to Verona, where Stilicho attacked him again. The Visigoths, weakened, were allowed to retreat back to Illyricum.[13] In 405 Stilicho met an invasion of Italy led across the Danube by Radagaisus. They brought devastation to the heart of the Empire, until Stilicho defeated them in 406 and recruited most of them into his forces.[9] Then, in 405/6, an enormous barbarian horde, composed of Ostrogoths, Alans, Vandals and Quadi, crossed the frozen Rhine and invaded Gaul.

And that was the end of the Roman Empire in the west.

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11 users have voted.

"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

Hawkfish's picture

@Cassiodorus

The DNC is Stilcho and we are the barbarian horde?

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2 users have voted.

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

Cassiodorus's picture

@Hawkfish Honorius has Stilicho executed, and a vendetta is conducted against Stilicho's associates in the army. Much of the army responds by joining Alaric's forces. Alaric sacks Rome in 410. This act prompts Augustine to write De Civitate Dei.

I would argue that Bernie Sanders will be the Stilicho of our times if he isn't careful. If we're lucky Bernie is one of the usurpers and we get someone better than Honorius in charge. Honorius sucked.

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9 users have voted.

"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

earthling1's picture

@Cassiodorus
We don't have to go back that far.

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10 users have voted.

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

Hawkfish's picture

@lotlizard

If memory serves, he got one right after the Iowa caucuses last time, but I couldn’t find anything current.

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9 users have voted.

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

Mark from Queens's picture

@lotlizard
Dig that!

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0 users have voted.

"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

Raggedy Ann's picture

You are spot on - the article expressed every thought in my brain on this. I have taken a step back, this go-round, but I'm still in Bernie's camp. I've just been waiting to see if any one else rose to the top. He's the only person that represents the 99%. Period.

In New Mexico, as an independent, I cannot vote in the primary, so unless I see my vote for Bernie is needed, I will not register as a dimwit and wait for the GE. I believe they are going to do EVERYTHING they have to knock Bernie off the top. However, I agree - this time, the people will not stand for it and I don't think they realize it.

I'm going to be in NY right after the dimwit convention, so if Bernie is nominated, I'm going to be thrilled and I'm going to try and get together with you (again) THIS time! I'll be sure and ensure my schedule is not as tight as last time. My friend (the same one I visited last time) is having a big birthday bash and she is a Bernie supporter, too. She is currently active in Brooklyn working on the campaign (along with her teaching gig at Columbia). Maybe the three of us can chat about the election and strategies. Pie in the sky? Why not!?!

Keep 'em coming, Mark! Pleasantry

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21 users have voted.

"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

Mark from Queens's picture

@Raggedy Ann

Don't quite see the same fervor here in the streets and spraypainted on the walls, etc as we did last time (though the bumperstickers are stating to trickle in more; just put mine on too). But that could all change overnight when we wake on Tuesday.

Kind of makes my angry, because the DNC's rancid collusion just sucked the life out of so many genuinely engaged and committed folks, especially young. We see that evidence right here, even in myself with electoral cynicism. But that they did it to whole swath of young people getting their first taste of politics burns me the most. Somehow, someway there seems to be another crop of believers that are taking this thing to fruition this time. My hat's really off to them.

Yeah, look me up when you come. If that's the case maybe we can extend that to make it an official C99 get together.

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1 user has voted.

"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

the notion of How They Are Going to Destroy Bernie: They are probably not as organized and unified in fierce opposition as many here suspect, although no doubt there are some (Neera Brock) who are. Likely many anti-Bernie types will conclude that a) he would probably make for a less obviously doddering and drooling Dem candidate than Biden, and b) a Sanders presidency won't be so bad as his radical proposals would have to be put through the brutal congressional filter of cleanse, rinse, repeat.

In any case, a tough nasty slog to win the nom should put Bernie and his campaign to the test, which if he does well should make him a stronger candidate in the GE and battle-tested to go up against the Trump machine which will be a hundred times more vicious. The Dem primary should not be a contest over who will emerge victorious from a gentle backyard game of croquet.

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12 users have voted.

@wokkamile They blame Sanders for Clintons loss. They also saw the takedown of all the top republicans, humiliated and defeated one by one by Trump. The know it can happen and they're going to try and sandbag Bernie real soon. I think they've been prepping since 2016. If dems are vowing fairness it's just a show for us rubes.

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18 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@wokkamile

They are very organized and unified to defeat Bernie any way possible.

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20 users have voted.

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

@snoopydawg Tony Perez' corporatist picks for the convention. It's already a controversy. It will be doubly so, and a major black eye for the party, if it should happen that Bernie comes into the convention with either the most votes by a fair margin or already has a majority while Perez has stacked the platform etc committees with moderate status quo types. Something will have to give. Imagine Bernie accepting the nom with a platform that doesn't call for M4A, but rather mild tweaks to ACA, and an energy plank that pulls out the usual platitudes about a diversified energy portfolio instead of a GND.

This should be where either common sense and self-survival as a party, or the people rising up in anger, will determine whether the corporatist forces are overcome. If things turn out as I suspect they will, Bernie will have the leverage to compel a more progressive platform.

In the meantime, if someone has Tony's personal cell number, I'd be happy to give him a piece of my mind. I prefer talking to the responsible party directly.

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5 users have voted.
ggersh's picture

will the election even count?

https://www.mintpressnews.com/media-israel-intelligence-2020-elections-c...

Our adversaries want to undermine our democratic institutions, influence public sentiment and affect government policies. Russia, China, Iran, and other foreign malicious actors all will seek to interfere in the voting process or influence voter perceptions. Adversaries may try to accomplish their goals through a variety of means, including social media campaigns, directing disinformation operations or conducting disruptive or destructive cyber-attacks on state and local infrastructure.

While at this time we have no evidence of a compromise or disruption to election infrastructure that would enable adversaries to prevent voting, change vote counts or disrupt the ability to tally votes, we continue to vigilantly monitor any threats to U.S. elections (emphasis added).”

EDIT : to add this section

Conflict of interest-ridden Microsoft “defends democracy”

Last year saw the tech behemoth Microsoft join the effort to blame foreign state actors, specifically Iran, for cyberattacks against the U.S. This helped to bolster assertions that had largely originated with a handful of U.S. intelligence officials and hawkish, neoconservative-aligned think tanks as media reports on Microsoft’s related claims treated the company as an independent private sector observer.

Yet, as MintPress investigations have revealed, Microsoft has clear conflicts of interest with respect to election interference. Its “Defending Democracy” program has spawned tools like “NewsGuard” and “ElectionGuard” that it claims will help protect U.S. democracy, but — upon closer examination — instead have the opposite effect.

Last January, MintPress exposed NewsGuard’s neoconservative backers and how special interest groups were backing the program in an effort to censor independent journalism under the guise of the fight against “fake news.” Subsequent investigations revealed the risk that Microsoft’s ElectionGuard poses to U.S. voting machines, which it claims to make more secure and how the platform was developed by companies closely tied to the Pentagon’s infamous research branch DARPA and Israeli military intelligence Unit 8200.

ElecionGuard software has since been adopted by numerous voting machine manufacturers and is slated to be used in some Democratic Primary votes. Notably, the push for the adoption of ElectionGuard software has been spearheaded by the recently created Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which is the federal agency tasked with overseeing election security and is headed by Christopher Krebs, a former high level Microsoft executive.

In recent months, Microsoft has also been at the center of claims that Iran attempted to hack U.S. presidential campaigns ahead of 2020 as well as claims that Iran plans to target the U.S. power grid and other critical infrastructure with cyberattacks.

Last October, Microsoft penned a blog post discussing a “threat group” it named Phosphorus that they “believe originates from Iran and is linked to the Iranian government.” The post went on to claim that Phosphorus attempted to target a U.S. presidential campaign, which later media reports claimed was President Trump’s re-election campaign. Microsoft concluded that the attempt was “not technically sophisticated” and ultimately unsuccessful, but felt compelled to disclose it and link it to Iran’s government.

Though it provided no evidence for the hack or its reasons for “believing” that the attack originated from Iran, media reports treated Microsoft’s declaration as proof that Iran had begun actively meddling in the 2020 election. Headlines such as “Iranian Hackers Target Trump Campaign as 2020 Threats Mount,” “Iran-linked Hackers Target Trump 2020 Campaign, Microsoft says”, “Microsoft: Iran government-linked hacker targeted 2020 presidential campaign” and “Microsoft Says Iranians Tried To Hack U.S. Presidential Campaign,” were blasted across the front pages of American media. None of the reports scrutinized Microsoft’s claims or noted the clear conflict of interest Microsoft had in making such claims due to its efforts to see its own ElectionGuard Software adopted nationwide.

While looking over there it will be from within and Israel that the real theft of the election will happen......BWTFDIK

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17 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

snoopydawg's picture

@ggersh

Add in homeland security to overseeing the election as well as how easy it is to hack the voting machines to the above mix and the question is will the election be above board. Glad to see this posted here. And again we have Israel being the biggest culprit of election interference. Notice how no one from the media will touch that? Easy to see why after what happened to Omar for just mentioning $$$$ Benjamins.

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15 users have voted.

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

CB's picture

@ggersh
to put the US on a war footing for the upcoming battle. Russia, China and Iran pose an existential risk to America. Unless the US can stop the BRI's steady advancement towards Europe and Africa by the mid 2020's, they WILL lose their exalted position as global hegemon.

In order to match China's rapidly expanding naval power in the Pacific and Indian Oceans plus Russia's increasingly advanced air superiority, the US will have to increase it's basic defense budget from the current $738 billion to at least $1 trillion immediately to match their competitors. It will be very hard because both China and Russia get 3-4 times more bang-for-the-buck.

(There are a lot of important points in the following document that are not done justice with this short descriptor.)

China, Russia and Iran: Basis of the New Geopolitical Order

In a recent very insightful article, analyst Alistair Crooke argued that the United States was institutionally incapable of making a substantive deal with Iran. Written before the recent removal of national security adviser John Bolton from his position, Mr Crooke argued that decades long sanctions have become a “knot” that is difficult, if not impossible, to untangle.
...
It is not only Iran that has concluded the United States “is not agreement capable.” The Turkish leader Recep Erdogan, himself the survivor of an attempted United States coup, has taken a series of steadily increasing steps to reorient his country away from the United States axis. These include making trade deals with Iran and perhaps more significantly, an increasing degree of involvement with Russian and Chinese initiatives to reorient the balance of world power away from the United States.
...
For countries such as Germany, a principal beneficiary of the Russian oil projects, a refusal of American wishes would have been unthinkable not so very long ago. Self-interest is always a powerful motivating factor, and an increasing number of European countries have taken significant steps in recent months to be more assertive about their independence.

One manifestation of that are the 152 countries that have signed agreements with China to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This is an astonishing degree of acceptance of a Chinese initiative that was first propounded as recently as 2013. Signatory countries now encompass the world.
...
The vast majority of countries in the world, as evidenced by the rapid growth of the BRI membership, is tired of the United States and its dwindling number of allies pursuing perpetual war for their own profit. Multi national cooperation, from China in the east via Iran to the Russian west and its European neighbours show that a better alternative is available.
...

We will be seeing an acceleration of the waning of US global power in the coming decade. The question remains: will the US go gently into the night or will American "exceptionalism" cause it to bring down the rest of the world with it. As long as the MIC controlled Deep State is at the helm, I don't have much faith in the former.

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15 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@CB

It will be very hard because both China and Russia get 3-4 times more bang-for-the-buck.

Russia and China don't have to pay the defense companies CEOs huge bonuses nor do they have to pay $1,000 for a hammer because their governments are in charge of defense., ours are privately owned and they build lots of weapons then they go searching for wars to use them in. Trump has dropped an enormous number of bombs everywhere we're warring and profits are soaring. Plus they don't have Wall Street driving for more and more profits. Look at what happened to Boeing.

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14 users have voted.

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

@snoopydawg
about Russian Navy radars. In the Soviet system, competing design bureaus produced prototypes that were evaluated by the fleet. The winning design was produced by all the production facilities.

In the American system, the competing corporate designs were bought in various numbers. If a design met minimum standards (and sometimes when they didn't!) it was bought in some quantity to satisfy "free market competition" causing a logistic nightmare in the fleet.
I was one of those boys with a finger in a dike trying to fight that nightmare.

I see the Borg won. It seems the whole Bureau that I worked in is now staffed by contractors. Foxes watching the hen house.

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11 users have voted.

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

Anja Geitz's picture

It's good to see you. Thanks for the article. Two things stood out for me. The first was this:

But lending one’s neurons to the cynical machinations of our faux politics is highly corrosive for the soul: it’s difficult not to be tainted by the sheer insincerity, hypocrisy, mendacity and negativity of the spectacle, even as one seeks to deconstruct and expose it.

This is the main reason I stay off Twitter. I take things to heart. And to watch humanity behave in the ugliest way possible is so upsetting for me, it begins to affect other areas of my life. No can do.

What we really need in this country – if there is still any chance left of saving it – are three things: (1) the birth of a broad popular movement for structural change; (2) the development of a serious program for Election Reform to take our democracy back from the banks and corporations that both major parties currently serve; and (3) a mass popular rejection of Corporate Media with its management of the political debate and manufacturing of consent. The Sanders campaign is the best vehicle we have for achieving these things. Not only can we have a positive politics in 2020 but, a from the looks of what’s happening right now in Iowa, we already do.

I agree 100%. If the DNC is not successful in cheating Bernie out of a win in Iowa and New Hampshire, I will canvass for him here in California and do everything possible to inform independent voters about crossover ballots. Let us know how your election journey goes.

P.S love the Bernie meme at the end. Smile

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21 users have voted.

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

Wally's picture

@Anja Geitz

. . . and then some!

If the DNC is not successful in cheating Bernie out of a win in Iowa and New Hampshire, I will canvass for him here in California and do everything possible to inform independent voters about crossover ballots.

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12 users have voted.
Mark from Queens's picture

@Anja Geitz
As I began reading that piece it was clear to me that he was a kindred spirit of ours here. Really laid out the whole context so well.

Bernie's been a lonely man in his cause. One of my favorite Geore Carlin aligns with this thinking:

“I’m an outsider by choice, but not truly.

It’s the unpleasantness of the system that keeps me out.

I’d rather be in, in a good system.

That’s where my discontent comes from: being forced to choose to stay outside.”

There's a weird calm right now, on this Thursday before the primaries. Not unlike that feeling when the air changes and the sky darkens before a storm. We'll see...

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4 users have voted.

"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

Mark from Queens's picture

Then I saw his rallies"

Three political rallies in a small north-west Iowa town over the weekend convinced me that the polls showing Bernie Sanders leading among likely caucus-goers have it about right.

Some 400 people packed into a ballroom in Storm Lake, Iowa, on Sunday to hear Michael Moore, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the disheveled senator from Vermont raise the roof for a political revolution.

Polls going into the weekend showed Sanders with 25% of the likely crowd at the caucuses on 3 February. Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren trail closely, while Amy Klobuchar is building support late and Andrew Yang is getting some interest.

Bernie had momentum on Sunday. People were hooting and hollering and clapping for Moore, the documentarian, when he said the rich will have a harder time getting to heaven than a camel through the eye of a needle. He cited Paul’s letter to the Corinthians urging unity over factionalism. The revival meeting lapped it up.

The night before, Buttigieg appeared at Buena Vista University to a crowd of 220 with half the enthusiasm of the Sanders affair. He spoke about healing wounds, too, but nobody was going wild. His biggest applause line came when he complained that “everybody needs a second job”.

“We’re going to win because working people are tired of being ignored, working two or three jobs,” Sanders proclaimed to heads nodding and amens.

The ballroom echoed in boos when Sanders detailed how 12 years ago “Congress bailed out crooks on Wall Street, and then Trump gave them a trillion dollars in tax breaks”. And Amazon pays no tax. Boo!

A man up front said his health insurance premiums are $1,400 per month.

Sanders said that the average $60,000 household in Iowa would pay that much per year on healthcare taxes with Medicare for All. No premiums. No deductibles. They cheered harder.

Healthcare is the top issue cited by likely caucus-goers in a state where you can choose Wellmark Blue Cross or Wellmark Blue Cross.

Climate change is the number two issue.

“It is real, and it is underestimated in its speed and severity. Australia, a beautiful country, is on fire,” Sanders thundered as the crowd roared back. “Crop production will decline. Climate refugees are around the world in the millions, leading to more war. And we have a president who denies it all.”

The Smith sisters, Paula and Lou, buried their mother with a Hillary Clinton sticker a few years ago. They fell into the Bernie bandwagon at that rally. Their brother Rob was waffling among Sanders, Buttigieg, Biden and Yang.

Dan Berglund said he probably will be “a banker for Bernie” as he was four years ago, but he will walk into the caucus as a Yang supporter. If Yang is not viable with the necessary 15%, he will bail to Bernie....

The front rows on Sunday were impressive in their relative diversity: people of color. Young people, old people. Conservative-looking farmers who came out to listen to a democratic socialist.

Sanders said his Berniecrats knocked on an Iowa door every two seconds on Saturday – over 100,000 homes.

“There’s nobody in the state with a stronger grassroots volunteer movement,” Sanders said. “Our agenda speaks to the questions and pain that people have in their lives […] I’ve talked to too many people in Iowa who are making 10 to 12 bucks an hour.”

He lit them up again.

That’s what this caucus cycle is about. Sanders has tapped into a vein of frustration that elected Trump, and is getting people of all stripes to give him a look. Pundits’ warnings about a Sanders “ceiling” have begun to sound like the products of people who fear his potential strength.

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27 users have voted.

"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

Anja Geitz's picture

@Mark from Queens

Just fucking wow..

Sanders said his Berniecrats knocked on an Iowa door every two seconds on Saturday – over 100,000 homes

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17 users have voted.

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

Hawkfish's picture

@Anja Geitz

The original goal was 500k by the caucus date, but after they hit that two weeks early the decided to double it. Then in the last day or two (reported in the guardian iirc) they changed tack and started moving resources on to the next fights.

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14 users have voted.

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

earthling1's picture

in Washington state in 2016. He won 73% of the delegates in the statewide caucases.
But in the primary he lost to Her.
It bothers me that of all the people who went to the trouble of showing up at night in the cold to support Bernie, would be dealt a loss in the primary by people who sat on their asses (vote by mail) at the kitchen table.
I'm still pissed.

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20 users have voted.

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

Hawkfish's picture

@earthling1

So a lot of people didn’t bother. There may even have been a concerted effort to discredit the caucuses by having the Clintonites mail in ballots. I did just to be heard but I might have been an outlier.

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7 users have voted.

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

snoopydawg's picture

@earthling1

44-32 but Hillary got the win because she had more delegates? How many states did she win from a coin toss? And remember she had lined up delegates before she declared she was running. And then she gave speeches to the banks after she did that. This probably counts as election fraud since she was basically running when she did them. As was using Correct the Record and of course laundering money through her victory fund. Anyone know what happened to this lawsuit?

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10 users have voted.

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

@earthling1 was just a few blocks away at the library and Bernie won all but a few votes which was good because there were supporters older than me (69) that physically couldn't attend due to health issues.

At least during the actual election the ballots come in the mail so those friends weren't shut out from the process like they were with the Caucus.

So that's my only complaint about Caucuses, and why I think the polls aren't a good barometer guessing vote totals for someone like Joe. It's easy to answer a poll but how many of the Biden supporters will actually engage with that beehive of activity? Waiting in lines , dealing with crowds,and listening to the spokespersons for varying candidates as people haggle over where their votes will go if their candidate doesn't pass the threshold.

It's not a short day. Yet come election time if you haven't already mailed in your vote there voting boxes outside the Courthouse across the street, including one drive thru, and it clearly demonstrates the difference between the two voting styles sand why a lot of people don't like the Caucus method is easy to understand.

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8 users have voted.
Mark from Queens's picture

@earthling1
This nook of Queens was crackling with electricity for Bernie in 2016. So many vivid memories; it wasn't unlike the feeling Obama engendered (which those psychotic dupes at DK just couldn't get their heads around they were so demented in Her). But it really was.

I had my four month old son in a harness knocking on doors: delivering signs to friends: going all over the rest of the city getting storeowners to put up Bernie signs up: stayed up almost all night putting yard signs up and down the Grand Central Parkway so that early morning commuters would see a sea of Bernie support on their way to work on election day.

We won in our district, which is amazing considering they stole the rest of the thing. Guess they couldn't fuck with the overt support here (which also went 75% for AOC, and Caban).

Still enrages me because they did douse the hopes of a whole slew of new political participants, potentially for good. I'm so glad to see a whole next wave sprout up to push this campaign right back where it was then.

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4 users have voted.

"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

snoopydawg's picture

The greatest single obstacle to change at this point are the media information ecosystems that create our normative political identities, catering to and reinforcing the “Liberal-Conservative” divide and help to prevent their readers, listeners and viewers from focusing on the very need for change, let alone the potential forms it might take. Those who plug into these echo chambers of consent manufacturing have their concerns defined for them and anyone who tries to call attention to the true structural causes of our increasingly disastrous situation is invariably marginalized.

Above the constant media noise of these discursive bubbles, voices of reason are not heard, vital information is not shared, and critical discussions are not held. Nor are we properly informed on the political activities of the owners and sponsors of our news sources and the political conflicts of interest they might generate. It is quite literally a “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” moment.

“pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” moment.

Awe but we did start paying attention to the man behind the curtain when we found out how Bernie was cheated out of winning the primary. For many of us our eyes were opened and we can not not see what is in front of us.

concerns defined for them

Bingo. Those who only get their Russia news from Rachel are just having their beliefs confirmed and have closed their minds to any information that puts her views in dispute. Take impeachment. Most people who detest Trump because they believe he worked with Vlad to keep Hillary from becoming president will not acknowledge that he had a reason to look into Ukraine's corruption with how Biden and son were involved in that. One article I read said Biden's lobbying firm received $900,000 in tax payer money meant to go to the Ukraine people. And Biden wasn't the only democrats drinking from the trough. Pelosi, Schiff and others.
I posted this in Mimi's essay and feel it fits in here as well

Side note: Krystal and Saagar's book is beating Mustache Bolton's book sales. Hahahahahah.

Nuther side note:

Sen. Manchin: I think Hunter Biden is a relevant witness.

lol.... this will make a few heads explode.

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16 users have voted.

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

snoopydawg's picture

Oh look here's Russia interfering with the election again...

A right-wing AIPAC-affiliated group is airing ads targeting Sen. Bernie Sanders in Iowa in an attempt to stop the increasing success of his presidential campaign days before the state's voters caucus to kick off the 2020 Democratic primary.

The Democratic Majority for Israel, a group tied to AIPAC, sponsored the ad.

"This is dishonest, disgusting, and discrediting," said Sanders surrogate James Zogby, founder of the Arab-American Institute.

A consultant for health insurers and pharmaceutical interests using a front group named 'Democratic Majority for Israel' to attack the first potential Jewish presidential nominee is phenomenally low and should be universally condemned," said Perez.

Sanders himself hit back against the ad blitz and reports that the Democratic establishment is targeting his campaign in a video posted online Tuesday night

According to Ryan Grim on the program Rising (The Hill) Hillary and Bills buddy Paul Begala sits on the board of this group. Hillary strikes again.

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15 users have voted.

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

Mark from Queens's picture

From the Intercept, Amid Social Security Fight, Joe Biden Is Losing Ground Among Middle-Aged and Older Voters

Though Biden continues to be older voters’ candidate of choice, that support is beginning to wane. The most recent Siena College/New York Times survey of likely Iowa caucus-goers found a 17-point swing away from Biden and toward Sanders among those age 45 to 64. Emerson’s survey, meanwhile, found an 11-point swing among voters over 50. The new Fox poll found a 10-point swing nationally to Sanders among voters over 45, and the Monmouth survey found a swing of 9 among voters over 50. WBUR, in New Hampshire, found a 5-point swing toward Sanders with voters over 50 there. A new poll in California, by the LA Times and the University of California, Berkeley, found Biden flat at 22 percent among those 65 and up, but Sanders jumped from 6 to 14 percent since December.

In each individual survey, the sample sizes in such subgroups are small and unreliable, but the consistency and extent of the swings suggests that pollsters are catching something real. The Social Security conversation — in which Biden has repeatedly lied and said that he did not support cuts to the program, despite years of evidence to the contrary — has been so damaging to Biden that his allies in Iowa urged him to move past it at the end of last week. But Biden continued the feud in an interview in New Hampshire this weekend. The New York Times weighed in on Sunday, dubbing Biden’s Social Security claims “false.”

Really bad for Biden to be losing that much from older voters.

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

is a big problem for someone who has been wrong about EVERYTHING." LOL.
@Mark from Queens

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earthling1's picture

It's got Israel in it so I'm calling it.

Foreign interference in our national elections!
Arrests need to be made! Sanctions! Asset confistications!
Deportations! Media censuring! Shadow banning!
s/

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

Steven D's picture

Great piece. Thanks for putting it up.

They will find a way to steal it, whether that ends with Biden as nominee or someone else the Supers want (Bloomberg,or even Hillary).

This is my pessimistic side speaking, but I generally find it's best not to set expectations too high, and we all know past performance by the DNC and Dem establishment is a very good predictor of what they will do this election.

That said, I am hoping for a miracle.

Send me a message sometime. With my novel coming out in late August, I hope I will be able to set up a book signing event in NYC. I have no idea where, but if I can swing it, it would be wonderful to see you again.

Take care,

Steve

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Mark from Queens's picture

@Steven D
Stay in touch.

Before you come down let me know. I have a friend who works in book publishing.

This year a C99 NYC get together must/will happen.

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

did you see the picture of the life preserver in his article?

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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

Biden 1 in 2 chance of winning the nomination.

Sanders 3 in 10 chance of winning the nomination.

Sanders considerably behind.

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Mark from Queens's picture

@davidgmillsatty
As of tonight the betting odds favor Bernie by 3.

That's a massive swing.

Real Clear Politics Betting Odds - Democratic Presidential Nomination

Still, this:

Screen Shot 2020-01-29 at 9.43.40 PM.png

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

janis b's picture

@Mark from Queens

I sure hope that those willing to lay down their money on a winner are more of an indication of the outcome than most polls are.

[video:https://youtu.be/x194HbAI-og]

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