Chancellor Valorum Cannot Save the Republic (Biden is at Best a Band-Aid)

War! The Republic is crumbling under attacks from the relentless Sith Lord Donald Trump. There are very fine people on both sides. Evil is everywhere.

It must have been sad in the last days of the Republic. War had been raging for years. A war to save the Republic. And yet that very war had let the new Chancellor gain more and more power until the Republic was destroyed anyway.

Maybe some people looked to the Jedi Council for hope. Or a rogue group of senators who tried to stem the tide. But one thing I don’t think anyone ever thought to themselves was, “Hey, I know who can save us! Chancellor Valorum? Member him? I member! If we just had him back everything would be right as rain!”

And yet, here in our own crumbling Republic where a power mad would be dictator attacks our small r republican institutions daily and the Senate he controls lets him get away with it, a madness has overtaken millions of voters who want to do just that. Spunky liberal female senator? Too risky. Crotchety old Jedi who never got to be on the Council cause he won’t do what the establishment says? No chance! Let’s put all our hopes in restoring the chancellorship to good old Finis Valorum.

Well, my friends, if we do that, we’re Finised.

If Joe Biden were a truly inspiring leader with the heart and soul to take down Donald Trump he would have gotten a bigger percentage of the vote in New Hampshire than William Weld did running what is essentially a protest campaign. But maybe, just maybe those William Weld voters will cross over and vote Democratic is we just put forward someone non-threatening and bland enough!

But probably not.

Maybe Joe Biden will break the mold and be the first Democratic VP who wasn’t already president to win an election since Martin Van Buren in 1836. Maybe he will break the boring, safe, centrist mold of Clinton, Kerry and Gore.

But probably not.

Do we want to entrust the nomination to a candidate who has had virtually no ground game, very few small grassroots donors and almost no success until the mainstream media did a week-long freakout once Bernie Sanders was the front-runner? OMG OMG OMG OMG SOCIALIST COMMIE CASTRO IGNORE ALL THE POLLING AND DATA AND FACTS AND FREAK THE FUCK OUT!!!!!

A wise old Jedi once said “Fear is the path to the Dark Side.”

And playing not to lose is a terrible way to win.

And let’s hope and pray for a minute that I’m wrong. That despite having an uninspiring candidate that no one is really FOR but that we hope no one will be too AGAINST we somehow manage to knock off Donald Trump and restore the Valorums of our world to the chancellorship. What then?

Biden is at best a band-aid.

It’s not like things were hunky dory back when Valorum was Chancellor. Sure there wasn’t a raging Civil War between droids and clone armies (yet) and a Sith Lord wasn’t Chancellor (though he was already, like Mitch McConnell, running the Senate). But the Trade Federation was ignoring the rule of law and he was basically letting them get away with it cause aw geesh some Senator from the Planet of Health Insurance Lobbies thought a public option was just too much.

The Obama/Biden administration missed the ball too many times. The stimulus was too small. Health care reform too timid. But more importantly the Obama/Biden administration got the TONE all wrong. Warren didn’t. Bernie didn’t. They were raging at Wall Street and the banks who caused the mess. They wanted deep structural reforms. Obama and Biden wanted to put a band aid on a broken system.

They ceded all the angry energy to the Tea Party. We got our asses handed to us in 2010 and 2014. We couldn’t take the House in 2012. We lost countless seats in state legislatures and governor’s mansions. And in 2016 we were basically TOLD before a single vote was cast by the DNC and super delegates that we were getting more of the same. Despite the fact that Democratic voters ALREADY had rejected going back to the Clinton 90s in 2008 the Clintons cleared the field and gave us a presumptive nominee whether we liked it or not. Websites like this one banned people who dared criticize her after a certain date—which by the way, is the absolute worst way to build unity behind someone.

And so despite 40 years of a declining middle class and a widening wage gap that left people desperate for something, ANYTHING different we told them things are great already and get out there and vote for more of the same!

A lot of them decided to roll the dice instead.

Is anyone excited to restore the Democratic machine that gave us the Tea Party and Trump? Does anyone think Joe Biden, even with majorities in both houses, will somehow fix the deep structural problems we face? Or will Democrats keep the filibuster so McConnell can block even minor progress for four years?

And where will we be in four years? Biden has already hinted he won’t run. Is the DNC going to TELL us again who the next presumptive nominee is? We’ll have this fight all over again. And we’ll lose again. At best we are gonna get a one term band aid and the next demagogue might actually be competent like a Palpatine instead of idiotic like Darth Jar Jar Binks.

And that’s the bright picture scenario.

But the darker picture is probably more accurate. Too many people won’t go out and vote for a restoration of the leadership that got us to where we are now. No one’s charging a squadron of storm troopers for Chancellor Valorum.

And that’s why he can’t save the Republic.

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Comments

Biden is a Sith infiltrator so like 2016 would be a sith infiltrator vs one of the out in the open sith like the in the old republic days (Galactic Republic vs Sith Empire era).

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7 users have voted.
Pricknick's picture

Regardless of Bernie, the republic is done.
Who could have imagined a world so far gone in it's political situation, that the world meant nothing.
Let the end begin.

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19 users have voted.

Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

@Pricknick Faced with the stark choice between Bernie and a burning planet, a lot of people say "I want s'mores!"

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7 users have voted.
PriceRip's picture

          so I reject the cynics (not "out of hand" but) because I know the way. I have seen people take the path through the woods step by step and succeed.

          Elect Bernie and support AOC and the Squad. That is the starting point.

          All the blathering bullshit is a waste of time and energy. Force the idiots to listen, act, and create the future we need.

RIP

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@PriceRip

I have seen how to fix the situation so I reject the cynics (not "out of hand" but) because I know the way. I have seen people take the path through the woods step by step and succeed.

It would appear that the Cynics have the upper hand here, RIP. Joe Biden is going to be the Dem nominee for President, which in turn guarantees us "four more years" of Donald J. Trump in the Oval Office,

Do please remember that these are words I would happily eat. But I doubt I will have the opportunity to. Also, dear RIP, please remember that my respect and esteem for you and your ideas remains unabated, these small bumps in the road notwithstanding.

Elect Bernie and support AOC and the Squad. That is the starting point.[cuts] Force the idiots to listen, act, and create the future we need.

And just how do you propose we do just that? All traditional means have been tried to exhaustion and we are no closer to humane governance than we ever were.

Diogenes of Sinope (the greatest philosopher the human race ever produced, with the possible exception of Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton) 1, modern humanity 0. Cynics win again.

Bad

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15 users have voted.

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

PriceRip's picture

@thanatokephaloides

          If by we you are referring to those of "us" that are "participating" at https://caucus99percent.com/ it is not possible for "us" to do anything.

          I am a time traveler from the beginning of the internet, before it became this hollow shadow of itself. For most "people" here it is just part of "blue pill reality" id est the matrix. So, whenever (like how) I refer to solutions, the "us" of https://caucus99percent.com/ twitch in their vats and generate electrical current used by the machine, and nothing is ever accomplished.

          There was a time when I actually knew those responsible for constructing this system, but they have assimilated, I have not.

RIP

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I can't talk about it

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17 users have voted.

@gjohnsit @gjohnsit
A sad day for our Republic. Hope seems to have gotten crushed last night.

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13 users have voted.

@crbngville I do not accept the results coming out of black box voting machines and tabulators. I don't know what I will do, but I won't just sit back and treat it as legitimate.

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5 users have voted.

Me too. I've had the headphones on all night listening to Hilary Hahn playing violin sonatas, and reading Georgette Heyer.

I can't bear this. I hate my Boomer generation.

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14 users have voted.

Emmet

Lenzabi's picture

I am hoping that Bernie can pull other states in and also thrash Biden in debates.
Hi all, I'm still here.

Looks grim as they seem to have not learned the mistakes of the past, and yet any criticisms of Biden or Warren and other Dems at some FB sites elicits the same derision and hostility at at the other place.

They supported and even seemed to cheer for the anti-democratic moves of super-delegates vowing to steal the election from Bernie, or the blob of candidates who dropped out and backed Biden.

It seems we have slipped away from a Representative Democratic Republic, and into an oligarch driven one, (dictatorship counting the way Trump is doing things.)

This Boomer supports Bernie, Democracy, and to see the Republic so weak as it is right now does break my heart.

We need to support Bernie, he is our only hope.

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So long, and thanks for all the fish

earthling1's picture

@Lenzabi
"It's all we can do."
However, throwing some love($) Tulsi's way will help get her on stage for the next debate. Her and Bernie tag teamin' it on Biden would be great payback for "the blob of candidates who dropped out and backed Biden".
And welcome back, also.

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5 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.

" Websites like this one banned people who dared criticize her after a certain date......". C99 is not like the one that one that banned people who dared criticize. I checked. Twice. Maybe I meant qwibble? Qwuibble? Anyway, it's ok, you didn't know I was going to throw up in my mouth a little bit.

P.S. Things may be bleak, but it's becoming apparent that the dem party is split with no way to reconcile. Biden crowing about defeating what may be 40% of voters you need is going to ensure defeat. I think Bernie will keep pushing his vision. Either the dem party will somehow concede real ground or demonize Sanders and try to deliver some sort of coup de grace. I can't see Bernie falling for the same crap he agreed to last election, but after experiencing Trump he may.

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earthling1's picture

@Snode
this was cross-posted at GOS.
That's how I read it.

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5 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.

@earthling1 They still ban you for this kind of post. It's a good way to go. I wasn't trying to pick a fight or be insulting. I just hate that place. A lot. 2x.

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Last night I ran across a somewhat poorly written but brilliantly well thought-out piece by economist Michael Hudson that gives the lay of the land exactly as most of us see it and pinpoints the nature of the quandary we're in.

It's so good to read a description of our situation without the overlay of b.s. about conspiracy theories and politically correct scapegoats. He wrote it about a week ago, so there's nothing about Biden's sudden ascension and Bloomberg' (apparent) collapse, but otherwise all the basic elements are there. Hudson assures us that things are exactly as bad as they seem, and no we're not imagining things. The piece is kind of long but it's an easy, interesting read -- and it does help clear the mind.

https://michael-hudson.com/2020/02/in-a-struggle-between-oligarchy-and-d...

A few excerpts:

I could not come up with a solution that does not involve dismantling and restructuring the existing party system. We have passed beyond the point of having a solvable “problem” with the Democratic National Committee (DNC). That is what a quandary is. A problem has a solution – by definition. A quandary does not have a solution. There is no way out. The conflict of interest between the Donor Class and the Voting Class has become too large to contain within a single party. It must split.

On “letting the process play out,” He writes,

That was a euphemism for leaving the choice to the Tony-Blair style leadership that have made the Democrats the servants’ entrance to the Republican Party. Like the British Labour Party behind Blair and Gordon Brown, its role is to block any left-wing alternative to the Republican program on behalf of the One Percent.

He gives a necessary distinction:

Every economy is a mixed economy. But to hear Michael Bloomberg and his fellow rivals to Bernie Sanders explain the coming presidential election, one would think that an economy must be either capitalist or, as Bloomberg put it, Communist. There is no middle ground, no recognition that capitalist economies have a government sector, which typically is called the “socialist” sector – Social Security, Medicare, public schooling, roads, anti-monopoly regulation, and public infrastructure. These are a valid alternative to privatized monopolies extracting economic rent.

How does one “stay the course” in an economy that is polarizing? Staying the course means continuing the existing trends that are concentrating more and more wealth in the hands of the One Percent, that is, the Donor Class – while loading down the 99 Percent with more debt, paid to the One Percent (euphemized as the economy’s “savers”). All “saving” is at the top of the pyramid. The 99 Percent can’t afford to save much after paying their monthly “nut” to the One Percent.

... and so on. Really, a good read.

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Lurking in the wings is Hillary, like some terrifying bat hanging by her feet in a cavern below the DNC. A bat with theropod instincts. -- Fred Reed https://tinyurl.com/vgvuhcl

@laurel but, we know this. That's the bad part. We keep explaining to each other how, why, this happened. Always, we are still in a state of disbelief. Even if Bernie were to win, how do we fight back? How do you make a blueprint to build a revolution with so many forces already prepared to fight against you?

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@Snode and invite them to join us in the fight of our lives. We can start with all the true progressives, the Bernie voters out there. Then we note the class differences between us and the oligarchs and so we put out solidarity vibes to all the miserable deplorables whose lives and hopes were destroyed by the oligarchic takeover of this country. Together, there are many more of us than them. So we join forces. As Bernie has proven, thousands of small donors are as formidable as hundreds of big donors.

We have the numbers. We can do it. Believe in it. Yahoo

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2 users have voted.

Lurking in the wings is Hillary, like some terrifying bat hanging by her feet in a cavern below the DNC. A bat with theropod instincts. -- Fred Reed https://tinyurl.com/vgvuhcl

@laurel but how? I'm really asking. Mass demonstrations, real civil disobedience? Blowing up unoccupied government facilities? The only thing I can relate to is the 60's and the OWS protests. Things are bad, and I am not seeing enough anger to move to confrontation. I worry that it'll be, ok Bernie lost and that's that. He's a sheepdog, a sell out, when it's us that need to do something. But what, and how? Voting doesn't work, except for those who would benefit from it. Every sham election destroys another bit of our souls.

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@Snode . Unless we could maintain it as the amazing French have, it might not accomplish much in the long run.
I think we need to organize with all the similarly minded people out there. We could join up with those who share our values of basic social, political, and economic fairness, people who prefer democracy over oligarchy, who acknowledge the basic worth of the individual human being. This would include fair-minded people from all sides of the political spectrum. We could agree to form a broad-based organization for the purpose of asserting and defending the rights of the common person against corporate abuse. There are a lot of people and existing organizations out there who would be interested in such an organization. I could see it operating in a fairly loose, open, democratic manner, more network than hierarchy, and the organizational goals would be stated in specific but basic non-ideological terms. It could invite input and ideas from anyone and everyone. It could conduct a slew of activities ranging from small sharing groups, to meetings, assemblies, speeches, peaceful demonstrations, celebrations, etc., in cities and towns all over the country. It would of course have to beware of saboteurs who'd try to make us look bad. It could form groups to interact with government bodies, always for the purpose of supporting legislation and political candidates that uphold the rights and interests of individuals and defeating those that don't. And eventually, it might become a new political party.

Or, conversely, if one of the existing "third" parties meets our goals, we could simply join up, participate, give financial support, invite friends and comrades to join. But at this specific time in our nation's history, the third party would have to transcend the L - R spectrum, if we want to include all who are being screwed by the theft of our democracy.

There is so much energy and talent out there. There are a LOT of people who feel as we do. Bernie's crowds are just a tiny sampling. When I drop little "political" suggestions to people I encounter, the responses are extremely encouraging. It seems to me that most of the lower middle classes are deeply uneasy with the current system and feeling stymied.

Maybe some among us who know how to connect, motivate, and inspire could take some of these ideas and make them better, make them doable, and launch something.

Anyway, that's how I think it might happen.

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Lurking in the wings is Hillary, like some terrifying bat hanging by her feet in a cavern below the DNC. A bat with theropod instincts. -- Fred Reed https://tinyurl.com/vgvuhcl

earthling1's picture

If this was posted @ D Kos I could only imagine the response you got.
I hope you don't get bojo'd for it.
As a thought experiment, you should post an essay there on the 15th of March calling for the banning of anyone who does not support Biden.
Just to see what happens.
You know, The Ides of March II.

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8 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.

Alligator Ed's picture

@earthling1 so that I can booted out again when Kos says Biden's our boy.

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earthling1's picture

Http://nowthisnews.com/videos/politics/jennifer-laurence-is-unbreaking-americas-political-system-failure
It's quite good. There is hope.

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1 user has voted.

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

TheOtherMaven's picture

@earthling1

https://mashable.com/video/jennifer-lawrence-political-system-corruption/

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

@earthling1 ! It's the kind of thing I've been wishing for. ♥

https://represent.us/

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Lurking in the wings is Hillary, like some terrifying bat hanging by her feet in a cavern below the DNC. A bat with theropod instincts. -- Fred Reed https://tinyurl.com/vgvuhcl

Alligator Ed's picture

Is anyone excited to restore the Democratic machine that gave us the Tea Party and Trump? Does anyone think Joe Biden, even with majorities in both houses, will somehow fix the deep structural problems we face? Or will Democrats keep the filibuster so McConnell can block even minor progress for four years?

And where will we be in four years? Biden has already hinted he won’t run. Is the DNC going to TELL us again who the next presumptive nominee is?

In obeisance to your posing these conundra before us, as a veritable gauntlet tossed between two knights, I humbly accept the challenge of your queries.

Question number one is really 3 questions, two of which will be summarily dismissed.

Does anyone think Joe Biden, even with majorities in both houses, will somehow fix the deep structural problems we face?

JoJo will never gain the threshold of 1600 Pennsylvania in his lifetime, even if by then he knows where he is.

Is the DNC gonna tell us who the nominee is? That is a rhetorical question. Just like does the sun rise in the east? We know the answer. They will tell us, just before bedtime, children.

My bet is on H. Rodent Clinton, resplendent in layers of slime, rendered in rainbow hues by residual Uranium from Rosatom. I can see her now, as she is carried up the stage in a sedan chair to accept her laurel wreath. Our Republic is saved!

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@Alligator Ed , this can become nightmare material. Be advised.

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Lurking in the wings is Hillary, like some terrifying bat hanging by her feet in a cavern below the DNC. A bat with theropod instincts. -- Fred Reed https://tinyurl.com/vgvuhcl