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

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.

@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.

          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

@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?

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.

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

https://represent.us/

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

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

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!