She's Only Been The Nominee For Less Than A Day And Here's The Right Pivot

In fact the pivot occurred for all to see right in the Democratic convention. Gee, wonder how that "most progressive platform in the history of the world" will make out.

Tim Kaine Makes Appeal To Republicans: We've Got a Home For You

Kaine pointed to his father-in-law, the former Virginia GOP Gov. Linwood Holton Jr., as a Republican who’s going vote for “an awful lot of Democrats” over his own party’s nomination of Trump.

“He is voting for Democrats because any party that would nominate Donald Trump for President has moved too far away from his party of Lincoln,” Kaine said.

He broadened the call to other wandering Republican voters: “If any of you are looking for the party of Lincoln, we've got a home for you here in the Democratic Party.”

Tim Kaine's Speech Was About Making Democrats, not the Gop, the Party of moral values

Kaine’s pitch wasn’t aimed at the Democratic faithful. And he's not on the ticket to appeal to the party's base.

Instead, he was trying to appeal to undecided independents and even Republicans at home, people who might be reluctant to back Democrats but are deeply concerned about Trump’s character and fitness for office.

The last night of the DNC was a direct appeal to Republicans

There are already a lot of Democrats at this party, so what if we invited some Republicans? That was the theme of the last night of the Democratic National Convention, or at least a large chunk of it.

After a strong start featuring a number of Democrats and progressives, including a history-making speech by the first transgender speaker at any major party convention, the Democratic National Convention took a hard right turn.

First was Doug Elmets, a former Reagan official who earned a surprising amount of applause praising the savior of the Republican Party at the Democratic National Convention. He was followed by another Republican, Jennifer Pierotti Lim, a senior official at the conservative-leaning and pro-business U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Welcome to the New Party of Lincoln

Casting Trump in opposition to traditional conservatism and Republican doctrine allowed Obama and Kaine to pull off a daring ideological move: They made an appeal to Republicans without diluting their liberalism. Obama pointedly praised Bernie Sanders even as he made a pitch to Republicans, and he and Kaine both talked about gun control and economic fairness. In effect, they were saying to Republicans: Trump is so toxic that you have to come over to us, and we’ll be happy to have you, but we won’t change our core values.

Tim Kaine's Republican fan club

MIAMI — Tim Kaine is not going to be an easy target for Republicans. After all, they all but love the guy.

As a rank-and-file Democratic senator, Kaine has shown deal-making tendencies with top GOP lawmakers and an affinity for breaking with his own party that’s earned him respect across the aisle.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/kaine-gop-buds-226071#ixzz4FoCHszDW
Follow us: @politico on Twitter | Politico on Facebook

DNC 2016 message: We're the Party For Everyone

PHILADELPHIA — Many of the conservatives who watched with dismay as the Republican Party nominated Donald Trump have now watched with amazement as Democrats co-opted some of Republicans' favorite themes at the Democratic National Convention.

Democrats' thinking was clear: We're the only political party left for grown-ups, so we'd better make sure we have something to offer voters on both sides of the aisle.

I could go on, but why bother, I'm sure you can see how this is trending.

The moment has finally come, the one that the centrists, DLC, Third Way, No Labels types like Clinton and Kaine and Warner and Obama and Bayh and Bloomberg and Lieberman and so many others have dreamed of lo these many years. Because of the Trump implosion, all the connected "grown-up" pragmatic, austerity prone pols from both sides can be united under one political umbrella. The veal-penned Liberals will be left to sputter " Wha happened . . .?" in wonderment once again as the Party marches solidly rightward at the very moment they were fooled into thinking it was marching leftward.

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It's one of the main reasons for crushing inequality and bipartisan wars.

TPP and TTIP will suck up whatever is left as the corporations grab the reins of power from our gutless politicians

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Roy Blakeley's picture

Her point was that the neoliberal policies of the Clintons et al. have fostered neofascism as people revolt against their economic conditions and lack of opportunity. In that sense, a vote for Clinton, who will continue, and probably worsen, the malaise of the working class in the US, might lead to quicker and more unalloyed fascism than a vote for the proto-fascist Trump. The fact that we have to think about such possibilities is terrifying. Getting back, more directly, to your initial point, the corporate takeover of parties (Democrats, Labour in the UK, the Socialists in France, etc.) that have historically stood for bettering the lives of working people and increasing opportunities for them (us) at least on the margins, has left many with no one worth a damn to vote for. In this sense the pseudo-left corporate parties have been more harmful than their "conservative" (actually corporate social Darwinist) dance partners.

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Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

I see him doing something so incredibly stupid and illegal so quickly that he gets a souped up impeachment and is led off the scene pronto. I think Republicans and Democrats could unite very quickly around that scenario. Of course the only problem is you're left with Pence, but one might hope he would sense the Gerald Fordishness of his situation and lie low, and I doubt he would be elected on his own merits, although you never know.

Clinton on the other hand would marshal all her Democrats and a large part of the Republicans and push through another nation changing Republican agenda just the way Bill and the Republicans did it. That's assuming the Republicans hold their majorities. If they don't, the Dems will probably still pass the same slate because really they share the same agenda. There will be a couple crumbs of improvement to the ACA and some miniscule tutition relief, but that will be about the entire progressive payload.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

sojourns's picture

if he even makes it that far. Now, he may not be able to get a clearance for security briefings. There's more crap hanging over his head already -- the solicitations to foreign nationals, pending IRS problems as part of his business relations with Russian oligarchs.

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"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

Alligator Ed's picture

with Putin are currently supported by far less evidence than has been proven about Clinton's illegal activities. Unless Trump gets indicted for his "University" fraud, he will not have a large enough shit-stain on his record to come anywhere close to Medusa's proven evil. Tax return scandals won't undermine Trump.

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That I am coming to the same conclusion, but there it is. Clinton has proven that she is craven and there is no bar too low or too high when it comes to advancing her own power. Trump may be an ignorant narcissist that loves to see his name in lights, but he has the attention span of a gnat. He will either get frustrated or bored when he is told he can't do something, or he will piss off enough of the 'establishment' that they will find a way to neuter him. But, he will also lay the institutions bare.

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Democrats, we tried to warn you. How is that guilt and shame working out?

k9disc's picture

I think his uncorking the Nativist beast and the forcing of Democrats to cram their base into Neoliberal orthodoxy in anti-intellectual authoritarian fashion is the damage.

He's created a new reality, a new political paradigm and given "respectability" to the civically un-respectable.

Genie back in the bottle... paste back in the tube... it's a done deal.

I'm afraid it's going to be the tyranny of the corporate center, and that's been a fear of mine for a while now... scary stuff.

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

and by proxy the media have no lower limit of acceptable behavior or verbiage that would bar someone from being the nominee of a major Party.

Trump insulted just about every group possible, he encouraged violence at his rallies (references to taking people out on stretchers, etc), he's actively being sued for fraud, he won't release tax returns, he equates personal insults with debating issues, he name calls on an incredibly sophomoric level, he is narcissistic beyond any level ever witnessed by modern humans, he is uninformed, he is xenophobic, he is dishonest (cheating contractors, etc) he is racist, but in spite of all that, his behavior and words were never bad enough that the RNC felt capable of saying, "You know what? We can't have you representing the Party. So you're on your own and we will find another nominee." THAT is the most incredible thing I have ever seen. A national Party with no minimum standards of conduct.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

k9disc's picture

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

Amanda Matthews's picture

known to okay arms deals to some of the worst despots on Earth? Has the Clinton creature a better record when it comes to telling the truth? Are not the Clintons and the Trumps both famous for brokering some of the biggest and sleaziest business deals that are really payoffs for selling their influence? The Clinton family foundation is known to get down and wallow in the gutter with the worst of 'em. It's hard to tell if the Trump 'foundation' is anything more than a fraud or some kind of 'front' for something because is sure doesn't do much charity work or follow through with its pledges. These are the things that confuse me when people try to tell me Clinton is purer than that fuckwit Trump. To me this election seems like something right out of the 'Twilight Zone'.
***
Clinton foundation received up to $81m from clients of controversial HSBC bank
*Leaked files reveal identities of wealthy donors with accounts in Geneva
*Donors gave as much as $81m to Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation
*Hillary Clinton expected to make inequality a key issue of any 2016 campaign
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/10/hillary-clinton-foundati...
***
US Refused To Prosecute HSBC Over Fears Of "Global Financial Disaster"

As BBC reminds us, some four years ago HSBC was accused of letting drug cartels use US banks to launder funds. The bank, which has its headquarters in London, paid a $1.92bn settlement but did not face criminal charges; likewise all top officials at HSBC avoided any charges.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-12/us-refused-prosecute-hsbc-over-...
***
Clinton charity, under pressure, will amend tax return errors
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-clinton-idUSKCN0ST2GD2015...
***
Clinton Foundation Admits Speech Fees Are Not Donations. Will Hillary Amend Her Own Taxes Too?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2015/11/21/clinton-foundation-adm...
***
The cash donations Hillary simply has no answer for
While Clinton was secretary of state, her department approved $165 billion worth of commercial arms sales to Clinton Foundation donors. That figure from Clinton’s three full fiscal years in office is almost double the value of arms sales to those countries during the same period of President George W. Bush’s second term.

The Clinton-led State Department also authorized $151 billion of separate Pentagon-brokered deals for 16 of the countries that gave to the Clinton Foundation. That was a 143 percent increase in completed sales to those nations over the same time frame during the Bush administration. The 143 percent increase in U.S. arms sales to Clinton Foundation donors compares to an 80 percent increase in such sales to all countries over the same time period.

American military contractors and their affiliates that donated to the Clinton Foundation — and in some cases, helped finance speaking fees to Bill Clinton — also got in on the action. Those firms and their subsidiaries were listed as contractors in $163 billion worth of arms deals authorized by the Clinton State Department.

http://www.salon.com/2015/05/31/the_cash_donations_hillary_simply_has_no...
***

Am I missing something? Nothing in any of this says this is a woman who can be trusted or believed.

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I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

Alligator Ed's picture

While the Republicans have been drawn into an even more disreputable lack of social mores and scientific enlightenment, Hillary represents the same bad judgement as does Trump.
1. Xenophobia--she hates Muslim countries in general, with the possible exception of Erdogan's dictatorship
2. She hates Muslims, witness Libya, Syria and very likely Iran will be in her cross-hairs
3. She is anti-democratic--look at Honduras
4. She is anti-woman except in the U.S.--witness all the killing of innocents abroad
5. She is anti-child except in the U.S.--witness all the killing of innocents abroad
6. She cackles with glee at the death of Gaddafi although he was certainly not a fellow whose passing should be mourned
7. After hundreds of thousands of people have become "collateral damage", she calls the failed Iraqi state "a good business opportunity"
8. She is elitist; mo one seriously doubts that she will not honor her promises about breaking up TBF banks, reinstating a new Glass-Steagal; getting corporate money out of politics

By endorsing this psychopath, the Democratic party has itself become

A national Party with no minimum standards of conduct.
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KyleGNally's picture

to the "distraction" gambit.

Consider this.

Trump and Hillary are ultimately on the same team, and that team has fuck-all to do with political labels.

Also consider that "it's her turn" is on the same level of truth as 'the reality we will create, which you will study, as you will' (paraphrasing PNAC [remember that?]).

The transformation will not take place absent a catastrophic and catalyzing event. And as it all falls into place over time, everything I've read between the lines over the course of my adult life starts to make a very, VERY great deal of sense when before it was all a set of unrelated events.

This. Is. All. Intentional.

Rethink what you wrote, because what you wrote is a facet of their *intended* response among the general public.

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n 1998, with First Lady Hillary Clinton, From began a dialogue with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other world leaders, and the DLC brand – known as The Third Way – became a model for resurgent liberal governments around the globe.[17]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_From

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Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

A model for resurgent fake liberal governments around the globe.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

thanatokephaloides's picture

A model for resurgent neo-liberal governments around the globe.

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

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

intentionally gamed words like "progressive" and "liberal," using them for Democrats and think tanks that were anything but. They are now almost synonyms for "any Democrat, no matter how far right." Of course, then, more Democratic voters were liberal and entirely unaware that From, the DLC, the Clintons and the Progressive Policy Institute were inside a Trojan Horse.

From wrote of meeting with then Arkansas Governor Clinton:

I’ve got a deal for you,” I told then GovernorClinton after a few minutes of political chitchat. “If you agree to become chairman of the DLC, we’ll pay for your travel around the country, we’ll work together on an agenda, and I think you’ll be president one day and we’ll both be important.” With that proposition, Clinton agreed to become chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, and our partnership was born. With Clinton as its leader, the New Democrat movement that sprung from the DLC over the next decade would change the course of the Democratic Party in the United States and of progressive center-left parties around the world.

From also wrote in his autobio that he had tired of having the DLC described as "conservative," (which, of course, it was, so he named his next baby the Progressive Policy Institute, believing, probably correctly, that no one would describe it as "the conservative Progressive Policy Institute."

The No Labels think tank, founded by a Bushite and filled with Clintonites, came later.

Now, internet shills are proudly declaring themselves to be conservative Democrats, centrist Democrats, and the like. All part of what Phoebe Loosinhouse posted about.

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Thaumlord-Exelbirth's picture

A proud proclamation that the Democratic party is now the Republican party.

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The Democratic Party of Eisenhower

And the GOP of the Birchers.

FDR must be spinning like a top

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Szaephod's picture

Would you hear his MIC farewell address come out of lips of these "Democrats?"

Would you see them condone 90% marginal tax rates on Millionaires?

Would you hear them advocate huge public investment programs?

Would you hear the Hilldebeast inveigh against "foreign entanglements?"

This isn't the "new" Republican party of Eisenhower,

This is the re-animation of the Republican party of Reagan!

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The spirit of party serves to enfeeble the Public Administration,
agitates with Jealousies and false alarms, and opens the door to corruption,
which finds access to the government itself through the channels of party passions.
George Washington

I wrote the other day that both Trump and Hilary are running for the 10th term of Ronald Reagan.

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Democrats, we tried to warn you. How is that guilt and shame working out?

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thanatokephaloides's picture

Would you hear his MIC farewell address come out of lips of these "Democrats?"
Would you see them condone 90% marginal tax rates on Millionaires?
Would you hear them advocate huge public investment programs?
Would you hear the Hilldebeast inveigh against "foreign entanglements?"

Ike Eisenhower's actual positions are so similar to Bernie Sanders' primary election ones that it isn't funny!

Diablo

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

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Bernie's positions are not that radical.

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musicalhair's picture

I think it's safe to say the Dems of today are the GOP of the Tom Delay era in terms of corruption/corporate whoring.

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http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/07/michael...

the first links to the next one.

http://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2016/6/3/11843780/democrats-wealthy-party

even through my headphones last night trying to drown out her speech on the television (not my choice to have it on) the words "we are the party of the working class" still managed to cut through and it was all could do to shout "bullshit" across the house. things are going to be testy in this house for the next few months. it was split between Sanders and Clinton in the primary. now i'm getting the guilt trip for not wanting for vote for Clinton in November.

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elenacarlena's picture

get your SO to watch her - I think she has both smarts and charisma, I've been very impressed.

Sure, we all want to avoid greater evilism. Question is, best way to do that.

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lunachickie's picture

Here's what you tell the guilt tripper--feel free to edit as necessary, but these are the takeaway points:

My vote is MY VOTE. Your vote is YOUR VOTE. You aren't qualified to determine who I will vote for, any more than I am qualified to make that determination for you. You worry about YOUR vote and I will worry about mine. Mind your own business.

If this is a spouse or a family member, make it clear that bullying is unacceptable. I would never bully my (step) grandchildren--and they're CHILDREN, for cryin' out loud. It is NOT COOL for another adult in your own household to bully you or any other grownups who also happen to live there--and that includes you. It's a matter of respect--if that person wants the respect he/she thinks they deserve, he/she needs to knock the bullying and shaming off right now.

FWIW, I'm not putting up with this shit from ANYBODY. The first person in RL to mock me or try and shame me into voting for Her is probably going to become an ex-friend, because I am gonna unload on them righteously, and I don't care who else is watching/listening. Interestingly enough, I have yet to experience that. I do have one friend--one who I never, ever expected to talk openly about it to a bunch of others went right off the other night on both candidates. She's indie, always leaning left, so she has, like me, voted Dem for years. Most notably, she watched the whole RNC debacle, but said she couldn't watch the Dem convention. Her take? "Sure, the RNC is reprehensible, but they are GENUINE about their beliefs, even if they're loathsome beliefs sometimes. OTOH, the Dems? Hillary and that whole bunch are so goddamn phony, who the hell knows what they're REALLY for?"

Got us another Green vote, folks. Yes, we can, one person at a time Wink

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Lily O Lady's picture

in 2008 when so many Republicans voted for Obama because Bush II was so terrible. I came to realize the price of our "big tent." We were going to have to give up our values to attract former Republicans.

When I heard "civil rights icon" Rep. John Lewis saying that Democrats didn't want "free stuff" on top of saying that he "didn't see" Bernie during the civil rights era I was appalled. Hadn't the Democratic Party through Jimmy Carter's grandson, Jason, condemned Romney for writing of 47% of people for basically wanting "free stuff."

The DNC is definitely working for a realignment leaving both Tea Partiers on the right and progressives on the left out in the cold. I now see how this started with Bill Clinton in 1992.

To soon old, too late smart!

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

It has been since the first Clinton reign, if not before. If they're going to make it official, that'll be the first honest thing to come out of the Clinton campaign this whole election season. The former Goldwater girl is coming home, and trying to bring her adopted party along for the ride.

Good. It'll make it easier to convince those on what's left of the Left that the Democratic Party doesn't want us anymore. If we're going to have a realignment, let's get started.

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CaptainPoptart's picture

It's actually long past time for a realignment. #Demexit for me, I've gone Green and will be working for Jill through November. We'll see where Bernie ends up by then and decide whether or not to support him at that point. If he goes Independent, I'll get on board. If not we need to build a strong third party - if that's the Greens, fine. If not we'll see what's next, but the Dems are to corrupt and too far gone to save.

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I'd rather learn from one bird how to sing than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance. - e.e.cummings

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

I think dreams of reforming the Democrats from within are just fantasy. They have been already been reformed from within, basically by the Clintons in the 90's and it hasn't stopped since.

The lies and tactic deployed against Bernie and his followers by supposed Democrats were beyond the pale. Time to move to greener pastures or to clear a new pasture for a re-organized herd.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

I never much paid attention to Clinton's Goldwater Girl days. Then for some reason was reading about Nelson Rockefeller. And it seemed he was very much an early version of the DLC policies. And it turns out that Hillary worked on his campaign, which some sources have denied--that she went the gop convention for some soul searching exercise. Hillary wrote an essay on Goldwater's book and had absolutely high praise for it. She supported republican Edward Brooke who criticized protesters of the Vietnam war. I suspect that there may have been some revision of her formative high school and college years. One of the great mysteries for me is how this supposedly anti-Nam protester de-evolved into a blood thirsty hawk. I remember and of course did not keep the link where some her college buddies said she never much talked about the war. During her time with Walmart people reported her main concern was women in management. Her form of feminism is not left, but right. At Walmart she never challenged the companies treatment of workers--what she wanted was the opportunity for women to hold positions of power in a deeply exploitative company.

It seemed to me that maybe in fact her foundational political beliefs were formed during those Goldwater/Rockerfeller/Brookes years.

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Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

The Children's Defense Fund which is cited as foundational and fundamental to her life's work.

I know she worked there but I also have read that she had a big blowout with the Edelmans when Bill's policies (which she defended) basically blew up everything the Fund and the Edelman's stood for when welfare "reforms" pulled the rug out from under the poorest families in America, but Hillary is still their champion, right?

It reminds me that at one point in my life I volunteered for a closed system radio for the blind where I read for a daily newscast. I really enjoyed it and was happy to do it. But I always kind of think if I were a Hillaryish sort of politician, that I would have turned that admittedly short- turned stint into a "lifetime of advocacy for the visually impaired".

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Sorta gets at an assumption I realized at least I was making: that Hillary's work on families is necessarily informed by let's say liberal world view. Conservative Christians perform a lot charitable acts yet we don't view them as informed by liberal beliefs. The Catholic Church has a lot of charities, but are they "liberals" (well, excluding a few Jesuits and nuns). I can see conservative Christians setting up family charities and fully supporting Clinton's welfare reform, which I believe in the later autobiography she defended. Maybe this is a stretch, but doesn't her work with families and removing the safety net really match what is the current view of republicans and right wingers: we don't need government welfare as charities will pick up the slack (or we have programs like welfare reform which force people into work which can be determintal--for example care givers of disabled people).

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lotlizard's picture

which force people into work which can be determintal--for example care givers of disabled people

You probably mean to say something else than what this choice of phrasing seems to be saying.

Otherwise I agree on all your points.

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Ideas got jumbled. I read a posting from a woman who was in a wheelchair who spoke of her conversion to Hillary. Responses said Clinton was the friend of handicapped. I looked up how Clinton welfare reform helped handicapped people. Not good at all. I remember as a result of the law many people could not stay at home as caregiver to a relative-- people were separated from their caregivers by the so-called welfare reform.

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lotlizard's picture

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Lily O Lady's picture

Clinton wore last night. Are we supposed to be marrying her? Is it a sign of her wonderful purity (i.e., "She is not a crook!")?

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

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Lily O Lady's picture

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Cachola's picture

"Such are spoken of in the scripture as whited sepulchres full of uncleanness." That was my first thought when I saw the suit.

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Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur.

has for centuries been a symbol of upper class privilege. The wearing of white outer garments showed that you had servants to attend to your clothing. For Mme. C., perhaps this was the next best thing to wearing red, which seems to be always worn at Republican conventions.

Mme. C. is a person who revels in wealth, luxury, status symbols of all kinds, which is singularly inappropriate in a time when so many are suffering.

An example of the hypocrisy at places like DK is that it was allowed and even encouraged to mock the clothing of Mrs. McCain (an anorexic, drug addicted clothes horse) but mention of Mme. C.'s egregious displays of wealth and tastelessness are routinely denounced (expression of "privilege").

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Mary Bennett

Not Henry Kissinger's picture

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

TheOtherMaven's picture

He has no power and he can't make any difference....

oh yeah?

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

lotlizard's picture

how trustworthy Saruman was and
how he and Saruman really agreed on most things and,
by gollum, the most sensible thing to do now was,
just go to Isengard and turn the Ring of Power over to Saruman,
because no one in the history of Middle Earth had ever been
as qualified as Saruman to lead the free peoples of Middle Earth,
and he was tired of hearing about Saruman’s
private palantir in the cellar in Orthanc and
how Sauron supposedly was controlling Saruman
by having hacked it.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

And what's with that glowing white pantsuit Clinton wore last night. Are we supposed to be marrying her?

Well, if we say "I do" in November, we are assured of getting fucked.

But I digress. She wants to have Presidential-order power in every nation at once.

She's running for Pope.

Sad

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

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

This is Robert Reich's post from FB

Excuse me while I vomit.

According to the Times, the moneyed interests have descended on Philadelphia big time. Some big donors have even been granted time backstage or in the Clinton family box with former President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton. “This is a good place to be,” said former Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, a Democrat now running for Congress, as he glided through Philadelphia’s Ritz-Carlton. “We must have set up five fund-raisers today. This is the bank.”

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/07/29/us/politics/hillary-clinton-donors....

As a protester walked with a sign denouncing big money outside the hotel, two stocky men inside were heard debating the merits of the different ambassadorships they hoped to get under Mrs. Clinton. Even a low-ranking posting meant having “ambassador” on a child’s wedding invitation, the two agreed, and would be helpful in wrangling invitations to sit on corporate boards.

Earth to Democratic leaders: The Bernie campaign may be over and Donald Trump may be the devil incarnate, but the public is still angry as hell about big money corrupting our democracy. If Hillary is elected president in November and the moneyed interests aren’t brought to heel, she won’t be reelected.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry. The first thing that comes to mind is "She's a liar and fraud, and I told you so". Next, is he brain dead? The bolding is mine. This from the guy who just said we have to vote for Hillary because Trump. As if Bill won't find someone just as bad if not worse than Trump to run against them next time.

Boy if we're getting the government we deserve, we must be really, really, really, really awful.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

excuse me, who they still are, while it's still early days and while people can still plan their alternative Plan C.

They (Clinton and the Party hacks) had to go through the whole "we're liberal too!" charade and now they think that with Bernie sidelined and Trump bellowing incoherently they are the only game in town. Can't wait to see the Cabinet and executive appointments.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

Lily O Lady's picture

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

... for the stench of corruption to get too strong for voters to accept anymore. Ms. Goldman Sachs speeches seems oblivious in her entitlement to the fact that this sort of shit pisses people off. The authoritarian followers on TOP and the court stenographers at MSDNC might ignore it, but even a casual exposure to crap like this will confirm for a lot of voters what an untrustworthy liar Clinton is. Donald Trump's self styled brand is that "he can't be bought." Clinton is practically hanging out on a street corner in hot pants, by comparison. She's not even trying to conceal her corruption anymore, and it leaves her wide open for a comprehensive attack.

That's how we could get President Trump. Hillary Clinton: 2016's Martha Coakley.

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Phoebe Loosinhouse's picture

MC's downfall was her open disdain to being forced to mix with the hoi polloi as a de facto part of campaigning. Hillary exhibited very similar behavior with all her small-setting, pre-selected audience campaign stops. Hillary Clinton is Martha Coakley x 10.

But even worse about Hillary, I can't understand why the American public accepts any candidate for President who is afraid to face the American Press in an uncontrolled situation like a press conference. It's obvious that HRC is literally terrified of the press and their questions.

If elected, Hillary Clinton will wave from the Rose Garden and that will be it.

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" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "

dance you monster's picture

Ms. Goldman Sachs speeches seems oblivious in her entitlement to the fact that this sort of shit pisses people off.

She simply doesn't care. Who'd stop her?

And Kaine's pitch (and the general tone of the DNC proceedings last night) . . .

He broadened the call to other wandering Republican voters: “If any of you are looking for the party of Lincoln, we've got a home for you here in the Democratic Party.”

. . . is nothing more than an admission that the Democratic Party of old is being gentrified. The DFHs will have to move out as the rents rise; the new Dems want to plant a Rose Garden where the scruffy residents were growing food to supplement what they could get on their declining incomes.

Gentrification wasn't halted in city neighborhoods; the residents had to move out to gawd-knows-where-as-long-as-it's-invisible. The same is happening in the Democratic Party, and the proceedings last night worked hard to make sure we were invisible there, too. Now another segment of America gets to feel what gentrification is, first-hand.

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Lily O Lady's picture

happened!

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

lotlizard's picture

Democrats aspire to be the party of Google, Facebook, Amazon, Starbucks, Uber, and Airbnb.

Monopoly, antitrust, unions — heck, workers . . . all that stuff is so, like, twentieth century (yawn).

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k9disc's picture

This is a great metaphorical line for politics, I think.

Your "Google, FB, Uber, etc." Big giant companies that make and sell ideas. You don't need lots of people to make that stuff, just an elite few...

Super interesting stuff, guys... thanks for the great dialogue in comments.

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

boriscleto's picture

Lesser of two evils blah blah blah.

I'm with Chris Hedges. Time to abandon the Ds now. We'll be in the political wilderness for at least a few election cycles, but we have to start pushing back.

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

And I'm not too sure I shouldn't say 40 years.

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

jwa13's picture

DR. R. Reich has urged EVERYONE to vote for The $hill BECAUSE ...

(crickets --)

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When Cicero had finished speaking, the people said “How well he spoke”.
When Demosthenes had finished speaking, the people said “Let us march”.

boriscleto's picture

It's all they have. "Fear Trump. She's not Trump".

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

Haikukitty's picture

Not the oligarchy of the right, but the 99%. Because there's this knee-jerk reaction on both sides: RWNJ & "Libtard" (which I particularly hate because it's not even clever).

But the truth is, I suspect we agree on more than we think. I've been able to get a glimpse this election of what they hate about what they PERCEIVE to be the Left - it's been on full display. Of course, we know that's the neoliberals, not really the left or actual progressives.

On trade deals alone, I know we agree. Surely there must be more things. Yes, they are far more prone to blame other powerless people for their problems, but that seems like it could be redirected to the true culprits, and as horrible as Trump is, and as racist, he has directed people's attention to trade deals and corruption. It's a shame he had to include the racism piece, but 1. he knows his audience and 2. of course he's a racist.

I guess I'm wondering if its not time to stop demonizing the rank and file Tea Partiers, despite their flawed conclusions, their problems are the same as ours.

I don't have any answers... it just seems stupid for us to be divided - at least on those few big issues we agree on. Which is another reason why our political systems actually sucks, and is not the greatest in the world. Because there's no mechanism for coalitions on specific issues while disagreeing on other issues.

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Everybody who's not a hopeless Koolaid drinker hates the corruption of our politics. People know that the game is rigged against them, and that both parties are on the take. Social wedge issues only work when people know the parties aren't going to give them anything else.

The ongoing strangling of the middle class is the powder keg underneath our political culture. The parties and the corporate media keep trying to paper it over, but nobody is fooled. Bernie Sanders is the John the Baptist of a politics that addresses this problem in a straightforward way. A movement that coalesces around economic populist issues will change politics for decades. We can only hope that such a movement is headed by a new FDR, rather than a new Reagan.

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GreatLakeSailor's picture

It was Justin Amash, Tea Partyer, and John Conyers that forced the Amash Amendment vote just after the Snowden leak.

Another is the ISDS/surrender of sovereignty in the TPP, et al. Framing that as unpatriotic or treasonous might be the way to go.

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Compensated Spokes Model for Big Poor.

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

mhagle's picture

he did condemn her, and then she cut off his head.

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

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Democrats, we tried to warn you. How is that guilt and shame working out?

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k9disc's picture

We can agree, all day long, on the problems.

The solution is where the gears grind to a halt and the thinking machine stops.

They say "get rid of government".

We say "Empower Government".

That empower government part, use government to protect people is a complete non-starter. I mean, complete.

Perhaps we could make an economic argument, I get good mileage on "Exxon is a larger GDP than Austria. How does Utica, MI do economic battle with a decent sized European nation without the support of Government?

I think the idea that corporations take your money and lie about it is a good idea to push.

As is the idea that corporations don't pass on costs to the consumer -- they already charge what the market will bear. What is the cost to produce is a moot point, it's what the market will bear that is important.

Ideally we don't attack this problem via business framing, as it codifies and strengthens the idea of Government as a Business and bottom line, profit based thinking. That's a huge problem right now -- the only frame we seem to understand is the business frame. "Damn that post office, not making profits... What's their deal?"

What we really need to do is to bolster and stroke the idea of personal and collective responsibility with a heavy dose of shared sacrifice. Not sure how we do that... but if the current Right and Left are ever going to hook up on the Left side of the aisle we have to create a positive feeling and emotional response when they hear "government".

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

k9disc's picture

Places like Facebook and TOP seem to have a strong "shared sacrifice and personal and collective responsibility".

"Zuckerberg is such a great philanthropist."

"You are lucky Markos let's you post here..."

Corporate benevolence is totally a thing.

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

The GOP is now the tea party

Progressives have NO home

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Orwell was an optimist

Alligator Ed's picture

Thesis: The Democrats are Now Republicans
Antithesis: There is no home for Progressives
Synthesis: Progressives are homeless
Corollary: A new Home must be found

Fuck Hill
Vote Jill

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It's when Democrats moved further to the right than Republicans.

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Slightkc's picture

I'm telling everyone within listening distance the party has been taken over by a coup... much as the American Government was taken over by a Republican coup 16 years ago.

Tim Kaine's Speech Was About Making Democrats, not the Gop, the Party of moral values

And I insist you can't speak of or make this party out to be a party of "moral values" when you obtained your position by cheating!

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boriscleto's picture

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

JFK

There are so many sides to the coup these days that it is hard to keep track

I have been told that this is an excellent book

The Deep State: The Fall of the Constitution and the Rise of a Shadow Government

Here is the PR for the book. Author worked on the hill for 30 years with key positions on budgets. He knows his shit

Every Four years, tempers are tested and marriages fray as Americans head to the polls to cast their votes. But does anyone really care what we think? Has our vaunted political system become one big, expensive, painfully scriped reality TV show? In this cringe-inducing expose of the sins and excesses of Beltway land, a longtime Republican party insider argues that we have become an oligarchy in form if not in name. Hooked on war, genuflecting to big donors, in thrall to discredited economic theories and utterly bereft of a moral compass, America’s governing classes are selling their souls to entrenched interest while our bridges collapse, wages, stagnate, and our water is increasingly undrinkable.

Drawing on insights gleaned over three decades on Capitol Hill, much of it on the Budget Committee, Lofgren paints a gripping portrait of the dismal swamp on the Potomac and the revolution it will take to reclaim our government and set us back on course.

Here is one review on amazon.com

5.0 out of 5 stars Important information - decide for yourself.
By dave ferree on February 9, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
This is a book worth your time, written by a retired career Congressional staff insider. Author Mike Lofgren has unique and critical insight into the workings of both the Republican Party and the Congress. And his take on both are depressing, bordering on frightening. He takes no prisoners with harsh judgement of the GOP, the Democrats, and corporate America. According to him, the Republicans are essentially shills for big business and the Democrats are just plain hapless.
In a nutshell, the Deep State as Lofgren describes it is a combination of elected and appointed members of the legislative and executive branches; and corporate insiders, especially the military-industrial complex, Wall Street, and Silicon Valley. Together, fueled by enormous amounts of money, they effectively control the country, regardless of which party is in power or the wishes of the electorate. Lofgren believes the ‘Deep State’ in its current form began with the Manhattan Project during WW II. He describes the country’s situation in detail with specific examples. He points out the main dangers the country faces due to the Deep State, and finally, he lays out specific corrections he believes the country must take to save itself.
Readers will have widely different views about Lofgren's thesis based on their perspective. I have a few observations. First, I think he's mostly right. But I wonder why he played the game for so long and only vents his concerns after retirement. He could be viewed as quite hypocritical. At times, his rhetoric is quite shrill (over the top). Also, although the 'Deep State' might be reaching new heights of control and manipulation, I do not think this is a very new phenomenon. Think about the Railroad Barons of the 19th century and many other examples. People with vast resources have always wielded great power for possible mischief. That's not to say we should not heed Lofgren's warning and strive to retake our democracy.
Mike Lofgren says the worst and most vexing problem we face is money in politics and the ills exacerbated by the ‘Citizens Untited’ Supreme Court decision. He’s exactly right. His suggested solutions, while mostly right on target, are daunting. In the current state, its difficult to see how we get there.
This is a book that should cause people to think and act. I highly recommend it.

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Bollox Ref's picture

I go back and forth.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

We couldn't decide who we hated more. I've loathed, despised, and detested Trump since the '80's (I'm a New Yorker), but my hatred for Hillary grows with each passing day. I'm glad that I don't live in a swing state, or I'd be even more distraught.

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Blasphemy101's picture

We both decided we wouldn't vote for either of them. Problem for both Trump and Clinton is we both live in a swing state (NC). The more I talk with my friends and colleagues, the more of them are deciding the same thing. I was distraught at first but I remind myself that I didn't vote for either of them in the primary. Both parties could have stopped them and didn't. They get whatever they deserve.

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War, War Never Changes - Fallout Series

When I've weighed the downside risks of both, Hillary stands out as the greater risk of the two.

With either candidate, absolutely nothing is going to be done to improve the economic welfare of average Americans and the Oligarchy will continue to grow and prosper. Hillary will only call for things like an increased minimum wage if she feels it is necessary for her to do so, politically, but will give up quickly when the expected opposition is launched by Republicans, which is what her plan has been all along.

The scariest things that Trump has proposed---the Wall, deportations, bans on Muslims, going after black people---will never occur because they require new legislation that will have to overcome the strong opposition of not only Democrats, but also lots of Republicans and the corporate media. They were positions that helped him get nominated (since nearly all of the politically active racists have been in the Republican party for quite a while now) but on a national level, he'll find that he can't muster up the support he needs to get his crazy ideas enacted into law. Because of his massive ego, he'll begin to modify his rhetoric to optimize his popularity.

But the scariest things Hillary has demonstrated an appetite for will not require the consent of Congress at all. She'll quickly jump at the chance to send American troops into overseas conflicts and try to give the generals all the military hardware they want to expand America's policeman role on the world stage. With her 'No Fly Zone' proposal last October vs. Russia, she's already shown that she is quite willing to risk nuclear war because she trusts the advice and the 'lucky feelings' of the NeoCon brain trust and most hawkish elements of the Officer Corps.

The last time this country followed their instincts, we killed over 100,000 civilians (conservative est.) maimed tens of thousands of American soldiers, and threw away $3 trillion of our nation's treasure on the Iraq War, a 'noble cause' that ultimately created our present problem with ISIS.

I fully expect Hillary will do the same but will also roll the dice on risking nuclear conflict with Russia and/or China.

When you compare the risks of a Trump Presidency vs. a Clinton Presidency, it's not even close. There's so much more to lose when you take a chance on Hillary.

That is why I will be voting for Trump---a man I regard as political scum---if it looks at all close in November between the two. I never thought I'd see the day, but then I never thought I'd see the day when a Democrat was more scary to me than the Republican alternative.

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James Kroeger

lotlizard's picture

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

But she's not better.

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Fionnsboy's picture

she should know better. I think they're both sociopaths. One has to wonder what's wrong with people, that they are such poor judges of character. It seemed patently obvious from the get-go that HRC was smug, condescending, dismissive, scheming, and utterly unable to admit to or learn from mistakes. Over the years ambition has ripened into a complete moral collapse, and lust for power has turned into an utter lack of conscience (war mongering, lying, cheating, election-rigging, regime change) while Nixon-like paranoia vis a vis secretiveness (no press conferences, no release of transcripts, private server, etc) will create, if she gets in, the most opaque administration since God knows when. Why is it more people don't see this?????? A zen koan is a short snippet of story, or a question or statement, that seeks to explain a larger truth (a poor definition, but there are two dogs on my lap currently and that will have to do). I think Hillary's koan is the Qaddafi Cackle ("We came, we saw..."). How anyone could watch that and not shudder, not recoil, and not conclude that this person is a sociopath, is just beyond me....it's SO FUNNY when people are sodomized with knives!

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Semper ubi sub ubi

I did shudder and recoil. Until that point, I merely disliked Hillary.

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gendjinn's picture

Despite rumours to the contrary during the convention, Kaine is making it clear he still supports the Hyde amendment.

Yeah. HRC showing us that all that "evolution" on identity issues over her life were nothing but politically necessary pandering and now the true colours can be flown.

Trump is unutterably evil and cannot be the president. And HRC is only slightly better. The only major differences between them are the death toll and upon whom it will fall.

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boriscleto's picture

Their infographic said Kaine was a "Weird kind of Catholic where you don’t let it affect your political decision-making".

But they were right about his relationship to banks. Committed, long-term.

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

gendjinn's picture

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More competent for sure.

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Democrats, we tried to warn you. How is that guilt and shame working out?

MsGrin's picture

Tim Kaine's Speech Was About Making Democrats, not the Gop, the Party of moral values

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'What we are left with is an agency mandated to ensure transparency and disclosure that is actually working to keep the public in the dark' - Ann M. Ravel, former FEC member

gendjinn's picture

"Moral Values" mean anti-abortion, pro capital punishment and pro war. Just like the GOP the Goldwater Girl always wanted to be in.

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