2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: I don't get the Elizabeth Warren adulation. In fact, I don't get adulation of politicians [View all]DougRees
(6 posts)Thus far, I like what she's saying, and how she's saying it. I think her victory in Massachusetts is underrated. Mass. isn't really all that "blue" of a state in non-Presidential elections (they elected Mitt Romney, remember?). She was running against someone who, a year before the election, was the most popular major officeholder in the state according to a poll. Probably most Democrats would have lost, but she won. The fact that she was a Republican until 1995 really doesn't bother me too much. One of the most progressive Democratic governors in the history of my home state of Iowa, Harold Hughes, was brought up as a Republican and remained one for much of his adult life. Come to think of it, Pat Brown, the former Democratic governor of California (where I now live) began his career as a Republican (look it up!).
One thing does concern me, however. What are Senator Warren's views on the "Defense Authorization Act", which basically negates the Bill of Rights and allows the federal government to grab anyone off the street and hold them indefinitely without bringing charges or holding a trial? I haven't yet found out what Senator Warren's position is; and, as a former law professor, she ought to have one. If we lose our Bill of Rights, we've lost everything; and it's just a matter of time before we become a third-world dictatorship.