Do not discuss the “person” who wrote or said it. None of us is a person in the usual sense when it comes to politics. There are no “trolls” only words designed to undermine and destroy.

Instead, critique the words themselves. Usually, the words will be intended to start infighting and piss someone off, since Democratic Unity is our strength. In which case a few simple words will suffice. (Altogether now...)

“Divide and Conquer is the GOP’s favorite political strategy.”

You would be amazed at how effective these words can be.

Even if the vote count was fair, Russia's candidate, Jill Stein took enough votes from the Dems to throw several states to Trump. It could happen again in 2018 in key Congressional races. If right wing elites pay faux leftists to primary Dems, our candidates will be forced to spend their money before they get to the general. Plus, they may be forced to take positions in the primary that will come back to haunt them in the general. And finally, the paid third party splitters will then be able to finance a third party general election run, which will allow the GOP/Russian to switch about 2-4% of the Dem vote to the "leftist" candidate--which could change the outcome of some close elections.

The truly sinister part of Citizens United is that any single corporation---foreign as well as American can finance a candidate for the sole purpose of being a third party splitter. And if the people behind the "corporation" are rich enough, they can buy hundreds of these "Jill Steins."

Which means that Democrats must be very careful in the primary. And the general. We must demand that our candidates reveal donors. Any candidate who won't or can't say where the money is coming from must be presumed to be a Russian backed third party splitter.

Follow the money trail. It won't be easy. But it can be done.

We all know that the GOP is great at mobilizing their voters. This is how they stay in power. They motivate them with fear. Trump will almost certainly try to start a war complete with manufactured Gulf of Tonkin this year. This will do for the GOP what 9/11 and the rush to Iraq war did for Bush in 2002–or so they are promising their donors.

However, this year we have a chance to make those loyal foot soldiers, the lifelong Republicans stay home in protest. We will do this by reminding them of the ways Trump fails to live up to Soccer Mom values. And Veterans values. And old folks values.

Trump has the crazies in his pocket. No matter what he does they will cheer him the way they would cheer an over the top wrestler.

However, people who have voted Republican out of self interest may be less than thrilled at the Treason, the Deficit, the cuts to their Medicare and Social Security and most of all their creeping sense that the GOP no longer listens to them or cares about them.

Staying home as a protest vote is not something the lifelong Republican does often. However, I think we could see it happen next fall.

Pearl Harbor has been bombed. The enemy thinks they have crippled us by plunging the nation into debt and poverty. Take away our health, our savings, our houses and our jobs, and we will be too weak to fight back—that’s how the story is supposed to go.

Trump’s Russian handlers have always had a tin ear when it comes to the heart and mind of this country. This demonstration of Republican Authoritarian Power looks more like unbridled greed and bullying to your average American. With an added twist. Billions of our tax dollars will be flowing into the hands of foreign elites—like Putin.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gop-tax-plan-winner-foreign-investors/

The battle lines have been drawn. Time to saddle up. The next ten months will be rough, but we, the people will win. This in 1776 all over again, but this time Putin is playing the role of King George. Show him what a real Boston Tea Party looks like. Taxation without representation is tyranny. Taxing a people to fill the pockets of foreign leaders is treason!

With “Franken must go!” Messages designed to look like a groundswell of grassroots Democratic woman anger? Did Schumer and all fall for a dirty trick of the type Nixon used?

I say we should take a look at the messages the Dem senators received in the days leading up to their misguided call to demand that Franken resign. And if, as I suspect, there was astroturfing involved, we re-evaluate the formula politicians use to determine how much weight should be given to each email and call.

There is no shame in admitting you fell for a dirty political trick, Democratic senators. Not if you learn from your mistake, make amends (ask Franken to stay) and take measures to make sure it does not happen again. Chances are, Franken is so disenchanted with politics right now that he will want to take some time off. But we need to clean our own house and heal our own wounds before we can get to work taking the House and Senate next year.

I know you think your man is pretty slick for writing himself a big tax cut. I know that you think there is no real crime committed when you steal from the government. I know that you would do the same thing if you had a chance....

But your beloved Trump is not stealing from a big pot of money. He is stealing from your Social Security and your retirement fund and your Medicaid and Medicare. He is stealing from federal highway funds and the money that keeps our roads—and trains—safe. Plus, he is copying the same Bush policies that lead to the 2008 recession that caused you to lose your job and your house and your insurance.

Why would Trump treat his base like this? Here is your man in his own words from 2006, two years before the Bush recession.

https://m.

Trump is not your champion. Trump is Harold Hill the Music Man and America is his River City.

Predicts the ruin of the state”

William Blake

First, if you do not believe that the banksters engineered the 2008 recession, stop right here. You will not believe anything I am about to write.

On the other hand, if you are open to the idea that some rich folks believe that a manufactured recession provides a great opportunity to make more money, keep reading. And while you are at, remind yourself that Trump prayed for the last recession so he could snatch up real estate for a song.

https://m.

What will the GOP tax cut accomplish ( besides enrich GOP campaign coffers) for the US economy? It will plunge more Americans into medical poverty as they lose insurance. It will increase wealth disparity. It will lead to a run on Social Security and Medicare in order to fund the federal government. It will remove incentives for teachers, doctors and social workers to work in underserved areas. It will create more uneducated, underemployed workers. And poor and sick workers are desperate workers who are more likely to fall for fascism’s message that goes “You are sick and poor because (insert minority group) stole your birthright.”

By the way, did you notice that Trump was discussing the looming 2008 recession in 2006? The man is no rocket scientist. How did he know two years in advance that a recession was coming? Answer: economists predicted it. All the signs were there.

All the signs are here again, with one added twist. This time, our government is being controlled by a foreign power (Russia) that has nothing to lose and much to gain by a full blown Great Depression.

The Tax bill is a direct attack on the US economy. It is the Bush tax cuts on steroids. And Trump has indicated that he plans to do away with financial regulations,so there will be nothing to stop the banksters from doing it again...

You do not need a crystal ball to know where this is heading.

Basically, the mood around the world is jubilation. When a handful of Americans said "Fuck you!" to Trump, their fellow Americans and people in other countries cheered. It made Americans proud to be Americans again (after Trump's selection made us think about moving to Canada).

Now, everyone who hates Trump wants to become a part of that feel good moment, when the nation disavows the Pussy Grabber. In 2018, people will be registering to vote as if for a presidential election year---except they will be registering to vote against Trump by voting out Republicans. The fact that Russia did not manage to hack the votes in Virginia and Alabama erased our despair, our feeling of powerlessness.

Americans know that they can make their voices heard. They know how good it feels to have a political voice again. This is as important as adding another Democrat to the Senate. Maybe more so. Because Americans prefer the politics of positivity to that of negativity. And now, they realize that a negative vote against Trump can feel great!


Tonight, I'm gonna party like it's 2018. Because the 2018 elections are going to be the best midterm elections ever.

This has got to be the number one question on the minds of Republicans who are about to face re-election next year. When it seemed that Trump and Bannon had the Power of Putin behind them, Republicans were willing to pass legislation that would anger their own voters--like getting rid of the federal state income tax exemption in states that have a state income tax. Because they believed that Russian hackers could save them on election day.

But, after Virginia and Alabama, it is now clear that Russian hackers are not all that they were cracked up to be. It is very likely that the FBI/NSA and CIA have put into place measures to unhack the hack. So, what does that leave Trump and Bannon to peddle? Nada. They can not promise anything but a huge turn out of angry backlash voters who object to Nazis and Pussy Grabbers.

because it is currently the most popular thread at DU, which tells us something---but maybe not what we think.

Lots of inflammatory words here. Lots of BIG LETTERS. They catch the eye, they stir the imagination. Let's get rid of the little words and see what the guts sees when it skims through this piece.

"

First thing I notice: a false equivalence. Al Franken was not lynched. This is what a lynching looks like:



This is what your gut saw four times when you read the words "lynch mobbing", "mob mentality", 'lynchmob route" and "mob mentality." This picture is why these words get you fired up. But Al Franken was not lynched. He was a victim of character assassination. Big difference. How big a difference? Here is what you look like after character assassination:



Next, there is the breast beating. "DUMB. DUMB shady WEAK EVIL hypocrites weaklings bad call needless frenzy swept down the rabbit hole. STUPID" Who would want to be associated with a group of people like that? No one. That is why I am a Democrat and not a Republican, because those words describe the current GOP to a T. And yet, they are presented as a critique of the Democrats which then begs the question "If Democrats are the same as Republicans, why do I even bother to vote?" and we all know how helpful that attitude has been for our country.

Now a few words about Republican propaganda. I am not saying that the text above it Republican propaganda. I just want to share a few things to keep in mind when reading political essays on the Internet. One, Divide and Conquer is the GOP's favorite tool. And two, when they are caught with their hands in the cookie jar or with their pants down, they always resort to They All Do It (so why even bother voting?). Whenever you read anything political always ask yourself "Does this effectively divide and conquer my party?' and "Does this make me think that my vote is wasted on my party?"