DonCoquixote
DonCoquixote's Journalthe UK Vote: Is the EU doomed?
As many know, llabor got thrashed last night. The issue that came up was nationalism, both England wanting out of the EU, to Scotand rejecting Labor and wanting out of the UK. Of course, Angela Merkel's austerity measures have soured many about the EU, and France looks ready to elect marine Le Pen who is running on getting rid of the Euro.
So,is the EU still viable at this point?
a civics question
I know the Veep is president if the President dies. Is there a succession after that. ?
Leftist Stalking horses re: Supporting Sanders
I write this OP because I have seen some people who support Hillary accuse Sanders supporters of being GOP pawns, or to quote one OP "stalking horses" for the GOP.
Now, I do understand some reasons why people can be paranoid. I still remember the week after Election 2000, where, even as the votes were being counted, and "chads" were still new, right wing operatives would call in to the right wing radio station, WFLA Tampa, and BRAG in gloating detail about how they used the Nader Campaign to their ends. You had people who were previously pretending to be left wing callers come on and say "yes, I was really a Republican!" and get cheered on like some Fraternity and Sorority member that played a really stupid joke. One of the cheerleaders of this was a then local talk show host named Glenn Back, who, despite a very dismal performance in Tampa otherwise, got promoted to the national level.
However, when some people say that Sanders supportets are hust Hillary Haters/stalking horses/people not ready to have a woman president, et cetera, they are not being honest about Bernie, nor us. First of all, Bernie is running WITHIN the Democratic party. He specifically adressed the Nader scenario, where he said he would "not be a spoiler" the way Nader was.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2015/0502/Bernie-Sanders-Liberal-Democrats-savior-or-Ralph-Nader-spoiler
He is bringing matters up because frankly, while the Clintons and Obamas did take measures attempting to keep the right wing at bay, they have also given up ground that used to be standard Democratic ideas since FDR. Unions, especially Teacher's Unions, have been thrown under the Bus. Even with the figures suggesting a "recovery", Wall Street is getting so many slices of the pie that many who used to be considered "middle class" are broke. We know that is due, to a large part, to pressure the right wing of the Democrats places, be they "philanthropists" like Bill Gates, Think tank pundits like Erskine Bowles, donors like Alice Walton and Lloyd Blankfeld and polticians like Joe Manchin and Mary Landrieu that, however they are on social matters, still defend the industires that literally kill both their voters and those near their voters. Yes, the people I mentioned ARE to the left of the MODERN GOP, aka Fascism with better marketing. No, they are not supprters of the traditional, proven, successful FDR era Democratic policy. All of them have a vested interest in weakening or destroying the remnants of the New Deal. Now, we knw these folks are applying pressure on Hillary to lean rightward. We as Democrats, have every right, and every reason to apply pressure on her to lean leftward. We do this NOT because we do not plan to FIGHT to make sure the GOP does not gain one more inch of ground, we do it because, as 2010 and 2014 proved, the masses, the people we need to convince to vote against the GOP, are not happy with a supposed "kinder, gentler" Republican.
If Hillary is the only one who can beat a Jeb or Scott or Marco, she will have no problem beating a Bernie Sanders. The worst case scnario for her is that Bernie gives her leeway to lean left, much as she recently has when talking about Taboo subjects like prison reform and financial regulation (bet that gave Blankfeld a headache.) She will be onoculated against the "cornonation" meme that the GOP would be able to use, and the GOP will be left bleeding for the genuine attacks Bernie will level, which, like it or not, do help Hillary look good against the GOP.
If, on the other hand, the HIllary campaign were to somehow stumble because of Bernie.
(disclaimer, I do not believe this will be the case, especially if she learned her lesson from 2008)
But if her campaign implodes against Bernie, then frankly, it would not have been the ship we would sail against a Jeb or Scott or Marco. It is one thing to lose to Barack Obama, who was able to embody a lot of the disllusioned voices in the masses, Bernie is mostly preaching to a choir at this point. At this point, Hillary would have to make some serious blunders, blunders like she did in 2008, that she would not repeat. I do not expect Mark Penn to be getting any phone calls.
So, while I do admit, there may indeed be some "stalking horses" supporters of Hillary do not help their cause when they stamp that label on anyone who is not already campaigning for Hillary like it is October 2016, as if the Democratic Convention was already old news. You do not give a teenager whiskey, and the campaign should not be forced to "grow up" too quick. Now disclaimers: Yes, if I see stalking horses, I will call them out. Anyone who reads my journal knows what i think of Ron Paul, and the current schill for Ron Paul, aka Ralph Nader.
http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2014/05/ralph-naders-new-book-urges-liberals-to-back-rand-paul/
http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/28/politics/ralph-nader-rand-paul/index.html
Now, a whole OP can be done asking Nader how the hell he intends to get consumer protection from the guy that would destory government's ability to regulate, but that is not the point, except that I would suggest HE is the staking horse that deserves more hate.
For Bernie Voters: Ideal Veep?
I am very happy that I will be able to vote for Bernie in the primary. Question is, what Veep would you give him? This can be important, as a younger Veep will kill a lot of the "he's too old" BS.
a pox on BOTH rioters AND cops
Unlike some here, I will not lionize the youth that destroyed buildings, but I will not demonize them either. The Cops repsonded with violence first, and apparently showed no fear of the state, not did the state give them any reason to fear. When it becomes clear that the law is NOT going to see you as anythign but a target for bullets, you will want to throw a rock, if nothing else to show that if the state refuses to hold the police accountable, somebody will.
However, let's not whip ourselves into "anarchy is so cool!" bullshit either. The people that will be hurt are not the cops, nor the people that employ the cops, it will be mostly poor people sweeping the streets, and chances are even the local roofers or carpenters will not get paid. Violence may be need in a short term after someone make it clear that they want to be violent with you, however, violence is always deadly in the long term, because it does not actually make people want to stop.
Nothiong will be done, not all the rioting, not all the pretty speechmaking, until someone IN POWER gets fired and disgraced. Those in power have the resources to outlast both the rioters and the "can't we all just get along?" well wishers. We need to have high ranking people FIRED, period, because THAT is the violence power understands and cannot exploit.
This is where Obama and Hillary can earn their paychecks..Call for the FIRING of a chief of Police.
When Hillary supporters attack Obama for not being liberal enough
Now, let me cut the standard discussion killers off at the root. I have criticized Obama for not being liberal enough. From this TPP to drone strikes, he has shown that he has drunk a bit too much of the centrist Kool Aid. Unlike many, I think the ones feeding it to him are people like the Geitners and Emmanuels who would have fit into a Clinton admin, including Hillary "we came we saw he died" Clinton herself. However, there is a greater point this op will be about. How do people who supported Clinton, who proudly wear her banners and are polishing her crown for the coronation, claim to be to the left of Obama?
Look, from the very moment in the first presidential debate, where Bill mocked Jerry Brown and said "you are from California, so chill out" the Clintons have made a point of mocking liberals and getting them out of power. Now, I know the thought killer that people are summoning, "Hillary is not her husband!" Well, never mind the fact that if she wanted to espouse polcies that were to the left of her Husband, not only would she be heard, she would be cheered. She may not have had the same "bully pulpit" people slam Obama for not using, but if she were to let's say, come out against the TPP, does anyone doubt she would NOT get the Press? Does anyone doubt that even Liz and Bernie and maybe even Ralph Nader and Michael Moore would heap praise upon her?
She will not, nor will she apaolgize for her crack about "we came, we saw, he died" even though that war in Libya helped to fuel Isis recruitments. It's the same reason she did not get on the mic and condemn Bibi Netanyahu for using the Koch Brothers congress to undermine peace talks. It's the same reason she supports H1b-Visas, despite the fact they are not only a means to exploit India's poor, but also helped gut a generation of American workers. It's the same reason she was tight lipped even as Cops were killing black men and women as if they were deer during hunting season.
She, is, NOT a leftist. She may be to the LEFT of TED CRUZ OR SCOTT WALKER, and while that will enable me to use her to keep those two out of office, she does not deserve the crown of liberal, and she sure as hell is not more liberal than Obama. The one, and only thing she might have done is "evolve" quicker on LGBT rights, even though people forget who helped craft "don't ask don't tell" in the FIRST PLACE. When it comes to NAFTA, GLass Steagall, The Telecommuncations act, has she ever said she would roll back any of the polcies her husband did that have been shown to undermine liberalism? She could, what's Bill going to do, divorce her? Go ahead Bill, if your wife did make a clear break from your MISTAKES, she would become Joan of Arc as soon as she did the Orpah Interview. She does not, even though she would be praised, because she belives in that move from the left to the CENTER.
No, she is not a GOP member, but please do not talk about how she is to Obama's left, or that she would have done anything more leftist than Obama did. She has had a decade to do just that, and has not. So when I see someone with a Hillary sticker join on the "Obama made me mad coz I am a liberal" bandwagon, I will see that Hillary t shirt, and Know that they are either being dishonest to the realliberals, or worse, and more likely, that they are being dishonest to themselves.
to Barack Obama (re: the tPP)
I have been one of your defenders, and I do not apologize for that. If nothing else, voting for you was the only way to keep Mitt and McCain from every getting near the Oval Office. There had to be ZERO chance of that. I do not regret picking you over Hillary, because she is was and will be firmly to your right, especially on the ultimate domestic and economic issue, war.
Still, seeing you attack Liz and pick this fight to ride out your reign is tragic. It shows you carrying water for the same bastards that, when Hillary gets in, will stab you in the back in true Clinton fashion. They will try to act like Hillary had nothing to do with this, and make you fast track it so that SHE does not have to offer an opinion, much less divulge how much of her handiwork is in it. You are being played for a patsy, and like clockwork, the sheep will say "Hillary wouldna ever ever did dis because she iz a reall Librul." Expect Maureen Dowd to write that articles after she and Hill become BFFs again.
You did some good things as president. The fact we have Obamacare and GM will always be your moment in history. Sadly, you could have grabbed the LGBT marriage part if you did not run from it before you evolved. However, history will mark your flaw as being that you sold yourself as being the alternative to the Clinton destruction of liberalism, but instead, served as it's life support, despite the fact that most of us wanted to pull the plug on it, or at least move beyond it back to the liberalism we wanted and needed.
You carried Hillary's water Obama, and because of that neither you nor she will "evolve" to become the capital L liberals we badly need. Granted, Hillary is doomed too, because even when she wins the Koch Bordello in congress will remind people that corporations have devoured democracy whole. All that I can hope for is, as China makes it's own headlong rush to fake left full capitalist fascism faux empire, enough of us are left to rebuild.
I will leave this line for both you, bill and Hill, and the rest of the fake center, as it fits. Do not fear DU policy squad, I will vote for Hillary in the general, but I have no illusions about my vote being anything but a means to keep the GOP out. My solace will be seeing the faces of people going "She was going to be a liberal, what happened?"
Dante Alighieri
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.”
And no one maintains neutrality like the FAKE center.
A Dr. Who quote that explains the GOP perfectly
http://www.iwise.com/goFYc"The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. Instead of altering their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views...which can be very uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering."
The only commercial Hillary needs to run
Where to begin, the fact thatScott cannot screen his calls, or the fact he blatantly talks about doing the sort of crimes and trickery that he would probably lie about on TV and Court.
This latino writes an Open Letter to Ted Cruz, marco Rubio and Jeb Bush
If I voted based on identity, I would be tickled pink instead or being "red" or "blue". The Grand Old party is elevating Two latinos to major candidates, and a third, Jeb Bush, who while being anglo, gained power by immersing himself deep into Latino culture, from his Miami buisness dealigns to his wife to his children, who Grandpa Bush calls "the little brown ones." It especially is worth noting that Jeb discussed immigration reform when sadly, many Democrats were doing the foot dragging.
However, I cannot even come close to endorsing either of these three, especially as I know Rubio and Jeb quite well. Both of them have gutted Florida's schools and outdoors, and they both want to get rid of a woman's right to choose. They have gutted voting rights, so that poor people and blacks have a harder time voting. They have done tangible, noticeable damage to my state, and they rely on the votes from the same people that want MORE of the same, even though these people will be the first in line to demand government help when the Hurricanes wipe out their oceanfront McMansions. As for as Cruz, he speaks for himself, he admits he is a theocrat, and frankly I do not want nor need a Christian flavor of Sharia.
So, let me say this, I cannot speak for all Latinos, but I can say this. If the GOP thinks we will vote for a Brown Elephant, they are wrong. Rubio and Jeb have shown their true colors way too many times. Some people may think it is perfectly proper to vote based on indentity, because it is "time one of us was in." Sorry, because we have seen too many time where poision was put in a wrapper. Part of me is hoping that the GOP will just whip off it's mask, run Scott Walker, and then we cann just sit back and play that one bit on you tube where Scott thinks a comedian is Koch, and he does the sort of butt kissing right out of a bad sitcom, but if the GOP tries to play brown against pink, it will not work.
And this goes double for if they trot out Susannah Martinez, hoping pink and brown will hide all that Koch Green.
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