Iowa Democratic Debate

Just six candidates qualify for tonight's shindig, which will happen imminently.


Edit:  Live stream:

CNN.





Along those lines, this quiz is interesting.  Although I have decided on Biden since I know it is a foregone conclusion he will be the nominee, according to the quiz, my positions dovetail with Elizabeth Warren's best.  I did send money to her for quite a while, but her fibbing about her teaching career kind of soured me on her.  Not only that, but I just don't believe she will would win.

My scores:

Warren:  14
Steyer:   12
Bloomberg:  11
Klobuchar:  11
Buttigieg:  10
Sanders:  9
Biden:  8
Yang:  8
Gabbard: 6

Not Looking Good for 2020

With people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez running around like a loose cannon, Trump isn't going to have to worry about re-election.  With Biden being trashed by his own party over essentially nothing, the Democrats' chances of retaking the White House in 2020 have plummeted.  It may be the GOP really wants Bernie Sanders to be the nominee despite not being a Democrat at all, for he would lose every single state and maybe even D.C.  I believe the one woman blathering about Joe Biden, Lucy Flores, is actually in the tank for Bernie Sanders, which means she is really in the tank for Donald Trump.

The Democrats' stupidity in trying to push through the nonexistent "gender identity" in the Equality Act proposal in order to help transvestites and outright predators is also sealing their fate in Congress.  They have gone overboard in alienating one of their key constituencies, women, not to mention a huge portion of the LGBs, many of whom are highly critical of the so-called "transgender" movement.  All because they don't know what in the hell they are really pushing plus they are receiving piles of money from crossdressing billionaires and big pharma.  Not good at all.

But back to "AOC."  This woman's need to be in the news seemingly every single day points to me she has some kind of personality disorder. I am thinking NPD.  The woman is a brazen idiot, certainly way too young to be in national office,  yet the senior members of the party have not had a talk with her about propriety and decorum.  She just shoots her fucking mouth off advocating for truly stupid ideas like a "green new deal" that will never pass in Congress and other things that sound like they were written by Sanders' speechwriter.  She is a fucking embarrassment.  She should go back to bartending.

So with things like this going on, I have real doubts the Dems will even be able to retain the House unless they get fucking serious and realistic.  It seems since 2016, the party has actually gone downhill. What a shame because Trump and the GOP are such easy targets.  The problem is the new breed of Dems, these millennial morons, are even an easier target.  They all cancel each other out.

Meanwhile, I am trying to focus on my own life, planning for trips, enjoying my hobbies, and enjoying my various jobs in my career of education.

The Time to Have Done Something Was 30 Years Ago

It's like people never get a fucking clue what has happened over the past three, three-and-a-half decades.  They act like the jobs "crisis" is anything new.  Well, what the fuck did they expect?  They kept voting GOP election after election, while the neoliberal economic policies they espoused was screwing these people over and over and over.

I really don't give a shit about them anymore, especially the white dudes who thought they were owed "family wage" jobs when they graduated out of high school.  Now they actually have to get off their asses and work to make themselves employable.  Now if the  younger ones would lay off the porn and video games and actually do something, they might have less to complain about.  Other people, meaning other workers, are not profiting off their misfortune.  Only the economic elite are.

The "middle class" has long since been "hollowed out."  There is NO return of "family wage" jobs which were entirely sexist and discriminatory.

The fact is the Democrats can't do squat about the aggrieved white dudes.  They simply need to fortify support among their base and go after the non-voters.

Sounds Like the Second Coming of Donald Segretti

This guy must be a ghostwriter for the infamous Nixon dirty trickster Donald Segretti. The piece is total drivel. Sanders, as much as I like him, has no shot whatsoever at the nomination. None. Zip. He has few superdelegates, and it is very likely he will be out after Super Tuesday.

You don't have to be a political science expert to know this is true.

Sanders is not in the contest to win the nomination. He is there to help get the "left" base in the party involved, to help drive policy discussions, and to prep Hillary Clinton for the fall campaign.

I think it was determined long ago by the Clintons the GOP would put up either Kasich or Jeb or both for the nomination, and I do believe when this is all over this will be the result. It is possible Trump could pull it off, but I doubt it. If either Kasich or Bush or both are on the ticket, rest assured Donald Trump will run third party and totally fuck up their chances in the fall.

Remember, the GOP needs Ohio and Florida to win. This election is really about the stolen elections of 2000 and 2004. To use a noted Segretti term, Trump is a ratfucker for the Democrats against the GOP, and so far he is doing a great job of it.

Last Night's Debate

People miss the point about why Bernie Sanders is in the race. It isn't to win the nomination but to raise issues that wouldn't otherwise get any play in the media.

He and Martin O'Malley are there to keep Hillary Clinton focused and "honest" on the issues. I have no doubt at this point Clinton will be the 45th president of the United States.

I am still going to give money to Sanders and O'Malley because they hold beliefs most closely to my own. If Clinton picks a Democrat and not a neoliberal sack of shit (Cuomo, Booker) as running mate, I will vote for her in November.

If you are a longtime reader of this blog, you will remember I was a Clinton delegate at the Nevada Democratic convention back in 2008.

Democratic Forum

In case you missed last night's show:

Martin O'Malley Condemned the DNC

for having only a handful of debates and holding those debates later in the fall.

What I don't understand is why having a lot more debates is a bad thing. Hillary Clinton debated all the time during the campaign of 2008. There is no reason why there can't be more of them.

After all, she can hold her own in a debate.

It might be concern that O'Malley, a true dark horse in this campaign like John Kasich is on the GOP side, would catch on because he says many of the same things Bernie Sanders says but he is much younger and photogenic than the Vermont senator.

Link to yesterday's DNC meeting is here.

Around minute 28 are his remarks.

I Have Long Since Written Off Obama

to do anything beneficial for the vast majority of people in this country, and I doubt Democratic politicians could ever strike out on their own against the neoliberal agenda which has strangled both political parties.

It's almost too late now for the situation to be reversed. This kissing the ass of people who have no intention of compromising (for self-centered reasons, of course) has not worked.

Just as I Had Figured,

the good-looking airhead and one-time Cosmopolitan centerfold Scott Brown handily beat Democrat Martha Coakley in a true embarrassment of a race, since this had been Ted Kennedy's seat for all of those years.

True, the Dems could get the seat back in a couple of years, but make no mistake: This was a disaster of epic proportions. Worse than that, it looked as if the Democrats were deliberately throwing this special election.

There had to be people in Massachusetts who were far better than the one who got the nod. Moreover, it seemed to me what support Coakley had was half-hearted.

It doesn't look good for Democrats in the fall. I squarely blame Obama for this mess. He squandered a golden opportunity to actually help people to get back to work--after all, the economy and jobs are really all that matter, not the sideshow of health care "reform" which now is all but dead and never was alive to begin with. Or to bail out Wall Street.

What is truly scary is people will vote the Republicans in, knowing full well they have NO use for working people and would have them as slaves if they could.

link

The MA Senate Race,

which Democrats are expected to lose to a wingnut, will be an indication of how bad the Democrats are going to fare in November, especially if they keep taking the "base" for granted.

The Education Wars: Politicians

If there is anything that needs to be noted in this current drive to destroy public education, it is Democrats are just as bad or even worse than Republicans on this issue.

REAL Democrats don't push for charter schools and privatization. This is where REAL Democrats draw a line in the sand.

Still more about this so-called Democrat wanting to up the number of charter schools.

Original report is here.

The Question That Should Be Asked is Why

the Democrats waited until NOW to start pushing for legislation to help jumpstart this crappy economy instead of doing this when Obama first took the oath of office?

If the GOP Isn't

a cult, then it's a party full of cultists:

A more significant mystery is why Democrats nationally don't make better use of the GOP's periodic episodes of paranoia. While it's impossible to anticipate the exact content of its delusions -- comparing Obama to Hitler and Korean strongman Kim Jong Il, "Birthers" denying his citizenship, "death panels," White House "czars," etc. -- their appearance should come as no surprise.

After all, millions of Americans are attracted to "End Times" narratives as theology and popular entertainment. Not for nothing did Tim LaHaye's ponderously bad "Left Behind" sell millions of copies. How thrilling to imagine that one's humdrum existence has cosmic meaning. Of course, it's questionable how deeply people investing in life insurance policies and 30-year mortgages actually believe that stuff.

It's much the same with the far right's political delusions. How many seriously believe that Democrats favor euthanasia? Relatively few.

But you can't beat something with nothing. Which is why the Democrats' collective failure to develop a strong counter-narrative remains so bewildering. Are they waiting for what Eric Alterman calls the So Called Liberal Media to step up?

That's never going to happen. To cable TV, in particular, politics is a carnival sideshow; they're peddling tickets. Countering one falsehood at a time keeps Democrats constantly on the defensive. People need to be told a competing story: Who's deceiving them, and why. Take "death panels." Who first concocted the lie? Who pays her? Where does the money come from?

The Democrats are once again sitting back and taking it. It's inexcusable to not fight back.

Will the Democrats Screw Up--Again?

The right is starting to find its dubious legs again because Democrats are totally fucking up the health care issue, among other matters. Democrats had better be worried about next year.

Of course if Republicans get back in the majority we are truly screwed.

When an elite buys off both political parties, the American people get the shaft. Democrats have to be Democrats again.

But the GOP are the masters of the Big Lie, and once again we are getting the "Harry and Louise" garbage about health care reform. People fall sucker for this shit every goddamned time.

Canada and France get demonized for their health care systems, even though those systems are FAR superior to this shitty system we have here. There is NO excuse for employer-paid health insurance and NO excuse for private health insurance AT ALL; it is woefully out of date and has been since the advent of HMOs and for-profit health care.

Health care (including insurance), like education, is not a "for-profit" enterprise. They are necessities.

While the voters continue to believe the GOP's crap about health care, people continue to go without insurance, get sick and even die because of not having it.

This is What Happens

when the lobbyists and corporations bribe our politicians, including and especially Democrats, who are supposed to be for the people, but more often than not aren't.

From jobs to health care to education to whatever else domestically, the Democrats aren't doing shit or not doing enough for fear of alienation their campaign contributors.

The country is spiraling out of control, and I don't think Obama can do much because Congress is so much in the tank. And of course he is by no means immune from criticism.

The problems are easily fixable, but nobody has the political will to fix them. It's all about bribery and not offending those who bribe.

The party's ideological intentions are being defined with greater clarity in these new circumstances, and so are the President's. It's still early, but the implications are ominous for other issues. If Democrats are reluctant to disturb the power of other major interests, it seems improbable that fundamental change will occur on healthcare, energy conversion or the restoration of work and wages. The problem now is the Democrats, not the Republicans. The party aids and protects its free-roaming entrepreneurial politicians and does not punish those who undermine the party's larger promises. When Republicans were in charge, they enforced party loyalty with Stalinist discipline. Democrats are the party of safe incumbents, weak convictions.

The much-celebrated "Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights" is a fresh example of how the Democratic Party tries to have it both ways -- avoiding the tough votes while mollifying the folks. The credit card reform measure imposes new rules on the industry and does away with many of the most outrageous gimmicks bankers use to extract more money from debtors. Banks cannot raise interest rates retroactively on old credit card balances or pile on hidden fees or fail to give advance notice for rate increases. These and other changes are worthy.

It pisses me off "Democrats" want to kill off the auto industry but will help the banks which helped the create the crisis. Insane.

Ya Think, Andrew?

I have been saying since the late fall the GOP threw the election to Obama because they desperately wanted to hang the economic mess THEY created on Obama and on the Democrats to help their chances in 2010 and 2012.

And they haven't stopped with the election, of course. Their modus operandi is to obstruct, obstruct, and obstruct some more in order to hang Obama in the exact same way the Republicans did to Bill Clinton back during 1993 and 1994.

The only question is whether the voters are paying enough attention this time to realize what in the hell is happening.

Democrats REALLY need over 60 votes in the Senate (where the worst offenders are) after next year to silence these buttholes once and for all.

Apparently the Kool-Aid is wearing off just a little bit for Robert Parry and he also sees the obvious.

It really didn't take long for the media to turn against Obama; I thought they'd do it wholeheartedly during the election, but no, they decided to wait until Obama got in there.

The Folly of Compromise

What in the fuck are Democrats trying to do even considering compromising with the asshole Republicans whose philosophy has created a total mess?

Change the rules of the filibuster and tell the assholes to forget it.

Campaign Bragging

Democrats, stupid with overconfidence, are claiming Obama is set to win in a landslide, something I don't see happening at all.

Even if it were true, the economic mess is such Democrats are posed to lose in 2012 if the New Deal isn't restored. Obama has no intention of restoring it.

Besides, if Obama does win, it's because the Republicans don't want to be stuck with the blame for the total wrecking of the economy even as they are chiefly responsible. They may be corrupt but they ain't stupid.

If the GOP loses, it's because they have deliberately thrown the election to the Democrats. Period.

Campaign Mutiny

Well, you know the saying, "If you break it, you buy it." And those who bought into "Obama's" bullshit are expressing buyer's remorse:

After a brief bout of Obamamania, some Capitol Hill Democrats have begun to complain privately that Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is insular, uncooperative and inattentive to their hopes for a broad Democratic victory in November.

“They think they know what’s right and everyone else is wrong on everything,” groused one senior Senate Democratic aide. “They are kind of insufferable at this point.”

When you're a ratfucker like "Obama" is, you don't care about the downticket races. And because the party is basically broke, there is a real chance Democrats will LOSE seats they SHOULD have won.

Thanks for nothing, DNC chair, Pelosi, et al.

When You're

basically a ringer for the GOP, your entire campaign is actually based on cynicism. We know Obama's mob will intimidate and bully people into supporting him, and have done it in the primaries and especially caucuses, but that won't necessarily translate into any kind of win in the fall. Just the opposite, in fact, and there will be no rigged contests, no rigged caucuses to bail him out. There will be no chance to broaden his base beyond the 12-percent population of African Americans and the piddling percent of guilt-ridden latte drinkers. Obama will look pretty silly up there in a debate with a guy who has been in politics forever, who is admired as a war hero, and who is being peddled by the media as a reformer.

Old McCain doesn't have to be a shitbag, either, to slaughter Obama. He has the news media and the 527s to do all the dirty work for him. Obama will collapse like a house of cards if he gets the nomination. In fact, he's already teetering on the brink.

Since the Audacity of Hype has no shot at the White House, it's stupid to speculate whether he has the fight in him to go up against media darling John McCain.

The bigger question is why Democrats seem hellbent on screwing up--again. Are they deliberately throwing this election, just as they deliberately threw the California gubernatorial race in 2006, in hopes they can stage a big comeback in 2012? The only problem is if they are deliberately throwing this election (because of the worsening situation both abroad and domestically) they will face an incumbent administration in 2012, and incumbents always have the advantage.