Archive for March, 2020
DL Open Thread: Thurs., March 5, 2020
Rethugs Make It Harder For College Students To Vote. Without voter suppression, they’d literally have no chance. Voter suppression is built into every strategy they employ. Steve Bullock To Run For US Senate From Montana? If so, that seat is in play. Like, really in play. $8.3 Billion For Coronavirus Relief. More than 4 times […]
When Coons joined Republicans to criticize Obama’s Syria policy & joined with the GOP to tank an Obama Justice Department Appointment
Click here to feel the Coonsian bipartisanship ->#Memories
TPM on why Alex Azar must be fired
That Coons voted for Azar because they were friends at Yale Law is merely despicable. That Coons continues to defend Azar is an outright scandal.
Wars, natural disasters, public health crises – these are the moments when people need to be able to trust that their government is working well, working for them, and telling them the truth. But as the American people prepare for the threat of a coronavirus pandemic, the Trump administration has challenged that trust on a number of fronts.
One immediate step that President Trump must take to restore that sacred trust is to fire Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar and replace him with a public health expert that the American people can have faith in.
Here is why this is such a critical first step: with Secretary Azar, we never know if he is working in the best interests of patients and public health, or if he’s focused on the needs, interests and profits of the pharmaceutical industry.
Song of the Day 3/4: The Beatles, “Revolution”
Well, Bernie fans, it was fun while it lasted. The version on the White Album, “Revolution 1,” is slower, but this acoustic demo uses the faster tempo of the single.
Dealing with Disappointment from Super Tuesday
The results from Super Tuesday were disappointing to me. I am now someone who has little trust left in the electoral system and the system” as a whole. A guest post from a young voter going by PK.
DL Open Thread: Weds., March 4, 2020
Personal to Mark Eichmann: Destroy that tape! Shortly after Biden announced, WHYY’s Eichmann did a radio interview with me where I confidently predicted that Biden would peak upon his entrance into the race and be an afterthought come 2020. Well, in fairness, I was almost correct. He was near-comatose for much of the campaign, only […]
The Dem Primaries are proportional – The Convention should be too
Our Democratic primaries are democratic in that they are not “winner take all” but delegates are awarded in proportion to the vote. Unfortunately, the proportionality ends at the last primary and a “winner takes all” convention produces a candidate.
If that candidate is terrible, like Hillary Clinton for example, that “winner take all” system emboldens the candidate to bully, berate and abuse the second place finisher and that candidate’s supporters.
That is not a recipe for general election success. Since there are no rules governing what happens after the nomination is won, it falls to the candidate. So no matter how remaining primaries and caucuses play out, Bernie or Joe will need to devise a new response to victory. A proportionate vision that goes far beyond Clinton’s “fuck you, get in line” dismissiveness.
It is that, or Trump.
No clear winner of Dem nomination prior to convention
It is going to be a convention donnybrook. The only question is, will it be a convention donnybrook that leaves the party in tatters with a nominee hobbled, or will it be a nice, unifying uplifting donnybrook that launches the nominee to victory? The way it stands now, on June 6th when United States Virgin […]
Biden is having a good couple of days
Bernie is on my TV right now giving a hell of a speech. He still has a lot of fight in him.
But Biden has had a good couple of days. So if Biden keeps it going and wraps this thing up, who knows?
Maybe Biden (if he wins the nomination) can find the grace and common sense to reach out to liberals and progressives and mange to avoid repeating Clinton’s aloof, elitist fiasco of a campaign?
I sure as hell hope so. If I prayed, I’d pray for it.
So it is not over by a long shot. No matter who wins, liberals are going to continue to be a big, loyal Democratic constituency. I don’t think Biden can win if (like Clinton) he self-indulgently tries to get more moderate Republican votes than liberal Democratic votes.
How utterly atrocious was Coons’ vote to confirm Alex Azar?
What do Thomas R. Carper and Coons, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Doug Jones of Alabama and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia have in common? They were the only Democrats in the Senate to vote for Alex Azar. They voted for Trump’s pick when ALL of these facts were known […]
Fox News’ Brit Hume posts website screenshot with “Sexy Vixen Vinyl” in other tab
Fox News personality, Brit Hume was no doubt shopping for some “sexy vixen vinyl” gear for his mistress (because… of course he was). Then he decided to post a screen shot showing Joe Biden’s betting odds improving vs Bernie Sanders.
Whoops.
Song of the Day 3/3: Paul Pena, “Jet Airliner”
A song of some personal significance today as I take to the skies in defiance of the coronavirus. You’ve heard this tune before, because Steve Miller had a No. 8 hit with it in 1977. This is the original, recorded by Pena in 1973 for “New Train,” an album that went unreleased because of a […]
The real split in the Democratic Party may be unfixable
What are the two camps in the Democratic Party all about? The media would like you to think that the fault lines run along standard Right/Left political differences. That is false.
The real split is between “Democrats” who think things are more or less okay, and “Democrats” who know shit is fucked up. It is between people with a Joe Biden outlook that American is basically on the right course (save for a poor Presidential pick last time), and people who recognize that the planet is burning.
The “things are more or less okay” crowd likes the Heritage Foundation’s plan to protect the profits of wildly profitable “health sector” companies, carbon swaps and tax abatements for wildly profitable corporations that claim to have “sustainable” business practices.
The “shit is fucked up” people look at those types of “solutions” to the problems we are facing and feel like they are being gaslighted.
It is a shame. Because if the fault lines were Right/Left there could be a middle ground. There is no middle ground between “Hey, the house is on fire” and “Oh, pish-posh. It’s just the extra bedroom which we rarely use anyway.”
Bonus Metaphor: Why do “shit is fucked up” people seem agitated? They (we) are George Bailey running around shabby fucked-up Pottersville with vivid memories of Bedford Falls. And all the “things are more or less okay” Democrats keep saying is, “Relax. It’s always been Pottersville. Just take it easy and maybe enjoy our fine Casios, and prostitutes.”
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