DL Open Thread: Mon., Feb. 24, 2020
Trump And Modi: Two Despots With Love For Giant Crowds, This picture is our present. Is it our future?:
Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times
Someone On MSNBC Makes…Sense? Today’s Must-Listen. As Jason demonstrated in his piece, there are virtually no true progressives anywhere on talk TV. Moderates by the score, but generally moderates informed and enriched by the corporate version of the Democratic Party. Remember folks, the approbation we’re hearing from the talking heads is approbation coming from the plutocracy that dominates this country’s wealth. As a great bumper sticker reads: “The Liberal Media Is Only As Liberal As The Corporations That Control Them”.
The Green New Deal Is Not Radical. Again, when a punditocracy becomes part of the plutocracy, ideas that make sense are belittled as radical. When enough people don’t pay attention to the punditocracy, stuff can get done.
This Is Also True For Medicare For All. Which, by the way, is less expensive and projects to save more lives than any other plan out there. Not that the corporate punditocracy will ever say so.
How And Why Bloomberg Killed The Best Chance For Justice After 9/11. Bloomberg was for holding the trials in Manhattan, until the cops and real estate developers complained. At which point he was against holding the trials in NYC.
Shane Darby–Her Fascinating Backstory. Given a choice between someone who runs to buttress their resume and someone who runs to accomplish something, give me the person who has demonstrated her dedication to helping others every single time. A person like–Shane Darby.
What do you want to talk about?
Another valuable story about the Bernie revolution from Robert Reich, who points out that all the talk about how much his plans would cost always ignores how much it would cost to do nothing:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/22/bernie-sanders-green-new-deal-medicare-for-all-expensive-inaction
The LA Times discovers the Delaware way:
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-02-23/presidential-candidate-joe-biden-wilmington-delaware-hometown
The first anecdote illustrates why Delaware has never produced a national leader of any caliber despite being settled since the 1600s and none of our state politicians have ever gotten the slightest traction when transitioning to a national platform. We look to our office holders to write letters to the financial aid office, i.e. solve minor personal problems, as opposed to thinking big.
I think the lack of “national leaders” from Delaware, which is true only if you restrict the definition to elected officials, probably has a lot more to do with the fact that we’re smaller than the city of Philadelphia and always have been.
Actually, I always assumed that Delaware’s affliction extended into Pennsylvania generally, and Philadelphia specifically, as well, since they, too, have had a relatively poor showing historically, especially when compared to New York, New England, and the south.
But that’s based only on Pennsylvania’s producing only a single president, few significant senators to speak of, and no A-list founding fathers (other than B.F., who wasn’t really from there) or Supreme Court justices, not first hand knowledge.
I agree, and I think the scarcity of leaders from Pa. is much odder than the lack of those from our tiny state. Then again, and this is so going back to Colonial times, the driving priority for Pennsylvania lawmakers has traditionally been avoidance of responsibility and a failure to grapple with any problem until it’s out of hand. Their A-list player among the founding fathers was John Dickinson, who didn’t want to declare independence. There was also Robert Morris, who floated the credit for the revolution and later went broke in land speculation.
The problem for any small state producing elected officials to high office is that 3 electoral votes is a minuscule platform from which to build. It’s actually rather amazing Joe made it to VP.
Yes, this thread has got me thinking about famous people from unpopulous states. Has Rhode Island ever had a leader more significant than Roger Williams (who was born in England)? Maine did produce two VPs — Hannibal Hamlin (born in Paris) and Nelson Rockefeller (moved to NY). Are Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney the best Alaska and Wyoming have to offer? Is Bernie Sanders (born in Brooklyn) the most significant Vermonter since Ethan Allen?
What about the Bayard family? Google “Bayard family”. I think the Democratic Party of Delaware has an award named after one of them.
Notice, though, that no one individual Bayard’s accomplishments amounted to enough that you can remember him individually? They’re just the Bayard family. “One of them,” as I refer to him too, has a statue across from the Delaware Art Museum in the Kentmere Parkway median. Couldn’t tell you which one.
C.f. Adams, John, J.Q., and Henry.
The only Pennsylvania senator (or other leader) I remember leaning about in school was Wilmot, of proviso fame. Even there I could only tell you about the proviso and not the man.
Pa. also has Radical Republican leader Thaddeus Stevens. A big deal before, during and after the Civil War.
Modi is a truly despicable human.
https://delawarestatenews.net/government/legislative-unionization-effort-stalls/ Legislative union is not happening, apparently
State workers should have the right to unionize, shouldn’t they? Are these people on the state payroll?
Read that McGovern comment. Who “deserves” a union? What class do you guess McGovern may be in?
You see what’s happening, right?
Times up. We’re coming.
N.B. the reason they’re scared of “Cuba” and “Castro” is they know they deserve it. But we’re too democratic to do it that way.
McGovern, come on the podcast you fucking coward. Fucking Delcollo agreed to come in.
Let’s talk about it. You seem super smart. I’m scared to debate you.
My point is that if they’re not going to get the protections available to other state workers, then they’re not state employees but employees of the political parties that hire them to work for the state. Meaning taxpayers shouldn’t pay their salaries, the parties should. If your political party wants to union-bust, it should own up to it.
Here’s the thing. I could say that I’d piss in McGovern’s wife’s mouth. He’d do nothing.
It’s all fake, folks. Sorry for proving it.
I’d give this this cuck sissy McGovern the full hour! But he’d have to give his name. Will he come in the bunker and give a full account of his views?
This entire situation is crude, but also illustrative and important.
Consider a patronage