Highlands Bunker – E56 – The Scarane Train & Bonus

Ed Note: "People get ready, Scar-rane 's a-coming, You don't need no baggage You just get on board All you need is faith To hear the diesels humming Don't need no ticket You just thank the Lord I'm playing catch up here, so you may have already listened to the great Jess Scarane episode. If so, find the Coby's Birthday Bash episode below. 
Highlands Bunker - E56 - The Scarane Train
 
US Senate candidate Jessica Scarane joins Rob in the bunker to talk about why she is running against Chris Coons, the base values that we should have as a society, and why we probably shouldn't let billionaires run everything. Show Notes:
ISODE - Coby's Birthday Bash
The bunker heads to Wilmington Brew Works to attend Coby Owens's birthday fundraiser and talk to WFP Pennsylvania Organizing Director Nicholas O'Rourke, Philadelphia At-Large Councilwoman Kendra Brooks, potential Wilmington resident Josh Whittaker, and State Representative candidate Larry Lambert. Show Notes:

Comment Rescue – Open Letter to Centrists

Left of Center Democrats have been a loyal constituency of the Democratic Party, but we’ve been treated with nothing but contempt.
To Democratic centrists: If you want to get back to the center, you have to proceed due left for few cycles. A four-year jog back to center-right (Biden) will only allow the hard right to regroup. The problem with compromising with the right is they keep moving right. They have reached the end of right wing and have built cantilevers and catwalks to extend their position out into batshit territory, and have severed any remaining link to reason. Is that really who you want to compromise with? If Democratic “moderates” are so hungry for compromise, let them start building a compromise platform with their own left wing. Chris Coons, hang up on Marco Rubio and give AOC a call. You’ll both gain from it. The Democratic party has always been strongest when it had a strong left wing. Doesn’t matter who I support for President, because I live in Delaware. If anyone wants to know, I’m for Warren.

What do Bernie Bros really want?

Someone asked me "What do Bernie Bros really want?" in a BlueDelaware.com FB thread. I said, "Fairness." Leaving aside the lame attempt at disparaging me by calling me a "Bernie Bro" (I now own that label with pride) - let me expand on that answer for any BlueDelaware fans who are truly curious. But first let's imagine a Democratic nominee for the Presidency of the United States who upon accepting the nomination says something like this...
It's time we come together as a party and as a country. And part of that is all of us accepting that there are elements to the "stop and frisk" policing policy that actually worked to reduce crime. We want opportunity for all, but some of us have to be more compliant when being interviewed by the police."
Or imagine a nominee saying...
As Democrats we believe that all people should be treated with dignity and humanity, but our borders are sacred and if you attempt to seek the freedoms of the United States you should know that you will be separated from your children at the border and you may not get them back."
Those things could never be said. For one thing, they are ludicrous and for another - African Americans and Latinos are regarded as important Democratic constituencies. Knowingly aggravating and alienating important Democratic constituencies would be regarded as disastrously stupid and destructive. And yet, we can imagine a candidate saying, "sure there are quirks, but our financial system is working fine." We can imagine candidates saying that if we "work hard and play by the rules" you can get ahead. We can imagine a Democratic candidate knowingly insulting, aggravating and alienating an important Democratic constituency group because it happens all the fucking time. So what do Bernie Bros really want? We want you to figure out a way to acknowledge Democrats like me who see that the rapacious greed of late stage capitalism hasn't been so great. We want a Democratic Party that doesn't lie to our faces about "rising tides raising all boats." We want a government that works for people not for profits and a party that regards us as an important Democratic constituency. Is that too much to ask? I hope not. Because continuing to bully, berate and betray this constituency is not going to end well for anyone.

Here we go again

Looks like the financial sector, Democratic Party bosses and media would rather hand Trump another four years than acknowledge that the government should maybe work for the people and not the banks. I'm not talking about South Carolina voters. They can like whoever they want to like. I'm talking about the onslaught of "blue collar hero" garbage spin that will be flowing over us like a radioactive, debris filled Fukushima tidal wave.

South Carolina Primary Results Open Thread

In 2016 Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sander (73% to 26%) in the South Carolina primary. If Joe Biden wins but wins by less than 47 percentage point, that means Biden is doing terrible and Biden should do the country a favor and drop out. See that? I'm a pundit!! I just pundited THE FUCKING SHIT out of that analysis. My punditry is fucking dope.

Jess Scarane Online Fundraiser Update

The $500.00 donation is off. Thanks to all. I got a little side tracked this week with making sure everyone knows that Coons voted for and is Yale Law & Alfalfa Club buddies with Alex Azar, Trump's guy in charge of gutting the CDC. So I didn't hit this as hard each day as I hoped to, but it all twines together thought, doesn't it? Onward. It isn't an election, its a movement. If you forgot to kick in your $10, $50, $2,000 here is your link -> Donate Today

Breaking: Bloomberg Staffing up to Spend $Millions in Delaware

Bloomberg staffing up to spend a portion of his fortune in Delaware doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Delaware is a state that isn't positioned to absorb millions of dollars in media spending, nor is it going to loom large in delegates. And yet, Bloomberg is currently spending lavishly to hire a full time staff and peel as many Biden delegates as he can.

Our For Profit Health Insurance System Responds to the Corona Virus

 
Our health care system...LOL! am I right?  
 
People with insurance spending 3 hours on hold trying to get pre-approval for a blood test. People without it or with not good insurance....
After returning to Miami last month from a work trip in China, Osmel Martinez Azcue found himself in a frightening position: he was developing flu-like symptoms, just as coronavirus was ravaging the country he had visited. Under normal circumstances, Azcue said he would have gone to CVS for over-the-counter medicine and fought the flu on his own, but this time was different. As health officials stressed preparedness and vigilance for the respiratory illness, Azcue felt it was his responsibility to his family and his community to get tested for novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19. ... But two weeks later, Azcue got unwelcome news in the form of a notice from his insurance company about a claim for $3,270.
We might find it hard to get ahead of a pandemic when the priority is stuffing additional riches in the bank accounts of billionaires. -Via Eschaton

South Carolina Debate Reaction Thread

How'd it go? I didn't watch. Well, that's not exactly true. I watched about 4 minutes and that was enough to confirm my suspicion that this dog and pony show is designed to highlight each of the candidate's unique weirdness. Here are the evenings moderators ranked by net worth: Bill Whitaker ($75,000) Major Garrett ($3 million) Margaret Brennan ($5 million) Norah O'Donnell ($18 million) Gayle King ($25 million)