I’m Back

I’m Back

14 Comments
The reason why I was gone was that I had a business trip to New Orleans planned for immediately after the election. I thought I was going celebrating. But it turns out it was good to be away from the constant newstream of Twitter and Cable News and your normal routine during what was the most shocking election result in all history, and the most heartbreaking. The only way I can describe the feeling was it was like I just lost two friends (Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton) in the same car accident. So there was actual grieving. Tears would well in my eyes for no reason, well, yes, there was a reason, but you know what I mean. But I had to force the sadness and shock away so I could concentrate on the real world business meetings. So that helped. Being away helped. I'm still devastated. I'm in the anger/acceptance stage of grieving. But I am ready to fight back now. First thing I want to do is apologize to Jason330. His pessimistic view of the election and the electorate was, in the end, proven right. I was wrong. I was relying on polls, data, demographics, and early voting results, but they were wrong. And I am sure I argued with a number of readers, commenters and even some contributors aside from Jason330, like El Somnambulo. I am sure I was arrogant in my analysis. My apologies extends to you all as well. Second, we have to lay down a marker for all Democrats everywhere but especially here in Delaware: we demand full, complete, and hostile obstruction and opposition to every single thing the .... god... President Trump does. The Republican playbook of 2009-16 is now yours. Use it. There shall be no bipartisan agreements to deport 11 million people. There shall be no bipartisan agreement to repeal and replace Obamacare. There shall be no bipartisan agreement to end Medicare. There shall be no bipartisan agreement to cut taxes for the rich. Senator Carper, Senator Coons, and Representative Rochester, if you vote yes on a single Republican bill just one time, you might as well join the Republican Party that very same day. We just elected Hitler, and your first instinct should not be to cut deals with him. Your first instinct must be resistance. No matter if your life or livelihood are in danger. Third, I have no interest in re-litigating the 2016 primary or debating whether Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden would have done better. I have my opinions on that, and I am sure others have theirs, but really, what good does that debate do us except turn us against each other? You know what we should do? We should take the Democratic Platform as it stands now, which was agreed to by both the Clinton and Sanders campaigns, and use it as our starting point when we discuss how to move forward and what policies to change. It was the most progressive platform in party history.

Autocracy: Rules for Survival

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Masha Gessen, who grew up in Putin's Russia, has six rules for getting through the Trump years.
Rule #1: Believe the autocrat. He means what he says. Whenever you find yourself thinking, or hear others claiming, that he is exaggerating, that is our innate tendency to reach for a rationalization. This will happen often: humans seem to have evolved to practice denial when confronted publicly with the unacceptable. Back in the 1930s, The New York Times assured its readers that Hitler’s anti-Semitism was all posture.

Why We Need a New Democratic Party

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"Bill Clinton and Obama also allowed antitrust enforcement to ossify – with the result that large corporations have grown far larger, and major industries more concentrated. The unsurprising result of this combination – more trade, declining unionization and more industry concentration – has been to shift political and economic power to big corporations and the wealthy, and to shaft the working class. This created an opening for Donald Trump’s authoritarian demagoguery, and his presidency. Now Americans have rebelled by supporting someone who wants to fortify America against foreigners as well as foreign-made goods. The power structure understandably fears that Trump’s isolationism will stymie economic growth. But most Americans couldn’t care less about growth because for years they have received few of its benefits, while suffering most of its burdens in the forms of lost jobs and lower wages."
It’s On – I’m Sure Trump Voters (And Anyone Who Didn’t Vote Or Voted 3rd Party) Will Be Happy

It’s On – I’m Sure Trump Voters (And Anyone Who Didn’t Vote Or Voted 3rd Party) Will Be Happy

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House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Thursday that Medicare has “serious problems” that would need to be addressed when Congress moves to repeal and replace President Obama’s health-care reform law — a signal that he is willing to immediately enter the treacherous politics of entitlement reform and perhaps break with President-elect Donald Trump. “When Obamacare became Obamacare, Obamacare rewrote Medicare, rewrote Medicaid, so if you’re going to repeal and replace Obamacare, you have to address those issues as well,” he said in a Fox News Channel interview. “What people don’t realize is that Medicare is going broke, that Medicare is going to have price controls. Because of Obamacare, Medicaid is in fiscal straits. So you have to deal with those issues if you’re going to repeal and replace Obamacare. Medicare has got some serious problems because of Obamacare. Those things are part of our plan to replace Obamacare.”
Oooh... basically private insurance for retirees! Which, if you had a functioning brain cell, you knew was always the Republican plan. If you voted for Trump, or voted 3rd party, or didn't vote then you voted for this. No complaining. This was the agenda. Shame our media never discussed it, but, you know... EMAILS and Hillary is untrustworthy! And as much as I'd like to lay the blame for all of this at the GOP's feet, I can't. On this very blog, for months - and even days - before the election we (WE!) were still discussing this nonsense. Hell, liberals/progressives were discussing the DNC and how rigged it is. We Gored (get it?) ourselves because *sigh* we weren't inspired. Holy crap, aren't we supposed to be grown ups? Obviously not.
Stop Slut-Shaming Melania Trump

Stop Slut-Shaming Melania Trump

23 Comments
There are times when our opponents will go low and we will go high. There are times that we will respond with a rage they have never seen. (Not going to happen, but a man can wish can't he?) But slut-shaming Melania Trump is not a legitimate attack on her or her husband. You are mimicking the same misogynist behavior that other reprehensible people have.

Some thoughts on starting a political blog

6 Comments
Although "blogging" has been overtaken by Facebook and other social media, there is still a place for political discourse among (mostly) like-minded folks. Especially in an era in which the mass media, and "news" operations have shit the bed and divested themselves of the responsibility of being fact-finding and truthful, we still need warm campfires to gather around. A place where false objectivity does not give all claims equal standing. We need to know that we are not alone and that we are not being gaslighted. So political blogs still have a place. So if I was giving advice to someone just starting one in some place like Arizona, say, I'd say this:
The Need to Attract White Voters

The Need to Attract White Voters

84 Comments
Since 1976, a Democratic presidential nominee has never won the white vote. The 2016 Election continues that trend. Of course, some votes for Trump were from the termites, but many of the of those who voted for Trump are not racist at all. But most importantly we have to stop labelling all Trump supporters as the vile termites.