Lessig confident he'll debate Hillary. 1 pct polling threshold. "That 1 pct of America has watched my Ted Talks" http://t.co/9mfwaX0GCe
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) August 11, 2015
I'm writing a book called The Ideas Industry, but even I couldn't have dreamed someone would have said this: https://t.co/CFra1Qhg8H
— Daniel Drezner (@dandrezner) August 11, 2015
… on the power of TED! I’ve heard it said that Aaron Swartz’s suicide broke Lessig’s heart, but he’d swerved from infotech activist to BothSides! political crank even before that…
@PhilipRucker @daveweigel Nope! 0.01*350E6 > 1.3E6 . Ends up TED Talks aren't America's favorite entertaining garbage pic.twitter.com/UnqYVk1jlI
— Jon Bergdoll (@jbergdoll) August 11, 2015
mclaren
Fucking goddamn clown. Someone needs to slap big shoes and a bright red wig and bulbous red nose on Lessig and set him loose in the three-ring.
Sly
This speaks very highly of Americans.
David Koch
Welp, looks like Hillary is toast
Baud
@Sly:
I don’t understand that tweet.
@David Koch:
Is that poll with Biden in the race? I expect Sanders to win New Hampshire, BTW.
Eric U.
I prefer the onion Ted parody talks, they make a lot more sense. Actually, I did learn something from a ted talk once, there was a guy who ties his shoes backwards of the traditional way. It really does work better
eponymous coward
… and his stances on Citizens United aren’t THAT much different from Sanders.
The referendum Presidency is a really dumb idea, by the way, given that you have multiple choke points the Republicans can use (one third of one house of Congress + 1, one fourth +1 of state legislatures). The “oh, but the Peepul voted for me, thus you must pass X” is serious Green Lantern Theory of Presidential Politics bullshit.
Irony Abounds
In all honesty, the Democratic Party’s bench for Presidential candidates is remarkably weak. I recognize the Republicans are a bunch of clowns, but that only makes the lack of a quality field on the Democrat side all the more depressing.
mclaren
@eponymous coward:
Yeah, you can say that…until the shit hits the fan and so many people are calling their congressmen and senators that the lines jam and so many people are writing letters that the mailman has to dump wheelbarrows of ’em on the guys’ desks and so many people are jamming the halls of congress that the congresscritters can’t even get to their fuckin’ offices.
Seriously, cynics — we are not that far gone yet. Look at what happened when that SOPA bullshit went down. The public put so much heat on the House and the senate that the politicians turned to charcoal briquettes.
If the American people get truly passionately united behind an issue and turn out massively in support, even the most fanatical far-right Repubs will buckle, fold and turn to dust.
I have been at a Bernie Sanders speech. The excitement was palpable. The cheering got so loud it overwhelmed the turned-up-to-11 sound system. People in the audience were looking at one another, thinking, holy shit…this guy is actually saying the stuff that we’ve been thinking all these years.
BillinGlendaleCA
@David Koch:
Franklin Pierce? I see a jeb! ratfuck, you know Babs is a Pierce.
Eric U.
@BillinGlendaleCA: there is a diary about the source of the polling over on dKos. The sponsors are republicans, and it appears to be ratfucking.
Marlin Fitzwater, one of his lackeys and Andy Card. Yeah, I think I can feel the Bernmentum on this one
Lisa Lampanelli
This is great news for angry black women.
Ruckus
@Irony Abounds:
The field really isn’t all that weak. You got anyone better? Who else is going to run? Batman? My dog Spot? The Minions? The two front runners on our side are pretty decent dems. And given the country we now have, that’s saying something. Now if you count in Larry, who wants to be pres so bad he’s not even willing to do
theany leg work and said he would probably quit during his term, then yes the field just got exponentially worse.Amir Khalid
@Irony Abounds:
Could you go into more detail on where the Democratic party’s candidates have been weak?
Tree With Water
Lessig’s money would be better spent building his own pyramid to better remind future generations that he once strode the earth like a colossuses, as waste it campaigning for the American presidency.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Eric U.: LMAO, I was snarkin’.
Some guy
Broward County Commision folds aftr one month, begs Uber to come back. My ten dollar bet is won, I said they would fold within 6 weeks.
David Koch
now winning New Hampshire won’t make you president. McCain, Gary Hart, Pat Buchanan, Ed Muskie, Paul Tsongas, Hillary Clinton all won NH and failed to win the nomination. But, between the time of NH and SC there will be an unimaginable feeding frenzy.
David Koch
Also too: leading NH early doesn’t guarantee victory in NH. Bill Clinton, Bill Bradley, Howard Dean, George Bush all lead early but failed to win the state.
So there’s that.
But there’s no way around it. This will hurt Hillary. It will impact fundraising and the ability to staff around the country.
eponymous coward
@mclaren:
And your proof the Lessig can generate that kind of passion as a “referendum President” giving TED talks is what, exactly?
Also, ever been at an Obama rally in 2008? You remember a 60 seat Democratic Senate and a pretty solid Democratic majority in the House? So, that’s why we have single-payer health care, right?
You might want to remember that the Presidency is one, count it, one branch of government, and it’s not even the one that gets any direct say in changes to the US Constitution.
I’m saying that when it comes to making a bill a law or changes to the US Constitution, your choke point isn’t gonna be President Lessig or President Sanders. It’s going to be somewhere else.
And ya know, there’s a lot of conservatives out there who can get all excited and outrage-y, too. I hear they vote in off-year elections, even.
Omnes Omnibus
@David Koch: Go to bed. You’re drunk. Babbling about right wing polls 6 months prior to the election is simply babbling.
David Koch
@Omnes Omnibus: Is everyone at DKos drunk too? Cuz it’s the number one recommended diary with nearly 300 comments in 2 hours.
OTOH you’re right, everyone on DKos is usually drunk.
Be that as it may, it’s gonna be wall to wall all day tomorrow on MSNBC, Twitter, and the blogosphere.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
Since it’s an open thread and I’m tired of talking about politics for today, here is your friendly reminder that the Superdickery website is back up and running and now malware-free!
http://www.superdickery.com
In addition to the ridiculous comic book covers on which he built his reputation, he has added mockery of bad fan art. Enjoy.
BillinGlendaleCA
@David Koch: I was drunk back in my DKOS days.
David Koch
On the happy side:
16 million in past 16 months since March 31st 2014 deadline
This is a big fucking deal.
GregB
Bush polling ratfuck theory 2.0.
Andrew “America is under attack” Card is President of Franklin Pierce University.
David Koch
@BillinGlendaleCA: all the best writers are gone. it’s a shell of it’s former self. It was once a place for Democrats, now it’s been taken over by nihilists and naderites.
the only reason I go there is once in a while they’ll have some news that isn’t on my twitter feed. But as far as the commentary — it’s sad.
BillinGlendaleCA
Report in the local news about jeb!’s visit to Simi Valley. The audience seems to like what Trump is saying.
Omnes Omnibus
@David Koch: Then why do you give a fuck if not to troll here?
David Koch
I wonder who Sanders will pick as his running mate?
Warren would be the obvious choice, but she’s adamant about not leaving the senate. And the problem is Sanders will need a women, cuz you know Trump is going to put the most classiest, most luxurious, most terrific woman evah on his ticket.
David Koch
@Omnes Omnibus: you don’t get it. they linked to a news story that everyone will be talking about it tomorrow. if you can’t figure that out, then yes, you’re more lame and incompetent than I thought.
now carry on with your sad boring posts on how things were in 70s and 80s.
David Koch
@BillinGlendaleCA:
I just thought she was a bitch.
Anne Laurie
@Omnes Omnibus: I’ve always assumed he’s paid to do so. Not by Democratic supporters, either.
BillinGlendaleCA
So you want to hear about 70’s and 80’s? It was a time of wine and roses… Look, this is not a sprint. Omnes is right, you can’t freak about every poll. They’re just snapshots and most are out of focus.
Ruckus
@Anne Laurie:
Seems to make the most sense. I wonder if the name is a clue.
Thoughtful Today
LOL’ed @ the title:
“Go Home, Larry, You’re Drunk…”
;)
BillinGlendaleCA
Now if you want a candidate that needs to worry, that would be RtR’s guy jeb!.
Thoughtful Today
“Green Lantern Theory of Presidential Politics”
^ That insult reminds me why I detest neoliberal sleaze like Matthew Yglesias and unctuous pontificators like Brendan Nyhan.
Lets be clear that is a deliberately small minded right-wing meme meant to smear advocates with bigger imaginations and a better grasp of human history than either of those two.
Both they and their other neoliberal ilk certainly have made valuable contributions. But a lot of it ends up supporting delusional right-wing economic theories, most recently that espoused by Ezra Klein and his Vox wurlitzer advocating Libertarian (capital L, Koch Brothers) nonsense like “open borders”.
mclaren
@Ruckus:
I’d say the Demo field of potential presidential candidates is remarkably strong. Alan Grayson (you all hate him, go eat a bag of dicks, losers), Elizabeth Warren (you’ve got eight billion reasons why she won’t run or can’t be elected — suck it, clowns), Russ Feingold (more sneering from the armchair campaign managers out there, go lick a dog’s ass till it bleeds). And I could name more.
Serious pols with serious records and serious policies.
We now return you to the regularly scheduled learned helplessness of the balloon-juice commentariat…
sukabi
@GregB: doesn’t he know you’re not supposed to release a new product in August?
David Koch
@Anne Laurie: we can always count on your low IQ and unimaginative stealing. Why can’t Cole appoint an interesting thief. kthz. better luck next time.
Thoughtful Today
heh, someone gtfm {google this for me}:
“Andrew “America is under attack” Card is President of Franklin Pierce University.”
Thoughtful Today
heh, I’m hitting the filter … maybe for my own good, but those sharp words are meant sincerely.
David Koch
@Ruckus: yes, brilliant. they pay me to post this.
amk
@Anne Laurie:
srv , cornerstone, r2r and their ilk post all kindsa rw bs here and david koch is what gets your goat? gtfo.
Thoughtful Today
The Afraid of Yellow crew would remind US that it’s foolish to think that the President, who singularly represents 1/3 of the most powerful government on earth, has any power.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@David Koch: Led. I think you meant “led”. It’s the past tense of “to lead”.
It’s probably just autocorrect.
Pie Happens (opiejeanne)
@Ruckus: I don’t think he’s a troll. I think he’s pretty much like us, but his sense of humor/sarcasm is mistaken sometimes for serious commentary.
Anne Laurie
@amk: SRV and R2R don’t pretend to be on our side. It’s the fake bonhomie, the sidle-up-and-suggest-somebody-oughta-start-something “humor”, that’s the mark of the paid operative.
Jordan Rules
@David Koch: Ha! That was the post I was thinking of while wondering why this shit keeps coming up. I’ve used that list a lot and thanked you for it at one point. I think you’ve posted it more than once.
I’d also like to thank Sarah P&T for highlighting your link to Electablogs reaction to BLM after their Netroots Nation demo. Since then, we’ve been flinging pie around here but that shit still stands out to me.
I’m probably lost in some sort of support cult though. Le sigh.
raven
Head of Group Opposing Iran Accord Quits Post, Saying He Backs Deal
SRW1
@raven:
But they got Josef I. Lieberman (Likud) to replace him.
Kay
Well, I’m going to dissent on the Larry issue.
The huge amounts of money washing around the campaign/political system IS a problem and there’s nothing wrong with someone launching a campaign based on bringing that issue to the fore. It’s classic issue advocacy- he needs a bigger forum for his issue, which is campaign finance and capture and corruption, and running for President is one way to get it.
People already know this. They know it’s awash in money, out of control and corrupt. There’s a reason Sanders is drawing those huge crowds. It’s central to his message. When Sanders says he’s drawing crowds because he’s “telling the truth” THAT’S the truth he’s telling. We can either address what voters already know head-on or pretend it isn’t true that the huge donors are running the show, and I don’t think pretending is an option. The last poll I saw said 96% of those polled thought there was too much money sloshing around in campaigns and politics. Are those people wrong?
Good for Lessing. I hope he makes the cut for the debate.
Zinsky
@Irony Abounds: I agree with you about the weakness of the Democratic bench. Hillary, Biden and Sanders are all 70 years old or damn close to it. O’Malley is a “who cares” candidate, so forget him. After that, who do the Dems have – Corey Booker?? OMG. I have been saying since 2008 that the Democratic Leadership Council (#worthless) better be grooming a successor to Obama. Of course they haven’t……
Kay
Also, it bears mentioning that a hell of a lot of people are benefiting from our corrupt campaign system and it isn’t just the candidates and billionaires. When candidates raise a billion dollars they spend a billion dollars, and they spend that on consultants and pollsters and (especially) media- advertising.
That has to be considered. They’re not just raising money. They’re spending it. On what? Where does it land?
Ramalama
@Kay: I agree. I don’t see what’s wrong with another yap from a who in whoville entering the race. I love the Bernie. But I agree with Lessig’s stance on the bloody money.
You almost don’t realize the elections going on in Canada (or at least in Quebec) even though all the candidates debate each other on uninterrupted tv (no commercials) – one night in English; the next in French. And there’s like a week of voting, not just one Tuesday.
Kay
@Zinsky:
The problem for me is so many liberal and Democratic issues are really state issues. There can be federal oversight of criminal justice, for example, the federal government has a role, but 90% of criminal justice is state-level- there are just many, many more state crimes and inmates and probationers. The same is true of voting rights- election administration is almost wholly state level and process is central to the protection of voting rights. Voting rights, crim justice, health care, consumer protections, education- huge state components. State law just matters so much.
Democrats have to stop losing states. They’re bleeding. They’re down to something like 18. They’re going to find themselves nearly irrelevant on whole lot of issues that affect people directly- They’re already well on their way to irrelevancy on public education. They simply can’t run public education from DC. That isn’t how that law works.
Kay
@Ramalama:
The coverage of Sanders is frustrating, because there seems to be a deliberate effort to avoid 50% of what he’s saying. What he’s saying is we don’t get policy that benefits 90% of people because the system is corrupt. He says this directly. He’s not subtle.
It’s the same thing they did with Teachout. They focus on the “liberal” part of these candidates and ignore half of their argument. You cannot actually listen to Bernie Sanders and not get the corruption piece. It’s central to his theme. It’s the “why”. He’s laying out cause and effect. The influence of monied interests = bad policy for ordinary people. That’s half his argument. It’s early, so maybe they eventually listen to him, but boy, I don’t know how you cover Bernie Sanders and ignore that piece.
Baud
@Kay:
Sorry, Kay. They do that with every Democrat.
different-church-lady
@David Koch:
It would explain a hell of a lot.
different-church-lady
@Pie Happens (opiejeanne): It’s an AL thread. AL thread rules state that all disagreement is the result of paid republican trolls.
Iowa Old Lady
Who’s Lawrence Lessig?
Baud
@Iowa Old Lady:
The next President of the United States of America.
Kay
@Baud:
Well, true. I hate both-sides-do-it as much as the next person but is there any rational person who would argue there ISN’T too much money in politics?
When I saw that poll, the “96% think there’s too much money in poltics” I told my husband and he said “who are the 4% who disagree? Five of the them are Supreme Court justices but who are the rest?” :)
Baud
@Kay:
Absolutely you are correct. But that message isn’t unique to Sanders. Clinton started off her campaign with that message, and Obama has spoken about it many times.
Credit Sanders for not engaging in traditional fundraising. But you also have to wonder whether that means he can’t compete in the general election.
Matt McIrvin
There was an article a while back on, I think, 538 suggesting that Sanders could win the Iowa caucus and the NH primary and lose everywhere else. Bear their atypical demographics in mind. I suppose the most recent developments in Sanders/BLM could improve his standing with minority voters, but it remains to be seen how much.
I fail to see how Sanders winning NH is automatically a disaster, though. We had a real primary contest in 2008 and it turned out fine.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Kay: The absolute amount of money in politics doesn’t really matter to me. Obama spent, what, about $3.50 a person (total) over 2 years to win?
What bothers me is what the money seems to be spent on, with seemingly little evidence that it is spent well. A year of salaries for consultants and brand managers and spin doctors. A few months of barnstorming travels in primary states. And mountains of TV ads while less and less of the population watches TV. Glossy mass mailings begging for more money and fake “surveys” with pre-filled in choices based on the “news” of the day (‘What’s your number one priority? a) Defeating ISIS, b) Securing the border? c) Combating Ebola? d) Finding MH370? e) Bringing Natalee Holloway’s kidnappers to justice? …) :-/
Yeah, campaigning is expensive. It takes time and money for voters to get to know the candidates and feel comfortable enough with them to vote for them. But why does it take 2 years? Why does it demand that money be spent on people to talk to the press to say what a candidate “really meant”? Use the money to register new voters and impress upon them the consequences of not voting. Send voters a flyer with a clear summary of position papers. Etc.
The “money in politics” angst is yet more meta things to get riled up about while the bad guys are in our base, killing our doods. Lessig is missing what’s important, chasing a pony, IMHO.
Cheers,
Scott.
Kay
@Baud:
Honestly, Baud I think it’s deeper than either Obama or Clinton are either recognizing or (perhaps) portraying. That’s my opinion- that people know something is really broken. It’s bigger than campaign finance. It’s the revolving door, too, and Obama Administration hires are as guilty of that as anyone. Robert Gibbs is now a shill for McDonalds and Plouffe lobbies on Uber. Uber is a horrible model for working people. They’re not even employees. They have almost no regulatory protections. That’s just two revolving door people. There are many more.
Jimmy Carter said the other day that we’re basically living in an oligarchy and it got no coverage. I can’t decide if that’s because media has contempt and disdain for Jimmy Carter or because it’s so obvious no one thinks it’s an extraordinary thing for a former President to say.
Baud
@Kay:
Sanders’ rhetoric is definitely more pointed, but I haven’t yet heard what he plans to do about those broader concerns.
Matt McIrvin
As for Lessig, I assume I’m going to have to watch the whole Google+ crowd urging me to vote for him for the next several months.
NorthLeft12
@Irony Abounds: Where is all this concern or interest over the quality of the depth of presidential candidates come from?
Running for President is such an onerous and thankless task that you better be completely committed [financially, emotionally, intellectually, and organizationally] to it and feel that you have a reasonable chance of success if you want to attempt it.
Now, exactly what success is [Presidency? VP? Dry run for 2020? PR value? Pundit prep?] seems to be more the question that the individual candidate has to answer before entering the race.
With an undeniably strong [no matter what you think of her personally] candidate like Clinton in the field, it is not very surprising that some other potential candidates [whomever they might be?] are sitting this one out.
You only need one good candidate, and in this case it looks like the Dems may have two.
different-church-lady
@Kay:
Politicians.
BobS
@Kay: It’s the messenger. Carter’s presidency was not the failure the right-wing’s skewed narrative would have us believe (he definitely wasn’t helped by the Iran debacle including the Reagan campaign’s treasonous efforts to keep the hostages captive until after his inauguration) but Carter’s real sin has been advocating justice for Palestinians – it’s not something that wins a lot of friends in the corporate media and it’s caused many in his own party to abandon him.
NorthLeft12
@Zinsky:
This is one of the scariest ideas that I have ever heard. The last thing the Democrats/United States/World needs is a President that has been trained/groomed by the DLC. YIKES!
BrianM
Kay is convincing, as usual. She’s swayed my opinion on Lessig.
Kay
@Baud:
That’s fair, because of course it’s really difficult and Sanders has to flesh it out. They can’t just arbitrarily limit peoples’ employment options on revolving door grounds. That isn’t a fair solution and if it’s too broad or poorly-crafted it’s probably not enforceable anyway.
Sherrod Brown thinks Citizens requires an amendment to the constitution, so ya, know, there’s THAT.
I do get worried, though. One of the things I find most disturbing is corruption in prosecutors- state AG’s and the DOJ. They have enormous power, and while it sucks to have lobbyists polluting drinking water, prosecutors can actually imprison people. That’s scary, if the prosecutors get captured in any big way. The NYTimes report on state AG’s was terrifying to me. They’re actually going on junkets with lobbyists. I mean, come on. Get a grip. Police yourselves, politicians, or someone is going to do it for you.
Belafon
@Kay:
Did they start there, or did they go there afterwards? If they went their afterwards, what would you expect someone to do who leaves a presidential administration?
mike in dc
In terms of running mates–one of the Castro brothers from Texas, Kristin Gillibrand, Donna Edwards, etc.–someone younger and not a white guy.
Cervantes
@Iowa Old Lady:
He’s an anagram for “Ace resigns well.”
Another Holocene Human
@mclaren: Alan Grayson (D-Mouse) is very serious.
Another Holocene Human
@Zinsky: Corey Booker would be fighting uphill in ice with this crowd given his big bank connections. There’s that infamous clip on MSNBC where he was defending Wall Street. Toast and he knows it.
SenyorDave
@BobS: Exactly. It is not enough to support Israel, you must denigrate Palestinians at every juncture, otherwise you are an obvious anti-Semite. Seriously, the open hatred for Palestinians is scary, but not surprising that Netanyahu has open bigots in his cabinet.
Bobby Thomson
@Kay: Lessig apparently doesn’t think Sanders is making that case, or else Lessig is just a liar.
He does teach at Harvard.
rikyrah
@Kay:
All part of the grift, and the reason why the MSM doesn’t take or promote those that want to undo Citizens United. After all, their corporate masters want that money.
Just One More Canuck
@Ramalama: Are you serious? I don’t know where you are but in Toronto, we’ve been inundated with attack ads for months
BobS
@SenyorDave: Imagine the pearl clutching if we heard a fraction of that eliminationist rhetoric (that is mainstream political dialogue in Israel) coming out of Iran.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Opposite of the Trump Issue.
Trump is in trouble because he’s not using Frank Luntz-approved language.
Sanders can’t be covered because you can’t mushmouth what he says. You can’t cover it by saying ‘ both sides do it’.
The MSM can’t cape for the GOP if they covered Sanders issues straight- because of the obviousness of what he’s saying.
Kay
@Belafon:
Well, I don’t know. As I said the revolving door issue is difficult.
Here’s what I would “expect”. I would expect them not to be able to buy every regulator from here to California based on their Obama Administration resume. That’s what I would expect.
They’re using the relationships they formed in government to get rich. That’s not “markets”. They’re writing their own regulatory schemes.
Gibbs I don’t mind because I always thought he was an operator. I think he hurt the President with his ridiculous foray into fighting with Fox News. It was a stupid, egotistical distraction from what he should have been doing, which is selling the President’s policies. “Smack downs” don’t thrill me. Half the time I tink “smack downs” are about promoting careers. I never respected Gibbs and I knew he’d cash out as soon as humanly possible.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/14/7390395/uber-lobbying-steamroller
Steve From Antioch
Lessing is focused on the single most important issue facing this country: the corrosive effect of unlimited and virtually unregulated money flowing into elections.
Good for him stepping up and trying to get a place on the stage to draw more attention to this.
I guess he could just follow Sanders around and try and take the microphone from him to get some press, but this is a more grown-up way to go about things.
Cervantes
@Steve From Antioch:
Dahomey, too.
Cervantes
@Kay:
No longer. He was kicked upstairs.
BobS
@Steve From Antioch: You’ve obviously learned nothing the past few days – “the single most important issue facing this country” is whatever BLM says it is, and that isn’t money in elections, unregulated finance, the changing climate, dying oceans, or perpetual war in the Middle East and Asia. If you’re not going to sing their one-note solo it’s time to cash in your progressive chips.
Steve From Antioch
@BobS: I’d imagine if Lessig were a 22 year old black woman and former Palin supporter, certain posters here would still be walking around in circles submissively urinating while they worked up a an apologetic manifesto explaining while they love and respect Lessig and can’t possibly understand the many, many life threatening struggles he endures every day, perhaps – just a suggestion and forgive my privilege – perhaps he shouldn’t run for president. Perhaps. Might change my mind on that.
rikyrah
@BobS:
Yes, because when you’ve been SHOT DEAD by the police, your concerns about money in elections, unregulated finance, the changing climate, dying oceans..
all cease.
funny how that happens.
NotMax
@Zinsky
As the DLC was dissolved and closed up shop in 2011, not a likelihood.
Steve From Antioch
@rikyrah: and what about the thousands of people who have DIED falling in their bathtubs? They can’t even walk out into the street to be shot by police.
DO THEIR LIVES NOT MATTER?
Why can’t you just admit that we need more NONSLIP BATHMATS?
BobS
@rikyrah: Altogether now, in the key of C….
BobS
@Steve From Antioch: But they weren’t “SHOT DEAD”, damn you, “by the police”!
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@rikyrah:
Ignore the racists. They do not, will not, and never will give one shit about anyone who is not exactly like them.
Cervantes
@Steve From Antioch:
@BobS:
What is wrong with the two of you?
BobS
@Mnemosyne (tablet): True this.
By the way, would you happen to have a relative body count of people “SHOT DEAD” by the police in the US over the past say, 7 years, and all those “SHOT DEAD” as well as BOMBED DEAD & BURNED DEAD by Americans (or American allies with American complicity) in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Gaza, Afghanistan, Ukraine, etc. over that same period? Because those people won’t be caring about money in elections, etc. either. And then explain to me again why I have to choose one thing, and one thing only (chosen by BLM) to be the single most important thing on a progressive political agenda.
BobS
@Cervantes: I don’t know about Steve, but I suffer from plantar fasciitis.
Michael
For one, I personally think it’s awful that we have two highly qualified candidates for the Presidency debating one another in essentially civil terms while sucking media oxygen from TRUMP24/7.
I mean, nothing could possibly be worse for the Democratic Party than a competitive primary that shows off the kinds of qualified people it produced. Look at the insane debacle that created in 2008.
lol
@NotMax:
the DLC is the ACORN of the left.
CONSTANT VIGILANCE
mrblifil
@David Koch: Franklin Pierce University’s president is former Bush Chief of Staff Andrew Card. And Marlin Fitzwater, former Bush press secretary, runs the polling operation. So, about Hillary being toast, uh….
Soprano
@mclaren: “If the American people get truly passionately united behind an issue and turn out massively in support, even the most fanatical far-right Repubs will buckle, fold and turn to dust.”
That didn’t work very well in 2002/2003 when circa 1.25 million American people demonstrated against the invasion of Iraq and were dismissed by the Dubya Administration as a “focus group.” But it’s a lovely thought.
Thoughtful Today
Soprano,
When enough like-minded voters are able to take over Congress and hold the Presidency long enough to take over the Supreme Court, yes, things change.
200+ years of American history prove it.
Conservatives understand this, some on the left dismiss this factual reality.