Super Tuesday whistles Dixie

[Octafish]

Hosting most of the early primaries in the states that sided with the Confederacy gives extraordinary power to the conservatives in both parties.



As a Democrat who believes all people are equal under law and entitled to life, liberty and happiness, I find that fact most undemocratic.

[Dont call me Shirley]

1. How do we rectify that as a nation whose premise is All (Wo)Men are created equal?

[Octafish]

7. E. R. A. might make a good start.

How often does that get mentioned on the tee vee or in Texas school books that conservatives in 50 states so appreciate?

One thing I know: Democratic elections would allow candidates and their positions to be heard, not just those with money as is the case today.

FTR: Bernie Sanders has long supported equal rights for women.

http://www.bustle.com/articles/121154-7-fantastic-times-bernie-sanders-stood-up-for-women-their-rights

[Hortensis]

51. Don't see that it would matter, and I am an original ERA door-knocker. ??

Southerners are still strongly conservative mostly because they want to be. This is part of the Bible Belt, and a full third of the population in some states being black and wanting a fair shot at the relatively smaller number of good jobs also has something to do with the determined conservarism of some. Also, this is a hot-climate region, with those geographic effects on psyche and culture.

As for all these southern states, tho, would it matter all that much to Bernie if Georgia and SC were in the same week as IA and NH? Is it okay if SC leads off? Or would their votes and delegates count less if the southern states were all spread out? Perhaps you'd like the whole block to jump to after the second week in March when they could all be winner-take-all? How about if they all vote last and replace the NE frontrunner with their choice? Or how about...never?

I am a Californian. California is huge but it is all actually decided before Californians vote -- yes, their votes count theoretically too, but they almost never need to be counted to know who has won the primary. Maybe all the discounted Pacific states should get to vote first. Or perhaps we could just slice California itself up in thirds and have one third first, one third in the middle, and one third last?

We can do better, sure, but it wouldn't make Bernie the nominee. That requires the wave of excitement that hasn't yet materialized.

[Octafish]

66. Good for you.

This isn't about you, then.

I'm talking about the slave owning bastards who want to rule and regulate you -- not the corporations and warmongers for which they stand.

[Hortensis]

70. But you think pushing ERA consciousness

in the South would materially help? I'm intrigued, not arguing. What problem would this be the solution of choice for? I'm personally fond of good-paying jobs for empowerment, but are you thinking of battling culture and religion at home?

[Octafish]

126. Not sure. I thought I was answering another question.

IMO, the best and fastest way to bring prosperity is direct investment by government policy, you know, Keynesian economics.

There are many areas of need -- from public health, to housing, to care for young and elderly, to building new and rebuilding infrastructure, space exploration...all these help solve problems while employing people with good paying jobs. If we do it right, we may even have pensions and such.

[Hortensis]

127. Yes. And if plutocrats can redistribute America's income

into their pockets, and they have and do, they make the case for our doing it also. Again.

[Octafish]

130. The Process

For the non-paupers in spirit, a pot of gold awaits...

Neil Barofsky Gave Us The Best Explanation For Washington's Dysfunction We've Ever Heard

Linette Lopez
Business Insider, Aug. 1, 2012, 2:57 PM

Neil Barofsky was the Inspector General for TARP, and just wrote a book about his time in D.C. called Bailout: An Insider Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street.

SNIP...

Bottom line: Barofsky said the incentive structure in our nation's capitol is all wrong. There's a revolving door between bureaucrats in Washington and Wall Street banks, and politicians just want to keep their jobs.

For regulators it's something like this:

"You can play ball and good things can happen to you get a big pot of gold at the end of the Wall Street rainbow or you can do your job be aggressive and face personal ruin...We really need to rethink how we govern and how regulate," Barofsky said.

CONTINUED... http://www.businessinsider.com/neil-barofsky-2012-8

"Integrity is for paupers." -- traditional saying inside The Beltway

[Hortensis]

131. Yes, and every two years we could toss large

numbers out on their ears, but so far we have not.

These people do like their jobs far too much and most are now seeking them for all very wrong reasons. We need to fix that, when we feel like it.

[unc70]

2. Where was that picture made?

[Octafish]

8. Kennebunkport, Maine, Nuevo Dixie.

Kennebunkport, July 30, 1983: Bill Clinton, George Bush & George Wallace.



Wallace and his third wife, the former Lisa Taylor, meet with Vice President George Bush and Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton at a lobster bake at Bush's residence at Kennebunkport, Maine, July 30, 1983. The third Mrs. Wallace, whom the governor married in 1981, was 30 years his junior and half of a country-western singing duo, Mona and Lisa, who had performed during his campaign in 1968.

CREDIT: AP/Birmingham Post

SOURCE: http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/george-wallace/13/

Michael Beschloss, my mom's favorite historian, says it's genuine: https://twitter.com/beschlossdc/status/275941914182828033

George Wallace did all he could to oppose President Kennedy and his administration's policy to integrate public schools, including the University of Alabama.

Something else important to know: Wallace’s running mate in 1968 was Gen. Curtis LeMay, who exhibited insubordination to President Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. President Kennedy, former CIA analyst Ray McGovern noted, exhibited signs of stress over the possibility of a military coup.

[dsc]

47. This was at the national governors association meeting

but of course, neither you, nor the dishonest OP would dare mention that fact, now would you?

[Lucinda]

85. Thank you DSC.

[BlueStateLib]

112. THE SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL GOVERNORS MEETING, Portland, Maine. July 31 - August 2, 1983

In the summer of 1983, the governors met in Portland, Maine. Hillary, Chelsea, and I had a great time, getting together with my old friend Bob Reich and his family, and going with the other governors to a cookout at Vice President Bush’s house in the beautiful oceanside town of Kennebunkport. Three-year-old Chelsea marched up to the Vice President and said she needed to go to the bathroom. He took her by the hand and led her there. Chelsea appreciate it, and Hillary and I were impressed by George Bush’s kindness. It wouldn’t be the last time.

Bill Clinton, remembering George H.W. Bush’s kindness to his family shortly after meeting him for the first time during a conference of Governors in 1983, in his autobiography, My Life, 2004

[Octafish]

132. By then, Poppy Bush had cut Ronnie Reagan out of the National Security loop.

How Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush ran an end-around the Constitution his nominal boss, Pruneface:



[font size="2"]At a tacky dinner in their Honor, Detroit, Republican National Convention 1980.[/font size]

Reagan was shot in March 1981 and for all intents and purposes was a walking vegetable afterward.

Through a Glass Darkly

Alexander Cockburn
Lies Of Our Times (p. 12-13)
November 1991

What was surprising to me was Reagan’s condition. He was exhausted to the point of incoherence throughout much ofthe interview and could not remember the substance of any subject that had been discussed apart from Mitterrand’s expression of anticommunism. I had not seen Reagan at such close rangesince the assassination attempt nearly four months earlier, and was shocked at his condition.... Reagan simply was unable to recall the contents of the talks in which he had just participated.... The interview concluded at a signal from Deaver,who did not seem to find the president’s condition unusual.”

Thus ran Lou Cannon’s recollections of an interview with the Commander-in-Chief in 1981, as set forth in his book President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime (New York: Simon & Schuster,1991), published earlier this year. But how did Cannon describe Reagan’s condition to the readers of the Washington Post when he wrote up his interview? In the July 23, 1981, Washington Post,Cannon’s story appeared under the headline “Reagan Describes Summit Meeting as ‘Worth Its Weight in Gold.’ ” Cannon’s report gives the impression of a lucid chief executive returning home after a fruitful colloquy with other western leaders at the economic summit held in Ottawa in mid-July. Cannon did mention in the tenth paragraph that “Reagan appeared tired to the point of near-exhaustion,” but this observation was quickly qualified by the opinion of “aides” that the president had been doing a lot of prep for the conference and was also worried about the Middle East.

Cannon shared his brief session with Reagan aboard Air Force One with Hedrick Smith of the New York Times, who similarly gave his readers the impression of a president in touch with things rather than the incoherent old man they had actually encountered. As did Cannon, Smith wove the few quotable remarks from Reagan into a tapestry of attributed presidential dicta passed on — and no doubt confected— by Meese, Deaver,and Speakes. It is clear from Cannon’s account of the conference itself that Reagan was fogged up throughout the actual conference, occasionally interjecting trivial observations or homely jokes into the proceedings and then relapsing into bemused silence. Cannon’s memoir is one more indication of the cover-up that took place in the wake of Hinckley’s assassination bid on March 30, 1981. At the time of the shooting, the press was full of phrases like “bouncing back,” “iron constitution,” and other terms indicating that Reagan had emerged from the ordeal in good shape. In fact Reagan very nearly died on the operating table and was a dotard afterwards. He never fully recovered.

Conclusion: Unless a president is actually dead, the WhiteHouse press corps can be relied upon to present him as both sentient and sapient, no matter how decrepit his physical and mental condition.

SOURCE in PDF form:

http://liesofourtimes.org/public_html/1991/Nov1991%20V2%20N10/Nov1991%20V2%20N10.pdf

Mentally isn't physically. So, while Pruneface made head snaps on tee vee and saluted getting out of the chopper, Poppy Bush remained VP. He saw it as an opportunity to get appointed a Super Duper Presidential Helper in all things National Security, from dealing with the Iranians to making war in Central America and everywhere else around the planet where a communist might be dreaming of something more to life than nothing.

George Bush Takes Charge: The Uses of ‘Counter-Terrorism’

By Christopher Simpson
Covert Action Quarterly 58

A paper trail of declassified documents from the Reagan‑Bush era yields valuable information on how counter‑terrorism provided a powerful mechanism for solidifying Bush's power base and launching a broad range of national security initiatives.

During the Reagan years, George Bush used "crisis management" and "counter‑terrorism" as vehicles for running key parts of the clandestine side of the US government.

Bush proved especially adept at plausible denial. Some measure of his skill in avoiding responsibility can be taken from the fact that even after the Iran‑Contra affair blew the Reagan administration apart, Bush went on to become the "foreign policy president," while CIA Director William Casey, by then conveniently dead, took most of the blame for a number of covert foreign policy debacles that Bush had set in motion.

The trail of National Security Decision Directives (NSDDS) left by the Reagan administration begins to tell the story. True, much remains classified, and still more was never committed to paper in the first place. Even so, the main picture is clear: As vice president, George Bush was at the center of secret wars, political murders, and America's convoluted oil politics in the Middle East.

SNIP...

Reagan and the NSC also used NSDDs to settle conflicts among security agencies over bureaucratic turf and lines of command. It is through that prism that we see the first glimmers of Vice President Bush's role in clandestine operations during the 1980s.

SNIP...

NSDD 159. MANAGEMENT OF U.S. COVERT OPERATIONS, (TOP SECRET/VEIL‑SENSITIVE), JAN. 18,1985

The Reagan administration's commitment to significantly expand covert operations had been clear since before the 1980 election. How such operations were actually to be managed from day to day, however, was considerably less certain. The management problem became particularly knotty owing to legal requirements to notify congressional intelligence oversight committees of covert operations, on the one hand, and the tacitly accepted presidential mandate to deceive those same committees concerning sensitive operations such as the Contra war in Nicaragua, on the other.

[font color="green"]The solution attempted in NSDD 159 was to establish a small coordinating committee headed by Vice President George Bush through which all information concerning US covert operations was to be funneled. The order also established a category of top secret information known as Veil, to be used exclusively for managing records pertaining to covert operations.

The system was designed to keep circulation of written records to an absolute minimum while at the same time ensuring that the vice president retained the ability to coordinate US covert operations with the administration's overt diplomacy and propaganda.

Only eight copies of NSDD 159 were created. The existence of the vice president's committee was itself highly classified.[/font color] The directive became public as a result of the criminal prosecutions of Oliver North, John Poindexter, and others involved in the Iran‑Contra affair, hence the designation "Exhibit A" running up the left side of the document.

CONTINUED...

CovertAction Quarterly no 58 Fall 1996 pp31-40.

S&L scams and bailout in 1992 was found to benefit Ds, Rs, and those connected to the CIA and Mafia. Just like the Bankster Bailout in 2008. And how many wars of choice from Vietnam to the present day? How many still rage? For what? And for whose benefit?

[stonecutter357]

3. so my vote should not count because i am from dixie.

wow.

[Barack_America]

4. No, it just shouldn't count more than mine in a Blue state...

...when choosing the Democratic nominee.

I suggest reading the OP again.

[Zynx]

6. It actually counts less. The party rules reduce the delegations from states that don't vote Dem.

The first three contests were from states that voted for Obama both times.

[stonecutter357]

10. Do the votes in South Carolina , Iowa and Nevada count.

[Barack_America]

30. Yep, just not only those votes.

I'd like there still to be 2 candidates running when it's my turn to vote.

[stonecutter357]

32. Alabama just moved to super Tuesday ,

I know how you fill.

[Adrahil]

128. Me too, and I live in a Red state.

Never-the-less, I'd love for my vote to count.


Somehow, I doubt you would be complaining if Bernie had won SC. <shrug>

[Barack_America]

133. No. I always prefer that my vote count.

It's also better for the party as those who vote in a primary are more likely to be engaged for the General.

[Adrahil]

136. Then on that, we can agree.

I have never lived in an early primary state. I used to live in a very blue state, and so never got any GE attention, and now live a pretty red state, again, not much in the way of GE attention.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

38. Who's that argument? No one, except for Bernie Sanders supporters who are belittling

voters in the American South.

When Obama was winning in southern and other Red states, we heard HRC supporters belittling these voters. I same applies here.

Most people live in the American South and Midwest. It makes sense for any strong Democratic candidate to do well in the primaries. That statement doesn't mean that voters here in Maryland or in Michigan or any other NE or Midwest do not matter.

[dsc]

45. No you didn't

Hillary supporters did point out that caucuses were unfair, a position I still hold BTW, but no we didn't belittle southern voters (Hillary won FL, and TX in 08 it must be said) and unlike Sanders this time, Hillary actually didn't pull out of the south.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

111. Yes I did. In every state that Obama won, it was HRC's supporters who belittled those wins,

especially when he won in Southern states. And I do believe that it was partly because of black voters who put him over the top.

The same is happening, ironically, where it is the Sanders fanatics who are ridiculing those southern states where the bulk of Democratic voters (minorities, mostly) live and vote.

It was disgusting when HRC and her fans did this.

It is disgusting this time around when Sanders fanatics are doing the same.

[MrMickeysMom]

53. Did you forget our conversation yesterday about "Bernie Sander's supporters"?

I would have thought you'd considered more than painting me with such a broad brush!

If you want to know what ONE Bernie Sanders supporter thinks about the Southern states and the Democratic votes in primaries, which agreed, should be as democratically represented as every other non-"southern" states, then you should take a good look at what changed (which I lived through) since the mid 1960's in the South.

I lived in the south for a total of 33 years from the perspective of someone who traversed across party lines, getting a good look at the resulting factions of these "Reagan Democrats". It's definitely a different point of view of what "government is capable of doing"

Reference - http://diversity.berkeley.edu/new-southern-strategy

...and devote your attention to the effects of what is commonly referred to in the way people vote, regardless of their party affiliation, as The Southern Strategy

The Southern Strategy ensured that the nation, especially at the level of federal policy, was anemic on issues of inclusion and civil rights, pushing the country rightward, not just on social issues, but also on economic matters as well. The attack on federal power, whether through regulation or taxes, served to expand the power of corporate elites. Social issues and race were wedges to facilitate reactionary economic policies and deregulation.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

82. Your lecturing and condescension won't work on me. My entire family is from the

South, descendants of slaves.

And you totally missed my point, too!

Go back and re-read for comprehension.

[kath]

140. but reading is so very, very hard, BA.

[Octafish]

9. No, your vote shouldn't count more than mine or anyone else's.

Giving primacy to those state that are overwhelmingly conservative skews the primary race in their favor.

I'd like to see more liberal states represented early.

[stonecutter357]

11. when bernie fails to be elected it will be his fault no one else.

[Octafish]

31. What about Debbie Wasserman Schultz?

She's very rich. She supports Hillary Clinton. And she commands the organization running what are supposed to be DEMOCRATIC elections.

No thanks, I prefer Justice to Just-Us.

[MrMickeysMom]

54. I don't think you'll get further response from that poster...

I've been seeing these "drive-by" attacks, baseless as they are, and when I take the time to again and again explain or seek from where this logic comes... I get crickets.

[Octafish]

65. When they can't put into words why they support a particular position...

... or candidate:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1364926

Calls into questions one's motives for being a DUer.

[MrMickeysMom]

69. Motivation?

So.... THAT'S what you call it!

[Octafish]

76. Agenda.

Authoritarian Action Plan



Democrat Removal System

A Mrs. Wiggins gets the ziggy from Turd Way Tudball

[MrMickeysMom]

91. Democrat Removal System will not be televised!

... and will have none of the magic of Mrs. Wiggins' writers!

[NWCorona]

46. That's a very simplistic view point but you are entitled to it.

[Dont call me Shirley]

16. One person, one vote. We are all created equal which many people, including Democrats have

FORGOTTEN!

[stonecutter357]

19. South Carolina hade One person, one vote.

[Dont call me Shirley]

26. Redistricting has negated much of that.

[MrMickeysMom]

55. See post #53....

It requires reading for comprehension.

[fun n serious]

18. I guess so.. but did you see how handsome Bill looks in that pic nt

[Octafish]

67. That is a hell of a picture.

The guy's a Democratic Elvis, which is what we called him during the 92 campaign against Poppy.

No one thought the guy had a chance, but we Democrats did.

[fun n serious]

68. Yes indeed. :) nt

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

21. That seems to be the Sanders supporters' claim. It only makes sense, since again, there are MORE

Last edited Sun Feb 28, 2016, 11:57 AM - Edit history (1)

people, population wise, in the American South than most other states in other regions of the country.

I'm from Georgia originally, and it's quite insulting to be told that my family in Atlanta's votes don't count.

And get this: There are some of them, like my brother, who are Bernie Sanders supporters.

But of course they are black and that doesn't matter to them, either.

[SidDithers]

39. +1...

Sid

[kiva]

63. Their votes count in state and local elections.

Their votes don't help elect a Democratic president - the Electoral College has made sure of that. Out of the last 10 presidential elections, Georgia has voted for the Republican candidate 7 times and pollsters are saying it's likely headed that way this year also.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

110. And again, that stupid, fallacious (il)logic applies to other primary states that aren't reliably

Democratic in the general election either. I mean, why should Sanders even go to Oklahoma or West Virginia, then, if the Democratic votes in that state don't matter.

This is just insulting.

The only reason people are making these assertions is because black voters are in these states.

It's crass, ignorant and disgustingly racist.

Please stop!

...and welcome to IGNORE!

[kiva]

116. OK...

And again, that stupid, fallacious (il)logic applies to other primary states that aren't reliably Democratic in the general election either.

Yes, is does - do you see anywhere I said it didn't?

I mean, why should Sanders even go to Oklahoma or West Virginia, then, if the Democratic votes in that state don't matter.

Because in this current, insane political system, he has to seek delegates from all states, whether or not they will impact the general election for the Dems or not.

This is just insulting.

The only reason people are making these assertions is because black voters are in these states.

It's crass, ignorant and disgustingly racist.

In order: To whom? Nope. I disagree.

Please stop!

No, this is a discussion board, etc.

...and welcome to IGNORE!

Bye!

[Octafish]

71. Didn't mean to be insulting. Meant to point out the slave-owning mentality is what we're up against.

Some people think they are better than other people. Fascists for instance. Republicans for another who think their lives -- and their vote and voice in democracy -- is worth more than another's. And, despite the definition of believing in democracy and that ALL people are equal under the law, some Democrats, too.



NO. MY POINT: The way old slaves were treated by the ownership class helps explain the attitude toward older workers, social security, medicare and medicaid, and anything else that's tarred as "socialism" by the Grover Norquist and the rest of the 1-percent's paid monkey class.

Scalia never brought this up in his long life: the POV of someone who knew, personally, there "was never pay-day for the Negroes any more than for the horses and cows."

[DrDan]

5. you do know the Civil War was a few years back, don't you

[libdem4life]

14. Missing your snarky point? Unless it is taking issue with the word Dixie.

It's still called Dixie by many, even those who live there.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

22. Not black people. Geez!

[DrDan]

41. no problem with "Dixie"

I guess you missed this in the OP - "sided with the Confederacy" - that is relevant after all these years?

never mind- I am sure you will make it so

[libdem4life]

92. Just read it differently...sorry.

[Dont call me Shirley]

17. So why is the mass media constantly shoving the civil war in our faces since bush2 was appointed?

[DrDan]

42. I guess you could ask them

[Dont call me Shirley]

44. Simple observation points to their underlying objective, Divide And Conquer.

[Octafish]

24. That's what the tee vee said, too, yet racism and property rights trump civil and human rights.

Remember the Texas War Monkey when he said, "Money trumps peace"? Most people -- including well-read liberals -- have not, thanks to a news media owned by rich warmongers.

"Commercial interests are very powerful interests," said George W Bush on Feb. 14, 2007 White House press conference in which he added, "Let me put it this way, ah, sometimes, ah, money trumps peace." And then he giggled and not a single member of the callow, cowed and corrupt press corpse saw fit to ask a follow-up.

Gold Star mom Cindy Sheehan tried to bring it to our nation's attention back in 2007. I don't recall even one reporter from the national corporate owned news seeing it fit to comment. Certainly not many have commented on how three generations of Bush men -- Senator Prescott Sheldon Bush, President George Herbert Walker Bush and pretzeldent George Walker Bush all had their eyes on Iraq's oil. While prices were high, it became Ukraine's natural gas. What a hoot war is -- and profitable.

How undemocratic is that?

[bigtree]

12. it's actually the black vote which is going to be consequential in those states

...besides, Bernie has done better in open primaries.

[Octafish]

72. Which is good. And shows where we need to do more work. Attracting ALL voters.

What would go a long way toward restoring democracy: A news media that afforded equal access and supplied equal time to all candidates and perspectives in place of a system beholden to those with money.

30 years of nothing but Rush Limbaugh and even the dumbest whistle ass stump snaps to attention when pissed on.

[GoneFishin]

13. That picture reinforces the notion that a small clique have choreographed our political "contests"

for us in advance, like a WWF pro wrestling match.

[libdem4life]

20. Oligarchy...the best 1% money can buy. Knows no Red or Blue Party...it's the true Green Party...

as in green money.

Until Bernie and others who are sick and tired of Oligarchy start to prevail, all of the other candidates...ALL of them support the Oligarchy. Boggles the Mind. Voting against one's best interest used to be a Republican "value". Now it's seeped, yeah, currently deluging the FDR Democratic Party.

[GoneFishin]

27. Yep. It's about the money.

[libdem4life]

33. And the backroom action this money empowers...and it's not for We, the People.

My Democratic Party is leaving me. Not surprising it took an Independent to remind us what Democratic Party issues used to be. Otherwise, he'd be locked in their sphere of influence and silenced...as he was in the MSM in the beginning.

In reference to another post, this is not just an election, it is a movement and has already shown that people, yeah, politicians or would-be politicians are ready to move forward. A Movement takes a Leader who has vision (not pink unicorns). Even a cursory knowledge of history ... Republican and Democrat ... clearly bears that out.

[Octafish]

73. Amazing image. Here's another photo ALL people should see.

Old news to you, GoneFishin. News to most of the nation: BFEE are multi-generational power players.



Sen. Prescott Bush, father and grandfather to presidents, sharing a moment and a bit o' information in this small world, back in the day with the head of one of the richest families in the world, Baron de Rothschild.

Rothschild and Freshfields founders’ had links to slavery, papers reveal

By Carola Hoyos
Financial Times

Two of the biggest names in the City of London had previously undisclosed links to slavery in the British colonies, documents seen by the Financial Times have revealed.

Nathan Mayer Rothschild, the banking family’s 19th-century patriarch, and James William Freshfield, founder of Freshfields, the top City law firm, benefited financially from slavery, records from the National Archives show, even though both have often been portrayed as opponents of slavery.

Far from being a matter of distant history, slavery remains a highly contentious issue in the US, where Rothschild and Freshfields are both active.

Companies alleged to have links to past slave injustices have come under pressure to make restitution.

JPMorgan, the investment bank, set up a $5m scholarship fund for black students studying in Louisiana after apologising in 2005 for the company’s historic links to slavery.

CONTINUED (with registration, etc) ...

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7c0f5014-628c-11de-b1c9-00144feabdc0.html

Some really believe that one group of people is superior to others. That used to be reasons for war, now it's called being a Republican.

It goes a long, long way toward explaining how the Have-Mores become the Have-Most ALL the wealth.

[PeaceNikki]

15. There's a reason these states are early in the primary

Democrats in many of those states don't get to have much of a voice in the GE because they are shouted down by the GOP. It seems many here would prefer to shout them down in the primaries as well.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

23. Thanks so much!!! More Democratic voters per capita as well.

[PeaceNikki]

29. I live in a very red county in Wisconsin. We gained some infamy during a state Supreme Court race

a few years ago. It really opened my eyes to what it must be like in the south for Democrats. Even though we're very solid red, in raw numbers, we have the third most Democrats in the state (out of 72), right behind Milwaukee and Dane County. I take got sick of people trashing my county and writing off everyone in it. There are are a ton of great, hard working Democrats here and we deserve to be heard and acknowledged.

I stand with Democrats everywhere, but especially those of us who are often dismissed. And it's especially infuriating to be dismissed by our own party.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

35. Here's an even bigger issue: REDISTRICTING! It's one reason why Democrats got more votes but

still lost the House. Remember, Democrats got 1 million more votes than Republicans. That was due, primarily, to the redrawing of congressional district lines (thanks to Democrats who didn't show up in 2010).

So in the South, for example, there were more Democrats who were in densely-populated districts.

I also believe that Wisconsin is a great example of this. More Democrats in Madison, Green Bay and Milwaukee because there's a larger share of the population. But due to migratory patterns, shifts in demography, and redistricting, now Wisconsin has become a Purple State when it never was 10 to 20 years ago.

I still cannot comprehend how Russ Feingold lost the state in favor of an idiot like Ron Johnson. Or, how Walker could beat prominent Democrats four times (recalls and elections). But when thinking about the impact of demography and redistricting, it makes sense.

Keep your head up and hang in there.

[PeaceNikki]

36. Oh yeah. That killed us here, too. I almost gave up on politics when Russ lost.

He's my political idol, far and away. He's poised to get that seat back this fall, though.

We lost those elections because Democrats here do a piss poor job of showing up in any race outside of the GE. People here will claim fraud and call me names for making that statement, but it's a statistical fact. Also a fact is that the Democrats here in this red county do far better in showing up than those in Milwaukee and Dane. We need to work on that. Big time. And I know we're not the only ones with that very real problem.

[brer cat]

108. Thank you.

It isn't easy being blue in a red area, and to come to a democratic board only to be trashed because of what other voters do is an insult.

[CorkySt.Clair]

50. The OP would like NH to determine the nominee

NH, and states that are similar demographically.

[Octafish]

89. How do you know?

Did you ask me? For starters, I'd like:

Four national primaries, each containing a dozen or so states representing the nation's four geographic regions.

I'd also like to take private money out of politics: publicly financed campaigns, no private individual or corporate donors.

No more paid political advertising where "money is speech." All television stations and cable broadcasters should be required by law to provide free and equal air-time to all candidates during campaigns, especially the fringe ones.

That's a start.

As for whom I support in the primary: Yeah, it's Bernie Sanders. Does that make me your enemy?

[NCTraveler]

25. Love the openness and transparency currently taking place here. Nt

[DemocratSinceBirth]

28. Silly

BTW, Ted Kennedy gave him that plaque:


https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=861&dat=19730402&id=7-9HAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mYAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5353,262163&hl=en

[Octafish]

34. Thanks! I'll stand with Ted's version of what it means to be a Democrat.

The Kennedys stood up to Wallace and the racist wing. Remember Secret Service Agent Abraham Bolden? For some reason, his name and important story are down the Memory Hole.

Former U.S. Secret Service Agent Abraham BOLDEN was the first African American Secret Service agent to serve in the White House detail. He was literally hand-picked by President John F. Kennedy. Agent Abraham Bolden reported overt racism by his fellow agents and outright hostility toward the "n... loving president," quoting fellow Secret Service agents on the JFK detail.

In addition to enduring all manner of personal indignities, he was concerned at the lack of professionalism in those assigned to protect the president and reported his concerns. He was told, "OK. Thanks" by his superiors. When the problems weren't addressed, Bolden requested transfer back to the Secret Service office in Chicago.



Abraham Bolden speaks at JFK Lancer.



The story of a man who told the truth:

After 45 Years, a Civil Rights Hero Waits for Justice

Thom Hartmann
June 12, 2009 11:52 AM

A great miscarriage of justice has kept most Americas from learning about a Civil Rights pioneer who worked with President John F. Kennedy. But there is finally a way for citizens to not only right that wrong, but bring closure to the most tragic chapter of American presidential history.

After an outstanding career in law enforcement, Abraham Bolden was appointed by JFK to be the first African American presidential Secret Service agent, where he served with distinction. He was part of the Secret Service effort that prevented JFK's assassination in Chicago, three weeks before Dallas. But Bolden was framed by the Mafia and arrested on the very day he went to Washington to tell the Warren Commission staff about the Chicago attempt against JFK.

Bolden was sentenced to six years in prison, despite glaring problems with his prosecution. His arrest resulted from accusations by two criminals Bolden had sent to prison. In Bolden's first trial, an apparently biased judge told the jury that Bolden was guilty, even before they began their deliberations. Though granted a new trial because of that, the same problematic judge was assigned to oversee Bolden's second trial, which resulted in his conviction. Later, the main witness against Bolden admitted committing perjury against him. A key member of the prosecution even took the fifth when asked about the perjury. Yet Bolden's appeals were denied, and he had to serve hard time in prison, and today is considered a convicted felon.

After the release of four million pages of JFK assassination files in the 1990s, it became clear that Bolden -- and the official secrecy surrounding the Chicago attempt against JFK -- were due to National Security concerns about Cuba, that were unknown to Bolden, the press, Congress, and the public not just in 1963, but for the next four decades.

SNIP...

Abraham Bolden paid a heavy price for trying to tell the truth about events involving the man he was sworn to protect -- JFK -- that became mired in National Security concerns. Bolden still lives in Chicago, and has never given up trying to clear his name.

Will Abraham Bolden live to finally see the justice so long denied to him?

CONTINUED...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thom-hartmann/after-45-years-a-civil-ri_b_213834.html

After the assassination, he went to Washington on his own dime and reported what he saw to the Warren Commission. For his trouble -- and despite an exemplary record as a Brinks detective, Illinois State Trooper, and Secret Service agent -- Bolden was framed by the government using a paid informant's admitted perjury and spent a long time in prison. The government also drugged him and put him into psychiatric hospitals.His real crime was telling the truth.

Americans know the Truth: the country hasn't been the same since Nov. 22, 1963. President Kennedy kept the nation out of Vietnam and started toward the moon. Imagine what the New Frontier could have become for us today? Certainly would not be a time where "money trumps peace."

PS: President Kennedy ordered FBI and Pentagon to hire and promote African Americans to positions of authority.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

37. TLDR. You are moving the goal posts.

You posted a photo of Bill Clinton with Bush Pere and George Wallace to suggest he is like them or if not like them, in cahoots with them.

I posted a photo of Ted Kennedy going down to Alabama to give George Wallace an award. I would never wield that photo like you you wield the photo of Clinton with Bush Pere and George Wallace to suggest he is like them or in cahoots with them.

Lookie here. Here's Ted Kennedy giving Gerald Ford a "Profile In Courage" award for pardoning Richard Nixon:





These obscurantist parlor games are risible.

[Octafish]

40. Criticism as self-criticism?

Here's Ford moving the wounds on President Kennedy's back, in order to support the Warren Commission's lone gunman theory:

Gerald Ford's Terrible Fiction

Moving the Back Wound and the Single Bullet Theory

As a member of the Warren Commission that investigated the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Gerald R. Ford, then a Michigan congressman, suggested that the panel change its initial description of the bullet wound in Kennedy's back to place it higher up in his body. On another page he also added "hurriedly" to the description of how the assassin walked away from the scene. (click on images to inlarge)

Read Gerald Ford's correction to the Warren Commission Report Draft:



The change, critics said, may have been intended to support the controversial theory that a single bullet struck Kennedy from behind, exited his neck and then wounded Texas Gov. John Connally. The Warren Commission relied on it heavily in concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald was Kennedy's lone assassin, firing from the Texas School Book Depository, above and behind the president.

Ford's handwritten editing, revealed in newly disclosed papers kept by the commission's general counsel, was accepted with a slight change.

The final report said: "A bullet had entered the base of the back of his neck slightly to the right of his spine." A small change," said Ford on Wednesday, one intended to clarify meaning, not alter history.

"My changes had nothing to do with a conspiracy theory," he said.
"My changes were only an attempt to be more precise."

The initial draft of the report stated: "A bullet had entered his back at a point slightly above the shoulder to the right of the spine."

Ford wanted it to read:"A bullet had entered the back of his neck slightly to the right of the spine."

CONTINUED with photos and original documents...

http://www.jfklancer.com/Ford-Rankin.html



So, in order for the magic bullet to work, as the artist attempts to show in that diagram, Jerry Ford had to move the location of President Kennedy's wounds to line up. That's dishonest, at best.

In addition to serving on the Warren Commission, Gerald Ford would later become the first unelected president of the United States, remembered as the man who pardoned Nixon and kept all the dirty laundry out of court and the public eye. Odd how often he turned up to help the secret state at just the right time, huh, DemocratSinceBirth?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

52. You make interesting points.

My only point is that photos aren't dispositive.

[SidDithers]

49. I'm saving that picture...

You just won the thread.



Sid

[Octafish]

78. Said SidDithers of DU who finds the assassination of JFK a laughing matter.

Scroll through and see:

Treasure trove of JFK, LBJ documents declassified by CIA

Something SidDithers of DU never brings up: Nixon assigned a murderous Secret Service agent to protect Ted Kennedy.

The history is why I never denigrate people with labels, like "CT." It is a loaded term, designed to poison the person as a source of information and news. Here's the treasonous, murderous reality of the "Unindicted Co-Conspirator" of Watergate fame:

Nixon approved hiring a Secret Service man who said he'd 'kill on command' to guard Ted Kennedy. You can hear Nixon and Haldeman discuss it, about 40 minutes into the HBO documentary "Nixon by Nixon." While I had read the part of the transcript available years ago, and wrote about it on DU, almost no one I know has heard anything about it.

Ted Kennedy survived Richard Nixon's Plots

By Don Fulsom

In September 1972, Nixon’s continued political fear, personal loathing, and jealously of Kennedy led him to plant a spy in Kennedy’s Secret Service detail.

The mole Nixon selected for the Kennedy camp was already being groomed. He was a former agent from his Nixon’s vice presidential detail, Robert Newbrand—a man so loyal he once pledged he would do anything—even kill—for Nixon.

The President was most interested in learning about the Sen. Kennedy’s sex life. He wanted, more than anything, stated Haldeman in The Ends of Power, to “catch (Kennedy) in the sack with one of his babes.”

In a recently transcribed tape of a September 8, 1972 talk among the President and aides Bob Haldeman and Alexander Butterfield, Nixon asks whether Secret Service chief James Rowley would appoint Newbrand to head Kennedy’s detail:

Haldeman: He's to assign Newbrand.

President Nixon: Does he understand that he's to do that?

Butterfield: He's effectively already done it. And we have a full force assigned, 40 men.

Haldeman: I told them to put a big detail on him (unclear).

President Nixon: A big detail is correct. One that can cover him around the clock, every place he goes. (Laughter obscures mixed voices.)

President Nixon: Right. No, that's really true. He has got to have the same coverage that we give the others, because we're concerned about security and we will not assume the responsibility unless we're with him all the time.

Haldeman: And Amanda Burden (one of Kennedy’s alleged girlfriends) can't be trusted. (Unclear.) You never know what she might do. (Unclear.)

Haldeman then assures the President that Newbrand “will do anything that I tell him to … He really will. And he has come to me twice and absolutely, sincerely said, "With what you've done for me and what the President's done for me, I just want you to know, if you want someone killed, if you want anything else done, any way, any direction …"

President Nixon: The thing that I (unclear) is this: We just might get lucky and catch this son-of-a-bitch and ruin him for '76.

Haldeman: That's right.

President Nixon: He doesn't know what he's really getting into. We're going to cover him, and we are not going to take "no" for an answer. He can't say "no." The Kennedys are arrogant as hell with these Secret Service. He says, "Fine," and (Newbrand) should pick the detail, too.

Toward the end of this conversation, Nixon exclaims that Newbrand’s spying “(is) going to be fun,” and Haldeman responds: “Newbrand will just love it.”

Nixon also had a surveillance tip for Haldeman for his spy-to-be: “I want you to tell Newbrand if you will that (unclear) because he's a Catholic, sort of play it, he was for Jack Kennedy all the time. Play up to Kennedy, that "I'm a great admirer of Jack Kennedy." He's a member of the Holy Name Society. He wears a St. Christopher (unclear).” Haldeman laughs heartily at the President’s curious advice.

Despite the enthusiasm of Nixon and Haldeman, Newbrand apparently never produced anything of great value. When this particular round of Nixon’s spying on Kennedy was uncovered in 1997, The Washington Post quoted Butterfield as saying periodic reports on Kennedy's activities were delivered to Haldeman, but that Butterfield did not think any potentially damaging information was ever dug up.

SOURCE:

http://surftofind.com/tedkennedy

Why does that matter? The Warren Commission, and the nation's mass media, never heard about the CIA-Mafia plots to kill Castro until the Church Committee in 1975. You'd think that would be a matter of concern to all Americans, especially considering how then-vice president Nixon was head of the "White House Action Team" that contacted the Mafia for murder.

This is the sort of information citizens of a democracy shouldn't have to search ConsortiumNews or CounterPunch to learn. It should be taught in school, or at the least, discussed in the nation's mass media. I certainly think it's unfair for people -- especially those who consider themselves Democrats or democrats -- to label those interested in such subjects "Conspiracy Theorists" and whatever else the haters and the asshats of the emoticon brigade can think of.

So, WHY do you want Ted Kennedy's picture for?

[SidDithers]

79. That's the Don Fulsom who thought Nixon was gay, right?...

You sure do bring some of the most interesting people to DU, octafish.

Sid

[Octafish]

81. The same Don Fulsom who teaches government at American University.

Donald Fulsom

Adjunct Instructor
Department of Government

A longtime Washington journalist and author, Don Fulsom is an adjunct professor of government at American University, where he teaches “Watergate: A Constitutional Crisis.” In 2012, his book Nixon’s Darkest Secrets was published by Thomas Dunne Books.

As a correspondent for Crime Magazine, Fulsom has written some 20 investigative articles. He has also written for The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Esquire, Los Angeles, Regardie’s and Washington City Paper.

A White House correspondent during the Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton presidencies—and a UPI bureau chief in Washington for seven years—Fulsom is a graduate of Syracuse University, where he majored in History.

He has been interviewed about political events on CNN, C-SPAN, USA TODAY.COM, Voice of America, Fox News Channel, and the BBC. He’s talked about his new book on TV’s “Inside Edition” and on some 25 radio programs including “The Jim Bohannon Show;” Ian Punnett’s “Coast to Coast A.M.,” as well as on Sirius/XM.

In the spring of 2013, Fulsom will teach an honors course, “Who Killed JFK?” He has addressed the Kenney Political Union on “The Modern Presidency” and been a faculty advisor to ATV.

http://www.american.edu/spa/faculty/fulsom.cfm

You gonna forward that to your authoritarian chums, SidDithers of DU? Better question: What have you ever added to what we need to know about these crooked bastards like Nixon, SidDithers of DU?

[SidDithers]

87. So you promote Wayne Madsen...

who wrote conspiracy nonsense about Obama and gay bathhouses, and now a guy who speculates that Nixon was gay.

Have I got that right?

Sid

[Octafish]

88. Keep digging SidDithers of DU.

Show where I "promote Wayne Madsen."

[SidDithers]

90. OK...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=522719

Wayne Madsen is better than Corporate McPravda.

In fact, as an investigator and analyst, he's better than most, anywhere.

And, just in case anyone is interested, that post was made a year after Madsen was spreading lies about Obama and the Chicago gay community.

http://www.thenation.com/article/whats-behind-rights-obama-gay-conspiracy/

Or right-wing journalist Wayne Madsen, whose eponymous newsletter is the source on Obama’s visits to the bath house and who revealed how Obama used basketball pickup games to pick up men. Obama, Madsen says, had homosexual trysts with Representative Artur Davis, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Senate majority leader Bill Frist!

You sure do know how to pick 'em, octafish of DU.

Sid

[zappaman]

93. Oops.

[Octafish]

99. Tag Team.

What a coincidence.

[zappaman]

107. I can see why you'd rather reply to me since Sid just proved you wrong.

Will you be admitting your mistake?
Doubt it.

[Octafish]

113. ''Trolling is a art.'' -- SidDithers of DU to zappaman

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4484037

Why have you devoted years to following me?

[zappaman]

122. Lol!

[one_voice]

95. oops!

[Octafish]

103. Did you go to the link? Did you read the article? Tell the truth.

Oops.

[one_voice]

106. Here's how it went:

Sid said:

SidDithers (38,998 posts)
87. So you promote Wayne Madsen...

who wrote conspiracy nonsense about Obama and gay bathhouses, and now a guy who speculates that Nixon was gay.

Have I got that right?

You said:

Octafish (51,853 posts)
88. Keep digging SidDithers of DU.

Show where I "promote Wayne Madsen

Sid linked:

SidDithers (38,998 posts)
90. OK...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=522719

Wayne Madsen is better than Corporate McPravda.

In fact, as an investigator and analyst, he's better than most, anywhere.

Looks as if you're promoting him to me, as better than most investigators-your words.

Better than most=promoting. Oopsie!

Have a nice evening.

[tammywammy]

109. Heh

[Octafish]

115. The gang's all here.

What a tag team coincidence.

[tammywammy]

117. Yes, threads in GDP tend to get seen by many posters, even those you dislike.

[Octafish]

118. You have no idea who I like or don't like.

Please don't project. Didn't ask how you found that particular post in a 100 reply thread, either.

[tammywammy]

120. "Tag team" isn't usually a term of endearment

Even though you haven't asked, I read the thread which is how I "found" the post I responded to. I read a lot of threads on DU. I wasn't even going to respond, but I found something amusing and responded as such.

[Octafish]

114. Not quite the context, though.

You know what it's called when you don't tell the whole truth.

[zappaman]

123. Yes, what is it called when you don't tell the truth, Octafish of DU?

"Show where I "promote Wayne Madsen"

[Octafish]

97. LOL! That's saying he's better than the media who helped lie America into war.

Here's the articleand what I wrote:

Wayne Madsen is better than Corporate McPravda.

In fact, as an investigator and analyst, he's better than most, anywhere.

For example:

QUESTIONABLE TIES

Tracking bin Laden's money flow leads back to Midland, Texas

by Wayne Madsen
In These Times, Nov. 12, 2001

On September 24, President George W. Bush appeared at a press conference in the White House Rose Garden to announce a crackdown on the financial networks of terrorists and those who support them. “U.S. banks that have assets of these groups or individuals must freeze their accounts,” Bush declared. “And U.S. citizens or businesses are prohibited from doing business with them.”

But the president, who is now enjoying an astounding 92 percent approval rating, hasn’t always practiced what he is now preaching: Bush’s own businesses were once tied to financial figures in Saudi Arabia who currently support bin Laden.

In 1979, Bush’s first business, Arbusto Energy, obtained financing from James Bath, a Houstonian and close family friend. One of many investors, Bath gave Bush $50,000 for a 5 percent stake in Arbusto. At the time, Bath was the sole U.S. business representative for Salem bin Laden, head of the wealthy Saudi Arabian family and a brother (one of 17) to Osama bin Laden. It has long been suspected, but never proven, that the Arbusto money came directly from Salem bin Laden. In a statement issued shortly after the September 11 attacks, the White House vehemently denied the connection, insisting that Bath invested his own money, not Salem bin Laden’s, in Arbusto.

In conflicting statements, Bush at first denied ever knowing Bath, then acknowledged his stake in Arbusto and that he was aware Bath represented Saudi interests. In fact, Bath has extensive ties, both to the bin Laden family and major players in the scandal-ridden Bank of Commerce and Credit International (BCCI) who have gone on to fund Osama bin Laden. BCCI defrauded depositors of $10 billion in the ’80s in what has been called the “largest bank fraud in world financial history” by former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. During the ’80s, BCCI also acted as a main conduit for laundering money intended for clandestine CIA activities, ranging from financial support to the Afghan mujahedin to paying intermediaries in the Iran-Contra affair.

When Salem bin Laden died in 1988, powerful Saudi Arabian banker and BCCI principal Khalid bin Mahfouz inherited his interests in Houston. Bath ran a business for bin Mahfouz in Houston and joined a partnership with bin Mahfouz and Gaith Pharaon, BCCI’s frontman in Houston’s Main Bank.

CONTINUED...

http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/25/25/feature3.shtml

That's excellent reportage. It documents the connections between the family of Osama bin Laden and the Bush family. THat was done before Fahrenheit 911, before most people even heard of James R Bath.

What's more: If you could find something wrong with it, you would rather than trying to smear me by association with Madsen for something he wrote later, as quoted in The Nation.

Oh, in case anyone's interested: In These Times is a top liberal publication.

So, who's promoting what?

[treestar]

98. boom!

[Octafish]

104. Did you read the articles?

Do you know the context? I kind of doubt it, seeing the emoticon as your message.

[SunSeeker]

124. I love me some SidDithers.

[Octafish]

125. I appreciate how he seems to be working to get me banned.

I find that undemocratic.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022888069#post14

[amborin]

43. Great OP!

[AzDar]

48. Let the South vote... and then let's GET IT ON.

[MineralMan]

56. So, you dug out a photo of Bill Clinton, Governor of Arkansas,

at the national Governor's conference? Why? I see, he's drinking a Diet Pepsi, too. What might that signify, do you suppose?

Governors attend Governor's conferences. Sometimes they sit at tables with other Governors. I'm not sure what your photo is supposed to indicate to us. Can you explain what I should be taking from it?

[whatchamacallit]

57. And here you are...

The problem with manipulative swan songs, MM, is nobody buys it.

[MineralMan]

58. Yes, here I am. Pointing out deceptive

campaign strategies again. I'll ask you again: What are people supposed to take from that photo of Bill Clinton at a Governor's conference. What was your point in posting the photo?

See, I don't care what you are buying or not buying. I'm not selling anything, so it doesn't affect me.

I'm still on DU. I'm still posting as I see fit. So, yes, here I am. I'm still waiting for your answer to my question, too.

[whatchamacallit]

59. A bit scrambled?

I didn't post the picture cuz it's not my OP.

[MineralMan]

61. Dude...I replied to the OP about that photo,

and I'm referring to the OP when I mention the photo. I didn't post anything to you until you chimed in with a reply to me. That's my habit. If people post to me, I often reply to them. I also reply to OPs.

Nothing scrambled at all.

[whatchamacallit]

64. Eh... maybe you want to review the order these posts

or not.

[Octafish]

84. The guy who broke bread with that guy.

1. One ended "welfare as we know it" in Arkansas and later ended it nationally, as well as the New Deal protections preventing the scams that led to the Bankster Bailout of 2008.

2. Was involved in all manner of treason from Dealey Plaza to Vietnam to Watergate to BCCI to Iran-Contra to the S&L scams.

3. Proudly opposed President Kennedy who tried to integrate public universities in Alabama and later ran a racist campaign with Curtis LeMay, one of the generals who demonstrated insubordination to JFK.

I wouldn't sit at a table with any one of those three.

[Ellipsis]

60. I'm disappointed... that's the famous national governors shot... nothing new.

[Octafish]

83. Here's news for you: Those three men helped move America to the extreme right.

Economically. Politically. Internationally. Here's an example of something the two who served as president agreed on:

The author was a Chicago Boy helping implement the privatization scam for Pinochet, ITT and the globalist crowd:

President Clinton and the Chilean Model.

By José Piñera

Midnight at the House of Good and Evil

"It is 12:30 at night, and Bill Clinton asks me and Dottie: 'What do you know about the Chilean social-security system?'” recounted Richard Lamm, the three-term former governor of Colorado. It was March 1995, and Lamm and his wife were staying that weekend in the Lincoln Bedroom of the White House.

I read about this surprising midnight conversation in an article by Jonathan Alter (Newsweek, May 13, 1996), as I was waiting at Dulles International Airport for a flight to Europe. The article also said that early the next morning, before he left to go jogging, President Bill Clinton arranged for a special report about the Chilean reform produced by his staff to be slipped under Lamm's door.

That news piqued my interest, so as soon as I came back to the United States, I went to visit Richard Lamm. I wanted to know the exact circumstances in which the president of the world’s superpower engages a fellow former governor in a Saturday night exchange about the system I had implemented 15 years earlier.

Lamn and I shared a coffee on the terrace of his house in Denver. He not only was the most genial host to this curious Chilean, but he also proved to be deeply motivated by the issues surrounding aging and the future of America. So we had an engaging conversation. At the conclusion, I ventured to ask him for a copy of the report that Clinton had given him. He agreed to give it to me on the condition that I do not make it public while Clinton was president. He also gave me a copy of the handwritten note on White House stationery, dated 3-21-95, which accompanied the report slipped under his door. It read:

Dick,
Sorry I missed you this morning.
It was great to have you and Dottie here.
Here's the stuff on Chile I mentioned.
Best,
Bill.

Three months before that Clinton-Lamm conversation about the Chilean system, I had a long lunch in Santiago with journalist Joe Klein of Newsweek magazine. A few weeks afterwards, he wrote a compelling article entitled,[font color="green"] "If Chile can do it...couldn´t North America privatize its social-security system?" [/font color]He concluded by stating that "the Chilean system is perhaps the first significant social-policy idea to emanate from the Southern Hemisphere." (Newsweek, December 12, 1994).

I have reasons to think that probably this piece got Clinton’s attention and, given his passion for policy issues, he became a quasi expert on Chile’s Social Security reform. Clinton was familiar with Klein, as the journalist covered the 1992 presidential race and went on anonymously to write the bestseller Primary Colors, a thinly-veiled account of Clinton’s campaign.

“The mother of all reforms”

While studying for a Masters and a Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University, I became enamored with America’s unique experiment in liberty and limited government. In 1835 Alexis de Tocqueville wrote the first volume of Democracy in America hoping that many of the salutary aspects of American society might be exported to his native France. I dreamed with exporting them to my native Chile.

So, upon finishing my Ph.D. in 1974 and while fully enjoying my position as a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University and a professor at Boston University, I took on the most difficult decision in my life: to go back to help my country rebuild its destroyed economy and democracy along the lines of the principles and institutions created in America by the Founding Fathers. Soon after I became Secretary of Labor and Social Security, and in 1980 I was able to create a fully funded system of personal retirement accounts. Historian Niall Ferguson has stated that this reform was “the most profound challenge to the welfare state in a generation. Thatcher and Reagan came later. The backlash against welfare started in Chile.”

But while de Tocqueville’s 1835 treatment contained largely effusive praise of American government, the second volume of Democracy in America, published five years later, strikes a more cautionary tone. He warned that “the American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money.” In fact at some point during the 20th century, the culture of self reliance and individual responsibility that had made America a great and free nation was diluted by the creation of [font color="green"] “an Entitlement State,”[/font color] reminiscent of the increasingly failed European welfare state. What America needed was a return to basics, to the founding tenets of limited government and personal responsibility.

[font color="green"]In a way, the principles America helped export so successfully to Chile through a group of free market economists needed to be reaffirmed through an emblematic reform. I felt that the Chilean solution to the impending Social Security crisis could be applied in the USA.[/font color]

CONTINUED...

http://www.josepinera.org/articles/articles_clinton_chilean_model.htm

Democratic solutions work because they are Democratic, not capitalist.

[Ellipsis]

139. I don't disagree with any of that.

[Lizzie Poppet]

62. Yep: early Southern primaries = conservative momentum.

And the DNC powers-that-be wouldn't have it any other way...

[jwirr]

74. Whenever I read something like John Lewis statement about

meeting the Clintons in the Civil Rights movement I think of this picture. Wonder if George Wallace was there to? Bill and Hillary Clinton were southern politicians who created the Third Way to infiltrate the old party like the tea party has the Rs.

[McCamy Taylor]

75. Huh? The Democratic Party base in the South is Black, Gay, Latino, Union.

I am massively offended that you are trying to lump the Little Party that Could and Can----i.e. Southern Democrats---with the likes of Strom Thurman and Rick Perry.

You win! Congrats! Enjoy your facepalm.

[olddots]

77. look at me I'm at the big kids table

[MrWendel]

80. Love...

the moving goal posts all of the sudden. lol

[Vote2016]

94. I can't wait for the primary to move from Dixie to states that vote for Democrats!

[Octafish]

119. The results may be very different, especially with an honest news media.

From December, when many people were just starting to think about the campaign:

Report: ABC World News Tonight Has Devoted 81 Minutes To Trump, One Minute To Sanders

-- http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/12/11/abc-world-news-tonight-has-devoted-less-than-on/207428

[yardwork]

96. So you believe that all people are equal except Southerners?

You believe in equality but you don't believe that Southern Democrats deserve equal rights?

You guys are so transparent. If Bernie had won South Carolina, you all would be singing the south's praises.

[Octafish]

102. I can see how you got that from what I wrote. Sorry.

Hosting most of the early primaries in the states that sided with the Confederacy gives extraordinary power to the conservatives in both parties.

(UNDOCTORED AP PHOTO THAT SEEMS TO ANGER SOME PEOPLE, FOR SOME REASON)

As a Democrat who believes all people are equal under law and entitled to life, liberty and happiness, I find that fact most undemocratic.

So, I'm surprised at your post as I never wrote that a vote from a Southern Democrat was worth less or didn't deserve equal rights.

My point, simply put: Super Tuesday benefits conservative candidates.

Expanded: Concentrating the campaign's early primaries in southern states -- many of which were part of the Confederacy -- gives these conservative states an undue influence in the nominating campaign.

I'm sorry if I made you feel less than my equal, which I believe you to be, under law and in the eyes of God.

[brooklynite]

100. If it makes you feel better, Clinton will win MA and MN as well...

[Octafish]

105. No, it doesn't. I understand what it means for my country.

Of course, for the wealthy, they're in for some more more continued good times.

The Clintons and Wall Street: 24 Years of Enriching Each Other

by RICHARD W. BEHAN
CounterPunch, FEBRUARY 26, 2016

EXCERPT...

President Clinton appointed Robert Rubin, the Co-chairman of Goldman-Sachs, as his Treasury Secretary in January of 1995. Mr. Rubin went to work fashioning two laws of stupendous value to the New York banks, but President Clinton’s first term of office ended before they could be enacted.

Perhaps sensing the need to assure Clinton’s re-election, Wall Street saw fit nearly to triple its campaign contributions—from $11.17 million in 1992 to $28.37 million in 1996.

Continued nicely in office, Secretary Rubin triumphed with the passage of the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, which repealed the Glass-Steagall legislation of 1933. Now it was legal once more for financial institutions to mix commercial and investment banking; in essence, to use depositors’ funds for trading the bank’s own account in the stock market.

A year later President Clinton signed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act. This law ended the regulation of derivatives, freeing Wall Street to manufacture mortgage-backed securities and sell them without restriction; these complex derivatives would power the “subprime” swindle soon to commence.

Meanwhile, in Clinton’s Justice Department a deputy Attorney General named Eric Holder in 1999 authored a memo entitled “Bringing Criminal Charges Against Corporations.” It became the Holder Doctrine, and after the financial crisis of 2008 it would be of incalculable value to the Wall Street banks. On leaving the Administration Mr. Holder joined Covington Burling, the largest law firm in Washington, D.C.. Among its clients were Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, UBS, Bank of New York Mellon, Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.

CONTINUED...

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/26/the-clintons-and-wall-street-24-years-of-enriching-each-other/

The nation needs a president who represents the interests of ALL Americans, not just the wealthy.

Democrats used to stand for that, too, but, you know. Things changed.

[LexVegas]

101. There it is. nt

[Tarc]

121. Funny how this was the road Obama took to the nomination, and there's no caterwauling about that

[monicaangela]

129. Magnificant Octafish!

You never cease to amaze me.

[Freddie Stubbs]

134. Horseshit! President Obama beat Hillary in SC, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Virginia, Mississippi,

and NC.

[Octafish]

135. President Obama said he's really like a moderate Republican from the 1980s.

Obama says he'd be seen as moderate Republican in 1980s

By Ian Swanson
The Hill - 12/14/12 11:49 AM EST

President Obama said his economic policies are "so mainstream" he'd be considered a moderate Republican in the 1980s.

In a Thursday interview with a Miami-based local television station, Obama said he thinks few people believe he wants to impose socialism on the country.

"The truth of the matter is that my policies are so mainstream that if I had set the same policies that I had back in the 1980s, I would be considered a moderate Republican," he told Noticias Univision 23 in a White House interview.
"I mean, what I believe in is a tax system that is fair," he continued. "I don't think government can solve every problem. I think that we should make sure that we're helping young people go to school. We should make sure that our government is building good roads and bridges and hospitals and airports so that we have a good infrastructure.

"I do believe that it makes sense that everyone in America, as rich as this country is, shouldn't go bankrupt because someone gets sick, so the things I believe in are essentially the same things your viewers believe in," Obama said.

CONTINUED...

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/272957-obama-says-his-economic-policies-so-mainstream-hed-be-seen-as-moderate-republican-in-1980s

[LongTomH]

137. Both, repeat, BOTH Clintons have been instrumental in moving the Democratic Party to the right!

Hillary Clinton's Betrayal of the American Left. There are some interesting charts showing how Hillary, and other (cough) mainstream Democrats have positioned themselves consistently Right-of-Center in recent campaigns.

Hillary is just continuing what her husband began in the 90s:

These graphs show the rightward shift that occurred following the realignment of the south which resulted in the loss of America’s left-wing party. That said, with the exception of 2016 Hillary, they indicate a pendulum shift the other way—which means that the American people are much more moderate than the current GOP, and even more centrist than the right wing Hillary Clinton is in 2016. And so, can we allay fears of Bernie’s “radicalism”?

The tendency to surrender the center, and shift to the right in response to GOP pull is a serious problem for the Democratic Party that shows it never got over the loss of the south. This in turn has disheartened liberal voters which has fueled continued rightward pandering in a vicious cycle.

Indeed, this is how FDR’s Democratic Party became the weak mess it is today. Under the leadership of New Democrat President Bill Clinton the party handed the GOP control over the national dialogue, and by extension, the narrative, ensuring every liberal candidate would face an uphill battle to sell his or her message over the next decade. John Kerry is among the many casualties of what can only be described as cannibalism within the party. Responding to the weakened state, Democrats have capitulated over and over on issue after issue.

[Octafish]

138. DLC was like a Death Ray 2 Democracy

Money is speech. Money trumps peace. Money is fungible. And it's made good people go bad since the beginning of coin.

Yet, with all the dough, there are very few voices. I want to know how and why the Democrats have become a Party bereft of new leaders. Seems the Clinton-Obama-Clinton II parallels the long Nixon-Reagan-Bush-Bush II multi decades where there are only a star or two and the rest of the cast are supporting roles. The result is an "Empty Bench" that produced foil former Gov. Martin O'Malley. Few thought Bernie would officially join the Party and run. Thankfully, he did, for Democracy's sake.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid don't seem like the charismatic sorts that draw a national following. The numbers shared on DU show people affiliated with either major party have reached historic lows. We need to get the message out: The Liberal Democratic message that built the middle class, that beat economic depression, that won World War II, that went to the moon. It's easy story to tell and sell and remember -- in only it gets told.

I like it when I bring up the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine and am IMMEDIATELY reminded about Cable TV. I explain that it's more about content, system wide, and am reminded it wouldn't apply to Cable TV. I try to remind them how important it is to present opposing points of view, such as campaign finance reform or electronic voting, but I'm told I have to like it, that the repeal is here to stay.

It's like what Orwell said regarding Newspeak:

The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to the devotees of Ingsoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible...To give a single example. The word free still existed in Newspeak, but it could only be used in such statements as ‘This dog is free from lice’ or ‘This field is free from weeds’. It could not be used in its old sense of ‘politically free’ or ‘intellectually free’ since political and intellectual freedom no longer existed even as concepts, and were therefore of necessity nameless. Quite apart from the suppression of definitely heretical words, reduction of vocabulary was regarded as an end in itself, and no word that could be dispensed with was allowed to survive. Newspeak was designed not to extend but to diminish the range of thought, and this purpose was indirectly assisted by cutting the choice of words down to a minimum. -- http://orwell.ru/library/novels/1984/english/en_app

PS: Thank you for those charts and info to Political Compass, LongTomH! Seeing Mike Gravel's name gave me a shot of pure Democratic Can-Do Energy.