William Rivers Pitt, Truthout

[YOHABLO]

https://truthout.org/articles/why-is-everyone-running-for-president-its-a-billion-dollar-industry/


best excerpt:

> Running for president has become an industry of its own, and a multibillion dollar one at that. “Across America, the business of politics now channels up to $10 billion a year,” report Dave Helling and Scott Canon for the Kansas City Star, “much of it pocketed by the pros who conduct the polls, craft the ads, buy the airtime, spin the news releases.”

The kind of bottomless spending orgy that typifies modern campaigning makes its own gravy, and is one hell of an incentive for political consultants who have the ear of high-profile politicians: Listen to me, Senator Frackeverything, I know there are 94 other candidates already running, but you can win! I just need $10 million for the ad buy to get you started. Trust me, this will be great! What big-ego politician doesn’t want to hear that? Plus, as stated, the candidates get to keep what they raise for use in future campaigns.

[brooklynite]

1. I stopped reading at "Truthout"

Purist principles are nice, but I won't encourage candidates to retroactively disarm.

[mcar]

4. I stopped reading at William Rivers Pitt

[Bleacher Creature]

14. That's what I was going to say!!

[mcar]

22. Crops up now and again

But no thanks.

[Kahuna7]

25. Yes!

[Gothmog]

42. Same here

[ismnotwasm]

116. Yeh

He rises occasionally here like a squishy zombie. Ick

[oldsoftie]

16. HA!

[brush]

112. Wasn't this guy banned? Why is this here?

[Hekate]

130. LOL. Reliable kicks if nothing else: how soon will this OP hit 200 replies, half of them reviling WP

...and at least 25% (maybe more) mourning his departure?

[brush]

131. Nice of you to make your feelings about him clear...oh wait. You didn't.

[Hekate]

132. No I did not, did I? You asked why would anyone bring his writings here, and I...

...having known him from a young pup and knowing DU history, gave my opinion.

I didn't check, but how close are we to 200 replies now?

[JonLP24]

144. What is wrong with independent reporting?

I think the columnist backs Warren.


petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

[obnoxiousdrunk]

3. Not this

shit again.

[stonecutter357]

5. lol William Rivers Pitt !

[obamanut2012]

7. samesies

[Cha]

6. Pitt.. who infamously wrote the OP that

President Obama was a POSUCS.. "POSUsedCarSalesman" for those who weren't there.

[obamanut2012]

9. And told his followers not to vote for Hillary in 2016

[Cha]

17. OMG.. I do think

I read that.

He's the one who had an "orgy" spewing hate on President Obama.

[obamanut2012]

100. Yup -- he and some friends denied it on here

But I saw it with my own eyes -- sooooooo many posts.

[rusty quoin]

15. I didn't know this. I haven't read his stuff in a long time and feel no reason to ever read it.

[Cha]

18. Thank You.

[mcar]

23. Yep

We really don't need this here.

[nini]

24. yep

He supported Stein.. you know where he can go.

[Cha]

55. Because, of course, he voted for Stein's LIES..

Brainwashed and Gaslit Lies like he himself propagated.

[bobbieinok]

32. So sad. He was a major force for good in early DU . Wrote important stuff on .Iraq War

[mr_lebowski]

37. I remember. I miss THAT WRP, frankly. He was good (nt)

[NBachers]

47. He used to be a contender

[Cha]

56. Yes, and then he turned

"progressive" profiteer.

I remember what he did to you, too.. I'm that old.

[Eliot Rosewater]

77. Make NO mistake a LARGE group wants desperately to make sure NO Democrat sits in the WH

again and they are NOT all republicans.

Our very lives are at stake because of these FUCKERS

[JonLP24]

145. William Pitt backs Warren

he backed Bernie Sanders last time. He is a good person though lost his temper a couple times.

[Hekate]

133. That was a choice meltdown, and ugly as sin. None who witnessed it will ever forget.

Hiya, Cha.

[Cha]

136. I was devasted as

I checked who all REC that Gaslit Vile Smear of our President Obama.

We finally got a Democratic President and what happens.. ? the Profiteering "left" goes to work on dragging him down. Fuck those who pushed the Lies of jill stein.. lookin' at you, Pitt & Sirota, Grey, and Turner..

Link to tweet

Second, a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters weren’t big fans of Clinton. So Stein campaigning on the idea that Clinton and Trump were similar made it harder for Clinton to win over those voters — even if Sanders voters didn’t vote for Stein, they may have stayed home out of disgust.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/jill-stein-democratic-spoiler-or-scapegoat/

Hey.. Aloha, Hekate.. had a flashback..

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Isn't this the writer who called President Obama

"a piece of shit used car salesman"?



I am not interested in a damned thing he has to say.

[obamanut2012]

10. Yes

[NurseJackie]

11. He's a purple prose hack.

Total loser... And Obama hater.

[cwydro]

60. "Writer?" Not so much.

[betsuni]

62. Just one example from this article:

"... girding their candidacy."

[cwydro]

74. Omg.

Glad I didn’t read it!

[GP6971]

12. He can just

shut up. I lost all respect for him in 2016.

[still_one]

13. Ah gee, William Rivers PITT, that POS USED CAR SALESMAN, who refused to vote for

the Democratic nominee 2016. As he said to President Obama, I say right back at ya PITT

The excerpt the OP shows leaves out the parts where PITT is up to is old negative innuendos about the DNC, Joe Biden, etc.

[still_one]

19. Talk about "hailstorm of shame", that is the encapsulation of PITT

[Cha]

20. He earned every

drop with his gaslighting bullshit.

[still_one]

21. Oh yes, he suredoes

[sheshe2]

36. There was the story about a homeless DUer that was threatened. nt

[still_one]

44. He isn't a nice person

[sheshe2]

45. no. nt

[obamanut2012]

101. He threatened to kill her

He also threatened other DUers over the years, including saying some pretty nasty sexist and homophobic stuff.

[sheshe2]

111. Yep, he did.

And was adored here, worshiped.

[betsuni]

26. Conspiracy theories about the DNC, claims everyone is corrupted by money except one guy.

[Autumn]

27. His article The Ocean is Coming opened my eyes to climate change

Last edited Sat May 18, 2019, 10:57 AM - Edit history (2)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10024576897

I dig it out and read it sometimes.

Another good one

https://truthout.org/articles/springtime-in-the-new-normal-of-climate-disruption/

https://truthout.org/articles/hear-the-song-of-the-earth-while-you-still-can/

[Uncle Joe]

35. 302 recs here at D.U. not bad, 303 now.

That was a good read.

I always liked and respected Bill Moyers as well.

[Autumn]

39. Yes. Love Bill Bill Moyers and that piece of Will's was the finest I've ever seen posted.

[NNadir]

113. Reading this guy talking about addressing climate change, is rather like listening to...

Trump on how to address racism.

One thing that's missing from the conversation about climate change on the far left, every bit as much on as on the far right, is a healthy dollop of things called "engineering" and "science."

The science is clear, but the engineering to address it is unbelievably challenging and, no, electric cars, solar cells, and wind turbines won't cut it, and half a century of glib handwaving about so called "renewable energy" has only made things get worse faster.

Pitt doesn't know anything about science, and the fact that anyone takes him even remotely seriously is one of the main reasons that we hit 415.64 ppm of the dangerous fossil fuel waste carbon dioxide in the planetary atmosphere as measured at the Mauna Loa carbon dioxide observatory yesterday.

I hate to say this, but there are many people in our party who basically don't understand shit from shinola about climate change and the only way to address it. What we think will work and constantly chant about, hasn't worked, isn't working and won't work.

If one is listening to people like Pitt, one doesn't get it and won't get it.

[Autumn]

124. Obviously you are the expert and understand all. I look forward to learning from your wisdom

on climate change. But not really. And I don't hate to say that at all.

[NNadir]

125. I am in fact an expert.

I am a scientist and I have 30 years experience in the primary scientific literature on my own time in consideration of the issue.

My journal here reflects commentary on hundreds of scientific papers I have read and reviewed.

Listen all you want to rote pablum, but the facts have nothing to do with your personal views on what does and does not constitute expertise.

Carbon dioxide concentrations are rising at the fastest rate ever observed, and we have now seen increases of over 25 ppm in just ten years.

An intelligent person might be inclined therefore to question if what conventional self declared "wisdom" says is actually wise.

Experience on this issue teaches me that most people would rather mutter lazily.

As a scientist, I am certainly aware of the proclivity of people to make judgements on topics they actually know nothing about.

Have a nice weekend.

[Hekate]

134. Good reply, NNadir. Applause from here. nt

[betsuni]

138. ...

[Hortensis]

147. In 1965 Lyndon Johnson warned congress about global warming.

Can't remember if I heard then, but within 4 years when I graduated high school I understood it was happening. There wasn't the big denial yet. In a physical geography class in college it was covered extensively. What that professor taught us would happen if we didn't act has since unfolded. By that point organized denial had already become a serious political problem.

What people in science have witnessed and put up with as many in our nation adopt pre- Enlightenment mentality must be especially incredible. I'm not talking about lazy muttering, , but thinking of a couple who just yesterday blew off any consideration of believing an expert regarding fish counts in a local river. There were 3 fishermen at the table, including one of them. These people live fish decline. But it was as if they'd developed a basic frame of belief that experts were politically corrupt and shouldn't be listened to. Because they were experts. Stopped that line of conversation on a dime, don't remember what we segued to. But the distrust is enormous.

[NNadir]

148. I grew up in a time when science and engineering were highly respected in this country.

I thought those times would last forever; it seemed impossible that we would enter an age like the one we're entering now.

It's not just Trump either. He may be the problem reified, the celebration of ignorance by the ignorant. Much of what we see on the left is equally as bad. I use this analogy a lot: On the far left, there are many people who are the equivalent of a physician who correctly diagnoses a cancer and then suggests that the cure will be visiting a shaman to get talismans.

Right now, for example, seven million people die every year from air pollution.

Here is the most recent full report from the Global Burden of Disease Report, a survey of all causes of death and disability from environmental and lifestyle risks: Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015 (Lancet 2016; 388: 1659–724)

One can easily locate in this open sourced document compiled by an international consortium of medical and scientific professionals how many people die from causes related to air pollution, particulates, ozone, etc.

This means that every decade more people die from air pollution than were killed by World War II, combat deaths, bombing, genocide, starvation, and suppression of civilian resistance.

Yet I hear all the time, right here at DU, that nuclear power is "too dangerous" even though in the more than half a century of operations nuclear power plants, the big bogeymen at Fukushima and Chernobyl included, have not killed as many people as will die in the next 24 hours from air pollution.

One does not have to have access to a scientific library (as I do) to read this open sourced paper either, co-authored by one of the world's leading climate scientists, Jim Hansen showing that nuclear power saves lives:

Prevented Mortality and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Historical and Projected Nuclear Power (Pushker A. Kharecha* and James E. Hansen Environ. Sci. Technol., 2013, 47 (9), pp 4889–4895)

The argument among many of us on the left, myself and many others excluded, is that all other forms of energy can kill at will in vast numbers because nuclear power is imperfect. Nuclear power need not be perfect to be vastly superior to every thing else; it only needs to be vastly superior to everything else, which it is.

Some of my unpopularity derives from the fact that I am not a nice person, because I don't suffer fools easily, but some of it derives from the fact that scientific facts are not all that much more popular on the left than on the right.

I am always amused to state that I was banned at Daily Kos for telling the truth, pointing directly at Hansen's irrefutable (and now highly cited) work. One of the fun things over there was that everyone used to fall over themselves praising the science of Jim Hansen until he said something that they didn't like, whereupon he became a pariah. How any of this differs from Republican rhetoric escapes me.

I am old enough to remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, when as a child, I thought the end of the world would take place before my school day let out. I understand the visceral fear of radiation that hovers over many of the people of my generation, but the irony is that by fearing radiation rather than utilizing it, we may achieve the end of the world, albeit a slower death, than the testosterone laced terror unleashed by Khrushchev and Kennedy when I was a kid.

I believe it is just on the edge of technical feasibility to address climate change, but not when we have assholes like Williams Rivers Pitt influencing the conversation.

[Hortensis]

152. Me too, and thanks for that link.

I've bookmarked it.

As for influences like this Pitt guy...? The internet we thought was going to be a great advance for understanding has become a giant new threat to understanding. But still a leap for mankind. Someday, after we've stopped the spreading of toxic lies to deceive whole populations, the Pitts spreading their free-speech tracts on internet corners, and folk on political forums , should mostly just be a normal manifestation of a healthy liberal democracy.

Regarding our conversation, though, we really need some new vocabulary! Scientists studying personality and political personality have found that those inclined to fanaticism on both the "far" left and right are a lot like each other in important ways, including joint rejection of whatever mainstream thought might be at the moment and the irrationality and dishonesty required to maintain uber-righteous beliefs in the face of a contradictory world.

Whereas the beliefs and goals in the relatively rational mainstream of humanity, liberal and conservative, intersect at many common points. But that's being obscured by lack of accurate definitions. How can political dynamics be understood if people who are different in some important ways but alike in critical ways are falsely separated by labels that ignore commonality and instead firmly categorized with people who reject commonality with anyone but themselves?

The division between the more reason-based thought of majorities and the zealotry-driven reactions of those prone to fanaticism is being displayed absurdly clearly on this ridiculous thread.

[NNadir]

155. Like all technologies, the internet can be a powerful force for good, and a powerful force for evil.

The electronic library I have compiled, including tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of scientific papers I've downloaded over the years, would not exist without the internet to search (mostly Google Scholar) and the electronic means of storing it. If paper, it would have involved the destruction of a small forest, and easily overwhelmed my home. (As my wife often reminds me, there's already way too many books in this house.) On my tiny thumb drive I can carry vast libraries from all over the world. It's a startling thing, a future little imagined by all but the most sophisticated thinkers of my childhood.

It is interesting to note that Richard Feynman, one of the aforementioned sophisticated thinkers, predicted this powerful future in a wonderful lecture in 1959, There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom.

He saw this as a force for good, but in this case he was only partially right to be sure.

I feel that the knowledge I have collected in this way has changed my life, and I feel I have used the internet wisely. As a father, I worked very hard to make my sons appreciate the importance of critical thinking about all information and I note that they have given me great pride in their capacity to utilize the internet for good, teaching themselves many things, programming, languages, art and music.

But yes, I am well aware of the potential for evil, and the international rise of fascism here and abroad is definitely a result of the potential for evil for the internet.

Pitt is an ass to be sure, but he's not the worst ass on the internet.

I am very happy with the field of Democratic Candidates, and most of them are wonderful and I hope we have a long conversation as we decide upon a nominee. Only one or two of these candidates represent the Pitt wing of the party, willing to take their ball and go home unless they get their way.

He's an evil and stupid man, but he is only the very tip of the iceberg.

I find it amusing as well as depressing that so many Sanders supporters raise the issue of climate change, citing morons like Pitt. Up until a few years ago, Vermont was the only State in the Union that did not utilize dangerous fossil fuels to generate electricity. Emissions in Vermont have as a result of policies endorsed by Sanders, emissions have risen 18%.

Sanders is a pure anti-nuke.

But I fully credit what you say about language as well as what you say about extremes.

I am an old man. I am deeply ashamed of what my generation is leaving for future generations. We're a generation of consumerist junk worshiping cranks mostly, at least in the Western world. But there have been dark ages before, brought on by the insouciance, indifference, and incomprehension of generations like mine, and still the world has survived. I am very grateful for the fine young people I have had the pleasure to meet through my sons. One hopes they will be a real greatest generation and rise above this ignorance and at least partially undo what we have done. It is technically feasible, but whether it is politically and socially feasible is another matter entirely. We will need great leaders, another Lincoln perhaps, willing to risk his political future to do what must be done.

Thanks for your comment. It's a pleasure to speak to you.

[Hortensis]

165. I'm beginning to genuinely appreciate the need to employ

nuclear energy to combat global warming, a "powerhouse" of a weapon, in addition to other means of sustainable energy production. Unfortunately, the problems reactors could pose have become very, very small potatoes compared to those global warming does.

A nuclear plant a half hour from our winter place in Florida was shut down a couple years ago, and I was happy with that, "oh, good!" -- but only briefly, because it caused me to read up on it. The for-now cheaper natural gas energy replacing it produces significantly higher emissions and amounts to a real step backwards when it comes to the climate crisis.

A pleasure speaking with you also, also reading about your wonderful son. I'm checking out your journal.

[Kurt V.]

153. would you say that stopping the climate crisis isn't going to happen? That's how i feel.

even nuclear power (which im all in) won't get to scale quick enough.

[NNadir]

161. I believe that it is technically feasible to address climate change but that it represents...

...an incredibly vast engineering challenge, which can only be addressed with massive political support.

This is not here yet, but one should not lose hope that this will change. We can either give up, or do what we can.

In this country we built 100 nuclear reactors in less than 20 years while providing some of the lowest electricity prices in the industrialized world.

Careful consideration of advances in materials science leads me to believe that it may be possible, technically feasible at least, to repeat this success. It's a long shot, but it's possible.

I have discussed these topics, albeit on a highly technical level, in my journal here.

[Kurt V.]

162. i appreciate the reply. i work at a science and technology university. (staff not faculty) .

we were getting research grants from westinghouse for a few years until their troubles so the program never got going. a shame really. Thanks for your work

[NNadir]

163. Thank you for your kind words. n/t

[Hekate]

135. I think you got burned

[Autumn]

150. An anonymous person on a message board ranting that no one is as

brilliant as they are on climate change is not a burn. You think wrong. If I had stated facts about climate change and that person corrected me that might have been a burn, I didn't do that. What I did was state than an article opened my eyes to climate change. Which it did. That article of Pitts did more to highlight climate change than an unhinged rant. What an expert could have done was pick out any misconception from the article and correct it. That's not what your "expert" did.

[Owl]

156. +1

[NNadir]

160. Well, what one considers as an "unhinged rant" says considerably more about the accuser than...

Last edited Sat May 18, 2019, 04:37 PM - Edit history (2)

...anyone making this Trump style insult may seek to address.

I find it rather typical of the sort that there are a set of people who believe that smileys constitute wit. They all display the same intellectual level, which is rather low.

In general, I add these sorts to my "ignore" list, but in this case it would preclude continuing an intelligent conversation I'm having with some intelligent people here in this particular thread mocking Pitt, the mindless fool.

If one were able to read in such a way as to comprehend, one would understand that a statement defining expertise is not the same as a Trumpian "No one is as brilliant as me," but I'll leave that particular misreading of my statement to speak for itself.

If one actually reads and thinks critically, one knows what is worth reading and what is not. My opinion anyone who is reading Pitt to gain knowledge will only retain the poor level of knowledge they already display. Pitt is sugar for late stage diabetics experiencing neurological symptoms, pure rot.

As for me, my journal here speaks for itself, with references to hundreds of scientific papers. It's on a level that giggly smileys will not address. I do understand entirely that these papers, with which I have struggled a long time, are way beyond a certain class of people.

The reading involved was difficult and it is not my responsibility to waste my time to address the pixilated ravings of a moron like Pitt on a subject he knows nothing about, nor it necessary for me to address the level of people who need him to "inform" them about climate change, which has been a massive topic of highly sophisticated analysis of smart people, a set of people to which Pitt does not belong. I freely admit that I learn continuously from people who are smarter than I am, whereas Pitt, like Trump, displays an intellectual arrogance that is at best ridiculous, and at worst, highly toxic and shows he, like Trump, is clearly incompetent to learn anything at all.

If one wishes to be educated, one needs to think critically. It's clearly beyond many people.

When my conversation here with intelligent people is over, I will indeed expand my ignore list.

Have a pleasant weekend.

[Owl]

157. Will's articles were excellent.

[Autumn]

159. Yes they are, the last one I added has a link to Dahr Jamail's

lecture for the Lannan Foundation. That was really something.

[sheshe2]

28. This does not belong on DU.

They called Obama a POSUCS. Sadly they were not banned for that. They were, to most DUers disgust, recommend by hundreds here. Our Democratic President called a POSUCS was applauded at DU,

They were finally banned by posting that they did NOT vote for our Democratic nominee. That is a HUUUGE no no here. So was calling the President a POS. Go figure.

[Grasswire2]

48. what "they" are you talking about? nt

[sheshe2]

51. Post removed the responses are there.

Check it out on DU.

The answers are there for you if you wish to find them. If you don't. Then don't.

[George II]

29. Is that William "FFR" Pitt we're quoting here?

[Autumn]

31. Yes it is. OPs are posted written by people that have been banned for homophobia and antisemitism.

I don't believe there is a rule against it. At least I haven't found one.

[George II]

33. And racism, I believe he was the guy who called Obama a "piece of shit used car salesman" (his word)

[Autumn]

34. Yes he did. Not Will's finest moment I'm afraid. nt

[mr_lebowski]

40. If there's anything I associate with White Dudes ... it's Used Car Salesmen ...

Where do you get 'racism' from that particular insult?

Just askin

[Skittles]

76. it's total bullshit

the absolute crap said about William makes me sick

[obamanut2012]

102. Everything said about him is true

None of this is "absolute crap." It is what he said and what he did, period.

[Skittles]

109. BS BS BS

[curlyred]

115. I'm with you Skittles

[Skittles]

75. JUST STOP THIS BS

WILLIAM IS NOT RACIST

that comment was made in utter anger and frustration over a medical situation regarding his wife

but you already know that, right?

[BannonsLiver]

80. Ah well that makes it's okay then.

[mcar]

86. That is BS

He used a situation that he caused as an excuse to lash out at President Obama.

To reiterate:

Pitt's wife has a chronic medical condition. The family relied on the Affordable Care Act for health insurance. They moved from a major metro area, where her medications were covered by the insurance, to a rural part of another state without even checking to see if the health insurance options there covered the expensive meds.

When he found out they didn't, he pitched his fit on DU. I, and several others, gave him advice on how to solve the problem, i.e., he contacted the medication manufacturer who agreed to provide the meds to his wife at no cost.

The situation was resolved, thanks to DUers, in a few hours. The foul OP was up for weeks and got hundreds of recs and responses from other DUers of the time who lived to trash PBO.

A few weeks - yes, weeks - later, Pitt deleted the OP and, as was his MO, apologized.

[Skittles]

87. he used his wife as an excuse???

DONE HERE

[mcar]

91. Please do not put words into my mouth

What I said was quite clear. Here, I'll repeat:

He used a situation that he caused as an excuse to lash out at President Obama.

[obamanut2012]

105. I have no ifea why you act like people are lying and making things up about Pitt

Everything is true -- he said and did all of these horrible things, including telling people not to vote for Hillary, and HIMSELF SAYING HE VOTED FOR JILL STEIN, and calling President Obama a piece of shit.

[George II]

88. There are no excuses for calling Barack Obama a "piece of shit used car salesman"....

....the comment was made for whatever reason.

So why isn't he defending himself here today? Oh, to quote you, "you already know that, right?"

[Skittles]

120. done here

[obamanut2012]

103. lulz

[Owl]

158. Exactly.

[sheshe2]

41. Posts stating that one would not vote for the Democratic nomionee...

I believe their is a rule for that.

[SidDithers]

30. Dude...

Sid

[George II]

38. Is there a point to this? Since it's an opinion piece should it not be in "Editorials...."?

[wasupaloopa]

43. Pitt was the first person to welcome me to DU when I first joined after W's selection

[Grasswire2]

50. Will has a very lively FB presence with 3,557 friends and 2,273 followers.

Some of our best DU-ers are there.

[Cha]

57. Don't care.. Some of our Best DUers..

can't stand that Gaslighting, Jill Stein Voting, "POS".

RW sites were celebrating Pitt calling President Obama POSUCS.. he was doing their work for them.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10024734785#top

[BannonsLiver]

81. Probably there bashing Democrats

[Cha]

95. That's his niche.

[obamanut2012]

106. he and they are

[Demsrule86]

67. Who cares. My kid has twice that number .

[PETRUS]

89. What was your screen name back then?

"wasupaloopa" joined in 2017

[wasupaloopa]

114. I can't remember it might have been scamp

We had another discussion board before DU and freerepublic came along.

It was open to anyone so since it was a Democratic board we got many wingnuts attacking us.

I had a good reputation for pissing them off. They thought they posted my address but got the city wrong.

Another DUer from that time told me about DU. He was part of our old Dem board.

His name was something like umiphori I don’t remember how to spell it. He was living in Hawaii.

I got pissed off with DU and dropped my account. Later I rejoined using my work email. I retired and when the site was hacked in 2016 I could not use that password so I had to rejoin again. That is why it looks like I am new.


That is the reason I use wasupaloopa because during the primary I was a Hillary supporter and want to be remembered as upaloopa. I was hunted by Bernie Bots as most of us were and spent 4 months banned from DU.

We had our own Hillary sight since so many of us could not post on DU.

[Hekate]

139. Opihimoimoi.

I used to love talking to him, but auwe, I heard he died.

[Jose Garcia]

126. I wonder why he doesn't post on DU anymore

[wasupaloopa]

128. I think he had disagreements during the primaries

[Hekate]

137. It's hard to reconcile the early encounters with a young high school teacher with the guy who...

...flipped out more than once here in a really ugly manner. Pitt's part of my early DU memories, too -- but. Well, he long ago took on another persona, and I'm sorry he did.

[EveHammond13]

46. get the money out

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

49. So much for a Pitt article gaining traction on DU lol

For sure he as some serious issues .

[Cha]

58. Yeah, times have sure changed on DU..

for the Better!

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

59. That's for sure Cha !

Do you think Pitt figures in time people forget ? I gotta wonder if he's asking his followers to re post him for visibility.

[Cha]

61. He should know

DUers have long memories.. we have a lot of the data right here at our fingertips.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4734785

I don't know.. but every time something of Pitt's gets posted here, that I've seen, it's not very well received.. turns out more of us don't like President Obama being called a "POSUCS" or those who thought the liar, jill stein, was anything but a RF.

[revmclaren]

72. Wow??? Thank you for that reminder. I had forgotten about that post.

I feel a bit slimy after reading some of the responses from DUers trying to defend Pitts POSUCS Op but it was a needed reminder. What's really disturbing though is not the responses from long FFRed and PPRed DU members, but the supportive responses from DU members who are STILL posting at DU.

Everyone here should read through the post at your link. It's very explanatory about some current negative posts here lately.

Again...Thank you shedding some light.

Bookmarking...








ONLY!!! 2019 and beyond.

[Cha]

96. You're..

, rev!

Mahalo for all you do..

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

94. He got nailed at his end on DU

big time. He became hostile and threatening over response posts to his mother. The man has serious issues. On his departure posting he referenced Nancy Sinatra's boots are made for walking . Such a grand exit lol. That's out of memory. I think truth out org's following has taken a plunge and he needs visibility in effort to build up a following . That's just a thought.

[obamanut2012]

107. He and his buddies actually attacked me on his POSUCS post

When I called him out on calling President Obama a piece of shit.

I saw his posts on FB saying not to vote for HRC, and that he voted for Stein.

I have seen the posts where he literally threatened to kill a homeless and mentally ill DU woman. I saw sexist and homophobic posts by him.

Now this OP -- same old same old from Pitt.

[Scurrilous]

83. What ever happened to ProSense?

One of my favorite posters, raked over the coals daily for supporting Democrats.

[mcar]

92. I remember ProSense

She usually had thoughtful OPs and responses. She, like many other good DUers and good Democrats, are no longer around these parts.

[Cha]

97. I don't know but

I miss her so much!

[NYMinute]

52. oh no ... not truthout nt

[Honeycombe8]

53. They get to keep the money? No wonder so many unknowns are running!

Mystery solved.

[quickesst]

54. William Rivers the Pitts

I'll pass, but I will scroll down and watch it rain. Hope you got an umbrella.

[betsuni]

64. Who likes to "piss off the liberals"?

[BannonsLiver]

82. Yeah apparently people don't like him.

I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact he threatened a homeless person with violence, slurred President Obama and urged people to vote for Stein or Trump in 2016?

He predates me but those seem like solid reasons to dislike him, beyond his hackneyed purple prose writing style and terrible, poorly thought out opinions..

[Cha]

110. Touche'! Poor "Unhinged"

Will Pitt.

[Cha]

108. Actually Pitt is the "Unhinged" one..

With his orgy of spews calling President Obama a POSUCS.. advocating voting for the Fucking Liar Jill Stein.

And, Pitt's biggest "UNHINGED" was when he wrote a death threat to a DU member in a PM.. that Unhinged got him banned the first time.

[obamanut2012]

121. And brought back several times

Because of having friends high up here.

[Tipperary]

142. Why in hell did he threaten another poster?

What was that about?

[Cha]

143. I just did some research and

found something that I think gives a clear explanation.

I'm going to send it to you in a PM, though.. OK?

Aloha, Tipperrary..

[Tipperary]

149. Thank you!

[crazytown]

65. The Ann Coulter of the Left

Sanctimonious dung heap of hubris

[Skittles]

84. your tag name is very fitting

[crazytown]

85. danke schoen

In a previous life you might have known me as denem.

[katmondoo]

66. That is the same line the phone callers use to make your day miserable from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM

[MrsCoffee]

68. Who?

[KitSileya]

69. I won't bother reading Pitt's excrement

He's an awful person, who harassed a homeless person, used vile language about President Obama, and voted for Jill Stein. That he denigrates the candidates of the Democratic party is par for the course.

Even I, who's not a Senator Sanders supporter as most of you know, wouldn't bash Senator Sanders for writing a book based on his candidacy and becoming a millionaire. I do fault him for his reaction when asked about it, but I wouldn't accuse him of grifting, like I assume Pitt did if he's denigrating the candidates of the Dem party of running just to enrich themselves.

[NurseJackie]

70. Pitt's garbage should not be posted at DU.

He's an awful person, who harassed a homeless person, used vile language about President Obama, and voted for Jill Stein. That he denigrates the candidates of the Democratic party is par for the course.

Yes he is. Pitt's garbage should not be posted at DU.

[Ron Green]

71. Thanks for posting. Shows what a shoot-the-messenger echo chamber

this place has become.

[mountain grammy]

73. Sad but oh so true..

I thought we all sort of agreed about the obscene amount of money in politics and how corrosive and corrupting it is. It's shredded democracy.

Even here on DU, we crow about the amount of money each candidate raises.

[Cha]

99. Will Pitt "shot himself".. that's why so many don't want

to hear shit from him..

He fucking pushed for the Liar jill stein for potus..

He also got banned the first time on DU for threatening a DUer with death in a PM.

And, you may think it's ok that he called President Obama a POS Used Car Salesman and always posted gaslighting shite about him.. but the majority of DUers Don't.

[JonLP24]

146. I agree

about the obscene money in politics.

[Gore1FL]

90. The 2016 mentality around here never really left.

DU has been unwelcoming since the purity tests were implemented by the usual people who are drawn to threads like this.

I, too, am disappointed with the behavior you point out.

[Cha]

98. No.. you're wrong.. Will Pitt

"shot" himself with calling our President Obama a POS Used car salesman.

Pitt pushed the ratfucker jill stein.

He also got banned the first time on DU for threatening a DUer with death in a PM.

[BannonsLiver]

78. Pitt is a typical purple prose hack

The whole piece is a conspiracy theory against the Junior Senator from Vermont. Yeah, the DNC had Beto and Castro run to block Bernie in Texas. Then they got Bennett to block him in Colorado. Then they got Harris to block him in CA.

Suuuuuuuure they did.

It’s sad to see anyone here take his dreck seriously.

[R B Garr]

93. Thank you for saving me the trouble of clicking on

that link! I don’t want to sully my browser with more dumbed down trash about who is out to get BS.

[Cha]

117. Omg...

another giant whine fest from Pitt.

[namahage]

118. Considering, as well, that Castro and Harris both declared

before Bernie the idea that the DNC ran them to block him is laughable.

[SouthernProgressive]

79. I see what he did there.

The “Why so many?” question has the wheels spinning within the minds of some of my less-trusting compatriots, many of whom, for full disclosure, also happen to be supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). They strongly suspect the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Death Star of “centrist” Democratic Party ambition, is so deeply freaked out by the popularity of Sen. Sanders — and, to some extent, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts — that they have deployed an old-school tactic to thwart him known as the “Favorite Son Strategy.”

This ploy involves getting high-profile politicians from big-delegate states to run for the same office, usually in order to deny a different candidate an avenue to victory. On spec, my nervous compatriots have a case: Sen. Kamala Harris is running out of California, Senator Bennet out of Colorado, Senator Gillibrand out of New York (with New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio also contemplating a run), Senator Booker out of New Jersey, and former Rep. O’Rourke out of Texas.

If Sanders wins those primaries, he has a good shot at the nomination. If he loses them, he’s all but done. Having so many “Favorite Son/Daughter” candidates definitely harms his chances. The DNC screwed him once before, and the practice itself is hardly without precedent.

So it's a game of big money rigged against one of the people who has made millions off of his Presidential run and funneled millions more to pollsters with family connections.

This is a hit piece on Democrats.

Sad because it there really is a good article to be written about the campaign industry. Seems this author isn't up to the job.

[Hekate]

140. Holy crap, that is just unhinged

[stonecutter357]

104. lol William Rivers Pitt ain't nothing like his daddy !

[namahage]

119. There sure is money to be made in running for President.

The kind of bottomless spending orgy that typifies modern campaigning makes its own gravy, and is one hell of an incentive for political consultants who have the ear of high-profile politicians:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sanders-is-biggest-spender-of-2016-so-far--generating-millions-for-consultants/2016/04/28/600170ce-0cf2-11e6-a6b6-2e6de3695b0e_story.html?utm_term=.6d483d80d10e

The small-dollar fundraising juggernaut that has kept Bernie Sanders’s insurgent White House bid afloat far longer than anticipated has generated another unexpected impact: a financial windfall for his team of Washington consultants.

By the end of March, the self-described democratic socialist senator from Vermont had spent nearly $166 million on his campaign — more than any other 2016 presidential contender, including rival Hillary Clinton. More than $91 million went to a small group of admakers and media buyers who produced a swarm of commercials and placed them on television, radio and online, according to a Washington Post analysis of Federal Election Commission reports.

While the vast majority of that money was passed along to television stations and websites to pay for the advertising, millions in fees were kept by the companies, The Post calculated. While it is impossible to determine precisely how much the top consultants have earned, FEC filings indicate the top three media firms have reaped payments of seven figures.

Plus, as stated, the candidates get to keep what they raise for use in future campaigns.

https://publicintegrity.org/federal-politics/elections/presidential-profiles-2020/9-things-to-know-about-bernie-sanders/

Sanders enters the 2020 presidential campaign with significant cash resources on hand. His U.S. Senate campaign committee was flush with $9.1 million from his Senate campaign committee going into 2019, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission. His separate “Bernie 2016” presidential campaign committee, meanwhile, still had almost $4.7 million going into 2019, FEC records show. By law, Sanders may take money from both accounts to use toward his presidential bid.

[dsc]

122. I know full well his problem with Buttigieg and will leave it at that.

[cwydro]

151. What's his problem with Buttigieg?

Dare I ask?

[dsc]

164. He famously posted that he felt marriage equality was about a licence to have butt sex

[NurseJackie]

166. Pitt said that? Seriously?

Good grief!

[MineralMan]

123. William Rivers Pitt is no longer on DU.

That's just fine with me. I see your post, but am ignoring this thread the old fashioned way.

Pitt flamed his way right off this website. I'm not inclined to read anything he writes, frankly.

[Buzz cook]

127. plagiarize one guy on the Bartcop forum.

And its all down hill from there.

I remember when everyone admired William Rivers Pitt. He was writing brilliant anti-Bush pieces.
He posted to the Bartcop form which at that time had some high level writers such as Atrios (now at Eschaton and Digby at Hullabaloo. IIRC WRP plagiarized a poster called Faunotter. Sorry can't remember what the subject was.

After that he was unwelcome at the Bartcop forum and as time passed he lost his credibility other places suxh a here at DU.

[Politicub]

129. Somewhere a needle scratched on a record.

William Rivers Pitt. LOL. That's a blast from the past.

On edit: I didn't even address the article. We have to play with the cards we are dealt. And in America, elections are big and expensive. Maybe this will change one day. I hope it does. I hope Twitter and Facebook sink, too, and are replaced with a social network that spreads harmony and joy.

It all boils down to: Don't hate the player; hate the game.

[Hekate]

141. Wow, times have changed more than a bit. I thought only 1/2 of the posts would revile Pitt's memory

The number's gotten higher over time.

[brush]

154. Why are you posting this guy's work? He was banned from DU for attacking Obama...

and advising people not to vote for Hillary.