All Together Now (Part Two)

[H2O Man]

Late last night, I found myself thinking of the question that Beatle John posed to Paul on an early morning phone call: “What if Ringo was being followed by a yellow submarine?” Within a matter of weeks, this resulted in the song “Yellow Submarine,” which eventually resulted in the movie of the same title. The above clip is from the end of that film.

Today, of course, we know that the germ of Blue Meanie has undergone several mutations, and so we are confronted with the dangerous strain best identified as the Orange Meanie. We know that it spreads rapidly throughout crowds of stupid people. Social scientists have determined that the spread of the disease does not require intimate contact, although sharing the same 12-pack of Budweiser increases the risk of transmission. The Orange Meanie virus rapidly attacks the frontal lobes of its victims, making logical though difficult if not impossible. Sadly, evidence indicates those suffering from this anti-social disease become addicted to Fox News.

Due to the very real dangers this virus poses, I do not think we have time to keep its victims in our thoughts and prayers. It is too late for that. Instead, we have to focus upon not allowing this disease to spread and destroy our society. There are two steps that we need to keep in mind. Let's look at them.

The other night, I watched MSNBC's Chris Hayes telling his audience not to fall for the republican effort to portray Trump as unbeatable in 2020. As Mr. Hayes correctly noted, virtually every one of our current candidates kick's Trump's fat, flabby ass in every poll. More, by examining those times when Trump's popularity dropped in polls over the last three years, we identify the issues our party needs to campaign against him.

By staying intensely focused upon these issues, we are able to safely take that second step. Think about this: when is an asymptomatic carrier of a disease – such as the Russian internet virus that attacked the 2016 election – most dangerous? The simple but certain answer is when it finds divisions within the body of the Democratic Party. It attaches itself to any and every division it finds, knowing that in a certain percentage, it finds a host that allows it to divide the party. Male versus female. Skin color. Progressive versus liberal. Sexual orientation.

It is not a coincidence that the very issue the Orange Meanies hope to divide us on, are the very issues that unite their ranks. Think about that.

Do not allow the Orange Meanies to define reality. Instead, remain focused on crushing Donald Trump and his band of merry fools in November. If you favor a specific candidate, than advocate for him/her by identifying their strengths. Avoid insulting those who support another candidate, no matter how tempting it is to take a cheap shot at them. Stop saying that any of our candidates “can't” beat Trump, for as Joe Biden recently noted, we could run Mickey Mouse and defeat him.

The path to victory was mapped out in the movie “Yellow Submarine.”

All together now,
H2O Man

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Recommended!

So, who's our Jeremy Hillary Boob?

[H2O Man]

2. Thank you!

I am thinking of trying out for that role. Putting together some of my posts here for my application.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. Not for nothing, I went to giphy.com looking for a Jeremy Hillary Boob gif...

...and, um, nope, did NOT see him at ALL! Saw a lot of other gifs though.

[H2O Man]

4. Jeremy

will be remembered as a greater being in history than Trump. Jeremy was never impeached.

[redqueen]

5. This made me choked up.

My mom introduced me to the Beatles. This reminds me of her.

[H2O Man]

8. I remember

watching them on Ed Sullivan. I began collecting every Beatles record, along with every newspaper & magazine article I could find. My collection of Beatles (and post-Beatles) music continues today.

I introduced all of my children to the Beatles. When my older daughter was five, she decided that she wanted to marry Paul, based upon early film of him. When she saw me watching a later film of him, she asked who it was? She was furious that he had become an older gentleman, and insisted that she would only marry the young version!

[redqueen]

11. LOL, my mom did the same with us :)

My sister wanted to marry John Lennon

[H2O Man]

14. In grade school,

the "band" I was in was called "The Beatles." We had everything but talent. In English class, we had to read our favorite poem in front of our classmates. I read one that John wrote at age 17. Holy crow! All evening, parents were calling our house to complain! Luckily, no one was seriously injured from hearing John's poem.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

6. union

Strange how the mind works. Your first three words, "late last night", triggered, "the other day", which is a phrase from Arlo Guthrie's "Motorcycle Song" which led me to Woody Guthrie which leads to the union.

We have to be our union.

[H2O Man]

9. Well, I had

visted my friend Ray (earlier in the day), and there was only one thing Ray did say ......

To paraphrase Gandhi, united we are the ocean; divided, we become individual drops that evaporate.

[PETRUS]

7. I'm with ya.

Yesterday I wrote an OP (here: https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287508927) in which I discussed the idea of "electability" and some of the challenges we're facing not only in the election, but going forward (even if we win). I have definite opinions about candidates and policies, but in my conclusion I stated the following: "I respect everyone's right to make up their own minds for their own reasons about their preferred candidate in the primary, and I'll endeavor to show that respect when discussing politics here and elsewhere." I hope I can hold myself to that standard.

[H2O Man]

10. Thanks!

I like your message in that OP/thread.

At least one of the responses illustrates the thinking that helps divide us. Each one of our candidates is electable. So long as everyone votes for the nominee, we win. Likewise, if people fail to vote for our nominee, we risk a second Trump theft of an election. It is that simple.

[PETRUS]

12. I also think all of our candidates are electable.

I wasn't sure what to make of every response to my essay, not that there were many - I think maybe a lot of people who clicked had a "TL;DR" reaction.

Thanks as always for your posts and your generous spirit.

[H2O Man]

13. I think so, too.

Each and every one is superior to Trump.

When I read posts saying "people won't vote for (fill in various names)," I view it as mere projection. Nothing more, nothing less.

[PETRUS]

15. They all poll within a couple of points of each other vs. Trump

If we had a set of parallel universes and could run a different candidate in each one, I don't think the outcomes would be the same - I just don't think we can know what will happen in advance.

My face to face conversations about this topic have an entirely different character than online conversations (with some exceptions, like the conversation you and I are having here).

[H2O Man]

16. A heck of a lot

can -- and will -- happen between now and November's elections. This will include more episodes of Trump's corruption in action, more leaks from the White House, some outstanding journalism, and investigations in the House. As both the bad and good unfold, it will hopefully help identify the best candidate and the VP for the ticket, and solidify the party.

[PETRUS]

17. I agree.

Although my impression based on observing things for the last few years is that further (Trump) scandals won't necessarily have much of an impact. Maybe I'm wrong? I do think that something like a recession, or a significant terrorist attack on US soil, or possibly even something like a major natural disaster could change the calculus - for good or ill.

Honestly, I've never been as uncertain about the future as I have recently. There are thing I've been worrying about for years - ecological overshoot, increasing inequality, global tensions, the expansion of state (and private!) surveillance/security capabilities (we've got a turnkey totalitarian apparatus in place right now), to list a few. And I've always believed that it's possible for things to tilt very quickly, but I've never thought such an event was just around the corner. These last few years feel like teetering on edge. Am I overreacting?

[H2O Man]

18. My younger son

frequently says to me, "Hey, Old Man. I thought your generation was going to straighten this shit out. But it seems worse. What happened?" I wish I had the answer.

I remember when Bush the Elder was in office. He invited Chief Waterman's sister, an Onondaga Clan Mother, for a private meeting at the White House. He wanted to know if there was a secret way to fix the environment. As if Native Americans had some magic. He said things were far worse than the public knew. She told him there are no secrets, only common sense.

Around that same time, she met with Gorbachev, about the same general topic. My impression was that he recognized that common sense approaches were required. But, of course, he was removed from power.

My brother works at a large university. He has lunch frequently with the scientists studying the environment. They've told him that things are far beyond the point where minor adjustments will help avoid major, extremely damaging things begin/continue to take place. The rise in sea levels, for example, will place many of the most populated regions of the US and Central America under water. Major migrations will take place, creating disruptions we can't imagine. (This, of course, is the reason Trump wants to build the wall.)

People will need to change. That includes changing our relationship wil the earth, and with each other. We will do better, I suspect, if we re-charge the batteries of our constitutional democracy. Going back to a feudal state , even with high technology, is a much less attractive option. I don't think you are overreacting at all.

[PETRUS]

21. Thank you.

That's quite a story (about Chief Waterman's sister). And I think you're right about "step one" (i.e. re-charging the batteries of our constitutional democracy).

In spite of my pessimism about current circumstances, I have a great deal of faith in ordinary people. Most everyone I've met and dealt with - including people with whom I have sharp political disagreements - are decent and reasonable most of the time. There's a book on my to read list that I haven't yet gotten to (I manage to complete between one and two volumes a week, but that's not a rapid enough pace to prevent my "want to read" list from getting longer and longer): "A Paradise Built in Hell," by Rebecca Solnit. Unless I've been misinformed about its contents, the author looks at places struck by some kind of disaster extreme enough to break down the normal chains of supply as well as systems of order and authority and finds that, by and large, people come together to support one another.

There's a tremendous amount of power in the world, and it's distributed quite unevenly. If science is correct about the way we're stressing natural systems and the likely consequences, more and more people will feel both desperate and threatened, and I expect those with power will wield it, which could get very ugly. But I also think there will be examples of "paradise built in hell." My instincts are that the more egalitarian and democratic society is, the more elegant and humane our response to catastrophe will be.

[H2O Man]

19. Extra!

On Tuesday, I had posted “All Together Now” (version one), but mistakenly placed it on DU:GD. It was correctly locked, since it should have been posted on DU:GDP. I wrote it when the polls were closing in New Hampshire, before the results were reported. I tried, among other things, say something positive about each candidate. Below is that message:



Joe Biden: I first became aware of him in the mid-1970s. My extended family self-identified as “Kennedy Democrats.” An aunt and uncle from Scranton, both university professors, were keen on any Democrat that originally lived in Scranton. They told me that Biden was likely to become “the next RFK.” Biden is a good man, with great experience. Much of the world would be relieved to see him as president.

Michael Bloomberg: Back in the period where town of Sidney supervisor Bob McCarthy threatened to force a Sufi community to destroy its cemetery, I helped in organizing a united front to get him and his mutant tea party buddies out of office. Bloomberg sent representatives there, to watch how we accomplished that feat. His people were particularly impressed with my nephew. Though he had beliefs and practices that I disagreed with in the past, I recognize that people can change. Robert Kennedy is a great example.

Pete Buttigieg: Young, and creating excitement. He has military experience, and was in the Office pf Naval Intelligence. He is talking about our future in an understandable, intelligent way. He is a strong campaigner.

Amy Klobuchar: This lady has a lot of positives. Her record is impressive. She has shown the ability to work across the aisle to get results. She's popular in a region we need to win in November. I'd love to see her make Trump cry in a debate.

Bernie Sanders: I first met Bernie in 1983, when he was a mayor. His values and positions have been consistent since then. He has wide appeal among the “under 40” voters, and represents a significant segment of our party.

Tom Steyer: He has come across as a nice guy in the debates. He has an interesting history. His group NextGenAmerica has done good work on the environment, immigration, education, and health care. While fund-raising for President Obama in 2012, he expressed his strong opposition to the Keystone pipeline.

Elizabeth Warren: My great aunts were FDR Democrats, and union activists. Although I never met them, I do know a lot about them. Several times, I've found myself remembering them, when I listen to Senator Warren speak. I know that they'd love Elizabeth Warren, just as my daughters do.

Andrew Yang: Some time back, my youngest son stopped in to see me. I could see that he was excited. He said, “Patrick, I've got a guy you really have to listen to!” We watched Andrew talk about automation taking jobs, and how that impacted the 2016 elections. My son likes that Andrew Yang has helped create jobs, and understands what employment will be like in the future. I like how he communicates on important issues in a logical way that is easy to understand.

[PETRUS]

22. +1

[Scurrilous]

20. K&R