December 26, 2016

Things certainly could be worse than the present 4-4 split.

Using the 'logic' of the Republicans, I think it reasonable to leave that Court seat vacant until the White House is occupied by someone who actually won the popular vote. After all, the American people deserve a voice...

Confirming anyone who Prince Trumperdink nominates would almost certainly tilt the Court in bad directions.

-app

December 22, 2016

No, this was law enforcement protecting public safety.

The OK Highway Patrol cops who chased and neutralized this criminal showed incredible bravery. This situation is in no way comparable to Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, or any of the other awful and/or highly questionable cases of police abuse in the recent past. Calling it an "action movie in the sticks" unnecessarily belittles very crucial law enforcement work, and is a scummy thing to say about real people facing very real dangers while fulfilling their oaths to protect their communities.

-app

December 20, 2016

How about rescheduling cannabis to Schedule V right now Mr. President?

I know that some people will view my response as a non sequitur, but Obama and Democrats might likely find some good talent willing to step forward if their freedom was not under such constant threat due to prohibition. Harder to be an activist 'under the gun' that the War on (some) Drugs brings to our communities.

It's nice that Obama wants to do some "ground up building" in his next job, but the man has been President for eight years now, and has three weeks+ more in office. Does he plan to do something worthwhile and in his power right now, or are words of hope and change all we are going to get even at this late date?

Make a few big, positive changes now, and people will come flocking to the Democratic Party over the next four years.

-app

December 16, 2016

Kos does the 2016 Post-Mortem exactly wrong.

Daily Kos Founder Gleefully Celebrates Coal Miners Losing Health Insurance



I agree with the FAIR reporter (Adam Johnson) here. Punching downward should never be a part of any Democratic action, post-mortem or otherwise. The Appalachian coal communities are facing water supplies as polluted, economic prospects as degraded, and educational opportunities as lacking as any other oppressed community in the nation: black, white, or otherwise. Maybe we need simplistic sound bites and brash charisma to reach parts of Appalachia, because nuanced policy gets drowned out. That's on us: until better critical thinking skills are part of what every middle schooler learns, we need both policy and charisma.

A few more good paragraphs at source: http://fair.org/home/daily-kos-founder-gleefully-celebrates-coal-miners-losing-health-insurance/

-app

December 6, 2016

You may want to rethink your concept of politics.

Have you heard that statement that "War is politics by other means?" Well, that means that politics is also war by other means. Expecting the KGB, or the GOP, or anyone else in power to behave by some gentleman's agreement is just not going to happen.

The presidency will be taken by the candidate with the right combination of charisma, resources, stump speech, allies, surrogates, networks, promises, and strategies, both overt and covert. This is the way it always has been, and I don't foresee it changing any time soon.

Clinton focused a lot on the resources, surrogates (though I found many of them such as Wasserman-Shulz etc. to be off-putting), and allies (though too often only the heads of organizations like unions and Planned Parenthood, while actual members enthusiasm waned). That was not enough. Her charisma was lacking, her stump speeches were more a panoply of policies than an articulation of overall vision, her networks did not reach effectively into the South or Midwest (etc.), her promises failed to GOTV, and her strategies were flawed. Trump just did better, KGB as a covert, shady, nefarious ally/network very much included.

Had Clinton done better with allies, networks, charisma, speeches, and more, the race would not even have been close. I pretty much agree with all you've said about the race being stolen in selected locations, the KGB playing media games, and that much of the GOP are criminals. Plus, the electoral college is bullshit. But a candidate's mission is to succeed in the real world: potholes, criminals, and all. That was true for the Primary (whether one believes the DNC was corrupt/unfair/biased against Bernie or not), and it was true in the General Election. Hillary used her elbows plenty during the Primary, and then bizarrely chose to run the most conventional of GE campaigns during this most unconventional of moments. Similar, biased/unfair factors will be in-play during 2018, 2020, and beyond. We can't be satisifed with just over 50%: it will be stolen by the powerful whenever the sides are that close. We need a groundswell of populism behind us, or we need to hang it up and let another Party take the reins.

Progressives and Democrats have got to play political strategy like a general would plan and impement war strategy. And the goal of a war is to win. That means winning against thieves, winning against slick propagandists, and winning against criminals. I expect and plan for nothing less, and so should you.

-app