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merrily
merrily's Journal
merrily's Journal
July 23, 2015
1, "What the hell is an avowed Democratic Socialist anyway?" was the title of one of my OP's
I never knew a thing about Democratic Socialists until I did a bit of research about Democratic Socialists for an OP. As soon as I posted the OP, I tiptoed into DU's progressive socialist group and asked if they would please comment and some of them did -- great comments, too.
I learned that it is a movement, not a party and that it believes on working (a) through the Democratic Party and (b) within the basic framework of capitalism. I learned that a DUer is one of the founders of the Democratic Socialists of America. I learned that the New Deal, the Fair Deal and the Great Society can probably be described as Democratic Socialist-type domestic programs. FDR, Truman and LBJ collectively held the White House for 26 years and, perhaps as importantly or more so, FDR was considered responsible for Democrats: controlling one or both Houses of Congress for a very long time.
If you want to learn more:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12806844 (please do not skip the great replies)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Deal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Society
Okay, but how can I claim most Americans are Democratic Socialists? Well, someone kept electing FDR until he died. Someone elected Harry Truman despite two challenges from within his own party (one of them because he had integrated the military); someone made Social Security the "third rail" of US politics, someone loves them some Medicare, unemployment insurance, etc. And.......
2, "Let's talk polls" was the title of another of my OPs. It was about polling on issues, not Presidential polling.
When polled on issue after issue, without labeling the issues as Democratic, or Republican, or conservative or liberal, the majority of USians poll leftist, sometimes by majorities as great as 80%. These are not polls of Democrats, mind you, but polls of USians of all political views.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12777036
And people wonder how "an avowed Democratic Socialist" whom few outside of Vermont had heard of has been filling convention centers on a shoestring budget?
Please see also, my post in the Bernie Sanders Group about this post, aka my merrily meta post. http://www.democraticunderground.com/128028964#post2
Just realized: Two of my prior OPs show that most Americans are Democratic Socialists.
http://www.dsausa.org/1, "What the hell is an avowed Democratic Socialist anyway?" was the title of one of my OP's
I never knew a thing about Democratic Socialists until I did a bit of research about Democratic Socialists for an OP. As soon as I posted the OP, I tiptoed into DU's progressive socialist group and asked if they would please comment and some of them did -- great comments, too.
I learned that it is a movement, not a party and that it believes on working (a) through the Democratic Party and (b) within the basic framework of capitalism. I learned that a DUer is one of the founders of the Democratic Socialists of America. I learned that the New Deal, the Fair Deal and the Great Society can probably be described as Democratic Socialist-type domestic programs. FDR, Truman and LBJ collectively held the White House for 26 years and, perhaps as importantly or more so, FDR was considered responsible for Democrats: controlling one or both Houses of Congress for a very long time.
If you want to learn more:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12806844 (please do not skip the great replies)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Deal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Society
Okay, but how can I claim most Americans are Democratic Socialists? Well, someone kept electing FDR until he died. Someone elected Harry Truman despite two challenges from within his own party (one of them because he had integrated the military); someone made Social Security the "third rail" of US politics, someone loves them some Medicare, unemployment insurance, etc. And.......
2, "Let's talk polls" was the title of another of my OPs. It was about polling on issues, not Presidential polling.
When polled on issue after issue, without labeling the issues as Democratic, or Republican, or conservative or liberal, the majority of USians poll leftist, sometimes by majorities as great as 80%. These are not polls of Democrats, mind you, but polls of USians of all political views.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12777036
And people wonder how "an avowed Democratic Socialist" whom few outside of Vermont had heard of has been filling convention centers on a shoestring budget?
Please see also, my post in the Bernie Sanders Group about this post, aka my merrily meta post. http://www.democraticunderground.com/128028964#post2
July 22, 2015
FYI: Jury results.
The jury results.
On Wed Jul 22, 2015, 09:48 AM an alert was sent on the following post:
Why do you keep bothering? Let these people think whatever the hamster that powers their brains tell
REASON FOR ALERT
This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.
ALERTER'S COMMENTS
Hampster powers their brain cells???? Can't we debate without calling each other stupid? This kind of talk is a personal attack. It's divisive and unnecessary.You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Wed Jul 22, 2015, 09:59 AM, and the Jury voted 3-4 to LEAVE IT.
Juror #1 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Supporters of a Democrat being insulted in several vile ways. This is not what DU should be about.
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Seems like an accurate statement to me.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
The post:Why do you keep bothering? Let these people think whatever the hamster that powers their brains tell them. Do you really think that they are doing themselves or their candidate any favors? Do you think they are really trying to?
If ANYBODY can look at the #BLM collective and what they are trying to achieve and conclude that they are "not progressives" or are "Koch funded right wingers" then these are not the kind of people that anyone that even considers themselves to be on the fringe of the liberal movement should give even a second glance to.
You have black authors and academics with decades of history under their belts trying to explain how all of this looks to black people and they just flit off with their "fiddle dee dee!" We don't matter to these people, and to be honest, I am perfectly okay with that. We don't need them. They have no clout and have no interest in forming any real collaboration, despite the "We are the 99%!!11" that they spew on a regular basis. If EVER there as a chance for these people to prove that they genuinely give a shit about poor people, about minorities THIS WAS IT.
We don't need them.
The irony: When I noticed this, I was at the Black Lives Matter website trying to send them an email because I could not find a "donate" button at the website.
July 21, 2015
Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/how-bernie-sanders-fought-for-our-veterans-119708_Page2.html#ixzz3gWWnj2Uw
Full case study of the negotiation on behalf of veterans here:
http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2015/07/profiles-negotiation-veterans-lawrence
Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/how-bernie-sanders-fought-for-our-veterans-119708_Page2.html#ixzz3gWWERwpe
Sounds effective to me.
How Bernie fought for veterans, becoming a case study in successful negotiation.
All the players, from Congress to the White House, agreed on two overarching goals amid the veterans health crisis: to assure that veterans received timely care and to give authorities at the Department of Veterans Affairs the tools they needed to fire bad apples. Despite that clarity, however, the process was anything but straightforward.
Both the Sanders-McCain and Sanders-Miller negotiations were to a large extent a proxy for the two parties’ epic, long-running battle over the size and role of the federal government and, in particular, its involvement in health care. Furthermore, some of the conditions the American Political Science Association has identified as ideal for reaching compromise were conspicuously absent. Sanders did not have a personal relationship with McCain or Miller. The negotiators were operating in a fast-moving environment rife with opportunities for mistrust and misunderstanding. The process was closely watched and occasionally explosive. At one point the media reported that prospects for a deal had disintegrated.
........
McCain introduced a major bill in early June that embodied his party’s response to the scandal. His bill put a new issue on the table—giving a choice of private care not just to veterans who could not get timely appointments but also to those who lived far away from VA medical facilities. Over in the House, Miller saw the McCain provision, liked it, and added it to a fast-moving House bill that passed 426-0 a few days later.
Things were more complicated in the Senate. Sanders had been focused on fixing scheduling and strengthening the VA internally, and only learned about the distance idea when it showed up in McCain’s bill. As one Democratic aide put it, “This was not an element of the initial crisis. Distance was not necessarily the problem that everyone had been talking about. This was adding a new dimension.”
...........
The roots of the problem, as usual, were conflicting core philosophies of government and wariness of the other side. “Sanders had the view that McCain was trying to take away the VA and that was his ultimate intention. McCain had the view that Sanders was always going to prop up the VA and never accept any criticism of it,” says Ian DePlanque, chief lobbyist for the American Legion, the country’s largest veterans organization. Neither was actually the case, he says, but that was the impression the pair gave. McCain’s statements were focused on choice and private care, while “if you look at Sanders’ statements, he wanted to use the VA as a model for what single-payer could look like across the country. He has had a tendency to want to show the best of it.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/how-bernie-sanders-fought-for-our-veterans-119708_Page2.html#ixzz3gWWnj2Uw
Full case study of the negotiation on behalf of veterans here:
http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2015/07/profiles-negotiation-veterans-lawrence
Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/how-bernie-sanders-fought-for-our-veterans-119708_Page2.html#ixzz3gWWERwpe
Sounds effective to me.
July 21, 2015
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2015/05/29/friday-fun-jon-stewart-mocks-hillarys-fake-southern-accent-n2005572
When speaking to a predominantly African American audience, Hillary compared her experience as a wealthy, pampered United States Senator, protected by the Secret Service, no less, in a Republican majority Congress to working on a plantation. Bernie did not.
Hillary, as First Lady of Arkansas stood beside Bill every year while he was Governor and celebrated Confederacy Day in Arkansas, with a confederate star on the state flag to boot, with nary a suggestion that any of that perhaps should change. Bernie did not.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12778959
Bernie's response to Ferguson was swift and included co-sponsoring a bill with Conyers and a call for de-militarization of police. Bernie's response to Charleston was also swift--and sacrificial. Before he even speechified, he sent his own donors an email with a link to the church's website, asking his donors to donate to the church for the survivors. Then, he made a speech from his heart, not one he and his campaign had massaged for days.
He gets no credit for anything he's done or said or for any dumb thing he did NOT say or for his sincerity or consistency. Flipping that, no one has yet pointed to a racist thing or a pandering thing Bernie has said or done. When it comes to Bernie, though, none of it is "good enough."
Yet, the insinuations that he is racist against African Americans and Hispanics and anti-immigrant are flying--and from his fellow Democrats, like Gutierrez and Sanchez. Gutierrez, a member of the Progressive Caucus that Bernie founded and chaired for 8 years, even pretended not to know Sanders' name. Gutierrez, who wants to succeed Rahm as Mayor of Chicago. Sanchez, a member from California of the Blue Dog Caucus (not even the New Democrat Caucus). Sanchez, who wants to take Boxer's seat.
Bernie is one of the unlikeliest targets for an anti-immigrant smear, or a racist smear. His father was an immigrant whose family members died in the Holocaust. He risked his life as an activist. http://www.democraticunderground.com/12809672
As Mayor, Bernie made Burlington a sanctuary for immigrants. His rating from two anti-immigrant groups are 0% and 8% respectively and his rating from the NAACP is 97%--after 25 years in Congress. His ratings from women's groups anmd the ACLU are similarly high. His rating from the Human Rights Campaign is 100%. He voted against DOMA in 1991. No evolution necessary.
None of it matters, apparently. No fact or reality can stand up to a smear, especially one that is repeated every day. Bernie starts attracting thousands of enthusiastic voters at his events and suddenly, a man who has been very decent for 72 years, including 33 years in elected office (25 years in the House and Senate and 8 years as Mayor) becomes a monster.
These attacks seem to be well-orchestrated and are, to me, are very reminiscent of the take no prisoners, low Presidential primary campaign tactics I've seen before. And it's not coming from the NAACP or from long time civil rights activists like Conyers or Sharpton.
None of the above is intended to say or imply that BLM should not do anything and everything it can to change the status quo. That, it very definitely should do, as should we all.
Hillary and O'Malley both said "all lives matter." Bernie did not.
O'Malley also said white lives matter. Bernie did not.
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/blacklivesmatter-co-founder-warns-presidential-candidates-we-will-shut-down-every-single-debate/#.VavP3ngKF58.twitter
O'Malley has a complicated history as Mayor of Baltimore and Governor of Maryland. Bernie does not.
Hillary ran a "racially-tinged" campaign against the first African American who seemed to have a realistic chance at Oval Office, including identifying "her" constituents as hard working white people, implying Obama's were the opposite on both those counts. Bernie did not.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/12/obama-camps-memo-on-clint_n_81205.html
Hillary adopts a fake accent and ain't in no ways tired when speaking to audiences that are predominantly African American. Bernie does not.
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2015/05/29/friday-fun-jon-stewart-mocks-hillarys-fake-southern-accent-n2005572
When speaking to a predominantly African American audience, Hillary compared her experience as a wealthy, pampered United States Senator, protected by the Secret Service, no less, in a Republican majority Congress to working on a plantation. Bernie did not.
Hillary, as First Lady of Arkansas stood beside Bill every year while he was Governor and celebrated Confederacy Day in Arkansas, with a confederate star on the state flag to boot, with nary a suggestion that any of that perhaps should change. Bernie did not.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12778959
Bernie's response to Ferguson was swift and included co-sponsoring a bill with Conyers and a call for de-militarization of police. Bernie's response to Charleston was also swift--and sacrificial. Before he even speechified, he sent his own donors an email with a link to the church's website, asking his donors to donate to the church for the survivors. Then, he made a speech from his heart, not one he and his campaign had massaged for days.
He gets no credit for anything he's done or said or for any dumb thing he did NOT say or for his sincerity or consistency. Flipping that, no one has yet pointed to a racist thing or a pandering thing Bernie has said or done. When it comes to Bernie, though, none of it is "good enough."
Yet, the insinuations that he is racist against African Americans and Hispanics and anti-immigrant are flying--and from his fellow Democrats, like Gutierrez and Sanchez. Gutierrez, a member of the Progressive Caucus that Bernie founded and chaired for 8 years, even pretended not to know Sanders' name. Gutierrez, who wants to succeed Rahm as Mayor of Chicago. Sanchez, a member from California of the Blue Dog Caucus (not even the New Democrat Caucus). Sanchez, who wants to take Boxer's seat.
Bernie is one of the unlikeliest targets for an anti-immigrant smear, or a racist smear. His father was an immigrant whose family members died in the Holocaust. He risked his life as an activist. http://www.democraticunderground.com/12809672
As Mayor, Bernie made Burlington a sanctuary for immigrants. His rating from two anti-immigrant groups are 0% and 8% respectively and his rating from the NAACP is 97%--after 25 years in Congress. His ratings from women's groups anmd the ACLU are similarly high. His rating from the Human Rights Campaign is 100%. He voted against DOMA in 1991. No evolution necessary.
None of it matters, apparently. No fact or reality can stand up to a smear, especially one that is repeated every day. Bernie starts attracting thousands of enthusiastic voters at his events and suddenly, a man who has been very decent for 72 years, including 33 years in elected office (25 years in the House and Senate and 8 years as Mayor) becomes a monster.
These attacks seem to be well-orchestrated and are, to me, are very reminiscent of the take no prisoners, low Presidential primary campaign tactics I've seen before. And it's not coming from the NAACP or from long time civil rights activists like Conyers or Sharpton.
None of the above is intended to say or imply that BLM should not do anything and everything it can to change the status quo. That, it very definitely should do, as should we all.
July 20, 2015
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jul/10/generation-forward-pac/did-bernie-sanders-vote-against-background-checks-/
And a video of Sanders explaining in his own words.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/05/politics/bernie-sanders-gun-control/
The politifact article linked above lists his key gun votes over a 25-year period.
The NRA gives Sanders a poor rating. http://www.ontheissues.org/domestic/Bernie_Sanders_Gun_Control.htm
As an aside, I don't recall Dean's record on guns, apparently much more pro-gun than Sanders, being an issue in 2004, but I was just beginning to get somewhat immersed in politics then.
I can't say I am happy with his gun record, but I understand that his job is to represent the majority of Vermonters as best he can; and Vermont is a rural state. He also says Vermonters understand that gun control in Vermont is not he same as gun control in a more populous state.
FWIW, a politifact article on Bernie and some of his gun votes.
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, whose 2004 presidential bid is often compared to Sanders’ 2016 run, received high marks from the National Rifle Association. Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy also voted against the Brady bill. For his part, Sanders has voted to tighten gun control about half the time, and to protect Second Amendment rights the other half.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jul/10/generation-forward-pac/did-bernie-sanders-vote-against-background-checks-/
And a video of Sanders explaining in his own words.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/05/politics/bernie-sanders-gun-control/
The politifact article linked above lists his key gun votes over a 25-year period.
The NRA gives Sanders a poor rating. http://www.ontheissues.org/domestic/Bernie_Sanders_Gun_Control.htm
As an aside, I don't recall Dean's record on guns, apparently much more pro-gun than Sanders, being an issue in 2004, but I was just beginning to get somewhat immersed in politics then.
I can't say I am happy with his gun record, but I understand that his job is to represent the majority of Vermonters as best he can; and Vermont is a rural state. He also says Vermonters understand that gun control in Vermont is not he same as gun control in a more populous state.
July 20, 2015
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/ ?
I came across it while googling a claim about Bernie that seemed bizarre.
Anyone remember the role played during the 2008 primary by the website, No Quarter? It was a website that, among other things, almost swore that the October surprise would be a tape of Michelle Obama making an anti-white rant against "Whitey." At that time, it claimed to be pro-Hillary, but it seems to be just RW. The owner of a political board on which I was posting then referred to it often.
Anyway, a sample from the "people's" view:
The People's View doesn't seen to have a lot of content posted on it. From that, I assume it's relatively new. Anyone know anything about it?
Any Sanders' supporters familiar with
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/ ?
I came across it while googling a claim about Bernie that seemed bizarre.
Anyone remember the role played during the 2008 primary by the website, No Quarter? It was a website that, among other things, almost swore that the October surprise would be a tape of Michelle Obama making an anti-white rant against "Whitey." At that time, it claimed to be pro-Hillary, but it seems to be just RW. The owner of a political board on which I was posting then referred to it often.
Anyway, a sample from the "people's" view:
A conversation with my friend Keith
Liberal Librarian July 3, 2015
I'll be back to punching Bernie Sanders hippies later. For a change of pace, I punch GOP brownshirts. I'm multi-faceted.
The People's View doesn't seen to have a lot of content posted on it. From that, I assume it's relatively new. Anyone know anything about it?
July 20, 2015
Market Basket on track for its highest gross sales ever and is opening new stores.
Heard on WBZ TV (Boston) shortly before 6 am this morning: The company is on track for well over $4 billion in sales, best in the company's history. I think it was 5 new stores that will be opening.
I'm not saying you can never do well unless your employees are happy. But, if employee morale is high and they feel respected and proud to be working where they work--Katie, bar the door (whatever that means), especially if your prices are fair as well. Or rather, swing those doors wide open and let in all the happy, well-treated customers.
The following link is not in direct support of the specific figures I heard this morning , but does show the remarkable recovery of the company.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/06/27/year-later-market-basket-thriving-after-near-meltdown/EIePjTzCJYhgLWwRpBuoAI/story.html
SOLIDARITY. It's a beautiful thing.
Also posted in the Massachusetts Group.
July 20, 2015
Market Basket on track for its highest gross sales ever and is opening new stores.
Just heard on WBZ TV. The company is on track for well over $4 billion in sales, best in the company's history. I think it was 5 new stores that will be opening.
I'm not saying you can never do well unless your employees are happy. But, if employee morale is high and they feel respected and proud to be working where they work--Katie, bar the door (whatever that means), especially if your prices are fair as well.. Or rather, swing those doors wide open and let in all the happy, well-treated customers.
ETA: The following link is not in direct support of the specific figures I heard this morning , but does show the remarkable recovery of the company.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2015/06/27/year-later-market-basket-thriving-after-near-meltdown/EIePjTzCJYhgLWwRpBuoAI/story.html
SOLIDARITY. It's a beautiful thing.
Also posted in Omaha Steve's Labor Group.
July 20, 2015
http://www.khou.com/story/news/politics/2015/07/20/large-crowd-greets-bernie-sanders-in-houston/30401615/
Story is positive and short. I recommend reading it all. They make every sentence its own paragraph, so I could not copy and paste much under DU's copyright TOS.
I could not find video on youtube yet. This is live "blogging" from Daily Kos. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/19/1403803/-Bernie-Sanders-Houston-Livefeed
eta: Spitfire of ATJ posted a video of Houston over in the video and media group: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017280098
Bernie-Houston: "Politics should be about improving the lives of people."
...................................
"Today this is a conservative Republican state, but that doesn't mean it will be tomorrow," said Sanders.
.....................................
The Vermont senator's biggest applause of the night came when he vowed to help make college tuition free.
"Taxpayers bailed out Wall Street when they needed it, now it's Wall Street's turn to help out the middle class," said Sanders.
........................................ In Houston, voters say he's unlike any other politician.
http://www.khou.com/story/news/politics/2015/07/20/large-crowd-greets-bernie-sanders-in-houston/30401615/
Story is positive and short. I recommend reading it all. They make every sentence its own paragraph, so I could not copy and paste much under DU's copyright TOS.
I could not find video on youtube yet. This is live "blogging" from Daily Kos. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/07/19/1403803/-Bernie-Sanders-Houston-Livefeed
eta: Spitfire of ATJ posted a video of Houston over in the video and media group: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017280098
July 20, 2015
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/07/17/republicans-terrified-texas-demand-bernie-sanders-forces-rally-bigger-venue.html
very positive--I recommend reading the entire article.
Be afraid, Republicans...Houston rally (also) moved to larger venue.
It was supposed to be a town meeting, but.....
The Sanders campaign announced the change in venue for the Democratic candidate’s Houston, TX rally on July 19, “With turnout projections mounting, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign has shifted the location of Sunday’s town meeting in Houston, Texas, to the Hofheinz Pavilion.”
These events were intended to be town hall meetings, but demand is so high that format has been getting changed to a campaign rally. I anticipate that the Houston event will also be more of a rally than a town hall.
.......................
Bernie Sanders is demonstrating that there is and huge demand among red state liberals for their candidates. Democrats and liberals in red states are often unfairly forgotten and lumped in with Republicans. Sen. Sanders is making an effort to campaign in front of these voters and ask for their support.
Be afraid Republicans, because Bernie Sanders is showing the country the potential power of liberal populist ideas in red states.
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/07/17/republicans-terrified-texas-demand-bernie-sanders-forces-rally-bigger-venue.html
very positive--I recommend reading the entire article.
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