October 8, 2016

Why the leaked transcripts of Hillary's speeches are, IMO, quite possibly a good thing.

Getting so much hate on Twitter, even had folks calling me "stupid" because all they could see was the surface, not the depth, of her speeches. After reading through the actual text (and not the intentionally-worded-as-propaganda summary lines), for the first time I see the potential positive impact a Hillary Clinton presidency could actually have.

I was so fired up about it I sent her campaign an email, which I'm pretty sure will find it's way to a Trash folder fairly quickly. I have no delusions that any of this will actually happen, or that she'll ever even see the message, but I wanted to at least get some feedback on it. Am I crazy? Am I completely alone in the conclusions I came to, or do others actually see what I'm saying and think it makes sense? Would love any opinions.

Here's the email I just sent to her campaign:

I read through the speech transcripts, and they're way better than I expected, actually pretty reassuring. I have a positive message to share in that regard.

I had figured there was something worth hiding in them, but honestly, it was damn refreshing to read her candid viewpoint on so many issues she seems to always hedge around when discussing publicly. That's what I loved about Bernie Sanders, how frank and honest he was. It's okay that the answer isn't perfect, but speaking accurately about the true way something is, I think, is an insanely valuable, and quite frankly, rare commodity in modern political discourse.

Seriously -- I can't stress this enough. I was feeling so lukewarm about a Clinton presidency, but after reading through the snippets of transcripts, I came away with a real sense that Hillary has a solid, grounded understanding of most of the problems we face and the reality of the situation at hand. (Then again, I'm the guy at the office known for practical, pragmatic solutions to problems that actually solve things, while others waffle about the perfect way to do something. So maybe I'm an outlier.)

Sure, her comments on money in politics (not knowing how to fix it, because SCOTUS ruled on Citizens United so that's that) leaves a lot to be desired, and her acceptance of revolving-door practices is less than stellar. But those are both pretty much just the typical establishment mentality, so I don't really fault her for that. (Probably not the sort of thing you'd want to highlight, though, I'd imagine.)

I think Hillary's strength is, without a doubt, her no-nonsense pragmatic approach. Build on that, please! I would love to see more of that. I get the feeling that most informed voters (ever how few those actually are) know how the sausage is made, or at least, we have some idea it's not awesome. Tell us about it. Drill down into the ways things are flawed. Even if there's no obvious, easy answer, it'll be a beautiful opening to a conversation we desperately need to have in this country. How do you think Bernie actually gained so much momentum? We're out here, lying in wait, for someone to be real with us. Maybe he picked up a few "free college" voters along the way, but the groundswell was from all the progressives just hoping, waiting, wishing someone would come along and tell it like it is (and not in the disgusting false way some candidates seem to think is "telling it like it is&quot . We can't fix these problems until we actually start talking about them, and dammit, let's start now. (Or maybe in a month or so.)

If Hillary gave public speeches like these, (fireside podcasts, if you will), I think they would be wildly popular. Just explain the system to us, in all it's broken splendor. Don't bother telling us how you're going to fix it, necessarily, just explain it how it is, why it's like that (love the speech discussing the history of medicare/medicaid and how we came to have such a messed up medical insurance industry). Think of how many young people that would influence, those who are just getting into politics and don't already have a basic understanding of these things... it would be *AMAZING*.

Screw the haters -- there are always going to be people who see things like this and can only conclude "SHE'S PAY TO PLAY". Of course there's some of that, it's one of the problems with the system. If Hillary didn't work the circuit, she wouldn't have ever made it to where she is. Even if folks like me are in the minority, it only takes a handful of people to do a world of good. Just, seriously, please, pass along the idea to someone who has her ear. I genuinely, truly, in my heart of hearts, believe something like a "fireside podcast" explaining historical context, existing programs/policies, problems etc. would give many an understanding of modern politics that just isn't easily obtained right now. Own it! We *need* that leader, and with the deep understanding I now know Hillary has on these topics, I really believe that leader can be her.

At any rate, I wanted to share my thoughts. You already had my vote, but I'm no longer just voting against Trump. Seriously, leaked emails actually made me feel *better* about what a Clinton presidency could be. I'm actually hopeful again.

Oh man, what a cheesy way to end an email, but it's what I'm feeling, so, fuck it: I'm with her.

(Source of transcripts I'm referencing: https://www.buzzfeed.com/rubycramer/wikileaks-appears-to-release-hillary-clintons-paid-speech-tr?utm_term=.ta20lpjqK#.kkqKop9jR)

August 11, 2016

Hack of Democrats’ Accounts Was Wider Than Believed, Officials Say

A Russian cyberattack that targeted Democratic politicians was bigger than it first appeared and breached the private email accounts of more than 100 party officials and groups, officials with knowledge of the case said Wednesday.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/08/11/us/politics/democratic-party-russia-hack-cyberattack.html

After reading through that article, I'm not very clear what new info they have, except I guess that more email accounts were compromised than they previously thought. Still, very alarming, and IMO under-reported.