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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIn case there are some out there who still care about issues other than slashing our own throats:
Howard nails it again. As usual.
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PatrickforO
(14,585 posts)Good graphic.
DFW
(54,415 posts)Unifying messages are so passé these days...........
niyad
(113,474 posts)DFW
(54,415 posts)That was not an observation I made with any kind of satisfaction
brer cat
(24,581 posts)yardwork
(61,678 posts)DFW
(54,415 posts)I will do it again in less than two months.
We can dream, can't we?
yardwork
(61,678 posts)DFW
(54,415 posts)Well, Judy, too. If Judy had been cool with another presidential run, he might have considered it. But she said no way, and Howard is too much of a family man to say no.
There IS one thing I'm beginning to wonder about, though. Again, this would require Judy's blessing, but maybe, just maybe, he'd be open to it. After all, if Dick Cheney could do it for the Dark Side......
More in January..........
Hekate
(90,748 posts)DFW
(54,415 posts)So, it's not worth pestering the whole board with it.
Check your PM
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)I would love to hear from him more often. I love his appearances on Morning Joe!
DFW
(54,415 posts)We don't get American TV here. But I do keep in touch with Howard, and we make it a point to meet up one to one at least once a year for a couple of hours. He knows about DU, but doesn't post here. Considering the atmosphere recently, he wouldn't even consider starting now.
I do mention DU every time I see him, but he hasn't yet posted on here in the ten years I've been on DU, and won't be inclined to start now.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)I don't follow Howard at all, but just encounter him, mostly on MJ. I enjoy his posts. But I'd love to know what his future plans are...
DFW
(54,415 posts)He is politically pretty much where he always was, which means he'll have his differences with her, and being Howard, will have no reticence about letting her know it. She needs people like Howard around her, and not just fawning admirers, so this is a good thing whether she ends up getting the nomination or not, but especially if she does.
Howard is taking (for him) a remarkably low profile in the Hillary campaign so far. I will try to find out what that's all about when I see him. As someone with a high profile himself, I'm sure he doesn't want to be seen as the inspiration behind the front, especially if she clings to positions he thinks are too far to the right for his tastes. But he is a more pragmatic man than he was 12 years ago. He knows what it means to see one's illusions dashed. I think he'll try to position himself to where he can have the most influence, putting his own views forth as forcefully as he can without leaving himself open to being forced out for pushing them too overtly. HIs Achilles heel there is that he rarely minces word when giving his opinion on anything. That is at once his biggest asset and his biggest vulnerability, politically. In a one on one, of course, it makes him the most delightful guy in politics I know, and that sentiment was echoed by none other than the late Helen Thomas, so I know I'm in good company there.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)He has his match withher and vis versa. I think it is all great for the party. It certainly sets us apart from the pathetic GOP...
DFW
(54,415 posts)If only the Republicans' being pathetic, as you so aptly put it, were apparent to more Republican voters!!!!!
As evidence of an uphill battle, I submit the polling of Republican voters in Kentucky who were most dependent on the ACA for health insurance, and now stand to lose it, but voted Republican anyway because they were "staunch Republicans." I.E., better dead than loosen their ideological rigidity. A bunch of people in Paris just either got shot by the French cops or blew themselves up due to that very attitude.
DFW
(54,415 posts)IF Hillary wins the nomination and the election, I have to hope she will not be influenced to exclude Howard from the administration altogether as Obama did.
But THAT is still a big if, as Hillary does not have the nomination yet, let alone the presidency even if she does win the nomination.
For that matter, if Bernie wins the presidency, I still think he could do no better for HHS, but he certainly has no allegiance to Howard, Howard being part of the Hillary campaign so far. Still--if Bernie wins the nomination, he'll have to start thinking about a cabinet at some point just like any other recipient of a major party's nomination.
a2liberal
(1,524 posts)Sorry about the vagueness, I'm not good at searching for things. But several (maybe 6 or so?) months ago after a meeting with Dr. Dean you had mentioned something here about some surprising/unexpected news about the primary (which hadn't really started then) which you couldn't share at the time but implied would become clear with time or you could maybe share later. I was wondering if you remember this and whether whatever you were referring to had already happened (or definitively not happened or whatever) and if so could you share it now? I've been curious since that time. Thanks!
He speculated that if Hillary ended up not running, that Kirsten Gillibrand would.
That turned out to not be an issue, as we now all know. I'm very careful about things I hear from people like him said in confidence, but I don't think he'd mind my disclosing that at this point.
a2liberal
(1,524 posts)Hekate
(90,748 posts)DFW
(54,415 posts)He doesn't visit. Good thing, too. You're right, these days, he'd be appalled.
Probably think we're all auditioning for "Animal Farm" roles.
Duval
(4,280 posts)Nice post, DFW!
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)is not a really good move. It's been a turning point for me to be banned just as it is for so many others.
I have always been upfront about my strong support for him early on, and I also honestly speak out when I think he is taking a wrong path. My late hubby and I felt like part of the family of the Dean Campaign, but now it's like it never meant a thing to him.
I have watched our Democratic Party outdo the Republicans on the move to privatize public schools...they pushed these policies far more than Bush ever did. I spent 33 years of my life loving and teaching children and getting involved in their lives and the lives of their family. It tears my heart out to see what has happened since 2009.
I have watched Arne Duncan be allowed to spend nearly 4 billion on charter schools without any accountability. He's just walking away from it all. The charter schools have been the goal of the centrist Democrats at least since 2000, probably earlier.
I also find myself wondering and examining why the main reason to stay in our party is the fact that the Republicans are scary.
There ought to be reasons that make me want to stay and be enthusiastic. That's how it should be.
DFW
(54,415 posts)And put it in objective, non-confrontational terms, try writing to him c/o DFA. He just might respond if he finds your arguments well-reasoned, even if he doesn't agree, and at least you stand a chance of hearing why.
madfloridian
(88,117 posts)jwirr
(39,215 posts)Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)The party apparatchiks believe that as long as they support abortion rights, all of the rest of this crap will slide. The party has no soul any more.
DFW
(54,415 posts)For better or for worse (worse, in my opinion), Howard is no longer a party apparatchik. He's a private individual. He currently holds no position of power whatsoever in the party, beyond being a voice that some still like listening to.
Howard has NEVER been a one trick pony, and any effort to try to paint him as one is as wrong as it is insulting. I'm used to hearing about his comments being labeled "crap" by the likes of Karl Rove, but not by anyone to the left of Karl Rove.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)DFW
(54,415 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)And look at the horror coming out of the GOP candidates' mouths now.
A stupid goddam laugh. Life is truly absurd.
mother earth
(6,002 posts)rigged.
Hekate
(90,748 posts)Thanks, DFW. I still love that guy.
The first time I met him, I was introduced to the "governor of Vermont, and he's thinking of running for president." I talked with him for a bit, and we found out we had a lot in common--not just politics, either. We are both enthusiastic fans of 12-string guitar master Leo Kottke. We have been known to occupy hotel lobbies and trade Leo Kottke solos back and forth on my 12 string guitar until 2 A.M.
He quickly went from "Howard Who?" to the guy on the cover of Time and Newsweek, but it was too late--I already had a friend for life. When I was finally (took me about 18 months to arrange) able to introduce him to Helen Thomas, a 40+ year friend of my family, she afterward paid him her highest compliment: "He's not a politician!"
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)DFW
(54,415 posts)And we don't forget.