ProfessorPlum
ProfessorPlum's JournalPutin and the Weaknesses of the West
KGB Grandmaster Putin surveyed the landscape and his political rivals for geopolitical power. His gaze came to rest on Russia's old rival, the United Kingdom.
An old democracy with a still semi-functioning safety net and a cushy sinecure within the EU, the UK was fairly secure and prospering.
He contemplated their weaknesses and came up with: xenophobia, an old feeling that the UK was not part of "Europe", and racism.
Pressing his dirty thumb on that weakness, and releasing his various Russian and Balkan online trolls and trouble-makers, he helped to engineer Brexit. The UK is now on the brink of an enormous economic disaster of its own making, because a hard core minority of its people believe that Brexit will begin manufacturing unicorns for them, just as soon as they kick out the foreigners.
His eye then fell upon the USA. And he perceived racism, xenophobia, and the electoral college as our greatest weaknesses.
Pressing his dirty thumb on those weaknesses, he elevated a stupid but fascistic imbecile who was completely in his pocket to take over the most racist group in the US, the GOP. And then he and his Russian and Balkan online monkeys began working on the demographics of the electoral college. The USA is now on the brink of an enormous economic disaster of its own making, because a hard core minority of its people believe that "the wall" will begin manufacturing unicorns for them, just as soon as we kick out the foreigners.
I am embarrassed that the USA and the UK have been so comparatively easy to (nearly) topple. With nary a shot fired. But I have to say that Putin perceived our weaknesses quite perceptively.
One of Pelosi's greatest moves is NOT to allow the GOP to sully Democrats with their bad ideas
When Dumbya won a second term in 2004, he came back to office saying he had a mandate to privatize Social Security. The GOP offered a shitty plan for privatizing Social Security, then waited for the Democrats to offer their own plan for privatizing Social Security.
Pelosi refused to play. By _never_ offering a Democratic version of privatizing Social Security, she kept the program safe - because she was forcing the GOP to take all of the blame for this shitty idea, and they were too chicken to pass it by themselves.
It is that knowing when NOT to provide cover for a terrible idea that also seems to be guiding her in this situation.
Trump wants to shut down the government, so he picks some stupid hill to die on. Wall funding.
He says "just give me a small down payment on the wall". And waits for the Democrats to say, ok, we'll fund your wall, but here is what else we want.
And Pelosi refuses to play. Her position is that she very much will not allow the Democratic party to be associated with this asinine idea. Let the GOP propose its own "plan" for the wall, we want nothing to do with it.
it's fantastic to watch.
This is the shock doctrine and disaster capitalism
They are creating the disaster so that everything can be privatised.
"it's almost disappointing how incredibly popular AOC is ...
Because everything she's saying is what all of us should already be saying"
Why AOC is AOK
Ask yourself: why does AOC excite people? It isn't a personality cult. She is exciting because she (and other members of the progressive caucus and Justice Democrats) give(s) people hope that their government might do (even) more things that make their lives better.
That really is the point of government: WE are the government. It is ours, and a tool to make our lives better. It has been hijacked, steadily over 40 years of bad supreme court decisions, by the wealthiest among us to serve only THEIR goals and line THEIR pockets and siphon more and more wealth from the rest of us, make our lives more miserable, and change the rules so that we have less and less say over what government does. Those changes happen much more quickly with the completely corrupt Republicans, and more slowly under Democrats, because of the changes the elites have made to our system.
By being unapologetic about the government's role in making our lives better - it's REAL role - Justice Democrats can ask themselves, without any conflict of interest, "I know what the corporations want - but what do the actual people who do most of the living and dying and working here want?"
It's a sliver of hope. And the fact that she is smart, and sharp, and excellent at MESSAGING means that more and more people will wake up from the fog that started with Reagan and begin taking back the government as a means to make our lives better.
She's quite a competent carrier for the message. But it's the MESSAGE itself that excites me.
OMG this is perfect - The Onion nails the AOC phenomenon
https://politics.theonion.com/presumptuous-congressional-freshman-thinks-she-can-just-1831842239The 9ui11ani Confession Train continues Today: Trump did talk to Cohen about testimony
With lawyers like these, who needs enemas?
Are we sure that Rudy Colludy isn't part of the deep state taking Trump down?
The Green New Deal: How We Will Pay for It Isn't 'a Thing' - Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rhockett/2019/01/16/the-green-new-deal-how-we-will-pay-for-it-isnt-a-thing-and-inflation-isnt-either/#400969704d7fGreat article on inflation, paying for things, employment, the fed, credit-money, and "how will we pay for" things we actually need.
Representative Ocasio-Cortez already has given the best answer possible to such queries, most of which seem to be raised in bad faith. Why is it, she retorts, that these questions arise only in connection with useful ideas, not wasteful ideas? Where were the ‘pay-fors’ for Bush’s $5 trillion wars and tax cuts, or for last year’s $2 trillion tax giveaway to billionaires? Why wasn’t financing those massive throwaways as scary as financing the rescue of our planet and middle class now seems to be to these naysayers?
The short answer to ‘how we will pay for’ the Green New Deal is easy. We’ll pay for it just as we pay for all else: Congress will authorize necessary spending, and Treasury will spend. This is how we do it – always has been, always will be.
The money that’s spent, for its part, is never ‘raised’ first. To the contrary, federal spending is what brings that money into existence.
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