April 29, 2016

This is decently accurate imo.

I am a Gen Xer who was barely out of high school when Bill Clinton got elected and the neo-liberal takeover of the Democratic party occurred. At the time I was struggling to keep my car running and a roof over my head at near minimum wage and it was still pre-internet, so I was not politically informed or active.

By 2000 I was in college had internet access and was getting politically informed. I realized what Bill had done in regards to signing right wing legislation so was no fan of his administration. I was also deeply offended by the Republican impeachment hearings, so was equally unimpressed with them. I considered myself left wing independent. I chose only to vote for candidates I was informed of, so mostly voted local. I left POTUS 2000 blank (I was not in a swing state.)

After the election theft, which I realized right away that it was, I started to swing Democratic if only to stand against the criminal Bush organization. The unconstitutional Patriot act pushed me harder and the illegal (by international treaty) Iraq invasion sealed the deal for me where my new alliances were to become, the Democratic party.

In 2004 I supported the Dean campaign, as he was strongly anti-war and had a more populist platform, which I felt was worth standing for. Even after he did not make it through the primary, I voted Kerry if only to get the war criminals out of office. After that election theft, which should have been fought more I found DU through Air America. I joined up, and the rest is history which could be searched here.

The Democratic Party is my party, but the neo-liberal wing and power structure was put in play by Boomers and is not and never has been the path I think the party should have. So I chose option A long ago, join the Democratic party and encourage change from within. I will continue on this path until the party is rid of the Third way/neo-liberal/Clinton types.

PTTP

April 29, 2016

My personal thanks to Obama for his service.

Let me preface this by getting out of the way, there are many issues I have had with him in regards to what I saw as a continuation of the Bush years. His first term was not one I was thrilled with.

But.

The excitement he inspired in me in '08 was extremely close to what I now feel with Bernie's campaign, he made me happy to be a Democrat. That fire he ignited in me still burns, I still have Hope that Change is possible. Thank you president Obama for your inspiration.

This last term has been amazing imo. His foreign policy towards Iran and Cuba make me proud. Decades of closed doors have been re-openned. I think he did a very good job considering the hellish 8 years we had in this nation prior. I even lessen my angst towards some of my first term disappointments. He had to deal with so much negative momentum coming out of the Bush years. He was in the game. I was an armchair quarterback. It was easy for me to call out what I felt were inadequacies, but he had to deal first hand with those shithead racist warmongering obstructionist Repukes daily. I could not have done it with the class he has shown in his terms.

I am proud to have voted, donated, and canvassed for his campaigns.

Thank you for your service President Obama.

April 8, 2016

Clinton's drug war was a direct followup of Reagan's crimes against AA communities.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/10/gary-webb-dark-alliance_n_5961748.html

Key Figures In CIA-Crack Cocaine Scandal Begin To Come Forward

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More than 18 years have passed since Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb stunned the world with his “Dark Alliance” newspaper series investigating the connections between the CIA, a crack cocaine explosion in the predominantly African-American neighborhoods of South Los Angeles, and the Nicaraguan Contra fighters — scandalous implications that outraged LA’s black community, severely damaged the intelligence agency’s reputation and launched a number of federal investigations.

It did not end well for Webb, however. Major media, led by The New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, worked to discredit his story. Under intense pressure, Webb’s top editor abandoned him. Webb was drummed out of journalism. One LA Times reporter recently apologized for his leading role in the assault on Webb, but it came too late. Webb died in 2004 from an apparent suicide. Obituaries referred to his investigation as “discredited.”

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After The Associated Press reported on these connections in 1985, for example, more than a decade before Webb, then-Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) launched a congressional investigation. In 1989, Kerry released a detailed report claiming that not only was there “considerable evidence” linking the Contra effort to trafficking of drugs and weapons, but that the U.S. government knew about it.

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Webb says. “It was a situation where, ‘We need money for a covert operation, the quickest way to raise it is sell cocaine, you guys go sell it somewhere, we don’t want to know anything about it.’”

(much more good stuff @ link)

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