February 21, 2016

"English Only" Video from NV Caucus

Here's video that "proves" Sanders supporters chanted English only to Delores Huerta. Judge for yourself.

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February 19, 2016

Trump & Elton John

I was watching the Clyburn endorsement on MSNBC. When it was over I came to DU but left the MSNBC thread up even though there was no live coverage being broadcast. A few minutes ago the live broadcast started again. Evidently Donald Trump is getting ready to speak. The weird thing was that while they wait for Trump they are playing Elton John's song Tiny Dancer to the crowd. Elton John music for Trump? How bizarre. I bet Elton John would be appalled. Now they are playing opera. Can you imagine a crowd of right wingers in SC listening to opera.

This is entertaining as hell listening to the music and picturing the crowd.

We have the Rolling Stones playing - You Can't Always Get What You Want

I hope there is a long delay before Trump comes out so I can listen to the music.

February 17, 2016

Party OUT OF TOUCH

They are protecting the status quo but they are also making deep and fundamental changes to this country. How is that possible? If you do incremental change for decades you end up with HUGE change and when you keep anyone from changing what you've changed you are protecting the status quo. That's what they've done. And sadly, their change is moving in the wrong direction. It's leaving all of us behind. We have been continuously moving right for decades.

If the Democrats were actually representing rank and file Democratic voters would Sanders get the huge support he's getting? I love Bernie but it's the issues that are driving this election.

By the way the reason for the incremental change is to hide it from voters. It's kind of like turning the heat up gradually. At first you don't notice it because it's such an incremental change. At some point when it gets hot enough you are sweating. Some of us notice that incremental change sooner than others. Eventually everyone will notice but will we be able to do anything about it? I don't want to wait to find out. I want a course correction NOW.

February 13, 2016

Excellent Froomkin piece about Kissinger, Clinton & Sanders

Henry Kissinger’s War Crimes Are Central to the Divide Between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders

The sparring during Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders over whether Henry Kissinger is an elder statesman or a pariah has laid bare a major foreign policy divide within the Democratic Party.

Clinton and Sanders stand on opposite sides of that divide. One represents the hawkish Washington foreign policy establishment, which reveres and in some cases actually works for Kissinger. The other represents the marginalized non-interventionists, who can’t possibly forgive someone with the blood of millions of brown people on his hands.

Kissinger is an amazing and appropriate lens through which to see what’s at stake in the choice between Clinton and Sanders. But that only works, of course, if you understand who Kissinger is — which surely many of today’s voters don’t.

It gives me shivers that Hillary relies on Kissinger.

https://theintercept.com/2016/02/12/henry-kissingers-war-crimes-are-central-to-the-divide-between-hillary-clinton-and-bernie-sanders/

February 13, 2016

The Tragedy of Hillary Clinton (and Her Generation)

I read a very interesting piece on Huffpo a few minutes ago. It was so strange seeing someone else look at Hillary Clinton much the same way that I do. I agree with the author of the piece that because of her success within the establishment, instead of changing the system as she once wanted to do she herself has been changed. I know the Clinton supporters at DU will not agree with this piece but I hope there are some undecideds that might view it as another piece to consider as they weigh whom to support in the election.

I keep trying to use the link feature but evidently I'm doing something wrong because I can't get it to work.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-ferguson/the-tragedy-of-hillary-cl_b_9218908.html

February 12, 2016

Hearts

My thanks to the DU posters who have given me a heart.

February 9, 2016

Getting Change Wrong

I just read an interesting opinion piece by Bill McKibben at Huffington Post. I was particularly struck by this passage:

By this token, Bernie Sanders has already changed the world more than Hillary Clinton, despite all her vaunted years of experience. She manages process, but he moves the argument. Because of him there's a reasonable chance now that the TPP trade agreement will fail (he's already moved one of its authors, Hillary, into opposition). He's made it necessary to take inequality seriously -- he's the next stage, after Occupy, in moving the issue to the center of the stage, and the longer he lasts and the better he does the more attention it will get.

No, none of his plans will pass Congress intact. (Nor hers -- see, for instance, her badly mismanaged effort at health care reform in the first Clinton administration). As the Prussian chief of staff once remarked, "no plan survives contact with the enemy." Instead, what survives is momentum, trajectory. Movement. If Sanders can keep building a movement, then he has a far better chance of changing history than she does. Hillary promises constantly that "I'll be there every day, fighting for you." Bernie's slogan is #NotMeUs. There's all the difference in the world.

I agree with Mr. McKibben.

In my view Sanders supporters seem to be people who don't just want a President who knows how to work within the system like Senator Clinton but one who recognizes the system is broken and must be challenged in order to have any kind of meaningful change. Anyway, I'd love to hear both camps discuss this piece.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-mckibben/getting-change-wrong_b_9188188.html