paul ofnoclique
paul ofnoclique's JournalIdeological Purity is SO Very Inviting, Isn't It?
Ooh, yeah! It makes you so cool, so hip, so with it! YOU'RE not gonna compromise! Your soul is on fire for your candidate! It's that or bust! You are so very superior to those of us cretinous sheep who concern ourselves with (ugh) practicalities! All or nothing! Go big or go home! You. Are. So. IN!
Except
In small-d democratic societies, of which ours is still one, albeit tenuously, ideological purity ends up fucking you up the ass! Have you heard of Barry Goldwater??? And in not-so-democratic societies, such purity is plain fucking dangerous! (Tomorrow wil mark the 77th anniversary of a horror committed by ideologues who Knew. That. They. Were. Right!)
My name is Paul, and I'll be voting for Senator Sanders in the primary, as I believe him to be a better representative of my views as a big-D Democrat than Secretary Clinton. I hope that he will be out next nominee and our next president.
However
If such does not turn out to be the case, should Hillary end up as our party's nominee, I will happily vote for her against any GOP nutjob she happens to be running against a year from now. In doing so, will I be (gasp!) Choosing Between The Lesser of Two Evils? Perhaps, although I don't consider Mrs Clinton to be the Daughter of Satan.
But, you know what? That doesn't even matter! Fact of the matter is, most choices we make in life are NOT pristine and NOT pure!
In the excellent movie The Ref, Denis Leary's character explains something to a spoiled rich boy who whines that his life is not proceeding in the manner he envisioned. Leary's lesson? "Well, kid, welcome to the real world, where--most of the time--things don't go your fucking way!"
Leary is spot-on in his admonition: We live on the planet Earth, not the planet Should!
Support for Germany's right-wing AfD rises to 9 percent
Source: Expatica.com (German)
8th November 2015
Support for the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party rose to nine percent in a poll released Sunday, a day after thousands of its supporters joined an anti-refugee rally in Berlin.
The AfD party is the chief critic of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door policy towards refugees fleeing war and persecution. Europe's top economy faces a record influx of up to one million asylum seekers this year.
Backing for the AfD was up one point to reach the highest level in a year, and stood at 14 percent in formerly communist eastern Germany, Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported, as the country expects to take in one million asylum-seekers this year.
"The AFD is the only party in Germany that is unrestrained in exploiting the prejudices towards foreigners of parts of the population," political scientist Ulrich von Alemann told the newspaper about the result of the Emnid institute poll.
Read more: http://www.expatica.com/de/news/country-news/Support-for-Germanys-right-wing-AfD-rises-to-9-percent_514585.html
Just like John Oliver says, you hear the words "Germany" and "right-wing" and you know it can't be good. Plus, tomorrow marks the 77th anniversary of a very dark date in history.
Wealthiest Americans Ominously Remind Nation They Could Easily Drop Another $10 Billion On Election
WASHINGTON—Calmly stating that they would not even need to think twice about doing so, the nation’s wealthiest individuals ominously reminded the populace during a press conference Wednesday that they could easily drop another $10 billion on the 2016 election. “We want to make it completely clear to voters that there’s absolutely no reason—none at all—why we couldn’t shell out another $10 billion between now and next November,” said casino magnate Sheldon Adelson on behalf of the top tenth of a percent of income-earners in the U.S., adding that creating dozens of new and extremely well-funded super PACs would mean practically nothing to them. “Trust me, we’ve got plenty to throw around, so it really wouldn’t be a problem. We could spread it around a bunch of congressional races, or, heck, we could put it all on one presidential candidate—it doesn’t really affect us much either way. Why don’t we toss in a billion right now just to give you a taste?” The nation’s wealthiest families then added that they would have no problem repeating the process for the next 30 election cycles before silently walking off the stage.
http://www.theonion.com/article/wealthiest-americans-ominously-remind-nation-they--51794
Well, it's The Onion, so this isn't a real news story.
Right?
Latino Group Still Plans to Give $5000 to Larry David for Heckling Trump on SNL
The Latino group Deport Racism offered $5000 to anyone who heckled Donald Trump during SNL tonight. Well, someone took them up on their offer.
That someone was Larry David.
Yes, after making his triumphant return as Bernie Sanders, David popped up during Trump’s monologue and shouted, “Trump’s a racist!”
When Trump asked what he was doing, David said he heard it was an easy way to make some money.
Well, Deport Racism responded, and, well, they say they’re still doing it:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/deport-racism-group-still-plans-to-give-5000-to-larry-david-for-heckling-trump/
The heckling starts at 2:23 (I don't know why they included the leadup).
Salon: Bernie Sanders is history’s champion
Inside the centuries-long battle between inequality & democracyWhy does economic inequality matter? This is a question that many on the right continue to ask as inequality continues to soar. While Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has made a campaign out of denouncing the grotesque levels of income and wealth inequality in America, hardly a peep has been heard from Republican candidates on the issue. And when the issue does come up on the right, it is usually to defend inequality by saying things like, “the fundamental producer of income inequality is freedom” (a declaration from George Will in a didactic piece last month), or that the American poor are the “envy of the world,” which America’s richest congressman, Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said earlier this year.
snip
Most of those on the right shrug off income and wealth inequality as a natural result of varying innate abilities — the capitalist apologist Herbert Spencer popularized this notion when he transferred Darwin’s theory of biological evolution into the social realm, with his famous saying, “survival of the fittest.” All humans obviously differ in aptitude and attitude, but this idea that all inequalities of today simply come from innate differences is hilariously ahistorical, and it completely ignores the economic institutions of today. In our globalized world of capitalism, where massive corporations have immeasurable power on governments and the ownership of property and capital (productive and intellectual) tend to determine one’s wealth, this notion is rather old-fashioned. Indeed, it had more truth to it in the preindustrial time of Thomas Jefferson, when individuals toiled on their land (many, albeit, with slave labor) and artisans individually crafted products or provided services. It is as if those on the right, particularly libertarians, believe in a kind of lemonade-stand capitalism, where every individual is economically autonomous — which is obviously not the case.
For many people, economic inequality is considered a moral issue, as is social/political inequality and poverty. Though the two latter are undoubtedly moral issues, it is debatable whether income and wealth inequality are “morally wrong,” or how much inequality should be put up with in a society (there will always be a certain degree of inequality in an open society — how excessive this inequality is is the main concern). This is a philosophical question that cannot be answered here, but there is little doubt that economic inequality creates societal and economic instability, and causes political inequality as well — which is indeed a moral issue.
Sen. Sanders has put the excessive inequalities that have grown rapidly over the past 40 years at the forefront of the 2016 election, and the debate over inequality will only become more contentious in the coming year. Sanders (and Clinton, to a degree) has been very vocal about how inequality has corrupted American democracy, and this has created a growing movement among the discontent (particularly the young) — but it would be even more effective if he discussed the other practical problems that economic inequality inevitably causes. Social and economic stability was the main concern of the founding fathers and the progressives and New Dealers who came after them. Today, challenging the inequality that has grown is not only a question of fairness and democracy, but a practical question of social cohesion.
http://www.salon.com/2015/11/07/bernie_sanders_is_historys_champion_inside_the_centuries_long_battle_between_inequality_democracy/
7 Times John Oliver Perfectly Captured What's Wrong With America—and Triggered Reform
1. Net Neutrality
Arguably Oliver's breakout hit, this segment masterfully dissected the knotty issue of net neutrality and its effect on free speech. Oliver explained why creating a two-tiered Internet was unfair, and even recruited the Internet's "vile commenters" to spam the FCC's website, which was taking public comment at the time. As a result, the website crashed and FCC Chair Tom Wheeler had to hilariously insist to the public that he "wasn't a dingo."
2. Abusive Animal Agriculture Practices
Possibly the least sexy topic his show has ever covered, Oliver took on huge poultry processing corporations that exploit small farmers and work to gut legislation that regulates the industry and protects animal welfare. In one of the more clear-cut political wins, the segment actually resulted in a pro-industry rider being left out of the Agriculture Appropriations Bill this summer for the first time in years. Several members of Congress cited Oliver's segment for providing the political will to remedy the problem.
3. Bail System Exploits the Poor
America's bail system is a two-tiered system where those who can afford to pay their bail go free and those who can't are often forced to plead guilty or waste away in lockup before trial. Like many of the topics Oliver covers, it's an injustice that exists largely due to inertia, despite being widely condemned as being unfair. One month after Oliver's segment aired, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city was reforming its bail system to lessen the burden on low-level offenders, allowing a judge to release up to 3,000 defendants awaiting trial. While there were certainly other factors at play, many pundits insisted Oliver's segment helped bring the topic to the forefront of public debate.
4. Washington D.C. Statehood
Another case of disenfranchisement that disproportionately affects people of color, D.C.'s motto is "taxation without representation" for good reason. The segment brilliantly breaks down the injustice of D.C.'s current status and why it should be granted statehood. Oliver's segment was so popular it inspired activists to organize a sing-along protest on the steps of Capitol Hill the following week.
http://www.alternet.org/media/7-times-john-oliver-perfectly-captured-whats-wrong-america-and-triggered-reform
The other three issues are civil forfeiture, Miss America's college fund, and territory rights. Click the link to see the accompanying videos.
Will President O'Malley Thank DU in his Inaugural Address?
"I'd just like to thank the Clinton and Sanders supporters for bashing each others' brains out, thus paving the way to my nomination and election."
And that's the optimistic take on the vicious internecine battles I'm seeing in my first week here. The above quote might just as easily be delivered by President Trump! 
Elizabeth Warren’s Plan to Give Seniors an Emergency Boost
For only the third time since 1972, elderly Americans won’t be receiving a cost-of-living increase in their Social Security benefits. Reaction to this announcement in late October was muted in official Washington, which was enthralled with a House speakership election and a budget deal, but for the 65 million Social Security recipients who depend on benefits—and for certain veterans and Americans on disability who are also affected by the freeze—this was perhaps the biggest news to come out of DC this year.
A majority of Social Security recipients don’t have income from other sources, and rely on benefits that are already fairly meager. The average retired worker on Social Security got $15,943 in 2014, which is only 30 percent over the poverty level.
So a flat paycheck for another year represents a significant burden for millions of these beneficiaries. They aren’t getting a cost-of-living adjustment because there was actually a 0.4 percent decrease in the government’s calculation of the cost of living from the third quarter of 2014 to the third quarter of 2015. The government uses a formula called the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) to calculate Social Security benefits, and that index revealed a slight decrease in the cost of living, primarily because gasoline prices fell sharply in the past year.
This is where advocates for seniors call foul: A drop in gasoline prices largely benefits younger Americans, while seniors, who already pay twice the medical costs as the average American, saw inflation in healthcare prices along with traditional outlays like food and housing. In other words, an elderly grandmother who no longer drives but has seen her prescription prices go up is effectively being told by the government her benefit check won’t get a cost-of-living bump because gasoline is cheaper.
http://www.thenation.com/article/elizabeth-warrens-plan-to-give-seniors-an-emergency-boost/
Warren absolutely rocks!
Fox: New Evidence Indicates That Hillary Killed Lincoln
WASHINGTON—In what may be the most serious allegation ever made against the former Secretary of State, Fox News Channel reported today that Hillary Clinton was involved in the conspiracy to murder President Abraham Lincoln.
The latest charge against Mrs. Clinton was reported by Fox host Sean Hannity, who said that the evidence of her role in the Lincoln assassination came mainly in the form of e-mails.
According to Mr. Hannity, “If it’s true that Hillary Clinton killed Lincoln, this could have a major impact on her chances in 2016.”
The accusation against Mrs. Clinton drew a strong response from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.—S. Carolina): “There’s been a concerted effort by Hillary Clinton to cover up her role in President Lincoln’s murder. She has said nothing about it. This is bigger than Watergate, the Cuban missile crisis, and the Second World War put together.”
Responding to the allegation, Mrs. Clinton issued a terse statement indicating that she could not have participated in Lincoln’s assassination because she was born in 1947.
“That’s what she wants us to believe,” Sen. Graham said.
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/fox-new-evidence-hillary-killed-lincoln?intcid=mod-most-popular
Reporting by Andy Borowitz for The New Yorker
Thank God we still have journalists like AB, who don't let their ideology get in the way of telling the Fux-honest Truth! (I'm assuming you don't need the sarc icon.)
Congress Will Honor Dick Cheney With A Statue In The U.S. Capitol
Source: The Huffington Post
WASHINGTON -- Starting in December, the likeness of former Vice President Dick Cheney will grace the U.S. Capitol, in accordance with a Senate tradition honoring former vice presidents.
The Huffington Post was tipped off by a Senate resolution "authorizing the use of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center for the unveiling of the marble bust of Vice President Richard Cheney on December 3, 2015."
The resolution, not yet officially introduced, was confirmed by the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dick-cheney-statue_563a8e80e4b0b24aee48e5a2
My sincere apologies to those of you who've just finished a meal.
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Member since: Sat Oct 31, 2015, 09:19 AMNumber of posts: 81
