I went and played soccer this morning which was a good decision even though I was stymied over and over again by a brilliant goalkeeper. If I had stayed at home, I would have just read articles like this and wanted to kill myself.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
83 Comments
Recent Posts
- Day 68: Apartheid South Africans Strike Back With Bozell III Named as Ambassador
- Day 67: The Vances Will Descend on Greenland as Unwanted Guests
- Midweek Cafe and Lounge, Volume 387
- Day 65: The Fascist Regime is Busted for Using Insecure Communications
- The Fury of the Democratic Base is Not a Mirror of the Tea Party Revolt
Recent Comments
Serenity now!!, my friend. Serenity now!!
I’m afraid we are all going to need it for a long time to come. I am trying to do a cleansing, of sort. Ramping up my exercise. Playing some music. Reading some good fiction. Getting outside. Mostly ignoring the internet and definitely ignoring television. Because the time is soon coming when we will all need to take a very deep breath and wade back into the alligator filled swamp. It is going to be a long and very brutal slog.
Yep, but remember.
Serenity now.
Insanity later.
That is the reason for my short semi-sabbatical. I will need all the resources I can muster when the time comes. I know in my mind that the carnage is likely to be beyond my ability to fathom.
A minor bit of damage is the idea that Laura Ingraham might be the press secretary.
I don’t want to even delve into her racist swamp of a history.
The modern conservative movement lacks self-awareness. And now they believe they have had their most poisonous rhetoric and policy positions ratified by the voters. And, to a degree, they have. Elections have consequences.
People treated this election, more than others, like it was primarily a place to express their grievances, on both sides. With the anti-Clinton propagandizing gaining purchase on both the right and left, that served all of us on the left particularly poorly. Time to learn from each other moving forward.
The names they are floating for these prominent positions are sending big blaring signals to their base that they’re going to rhetorically stomp on the liberal movement and drive a maximalist policy agenda. They’ll take particular pleasure denigrating Senators Sanders and Warren, and Congressmembers Ellison and Grijalva.
We need to be ready for total war. It’s up to us to help place and hold our Congressional representatives on total war footing throughout the next legislative sessions.
Here’s Trump’s America. White people attempting to gaslight and ritualistically humiliate prominent, respected non-whites:
White people preparing to terrorize non-whites and rip apart our communities and economies, deporting American citizens where necessary:
Those who want to frame this election through an economic lens need to recognize what is going on. White people are running through communities yelling at any non-white they see that they’re going to be stomped and exited from the country. They’re carrying Trump signs and/or yelling “TRUMP!” as they do so.
This is not normal. Normal responses, tactically, culturally, rhetorically and politically, aren’t going to cut it.
It’s going to be tough, but it’s going to be necessary to go to political war. We’re going to have to figure out a way to come together very quickly. These radicals will start jamming stuff through on January 20th. We’ve got to start organizing right away. There’ll be places where we can win, and other places where we can make them pay electorally for their overreaches.
I hear it’s all because the democratic establishment did not take it seriously. I’m sure the usual suspects will soon post a thousand word screed on how racism is the fault of Obama’s policies.
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Good interview from Kobach. He clearly lays out what is going to happen. A whole bunch of deportations.
It has never been clear to me how Democrats have convinced themselves that lawbreaking and law violations on the part of millions is acceptable. It is not. These folks are going to be deported.
And that is a very good thing. The rule of law is important. A country in which laws are routinely broken, and in which one Party, the Democratic Party, aides and abets the violation of the law is a country in big trouble.
I love how my comments, delivered in a calm and reasoned manner, are met increasingly by troll ratings. At one time, this pond welcomed opinions at different levels. Today, not so much.
And you would think that a person like myself, who has been much more accurate and whose understanding of the situation is much better than most here, would be welcomed.
I guess silencing dissenting voices is the next Democratic Big Tent idea. Remember, boys and girls, if you put your fingies in your ears and chant “na-na-na” for 4 years, Trump will go away, and the unicorns will continue to fart rainbows.
Rating offensive comments poorly is not “silencing dissent,” you silly man.
But really, fascists are the true victims.
Stop feeding the trolls! Down rate them and move on. They thrive on the attention.
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Yeah, I think you’re right. Consider the engagement done.
No, dataguy. What Kobach is detailing is indecent and immoral. Your extreme anti-immigrant policy preferences bump up against humanity, and are found extremely wanting.
You have your preferred President now. We will judge all you contribute here from from now on with our understanding of your support for Trump. It’s clarifying.
I’m not sure if you have been following the events of recent months. Trump rose to prominence due STRICTLY to his immigration views. His strength with voters picked up each and every time he made comments.
He is doing what he promised to do.
Hillary promised amnesty. That is part of the mix that cost her the election.
Trump promised deportation. Hillary promised amnesty.
Deportation won.
Hopefully, these policies are just the start. The other thing that is desperately needed is a lot more immigration judges to render fast denial of false asylum claims. Which 90% of them are – false.
For some reason, the rule of law is now considered to be a bad thing. You back criminals. That makes you an abeter of criminal activity. That an offense in some areas as well.
Look into your own heart. You condemn the Bundy folks. You are no different. You want your criminals to succeed.
I do not support criminals either on the Bundy ranch or in the mexican kitchens running the dishwasher. Support for criminal activity is damaging to our civil society and corrosive to our system of civil government.
You are the ones who are wrong. You need to apologize. To me.
You appear to maintain your false presumption that immigrants are cleanly differentiated between documented citizens and undocumented residents. This is not only untrue as a physical reality, it’s extremely evident that it’s untrue as a cultural phenomenon brought on by the Trump campaign:
https:/www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/10/28/trumps-words-insulted-this-hispanic-wo
man-her-coworkers-used-them-to-terrorize-her
…Alexandra Avila’s work computer usually displayed a smiling picture of her daughter. But when she logged in one morning last summer, she was greeted by a “belligerent looking picture of Donald Trump,” a lawsuit says.
Again and again, she switched the desktop back to her daughter’s photo. But two co-workers got an IT employee to break into Avila’s computer to re-upload a sneering, pointing picture of Trump, according to the lawsuit.
“One co-worker told Alexandra that Mr. Trump was saying `F– you!’ specifically to her,” the lawsuit says.
The harassment only got worse for Avila, who was born in the United States and is of Mexican descent.
The people Avila worked with at Sedgwick Claims Management Services in Iowa bombarded her with racist memes, embarrassing her on group chats of more than a dozen people, the suit says.
One pictured a Hispanic man in an oversized sombrero. “No books,” it said. “Only Manuels.”
Avila’s co-workers signed her up to volunteer for Trump’s campaign, according to her lawsuit.
Once, a supervisor asked the team to vote on what food they wanted for a congratulatory potluck.
“Alex can’t vote,” a co-worker replied. “She’s an illegal immigrant.”…
https:/www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/08/21/this-couple-didnt-tip-their-latina-ser
ver-they-left-a-hateful-message-instead?utm_term=.e6c18c75b0e4&tid=a_inl
…Instead of leaving a gratuity on Monday, a couple eating at the Harrisonburg, Va., restaurant where Sadie works scrawled: “We only tip citizens.”
The dig was aimed at Sadie, 18, who was born in the United States but is of Honduran and Mexican descent. So, John Elledge took a photo of the grease-stained receipt left for his granddaughter and posted it on Facebook…
This stuff is running rampant now. And it’s not just Hispanics/Latinos suffering right now under an onslaught of white supremacist attacks. Get a gander at Shawn King’s Twitter feed to see a parade of deplorables:
https://twitter.com/ShaunKing
No, you’re wrong on this one.
The sense I’ve gotten from dataguy’s rhetoric is that he views every Latino he sees as a potential illegal immigrant and every Indian as a potential H1-B visa holder.
There’s lot of people who feel this way out there. They don’t know or care whether the objects of their hatred and fear are citizens or not. They are the other.
I’m comforted mostly by the thought that many of these folks will die soon, whether by old age, poor living, suicide, or drug overdoses. Hopefully, they get the help they need but some things aren’t curable.
When the time comes, it’s clear whose side you’ll be on. It’s been recognizable and out in front every time you use the word “illegal”.
You’ll be standing with white nationalists like Kobach, and defending Herrenvolk Democracy to the end.
Well, as they are deported, things will get better. You’ll see.
Whining and kvetching and bitching and moaning, the stable of the left, is always an option. And I’m sure you’ll be out there with the other SJWs, fighting to help the criminals continue. Fighting the good fight. To continue the clear identification of the Democratic Party with criminal behavior.
Hey I wonder if MC-13 will be in the new DNC. Might as well be.
Good luck with that.
dataguy, you are way out of touch with how thoroughly our society and our economy are intertwined with immigrants, documented and undocumented. Whole industries are thickly populated with immigrants, documented and undocumented.
You’re also unwilling to think through the practicalities of how a mass forced deportation program would be executed. Most communities with non-white populations, not just the Hispanic/Latino portions of those cities, would be terrorized; their job and goods markets would be badly hurt.
Additionally, the Supreme Court, even this horrible Supreme Court, recently created stare decisis which rejects the plan Kobach outlines here.
It appears you think a clean line exists between documented and undocumented Americans. You either failed to hear Kobach say that Trump will attempt to deport American citizens, or you personally approve of that and wished the statement to escape our examination.
Deplorable either way.
Dataguy, I’m not truly understanding your angst towards immigrants. Illegal or not. People coming here from Mexico were simply looking for a better life. My ancestors also came here in the 19th century looking for a better life. I’m not certain they all became naturalized, but I assume it. I also believe the migration has slowed or stopped in recent years. People who come here also contribute to our national product and taxes. To the extent they do not there are remedies for that. Building fences and deporting them bc they speak another lanquage just seems nonsensical. Rather we should find a way to admit them legally and/or do something about helping the Mexican government. Building a wall seems rather extreme to me. I don’t see the case for it.
Somewhat the same idea applies to immigrants from the ME. These are likely legal immigrants. I find it hard to believe they all come equipped with suicide vests. And I am believing there are rather severe vetting processes. Maybe it would help if we could somehow end the insanity in the ME.
There can be stronger enforcement mechanisms without throwing away our heritage in welcoming immigrants. Violent criminals can certainly be deported, for example.
So, what is the plan? Will The Donald empty out Houston, Brooklyn, or LA? Better yet, he could shut down the entire Gold Coast in Chicago…restaurants, hotels, condos, and all the over night cleaning crews.
It’s got to be the Southern California construction industry. Or maybe the southern state chicken packers? Central California veggie farmers?
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Obama has had more deportations than any other president.
http://www.snopes.com/obama-deported-more-people/
And while Klobach talks a good game I am willing to bet what happens is exactly what happened when Alabama passed their strict immigration law – soon enough R businessmen will revolt and it will quietly go away.
If Trump and his team were serious about curtailing illegal immigration their top priority would be passing a law making e-verify mandatory rather than voluntary and in the process improving it so it doesn’t falsely flag some people. They would also be talking about the 40
False. Wrong. This has been refuted over and over.
Obama changed the definition of deportation. I’m just amazed that this lie is continued to be believed.
From the LA Times:
What is traditionally meant by deportation” – removing illegal aliens who are within the US – is down sharply and has dropped even more sharply in recent years.
But these will now go up. The rule of law is going to be restored.
The LA times has one way of counting it. Other media outlets have another. Given that ICE’s budget is not unlimited he has focused efforts on stemming the tide of new illegal immigrants (ones that haven’t settled into America yet) and has done so at a rate more than any other president and yes that is enforcing the rule of law.
Whether you or Klobach like it or not ICE does not have an unlimited budget so trump too will have to make choices on where he is going to focus his enforcement efforts. When that happens will you accuse Trump and team of not enforcing the rule of law because they made choices about which segments of undocumented workers they were going to go after?
By the way I can already bet on the segments Trump and team won’t go after – visa overstays (like Melania was at one time) because they aren’t brown. Agricultural workers because Rs already tried that in the south and farmers had to let crops rot in the field.
On the list of targets, visa overstays are #8. “Get biometric visa tracking system in place” The Congress mandated a biometric check system for visas. They haven’t implemented it.
What they also need is a system of bounties – turn in a visa overstay, get a reward. Every day, there is another story about some H-1B scumster cheating the system, and a lot of these scum are visa overstays.
You just made my point. Trump will have to decide where to deploy resources for those he wants to deport. When he doesn’t deploy resources towards visa overstays or ag workers then according to your definition he is not following the rule of the law.
My thought is to give him 6 months and decide if things are going correctly then. Everyone here has already condemned him.
I suspect that there will be many things which I will not be happy about the coming situation. I probably will not be as unhappy as others, true. But allowing the situation to play out makes more sense than immediately deciding that he has failed in this area.
And don’t forget the public licensing of sexual assault and intense hatred of women:
http://www.phillyvoice.com/its-our-p-now-b-h-vandal-keys-trumps-language-south-philly-womans-car/
“On Friday night, at 18th and Reed Streets, Adrienne Juarascio discovered the following message carved into the passenger side of her parked Toyota Camry: “It’s our p—- now, B—h.”…
“I’m not sure [why I was targeted],” Juarascio told PhillyVoice on Saturday morning, a few hours after she reported the incident to Philadelphia police. “I am a big HIllary supporter and had signs at my house. Maybe somebody saw me get out of my car going home.”
A recent Ph.D. in clinical psychology, Juarascio said that whoever is responsible for these acts is displaying the personal profile many believe helped lift Trump over the top by carrying swing states on the electoral map.
“I think it’s that people have felt marginalized or excluded from our current president or from liberals around them who live a different lifestyle,” Juarascio said. “Now that they have a leader who’s given rise and spoken to their fears, they feel vindicated and that these behaviors are implicitly accepted.”
Trump’s America. We voted for it, and didn’t vote against it. It’s ours now.
Josh Marshall points put that we are about to see government corruption on a scale we cant even fathom. There will be lots more damage some worse, but this id going to happen. I hope Obama people ‘burrow’ as deep as Bush people tried to do. I know the instinct is to quit but we need them to mitigate as long as they can.
Oh, there is no quit. A local group here is getting together tomorrow night to talk about a way forward. There is no hesitation. The stakes are too high for complacency or delay.
Gosh, coming home to hunt. Millions are suffering across the globe because US foreign policy and military backed some corrupt oligarch. Glad we’ve got real democracy and freedom.
Just look at the source of Islamic terrorists fighting for a political cause, the birth of Osama bin Laden, permanent war on terror, NATO, Libya, Syria, millions of refugees heading towards the European Union … not the UK, Rumsfeld’s New Europe (fascist, homophobic Eastern Europe) or the USA with closed borders.
Yep, building walls all over … UKIP (Farage), Marie LePen, Geert Wilders, Austria, Hungary, and our Trump elected in 2016.
I’m going with serenity. The whole political scene fills me with disgust, and the next four years promise nothing but grief and heartbreak.
I’m resolving (we’ll see how this works) to read no news, to visit no political blogs, to make myself willfully uninformed and disengaged, and to concentrate on my spiritual side.
The Republicans are in complete control. What they accomplish will, I believe, destroy the country and the world. I can’t do anything about it. The best thing I can do for myself is to ignore it.
Politics has been my major interest since I was a pre-teen. After almost half a century, it is time to move on. There are other things in the world.
But you can do something about it.
They have an unpopular agenda which can, and must, be defeated. That agenda will be led by the most unpopular Presidential candidate of our lifetimes, one who takes office with massive, organized opposition, and many more people ready to get organized.
I can’t maintain spiritual health when I know others are being hurt and deprived human rights. It seems doubtful you will maintain your spirits if you try a path of ignorance. Even if you deprive yourself news, the injustices will be around. You’ll be attuned to them; you will witness them. There will be no complete escape.
This is painful and frightening. Let’s be with each other, and avoid retreating. Retreat brings even more fear, pain and disempowerment.
than in many months prior.
When I’m flyfishing, I’m intensely focused. Nothing else except the occasional passing bald eagle or a dipper keeping me company (or maybe another angler within view hooking up) intrudes. Been needing that.
Haven’t been able to self-impose news blackout, though maybe should. So far every time I’ve heard phrase “president-elect Trump” on NPR, my first, automatic response is “when do I wake up from this nightmare?” It has to be just a nightmare, right?
The reality is what it is. The Democratic establishment did not take it seriously, even liked the idea of Trump as a foil against Clinton.
The Wall Street media executives enabled it.
The New York Time and Washington Post revealed their fatal weakness that in a just society would mean their disappearance.
We had not many objective views of what was going on in red states because the GOP was failing their base in red states. We did not expect that to cause a lurch even more rightward. And because the media directed to and covering red states is intentionally not reliable.
Nor did we think that the forces seeking to protect the vote for Republican laws and election officials would fail to do that.
And too many bought into Clinton as Ms. Inevitability. Some of those might not have voted because the thought of Trump as President was inconceivable.
You know what? The Democratic establishment took it VERY seriously. They could have been more clear about it!
It’s YOU who did not take it seriously. Your constant harping on the failures of Obama and his accomplishments, the shortcomings of democrats in designing policy that you nit picked. You spent months, years even, explainbig in THOUSANDS (thousands and thousands and thousands of words, good god man…hire an editor!) of words in how they never met your superior standards.
Well, YOU wanted a reset on Democratic leadership. You made that plain. THIS IS WHAT A RESET LOOKS LIKE!
Now you have the gall, the absolute gall, to still go after the democratic establishment again. For you, the ten million that will lose health care is not even worth a mention.
When the chips were on the line, YOU chose to spent you time (and thousands and thousands of words) going after democrats.
That’s on you. You must be very pleased, you got your reset.
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I think you’re being overly harsh here but I’ll use this one opportunity to echo some of this as we’re still in the hash it all out phase before we move on and figure out an opposition strategy.
I don’t think anyone here is or will be pleased by the Trump presidency.
I noticed that a few of those who patted themselves on the back for seeing that HRC might not be a great general election candidate also predicted that she would win easily, by 6-8 and even 10 points. Some of those folks spent months criticizing Booman and the commenters here for focusing on Trump while continuing to denigrate HRC at every opportunity.
They thought he wasn’t a serious candidate who didn’t merit the coverage he was given here.
Now, I happen to agree with them that HRC wasn’t a great general election candidate. But, I held my tongue and tried to be a team player.
Some of those same folks will spend the next few years criticizing some terrible Democrats for going along with Trump and the priorities of GOP Congress.
They were silent about Medicare and SS privatization in 2016. They were silent about climate change in 2016. They were silent about abortion in 2016. They were not very silent about their contempt for HRC.
The folks who’ve professed to care most about these progressive issues were silent when it mattered, preferring to indulge their hatred for the Clintons.
Well, the Clintons are now done and politically irrelevant. Establishment Democrats are a spent and weak force. Take them out in 2018 and purge the corporatists and warmongers. Coherence is important.
Find a clear vision. Learn lessons from GOP obstruction and language from the past few years. It was terribly effective.
This is the best course of action, in my view, because the Democrats are currently leaderless and their morale is broken. And there’s some bad things coming.
I’ll piggy back on that comment and say simply that the Democratic Party, in order to stay relevant, now needs to behave like an opposition party. In our polarized landscape, that means obstructing and throwing monkey wrenches whenever and wherever possible. That means articulating a coherent set of economic policies that address concerns of workers who have good reason to believe they have been left out during our tepid economy without resorting to the race-baiting and scapegoating that the GOP has utilized. And for those in office, that means walking the talk. If you’re in a state or community that has a Democratic majority and you’re an elected official, show tangible evidence that you are fighting tooth and nail to help those most in need of it. Make it clear that economic and social justice both go hand in hand. Act on both and don’t back down. Sanders demonstrated that there are plenty of folks aching for a message of inclusiveness and economic fairness. This is our base going forward.
Yes, I agree.
Except the same will (in fact, they do it above) not quite be able to support the opposition that eventually get up and running. It won’t be worded quite the way they would do it, or the ‘elite’ leading the opposition will not be quite ‘pure’ enough. Or the reason for opposing (FBI interference, for instance) will not quite have the proof necessary. There will always be an excuse. It will always be the democratic establishments fault.
And it will be pure coincidence that said nit picking furthers republican goals.
And I’m sick of it.
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And you know the Democratic leadership took it very seriously how? You talk to the Democratic leadership?
I said early on that I was pessimistic about this election and that a marketing campaign without two-way political content and geographical spread over all of the precincts was a waste of money and a mistake. I said early on that spending money on established media was just putting money into the media executives’ pockets, which would go into the GOP campaign.
I documented why the state Democratic Party lost North Carolina in 2014 through stupid tactics and official corruption.
I didn’t bring this disaster on; I voted and advocated for Democrats locally. I have been accepting a half a loaf for 50 years and voting Democratic.
The baseline of my superior standards for Democrats is that they win a larger geography so they can actually govern instead of hiding behind losing.
And the 25 million that were left out of health insurance, not even health care don’t merit a mention. Or the folks being dunned for the co-pays and deductibles on bills they cannot pay because of the freeze on Social Security increases. Do you even know the suffering that you are slinging as a weapon against me? Or is it just a statistic for polemics sake?
Yes, the Democratic establishment failed Democrats yet again because they would get off of the K Street tit.
The Democratic establishment is not rank-and-file Democrats has hasn’t been for probably 20 years (maybe more).
The votes from my county likely elected Democrat Roy Cooper as govvernor – if he survives the recount – offsetting votes that were suppressed in other counties. Do insult me from your privileged blue stronghold.
When the chips were on the line, the establishment Democrats diverted funds to building up the totals in their own safe campaigns. When the chips were on the line, established Democrats went for establishment types instead of local populists. When the chips were on the line, establishment Democrats sidelined progressive support seeking wayward Republicans who in the end came home to Trump.
I am far from pleased.
Thousands of words are required to describe the details that were making me pessimistic from the beginning.
I’m glad that you think I am affluent enough to afford an editor; that tells me a lot about the commenters here. Some are not all that tolerant of progressives who are depnedent on Social Security and Medicare and are old enough to not be able to supplement that.
I hope you are proud of you defense of a perpetually losing Democratic infrastructure that sucks off necessary funds from local races with the promise of lowering campaigning costs.
Your Democratic establishment at the Restoration Conference in Palm Beach FL ($1750 registration).
Just a little R&R after a hard campaign? No post-mortems on the failure of the DNC to win?
WTF is going on with you? Willful blindness?
In what universe is this acceptable behavior for the titular head of the DNC? That doesn’t seem like taking it seriously at all. It’s just a game where the players hobnob after it’s over. No thought of 10 million people thrown off health care there.
I am far from pleased with this result. I am appalled that the political class is far more ingrown and isolated than I had thought. A total loss of any commitment to anything but success.
TL:DNR
Interesting that you didn’t tell what you did to help Clinton win.
That’s because I don’t explain myself to enablers. They are untrustworthy.
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Weasel.
OK, I took the time to read this ridiculous response.
So predictable. Same blaming democrats while repeating republican memes.
But, but, Donna sent an email!
Such a great way to spent months, on made up scandals, hacked by Russians, released by a rapist.
You must be so proud.
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Sorry everybody.
I forgot my own quote and fed the republican trolls and those that enable them.
I’m done.
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don’t let the door hit you, etc etc
I see you failed to note my explanation of the Arkansas hate for the Clintons that were exploited by Republican operatives and Ken Starr in the 1990s.
You failed to read my attempts to offer what actually was out there technically about the hacks.
Nor did you see my repeated warning that the polls were being misread and that there were many possible outcomes and not a Clinton blowout in the polls.
Your failure to offer anything but contempt nor anything of your world exposes your game.
No, Donna Brazille attended a conference with the operatives of the deplorables and bragged about it on email. I hope she paid her own expenses. Billing the DNC for that trip would be an act of betrayal.
And she still is the Interim Chair of the Democratic National Committee, symbolically and practically the Democratic establishment. Not a trivial event. But no doubt a professional courtesy of those who manipulate the voters through symbolism.
And that same DNC will no doubt send me fundraising letters and emails telling us how important it is to fight Donald Trump.
we’re getting this again, those who seem to be energized by attacking those of us who are paying attention. my guess the reality is too difficult
I find much of this convincing. I’ll be looking for the Sanders wing of the party to step up and take over. They have an opportunity now because the establishment Democratic party failed and its leaders are discredited. I hope they take advantage quickly.
The Clinton wing struggled to build an effective coalition. Now, whatever replaces the Obama-Clinton party will also have challenges consolidating the center-left. They will not be guaranteed the support of those who strongly supported HRC this cycle and there will be lingering mistrust. It will be very difficult to win without them.
I was very energized to see Sanders’ appeal across the board. wanted Clinton to win, of course, but glad to see there’s a lot of energy out there against the T direction for the country. learned today there are demos every day in Manhattan right now
No, not so much. I supported Sanders but was quite happy to switch to Clinton. But there was a smugness there in face of implacable opposition and accusations of criminality. We will not right the ship until we are honest about its failings. The media gave Trump an unfair advantage. He seemed to be on TV all the time with free time. And the DNC certainly supported her, perhaps to a fault starting with a primary process of just three people and originally three debates.
I went for a great bike ride this morning, and got home just in time to watch the football game. Only to find that the Packers are beclowning themselves worse than the Democrats so screw that; now I’m surfing the web.
I bought into this too. I had thought that Clinton had been fortunate to have Trump as an opponent: as the Republican Party exploded she might be able to limp across the finish line.
As it turned out, the opposite came true: the Democratic Party imploded, and Trump was the more fortunate to have Clinton as an opponent.
Now it’s the beginning of the Second Redemption.
In an hour I leave for a forum in the Latino community, first of a series they’re holding across the southeast Wisconsin Latino diaspora. Although they’re holding it in church they’re not planning a prayer meeting.
Hard game to watch…
Its our kids that will suffer the most from this.
if only, not to wish hardship on the kids, but the impact of climate change is already upon us. there’s no time left for messing around
When my mom died it was pretty tough. I’d be having a good day, and unbidden, I’d think of my mom and get sad.
When the ex and I split up, same thing. I’d be having a perfectly nice day, and then her memory would arise and I’d feel miserable.
Same thing with this. I mean… it’s fucking absurd. Putting aside the mans general awfulness, it’s as ridiculous as Big Bird getting elected. Or electing a slice of lasagne for President.
I am still having trouble wrapping my head around this shit. Especial when I see him making the rounds with Ryan wearing this face like he just got his very first job.
I mean Bush was a dunce and all that, but at least he was brought up in a political family, and sort of knew how to act (Merkel backrubs notwithstanding). We just put Al Czervik in the White House.
It’s fucking unbelievable. I honestly can’t swallow this.
Oh man, thanks! I knew I’d seen this Trump shtick somewhere before, now you reminded me.
I went to church. We have a new minister, who I helped bring in as Chair of the Ministerial Search Committee. Very young person. She preached about surviving and moving through difficult times. What was best was that she did not get political. Yes, almost everyone at our UU Church is concerned (I am the exception). But she talked about the way to get through and to take action as needed. I can agree with that. Important, though, to not politicize the pulpit.
My wife is fighting off some kind of gunky deal. Otherwise, we would go for a walk. The cold is coming but it is not here yet.
Winter is coming.
Can’t come soon enough. I want some snow. It’s South Dakota, for goodness sake. Snow is part of the deal.
If it’s snow, you’re hoping for a warm and less dry winter. Likely those camped out at Standing Rock are as well.
May you get your hoped for weather.
may be too late for that
You’re not concerned? That explains everything about you. Get the hell out of here and over to Breitbart!
FDR said it best. “I welcome their hatred”. You guys were way wrong about this election. Now, you’re sad. Oh, gee. Your sadness is so terrible.
Sad, sad, sad. Oh, gosh. Why not call me a racist? That’ll make you feel better. It’s the Universal Liberal Comment.
Be careful what you gloat over; it might be more than you expected.
Hey, it’s the reset you wanted!
.
You keep up with the lie that it’s the reset I wanted. Save your bandwidth for the folks who actually did not vote for the Democratic ticket.
I thought the SJWs only attacked me.
What is nalbar whining about anyway? Your comments seem thoughtful to me. Of course, many people consider arguments that they disagree with to be “racist”. It is what I call the “auto-racist response”.
You’re taking FDR out of context.
That is the last i ever write in reply to dataguy, and i suggest that course to others. He’s a provocateur. Don’t troll rate him; ignore him completely. He thrives on conflict. JUST IGNORE HIM.
You know what? I’m actually not too concerned either. I’m sick and tired of the Democratic party automatically being the “Friend of Undocumented Labor”. That stance has cost us dearly and as much as it sucks to be undocumented at this time, there are bigger battles that the Democrats are going to have to fight other than that. It is inhumane, but we need to focus on the citizen children who will be deported and changes to the immigration law that will reset it to 1929 as well as hope that the GOP doesn’t change the whole idea of “natural born citizenship” and “naturaliztion” processes to hurt those who are currently here legally.
I’d rather put the effort into protecting the refugees, who are here legally and now face deportation back to Syria and the federal government prerogative to resettle them, than spend a whole lot of effort bailing out the agriculture and hospitality and food service and construction industry who rely on undocumented labor.
Our immigration policy is ridiculous when it comes to undocumented labor. Trumps policy is going to be cruel and disaterous in human and economic terms, don’t get me wrong. But it feels like those economic sectors that rely on undocumented labor are like old people who vote Republican, ignore what they say about Medicare, and hope that there will always be enough Democrats to shield them from what Republicans say they are going to do. So the farmers in Alabama can work to elect republican majorities in places like Alabama and when their crops are rotting in the field, they could rely on the current administration to find workers for them. Well that’s hopefully not going to happen for them this time. They screwed the pooch, their crops can rot, and either they figure out how to remain in business when they have to pay $25.00 per hour to entice workers to relocate to their farms from elsewhere, or they can actually come right out and admit that they’ve been playing a game. The rich can mow their own lawns. And joe’s restaurant on main street can go under because there actually aren’t enough people who will wash dishes.
Democrats are left carrying an awful lot of water for regions of the country that aren’t voting for them because congressmen in those districts are scared shitless of their own voters who they’ve roused up repeatedly with screeds against illegals. You know what? They’re in charge now and when those local businesses up and leave their districts because they can’t find anyone to process chickens, I don’t feel like bailing them out. Our stance on the undocumented doesn’t even resonate with Latino voters enough to mobilize turnout. And why should they?
Dataguy isn’t concerned with a surge in violence, swastika graffiti, and hate being validated by the president elect. And then complains like a special little snowflake about me calling him a racist.
The SJW agenda, which involves the use of “racist” for every possible action, is apparently where you are at. Every time someone calls someone a racist, another state senator in WI becomes a Republican. You clueless losers and your ad hominim crap about “racist” this and “sexist” that are exactly why we will say “President Donald Trump” for the next 4 years.
Congrats.
Trump is YOUR fault, dumbass.
Ooooh, die Sozial Justice Varriors iz die cause of bigotry.
And the Civil Rights movement caused Jim Crow laws.
And the abolitionists caused slavery.
BTW, there is a report that Trump’s US, May’s UK, Trudeau’s Canada, and Mexico might conclude a free trade agreement. One of my Trump-supporting relatives sent it to me. Is it true?
I find dataguy amusing. Same guy who was in hysterics about the “gunsucks” after Newtown. Do you love the 2nd Amendment now, dataguy? How people change, and so quickly.
He thinks he’s secure because Trump promised not cut Medicare and SS during the campaign. Enjoy it while it lasts.
It has begun. A Variety writer has a report about Raleigh NC NBC affiliate WRAL.
We live in MD but have an ancient farm in the Shenandoah Valley in Va which we are trying to rehabilitate. So that’s where I went this weekend. Probably a third of households fly the Confederate flag and the CD is solidly (R) ever since the Nixon flip but nowadays solar wine and artisan beer and organic farming is ascendant here and Virginia, at least, is in the waning days of im Crow racism and hatred, though it’s going to take a while.
Roja Bandari on how religious authoritarianism in Iran went down. h/t emptywheel
Interesting list. I think it’s possible, and if you’re running a dictatorship certainly desirable, to operate the state under a set of parameters with which the vast majority of the people can mostly feel comfortable most of the time. That’s what she’s pointing to here. And it may seem a little foreign to us because we’re used to using models like Germany when thinking of authoritarian dictatorships — but Hitler was an extremist even among the extremists and Germany was unstable because it was always at war: that was the whole point of the exercise.
If we look at authoritarian dictatorships that managed to stabilize themselves (Argentina, Chile, Brazil) you can see how these parameters can become the new normal.
Where it breaks down is in looking at our own experience with our own extremists. In WI (NC too from what I gather) they’re never satisfied with any parameter, they always want to ratchet it up a notch. They destabilize their own regime because they’re always over-reaching. By doing this they organize their own opposition, but it never reaches a point of stability.
There’s a purely American feature to “our” extremists that is not present in the extremists that have controlled any of the other preceding examples of that form: our extremists are the Second Redemption; their goal is not only to roll back the New Deal but the 14th Amendment and the 13th and 15th too if they can. These folks don’t do stability.
The Donald and his posse are like the GOP of NC. One exception, he will burn bridges on a global scale. Every trade agreement The Donald voids will be replaced by China. What will stop Mexico from kicking Ford/GM out and start making Chinese cars?
I’ve been reviewing Azar Nafisi.
The human cost of this election is going to be enormous. People don’t seem to recognize this. Maybe because they don’t want to. I wish I could overlook it, too. But it’s going to be impossible to ignore.