U.S. Electile Dysfunction 2016

[kladner]

A flip-flop for a saddened pundit
-Matt Taibi

Back in the old days, when the Republican Party could count on the support of "less-educated voters" without having to actually give them anything, what we got all the time from people like Brooks were fatuous bromides about how anyone who was struggling lacked a work ethic and an appreciation of family structure. Government aid of any kind to help people out of economic hard times he always ripped as counterproductive and morally corrupting.

But now that he's being crapped on by a new movement of independent-minded, rebellious nativists who have no use for a moralizing, polysyllabic New Yorker like himself – now that he can hear the sharpening of the guillotines – suddenly Brooks is all in favor of government policies to help the "working class," a group of people he's presumably never met.

[ewmayer]

Originally Posted by kladner

A flip-flop for a saddened pundit
-Matt Taibi

Good zinger about the 'economy-boosting' effects of the 2004 corporate tax repatriation giveaway.

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Donald Trump and the Politics of Resentment | The Archdruid Report

In 1966 an American family with one breadwinner working full time at an hourly wage could count on having a home, a car, three square meals a day, and the other ordinary necessities of life, with some left over for the occasional luxury. In 2016, an American family with one breadwinner working full time at an hourly wage is as likely as not to end up living on the street, and a vast number of people who would happily work full time even under those conditions can find only part-time or temporary work when they can find any jobs at all. The catastrophic impoverishment and immiseration of the American wage class is one of the most massive political facts of our time—and it’s also one of the most unmentionable. Next to nobody is willing to talk about it, or even admit that it happened.

[chappy]

https://twitter.com/KatrinaPierson/s...81303680040960

I think Obama has been great but not perfect like Ms. Pierson apparently does.


(third edit) and the tweet is 4 years old--so not entirely relevant.

[ewmayer]

Paul Krugman Unironically Anoints Himself Arbiter of “Seriousness”: Only Clinton Supporters Eligible | Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept

[kladner]

Donald Trump has claimed Ted Cruz committed “fraud” in his successful campaign to win the Republican Iowa caucuses on Monday, and has called for a new election.

[chappy]

Originally Posted by kladner

Donald Trump has claimed Ted Cruz committed “fraud” in his successful campaign to win the Republican Iowa caucuses on Monday, and has called for a new election.

I don't know if I would go so far as to call it fraud but Cruz's Voter Violation mailings were about as scummy as you get from the national campaign staffs.

[kladner]

Originally Posted by chappy

I don't know if I would go so far as to call it fraud but Cruz's Voter Violation mailings were about as scummy as you get from the national campaign staffs.

They are both utter scumbags, though I would admit that Cruz is far scummier than even The Donald. Trump's braggadocio, mendacity, and just plain demagoguery provides ample material for satire and derision on my side of things. But unfortunately, many people get really high on braggadocio, mendacity, and demagoguery. It ain't a good high, either.

Still, Cruz would be worse. The other one to watch is Rubio. I can't put a comparative ideological rating on those two, but I see Rubio as "more electable," and hence, more dangerous.

[kladner]

https://consortiumnews.com/2016/02/0...ssive-persona/

Desperate to blunt Bernie Sanders’s surge of support especially among young Democrats, Hillary Clinton is pitching herself as a “progressive,” but many of her policies were anything but – from supporting military coups to favoring corporate interests, writes Jeff Cohen.

In her speech claiming victory after the Iowa caucuses, Hillary Clinton proclaimed herself “a progressive who gets things done.” I had to laugh. And it wasn’t just because former President Bill Clinton – the centrist Triangulator-in-Chief – was standing behind her, beaming and clapping.


A quick review of Hillary Clinton’s record shows that much of what she gets done is anti-progressive (not unlike President Clinton in the 1990s).

Headings of the first several sections of this essay:

PROMOTING FRACKING WORLDWIDE IS NOT PROGRESSIVE

BOOSTING CORPORATIST TRADE DEALS IS NOT PROGRESSIVE

ENABLING MILITARY COUPS IS NOT PROGRESSIVE

POCKETING MILLIONS FROM CORPORATE LECTURE FEES IS NOT PROGRESSIVE

ESCALATING THE AFGHAN WAR IS NOT PROGRESSIVE

CHAOTIC MILITARY INTERVENTION IN THE MIDEAST IS NOT PROGRESSIVE

Please excuse the ALL CAPS. I'm just too lazy to go through fixing the way it copied and pasted.

There is much more, heavily laced with links.

[Prime95]

Originally Posted by kladner

The other one to watch is Rubio. I can't put a comparative ideological rating on those two, but I see Rubio as "more electable," and hence, more dangerous.

Coming from Florida I have a bit more experience with Rubio. IMO, he is very much like Hillary - he stands for absolutely nothing - he will switch positions as necessary to improve his chances of getting elected (or raising more campaign cash). Unlike Hillary, he has no track record or list of accomplishments to predict what he might actually do if elected. I suppose one could look at his donor list to see which special interest groups have racked up the most IOUs.

[kladner]

Thanks for the on-the ground information, George.

[chalsall]

Originally Posted by Prime95

Coming from Florida I have a bit more experience with Rubio. IMO, he is very much like Hillary - he stands for absolutely nothing - he will switch positions as necessary to improve his chances of getting elected (or raising more campaign cash).

If I may please ask you a sincere question: if it was between Hillary or Trump, how would you vote?

Please feel free to not answer.

Most of us outside of the US of A are watching this without really understanding what is really going on....