U.S. Electile Dysfunction 2016

[only_human]

US Presidents and Election Fraud

Today in Texas History: LBJ’s ‘stolen’ Senate victory

On this date in 1948, Box 13 in Duval County provided Lyndon Johnson the victory margin as the gangly congressman from Johnson City won a hotly contested Senate race by 87 votes.

Six days after election, authorities in Alice (now in Jim Wells County) “discovered” 202 additional ballots in precinct #13 that had not been counted.

Johnson received 200 of those votes. His opponent, Coke Stevenson, got two.

Stevenson’s razor-thin lead melted away and “Landslide Lyndon,” who believed that the 1941 Senate race had been stolen from him, was the winner in yet another deeply disputed election.

Later, it was reported that the ballots seemed to be written in the same ink. And the voters allegedly voted in alphabetical order.

Johnson never acknowledged that his allies stole the election. But former Texas Observer editor Ronnie Dugger told a story of visiting LBJ in the White House. The then-president whipped out a photo of five good ol’ boys from Alice with the infamous Box 13 sitting on the hood of their vehicle.

Dugger asked LBJ if he had stolen the election.

Laughter.

[kladner]

Originally Posted by chalsall

OK.

When, exactly, will this be next demonstrated?

I am afraid that I answered the inverse of your question. An unbroken chain of custody is by no means attained with regard to US voting procedures. (for real POd face.)

[ewmayer]

Bloomberg says he is eyeing 2016 run | Financial Times
[Note FT content is behind a paywall, to see sans registration ya gotta google the piece and view the cached article]

NC owner Yves Smith's take on this (and see ensuing reader discussion, esp. w.r.to the time-pressing issue of ballot access, in the comments section of the same page):

Just about no new content beyond his previous statements, save: “I find the level of discourse and discussion distressingly banal and an outrage and an insult to the voters.” Since he would take far more votes from the Democratic nominee than any Republican, I translate this as, “Wall Street and Corporate America are not being treated with the respect they deserve by any of the candidates.” His initial trial balloon faded almost immediately from the news, and so far I see this getting prominent play only on the FT (which interviewed him) and CNBC. Readers?

[ewmayer]

Re. "the will of the people", an NC reader offers this on this post-NH-primary day:

The numbers, as presented by msnbc this morning:

Bernie bested clinton by nearly 50,000 votes which “marks the widest ever gap in a contested NH democratic primary.” Bernie 60%, hillary 38%.

nbc news has allocated 15 NH delegates to Sanders and 8 to hillary.

clinton has the backing of 6 of the 8 NH superdelegates, for a final “allocation” of 15 delegates for Bernie and 14 delegates for hillary.

With a 22% vote differential.

hilary and Bernie were virtually tied in iowa, and Bernie creamed her in NH, and the current delegate totals according to nbc “news” are hillary in the “lead” with 44 and Bernie with 36, a difference of 8 or 10% of the total delegates.

And that’s how it’s done.

[For those of you unfamiliar with the thoroughly corrupt creature known as a 'superdelegate', think party-bestowed papal indulgences for bought-n-paid-for establishment candidates.]

As another reader hopefully notes, of course Team Clinton had a similar 'lock' on the 'will work for bribe' superdelegates in 2008, as well ... to which a 3rd reader replies "Yeah but Obama was also a creature of the Party. Bernie is an interloper."

Another reader notes the MSM is still (mostly) in team HillBillary's pocket:

This morning’s report by those Nice Polite Republicans at NPR about Bernie’s win was typical. They downplayed the huge margin, then played clips from Clinton’s weird victory speech and nothing from Bernie’s speech. They’ve been doing this free advertising for Clinton all along.
A few months ago I heard Cokie Roberts talking about the Democratic race by [sic] never once mentioning Sanders and instead playing big chunks of Hillary’s latest TV ad.

W.r.to the GOP, a.k.a. the race Over Who Will Commit Most War Crimes Once Elected, cf. especially "Jerry Denim's" comment re. Trump. The best laff line I heard on last night's late news was one talking head, when asked who the big winner in the NH Republican primary was, replied 'Jeb!' - who got a massive 11% of the votes, roughly 1/3rd of Trump's count, but 'no longer in the low single digit percentages!!'

[davar55]

I think both parties need a RESET.

[ewmayer]

Hillary Clinton and Henry Kissinger: It's Personal. Very Personal. | Mother Jones

Shorter version: Hillary lies. Again. [Probably a good idea to keep an airsickness bag handy while reading.]

Sanders proudly declaring “Kissinger is not my friend” totally destroys notion that Clinton’s better on foreign policy | Salon

[Admittedly the 'better on FP' was a bizarre notion to begin with - serially and callously f*cking up various other nations in pursuit of neocon 'full spectrum dominance' nirvana may make on 'more experienced' (at f*cking things up, at least), but 'better' is a non sequitur unless one literally means 'better at f*cking things up'.]

I suspect Bernie is having to do a fine balancing act, though - he can't come right out and call Hillary a warmongering imperialist without also painting 0bama with the same brush, which would be deserved, but alienating of too much of the Dem base. Bashing Hillary for being - like her hubby - Wall Street's b*tch and a money-whoring out-of-touch member of the Looter Elite is far a safer strategy, and also mutes much potential GOP criticism, since *that* base is similarly unhappy with their oligarch-sponsored establishment candidates over the same things.

[davar55]

Originally Posted by ewmayer

Hillary Clinton and Henry Kissinger: It's Personal. Very Personal. | Mother Jones
Shorter version: Hillary lies. Again. [Probably a good idea to keep an airsickness bag handy while reading.]
Sanders proudly declaring “Kissinger is not my friend” totally destroys notion that Clinton’s better on foreign policy | Salon
[Admittedly the 'better on FP' was a bizarre notion to begin with - serially and callously f*cking up various other nations in pursuit of neocon 'full spectrum dominance' nirvana may make on 'more experienced' (at f*cking things up, at least), but 'better' is a non sequitur unless one literally means 'better at f*cking things up'.]
I suspect Bernie is having to do a fine balancing act, though - he can't come right out and call Hillary a warmongering imperialist without also painting 0bama with the same brush, which would be deserved, but alienating of too much of the Dem base. Bashing Hillary for being - like her hubby - Wall Street's b*tch and a money-whoring out-of-touch member of the Looter Elite is far a safer strategy, and also mutes much potential GOP criticism, since *that* base is similarly unhappy with their oligarch-sponsored establishment candidates over the same things.

So you don't like the Democratic (socialist) choices either?
If so, we agree.
Who then do you prefer to see as president?

[only_human]

Originally Posted by davar55

I think both parties need a RESET.

Why. I think someone like Bernie Sanders running for president is one of the better things that have happened in politics in quite some time.

Just let them shake their etch-a-sketches after the primary.

[davar55]

Originally Posted by only_human

Why. I think someone like Bernie Sanders running for president is one of the better things that have happened in politics in quite some time.
Just let them shake their etch-a-sketches after the primary.

The two opposite extremists - Trump and Sanders - are dangerous and wrong.

[only_human]

Originally Posted by davar55

The two opposite extremists - Trump and Sanders - are dangerous and wrong.

Wish them into the cornfield then.

[davar55]

Originally Posted by only_human

Wish them into the cornfield then.

Not in this thread.