Saturday, February 06, 2016

Hey There.


23 comments:

  1. On NPR on Friday, I heard David Brooks say that Hillary may be able to get stuff done, but she has little vision of what needs to be done. Bernie on the other hand has vision, and of the two, that is preferable…!!

    Go Bernie! Thanks, Howard!

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  2. There really should have been more and better Democratic candidates. By ignoring Howard's 50-state strategy the Democratic establishment has really reduced their bench, as it were. I think many credible candidates were scared off by HRC's now clearly outdated campaign strategy; only Bernie seems to have comprehended the zeitgeist (or caught the wave, if one prefers a boomer analogy). We are seeing a new division of the Republican coalition, and if HRC should become President, I think the reaction among putative Democratic supporters could be a lot stronger than the people who fancy themselves power brokers even dream of. We seem to be getting ever closer to a political realignment...

    --Alan

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  3. Slideshow: Bernie Sanders' Vermont [Click] Hey, Bernie stumped for Walter Mondale--the most recent (I won't say "last") Democratic presidential nominee for whom I truly wanted to vote; a very good man.

    --Alan

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  4. From politicalwire.com:

    Clinton Effectively Giving Up in New Hampshire
    “Hillary Clinton is way behind in New Hampshire, and she is running there like a candidate prepared to cede the first-in-the-nation primary,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
    “As polls show Sen. Bernie Sanders continuing to hold a sizable lead here, Clinton strategists are positioning their campaign to weather a loss here, shifting their focus to holding Latino voters in Nevada, which votes Feb. 20, and then win in South Carolina, with its large black population, the following week.”
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    Like other articles, the LA Times piece talks extensively about the HRC campaign's recent/current efforts in Nevada and South Carolina--and by not mentioning them, gives the false impression that Bernie has been doing nothing in either state. Such a narrative sets the stage for a "surprise."

    --Alan

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    1. Hmmmm....unclear. Emend to read "...and by not mentioning Bernie's months of campaigning and organizing in those states, gives the false impression that he has been doing nothing in either one."

      --Alan

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    2. I followed. And, a surprise is always good. Might smack some sense into the stick-in-the-muds who can't see that Bernie is the wave of the future.

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  5. Not feeling very empowered by Howard at the moment. :-(

    Howard Dean Says Labor Unions Are Just Super PACs That Democrats Like
    http://truthinmedia.com/howard-dean-says-labor-unions-are-just-super-pacs-that-democrats-like/

    This makes me so relieved we got Bernie before we lost Howard.

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    1. tc told me that Howard had begun to sell out. I honestly didn't believe her. I said I would need to speak with Howard and hear his reasoning. But this is just beyond the pale. How can the Howard Dean we knew (and whom I knew as my Governor for 12 years) actually be equating Super PACs and Wall Street to labor unions??!!??!! He knows better than that.

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    2. Oh, my--that certainly is a disappointment--a great one.

      --Alan

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    3. If you look JUST at campaign finance, it is important to remember that Citizens United lifted restrictions on labor unions exactly as it did on for-profit corporations. I can't say I understand superPACs and their relations to corporations/labor unions. Something about reporting who contributes?

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  6. Is it time to change our blog name and/or logo?

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    1. We can still call ourselves Dean Democrats, since we are true to his original vision.

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    2. Just read the piece. *sigh* I always said his party loyalty would be his undoing. He should have gotten behind Bernie at the start.

      Well, this time I'm not gonna vote for the lesser weavle just because Howard asked me to. Been there, done that. If Hillary is the nominee I'll give very serious consideration to voting for Jill Stein.

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    3. We have a very good crop of tangelos this year, and this afternoon I was harvesting the ones high on the tree, all the while puzzling over how to respond to this.

      I also wondered about the name of our blog, listener; but our Howard is the Howard of 2003-2004, who emphasized that WE have the power. That seems more than ever true, and there is no dishonor in our origin. If some changes were to be made, it ought IMO to be by unanimous consent. And old friends should be able to find us if they come calling.

      The things Howard did after he dropped out of the presidential race, and which I did not approve of, I excused as the behavior of a good soldier for the Democratic Party--perhaps too good a soldier, but if that be a failing it is generally an honorable one. This attack on unions and Bernie, and dealing in false equivalencies, seems clearly dishonorable to me; it seems of a piece with Chelsea Clinton's recent misbehavior, whether the two were acting independently or under direction. ["Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"] So the Howard Dean of 2003 no longer exists, and the Democratic (and for that matter the Republican) Party of my youth has long since ceased to exist. Like Joe Hill said, "Don't mourn, organize." I shall double my monthly contribution to Bernie's campaign, adding the sixteen cents to show that I was a supporter of Howard Dean's presidential campaign.

      It seems to me that Bernie's campaign is at least as much to restore the Democratic Party as to revolutionize it. And I expect the Democratic Party is far more likely to survive any such change than is the Republican Party, as things stand today. I just hope he doesn't become our Bonnie Prince Charlie--but Charles was a pampered fop with no military experience who was put in command of an army, with disastrous consequences. Bernie is a seasoned politician who earned his own way. Hmmmm......maybe he could be our Hannibal? That wouldn't be half bad.

      Jill Stein is OK, if not an inspiring speaker. Heck, I'd vote for Gloria La Riva before I'd vote for HRC; I'm sure Gloria would appreciate the vote. I don't know who they are, but I read that there are currently four women running for the Peace and Freedom presidential nomination.

      --Alan

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    4. The Peace and Freedom Party? That's worth looking into.

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    5. Cat ~~ Probably not for someone in Massachusetts. I've never heard of it outside California. (I was in California when they got started and voted in their very first primary just to make sure they got on the ballot.)

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  7. Replies
    1. Alan, double check your link. On clicking I got a message saying the page doesn't exist on this blog.

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    2. That link works--but you have to select an answer to a seemingly insignificant survey to read the story.--Alan

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  8. Howard was born and raised Republican--he's come a good way down the road. If he wants to stick to that, I'm not going to blame him.

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  9. Rubio Implodes In GOP Debate [Click] Hmmmm….if we have passed Peak Carson, Peak Cruz and Peak Rubio, Christie has limited appeal outside his local area (rather like Vegemite), Bush and Kasich are barely noticeable…who does that leave? This does not augur well for the GOP. But if the Democratic establishment cannot adapt to current circumstances, they will be facing tremendous problems too…

    Sanders: Watch Me On 'SNL,' Not The GOP Debate!

    —OK.

    —Alan

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    1. Hmmm....thinking of the establishment Dems adapting to current circumstances, I am reminded of the scene in the movie version of Dr. Zhivago where the proletarians are marching down the street singing (could it be the Internationale? I don't recall) and one of the well-to-do diners in a fancy restaurant on the second floor of a building remarks, to the amusement of his companions, that "Perhaps they will sing in tune after the revolution." As I remember it. If the voters get well out in advance of the "leaders," the latter will have to run like the dickens to get in front of the crowd. I'm just imagining, but as Moltke the Elder pointed out, if one considers and prepares for every possible eventuality, victory is assured--but not otherwise.

      --Alan

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