Monday, March 28, 2016

Tulips!


17 comments:

  1. First Howard Dean flips over to become a lobbyist and a firm supporter of HRC. The President Obama endorses DWS! The Democratic Party has just about "centered" itself out of existence. I know I'll no longer be a Democrat after this election cycle. I will vote for Dems down-ticket in hopes of ridding us of the do-nothing Congress, but I will never, no matter the consequences, vote for HRC. The D Party considers only the desires of those in power and we the people are simply votes to be herded or lied into the direction they chose. I'm not playing that game. I'm done with them.

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    1. Susan--I'd say "welcome aboard" except that I wish we weren't on such a boat. What did it for me was when Kerry chose Edwards as his running mate back in 2012. The most recent (I won't say "last") Democratic presidential nominee for whom I truly wanted to vote was Walter Mondale, back in 1984, so it took quite a while to come to a decision. I agonized about it for months, and on St. Patrick's Day 2013 I changed my registration to Green (they have ballot access in California). For this primary I have (temporarily) changed back to Democratic so I will (knock on wood) have zero difficulty voting for Bernie. We need (IMO) to have an updated New Deal party, be it a restored Democratic Party or a new party. But we seem to be nearing a watershed event of some sort. The GOP has fanned the flames of anarchy in the foolish expectation that they could control and use it, and caught themselves on fire. The "Democratic Party" elites still don't seem to be able to comprehend what is going on. [Speaker descends, temporarily, from soapbox, exits downstage left.]

      --Alan

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    2. Thanks for exiting left, Alan. ;-)

      I left the Dem party the day Howard was screwed by Gephardt and others while in Iowa. As Susan said, we aren't willing to be told for whom to vote. No way, no how. That's not what the Founders wanted and that's sure not what I'm amenable to! Ha! An Independent I will remain. In Vermont, I don't have to change my party affiliation to vote in the Primary. I just say which ballot I want to use. No note is made of which ballot I took. I love Vermont!

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    3. There's a move afoot on Facebook to start a Progressive Independent Party and ask the Green Party to join with them. I would definitely get on board with that. I don't know how much more clear the Democratic Party can make it that they do not care at all about the base. Their only concern is supporting those they know in the Beltway Bubble. I really believe if Hillary is the nominee that she will lose. The Dems have just disappointed and betrayed too many of us.

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    4. Ballot access is a huge hurdle. As memory serves me, the Republican Party got up and going quickly--in one election cycle or a bit more, and that was more than 150 years ago. People have speculated that nomination of HRC would redound to the benefit of the Green Party in those states where it has a ballot line.


      Green Party ballot access map [Click]

      --Alan

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    5. Susan, I could get behind some sort of Progressive Party. But what do we do in the meantime? If HRC is the nominee I'll write in Bernie, if I'm allowed to. My sister fills out my absentee ballot for me and she is not happy with what she terms those nuts who refuse to vote for HRC. I have a suspicion if I tell her to write in Bernie she will refuse and cast my vote for HRC...and there will not be thing one I can do about it. Maybe I'll ask Dad to fill out my ballot for me...though that would also cause hard feeling with her highness. *shrug* It sucks being dependent on other people, especially other people who do not share your interests, likes and values and who think it is acceptable to bully you.

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    6. I am home from the Twin Cities and wondering just who or what DWS might be. Also Also wondering if anyone has been able to locate final delegate counts from Saturday's Washington caucus and the current numbers of pledged delegates for Sanders and Clinton.

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    7. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. For pledged and unpledged delegates etc., check out Wikipedia: Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016 [Click] It has the virtue of separating pledged and other delegates, but how those primary delegate counts will relate to national convention delegates is another matter entirely---very obscure.

      --Alan

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  2. Today’s new editorial cartoon selections:

    Jeff Danziger [Click]


    Clay Bennett [Click]

    Tom Toles [Click] Be very careful what you wish for...

    —Alan

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  3. Wikipedia has an article about the history of the Republican Party that is good reading. Here is an abbreviated timeline:

    March 1854: Name first suggested at a meeting in Wisconsin.
    July 1854: First statewide convention (Michigan)
    February 1856: First national convention in Pittsburgh: John C. Fremont nominated
    May 1860: Second national convention in Chicago: Lincoln nominated
    November 1860: Republicans defeat Southern Democratic, Democratic, and Constitutional Union parties to elect Lincoln, carrying 18 of 33 states and winning 180 of 303 electoral votes.

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    1. One big organizational advantage the nascent Republican Party had was that political turmoil enabled it to attract many experienced office holders; it didn't have to elect greenhorns and wait for them to gain experience. If both the Republican and Democratic parties were to be driven into the ditch this year, that could probably be replicated. But better to try to restore the Democratic Party if possible. Come November we will see which way the wind is blowing.

      Alan

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    2. One big organizational advantage the nascent Republican Party had was that political turmoil enabled it to attract many experienced office holders; it didn't have to elect greenhorns and wait for them to gain experience. If both the Republican and Democratic parties were to be driven into the ditch this year, that could probably be replicated. But better to try to restore the Democratic Party if possible. Come November we will see which way the wind is blowing.

      Alan

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  4. Oops--posting glitch. I will flatter myself that a good thing bears repeating. If someone should make the duplicate go away, that is also good.--Alan

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  5. More and more e-mails from Bernie HQ. Starting last week they began recruiting for voter registration and phone banking. Here in Fresno, which is considered sufficiently Republican that Democratic politicians beyond the rare local one can't be bothered to do more than fly over.

    --Alan

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  6. A few odds and ends…
    --Alan



    The Myth of the 'Reagan Democrat' [Click]
    ===========================
    Notable quote:
    “I haven’t endorsed a candidate because I think it is right what’s happening in the Democratic primary.”
    — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
    =====================
    The Political Scenarios Leading to Wild Conventions...and Maybe an Unhappy Ending for President [Click]

    I must admit that I find the idea of the National Guard being deployed to keep order at/outside the GOP convention to be interesting...

    ===================
    How the Media Gets the Narrative on the White Working Class Totally Wrong [Click]

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  7. Susan:
    Ohio Green Party presidential nominating convention[Click] April 3rd in Columbus. National nominating convention in Houston Aug. 4th-7th.

    "In contrast to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, however, the [Green Party national] convention is not merely a formality which endorses the will of the electorate in the primaries, but the final determinant for the nomination. This is because ballot access laws in many states prohibit the Green Party from holding a state-sponsored primary election—only five states were able to meet the requirements in 2004—and others prevent voters from actually registering into the party, thus making it difficult to credential Greens.
    As such, Green conventions often have a degree of contentiousness which was seen only in past conventions of the Democratic and Republican Parties, prior to reforms in 1968 and 1972, respectively."

    Old-timey, eh?
    --Alan

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