Former President Donald J. Trump

[Sneelock]

Otherwise, these people are just going to be professional spoilers and complainers like the fucking Libertarian Party.

[Jimbo]

The voters did sway the Dems. Almost every Dem on my primary ballot has Bernie bullet points - minimum wage, free college, single payer etc..

There was no fucking way I was going to vote for Jill Stein. I follow one of Dore’s writers on Facebook - I think he’s the funniest damned guy in the world but he ridicules people who vote Dem as a practical matter.

Look, if this “people’s party” or whatever is going to happen then all these people need to stop bitching about how useless Dems are and do something useful. Maybe they can get something happening. If they do - it had better be better than Jill fucking Stein and they better hit the ground running.

I thought DJT was going to win the popular vote. I’d vote for Hillary again. It seemed the best use of my vote. If somebody wants to tell me that it wasn’t the best use of my vote - you think they’d at least try to be persuasive & engaging about it. Ok. Dems suck. Give us something else. Shit or get off the pot.

Jim Earl is the writer, right?

Oh, now some Dem candidates are swayed a bit but the leadership still wants that BIG CORPORATE $$$.

My idealism. like Dore's and Johnstone's, is an anti-war stance but Rs and Ds love the money the MIC brings. That is why I still like Cenk Uger and his get money out of politics stance.

Back to the linked debate, note how Dore proposed the Dems act as stubbornly as the Rs had and not participate in confirmation hearings. Turns out Dems helped get a torturer to head the CIA.

[Sneelock]

Yeah, I don’t mind getting my nose rubbed in that. I don’t support that. That’s why God put a hole in my face.
“Moving forward” didn’t work. Who really thought it would?

Yeah, Jim Earl is the guy. Almost everything that guy says cracks me up. Well, when he calls me a corporate whore not so much.

I don’t think I’m a corporate whore. I think I’m just a guy. I’m like a dog owner, I praise them when they do something I like and snap at them when they don’t. I think it’s very possible that the dems might screw it all up but I’m on the team until I see a better option. I think that better option needs to be more than telling Dems they suck. The Dems do suck. Ho hum. Time to learn another tune.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

Sadly the Supreme Court made sure that the money is still in politics.

So since it is...would you and Cenk prefer if the Democrats didn’t go after this big corporate bucks and left them all to the Republicans?

[Sneelock]

They can get a lot of bang out of those matching dollars if they can grassroots a lot of money.
Since Labor isn’t really happening anymore - the money needs to come from somewhere. I really think the Howard Dean model still has a lot of mileage with an inspiring candidate.

[Jimbo]

Sadly the Supreme Court made sure that the money is still in politics.

So since it is...would you and Cenk prefer if the Democrats didn’t go after this big corporate bucks and left them all to the Republicans?

Legalized bribery is still bribery.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

They can get a lot of bang out of those matching dollars if they can grassroots a lot of money.
Since Labor isn’t really happening anymore - the money needs to come from somewhere. I really think the Howard Dean model still has a lot of mileage with an inspiring candidate.

That’s certainly the way I hope it goes. But as long as corporate dollars are in the game - it is a war of attrition.

[Sneelock]

No Bucks — No Buck Rogers.
A people powered movement would be great. The whole “money bomb” way of raising money can be very effective.
So, who is going to be getting the people excited?

Damn! It’s always something.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

Ironically, Trump may have paved the way out of the corporate money hole.

Whatever else you say about the guy, he has shown how you can go directly to the people.

[Jimbo]

Ironically, Trump may have paved the way out of the corporate money hole.

Whatever else you say about the guy, he has shown how you can go directly to the people.

The Dems could learn a lot more than that from Trump. Oh, if it were they who had said "Drain the swamp!" or told other similar lies - but won and then actually made friends with Russia, etc.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

Tut, tut. Maybe Jill Stein will run next time, Jimbo!

[Snarfyguy]

Sadly the Supreme Court made sure that the money is still in politics.

So since it is...would you and Cenk prefer if the Democrats didn’t go after this big corporate bucks and left them all to the Republicans?

Legalized bribery is still bribery.

But right now there is clearly a party of bad actors in charge of the federal government; that is the immediate problem, not your weird false equivalencies between the parties' respective conduct/deeds.

[Jimbo]

Sadly the Supreme Court made sure that the money is still in politics.

So since it is...would you and Cenk prefer if the Democrats didn’t go after this big corporate bucks and left them all to the Republicans?

Legalized bribery is still bribery.

But right now there is clearly a party of bad actors in charge of the federal government; that is the immediate problem, not your weird false equivalencies between the parties' respective conduct/deeds.

[Jimbo]

QAnon vs Russiagaters and how the deep state is taking both of you for a ride. An absolutely wonderful and comprehensive essay from my new best gal, Catlain Johnstone.

The Real Revolution Has Nothing To Do With Donald Trump

...both of these extremely popular movements are fueled by the spirit of populist rebellion, and yet both wildly misinterpret what the deep state is in a way which directly benefits the existing power establishment.

https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/the- ... fe64a493ea

[Snarfyguy]

So the theory with these recent presidential pardons is they're a signal to Cohen and his ilk to stay strong, which suggests a lot of questions.

- Will Trump still be president when an implicit offer offer of a pardon would do, say, Cohen, any good? The process of indictment, trial and sentencing can be take a while at the federal level, I guess. But if that's the play, I imagine Cohen's lawyers would want quick justice.

- If someone like Cohen, the subject of a criminal investigation that appears to involve Trump, gets sent up without implicating the president, what would the political fallout from a pardon scenario look like? A constitutional crisis, or just a regular national political crisis? It kind of seems it would just be like it is now, only more so, with the corruption, etc.

- Isn't it a pretty risky proposition for, say, Manafort, to go through a criminal trial and *hope* no mud splashes on the boss such that he might be inclined to let Manafort rot in jail? (I don't think I would take that bet; life in prison and family penury is not an acceptable outcome.) Would Manafort have a card to play at that point, if he had (but had withheld) evidence that would incriminate Trump? If it's a he-said-she-said, which one of these slimeballs has more credibility, and is that a legal thing or a court-of-public-opinion thing?

- Can it make sense to consider the idea of prosecuting in state court, where no presidential pardon power obtains? But they can't just scrap these federal investigations and hand the baton to the state A.G, surely?

- Some other stuff, I forget.

[BARON CORNY DOG]

Don't forget that he could issue prospective pardons without waiting for the criminal process to run its course. However, the risk with that is it looks blatantly lawless (though, technically, a Presidential Pardon cannot be "lawless") and could be one toke over the line for (some) Republicans in Congress. But then, if someone is pardoned and they don't face other charges, they can't claim the Fifth Amendment and would presumably not be able to avoid a grand jury subpoena. My gut feeling is that Cohen is in much deeper shit than Manafort, and that they will have so much shit on him that there could be state charges as well (which would evade the pardon power). However, I don't know how freely federal officials could share the fruits of their searches and investigation with state officials.

I said that, by its terms, it is impossible that a Presidential Pardon can be lawless, but the House of Representatives could certainly conclude that, as a political/legal matter, the use of the power is tantamount to a high crime or misdemeanor suitable for impeachment.

I spent the last day or two listening to a Watergate podcast, and it's striking how history repeats itself---to hear 1972/73 HW Bush and the Gipper defending Nixon in the teeth of the investigation, and to hear how the country was divided in many of the very same ways. I want to think that Devin Nunes will go down in the book of the Wrong Side of History, but it sure as shit didn't tarnish two future presidents. It's also striking to hear how comparatively chumpy and small potatoes the Watergate scandal was in comparison with current events.

I go back and forth on the wisdom of impeachment, but I'm reaching peak outrage right about now. You really do get beaten down by the antics and somewhat anesthetized to the true insanity of these days.

[Jimbo]

As suggested to me by a NYT editorial, the surest way to beat Trump is for everybody on the left to put aside quibbles and vote for every Democrat who's running. To make this task more palatable (IMO) the Dems need to stop it with the Russia bullshit, stop it with the identity politics, stop it with mealy-mouth "unity" bullshit, and then really unite and pick up on Trump's/Bernie's campaign promises - infrastructure, improved medical insurance, free college and a real effort to stop the deep state, to really drain the swamp. Mueller or whoever, the CIA and FBI are crooked. One good way is to declassify everything and then have hearings. Another thing would be to address voting issues (see Greg Palast and Matt Taibi) and get money out politics. A real liberal democratic and socialistic platform. All this said, it still remains if you want Trump gone vote for a Democrat.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

Oh...fuck off Jimbo.

If you have a list of demands, everyone gets one. Then...so much for pulling together.

Go vote for the peace and freedom party or whatever the fuck you do.

[Snarfyguy]

Don't forget that he could issue prospective pardons without waiting for the criminal process to run its course.

Yep, I'd forgotten that. It's hard to imagine a sitting president triggering that scenario, but if any president were ever reckless/foolish enough to do it, it's him. I bet Steve Bannon would love to see that happen.

[Jimbo]

Oh...fuck off Jimbo.

If you have a list of demands, everyone gets one. Then...so much for pulling together.

Go vote for the peace and freedom party or whatever the fuck you do.

FDR's Letter to to the Democratic Convention Criticizes Corporate Democrats

In 1940, when he was running for his third term, he decided to drop his former Vice President, John Garner. He did this mostly because Garner was not progressive enough; Garner was opposed to a majority of The New Deal, and was opposed to FDR running for a third term. Ouch.

After FDR replaced him with former Secretary of Agriculture, Henry Wallace, Garner and other southern conservative Democrats tried to block FDR from nomination.

In response, he wrote a letter directed to the Democratic Convention, saying that he wouldn’t run for his third term if Democrats blocked Wallace. This letter was never sent because a speech by Eleanor Roosevelt at the convention turned the tide. It was basically unpublished and unknown, until Oliver Stone featured the letter in his Showtime series, Untold History of the United States.

July 18, 1940
Members of the Convention:


In the century in which we live, the Democratic Party has received the support of the electorate only when the party, with absolute clarity, has been the champion of progressive and liberal policies and principles of government. The party has failed consistently when through political trading and chicanery it has fallen into the control of those interests, personal and financial, which think in terms of dollars instead of in terms of human values.

The Republican Party has made its nominations this year at the dictation of those who, we all know, always place money ahead of human progress. The Democratic Convention, as appears clear from the events of today, is divided on this fundamental issue. Until the Democratic Party through this convention makes overwhelmingly clear its stand in favor of social progress and liberalism, and shakes off all the shackles of control fastened upon it by the forces of conservatism, reaction, and appeasement, it will not continue its march of victory.

It is without question that certain political influences pledged to reaction in domestic affairs and to appeasement in foreign affairs have been busily engaged behind the scenes in the promotion of discord since this Convention convened. Under these circumstances, I cannot, in all honor, and will not, merely for political expediency, go along with the cheap bargaining and political maneuvering which have brought about party dissension in this convention.

It is best not to straddle ideals.

In these days of danger when democracy must be more than vigilant, there can be no connivance with the kind of politics which has internally weakened nations abroad before the enemy has struck from without. It is best for America to have the fight out here and now.

I wish to give the Democratic Party the opportunity to make its historic decision clearly and without equivocation. The party must go wholly one way or wholly the other. It cannot face in both directions at the same time.

By declining the honor of the nomination for the presidency, I can restore that opportunity to the convention. I so do.