Following Donald Trump’s sweep and Hillary Clinton’s 4-out-of-5 wins in yesterday’s primaries, I am ready to concede that South Dakota’s primary won’t matter. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland all gave the Republican celebrity billionaire majorities. Trump needs less than half of the remaining delegates to reach the 1,237 needed to win the nomination, while Ted Cruz and John Kasich have no mathematical path to that magic threshold. Bernie Sanders at least won Rhode Island, but he would have to win 81.5% of the remaining delegates to reach the 2,383 needed for the Democratic nomination. Even Sanders knows the Presidency is out of his reach. Either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will be the next President of the United States.
Majorities in both parties are rejecting the candidates I prefer (or, in the case of the GOP the candidate who at least sounds tolerable). Both parties are embracing a name. My party is choosing pragmatism over idealism, choosing the candidate they think can win over the deeper conversation we need to have. That choice is unpleasant but not unreasonable. The Republicans have hit the self-destruct button, choosing madness over mediocrity and fascism over four more years of Clinton.
The Clinton and Sanders campaigns are sending speakers to the South Dakota Democratic Party’s McGovern Day dinner Saturday. I can only hope that Rep. Tim Ryan from Ohio won’t gloat too much on behalf of Clinton and that he and whoever the Sanders campaign sends will focus their commentary on how their candidates will mobilize their supporters to get South Dakotans to vote for Paula Hawks, Jay Williams, us Democratic Legislative candidates, and the right ballot measures (reminder: Yes on 21, 22, 23, R, T, V!… and I might have to drop 23, just so the chant has better rhythm: 21, 22, R-T-V!).
I won’t get to cover any big Presidential primary campaign rallies here in Aberdeen. We’ll also see less of Larry David on Saturday Night Live. But I will recapture my enthusiasm with the glorious prospect of running against Republicans who must now face the shame and humiliation of carrying Donald Trump as the billionaire fascist face of their party.
Trump is still a diversion to keep any true evaluation of Republican candidates. I predict he will drop out when it is too late to properly vet the other candidates because he has to board a space shuttle to go blow up an asteroid, or some other emergency so important, only he can address it, and with regret, he has to withdraw.
Since the start, there has been a Republican leadership chorus of: ” I/we will vote for whomever has the letter ar next to their name”. Trump’s antics prevents us from getting to know those candidates.
Barry Freed, You misjudge The Donald. His ego is HUUUUGE! He is not dropping out. That would be a total LOSER MOVE! He is on an ego trip of epic proportions.
The question is who is going to run a third party challenge against him from the right.
It’s so interesting how this has played out. I think Donald Trump threw his name in the ring when this all started thinking he really didn’t have a half of a chance (but he had the money-got to be in the media eye and blab all his stuff) — but look what happened? We knew Hillary Clinton would run. I like Bernie and I think a lot of people “like” Bernie and his ideas & with him, we could have addressed all the problems and supported Americans; but I think people think his ideas won’t be able to be paid for in general and would cost tax payers; because they don’t understand where all the money is going. What is frightening is all the people that are embracing Donald Trump. What is that saying about Americans across the country? We will see how well the Donald does on the West Coast.
Cory, if you want to be honest and fair, you need to also accept the fascism of Hillary:
http://www.westernfreepress.com/2015/05/16/hillary-clinton-isnt-a-socialist-shes-a-fascist/
Sibby, you are hilarious! If you search hard enough on the internet, you can probably find someone contending the Pope isn’t Catholic. Pssst, word to the wise, don’t believe everything you read on the internet.
For a long time, I was with Barry and MK- Goal was to be the king-maker and not the king. However, whether Trump’s goal has changed or not, the outcome is different. He will be the nominee.
I think much of the Trump and Sanders success has a similar root- dissatisfaction with the state of how politics manifests itself in what is perceived to be contrary to public interest. The difference is Trump benefitted by the way delegates are awarded (winner take all and minimum threshold to get delegates) in a large field.
In the end, what we are going to see is buyer’s remorse in both parties and in the general election we are going to see turn-out very low and those who vote are going to be seen as a Hobbesian choice (the alternative is so bad, there is only one choice) at levels we have never seen before. I predict both candidates will have negative Net Favorables on election day.
Both Hillary and Trump are what’s wrong with American politics. Both part of the establishment, both paid for and bought by the one percent. In the end, most people, especially true liberals will stay home and not vote since it’s all fixed anyway. Nothing will change until there is true campaign finance reform, no corporate lobbying, and no TV advertising.
The sorriest most embarrassing presidential election ever.
Trump is in it to win it for Hillary and this was set up from the start. The Clintons are moderate Republicans now. These two couples have been friends for years.
I agree with MK and Jenny. Trump got into the race as a lark. Never thought he could win. Did everything to sabotage himself as well as the GOP party. But here he still is on the path to the GOP party nomination. After he gets the nomination will he self-destruct for his friend Hillary’s benefit? Or will he insult and clown his way to the Presidency then switch back to Democrat? Tune in November 8th for the grand finale of Celebrity Apprentice! What was that PT Barnum quote about the GOP party?
I’m with Darin and MK: Trump may be as surprised at his success as everyone else, but he’s not about to give up this shot at being king. It would be totally out of character.
It wasn’t just the large field that benefited Trump. A large field on the Democratic side would more likely have divided the Sanders vote. A big chunk of Dems were committed to Clinton from the start and have been since 2008. No candidate on the GOP side enjoyed that same level of support from the beginning; Trump had an easier vacuum to fill.
And Steve, you don’t get to simply mirror every honest and damning assessment of your party’s candidate by saying, “I know you Dems are, but what am I?” You can try to be Michele Bachmann, taking one line out of context and saying that putting coal miners out of work is more fascist than whatever Donald Trump says, but that’s just silly. Clinton is objectionable, but she is not overtly, demonstrably, viciously fascist with regards to stomping on constitutional liberties (white supremeacy? weaker libel protections for the press? beating protestors?) the way Donald Trump is.
That doesn’t mean I like her. That doesn’t mean that I support her corporatism, which is the oppression we need to fight but which we can’t count on either of the main parties’ nominees to fight. That just means, Steve, that I’m not going to put up with your nonsense. Words mean something. Your abuse of language is the same flavor of relativism and fact-free-ness that has put Donald Trump this close to the Presidency and America this close to ruin.
Trust me: America will survive a third Clinton term. America may survive a Trump term, but electing the archetypical “Ugly American” as our President will do more damage to our international reputation, our security, and our liberty than any president since we became a global power.
Low turnout, Troy? Dang—I was hoping for some sort of Presidential coattails! Now we have to hope that Republican voters are more depressed than Democrats.
@cah: Not a Trump supporter here. I probably won’t vote in the Presidential election this year if my choices are Clinton or Trump. That said, Trump is not a fascist as you so spuriously contend.
Firstly Fascism requires the rejection of democracy. An overthrow of the existing state and Constitution. Trump doesn’t. Secondly Fascism requires the individual to subsume himself to the collective. (Marxist roots at work there). Trump is individualistic and much of his appeal demonstrates that. The party establishment hates him. He’s essentially funding his own campaign and doesn’t have much of a campaign organization (witness how poorly he’s done in delegates awarded in caucuses) and his focus on “his” ability to get things done. Narcissistic? Yes. (but then so is Obama). Fascist no.
Unfortunately, the use of fascism as an all-purpose insult for decades that has rendered it’s meaning useless.
Salon’s Digby makes several unsettling points that describe millions of American voters who have supported Trump:
“. . . a majority of Republicans apparently either like or don’t care that Trump thinks Mexicans are rapists and criminals. They are fine with someone as president who wants to torture terrorist suspects and kill their innocent children. They have no problem with someone who wants to use summary execution against accused deserters. It’s not a deal breaker to vote for someone who has a long sordid history of racism, sexism and misogyny. They don’t find it completely unacceptable that he has no respect for prisoners of war, saying he “prefers” people who don’t let the enemy catch them. They are apparently not alarmed by the fact that he promises to change the libel laws so the press cannot freely write about him. They cheer when he eggs on violence at his rallies and don’t think his offering to pay the legal fees of someone who hit a protesters is a problem. They see nothing wrong in his pledge to kill oil truck drivers and seize oil wells in foreign countries. Sending Syrian refugees that have been properly vetted and are living in the country back to a war zone to be killed is fine with them. Reviving the 1950s plan called “Operation Wetback” to round up and deport millions of people doesn’t bother them either. Building a huge wall along our more than thousand mile southern border sounds like a reasonable plan to them. These, and more, are all “politically incorrect” ideas that many GOP voters are happy to endorse.”
http://www.salon.com/2016/04/27/the_growing_shadow_of_donald_trump_the_scariest_thing_about_him_is_that_he_just_keeps_getting_more_popular/?source=newsletter
Wingnuts haven’t really evolved in recent memory. Except their idea of WWJD.
I concur-Drumpf is a Fascist.
Nate Silver says yesterday’s primary states had the lowest turnout among Republicans of the season. Silver says that signals not so much that undecideds are swinging to Trump as that anti-Trump voters are getting discouraged and staying home.
It’s not an all-purpose substanceless insult, Don. Trump’s statements satisfy the definition of fascist. Bear’s comment should make that clear. Trump wins with racist scapegoating. He practices Mussolini-style jingoism and thuggery. And as for democracy…
I try not to use words lightly. I do not lightly call Trump or anyone else a fascist. But on Trump, I use the word intentionally, meaningfully, instructively, and confidently.
Nate Silver knows! (I followed his advice and won a March Madness Pool over 54 others. $$$)
I don’t always agree with Porter, but when I do I drink Dos Equis.
CH,
While fascism and some of the traits you prescribe to Trump are often linked, the link is not inherent.
Fascism is mostly an economic system (which Trump does not subscribe to) combined with a dictatorship which uses the state to suppress, restrict or in some cases (but not required to qualify as fascist) eliminate political opposition.
Trump is a lot of things both personally and politically but he is not a fascist. Words mean something including fascism. I feel like my teacher daughter who responds to her nieces and nephews with “use your words.”
“That just means, Steve, that I’m not going to put up with your nonsense. Words mean something. Your abuse of language is the same flavor of relativism and fact-free-ness that has put Donald Trump this close to the Presidency and America this close to ruin.”
BS Cory, the fact is both parties are controlled by the same global elite. Hillary is just as fascist as Trump. The only difference is that the indoctrinated left cannot believe a female Democrat could possibly be a fascist, regardless of the “facts”.
Here is support for my last comment:
When and if fascism comes to America, if it has not already, it will be deceptively clothed: not hardened far right Republicanism, but respectable, seemingly reasonable Liberalism personified by the Clintons with Obama cultivating the intermediate ground.
Who needs Rubio, Cruz, Bush, etc. etc., when Clinton already possesses, better than they, the articulated paradigm of Wall Street, Pentagon, think tank planning and connections which has propelled America’s counterrevolutionary role in global affairs, all internalized and ready for execution. I say “matriarchal,” then, not to indicate gender per se, but in her concrete case, an overseeing, overarching figure, ready to take command of the full apparatus of power, the new head of the family, using the subterfuge of motherly caring for the disadvantaged and the poor to firm up and tighten a ruling class seeking political-ideological dominance at home and abroad while pursuing traditional imperialist goals of market penetration, a sustained supply of raw materials, the advantages of outsourcing through reliance on a global labor market, and the consequent retardation of Third World modernization and autonomy.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/11/17/matriarchal-fascism-clinton-embodiment-of-us-power/
Mr. Troy Jones,
You’re telling Mr. Heidelberger to “use his words”? And defending Don Trump against the charge of being a fascist?
Why bother responding, Cory? The women of USA have got this Presidential election well in hand.
~HEIDELBERGER FOR SENATE, was the chant throughout the Land of Infinite Variety and the people smiled. :)
Yesterday a CNN exit poll showed that 2/3rds of Pennsylvania republican voters felt betrayed by their GOP candidates.
That is a lot of republican voters that in some way feel disenfranchised by Donald Trump who is the uncontested leader of their party.
We can debate until hell freezes over whether or not Trump is a fascist, I believe he is, but the proof of his fascism lies in his own words, not ours.
Mr. Sibson… Are you one of the New World Order – Illumanati guys? Listening to you/them is often a Merry-Go-Round of contra-opposing ideas.
Troy, your conception of fascism appears to be somewhat narrow. According to Wiki, “Historians, political scientists, and other scholars have long debated the exact nature of fascism. Each interpretation of fascism is distinct, leaving many definitions too wide or narrow.”
Labeling Trump is less important than understanding how he might govern if elected. Although the language he uses in public suggests many fascist characteristics, his threats against others seems the most troubling.
In hopes of easing Trump’s delegate blow to him, Cruz has or will announce Carly Fiorina as his running mate this afternoon. They’ll be campaigning in Indiana and the Cruz campaign hopes Fiorina’s California roots will help him there.
In other news, Dennis Hastert the former Republican Speaker of the House was sentenced to 15 months in prison and 2 years probation and fined $250,000 in his sexual abuse and cover up case. Go Republicans!
Bear,
That’s my point. Fascism has become a catch all phrase of denigration and lost all ability to accurately communicate an idea. Fascism is a particular economic order under a dictator. As much as one might dislike Trump, attributing by inference or otherwise those ideas is inaccurate and without substance.
If you want to attribute to him nativism, jingoism, or xenophobia which were views held by Mussolini and Hitler, go for it as there is his own words to give the charge substance. But, attributing to him the base definition of fascism to him is a disservice to a modicum of discussion.
predictions for the next 8 years:
1. garland will be confirmed SCOTUS
2. Yet, trump will continue to destroy the GOP.
3. Hillary will take the presidency.
4. Dems will take the senate. Who knows what will result in the house?
5. RBG will eventually be replaced by the 1st appointee Hillary chooses.
6. Congress can solve major problems for lower and middle class, voting, housing, infrastructure, transportation, energy & climate.
7. Hillary the hawk will somehow neutralize NK.
8. Citizen’s United, Kochs, RAGA, Wall Street/financial and savings/investment fraud, the 1% and political obstructionists will go the way of the emu.
9. ACA, MC-MA, SS will improve dramatically to serve the general welfare with affordable, efficient health care and retirement security.
10. Military budgets will be transformed for butter, not guns.
11. Continued world diplomacy around growing China & India will be collaborative, and, in Mid-East, Asia, Africa will quell Islamophobia.
12. Research, addiction science and justice reforms will displace stigma.
13. Right wing conservatives will retreat into armed bunkers and religion. The rest of the world will progress.
14. Jobs, education, careers, unions and financial security will become attainable rights.
That’s what a female Dem president will do with 8 years.
All during President Obama’s campaign for the Presidency and the his 8 subsequent years as president we heard republicans call him a fascist, dictator, and socialist without even knowing what the terms mean.
Know that the shoe is on the foot and republican Donald Trump has demonstrated that he is indeed a fascist, republicans need to redefine fascism.
If it walks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck it’s a fascist.
Roger C- do you and Deb G communicate? Color me nosy. :)
Cruz digs in the junk heap and pulls out the female version of Willard Romney. Failorama and Failorina won’t dump Trump in Indiana or California. But somehow it’s appropriate to bring in a corporate CEO who tanked her company, offshored a bunch of American jobs, but got a golden parachute and a megayacht out of the deal as a symbol of the GOP party. And I thought Cruz was supposed to be smart.
Cruz must have been turned down by every woman who has actually been elected to something.
If it comes down to a choice between Trump and Cruz, I would rather have a fascist like Trump any day than a Cruz with his Dominionism. Trump generates more enthusiasm with his anti trade rhetoric that seems to reach out to those who have been screwed. He seems to be the only one who gets that it really is the economy stupid that needs fixed, pronto. What kind of bull crap is it when you hear a Democrat saying that they would maybe support $12.00 bucks an hour but $15.00 is just an unreal goal. Democrats better pull their heads out or the enthusiasm gig will turn on them right quick like.
mike from iowa, yes I do communicate with Deb, she is safely tucked away in Minneapolis laughing a South Dakota republicans.
Why stop at $15 Jerry? $20 would let everyone breathe easier.
You would not get an argument from me on that Mr. Rorschach. There is a saying that states more or less, that a rising tide raises all ships. That would especially be true regarding wages received that would offset the rising costs we are seeing in the markets at present. My point was not snark but one that shows the indifference the wealthy see the workers plight. We are now at the point that management can say that if you want to keep your job, you must take a pay cut and by the way, you will work longer hours as well. What we have lost is the connect between what constitutes fair wages for honest work to wages to survive. We are at the point that says your work is meaningless because we can outsource it with no difficulty. Take it or leave it.
The only way that Clinton could ever beat Trump is by having Democrats start a meaningful trail that kicks the DNC straight to the curb. The nomination process must spell out in detail what Clinton’s marching orders will be if she wins. That process cannot be directed by the corrupted DNC, but by the people. One of the huge things that Trump will beat hell out of her on is this TPP trade deal, and he has the audience for that. Here is what Tim Canova says rightfully so, “The TPP would outsource millions of American jobs, raise prescription drug prices for the sick and elderly, and shift the costs of compliance with health, safety, and environmental protections from the largest corporations to taxpayers. But there are other aspects of the TPP and other trade agreements that should trouble us. The TPP includes Brunei, a country in Southeast Asia that Freedom House says is “not free,” where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by the death penalty administered by stoning. Brunei also allows men to rape their wives, as long as she is not under the age of 13. Shouldn’t our concern for human rights supersede trade giveaways?” Now to be clear, the Republican base hates the gays, but they are not keen on child molestation either. They just got through seeing their former speaker of the house, Dennis Hastert get called a serial child molester before they sent him away for lying to the authorities about money improprieties. So once Trump tries beating that TPP drum on Clinton’s melon for her “Gold Standard” talk, Democrats better have the platform in place denying their support for it so they can kill that beast before birth or he will win.
Clinton beats Trump with 3 little words … WAR ON WOMEN
“The probability that Clinton leads Trump is 99%.” Clinton’s average polling lead over Trump is 8%.
http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/2016-general-election-trump-vs-clinton
As far as the TPP goes, I’m not a fan of it, but Trump scoring any political points on it seems unlikely given the fact that it was 1 percenter business types like him that pushed for the trade deals. Heck, there is probably people that will come out and say that Trump lobbied in favor of other trade deals in the past.
Bernie needs to hang up his active campaign now that he has no reasonable chance of winning. Making Clinton spend money to run in solidly Democratic states like California just weakens Clinton in the battle looming with Trump. If Bernie really has the nation’s best interest in mind, he needs to get on board the Clinton train. He can still have influence and be a force for change.
All right, Troy, Don, let’s stop making excuses; let’s call out the danger for what it is. When people refer to Hitler’s fascism, they aren’t referring to his economic policies. They are referring to his brutal, violent, racist, oppressive, and anti-democratic tactics and policies. I stand by that usage. Saying “Trump does not propose the exact economic policies of Hitler and Mussolini” is like saying the fire alarm is ringing a half-tone too high.
You may have missed what happened in 2010 Mr. Porter, http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/08/29/five-myths-about-the-so-called-republican-war-on-women
What seems to be missing is that there is a trust issue with Clinton that goes very deep.
Darin, does Clinton have to spend any serious money in the remaining primary states? It seems like her rocket already has orbital trajectory; can’t she shut off the primary thrusters and coast to convention… or focus all available resources on targeting Trump?
Roger, I’m trying to figure out which is more absurd: Donald Trump reading slightly polished but still random and incoherent shower blurbs from a teleprompter and calling it a foreign policy address, or Ted Cruz responding to the fact that he lost to John Kasich in four of five races yesterday by announcing that he’d pick as his running mate a two-race washout who had to bail out before Jeb Bush and Ben Carson.
I talked to myself while driving to pick up a pizza today. I’m sure I sounded Presidential. Trump is a fascist and a fantasist.
If the Twins were Ted Cruz, they’d pause when they are down 8–2 in the ninth to hold a press conference about the shelf they building for their upcoming World Series trophy.
Mr. Larson, a lot of things can happen between now and nomination when you have an investigation hanging over your head. Ignoring it does not make it go away as it is active. Be that as it may, Bernie needs to stay in to keep Democrats engaged in the struggle to make the Democratic party what it once was, a party of the people. Bernie keeps the feet to the fire of those that have hijacked the Democratic party and have run people like myself out of it with their embrace of all things money at the expense of the working people. Bernie has proven without a doubt that you can run a campaign without corporate money. Corporate influence though, is something that you have to beat a louder drum on as they own the media and control what the narrative will be. Follow the money and you will see who owns the media outlets and why their bylines are not favorable to the likes of Bernie and those that go against Wall Street. With Bernie staying in, the followers do likewise and with their energy and support, Clinton could beat Trump in the election. If the platform does not recognize the need for change and to put the DNC in its place, she could loose it all. “It is the economy, stupid.”
Darin,
It was at about this time during the 2007 campaign that Hillary had to concede her campaign to Barack Obama, she did so with graciousness and offered her help to the Democratic leader.
Bernie needs to assess his campaign and do what is best for the party and keep in mind that the most important role he has now is keeping a Democrat in the White House.
And again, Democrats will continue to change the course of history as we did in 2007 by electing the first black president. Now we have the historical decision to elect the first woman president.
Cory,
I listened to a part of Trump’s foreign policy speech today, honestly I couldn’t too much of it without gagging.
Trump’s fascism will have this country in war before he takes office, if he is elected.
As I listened, it occurred to me that this campaign between Trump and Clinton will be totally lacking in substance since Trump has none.
@Jerry … Never forget, sir the wise words of that little Dakota piece of string.
“I’m a frayed knot!” ☠
All of these things bring into play something that I remember in the year 2000, Al Gore could give policy speeches and had 8 years of OJT against W, who simply had none of the features to make a president. Face it, George W. Bush was not a brain. What Bush had though was the governor of a state that was in a position to swing the vote, one way or the other.
If the Democrats do not set the platform that denies the pathway to another crappy trade deal, that denies fixing why there is such a thing as student debt, and denies a fair wage for the jobs performed, while insuring that there will be a path forward for immigration reform that is meaningful to all of those in legal limbo, it is quite possible that there will be another dumbass republican guy like George W. Bush in the White House. Bernie needs to stay in to help set the agenda that will not only win this election, but also the midterms to finally break the noose that is tightening.
The political parties and their primaries are not ‘democracy’ – they are private clubs, setting their own rules, not for public good, but to retain their parties power-base.
It’s lousy way to run a nation – forcing voters to decide between the lesser of two evils; the lesser of poor judgments; etc.
We should not be surprised if this is the lowest voter turn-out for a presidential race in history.
Hey, way to pick up your team when you’re not in the lineup there, Jerry. Lookin’ forward to finding you a place way down there on the end of the bench, this cycle. Bring your best stuff, Carew.
Agreed John, there are two candidates who recognize that fact, one is the front runner for the republicans and the other is in second place with the democrats. The primaries are a flawed process that more than half of the people in the United States agree is rigged. The primary is just another way of proof positive that democracy is being sold off as a commodity. There is a way to change all of that though, and that is to open the primary for all. What purpose is a closed primary anyway? A primary ought to be the incubator for the road map forward that has a shared purpose.
You pick the team up with reality Mr. Porter. When everyone is playing grabass instead of keeping their eye on the ball, you sometimes have to deal the truth to them. The game is not over until it is over, simple rule no matter if you are in the starting lineup or if you are a designated hitter, you always should know that the game can change with one pitch. Sometimes the guy at the end of the bench has a better perspective on the game than the guy who thinks he is the star player.
Cory,
I am curious why you do not go after Hilary Clinton in regards to her mishandling of classified material in the same fashion you went after Dr. Annette Bosworth with her petition fraud. You certainly found Bosworth’s action egregious, but not Clinton’s?
You are running on a platform that says you will fight corruption, yet a quick search of your blog seems to have nary a post about the corruption that has kept Hilary Clinton from being properly prosecuted. Or are you only interested in fighting corruption when it is done primarily on the other side of the aisle?
Hasn’t Hillary been cleared of that or at least the investigation is still going on Joseph?
Bosworth was found guilty. Doesn’t due process apply to all?
Owen,
I am fairly certain that Cory was going after Bosworth before the courts found her guilty. Thankfully, Cory hounded the issue, and little to no power plays, collusion, or cover ups occurred.
With Clinton, she has never accepted responsibility that she negligently mishandled classified information, and the current administration has treated her with quite a bit of leniency and has not treated her in the same matter as any number of federal employees who have mishandled classified information. I have worked as, and currently work with, Information Security Officers, and anyone of us can tell you that if any lower level employee had done the same as Clinton (handling classified material on a personal information system not authorized to handle classified material), that person would have had their security clearance suspended, if not revoked, and they would never hold a security clearance again.
How many of Sec. Clinton’s e-mails were hacked compared to the other branches of government? None, zero, zilch my friend. I’d say she’s the clever one on the ranch. The old “hide it in plain sight” gambit worked pretty well. No charges or serious wrongdoing that other Republican cabinet officials did’nt do, also. Jaywalking serious is about all.
Porter,
Just because it was not hacked, does not absolve her from wrong doing. She mishandled classified information; thankfully no one was hurt and no classified information was leaked to foreign intelligence threats (that we know of).
If a person were to flagrantly discharge a fire arm in an elementary school, even if no one was injured, I imagine the best course of action would be to not let that person handle firearms for a while, if ever. Or perhaps if a person were to continually, night after night, get blazing drunk and drive around town. Even if they never hurt anyone, or damage any property, we would want to revoke that persons driver’s license and impound their car. This person should not be trusted (with a firearm, a gun, or in Hilary’s case, classified information), based on the their disregard for the rules and laws they have agreed to abide by.
It’s poetic justice that Bernie is doing to Hillary what Hillary did to Barack in 2008. Who could forget how, down on votes and delegates, Hillary took the race to the bitter end hoping that the super delegates would ignore Barack’s lead and hand her the nomination anyway?
Joseph has a good point. What happens if the FBI lowers the boom on Hillary by leaking a damning investigative report and making the Justice Department look like it’s covering for her by not following FBI charging recommendations? Unless and until the FBI clears Hillary, somebody else needs to remain a viable alternative. Bernie has earned the right to be in that position. I hope the FBI finishes its work ASAP and clears the air. Then all of those agents will have free time to go after the Joopster and his brother from a different mother, Mike Rounder.
Benghazi Benghazi Benghazi. There’s been anti-Clinton agenda heretics like you after them since they were protesting Vietnam. Let me know when you win one Loserville.
Stop with the tantrum or daddy’s gonna put the seat back on your bike.
Joseph Nelson, As far as I know, Hillary Clinton did not have any information on her server that was classified at the time it went to her server as part of her email. Some limited number of emails later were retroactively classified that remained on her server.
She got some bad advice from someone that this was allowed in the first place, even though it was not a great idea. They were probably some of the same people that advised Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice that it was alright for them to maintain their personal email on private servers. But even though the last two Republican secretary’s of state did the same thing as Clinton, wingnuts never let hypocrisy stand in their way.
http://www.newsweek.com/colin-powell-emails-hillary-clinton-424187
Cory, I know that Clinton has spent serious money in New York and California, two states that she probably would not have had to spend much money in for the general election. Maybe she could cancel some ad buys in California now. I don’t know.
As Roger C. pointed out, Clinton put her party above her own ambitions when it became clear that O’bama would most likely win the nomination. She unified the party and 8 years later she deserves the same courtesy, respect and pledge of support that she gave O’bama.
Donald Trump will be one of our best presidents ever! Can’t wait for November!
I respect your opinion Darin. But your opinion isn’t based on all of the facts known to the FBI. Hillary is currently the subject of an FBI investigation. And that’s not a good thing. If the FBI clears her then all Democrats can be more comfortable with her as the nominee, and Bernie can be more comfortable leaving the race. On the other hand, if the FBI report is unfavorable to her I’m glad that Bernie is still in the race with high approval in public opinion polls.
If there is a big nothingburger, then so be it. http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/peter-roff/articles/2016-03-08/clintons-email-scandal-isnt-going-away
In the meantime, we all know that this is a criminal probe.
jerry, that article you reference makes allegations that Clinton is trying to run out the clock on these charges but it doesn’t explain how this is so. The article also doesn’t explain how Colin Powell and Conde Rice’s administration at the SOS office could do the same thing and not face any repercussions. It does not explain how Clinton could be in trouble for emails that were not initially deemed classified. Nor does it explain how she could possibly anticipate that emails that were not classified when she made them could become classified ex post facto.
As far as the foot dragging allegation in the article, I thought Clinton had turned over the server like 6 months ago and urged the State Department to release the emails around 6 months ago. No mention of these facts in the article as well. Guilty until proven innocent, I guess. So much for journalistic integrity.
This appears to be a political witch hunt of the first order so Rorschach I agree in principle that Bernie needs to be like a vice-president–ready to serve. But in the mean time, Bernie needs to direct his effective rhetoric on some topics at the Republicans in general and Trump in particular and quit tearing down our candidate.
Fascism has so many meanings that it is almost meaningless. What little I remember of political science course, the esscense of facism was the combination of government and business…a literal kind of corporatism that did not reject capitalism, but utilized it. The following is from a long, long Wikipedia article.
The Fascist regime created a corporatist economic system in 1925 with creation of the Palazzo Vidioni Pact, in which the Italian employers’ association Confindustria and Fascist trade unions agreed to recognize each other as the sole representatives of Italy’s employers and employees, excluding non-Fascist trade unions.[128] The Fascist regime first created a Ministry of Corporations that organized the Italian economy into 22 sectoral corporations, banned workers’ strikes and lock-outs, and in 1927 created the Charter of Labour, which established workers’ rights and duties and created labour tribunals to arbitrate employer-employee disputes.[128] In practice, the sectoral corporations exercised little independence and were largely controlled by the regime, and employee organizations were rarely led by employees themselves but instead by appointed Fascist party members
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
Much more at the link to support nearly any position or definition of facism.
This strongly suggests that labeling Trump a fascist is no more vaid than labeling Sanders or Clinton communists. Not much is gained by using these terms as pejoratives labels when they don’t really apply or only barely apply because of some variability in definitions.
Hillary is a heavy-weight regarding foreign affairs:
1. Is Hillary responsible for the tragedy at Benghazi – for inadequate security preparations or for misleading public about the nature of the attack?
LANDLER: the State Department under her leadership obviously deserves criticism for the security situation. That’s been well-established in the course of a number of reviews…, one commissioned by the State Department.
And she’s taken her share of the responsibility for that.
2. Should she have restarted the peace process in the Middle East?
LANDLER: Hillary did not make as sustained or fervent an effort as several of her predecessors and certainly as her successor John Kerry, who has thrown himself into this … in fairly spectacular fashion.
She had good reasons for taking the approach she did.
3. Fog of war-Benghazi- the administration’s stated explanation of what happened [was] plausible in those early hours…. spontaneous protests erupted in response to a video that denigrated the prophet Muhammad. And … a surge of anger that spilled over, and these protests spun out-of-control.
In the end, the reality was that Ansar al-Sharia did plan this attack. It is also true that the prophet Muhammad video may have been a triggering event. One of my colleagues, David Kirkpatrick, did an exhaustive study of this a few years ago and determined that the video did play a role.
4. Mahmoud Abbas … had not shown himself to be a bold leader…[and] she felt that the odds were low. There was a lot of other things to do in the world and … getting very involved in the peace process carries a certain domestic political risk….something that every politician has had to think carefully about. If you throw yourself into this process, do you risk alienating in particular American Jews at home? I think this was something in the back of her mind as well.
And I think it explained her relatively hands-off approach….
She certainly threw herself into an effort to get Netanyahu to extend a moratorium on the building of settlements in the West Bank. She encouraged President Obama to hold a summit and to try to get Netanyahu and Abbas to begin face-to-face talks.
5. she flew to Egypt and Israel to try to negotiate a cease-fire [with] Hamas in 2012. That was a dangerous situation. It could’ve ended in failure…would’ve made her look bad, and she was still willing to do it.
6. Cook stoves are a cause for a great deal of health trouble, particularly for women. And she started a program to bring clean cook stoves … around the world…and got a lot of credit and press for, that [is] … relatively noncontroversial.
7. Emails- on a private server….
LANDLER: Well, I think nobody thinks that was [a good idea]… she said that herself.
it opened the door to a much bigger problem for her, that by having the State Department release these emails, there’s been this extraordinary turf battle over [w]hat emails can be released? What emails need to be redacted for national security reasons…by a number of government agencies all in the process of reading her email and retracting some number on the grounds they have classified information,…[and] whether she was mishandling classified information and…the country’s national security….
Politically, indicting her in the middle of a campaign would be a fairly monumental thing. When I talk to people who know more about this than me, they seem to think that an indictment still seems less likely.
General Petraeus and others have been involved in issues involving classified information that have not resulted in a felony indictment.
8. leadership skills-[did she] appoint good people and empower them, develop relationships…to get things done…smart and hard-working enough to get deeply involved in policy issues?
these very big war-and-peace debates of the Obama years, she did show herself to be unflinching in her judgments and to be decisive. She did show herself at the State Department to be someone who could manage an institution, put in place strong-willed people and listen to them – Richard Holbrooke … a number of other people that carried out sensitive diplomacy for her … she’s got a proven track record there.
8. [Hard] decisions…where every option is bad, and it’s a question of choosing the least bad….decisions that are so difficult that you’re temptation is to avoid making them….Syria is a decision that the president has not really wanted to get involved in….for several years now.
I think President Hillary Clinton might be less inclined to do that. And I think presidents do need to be willing to make decisions, even when it appears that all the options before them are bad and it’s only a question of the least-bad option.
NYTs author of “Alter Egos” Mark Landler http://www.npr.org/2016/04/25/475584003/alter-egos-dissects-hillary-clintons-tenure-as-obamas-secretary-of-state
aren’t political parties analogous to unions? they harness strength of the many creating a power greater than the individual.
Exactly Doug. Calling a person a fascist has morphed into a word used to denigrate a person without directly saying “Hitler” and used literally without any connection to its dictionary definition.
Donald Trump as president could really help build the SDDP back up again.
I might end up voting for Trump since he’s really a democrat. There is a protest vote starting amongst liberals for Trump.
Jenny, “a protest vote starting amongst liberals for Trump” would make about as much sense as cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Mr. Larson and Ms. Leslie, first off, my take on this is not a pro Trump action, but an action that says that Bernie should stay in the race to promote a new Democratic party that would replace the old guard that has grown as stagnant as the Republican party. Bernie brings in the new blood, hopes and dreams of a better tomorrow, that will guide the Democratic party into the future.
Clinton offers none of the above into the Democratic party with more of the same for the future. Young voters do not want the same old nothing burger that crushes their very being with nothing to offer for the future but an uncertain workplace and certain crushing debt that has been cast upon them. Her husband even has the gall to blame the young enthusiastic voters for the 2010 midterm disaster that happened mostly because of Clinton’s debacles with the financial collapse that they oversaw. Clinton has won big recently, but she has not put the fire out in the Bernie camp so she has not clinched the deal. Bernie needs to continue to keep her feet to the fire for what can be, not what once was.
What I am saying is that in order to make the future of the Democratic party viable, the party must adopt a more social platform that goes back to the days when being a Democrat meant that you gave a care about your fellow citizens. That being a Democrat meant that you stood for the injustice against those who had none. That being a Democrat meant that you worked to make sure the hunger and despair you saw around you was not ignored. That being a Democrat meant that you actually stood for the good of all in the country not just the country club. For me, the Democratic party left me some years ago because they did not want people like me in their fraternity, they wanted complacent followers that would shut the hell up and vote for whomever they choose for me to vote for. Take a look at what Harry Reid and the DNC did for South Dakota in the race for Johnson’s seat as an example. You do not have to look far to see that the millennials, the future of the Democratic Party, can see clearly that the fix is in. Don’t even go there to say they are too lazy to get out and vote, they have proven they are very capable of that. They vote against a machine that is doing all it can to shut them out, will we allow that? The answer should be no, we will not. We will go to convention to strengthen the future of the Democratic party with a platform that stands for the people, all of the people regardless of status or gender, race or color. We the people.
Trump is really a democrat, Darin, and if I were a Hillary supporter I would be concerned.
There is no difference these days on who wins the presidency – no difference. Obama proved that. Hillary is cozier with Wall Street than Trump himself. What is it about Trump that makes the one percent nervous? That’s what I would like to know. Hillary is a puppet and will do anything the corporatists tell her to do. Trump can’t be led.
I don’t believe the crap thrown around that Trump is a fascist either. He’s a smart capable man and probably a more decent person than Hillary. He was antiwar when bombing Iraq was popular. He will move to the middle where his true beliefs are and might even become a more compassionate person as some old rich dudes do in their old age.
As for building the wall, he’s saying that to appease his redneck support.
Jenny, your point is particularly valid with this news http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/house-democrats-hhs-drug-prices_us_5720e639e4b0b49df6a9c93f
This is exactly why Bernie needs to stay in the race. The need to expose what these so called Democrats are doing and have done is why change must happen. The platform at convention has to be for a future not the same old crap.
No difference on who wins the presidency, Jenny? The very future of the country could literally hang in the balance with the empty SCOTUS seat. Do you think President Trump is going to nominate Garland or a more liberal justice?
Obama proved there is no difference? How so?
Trump makes the one percent nervous because he is a reckless wild card. He throws around words like a drunk who has run out of liquor. He could just as soon decide we should initiate an invasion of North Korea as pick out a tie in the morning. His narcissism is boundless. He was born on third base and thought he hit a triple.
You are right that Trump can’t be led. The question is are you willing to let him lead you and this country over the cliff.
(Joseph, we’re off topic, but my investigation of Bosworth had nothing to do with the party label she falsely claimed. She is not a Republican; she is a scammer, a criminal. I found her abuse of the electoral process and her exploitation of vulnerable conservative voters reprehensible and fought to stop it.
I do not exert myself much on Clinton because plenty of others are doing that. I could take the same position on Trump, but I find him a far greater threat to democracy and liberty than Clinton. I am unenthusiastic about another Clinton Presidency. I am deeply alarmed by the Trump candidacy and his fascism.)
(That said, if you can get Clinton charged, get it done before the convention, so we can nominate Sanders, win the White House, and get on with our march toward ever greater liberty and shared prosperity.)
“Fascist”, “drunk”… how about “authoritarian”?
Pick your adjective: I have yet to see any accurate descriptor of Trump’s politics that overlaps with “Presidential”.
Funny that the Republican Party, which accuses us Democrats of making government too powerful, are the ones who give us the strongman-bully for Dear Leader.
Americans are so naïve to be scared of Trump. Again, after eight years of Obama being led by Wall Street corporatists, can’t Americans realize that it makes no difference who is the President? No difference, it’s just all pomp and circumstance. Look behind the curtain folks, and there you will find the power.
The Orange Man has spoken on Cruz and it is truth to make your day. “Lucifer in the flesh,” the former speaker said. “I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.” http://www.stanforddaily.com/2016/04/28/john-boehner-talks-election-time-in-office/
There really is such a thing a working together to get stuff done. There is a give and take that must happen in all of life’s matters. In healthy government, it should be pulling together for a shared goal, the former speaker was not done any favors with the Koch brothers incessant meddling in our country’s governance.
Jenny, Trump was born with $200 million in the bank. How do you relate to him but not to a middle class woman breaking down class ceilings and fighting for the common person?
Do you know anything of Clinton’s upbringing?
“Hillary Rodham also sent a letter to NASA, hoping to become an astronaut and got a letter back saying girls need not apply. But the fact that she even tried says something about the Park Ridge state of mind and the way Rodham was raised. Girls assumed they would go to college. And everyone was encouraged by teachers and pastors to look outside the cocoon of the suburbs, said Price.
“Park Ridge helped to make us care about the world.” she said. “And I think what made [Hillary] extraordinary was that she realized it a whole lot earlier on that certainly I did or anybody else I know.”‘
http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/16/413927185/growing-up-in-protected-americana-hillary-clinton-looked-outside-the-cocoon
Trump has no credentials working with and understanding the poor and disadvantaged. Clinton’s are too numerous to mention:
Rodham then entered Yale Law School. There she served on the editorial board of the Yale Review of Law and Social Action.[37] During her second year, she worked at the Yale Child Study Center,[38] learning about new research on early childhood brain development and working as a research assistant on the seminal work, Beyond the Best Interests of the Child (1973).[39][40] She also took on cases of child abuse at Yale–New Haven Hospital[39] and volunteered at New Haven Legal Services to provide free legal advice for the poor.[38] In the summer of 1970 she was awarded a grant to work at Marian Wright Edelman’s Washington Research Project, where she was assigned to Senator Walter Mondale’s Subcommittee on Migratory Labor. There she researched migrant workers’ problems in housing, sanitation, health and education.[41] Edelman later became a significant mentor.[42] Rodham was recruited by political advisor Anne Wexler to work on the 1970 campaign of Connecticut U.S. Senate candidate Joseph Duffey, with Rodham later crediting Wexler with providing her first job in politics.[43]
Wikipedia, Hillary Clinton article.
Hillary did some good things in her younger years but she turned into a War Horse Corporatist.
Clinton is part of the ruthless Congress that voted to kill our soldiers and thousands of Iraq women and children for a war based on oil.
Jenny, Trump was born a War Horse Corporatist, as you say. His life is a monument to capitalism run amuck. He proudly treats elected officials like call girls. He has tried to buy his way out of every scrape he has ever been in. He has treated women like trophies or bimbos depending on if he is married to them or not. He is very nearly the worst of civilized society.
What we are witnessing is the Coliseum in Roman times. The people clamor for more bloodletting and spectacle-distraction from the real issues that we face.
Clinton and many of us were deceived with regard to the basis for the war in Iraq. People make mistakes and she admits it was a mistake. Ask yourself, have you ever heard Trump admit he has made a mistake?
Of course, the error of the war in Iraq was compounded ten fold by the utter incompetence of the Bush Administration that was ready to win a war, but not ready in the slightest degree for the administration of Iraq in the aftermath.
@cah: “All right, Troy, Don, let’s stop making excuses; let’s call out the danger for what it is. When people refer to Hitler’s fascism, they aren’t referring to his economic policies.”
Whoa, whoa, whoa. I never mentioned fascist economic policies in my thread. I specifically pointed out that The Donald wasn’t a fascist because fascism requires a rejection of democracy and overthrow of the existing state and constitution. I haven’t seen where Trump has advocated that.
Fascism is all about the state and is anti-individualistic. Fascism requires the individual to subsume himself to the collective. From Mussolini’s autobiography: “The citizen in the Fascist State is no longer a selfish individual who has the anti-social right of rebelling against any law of the Collectivity”. Trump has not exhibited this fascist trait. In fact he embodies a fierce individualism, brash and unapologetic.
Trump may be xenophobic, narcissistic, politically incorrect and a demagogue, but he’s no fascist. Call him what you want, but your hyperbolic name calling only serves to stifle valid criticisms of his policies.
Mr. Larson, Clinton was also on the board of directors at Walmart. No simple task when you see the direction the Walton clan steers towards. So, regarding wealth, how is she really different than Trump in many regards? How really do “off shore” accounts in Delaware, just like Trump, make her different than him? That to me takes your argument off the table.
Some folks have swallowed the Drumpf/Blarney stone completely.
Barry McGuire summed up Drumpf best circa 1965- Don’t you understand what I’m tryin’ to say
Can’t you feel the fears I’m feelin’ today?
If the button is pushed, there’s no runnin’ away
There’ll be no one to save with the world in a grave
Take a look around you boy, it’s bound to scare you boy
It is interesting that Cory’s software puts an umlaut in naïve. Told ‘ya. You guys have German in your DNA and it’s more dangerous than deep borehole neutron cattle genetic drift. JK #JustKidding
Peace love and understanding?? Maybe not. http://www.salon.com/2015/09/10/what_hillary_clinton_wants_you_to_forget_her_disastrous_record_as_a_war_hawk/
With Bernie still in hot pursuit, he will have a voice at convention even if he is not the nominee. War is not the answer to problems and it long past time to deal with problems with other solutions.
@PL: It’s a diaresis: “A mark placed over a vowel to indicate that it is sounded in a separate syllable, as in naïve.” #grammarnazi
WOW! Thanks. That’s the most interesting thing I’ve learned today. :) Way way better than The Enquirer saying that Prince died of aids and the cops calling in the DEA to investigate his Percocet use.
The Iraq war was a clear mistake, but to vote for a Republican instead of Hillary because she voted to approve the resolution authoring the President’s use of military force against Iraq would be an even bigger mistake.
First, and foremost, her vote did not get us into the Iraq war. The final tally in the Senate was 77-23 in favor of the resolution. Had Hillary changed her vote, the score would have changed to 76-24 and made no difference whatsoever.
Second, the majority of Democrats in the Senate supported the resolution, 29-21. Hillary’s vote with the majority of Democrats does not make her a war hawk by any means.
Third, all but one Republican Senator voted for the resolution, 49-1. If you are mad about that war, it seems clear that Republicans bear much more responsibility than Hillary or Democrats.
Supporting Trump in the Republican party over Hillary because she voted for the resolution is like avoiding a cold shower by entering a gas chamber instead.
This comments thread is far too long but I have read too much of it not to give my two cents, too.
1) I admire Hilary, the policy-wonk, the efficient political stategist. I am originally from a Blue state with a marvelously inept Democratic machine (NY), and went to school later in another Blue state with an absolutely dysfunctional Democratic machine. After Gore and Kerry, I didn’t want to have anything to do with this liberal party that apparently couldn’t find its own butt with two hands. I have never registered as a Democrat… until last week. One of the great things about Obama was just how… well-executed his campaign and his administration has been. I see the same eye to detail in Hilary’s campaign. Even though SD is an open primary, I want to stand as a Democratic party member and vote for Hilary in June. That probably all sounds very… ‘Pragmatic Democrat’. I guess so, huh? My ancestors were German, and I guess I got some of that ‘efficiency is a virtue’ as a kid, and to see efficiency engineered to my liberal sensibilities, well, its inspiring. But you know, I realized the other day that the first time I voted, it was for Hilary, in her first Senate run back in NY. And I want to vote for Hilary again, in November!
So maybe I’m one of Hilary’s ‘highly enthusiastic pragmatic Democrats’ now.
2) Fascism has many definitions, but the word derives from ‘a bundle of rods’, emphasizing that fascism is ultimately about violence, punishment, a police state, and a united vision of a tyrant. Trump matched all those elements when he was egging on his supporters to beat up protesters, and truly stuck his flag in it when he dog-whistled to his supporters that maybe there should be violent riots at the RNC convention. Trump is proof of why we still need history classes in HS and college. Know your past or relive it!
Okay, that’s enough empassioned politics out of me today, back to work…
I disagree with Jenny to the extent that I will say it will make a difference who is President when we are talking about a choice between Donald Trump and anyone else not named Mussolini. I will agree with Jenny to some extent in action: I will continue to spend far more time blogging about South Dakota politics, advocating for South Dakota ballot measures and Democratic Legislative candidates, and trying to win the District 3 Senate seat than I will engaging in Presidential politics. I will tell my local voters that their votes for Legislature and ballot measures will have far more direct impact on their lives than their vote for President. The Presidential candidates will spend hundreds of millions of someone else’s money elsewhere; we have our own walleye to fry.
So Jerry, whom does that leave for Boehner to support at convention and in November?
Darin, if young Hillary wrote such a letter and received such a response (neither Clinton nor NASA have any documentation), I hope that means President Clinton will prioritize a permanent moon base and a mission to Mars.
As for Trump’s claim he opposed the Iraq war before we invaded Iraq, that too is simply another one of his fabrications. Recall how the Dixie Chicks were demonized and their careers essentially ended because they came out against the Iraq war? And remember how the French’s refusal to join the invasion resulted in the very public castigation of the French government? What are the chances that businessman and entertainer Donald Trump would follow the Dixie Chicks’ lead?
And consider Trump’s own words prior to and shortly after George W. Bush invaded Iraq. in 2002.
“Sept. 11, 2002: Howard Stern asks Trump if he supports invading Iraq. Trump answers hesitantly. “Yeah, I guess so. You know, I wish it was, I wish the first time it was done correctly.”
Jan. 28, 2003: Trump appears on Fox Business’ “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” on the night of President Bush’s State of the Union address. Trump says he expects to hear “a lot of talk about Iraq and the problems,” and the economy. He urges Bush to make a decision on Iraq. “Either you attack or you don’t attack,” he says. But he offers no opinion on what Bush should do.
. . .
March 19, 2003: President George W. Bush announces in a televised address to the nation that the war with Iraq has started.
March 21, 2003: Neil Cavuto of Fox Business interviews Trump about the impact of the Iraq war on the stock market. Trump says the war “looks like a tremendously success from a military standpoint,” and he predicts the market will “go up like a rocket” after the war. But Cavuto does not ask Trump whether the U.S. should have gone to war with Iraq and Trump doesn’t offer an opinion.”
http://www.factcheck.org/2016/02/donald-trump-and-the-iraq-war/
Don, I hit the anti-democratic point, too. Enough excusifying. Trump is a fascist. He is bad for the country. He represents exactly the wrong way that we should conduct our politics.
Don,
You are correct. Naive comes from a French word which comes from a Latin word. There is no connection in spelling or root with a Germanic language.
Correct me if I’m wrong but the following is my recollection of the difference:
The genesis of the diaeresis is an indication that the two vowels are to be pronounced contrary normal rules of these two vowels being in succession and its roots go back to making the spelling of words consistent between vernacular or vulgar English and King’s English and indicating how to pronounce. Further, in English-speaking countries, the diaeresis became archaic with the introduction of the typewriter. However, with computers and printers, it is making a comeback.
The umlaut is of Germanic language origin to indicate that the word with umlaut means something different than the word without an umlaut and it changes the pronunciation. Because the umlaut was critical to knowing what word was spelled, German typewriters retained a mechanism for typing the umlaut.
Finally, where they are linked is when a German word with an umlaut was inculturated into English, the English version dropped the umlaut and in some cases changed the spelling to correspond to English pronunciation norms or they kept the German spelling without the umlaut (as the two dots had a different purpose in English) or without regard to potential confusion with the Germans on what the word meant in English. But, if there was no umlaut with the German word, the German spelling was more likely to be retained and there was greater fidelity to German pronunciation.
This all could be very wrong. But, I like words, their meaning with precision, and their roots. Weird hobby I guess.
“Bundle of rods”—interesting etymology, kingleon! Now get back to work. :-)
I also appreciate kingleon’s statement about management and attention to detail. Obama knows how to run the White House. Clinton’s campaign seems similarly professional. Trump’s wing-it campaign and embrace of unpredictability as a foreign-policy virtue should make us all nervous.
as a young lawyer in her 1st firm, the business of waltons was like pat duffy wanting to represent Sanford. then, board membership gets the firm on the cheap for the waltons. kind of like trump’s foto-op w/ hill/bill. jerry, this is a conspiracy that ain’t….pick a lane, as the great one used to say here before bannation (Germanic w/neg. bias)!
Trump is a successful smart businessman and anyone thinking that he wouldn’t know how to run the pomp and circumstance of a presidency is naïve. Honestly people, don’t worry, he’ll work hard to do a better job than Bush.
A little LBJ, Clinton and maybe Reagan mixed in is what I see.
I’m talking personality similarities with the above Presidents I mentioned to Trump, not necessarily policy making.
Isn’t Donald Trump set to go on trial for scamming potential students out of thousands of dollars for his fake Trump University?
Sounds like Trump is a real upstanding guy when it comes to leadership in education.
My goodness. A real New Yorker in ‘da house. Aren’t you the musician, KingLeon? I believe we’ve spoken before, maybe last summer?
Another Germanic software anomaly spelling was Deütsch. Don’t know where or why but it matters no longer.
Jenny, after reading your comments over the years on Madville and DPF, I find it incredibly difficult to believe that if Hillary is the Democratic nominee, you would prefer to vote for a Republican candidate who publicly advocates:
(1) changing the libel laws so the press cannot freely write about him;
(2) engaging in the ethnic cleansing of 11 million people by reviving the 1950s plan called “Operation Wetback” to round up and deport millions of people;
(3) stripping away citizenship of those seen as illegitimate members of the nation (children of immigrants);
(4) committing war crimes in the protection of the nation (killing the families of suspected terrorists)
(5) torturing terrorist suspects and killing their innocent children;
(6) summarily executing accused deserters without trial;
(7) killing oil truck drivers and seize oil wells in foreign countries;
(8) sending Syrian refugees that have been properly vetted and are living in the country back to a war zone to be killed;
(9) egging on violence at his rallies and offering to pay the legal fees of someone who hit a protesters; and
(10) building a huge wall along our more than thousand mile southern border.
This list is extracted from prior posts and links in this thread, and the accuracy of these positions by Trump has not been challenged.
These are not public policies that I would have ever thought you might support, or overlook simply because Trump is a successful businessman and you don’t like some of Hillary’s past votes, speeches or how she earned income. I urge you to reconsider and support Hillary if she is the Democratic nominee.
@kingleon: “Fascism has many definitions, but the word derives from ‘a bundle of rods’, emphasizing that fascism is ultimately about violence, punishment, a police state, and a united vision of a tyrant.”
Odd, I always thought that the symbolism of the fasces was “strength through unity”, similar to E Plurbus Unum (one from many). Ironically there are two fasces on the Seal of the US Senate. It’s also flanks the flag on the podium in the House. Alternately it’s also used to symbolize the magistrates power and jurisdiction. You’ll find fasces used in the entrances and exits to the Oval Office.
Unfortunately just as the Nazis misappropriated the swastika, Mussolini misappropriated the fasces giving it negative connotations.
@BCB … She’s not critical of other women because she thinks less of them; she is covetous of what they have instead.
If memory serves,Congress did not vote for war-they voted to give dumbass dubya wide latitude to protect the United States. Dumbass already had a plan for war and that is what he chose to do.It was a pre-planned war and several documents bear( nit bcb) this out.
ps-if you have a bundle of rods and not so many cones in your lying eyes,you can see in low light like a catamount.
In Conclusion ~
Before I leave on summer sabbatical in an undisclosed location, lets let the gorilla out of the cage in the Presidential cycle. Trump is betting on and his only path to the White House is if women reject Hillary. It is assuredly true that women have more critical views of other women than men do with their own male peers. Most women will tell you that they have survived at least one mean girl in their past: a girl who dismissed, put down, or even socially tormented them. Research shows that women during the college years may have negative attitudes about particular types of other women. The real but graphic truth is that there are many mothers out there in the world who aren’t so sweet to their daughters, and readily say and do things that would make many of us cringe. Also, the majority of female criticism actually stems from feeling inadequate in an area of life they value highly. Women feel that they must work harder to secure whatever social power they can, and this may sometimes take the form of exclusionary practices with other women.
The 2016 Presidential election is about Democratic women, for those women and it depends on the decisions women make about their country. Far be it for any man to interject, advise or criticize their choice. We Dems have had the most productive eight year cycle of liberal advancement since FDR but it’s over. The gains were enormous and we can take tremendous pride in our accomplishments. Long live the liberal values we honor and empower our female constituency, no matter where they lead us.
Just listen to Trump’s foreign policy speech, it’s further to the left than Hillary’s foreign policies. His speech was reaching out to the liberal voters that can’t stand Hillary. He ‘will only go to war as a last resort’ and cut unnecessary waste and spending.
Doesn’t sound like a fascist to me.
http://juanitajean.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Screen-Shot-2016-04-28-at-8.53.54-AM.png
I could care less if the Democrat candidate has a penis or vagina or both, Porter. It not an antiwoman thing with me.
I live in MN where women’s issues are valued and protected. MN has continuously been ranked first in the nation for working moms. I don’t need Hillary as a woman leader to admire. There are plenty of them here in MN, like Sen Amy Klobucher – DFL.
Cory, if you look at who is gonna be at the republican convention, you will see that politicians like the Orange man, and any other candidate that is up for re-election will not be there. I think they will send representative though like Jim, the guy at the elevator or Jill, the young lady that is really confused about republican politics. Most everyone else will be “campaigning” code word for screwing off rather than attend this epic hog sty.
Leslie, there is no lane to pick for me that has not been made clear. I will see how the convention goes and if the Democratic party follows the desires of its future, then I would vote for the nominee. If they do not adopt a more socialist platform, then I will not put any check in any box for the office of president. I will vote for the down ticket though, so Paula, you can count on my continued support. Hillary, not so much unless she adopts the same direction Sanders voters are pointing to while kicking the DNC and its cronies to the curb. I do have my standards and feel as an Independent, I am not bound by party only by conscience.
What part of either Clinton’s lives have not been a criminal investigation? Go read “The Hunting of the President” by Joe Conason and Gene Lyons. It details the ten years Citizen’s United,the religious right,Wingnut law firms, and several billionaires attacked both Clinton’s with every charge in the book,and they included their very own right wing partisan Independent Prosecutor and still couldn’t prove either Clinton had broken a law. 25 plus years later the hunt continues while mass murdering wingnut war criminals slime their way around on Earth.
Mike FI at 16:01 makes a good point about prosecution and persecution of Clintons. But, by now Hillary should have known she had to be above reproach and she has done things which invite scrutiny. That is not good sense.
As for women and Hillary, the only one I know well is my wife. Her reaction whenever she hears or sees Hillary is something like, “I just don’t trust that woman or no matter what Hillary says about somethings, she just doesn’t really mean it.” Despite marrying me, my wife has a very intuitive sense of people.
Hillary just aggravates me with her screeching like an old school teacher and her inability to discuss anything without I or me stuck in too many sentences.
Trump’s appeal still surprises me considering his wealth, but both he and Sanders appeal to those totally fed up with political double talk and overly wordy hedging and backfilling. Democratic and Republican operatives are blind if they don’t take the appeal of these guys seriously.
Doug,
You are right. Being good at politics requires a sense, an intuitive ability, about what the people are thinking. The fact the so-called experts don’t have a clue about the appeal of Sanders and Trump is strong evidence they aren’t really very good at politics.
Bearcreekbat, you make some excellent points about The Donald and his repugnant record. For some people, though, he is The Teflon Don. Whatever sins he has committed and continues to revel in are forgiven based upon his commitment to shake up the status quo. All is possible with the great and powerful OZ, er I mean, Trump! Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!
I don’t like HRC,and never have, but she isn’t near the menace Drumpf and his peculiar lack of knowledge on how gubmint works would be. Drumpf knows only that the courts work in his financial favor through bankruptcy law.
Bernie is vowing to have a contested convention even though he has no chance of winning the nomination. So, its all about the Bern after all? Somebody tell this guy to quit beating up our nominee and start working for the future of this country. Or is he truly not a Democrat after all? Is he just one more narcissistic political opportunist who puts his own political fortunes ahead of the good of the country?
If the Bern allows Trump to somehow win this election, it would have been better if he had not been born. I had respect for the man and his principles, but that respect is waning fast with his intransigence and stubbornness on display.
Great news Mr. Larson! Great news indeed! I just sent Bernie a little more campaign funding for him to keep up the good fight until he wins this. The more you know about Bernie, the more you know that he will fight for more of a social platform to get away from this all about me corporate cancer we have developed in this country. Time to neuter Wall Street to save Main Street.
The mayor of New York is currently being investigated for campaign finance corruption shenanigans. Guess what, Clinton is doing the same thing! She promises one thing and then does the slick Willy and does just the opposite. Fun and games http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/clinton-fundraising-leaves-little-for-state-parties-222670
jerry, my team is the Yankees. but I still cheer for somebody else when they aren’t in the series.
platitudes abound. “Take a look at what Harry Reid and the DNC did for South Dakota in the race for Johnson’s seat as an example.” “Hillary is dishonest.” you and jenny don’t like Hillary. ok. but I don’t like platitudes and I know where they come from. trey goudy. ken starr.
remember our dear FBI investigated EB5. as far as we know they came up with zilch. if there is something to Benghazi or emails, fine. but in the meantime you two get a room.
with all due respect, as I still appreciate your many intelligent posts.
jerry, do you have any reports on how much of the money raised by Bernie’s supporters is going to support state democratic parties or to the national DNC for distribution or support of state candidates?
By the way, after reading the content of the article you linked it appears that the headline is a bit misleading, wouldn’t you agree? For example, the headline asserts that only 1% of funds raised by supporters of Clinton went to states, implying that Clinton gets the balance. But in the body of the article it reveals that at the Clooney fundraiser they asked “for couples to donate or raise a whopping $353,400 in order to sit at a table with Clinton, George Clooney and his wife, attorney Amal Clooney. . . .”
The article goes on to say that this $353,400 is then “distributed, at least initially, based on a formula set forth in joint fundraising agreements signed by the participants. The first $2,700 goes to Clinton campaign, the next $33,400 goes to the DNC, and any remaining funds are to be distributed among the state parties.”
The article then says that most states immediately re-donated their proceeds to the DNC, at the behest of Clinic campaign workers, rather than to the Clinton campaign. But if a state party thinks it is best to fund the DNC so it can decide where the funds raised will be used most effectively, it is still the state party’s decision. It seems disingenuous to argue the state Democrats did not get funds merely because state party leaders choose to donate most funds to the DNC
leslie, my “team” is the working people of this country as I believe yours are as well. My team has been beaten to a pulp with no end in sight. I did say that about Harry Reid because it was the truth. The DNC machine did not want Rick to run and wanted someone else to fill Johnson’s seat. So they did not support the people’s choice in that regard once again. Now that same DNC has meddled in this race to the point that it is more Republican than even Republicans in its context. Voter suppression in New York and around the country, what kind of party apparatus is that? What happened to fairness in elections? The United States used to send monitors, like the tried and true Democrat, Jimmy Carter to countries to make sure the vote was fair. Now, we allow the purging of voter roles without hesitation. The lady who did that in New York, lost her job, big deal as she probably got a truckload of money to undermine democracy with her actions.
Benghazi is just a city in Libya that is a center in gun running through the CIA, nothing to really see there as they and the State Department have been supplying guns and ammo to both sides for some time now. The emails the FBI are looking into involve the Clinton Foundation and quid por quo for favors done for huge sums while Clinton ran the State Department. This has nothing to do with Trey, lizard boy of Carolina nor Kenny Boy.
I worry about social programs and in particular, Social Security. Team Clinton just about got the job done to eliminate that during his year’s in the White House. Thanks to Monica Lewinsky, their plan was thwarted, so it seems clear that will be revisited if she is elected. When you have the Koch Brothers as enthusiastic supporters, that tells me a lot. At present, Clinton is not the nominee and neither is Sanders, so there is no team and won’t be until after convention.
Bearcreekbat, I really don’t know how much the SDDP has received from Clinton for the states candidates. I guess Democrats running in the state should ask that question as there seems to be money there for them to access if you are a Sanders supporter or a Clinton supporter. Supposedly, it should come with no strings attached, correct? Do the sums just go back to the source though, that is the question http://nypost.com/2016/04/08/fbi-probing-mayor-de-blasios-fundraising/
Regarding raising money for the DNC by Sanders, that is kind of a no brainer for him as the DNC has done everything it can to screw him, why would he want to tighten the noose? Bernie is fund raising for progressives. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/bernie-sanders-progressives-fundraising-221887
With Bernie, you just are not gonna get a lot of flip flops. Here is one in West Virginia where she did again. this time regarding coal of all things. “Hillary Clinton, who planned to campaign in Williamson on Monday, has been criticized for comments that her policies would put coal miners and companies out of business. Clinton said later she was mistaken and that she’s committed to coalfield communities.” As someone who likes air that I can breathe, I find her flip flop kind of stinky.
platitudes.
we are on the same team. but I researched this claim about dirty harry torpedoing rick. I was unable to get to the crux of reid/Daschle/weiland’s dilemma, whater ever it was so I haven’t bought the story yet that you are selling.
respectfully….
I personally used twitter then to draw in Maddow and Kornackie, and also to some degree Schultz, using cory’s research, all on MSNBC about breaking EB5 fraud in SD and Rounds cover-up. Once they researched those facts, Harry Reid sent a million bucks to the SD race. within a week.
no question Paula and Jay need big financial backing right now to win. There is nothing dirty about the term “democrat” that I am aware of concerned with all those above named. recall Boehner’s extraordinary obstruction. We needed every ounce of Dirty HARRY’S PUNCHING WEIGHT at that time in the face of the domineering republican house. some would say the treasonous house.
republicans and Koch Brothers HATE Harry, Nancy, Hillary (despite what chas Koch just publicized about her. she immediately denounced it and I know you know this yet repeat this red herring here), Joe, Barak and those most talented upcoming dems like Eliz Warren, Ms. Teachout and many, many others. what ever pissing matchs dems have about Hillary, or Daschle and Reid, can only sink the election. Republicans will use ANY means to undermine us. Your SS argument concerning bill in the 90s…is that relevant today?
you might wanna talk this out with some smart dems over coffee. you know who they are in your area. lynn on the other hand, a dem once, has done nothing but denounce the good work little people all across the state are doing.
again, as larry sez, pick a lane.
Jerry, that is good news that Bernie tried to raise funds for three other Democratic candidates by telling contributors to give Bernie one half of their donations, with the other half to go to each of these three individuals.
Hostility toward the DNC, however, seems odd if Bernie wants to lead the Democratic party. Even if he disagrees with the DNC leadership’s decision on who to support in the presidential primary, it would seem that he would want to assist the DNC in supporting other progressive state and federal candidates.
In the end, the social policies that Bernie, Hillary, Jerry and bcb would like to succeed are really not that much different. Hostility toward Hillary does not seem to be based on the policies she currently advocates, rather, it seems to flow from an unflattering image of her repeatedly encouraged by her political opponents.
“committed to coalfield communities.”
communities. the little people. my guess is she doesn’t mean “committed to coal corporations” or she’d have said it. she slipped up too mentioning going off the reservation. she immediately corrected her poor comment. these aren’t judgement problems. these are little things, but not for the locals effected. she knows that.
i’m all for Bernie if he can pull it off. I love much of what he says. but Hillary can beat trump or whoever GOP pulls out of its you know what. probably slaughter them. I have better things to do than rebut you or lynn or jenny unless you have something.
Yes, of course the Koch brothers hate…or do they? They hate Trump too…or do they? We will never know on that as who knows how the money thingy is done. I am delighted that you are a supporter for Clinton and I would not want to change that feeling ever. You have your views and I have mine so there is that.
Rick did a very good job in many parts of his run http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/6/18/1217056/-SD-Sen-Mike-Rounds-R-Rejects-Rick-Weiland-s-D-Call-For-Capping-Outside-Campaign-Donations
But he did seem to reject that payoff moolah as the Times reported right here http://madvilletimes.com/2014/10/ugly-negative-and-true-weiland-wrong-to-reject-dscc-help/
I have picked a lane leslie and it ain’t driving with Miss Hillary.
Hostility towards the DNC is most appropriate for Sanders and should be for every present Democrat that really is sincere about Democracy. They are close to interchangeable with the RNC with regards to the way they conduct themselves regarding candidates. They are all about the moolah.
Well, looks like her account was hacked after all…..
Warning, fox news link:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/05/06/romanian-hacker-who-claims-breached-clinton-server-says-spoke-with-fbi-at-length.html?intcmp=hpbt1
Yeah right, Fox News interviews the claimed hacker Lazar as a credible source? The story includes this: “The hacker, who offered no proof for his claims, said cryptically that he could not say more.”
And further:
“Asked about Lazar’s claims at Thursday’s press briefing, State Department spokesman Mark Toner also said he’s not aware of such an incident.
“We don’t have any reason to believe that it might be true,” he said.”
Sorry Joseph, but that dog don’t hunt.
bearcreekbat,
It will become another example of moving the goal posts back. The justifications for her actions, from the excuse that “other people were doing it, so no big deal” to “her server wasn’t hacked, so no big deal”. I am sure once it is shown that her server was indeed hacked, the goal posts will be moved back further to “the hacker did nothing nefarious with the classified information, so no big deal.”
As far as the State Department comments, they are trying to discredit Lazar by saying he is a convicted hacker…but he is saying he hacked the server. I would rather think this lends more credence to his claims. But yes, they are just claims, and we will likely not know what he has said to the FBI until after their investigation.
As for the proverbial dog not hunting, the FBI is certainly doing a lot of sniffing around. We will see in a few months what comes of it.