Who will challenge Trump? Who you like?

[ericpmoss]

A friend told me the other day Bernie hadn't been 'vetted'. I'm not sure what that means any more. It used to mean cleared of past criminal or unbecoming conduct. Now it just seems to mean subjected to non-fact-checked vitriol.

Chris Matthews likened Bernie's win in Nevada (because of the working class Latino vote) to the fall of France under Blitzkrieg. Smerconish made certain to mention Bernie in the same breath as corona virus. Brooks and Company can't tell the difference between someone trying to provide me health care and the guy who said there were fine people on both sides of a Nazi rally.

So I decided to go back and see just when Bernie outed himself as the next Stalin/Hitler/Castro/whatever...

Behold, the tyrant at work forcing his will on the people, hoist by his own petard:



And the masses of hateful drones he inspired:

[Corso]

A friend told me the other day Bernie hadn't been 'vetted'. I'm not sure what that means any more.

Nice vids! Bernie seemed to be a lot calmer back then.

The last debate: after calling everyone a racist - (as everyone up there also implied) even the prime minister of Israel, Bernie said "we’re going to provide help to the African-American, Latino, Native American community to start businesses to sell legal marijuana rather than let a few corporations control the legalized marijuana market,” ....

This hit me weird. I thought the marijuana market was already made up of small businesses. And to equate minorities with the business of drugs seemed like continuing a stereotype that I thought was deemed as a "negative".

What I respect about Bernie is that he appears to have always been the way he is, he hasn't changed. If he makes it all the way, anything he does shouldn't come as a surprise. So his campaign promises I feel are real, not just saying things for the sake of votes. So if you're for what he says, that's what we'll get.

Bloomies marketing group has kicked into overdrive: TV commercials featuring African American testimonials as well as women who work for him testimonials are an obvious reply to the gag orders and stop & frisk. Too contrived for my liking. But it shows what $$$$$$ can do for a candidate.

[ericpmoss]

Nice vids! Bernie seemed to be a lot calmer back then.

The last debate: after calling everyone a racist - (as everyone up there also implied) even the prime minister of Israel, Bernie said "we’re going to provide help to the African-American, Latino, Native American community to start businesses to sell legal marijuana rather than let a few corporations control the legalized marijuana market,” ....

This hit me weird. I thought the marijuana market was already made up of small businesses. And to equate minorities with the business of drugs seemed like continuing a stereotype that I thought was deemed as a "negative".

What I respect about Bernie is that he appears to have always been the way he is, he hasn't changed. If he makes it all the way, anything he does shouldn't come as a surprise. So his campaign promises I feel are real, not just saying things for the sake of votes. So if you're for what he says, that's what we'll get.

Bloomies marketing group has kicked into overdrive: TV commercials featuring African American testimonials as well as women who work for him testimonials are an obvious reply to the gag orders and stop & frisk. Too contrived for my liking. But it shows what $$$$$$ can do for a candidate.

The crap 'debate' didn't let people explain anything. The tobacco and alcohol industry have for years lobbied, along with the private prison industry, to keep weed illegal. This has ripped millions of families apart, disproportionately non-white. Rather than let some of the same big-$ players capitalize on legalization, he would rather help the families harmed get the profit in their own areas. It would be poetic justice, and reduce welfare rolls (how else does one feed and house kids when at least half the wage earning is gone?).

The racism charges are again not explained in the 7.5 seconds one can speak before Pete Buttigieg barges in to try to rattle the nerves. God that guy is a twerp in 7 languages. Anyway, the system is f'd up, arresting non-whites 4x as often for simple possession as whites, despite similar rates of drug use. Who pushes that? Often it's people trying to look tough on crime for the cameras, like Pete, Joe, Mike, and Amy. IMO they have some splainin' to do, but the pundits are too worried about how to red-bait Bernie for saying exactly what Obama did in Cuba. If the MSM is 'liberal', it must be a very boutique-y brand.

Rant over -- my lease is up, my bags are packed for overseas, and.... corona virus. Gotta find a quiet mountain with a garden and an internet connection.

[Mabouya]

Gotta find a quiet mountain with a garden and an internet connection.

This isn't insanely out of the way, but pretty remote: Wynne Farm

I could actually hook you up with even more remote places, but they don't have web sites.

And if you want MTB riding in the area, here's a sample:

[Blue Jays]

Tom Steyer shockingly departed the race yesterday. He will not unseat President Trump.

[JJohnson]

Nice vids! Bernie seemed to be a lot calmer back then.

The last debate: after calling everyone a racist - (as everyone up there also implied) even the prime minister of Israel, Bernie said "we’re going to provide help to the African-American, Latino, Native American community to start businesses to sell legal marijuana rather than let a few corporations control the legalized marijuana market,” ....

PM of Israel is a piece of work. At least here in IL, it seems like the only people able to capitalize on marijuana have been the big businesses. Stern Beverage, a large distributor of alcohol, had cornered the western IL market for medical pot and now has the only grow facility and are working with cities to keep it that way.

[JJohnson]

Steyer, Pete, and Amy all gone in a 48-hour period. Amy's already endorsed Biden, the others seem on track to also. Wonder if Warren will drop after Tuesday or if she's really hoping for a contested convention and the DNC handing it to her as the "compromise" between Bernie and Biden?

[davids]

PM of Israel is a piece of work.

Thanks for reminding me to respond to the insinuation that calling Netanyahu is a racist is somehow radical.

So let me pile on: Bibi is a racist. Actually, he provided a good model for Trump's dog-whistle attacks on minorities. At least as far back as the 2015 election he cautioned that Arab Israelis were 'descending on the polling places in droves', often bused there by left-wingers. Bibi also provides a great model for Trump's attacks on fellow citizens who disagree with him, calling them disloyal if they don't support him or his policies. The example of NIF leaps to my mind. And let's not forget, Bibi is under indictment for corruption, for bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

Sanders has taken the very mainstream position that both Israelis and Palestinians have the right to live in their own self-governed states. While I'm not sure how he'd translate this position into policies, I support this position as an American and as a Jew.

[King Of Dirk]

Steyer, Pete, and Amy all gone in a 48-hour period. Amy's already endorsed Biden, the others seem on track to also. Wonder if Warren will drop after Tuesday or if she's really hoping for a contested convention and the DNC handing it to her as the "compromise" between Bernie and Biden?

I'm a big fan of early voting, but this is a great example of its big weakness. Those who voted for Pete or Amy (and that one dude who voted for Steyer) would probably like a mulligan at this point.

C'est la guerre. Convenience has a price, and the positive effect on voter turnout outweighs the plight of that Steyer voter, IHMO.

Pete did the honorable thing and quit when he saw no plausible road to victory. If the GOPers had done the same four years ago it's conceivable we wouldn't have a President Trump. Same could be said for Jill Stein, to be fair, but that's another conversation.

[davids]

I'm a big fan of early voting, but this is a great example of its big weakness. Those who voted for Pete or Amy (and that one dude who voted for Steyer) would probably like a mulligan at this point.

C'est la guerre. Convenience has a price, and the positive effect on voter turnout outweighs the plight of that Steyer voter, IHMO.

Pete did the honorable thing and quit when he saw no plausible road to victory. If the GOPers had done the same four years ago it's conceivable we wouldn't have a President Trump. Same could be said for Jill Stein, to be fair, but that's another conversation.

It also accents the problem with our primary system and the horserace. There's been a total four small states that have voted (OK, 2 voted. 2 had trainwreck caucuses.) and we've lost excellent candidates already.

On the other hand I'm happy to see Buttigieg and Klobuchar are endorsing Biden rather than Bloomberg... But so frustrated that the progressive favorite is not my progressive favorite.

[King Of Dirk]

It also accents the problem with our primary system and the horserace. There's been a total four small states that have voted (OK, 2 voted. 2 had trainwreck caucuses.) and we've lost excellent candidates already.

On the other hand I'm happy to see Buttigieg and Klobuchar are endorsing Biden rather than Bloomberg... But so frustrated that the progressive favorite is not my progressive favorite.

You make an excellent point about the effect of those small states. I wonder if it's worth considering (for each party) that there are a handful of states either/both "need" and to coordinate their respective nominating processes accordingly. For example, who cares what California thinks? It's going blue in the general no matter what, so why not focus on Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida and Pennsylvania if you're the party Chair?*

Bloomberg is awful. I hope he gets his comeuppance tomorrow.

*ETA: what I mean is why not have the primaries on the same day? A super Super Tuesday. The current system allows candidates who poll well in Iowa and New Hampshire (and now South Carolina) to ride momentum from states that ultimately won't be dispositive in November. Get it over with, I say - or better yet learn from the Aussies and severely limit the length of the campaign season.

[JJohnson]

You make an excellent point about the effect of those small states. I wonder if it's worth considering (for each party) that there are a handful of states either/both "need" and to coordinate their respective nominating processes accordingly. For example, who cares what California thinks? It's going blue in the general no matter what, so why not focus on Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida and Pennsylvania if you're the party Chair?*

Bloomberg is awful. I hope he gets his comeuppance tomorrow.

*ETA: what I mean is why not have the primaries on the same day? A super Super Tuesday. The current system allows candidates who poll well in Iowa and New Hampshire (and now South Carolina) to ride momentum from states that ultimately won't be dispositive in November. Get it over with, I say - or better yet learn from the Aussies and severely limit the length of the campaign season.

As an Iowan, we're given too much attention. We do not even remotely represent a cross-section of American voters. Primaries need to be all on the same day like the general. We need ranked choice voting in primaries and general. And we need to rid ourselves of the electoral college.

[72gmc]

Bernie drove a wedge between Chuck D and Flavor Flav!

[Will Neide]

. And we need to rid ourselves of the electoral college.

That’s an emphatic no.

[Colinmclelland]

...Bloomberg is awful. I hope he gets his comeuppance tomorrow...

They said on the news that he'd spend US$600m so far. Seriously? That's $900m in our money. Wow.

I'm surprised both that he has been able to spend so much so quickly but also that your process lets him spend that much regardless of the timeframe.

We have some WTF questions about a lazy billionaire here who secured no seats for his party but spent A$80m on the campaign. We've had some "democracy for sale" questions about that. The concern is not so much that his "party" influenced things but that his adverts were anti-the opposition.

[BBB]

They said on the news that he'd spend US$600m so far. Seriously? That's $900m in our money. Wow.

I'm surprised both that he has been able to spend so much so quickly but also that your process lets him spend that much regardless of the timeframe.

We have some WTF questions about a lazy billionaire here who secured no seats for his party but spent A$80m on the campaign. We've had some "democracy for sale" questions about that. The concern is not so much that his "party" influenced things but that his adverts were anti-the opposition.

The figures are amazing.

As for our lazy billionaire, his spend was more an application to curry favour for coal mining (specifically his proposed coal mine) in Qld. Given all that has happened since, not to mention the lazy billionaire being charged with fraud, teh $80m will have been all for nothing.

[davids]

It's Super Tuesday.

You know who you are: Go vote!

[robin3mj]

It's Super Tuesday.

You know who you are: Go vote!

DONE.
On to the workday...

[Blue Jays]

It appears that the DNC wishes the candidate to be VP Biden to run against President Trump this fall.
The will of everyday Democrat voters seemingly is behind Senator Sanders from my perspective.
We may have a greater sense of political future for Senator Warren and Mayor Bloomberg by tonight.

[Matthew Strongin]

It appears that the DNC wishes the candidate to be VP Biden to run against President Trump this fall.
The will of everyday Democrat voters seemingly is behind Senator Sanders from my perspective.
We may have a greater sense of political future for Senator Warren and Mayor Bloomberg by tonight.

Based on what? Only 4 states have held a primary thus far and Biden took South Carolina decisively. Bernie was strong prior to that. Today will be more telling about the will of the Democrat voters.