W.J. Astore
My wife perceptively notes how the USA is sliding backwards. Racism has new vigor even as science is rejected, e.g. climate change denial. A woman’s right to choose is under attack. Immigrants once again are openly subjected to prejudice and scorn. Diversity of views and efforts at inclusion are rejected as so many exercises in “political correctness.” Unions are being weakened and the working poor are attacked as lazy and irresponsible. Life expectancy for many is declining, mainly due to suicide, opioid and other addictions, and illnesses related to poor eating habits and obesity. War is perpetual and violence is never-ending. Meanwhile, the rich are getting richer, a sign of “greatness,” at least to Trump and his followers.
Sexism, racism, prejudice, ignorance, scapegoating, the privilege of rich white men to say and do whatever they want: this is “greatness” to Trump. The embodiment of fat cat privilege, Trump rides about in his golf cart and swats balls at his various “resorts.” Indeed, America’s hard-working president, who said as a candidate he’d have no time for golf or vacations, has spent one-third of his presidency on vacation. Mission accomplished!
Meanwhile, Democratic officialdom is looking backwards, not forwards. The Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) idea of progress is to bring a lawsuit against Russia, the Trump campaign, and WikiLeaks for the 2016 election. This act will “fire up the base,” or so leading Democrats appear to think. But it’s really sour grapes, a loser policy conducted by pols who remain out of touch with the pressing concerns of ordinary Americans (you know, things like health care, a living wage, and other issues associated with Bernie Sanders’s campaign). If only America had a true Labor Party instead of a DNC that mirrors the Republicans while lacking their focus and ruthlessness.
Let’s face it: America needs a new leader, a fresh start, an unapologetic progressive, someone who’s smart but who also possesses empathy. Someone on the side of workers; someone like Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand.
Roughly half Trump’s age, Jacinda Ardern represents the future. Intelligent, principled, committed to her people, Ardern is refreshingly honest and frank. Imagine, for a moment, a truly progressive woman as president of the United States, one who has the courage of her convictions, one committed to fairness and equity in society, one untainted by big money, even one who’s unabashedly pregnant and who supports maternity and paternity leave for parents.
She’s got spunk too. When she first met Trump and he had a snide remark for her, she replied that masses of people didn’t take to the streets to protest when she was elected. As my Kiwi friend put it, “It’s the ability of Jacinda to not only represent her own party but pull together alliances that is impressive. Not only an arrangement with the conservative ‘New Zealand First’ party but also the Greens.” She brings people together for the greater good — making concessions when she has to. What a quaint concept.
America could use a woman like Jacinda Ardern as president. If only my Kiwi friends would let her emigrate! (Yes, sadly, she wasn’t born here so she couldn’t run, but let a man dream, dammit.) Perhaps Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard will emerge as America’s Jacinda in 2020; aligned with Bernie Sanders, Gabbard has moxie as well as military experience. But I wouldn’t bank on it. The DNC, still with its collective head up its ass, isn’t seeing the future too clearly.
Bracing Views 
Females are basically better managers than males, generally speaking, because not being afflicted with testosterone they tend to cooperate not compete, and thus are more successful. Evidence?
Mary Barra. Chairman and CEO, General Motors.
Indra Nooyi. Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo.
Marillyn Hewson. Chairman, President, and CEO, Lockheed Martin.
Abigail Johnson. President and CEO, Fidelity Investments.
Sheryl Sandberg. COO, Facebook.
Ginni Rometty. Chairman, President, and CEO, IBM.
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Great post WJAstore! Your wife’s idea? (Probably…)
She certainly helped you pick that stunning photo of Tulsi Gabbard! To me Gabbard’s a ‘sleeper’; so decent and independent thinker. She’s not a headline grabber, but well known and makes excellent points of sense both Nationally & Internationally. So let’s hope!
I WAS a member of France ‘Democrats Abroad’ for 15+ years (Nice charter) and I have NOTHING NICE to say about them anymore. Us old members after the calamity of the Clinton/Sanders primary left in droves. We don’t know who the new people were, but Clinton sure had too much money, enough to staff it with strangers who spied as we* voted for him! The email from Paris, after Sander’s huge win in France, was almost laughable. They found a photo of him looking 100, and one of her looking like a model. No thanks for “Get Out the Vote!” our old motto, not to be seen. *We’re the same people who worked so hard -TWICE!- for Barak Obama.
We all know the rest. The above is my (usual) long winded way of saying I wouldn’t spend a minute helping Sanders. He really let us down at the National Convention. We took trains, buses, car$ (expensive parking) to “Get Out the Vote”.
Latest news is DNC is suing Russia, WikiLeaks, Trump, for their loss. (Where’s Sanders in this scandal?) Nowhere, and he’s also not a ‘socialist’ as he claims. I’M more “socialist” than he claims: believing in Universal Health Care & GETTING OUT OF ME! so we can recover our (once) good Nation.
Ahh! But I have faith in Tulsi! She knows what way the wind is turning! Aloha!
PS Glad I told this ugly story about went on overseas, and don’t think for a Minute! ‘Russia’ had anything to do with it. They were American hacks at the voting booths, probably well paid…..
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Here’s a prediction: unless Democrats run a candidate in 2020 who looks and sounds like the ultimate Anti-Trump, they lose. That means no more white men. Kamala Harris is a good option, but I think the time has come for this country to put a combat veteran in the Oval Office. Someone like Tammy Duckworth, maybe?
My basis for this prediction is that voter suppression in a small set of swing states will play the decisive factor (as it likely did in 2016, and possibly even 2000 and 2004). Unfortunately, the media-at-large is so caught up with the Trump show, and calling out the fact of our increasingly non-democratic elections (gerrymandering and the electoral college are fundamentally un-democratic institutions) is such a taboo, that this isn’t getting the attention it deserves.
Here’s an older (but still important) piece from Mother Jones:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/10/voter-suppression-wisconsin-election-2016/
Combine running another old white democrat like Al Gore or John Kerry with Republican control of voting infrastructure in key swing states, and you have a recipe for low turnout among the exact people you need to win back the electoral college. Just like in 2016 – another reason Clinton’s campaign should be excoriated is the completely inadequate response to the Flint and Detroit water crisis in Michigan. Take a look at turnout numbers in those districts and why Clinton lost should be obvious.
Only if you can turn out large numbers of targeted voters will you be able to negate the effect of voter suppression, because at present it relies on scaring voters away from the polls and/or making voting as difficult as possible. Something best countered by mass turnout.
America’s democracy is in the midst of a fundamental crisis (just like India, Turkey, Hungary, and too many others), but unfortunately our ‘opposition’ party is still tied to its mistaken conventional wisdom from 2016, that Trump is an easy candidate to beat. They failed to recognize the Trump campaign’s strategy in 2016 (ignore the states guaranteed to go red. Focus all resources on a sufficient set of swing states to get past 270 electoral votes.) in time, and they remain convinced that some deus ex machina from Mueller will get Americans on their side in 2020. They’re wrong. And we’re all gonna pay.
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I agree. The Dems need a candidate who’s a sharp contrast to Trump, but also one with charisma. That’s why I like Tulsi Gabbard. She’s young, a progressive, and a military veteran. In short, she’s dramatically different than Trump. She offers a clear alternative. So too does Kamala Harris. A ticket of Harris/Gabbard would truly be a contrast with Trump/Pence.
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Didn’t know much about Gabbard before today, but I like what I see. Big + that she was enlisted side before going officer.
‘course, I firmly believe that Trump is intentionally laying the rhetorical groundwork for not giving up office even if he loses, which would/will trigger the mother of all Constitutional crisis. People like him don’t give up power without a fight, and it is clear that he has no respect for democracy or the integrity of the Constitution.
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Interesting exchanges between Tanner & Astore above, but I have an old fart’s question: Do you really think he’ll last his 1st term? “We” don’t! As for his 2nd, not in “our” crystal ball! The guy’s a loser in lifetime terms. In fact I read his ole’ man left him $400Mil, the TRUE value of what he’s worth today. Without compliant bankruptcy courts, he’d be broke now.
“We” laughed at his appointment of Rex Tillerson as Sec of State. (When you’ve worked for
American multi-nationals, you’ve met a dozen* of them.) We had a bet going – how long he’d last. My friend said a year, I said 6 months. I lost & owe him 7bucks. *It’s the same person over & over, stuck in 1946 American economics.’Tillerson’s’ don’t understand why GM went bust, and 40% of US cars today are foreign. They didn’t “get” ‘Airbus’, which they laughed at, thinking it’s appropriate name would only fly people around Europe. For once they were right, but had no conceptual intelligence to realize – once you get the technology from Rome to London right – what’s wrong with Singapore?
Trump’s appointments are a bunch of losers – like him. I’m ALL for Tulsi Gabbard!
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