Your messages made a difference yesterday in Florida. You crushed it in Broward.
“Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.”
–JRR Tolkien
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For David, Emma, Jaclyn, Cameron, Delaney, and all the other young activists in Florida:
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City tableau: I was walking down Liberty Ave in Pittsburgh on my way to work. In the morning, you will occasionally find drunks passed out in the vestibules of some of the shops. The must stagger out of the bars in the wee hours and can’t make it more than a few feet before they collapse in the closest shelters they can find.
Yesterday, I saw a little assembly around one of these little shelters. There were two sleepers on the ground surrounded by three teenagers in plastic lawn chairs. They were guarding the sleepers. Just sitting there, making sure that no one got close. They looked up at me silently and fiercely as I walked by. The sleepers were undisturbed in their oblivion.
There is still good in the world.
Filed under: General |
The Confluence 
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This rings true. Maddow did a different segment a while back on Peter Strzok who was instrumental in breaking up the Russian spy ring. trump is systematically purging the brain trust that knows Russia in these institutions. Another gift to Putin.
This is so important. One could possibly rationalize the attacks on Srzok as purely partisan due to his ill-advised emails, though clearly he did nothing to damage Trump’s campaign, actually kept the whole investigation a secret, when any leak would have surely cost Trump the election. But Ohr seems clearly to have been chosen to be purged by Russia, it is too coincidental. Russia is giving orders to Trump and his circle; and the complicit Republicans and their echo chamber are carrying out the purges. And the deluded Fox watchers think that this is all okay, because somehow the people purged are Democrats, which of course most are not, and it should not matter anyway. The NYT is sitting right in the place where the Russian Mafia first took hold, and they have let this story go for so long. And who can ever forget their “FBI sees no clear links to Russia” garbage which was written at the worst possible time, in concert with the “new emails jolt Clinton campaiign in final days,” when there were no new emails.
https://twitter.com/Susan_Hennessey/status/1034828900839383040
A quick comment on the elections last night and ongoing. From what I am reading, Gillum seems like a very estimable person. But it’s going to be difficult for him to win in Florida. He is certainly not a socialist, but this is obviously the new narrative for Republicans, ever since Ocasio-Cortez, who calls herself a Democratic Socialist, won a small primary. The word “Socialist” is anathema in this country. It shouldn’t be, because socialism, as developed in England in the 19th century, simply relates to a pushback to capitalism, a belief in societal progress, democratic institutions. At its more extreme, in Europe and elsewhere, it refers to government takeover of most of the means of production, away from business. I actually think that is in general a good idea, because unfettered capitalism is destroying the world. However, the term has been conflated with ‘Communism” here, and the Hearsts and other malefactors of wealth used the term “socialist” to refer to anyone or anything who would impose regulations. So unfortunately, it is a term which cannot be used as a proud postiive.
Ocasio-Cortez has a perfect right to call herself what she chooses, but it does not help the Democratic Party one bit, nor does Bernie Sanders, another avowed Socialist. The nuances of Socialism vs. liberal, vs. moderate are too complex for most voters, and most media. The term “Liberal” was demonized by Reagan and others, and it was so effective that many Democrats fled to a new term, “Progressive.” Some of these people even go so far as to coin the word “Neoliberal,” used disparagingly to refer to any liberal like Hillary Clinton, whom they don’t like. None of this helps. Ocasio-Cortez, a first-time candidate from a very Blue district i New York, is going to be the poster person for Republicans, who will run against her in every other district. Not many are going to vote for real Socialists, or even people who are called that. it is a free ticket for Republicans. Maybe in 150 years, Socialism will become accepted in America, but not now, and not with so much at stake. We can’t help what Republicans call us, but if we had intelligence, we could stop hammering away at Hillary Clinton, liberals, and moderates. Because there is no way on earth that a Democratic Party which tries to destroy its center to appeal to a few vociferous voices on the Far Left, is going to survive this onslaught by Far Right fanatics. The media loves battles, so we are going to see all sorts of “Hillary vs. Bernie” debates. If someone told me that Sanders was being paid to help Russia divide the country, I would believe it. I would also believe that he is so arrogant, contentious, and politically naive,, that he thinks that if he keeps doing what he is doing, it will somehow result in a bunch of Bernites running the country.
I don’t think Ocasio Cortez is going to make much of a difference. Yes, the GOP was using her until all her candidates lost and she went back to NY. However the one that can do a lot of damage is Bernie but Bernie can only do damage as long as the candidates allow him to. Frankly we should just reclaim the word liberal and tell the GOP to stuff it.
I agree!
Candidate she endorsed got something like 6%. She is an aborted media/Bernie phenom and non-factor.