10/25/20 Open Thread
Good Morning Birdies!
I decided to dive into a recent Jacobin article this morning by Matt Karp:
Bernie Sanders’s Five-Year War
How he lost and where we go from here.
While sobering, I found the piece thought-provoking, and entirely worth the read.
In fact, I ultimately found it to be somewhat healing, a kind of emerging from the smoky battlefield, damaged, but still mostly intact, and still willing and able to fight the next fight.
The article is extensive and full of nuggets that ring true. Like this one:
All by itself, Bernie’s five-year war did not succeed in reanimating twentieth-century class politics. But if there is any hope for a return to the electoral alignment that produced every major social-democratic reform in history — uniting a diverse working class around pressing demands for redistribution — it lies with the cohort of Sanders voters under age forty-five.
Not only do two-thirds or more of these younger, poorer Americans support Medicare for All, wealth taxes, and other significant reforms — they have shown, in two different primary campaigns, that those fundamental redistributive commitments are strong enough to guide their voting choices. This is not yet a socialist majority, but it is, perhaps, a socialist majority in embryo.
And even as the US population ages, this embryonic majority grows every year, and within every demographic. Despite the folklore about voters growing more conservative as they age, the academic consensus is that ideological preferences are, in fact, quite stable over time. Older millennials, locked out of an increasingly unequal economy, do not appear to be moving to the right. The supermajority that demands national health insurance today, we can bet, will demand national health insurance tomorrow, too.
The impact Bernie made on young people may end up being his most enduring.
(Bernie’s) campaigns assembled a different coalition, centered on younger, lower-income voters from Brownsville to Duluth. In 2020, that working-class coalition was not enough to win the Democratic nomination. And no, Sanders did not manage to turn history on its head and bring the vast reservoir of alienated, apolitical workers back to primary politics.
But by 2032, today’s Bernie voters under fifty will likely represent a majority, and certainly a plurality, within the party electorate. What sort of left will be there to greet them? Will it be a thoroughly post-Sanders progressive movement, whose priorities are defined by social media discourse, billionaire-funded activist NGOs, and a friendly working relationship with the corporate Democratic Party?
Going forward I hope I can help keep the Democratic establishment from co-opting the movement, and do what I can to help keep our eyes on ‘the ball’.
Or will it be a political left that continues the work, to borrow from Lincoln at Gettysburg, that Sanders has thus far so nobly advanced? A left grounded in class politics, and aimed fundamentally at majority-building demands for material redistribution — health care, education, jobs, and family support for all, paid for by the rich? The future is still unwritten.
Happy Sunday! I hope you all enjoy your day.
I don’t want a couple of important posts by NYCVG to be missed that were posted this morning on yesterday’s thread, so here they are:
and
From my neck of the woods. Every person they interviewed was voting for Biden🤗But Poughkeepsie and New Paltz are very Dem
https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2020/10/24/early-voting-dutchess-ulster-brings-lengthy-lines-enthusiastic-voters/6022705002/
Me thinks (hopes) the American electorate is sending a very strong message to the craporate fascists and their kept poodles. 💩
hey watch it with the poodles 😂🤗😂
I posted this comment earlier, I will ask again. jcb linked the reliable FL turnout reporting site. I’m real familiar with it. Are there others?
I don’t know orl, I’ll keep an eye out!
omg—Thank you. I was getting ready to re-post these numbers and then I decided to check to see if the issues had been covered.
Tip Jar for Mags
Virus by the numbers: These 8 charts show you how, where the virus spreads
Lots of good data where you can hover over your state or county and get info
https://madison.com/news/national/virus-by-the-numbers-these-8-charts-show-you-how-where-the-virus-spreads/collection_fe1c52a7-947c-5f24-a3ad-ef0c1a39c503.html#1
2 min video on how irresponsible Pence is to not immediately quarantine
murder of Americans is just fine with them
only 130,000 extra deaths because of Trump administration
so far
how many more so they can win the election
cult of death
Pence and the X-tian yahoos think god keeps them immune. What a sorryassed crew of stupid!
When we got to the courthouse yesterday to early vote, one person was leaving. We were in and out, and the only ones there at the time. Our truck was alone in the parking lot! The difference between rural and urban, I suppose.
Yet, down the street, the Church of Christ (what passes for a megachurch here in the boonies) was jam-packed, probably for a pro-Trump rally/prayer meeting. And yeah, they are fundies, not to be confused with the United Church of Christ (UCC) which is generally quite liberal. There isn’t a liberal church within a hundred miles that I know of.
The Lutherans had a marquee that said “Social distancing doesn’t apply to God”.
Walmart’s lot was packed (we only do curbside pickup – and I’m grateful for it!), as was the local sports bar/grill, the Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and the gas stations. And yet, we have some hotspots in the state deemed red, even by the WH. Our county is spiking. The governor says that we need to stay out of groups, wear masks, and social distance, but he won’t shut anything down. Oy, vey.
It is beyond sad. Bars around here are open. You talk about disease pits. These idiots figure they are immune either cos of god or booze, or a combination of the two. 🤓
Same as in Wi its profits over people, Funny though most eateries in Wi rely on us old folk for their incomes, at lot of us had “disposable” income and a lot of it is used on going out to eat and knocking back a few Olé Fashions with friends.A lot of us are staying home until this clears or a reliable vaccine is produced. I ran into a friend of mine the other day and unlike me he and his wife are retired. He said it doesn’t seem that bad(the virus) but then he finds out a friend of his got it and not doing well. He said this was a slap in the face and reminds him that this is a real problem yet and not to let his guard down.
https://truthout.org/articles/labor-prepares-for-last-minute-general-strike-if-trump-tries-to-steal-election/
And this resource from our dear jcitybone good to duplicate here:
I don’t give up on some things
Article today in The Intercept by an independent journalist. I sent her the Opus Dei information and asked her to follow up or to send out to any other journalist who might be interested.
THE DARK MONEY-FUNDED WOMEN’S GROUP RALLYING BEHIND AMY CONEY BARRETT
The Independent Women’s Forum and its sister group have received millions from dark-money groups advancing conservative control of the courts.
Greta MoranGreta Moran
October 24 2020, 1:37 p.m.
Another article in The Intercept
IT COULD HAPPEN HERE
SURVIVAL AND DENIAL: I Watched War Erupt in the Balkans. Here’s What I See in America Today.
The independent journalist Greta Moran has several of her stories on her home page.
WTF
There is so, so much good stuff out there and so many people are not informed. They could simply be overwhelmed and have gone into a safe spot to watch FOX or MSNBC over and over and read NYT, WA Post, etc. and tend their outrage.
Independent journalist writing about public health and climate change.
https://www.gretalmoran.com/
T and R, mags!!😊☮️👍 Thanks for today’s thread. I edited mine from yesterday just in case everyone was too busy today.😊
https://inthesetimes.com/article/jane-mcalevey-strike-school-labor-unions-left
https://triblive.com/local/bernie-sanders-spreads-joe-biden-love-as-he-stumps-in-western-pennsylvania/
I just cant “settle” for the lesser of two evils Stich anymore, Kaitlyn has many more elections in front of her and hopefully she wont have to have to have that choice like ive had way to many times in my voting life.
Well said wi62! 👊🏼❤️
I think for many there’s a point that’s it’s just too much, seen the football pulled away too many times, gotta pass. Hopefully younger voters like Kaitlyn can ride out this election, have better choices next time, and get to vote for someone that they don’t feel like they’re “settling” for simply because the alternative is just that awful.
I voted for Howie and Angela. I voted libertarian for Senate, as that was the only alternative to Tom Cotton, and the dude seems like a good person who cares. I left the Congress Rep blank – only the R incumbent on the ballot. Also state senator. I’ve never done that before, but I can’t in good conscience vote for any more Rs. If my ballot is tossed, oh, well, but they give you to option of leaving unvoted contests, sooo…
Arkansas will go red. The amount of Trump signs, flags, etc., is mind-boggling. Many have multiple flags. It’s actually kind of terrifying.
The turnouts across country including places like the Dakotas, TN and KY, are very heavy. I have a feeling the same is going down in AK. So don’t totally lose faith.
Bernie in PA and Obama in Miami. The (D) unity is on full display. Some Progressives are not happy and why should we be happy. On the other hand….
if Happiness is the Truth as Pharrell sang to us and in this case happiness is removing a cancer that has been killing our country one norm, law and precedent at a time, a cancer who must be stopped, then maybe we need to find a way to be happy enough to get out and vote.
Now, to quote Stephen Colbert, “Nobody who knows Joe Biden’s voting record is voting for Joe because of that record.”
BO probably flew from his estate on the Vineyard to this event. That estate is so visually horribly ugly, looks like something gangbangers mark.
Their place looks… sterile. No personality at all. Just a showpiece.
I remember 2008 when people were weeping with joy as he accepted the nomination, because we believed he would make good changes. Well, he did – for himself and his own. But the rest of us are just where we were 12 years ago, or worse. Fuck Obama.
He was a Raygun fan and it was known in 2008. Called the fascist asshole gun in the West a great communicator. I saw that and paused mentally. I voted for the yahoo cos I despised the GOPukes.
I probably wasn’t paying a lot of attention. I supported Gravel in 2008, and I’m sure I didn’t vote for Obama in the primary. We got back from the primary, Feb 5, Super Tuesday, in the sunshine and near 80 weather. By nightfall, our house and half the city were either gone or in a shambles. It was the Super Tuesday tornado outbreak that played havoc across the South, especially Arkansas and Tennessee. Ours was an EF 4, and we were lucky to survive it. You can imagine that politics wasn’t much front and center for a while.
That’s good. Viewing Biden as chemo, LOL. OTOH, the Rs voting Biden are doing so BECAUSE of that record.
Have you noticed?
2017 was a long, long time ago
article in today’s NYT
Anne Washburn Just Wants Her Trump Play to Be Irrelevant
“Shipwreck,” a fantasia about white liberals and the president’s infamous dinner with James Comey, has been adapted into an audio play.
funny thing. It is in today’s Art section of NYT. Today is 10/25. I searched and found this same article with a date of 10/18. Oh well, ..
in any case here it is
it is a play about what was happening in 2017
it shows how long ago that was
Artist portrayed Trump as president before the election.
Another article in today’s NYT but posted on line earlier. Earlier article has a better headline.
Casting a Critical Eye, From the Slaughterhouse to the White House
The artist Sue Coe proudly labels her own work propaganda, whether she’s taking on factory farming or current events.
Glenn Greenwald tweeting about how the media holding back on its criticism of Joe Biden
yes, main stream and the two parties work hand in hand
and then this from Max who I trust
“So I figure that the PTB want trumpcorp gone so bad that they are not using the Hunter Byedone story and you dont hear much about it on the waepons of mass deception either.”
Once in a great great while i get ahead of the curve on something 🙂 as i posted the above comment a couple days ago. The weapons of mass decption buried the Reid rape story and Hunter Byedone story as fast as possible. If this was Bernie that had this trouble the coverage would’ve been relentless and the lead story on every news cycle. If an very average Joe like me can figure out their zest to bury the stories it tells me that the PTB want Trumpcorp gone no matter how bad the other candidate is…
depressing that the msm is so corrupt and so powerful.
https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/522651-ocasio-cortez-says-democrats-need-to-focus-on-election-it-will-be
Byedone’s track record isn’t exactly inspiring.I would hope he makes me eat some humble pie but he owes way to many billionaires his soul so I have very low expectations of a possible Byedone presidency
They are assembling the lawyers for Election 2000. v2. Both sides. What these corrupt braindead idiots aren’t factoring in is the turnout down here. It is very heavy.
Pence is essential 🤪🤪🤪
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/25/pence-denounced-grossly-negligent-decision-keep-campaigning-despite-exposure-top