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Have a great day friends!

This is a great conversation, though lenghty. If you cant watch now save for a long drive or some other time. Well worth it.

Bernie Sanders is going to bat for minor league baseball. Will California go to bat for him?

Any politician who goes to bat for minor league baseball against billionaire big club owners deserves an all-star vote.
Maybe not a presidential vote necessarily, but an honorary spot on any baseball all-star team.
By standing up for bush league teams all over the country — including the Lancaster JetHawks of the California League — Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is showing wholesome small-town values and priorities not always seen on the presidential campaign trail.
As reported Saturday by Times sportswriter Bill Shaikin, Major League Baseball owners have targeted 42 teams — roughly a quarter of the minor league total — for elimination. The owners say they want to streamline player development, improve ballplayer life and pay higher salaries. We’ve heard that one before in other industries.
Sanders, who grew up a Dodgers fan in Brooklyn before the team moved to Los Angeles, was the mayor of Burlington, Vt., in 1984 when the town landed the Vermont Lake Monsters. Now they’re on the MLB strike list. The senator is on a crusade about it and has more than 100 members of Congress with him, including Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), the House minority leader.
That’s a unique political alliance between a self-described democratic socialist and an unwavering supporter of President Trump.

New California and National Polls Show Sanders Crushing 2020 Rivals Among Voters Under 45

New polling out of California reveals that Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid is garnering the most support from young voters in the state and elicits the most enthusiasm from Californians as a whole.
Among respondents under the age of 45 who answered the CNN poll, 32% said they were most likely to support the Vermont Democrat. Just 13% said they currently back former Vice President Joe Biden, while 18% expressed support for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), giving Sanders a 13-point lead with potential voters in that age bracket.
Biden has the most support in the state among people over age 65, 37% of whom said they support him versus only 8% who backed Sanders, according to the poll, in which 1,203 people were surveyed.
outh Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg—by far the youngest of the top four leading 2020 candidates—is also getting the majority of his support in the state from older voters, with 14% of people between 50 and 64 saying they would vote for him compared to just 6% of people under 45 saying the same.
With Warren in third place in the poll overall with 17%, CNN noted that while Biden won 21% of overall support from all Californians versus Sanders’ 20%, respondents responded most enthusiastically to Sanders’ campaign.
“42% of likely Democratic primary voters say they would be extremely enthusiastic if he were the nominee, compared with 35% saying so for Biden, 34% for Warren and 23% for Buttigieg,” the outlet reported.
Californians also saw the Vermont senator as best able to handle healthcare, climate, and gun control policies.

‘Let’s Bring Rumsfeld In’: Khanna Calls for Hearings on US Officials Who Lied to American People About Endless Afghan War

Rep. Ro Khanna on Wednesday said that The Washington Post’s explosive investigation the “Afghanistan Papers” showed the need for a congressional hearing and that former Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld should be among the current and former top officials called in for a reckoning before the American public.
Khanna (D-Calif.) made the comments at a House Armed Services Committee hearing. Hebegan addressing Secretary of Defense Mark Esper by summing up the Post’s report from Monday.
“The bottom line is that top military officials and civilian officials have known that the Afghan war has been has been unwinnable and have been misleading the American public for 20 years,” Khanna said. “Your predecessor Secretary Rumsfeld was quoted there as saying, ‘I have no visibility into who the bad guys are.'”
“Are you embarrassed by Secretary Rumsfeld comment and the other people quoted, and do you believe they owe the American public an explanation and an apology?” Khanna asked Esper.
Esper said it was up to the committee on whether or not to call a hearing. “But I do know this much. The story spanned multiple administrations, multiple uniformed and civilian officials, and I think it’s good to look back.”
Yet, Esper said, “I think at this point where I’m looking is forward. And forward tells me… the path to success, the win, is a political agreement between the parties on the ground.”
“But don’t you think we have to have some accountability so we don’t make the same mistake again?” asked Khanna. “Would you support this committee holding hearings on the Afghan Papers and calling in front of Congress every official who has misled the American public about whether this war was winnable in all or not? With 2,400 American soldiers dead, 775,000 Americans deployed, dont you think people owe this country an explanation?”

Torabs

It’s not too late to correct one the Obama era’s major failures. I’m completely with Khanna on this.

Barack Obama and the Politics of Not Yet

When I read President Obama’s comments last month cautioning the country against radical change, saying “the average American doesn’t think we have to tear down the system” and “they just don’t want to see crazy stuff,” my first thought was of Dr. Martin Luther King’s clarion call for justice encapsulated in the title of his 1964 book “Why We Can’t Wait.” In this current era of the greatest wealth inequality in history, how might Dr. King respond to President Obama, when he calls on us to reject radical change?
Although no names were mentioned, it was clear Obama was referring to Democratic candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and there’s no question that radical plan #1 under discussion is universal health care. The second thought that ran through my mind was of Obama shortly after the historic 2008 Presidential election, when he introduced the campaign for his signature Affordable Care Act by telling the nation that if we were to design a healthcare system from scratch, then single-payer would be the best way to go, but that our nation wasn’t ready for that so he’d have to work within the existing system. There would be no debate in Congress on single-payer, even though polls at the time showed upwards of 65% of Americans in favor of such a plan.
And here he is, ten years later, telling us that we’re still not ready for radical change—you know, “crazy stuff” like the type of universal medical coverage provided in every other industrialized nation in the world.
As Obama inserts himself in the 2020 election – with some news reports suggesting he may engage further to help prevent a Sanders nomination—he is fast becoming a symbol of the divide within the Democratic party, between those who caution against (or fear) real change and those who are long tired of waiting. Even Obama’s policy record has become a split screen. Some of his fans—no doubt also longing for a President who can speak complete English sentences and not start a new scandal every week—reminisce about what they consider his bold progressive achievements, usually starting with the ACA. More skeptical observers point to his expansion of drone warfare, continued bombing of the Middle East, record deportations, record wealth inequality, bankers and torturers getting off scot-free, broken promises on the public option and GMOs and say, no, not so much.
One might think a factor that could unite folks on the left is an understanding of the corrupting influence of money in politics, but in that regard Obama appears as Teflon-coated as Ronald Reagan ever was with his supporters. When Obama ran for President one of the largest sources of contributions to his campaign was the infamous Wall St. firm Goldman-Sachs. He started his drive for the ACA by capitulating completely to pharmaceutical companies (there would be no negotiations over drug prices), and to insurance companies by promoting what was originally a Republican plan. He entered his post-Presidential tenure by immediately accepting lucrative speaking gigs from Wall St. companies. How can it mean nothing, at a time when three individual Americans possess more wealth than half the country, to be taking advice from someone who gladly accepts money from and hangs out with the 1%? (Not surprisingly, his recent comments were made at a meeting of Democratic Party “mega-donors.”)

Good. Now $1,685,456,413,335 more to go. Cancel all student debt and tax Wall Street to fund tuition-free public college. https://t.co/2xlA4UVII6
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 12, 2019

Hopefully, Greta can adopt something from this, like she did with brat from Trump’s friend Bolsonaro.

So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill! https://t.co/M8ZtS8okzE
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2019

magsview

Chill, baby, chill. #angermanagement pic.twitter.com/fdYV2wLt97
— James B. (@jamesakbeach) December 12, 2019

Benny

Greta Thunberg is handling being bullied by the President of the United States much better than I would be. I’m genuinely proud of her. pic.twitter.com/Pon7yFG4u7— Nick Laparra (@NickLaparra) December 12, 2019

Touche’!

wi61

Greta- Time’s person of the year
Trumpcorp Liar of the century (This one and last)

magsview

🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/nAuoDu5yz2
— Left I on the News (@leftiblog) December 12, 2019

Our manifesto is the most radical, hopeful, people-focused, fully-costed plan in modern times. 💓🌹💓
This is our chance to transform our country. Are you with us? Pass it on. 🌹 pic.twitter.com/wjCPnHj4Ff
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) November 21, 2019

I hope Bernie hires some of this digital team after tomorrow.

Voter suppression already happening:

Could *not* love this harder
pic.twitter.com/6iSy1UiIHR
— Kerry-Anne Mendoza (@TheMendozaWoman) December 12, 2019

Benny

Cardiff University has suffered an error with its online voting registration system, leaving up to 180 of its students ineligible to cast their votes, writes Will Neal.
The university says it is difficult to give an exact figure, but the issue has reportedly affected all students who registered to vote in November.
The university initially gave its students a deadline of the end of October to register via its own internal system. When the deadline passed, all applications that had been submitted were sent to the local council.
Due to an administrative oversight, the portal was then left online throughout November even though applications were no longer been passed on. As a result, a number of students who accessed the portal after the October deadline were not registered to vote.
The city council has said it is too late for them to be included on the list of voters for the area as the legal deadline for registration has passed.
It comes after Cardiff received up to 1,000 invalid applications ahead of today’s elections, due to problems with inputting addresses. Efforts were successfully made to contact those affected, but at least 200 people were not registered in time.

???

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/12/atrocious-188-democrats-join-gop-hand-trump-738-billion-military-budget-includes

The squad, Jayapal, Pocan, Khanna, and 34 other Dems were nos.

In a floor speech ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), the most vocal opponent of the NDAA in the House, said “there are many things you can call the bill, but it’s Orwellian to call it progressive.” Khanna was standing across the aisle from Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), who hailed the measure as “the most progressive defense bill we have passed in decades.”
“Let’s speak in facts,” said Khanna. “This defense budget is $120 billion more than what Obama left us with. That could fund free public college for every American. It could fund access to high-speed, affordable internet for every American. But it’s worse. The bipartisan amendment to stop the war in Yemen: stripped by the White House. The bipartisan amendment to stop the war in Iran: stripped by the White House.”

My friend @RepRoKhanna is right: it is Orwellian for Congress to hand over billions of dollars worth of weapons and bombs to a president waging a horrific, unconstitutional war in Yemen—and call that progressive. pic.twitter.com/6SUmUUhv3q
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 11, 2019

Bernie’s advisers weigh in on Dems supporting the military bill

New Rule: Every Member of Congress who voted to give the most corrupt, unhinged & unstable president in history $738 billion to fight endless wars, fund a bogus space force & put our troops at risk must never tell us that we cannot afford #MedicareForAll or a #GreenNewDeal. Ever.
— Warren Gunnels (@GunnelsWarren) December 12, 2019

Congrats to Democratic leadership on getting outnegotiated by JARED KUSHNER. On a provision that was already passed by bipartisan majorities in Congress. To end US support for a war that has created to the world's worst humanitarian catastrophe.
Great goddam job. https://t.co/JmYd57lgds
— Matt Duss (@mattduss) December 11, 2019

pic.twitter.com/azHHhKlNun
— Erik Sperling 🌍 #NoWarOnIran (@ErikSperling) December 11, 2019

orlbucfan

T and R, LD!! Will be listening to the Brits’ vote today.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/10/capitalism-is-broken-its-time-something-new/?utm_source=reddit.com

Katrina vanden Heuvel is a rare bright spot in WaPo’s columnists—the anti-Rubin. Of course, she writes about 1/10 of the columns that Rubin vomits out.

I argued that the American system is broken in three ways.
First, it is fueling extreme inequality. Four decades of stagnant wages and upward flows of wealth in the United States have supercharged the existing wealth divide and other inequalities rooted in racial, gender and geographic differences. Productivity gains have flowed to the investor class, not to workers, and social mobility has declined. In his latest column (prepared for the debate), David Brooks countered that “capitalism has brought about the greatest reduction of poverty in human history.” But Oxfam International highlights a more nuanced reality: While there has been a meaningful decline in extreme poverty, hundreds of millions more people could have been lifted out of poverty if not for extreme inequalities within and across countries.
Second, capitalism is undermining democracy. In the Citizens United era, the amount of money in politics has exploded, resulting in elected officials from both parties who are more beholden to wealthy donors — and their business interests — than ever before. Corporate concentration is reducing competition and rendering both workers and consumers increasingly powerless against rising plutocracy. And this is happening as the forces of private equity and big tech conspire to annihilate the local and independent journalism that is vital to maintaining a democratic society.
It doesn’t take a socialist to see capitalism’s corrosive impact on democracy. In fact, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a former McKinsey consultant who was forced on Monday to finally agree to disclose his campaign bundlers, used to recognize it earlier in the campaign, saying, “There’s tension between capitalism and democracy, and negotiating that tension is probably the biggest challenge for America right now.”
And, third, capitalism is destroying nature. As corporate lobbyists work to dismantle the regulatory apparatus, the companies they represent are irrevocably harming our environment, our health and our collective future. In pursuit of profits at any cost, corporations continue to ravage public lands, demolishing ecosystems, and poisoning the water we drink and the air we breathe. Meanwhile, even as corporate America has become more vocal about the importance of sustainability and the perils of climate change, it has opposed the dramatic policy changes needed to prevent catastrophe.

Benny

She’s still a bit establishment in her demeanor, but her politics are good.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2019/12/12/afl-cio-politics-union-flight-attendant-sara-nelson-president-trumka-082739

Nelson, 46, is now weighing a run to become first woman to lead the AFL-CIO, effectively the leader of organized labor in the United States, representing 12.5 million workers who still have the power to shape major legislation and swing elections. The election to replace the federation’s leader, Richard Trumka, who is expected to step aside, won’t happen until October 2021, well after a presidential contest that is shaping up as referendum on the nation’s tolerance for seismic left-wing change to the economy. Nelson has tied her candidacy to the same progressive ideas that are dominating the debate among the Democratic aspirants for the White House and wants to remake the labor federation as dramatically as candidates like Sanders and Warren hope to do from the White House. She rejects the current labor leadership’s moderate approach and unapologetically calls on labor to embrace a more liberal set of values as a way to reverse decades of systemic decline in membership and influence.
The labor movement is split—thanks to Trump, whose candidacy in 2016 created a schism in the labor vote that deeply embarrassed Trumka and probably helped deliver the White House to a president who openly despises unions. Nelson, however, is not interested in pulling the factions back together. She wants to repudiate Trump—and, implicitly, rank-and-file members of AFL-CIO unions who support him for his trade policies and broader war on establishment elites.

Her likely candidacy also embodies the growing influence of women in the labor movement and the shift of unions away from the blue-collar manufacturing sector to more white-collar jobs in service industry and government. While union membership rates among men have fallen by more than half since the early 1980s, the percentage of women has dropped by just 4 percentage points over the same period; as of last year, the rates were nearly equal. And in public-sector unions—a sector that gained 132,000 members from 2018 to 2019 despite a Supreme Court ruling outlawing mandatory collective bargaining fees—women now outnumber men.
“Sara Nelson embodies the changing demography of the labor movement, which is now increasingly women and increasingly people of color,” said Nelson Lichtenstein, director of the Work, Labor, and Democracy center at the University of California Santa Barbara.

Nelson, by contrast, embodies a growing cross-section of union-minded Democrats who believe labor needs to stop apologizing for being liberal. Unions would have more success, she argues, if they embraced their activist roots.
Speaking to the Chicago Democratic Socialists in May—a speaking invitation it’s hard to imagine Trumka ever accepting—Nelson extolled radical labor leaders of yore. She spoke of A. Philip Randolph, the founder of the first black union, and his protégé, Bayard Rustin, who in 1963 organized 250,000 people for Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, and Lucy Gonzales Parsons, who was thrust into activism after her husband was executed on false charges that he had carried out an attack at a labor demonstration in 1886.
“They were shot down at Homestead, Pennsylvania and in the hills of West Virginia,” Nelson said. “They were hanged for the Haymarket Affair in Chicago and beaten on an overpass near Detroit. … These activists thought it was important enough to stand up against all odds. … Today it’s our turn.”
“Our task,” Nelson added, “is to build a labor movement that sees itself truly as a labor movement — not just a collection of separate unions.”

After former Maryland Rep. John Delaney argued that supporting Medicare for All would “get Trump reelected,” Nelson swooped in to back Sanders and Warren, two of its most prominent advocates. Government health care, she said, would allow unions to spend their time bargaining for higher wages and other benefits.
“It’s a huge drag on our bargaining,” Nelson told POLITICO in August. “So our message is: Get it off the table.”

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