[!@#$%!]

i'm back to sanity tonight. please don't push me off the cliff again ha ha.

[!@#$%!]

this article about chucky schumer preparing to lead based on warren's wing is interesting. the real revealing paragraph for me was this one though, and i'm emphasizing what matters:

Schumer’s predecessor, outgoing Democratic leader Harry Reid (Nev.), did his best both in the majority and the minority to protect vulnerable incumbents such as Mary Landrieu (Louisiana) and Mark Begich (Alaska), using parliamentary tactics to avoid tough votes. But a byproduct of this was that Democrats didn’t articulate a clear agenda — and Landrieu and Begich lost anyway.

there's more good stuff. the rest is all here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...06c_story.html

[!@#$%!]

anthropologist discusses wisconsin rural voters (not really an anthropologist but seems to work like one)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...y-makes-sense/

[Robert Schunk]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

anthropologist discusses wisconsin rural voters (not really an anthropologist but seems to work like one)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...y-makes-sense/

Excellent piece, but did you notice this one linked on that page?:

Death predicts whether people vote for Donald Trump

It contains the striking statement: "[i]t is nonetheless striking that Trump’s promise to "Make America Great Again" has been most enthusiastically embraced by those who have seen their own life's prospects diminish the most — not [only] in terms of material wealth, but in terms of literal chances of survival."

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Robert Schunk

Excellent piece, but did you notice this one linked on that page?:

Death predicts whether people vote for Donald Trump

It contains the striking statement: "[i]t is nonetheless striking that Trump’s promise to "Make America Great Again" has been most enthusiastically embraced by those who have seen their own life's prospects diminish the most — not [only] in terms of material wealth, but in terms of literal chances of survival."

yeah the reduced life expectancy is definitely a sign of economic decline in those regions. i'm sure some KKK types are turning that into some sort of "white genocide" narrative though. it doesn't work that way.. but they'll do it anyway.

trump definitely took advantage of their plight-- i'm saying this even though i'm really trying to be agnostic about his upcoming presidency. all i see is the extreme corporatocracy taking over-- privatizers, pollutionists, koch associates, etc.

[Severian]

I had a few moments of attempted "agnostic" thinking on this, but Jesus fucking Christ it just gets worse and worse by the minute. Every new cabinet vetting announcement, the mounting evidence that there is at least some legitimacy to the accusations of "Russian vote hacking" that even I found fantastical at first, Michigan! For fuck's sake, I went to bed last night — a full month plus after the election — thinking about how I can say "not my president" all I want, but it won't be true... actually hoping for an electoral revolt even though I know hope is futile.

In terms of religion, I am an agnostic. Of the existing mythologies, I have a grab bag of favorites, but my true position is always "What the fuck do I know?" I remain open to other people's perspectives and ideas, and I remain open to any new evidence that presents itself.

With Trump, I am not of an agnostic mindset. I do not believe that nothing about his presidency or his motivations can be known. I fully believe that he is dangerous in a number of ways, many of which have yet to be revealed, and I can't look at his actions so far and pretend that this is anything other than the realization of what so many of us feared most.

[Rob Instigator]

scumbag greedhead IDIOT ex-TX governor Rick Perry is slated to be Trump's pick for Head of Energy Dept. This asshole has the oil companies so far up his ass he cries tar.

[!@#$%!]

@ severino - i'm agnostic in the sense of economic theory and what works for the economy and the possible results of a corporatocrat administration.

meaning that perhaps a low-tax regime promotes entrepreneurship and investment as creates a hong-kong style prosperity.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...ticle13393877/

and maybe a little environmental rape will generate enough jobs and revenue, so that people can... AFFORD solar power, for fuck's sakes. plus if we deplete oil, we'll have no choice.

anyway, if you want to cast some doubt in your secure beliefs i recommend reading thomas sowell's BASIC ECONOMICS which is a very user-friendly but extremely neoliberal (in the sense of chicago school of economics, not american-style-"liberal") book. sowell is/was a disciple of milton friedman. he has some interesting arguments that i think they're going to be put in practice now.

don't know if you ever played alpha centauri but we're going from a lal/deirde alliance to a morgan/miriam/santiago alliance running this planet. not sure where zakharov stands... probably plays both sides.

now, sowell's theories don't inform my politics, because i'm suspicious of people who claim libertarianism but practice corporate welfare. but his ideas do inform my relationship with money, my understanding of scarcity and markets, my expectations for human behavior, etc.

he comes in book and audiobook form and even if you're going to hate him & reject him it's interesting to hear the opposing point of view in a dignified and respectable manner. there are many editions but they're all basically the same.

the story of the siege of antwerp he tells there to discuss price controls is fucking fascinating. there are others. but anyway check it out.

==

eta: also another thing to be "hopeful" about AS A LIBERAL is that the trumpet has a chance to pass the obama stimulus package, i.e., an infrastructure revamping program, in spite of bagger opposition. trump himself is not opposed to going into debt for this purpose and he carries weight.

[ilduclo]

well a F'in GREAT way to get your MAGA goin' is to pay a million for a meet and greet with the orange combover and his son's Uday and Qusay, you get to go a-huntin' with the boys, too

 

[greenlight]

isn't he filling swamp instead of draining it talking about his cabinet? espec. goldman sach people.

[ilduclo]

this article is either really, really funny, orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr really, really sad. I vote for the former, since I am a bitter leftist :lol:

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/473884...ers-didnt-take

Dana Milbank: Trump voters didn’t take him literally on Obamacare. Oops?

I can even hear the old hag talking, you know, fuck these people. Trump said he loved the uneducated voter!!

"........... Trump voter Debbie Mills, a store owner whose husband awaits a lifesaving liver transplant; they got insurance through Obamacare, and Mills is hoping the law won't be repealed.

"I don't know what we'll do if it does go away," Mills said. "I guess I thought that, you know, [Trump] would not do this. That they would not do this, would not take the insurance away. Knowing that it's affecting so many people's lives. I mean, what are you to do then if you cannot ... purchase, cannot pay for the insurance?"

Mills, who supported Trump for other reasons, figured Obamacare repeal was just talk. "I guess we really didn't think about that, that he was going to cancel that or change that or take it away," she said. "I guess I always just thought that it would be there. I was thinking that once it was made into a law that it could not be changed." "

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by ilduclo

this article is either really, really funny, orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr really, really sad. I vote for the former, since I am a bitter leftist :lol:

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/473884...ers-didnt-take

Dana Milbank: Trump voters didn’t take him literally on Obamacare. Oops?

I can even hear the old hag talking, you know, fuck these people. Trump said he loved the uneducated voter!!

"........... Trump voter Debbie Mills, a store owner whose husband awaits a lifesaving liver transplant; they got insurance through Obamacare, and Mills is hoping the law won't be repealed.

"I don't know what we'll do if it does go away," Mills said. "I guess I thought that, you know, [Trump] would not do this. That they would not do this, would not take the insurance away. Knowing that it's affecting so many people's lives. I mean, what are you to do then if you cannot ... purchase, cannot pay for the insurance?"

Mills, who supported Trump for other reasons, figured Obamacare repeal was just talk. "I guess we really didn't think about that, that he was going to cancel that or change that or take it away," she said. "I guess I always just thought that it would be there. I was thinking that once it was made into a law that it could not be changed." "

funny. definitely on the funny column.

this was also on the washington post

[ilduclo]

there's some good stuff in the article about how red "taker" states will be hurt the most under tRump. So have a great time, righties!

[Severian]

Originally Posted by greenlight

isn't he filling swamp instead of draining it talking about his cabinet? espec. goldman sach people.

To be fair, Betsy DeVos is not a politician in the strictest professional sense of the word... she's just one of the biggest independent "don't-call-her-a-lobbyist" lobbyists in the fucking world. Chairperson of the Michigan Republican Party, with more money any of us will ever see in our combined lifetimes tied up in school choice/charter school/voucher programs. So... y'know.. not part of "the swamp" ... more like a nasty toxic bacteria floating around on the surface.

Oh, hey, she had also accused Michigan workers of being overpaid. Michigan (now where has that word come up lately? Hmm...) where the minimum wage is lower than the federal, and were people make about $15,000 less than they need to to make ends meet. Oh, also, where Betsy Devos lives in a mansion, doesn't work, and throws parties for the Bushes. BAAAAAHAHAHA!

[dead_battery]

Originally Posted by ilduclo

this article is either really, really funny, orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr really, really sad. I vote for the former, since I am a bitter leftist :lol:

http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/473884...ers-didnt-take

Dana Milbank: Trump voters didn’t take him literally on Obamacare. Oops?

I can even hear the old hag talking, you know, fuck these people. Trump said he loved the uneducated voter!!

"........... Trump voter Debbie Mills, a store owner whose husband awaits a lifesaving liver transplant; they got insurance through Obamacare, and Mills is hoping the law won't be repealed.

"I don't know what we'll do if it does go away," Mills said. "I guess I thought that, you know, [Trump] would not do this. That they would not do this, would not take the insurance away. Knowing that it's affecting so many people's lives. I mean, what are you to do then if you cannot ... purchase, cannot pay for the insurance?"

Mills, who supported Trump for other reasons, figured Obamacare repeal was just talk. "I guess we really didn't think about that, that he was going to cancel that or change that or take it away," she said. "I guess I always just thought that it would be there. I was thinking that once it was made into a law that it could not be changed." "

the left should start using stories like these.

let's applaud these people who are killing themselves for capitalism

lets not condemn them, let's clap.

#sacrificeyourselfforcapitalism

#socialism?overmydeadbody!

i died so the rich could have another vacation home? what sacrifices have YOU made for the market?

etc.

i'm deadly serious.

let's stop trying to convince these people of the good that they don't want. let's accelerate their death drive and make them OWN it.

after all, we're all COMMUNIST NAZI ISIS TRAITORS who deserve to be murdered or at least thrown in jail.

if you want to destroy the epa and die slowly of agonizing cancers the republicans are ready to oblige. so LET'S MAKE THESE FUCKERS LIVE UP TO THEIR IDEOLOGY. everytime they try and puss out and make compromises with liberalism, demand that they go further.

#killyourselfforcapitalism

it's all your own free choice after all, because of free will. we're not materialists! that's evil commie science!

#betterdeadthanred

[!@#$%!]

^^ i like the idea

since goobers are all about "patriotism"

capitalism = USA = give your life for the market

hurry up & make the ultimate sacrifice

we'll wrap yr coffin in a flag

the coffin will be a rental though cuz soylent green is people

[ilduclo]

yes, fuck those voters. I am tired of worrying about the less fortunate that don't give a shit about anyone else. I'd rather have a family from Syria next door to me than the Republican lumber baron I do have.

[dead_battery]

yeah but guys don't you remember, for every working class voter we lose we gain 2 moderate republicans in the suburbs.

seriously tho ameribros, you tried your best, take a rest and relax. you deserve it. no shame in being defeated by the deliberately impossible obstinacy of idiots.

me... i just want a range life


heil trump y'all.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by dead_battery

heil trump y'all.

 

[!@#$%!]

hes going nucular isnt he?

say hello to sun ra everyone