Delusion

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Saturday November 12, 2016 · 4:27 AM PST

2016/11/12 · 04:27

We were totally wrong. Wrong predictions. Wrong candidate. Wrong strategy.

It hurts me to say this, but the only person who got this election right is Donald Trump. Right strategy, right message, right candidate.

But it was about much more than him. When did we become the party of bankers and not the working class? We collected money from the rich to buy ads in Michigan to tell out of work people that Trump is an awful human being.

They already knew that. They didn’t care. He was the only one listening to them.

Not just Hillary, the entire Democratic Party got out of touch with the people. Schumer (my favorite Senator) said that for each blue-collar voter we lose, we are gaining two in the suburbs. Even if it was true (turned out not to be) is that what we should have wanted? We have always been the party of the working class. The comfortable people do not need us.

Even if we had won, it would not have mattered. We would have been the mouthpiece of the elite, just another tool of oppression.

We tried to take the easy way to power. By cozying up to the people who already have power, we tried to get a share of their wealth. And thought we could buy influence among the downtrodden using it. No wonder the people were angry at us.

I admit I saw none of this a week ago. I too, was caught up in the mass delusion. Sam Wang had me convinced we had a >99% chance of victory. Numbers lie. Scientists herd just like lemmings. Only after falling off the cliff (about midnight on election night) did I wake up from the delusion.

Michael Moore warned us back in July. I thought he was being a left-wing loon.

Time to get back to basics. Forget the bankers. Stop the fundraising. Fire the pollsters and the consultants. Ctrl-C the data analysis. Get back in touch with the community. Listen.

We should not be telling people what they should want. We should be asking them what they want.

We should not be blaming our loss on bigotry. Surely, there are bigots in the Trump movement. Possibly right at the top. But the mass of people who voted us out of power also voted for Barrack Obama. And still approve of him by a clear majority. There is more going on here than prejudice.

We should not be asking “What is Wrong with Pennsylvania?” . Why didn’t we get Pennsylvania? Or Michigan or Wisconsin.

To effectively resist Trump, we need the base to trust us again. We need Barrack Obama to return to his roots as a community organizer. We do not need another Presidential Foundation. We need volunteers who will fan out to reach every community in the US. Even people who will never vote for us need to know we aim to represent them. They may not love us, but we need them to stop hating us.

This will take years. May be a generation. We will win.

Poll

35 votes Show Results

Why did we lose?

35 votes Vote Now!

Why did we lose?

Bigotry

7 votes

We lost touch

21 votes

Hillary

7 votes

Thank You, Trey Gowdy.

organicdemocrat

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Friday October 23, 2015 · 7:44 PM PDT

2015/10/23 · 19:44

Rep. Trey Gowdy is not just another Republican with a weird hairdo. He is a uniter. He is a motivator. He has spurred me to action. Thank you, Rep. Gowdy. You are not a Great American, but you have proved that even jackasses can do some good in America.

I made my first contribution to Hillary Clinton for President today. That asinine colleague of Gowdy who kept asking her whether she spent her night alone is also to be thanked. He made sure that it is a recurring monthly contribution all the way to the election.

I would have done it eventually. But life gets busy and just never got around to it. It took the Great Motivator from SC to give me that extra push.

organicdemocrat

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Saturday September 12, 2015 · 9:03 AM PDT

2015/09/12 · 09:03

No one expected Donald Trump's rise to the top of the GOP race. No one. Comedians who paid attention to him might have prayed for it. Democrats might have hoped to paint other Republicans with the sleaze that he oozes. But no one expected that he will become the serious candidate for Presidency he is now. Even now, most Democrats are in denial.

We think he will go away. Self destruct. Every week, we are assured, this time he has gone too far. And yet there he is, with 30% of the GOP vote. Leading in Iowa. Forcing Scott Walker off the map. Getting Rick Perry to suspend (whatever that means) his campaign. It is time to look into this phenomenon. Even if he does flame out in the end (and I still think he will) it is important to know what got him this far. And what that says about US.

Trump is too so much of a celebrity that there is nothing more to know about him. But who are his supporters? Why does he resonate with so many? A key observation is by Gwenda Blair, his biographer.

organicdemocrat

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Sunday August 30, 2015 · 3:27 AM PDT

2015/08/30 · 03:27

Trump is popular because his policy positions fit Demographics of the GOP base. These are older middle class people who are afraid of competition from immigrants and terrified that their Social Security will run out. They are Right Wing on Immigration, but Left Wing on their own Government benefits. They do not view this as contradictory. In fact, this used to be a perfectly mainstream Progressive stance. So the message is seductive to parts of the Democratic base as well.

If Trump were less of an asshole he would be even more popular. His antics attract attention, but his supporters stick with him for solid reasons. They view him as representing their interests.

What they don't understand is that it is the immigrants they want to deport are essential to keep Social Security solvent. Without immigration the US would be just another rich country with an aging population. It would not be able to sustain the generous benefits it gives to older citizens. It is a myth that the Social Security is paid out to you by the Government from what you paid into the fund. Most people getting SS now are getting many times what they paid in, including interest. In fact, people currently working are paying for those who have retired. So without younger workers (legal or not) the system would collapse.

organicdemocrat

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Sunday August 23, 2015 · 11:54 AM PDT

2015/08/23 · 11:54

Politics on the Right Wing today is dominated by Anger Babies. These are mostly white middle class men who feel they are entitled to things they are not getting. Actually having to compete with a woman ("FemNazi") or immigrant ("Rapist') is making them angry. Very angry.

What are to do with them? If we were to use Trump's logic we must deport them. Because, may be they are not citizens of the United States either. He is not proposing a Constitutional Amendment to repeal the 14th Amendment. He wants to re-interpret the constitution to declare people he does not like to be non-citizens. And deport them. And to keep families united, their parents, siblings and possibly neighbors too.

Let us play by their rules.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.

Sounds clear enough. But we can find a lot of smart lawyers who can make it mean whatever we want.

"All persons". Can someone this angry really be a person? May be they are aliens? If you saw MIB you know there are people who use human bodies as skins and are operated by little aliens living in their skulls.

"Born or Naturalized"

organicdemocrat

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Sunday August 16, 2015 · 12:15 PM PDT

2015/08/16 · 12:15

Scott Adams is the creator of the Dilbert cartoons. He knows a thing or two about how to persuade people through clownish exaggeration. In his blog, he explains the disturbing success of the Clown-In-Chief, Donald Trump with the GOP voter.

The idea is to place an outlandish thought in your head as an "anchor". Even if you know consciously that it is ridiculously wrong, by frequent repetition, enough of you will buy it. The subconscious makes most of the decisions. It is not bound by logic or facts.

I don’t remember the smaller estimates of Trump’s wealth that critics provided. But I certainly remember the $10 billion estimate from Trump himself. Thanks to this disparity in my memory, my mind automatically floats toward Trump’s anchor of $10 billion being my reality. That is classic persuasion.
Read more: http://blog.dilbert.com/...

Why should we try to understand why Trump is succeeding with the Republicans? Because it is foolish to ignore the leader of the competition. And the basic methods of persuasion he is so good can also work on independents and Democrats. In short, Trump is dangerous. Read More

Trump Is The Obama of 2015

organicdemocrat

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Thursday August 13, 2015 · 3:34 AM PDT

2015/08/13 · 03:34

Not in the sense that he is the Hope and Change candidate. Or that he has any clue how to govern the country. But Trump, not Bernie Sanders, is the outsider who has shaken up the Presidential field in 2015. He energizes the base of the GOP the same way Obama energized us in 2007. This is why Trump is to be taken seriously as a politician. He may not win the Presidency. He may not even become the GOP nominee. But to underestimate him is a mistake. The same mistake the Clintons made about Senator Obama in 2007.

The GOP base consists of losers who pretend to themselves that they are winners. An asshole Billionaire appeals to them the way a brilliant Harvard educated community worker appeals to the Democratic base. Trump represents their ideal: a loud mouthed rich guy who insults heroes and screams at women. He says things they all think, but can't articulate. Just as Obama voiced our discontent with the Iraq war.

I don't oppose all wars.[..] What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war.

You thought that. But admit it: you couldn't have said it so brilliantly.

In the same way, Trump actually says things every GOP base voter thinks:

If Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.

Rosie O'Donnell is disgusting — both inside and out. If you take a look at her, she's a slob. How does she even get on television?

(McCain’s) a war hero because he got captured. I like people who weren’t captured.

So what should we do about Trump? Read More

Trump(R) is not a joke

organicdemocrat

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Friday July 17, 2015 · 9:15 AM PDT

2015/07/17 · 09:15

When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President, comedians rejoiced. Jon Stewart compared him to a monkey throwing poop. (Don't be mad at the monkey, be mad at the people admiring the poop-throwing). Letterman came out of retirement with a Top 10 List.

But Trump is not a joke. He is the embodiment of today's Republican Party.FOX News Poll shows that Trump is now the front runner for the Republican nomination. Not Jeb! Bush, whom he beats by 4 points. (In fact Jeb! is in third place behind Scott Walker)

No one can keep Trump out of the Fox News debate now. So what does this say about the GOP?

organicdemocrat

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Thursday October 17, 2013 · 5:41 AM PDT

2013/10/17 · 05:41

It's not over, folks. To the sane world, the Tea Party and the Republicans have suffered a humiliating defeat. Their strategy has been exposed as lunacy. But this is not how they see it.

Boehner didn't manage the whole thing very well, but Ted Cruz's strategy was and is sound.

is a typical comment at Tea Party Nation.
They think Jason S Johnson, the consultant for Ted Cruz who came up with the defund strategy is a genius.
Like the Black Knight in the Monty Python sketch, they are saying

Let's call it a draw.

So they will be back. Tilting at windmills. Defunding, delaying screaming nonsense. Unless the American public remembers this debacle and throw the House to Democrats in 2014, this will happen all over again. How to make sure that will happen? Read More

A Moment to Savor

organicdemocrat

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Friday December 16, 2011 · 5:49 AM PST

2011/12/16 · 05:49

Obama came to national prominence because of his opposition to the war in Iraq. At a time when most American leaders-Democrats included-dared not challenge the lies of the Bush administration, a newly minted Senator found his voice.

As President, he just ended that war. We have not achieved everything we wanted. Iraq is still fragile and could easily slip into dictatorship or anarchy. Guantanamo Bay still houses illegally kidnapped detainees. Afghanistan is a quagmire. The economy will never recover from the trillions spent on these wars.

Still, it is a moment to savor. And to honor the thousands who sacrificed their lives in Iraq.

Keith, Start Your Own Channel

organicdemocrat

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Saturday November 06, 2010 · 9:24 PM PDT

2010/11/06 · 21:24

American media are shocked, shocked, to discover that Keith Olbermann is a Democrat. Like the Vestal Virgins of yore, Journalists are not allowed to have political leanings-unless they work for FOX. There was a former editor of WaPo who even thought that it was his civic duty not to vote.

Much of this nonsense stems from the era when network TV dominated news coverage: roughly 1950 to 2000. Before then it was quite common to have newspapers not only endorse candidates, even champion them. To gain a competitive advantage over TV, newspapers adopted a holier than thou attitude, elevating Journalism to a Priesthood. Universities found it lucrative to start Journalism schools, churning out Master's Degrees by the hundreds every year to staff the Newspapers. Instead of the cigar chomping gumshoe in a trenchcoat we got the yuppies in Brook's Brothers suits. They could condescend to mere politicians as they were paid about a 10 times a typical Congressman. They moved in the same circles as lobbyists while the celebrities who read news on TV consorted with movie stars. The 1987 movie Broadcast News exposed their emptiness.

organicdemocrat

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Friday June 18, 2010 · 2:30 PM PDT

2010/06/18 · 14:30

Barack Obama has a unique ability to drive his opponents into the most bizarre contortions. When Lehman Brothers fell, we saw McCain abandon the campaign trail to rush to Washington. To do absolutely nothing. Prompting Obama to observe dryly that a President ought to be able to do more than one thing at a time.

Now there is a frenzy on the Right Wing over the true victims of the oil spill in the Gulf: BP. Yes,many think that it is BP that is being unfairly "shaken down" "Chicago-style". It is not just Rep. Joe Barton (R-BP). All of Fox Nation has yet another reason to be angry. They are just a little confused about who is to blame for the catastrophe in the Gulf. Whoever is at fault it cannot be BP.

Poll

157 votes Show Results

Who will the Right Wing blame for the BP oil spill next?

157 votes Vote Now!

Who will the Right Wing blame for the BP oil spill next?

The Mexicans. After all it is in the Gulf of MEXICO!

47 votes

The Pelicans.

9 votes

The Shrimp

7 votes

Jimmy Carter. Why not?

19 votes

Nixon. He created the EPA

5 votes

FDR. Its when the country got out of whack.

15 votes

Chicago. The city, not just the style.

2 votes

ACORN. Why not?

53 votes

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Delusion

Thank You, Trey Gowdy.

To Get Trump, Understand His Audience

Immigrants Are Paying For Trump Supporters' Social Security

Deport the Anger Babies

Dilbert Explains Trump

Trump Is The Obama of 2015

Trump(R) is not a joke

Yes, This Will Happen Again

A Moment to Savor

Keith, Start Your Own Channel

Right-Wing Outrage In Support of BP Grows