|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Talks of impeachment and health care dominated Monday’s town hall meeting hosted by Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, at the Mountain View Community Center.
Eshoo opened the event by talking about the inhumane conditions she saw on her July 13 visit to the Texas-Mexico border, where she toured detention centers in McAllen and Brownsville, Texas and met with immigrant families, border officials and humanitarian volunteers.
Before a crowd of roughly 200 people, Eshoo addressed a range of issues, from health care, immigration and 5G technology to gerrymandering, Russian propaganda and religious persecution in China.
A question from a Mountain View resident about her stance on impeachment launched a lively exchange between Eshoo and the audience. Eshoo said that she hasn’t called for impeaching the president yet despite her “strong emotions about Donald Trump.”
Hecklers from the audience responded: “Why not?” Eshoo, engaging with the crowd, asked who had actually read the Mueller report, and roughly 30 people raised their hands.
Eshoo explained her “measured” approach to impeachment proceedings.
“Our country and our democracy is practically under siege at this point, but my emotions cannot take me for a ride to impeachment,” Eshoo said, to applause.
The congresswoman then pivoted to the 2020 elections, marking them as an opportunity for a true indictment of Trump.
“The most important thing is to impeach him at the polls,” Eshoo said.
Mountain View resident Allyn Polk brought back the topic near the end of the meeting, asking Eshoo why she would not, at the minimum, support the opening of a judicial inquiry.
Two questions broached the topic of health care reform, the first by a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and Mountain View resident who asked why Eshoo had not come out in favor of the single-payer bill Medicare for All.
While Eshoo said, “I’m 5 billion percent with you,” she also spoke of the difficulties that come with dismantling the Affordable Care Act to start anew, and said that not all of her constituents want a change in their health care coverage.
Stan Simon of San Jose criticized the congresswoman’s record of financial campaign contributions.
“You have taken more money from Big Pharma than any other member of congress, and you just said that want a gradual move on health care,” Simon said. “45,000 people die a year due to lack of health care. Would gradual mean just 20,000 people die a year?”
“If you want to suggest that I’m bought and paid for, I’m going to fight against that,” Eshoo said. “Yes, I’ve received contributions, but I’ve never voted against the interests of my constituents.”
Nisha Malley writes for the Mountain View Voice, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Nisha Malley writes for the Mountain View Voice, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Nisha Malley writes for the Mountain View Voice, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
People have no cause to blame Eshoo for anything if they do not understand how power works and as a consequence, fail to do their own duty in a democracy. And I don’t just mean voting.
When Obama won in that sweep, with changes like universal healthcare on the agenda, voters should have been working the next day to ensure he had a power majority in the midterms. Instead, voters went home and then took their potshots when he didn’t do their exact bidding. They have no cause to complain if they didn’t show that there were numbers and power behind those ideas.
Who is out there ensuring young people across the country understand how to vote (and can) when they are away and busy with college? (to understand where they are even in residence?) I remember voting as a college student and being surprised by all the local races I knew nothing about — and not being able to ask whether my ballot would be invalid if I only voted in one of the races.
Also, someone needs to go on a deliberate campaign to help counter the bystander effect, so that people understand that they have to take responsibility to vote and to understand how important it is for everyone to have this attitude, because if they think their vote doesn’t count and others will vote, then no one votes and nothing changes.
Democrats have to be willing to go after the cult of Reagan, the anti-democracy tactics of Republics since (“Permanent Republican Majority being inherently anti-democracy and anti-marketplace, and scheming not limited to the citizenship question) and the economic lies about trickle-down economics (which have led to effective plutocracy), and their just plain MO of lying — anyone who cares about restoring democracy has to be willing to go after those with persistence and willingness to counter the lies and keep countering the lies. This is why we have the party of Trump and party over country, because those concerned only about power have destroyed the Republican party so there is nothing honorable or good left and that it is unrecognizable to, say, great Republicans like President Eisenhower or Lincoln.
Where are the citizens making the public case every time 45 goes on the offensive that he pretty much does that when he has something to hide? The most recent proofs related to the Stormy Daniels business were a perfect opportunity to open that door and keep it open. (Remember 45 in the debates going on the defensive about the candidate’s husband by making that the issue — to cover his own far more serious problems with women and the Stormy Daniels payoff no one knew about then? If Democrats persisted in going after those each time, and really pressing to find what he’s hiding when he goes on the offensive, they could completely nullify that most prominent tactic. Instead, you have Democrats cowering in Kavanaugh hearings when the entire population is painted with just one behavior by one person or group.)
Get a backbone, Democrats. Learn to get better turnout, more reliably. Learn to hone an argument not just make it once and figure you’re done. And pay attention to how power works, Republicans have been for decades (permanent Republican majority), and taken us to the brink of destroying what works about our democratic system.
And why, oh why, isn’t Anna Eshoo and other California lawmakers joining with lawmakers from other states where this administrations’ tactics have targeted their citizens for unequal treatment under the law? Why aren’t they bringing out individuals who are being hurt and trying to relate to people in red states to help them understand the unfairness? Instead, Democrats cowered and waited for Mueller — a Republican — to come up with a smoking gun, all the while never countering the false cries of Republicans that anything Democrats do is illegitimate because it disagrees with them.
What if every person of color eligible voted in every election, always, from now on? What if every young person ensured they were voting and their friends were voting? What if every person who protested understood that the power of protest can only go so far without backup at the ballot box? The last Republicans have been elected by electoral college tricks and not by a majority of Americans, and not by the largest share of the vote. But what have Americans done about this?
Trump is playing Dems like a fiddle. AOC is a huge gift to him while Pelosi, Eshoo and friends stand idly by.
Dems seem to have forgotten that no President has been elected since Kennedy without winning Ohio (and that was a squeaker).
The AOC love and Medicare for All talk will keep Ohio safely in the Trump column.
Dems need to hire a new political strategist. They are on the path to disaster and 4 more years of Trump. So sad.
> Trump is playing Dems
Not watching the testimony this morning about Trump’s obstruction of justice, and witness tampering, are you?
And as the republicans try to weasel out of obstruction and tampering, they ask the dumbest quests:
GOP Rep. Ken Buck: “Could you charge the President with a crime after he left office?”
Mueller: “Yes.”
Buck: “You believe that…you could charge the President of the United States with obstruction of justice after he left office?”
Mueller: “Yes.”
http://cnn.it/2YdBoWD
Keep drinking the koolaid about a 105 lb freshman rep from the other side of the country, Chris. She appreciates the rent-free space in your brain.
It’s interesting to note that one commentator didn’t think young people could figure out how to vote yet somehow they are knowledgeable enough about the candidates, their positions and background to know who to vote for. It seems to me that if they are really interested in getting involved in politics by voting, they should be able to figure out how and where to register and vote.
@Man in the Mirror starts of with the initial post lamenting the uninformed electorate. But in the very next post he/she claims our current president is only in office due to “electoral college tricks.” I see you’ve chosen your monicker accurately.
Let’s review our 8th grade civics. The electoral college was conceived by our forefathers and written into the constitution because they understood that our country is made better by our diversity. Citizens in every region, whether they are urban or rural, rich or poor, deserves to have their vote count equally. At first glance, it may seem that “equally” means pure majority wins. But looking at our demographics today, this would leave large swaths of the population left behind. There are many, many more people living in big cities (and mostly on the coasts) than in middle America. But that does not make the wants and needs of a rancher in Wyoming irrelevant. In fact, in some ways it would leave him with taxation without representation. Could be why our forefathers included the electoral college clause.
> this would leave large swaths of the population left behind
Like the 71 million that voted against Trump, including the 65 million more who voted for Clinton, opposed to the paltry 62 million that voted for Trump?
Who got “left behind”? “Left behind” is a lousy argument for the EC. There are far better.
> In fact, in some ways it would leave him with taxation without representation.
No. Again, a faulty argument. In fact, your mythical WY voter has more representation (senate, house and the value of his executive vote) than a voter in a populous state. You know, the states that are the economic engine for our great country.
I would encourage progressives to challenge Ms. Esho in the next elections. When going to and from her office she keeps her head down and eyes on the ground so she wouldn’t have even to acknowledge her constituents, forget about greet and talk to them.
Anna Eshoo: “Our country and our democracy is practically under siege at this point.” Golly gee, Anna, it seems like you’ve spending way too much time hanging with “The Squad.”
Have our civil liberties been abrogated?
Are we at war?
Is the economy tanking?
Are unemployed people not finding work?
The answer to all of these question is “no.”
Thanks for your service to the country, but now is the time for you to retire.
> “Our country and our democracy is practically under siege at this point.”
You just heard public testimony today that our intelligence services are still investigating, currently, more about the 2016 Russian attacks on our country, as well as ongoing attacks.
You also heard testimony today about numerous campaign contacts with the attacking country, multiple cases of obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
Also: she won the last election in a landslide 75%-25%.
If you’d like a different candidate, perhaps you should talk to your neighbors. They seem to value her service.
@carlt
You wrote “It’s interesting to note that one commentator didn’t think young people could figure out how to vote yet somehow they are knowledgeable enough about the candidates, their positions and background to know who to vote for. It seems to me that if they are really interested in getting involved in politics by voting, they should be able to figure out how and where to register and vote.”
So, I’m assuming you vote. You do know that states run elections in this country? You know, 50 of them, different rules in different states? Do you know all of them?
Do you know all the rules about voting in, say, Oklahoma (assuming you’ve never lived there)? If you’re a student in your second year of an intense college program, having to contend with a backwards county election system in your new state, it means you can’t get your questions about your residency and registration transfers and deadlines answered easily, or — as in my example — whether your ballot was valid if you left races blank. The barriers to voting will be a lot higher than for most people. I know Democrats in red states who have had problems with their party affiliations being changed without their consent and not being able to vote because of it. There are all kinds of barriers to very busy young people getting their vote in even if they are very concerned about, say, the future of the planet and want to vote. You’re basically saying that if they cared enough, they would surmount those logistical barriers, even if it means failing their courses because it takes so much time — that’s just unrealistic.
People who care about getting out the votes of young people need to engage in ensuring they can surmount those barriers easily, helping students who are in states they didn’t grow up in to easily get registered in the right state, transfer their registrations as may be necessary, and know they can vote in national elections if they don’t feel they know enough about local issues to vote in local races. Or helping them get an absentee ballot and know the rules about where and when they can send it in. It’s not enough to just volunteer to register students at the local high school.
And then there are the young people ex-pats studying overseas. If you’ve been a student at London College for 4 years, are you still a resident of the state you were last living in before you left? Or the state your parents and your permanent address moved to? An entity concerned with making it easier for people to vote will mean more people vote. If you want to change things when change is hard, you have to make a path.
People came out to elect Obama but they didn’t have his back the next day and especially just two years later. So what did they expect? What have all the black lives matter protests done compared to if African American realized that they really could save the world if everyone just simply voted in every election.
@menlo mom,
You’re giving us the 8th grade civics lesson from the Southern plantations where they claim to this day that slaves liked being enslaved, were treated well, and were better off being property than equal human beings.
The Electoral College, if you remember, allowed the Southern states to count slaves as 3/5 of a person, thereby giving Southern states disproportionate power even though the slaves couldn’t vote, all the way up until the Civil War.
After the civil war, the South didn’t vote for Republicans for a hundred years because they hadn’t forgiven Lincoln for freeing the slaves (Dixie will rise again, speaking as someone from there). Not until Reagan’s “Southern strategy” in which the Republicans basically got religious people to worship political leaders like so many golden calves, did that change.
This is why Republicans are so afraid of people of color actually voting, and why every person of color much decide that they have to vote in every election, because if each person does not make that personal commitment, no one votes, and nothing changes.
What are you even talking about with your tired rhetoric? We have a President who didn’t even campaign in the populous state of California, the 5th largest economy on the planet, even once during his election and who treats us like a hostile foreign country rather than citizens since the election. How many times has he visited since he got into office? He does things like attack our environment, agricultural and tourism economies and tweets nasty things about California cities he’s never even visited. Speaking of taxation, millions of California homeowners at the bottom of the homeowner economic curve had their taxes jump by thousands of dollars simply because the tax law failed to have a cost-of-living multiplier, treating them unequally under the law to their counterparts in those regions you think are so neglected (not).
Just because the people in Wyoming have disproportionate power because of an antiquated system that wasn’t fixed with the 12th Amendment (because of slavery), doesn’t mean the needs of, oh, 33 million Californians are irrelevant as Republicans treat them.
It is disappointing to see the Democrats fail to understand that the 2020 election will be decided by 6-8 states, none of which are in the Northeast or on the West Coast.
Too many California progressives are going down the path that will drive more votes to Trump in those 6-8 states, assuring Trump victory.
The coastal elites should move off their losing strategy and start reforming the Democratic Party to appeal to swing state voters.
Geez, the 4 R voters against Eshoo all congregate here!
Shucks, maybe y’all should run a real candidate next time. One that can get more than 25 percent.
California wasted 4,000,000 excess votes on Hillary that she did not need for a victory in this state. All 55 of our electoral votes go to the winner, no matter the margin. Things would be different if a fraction of us had moved back to Ohio or Pennsylvania or Florida or Michigan or Wisconsin. No, don’t look at me, I’m now perfectly comfortable on the west coast. But politics are so lopsided here that I won’t bother casting a vote in 2020. Running up the score is unsportsmanlike conduct.
@Chris,
With all due respect, Democrats have to start paying some attention to how power works. That’s ALL Republicans have been doing (of which all the lying and trying to thwart democracy are part and parcel, and of course, the wealth and power disparity that was inevitable.
For example, since 2016, ex-felons can now vote in Florida. They tend to be disproportionately people of color, and people who probably would appreciate issues of social justice and their need to vote. But also, teaching them about their own power in a democracy, and helping them exercise it, where reliably voting is just one of several aspects, is, well, empowering and would change everything.
Florida is purple and could easily go blue like California (with our far better fiscal management now that we are) if Democrats just got out the vote as well as Republicans do. (Hint: start with not being susceptible to arguments that candidates have to everyone’s our own exactly perfect leader for every last individual or it’s not worth voting for them — nobody’s perfect, people, we are talking about saving the planet here and prosperity for the 99% not just the 1% — we are all in this together even after the election.) Ex-felons face their own barriers just like students. Helping people to get over those logistical barriers, helping to make a path so that more people vote, is really where the Democrats could currently get the most effective short-term benefit, and where Californians could make a huge contribution from volunteering.
And again, with all due respect, “appealing to” voters in other states is a nebulous idea, which can’t effectively happen before getting them out of the carefully crafted, utterly false framing/ruts of the Republican party since the Reagan years. That’s when we began disinvesting in America and giving all the money (and power) to the very top and not asking them to re-invest in the nation whose public investments they didn’t pay for to become successful (the roads, airports, sanitation systems, ports, court systems the rich disproportionately use, education of the workers, healthcare of the workers, hospitals and public health, research infrastructure, military that creates the stability, etc etc).
The vast majority of the infrastructure in this country was put in place during the era of (Republican) Eisenhower who believed in paying our way (not going into debt, i.e., being fiscally responsible) and solidified the progressive tax system that asked the richest to pay their fair share. Reagan destroyed that, along with the public investments and even the nation’s care of the prior public investments, starting with our infrastructure.
Democrats have been the true fiscally responsible party, and Democrats need to start owning that — and getting better about talking about it. It’s like they still think if they make a good argument once, they’re done, and if they make an argument Republicans attack, it must be abandoned. Democrats must get some practice changing minds. There are a lot of good Democratic candidates, and many of them need to get out there realizing that they won’t win but that in the meantime they can (like Ross Perot) make the arguments that need to be made so that things can change for the better, realizing the more effective they are the more they will be attacked. It is necessary to both counter the attacks but also realize that it’s an opportunity to go after the false Republican framing of the last 40 years and the cult of Reagan. It will take time and persistence, and the most effective at it will be attacked the most and thus probably won’t be viable candidates.
And lastly, the Democrats need to stop acting like they are all atheists, and the media need to stop giving disproportionate air time to the fringe religious right — I would argue that the media’s disproportionate focus on the very fringes of people who wanted to use faith for political and wealth purposes (the Republicans’ Southern strategy) did more to swell their numbers than anything else ever could.
Even engaging ads that remind people on the religious right of what is really in their faith (why do people who claim to believe in Creation seem most eager to destroy it instead of being stewards? why can’t Democrats of faith talk about these issues in a more theologically-based way to get Christians beyond being used for others’ selfish political purposes?) could help. Remember Silent Spring and the ad with the crying native American? Where is the equivalent now? Again, Democrats think they make an effective argument once (Inconvenient Truth) and they’re done. But despite the long disproportionate focus of the media on the fringe religio-political right, a Pew research study of how the religious across the nation vote showed that many major Christian denominations still vote majority Democratic and that the picture across Christianity is of far more balance than the population would believe.
Reminding people of what their faith really says about things like sacrificial love, stewardship of the earth, caring for the stranger and the least among us, forgiveness, peacemaking, and turning the other cheek, and even about the love of money, etc., would be transformative. Not just once, but persistently and organically because if you hit on something effective, it WILL be attacked by the permanent Republican majority crowd who, there is ample evidence, scheme against democracy. Democrats must learn to counter with flexible persistence instead of folding and waiting for a gotcha moment that will never come. That would appeal to a lot of voters who are otherwise susceptible to simplistic arguments even when their party really represents all the ills the Bible warns against (false witness, selfishness, greed, warmongering, hate, etc.)
The Democrats have a huge opportunity if they only pay attention to:
RELIABLE voter turnout everywhere (including helping their followers understand how this alone would change the world), including removing barriers for groups that reliably vote progressively.
Claiming the mantle of fiscal responsibility (and understanding how to talk about it, as Elizabeth Warren is starting to), since Democrats by and large have been the better fiscal managers and seem to be the only party for a long time that cares about necessary public investments and the future.
Allowing for and even cultivating theological discussion in the political space by the faithful on the left (not just Christians) to counter the misuse of religion in politics by the fringe right.
Doing a better job standing their ground and arguing for what they believe, and not folding when attacked but instead learning to use those attacks as opportunities to hone their arguments and share their vision.
Lastly, Democrats need to pay attention to historic power dynamics. Republicans are oblivious to how their quest to destroy democratic systems are responsible for an inevitable rise of a mirror on the other end of the spectrum (and that their lying rhetoric will not stop it), and the more fringe Republicans remain, the more likely this will all end in violent swing to the far other side of the spectrum. Democrats need a healthy opposition, but Republicans have killed the party of Eisenhower, it’s gone. While Democrats need to do a better job talking about things that are NOT fringe, like the Green New Deal proposal, they need to be overtly aware of the path back to balance and healthy prosperity for our nation. Right now, they are the only stewards of it.
For example, why aren’t Democrats getting out there with the story of how Republicans kept getting us into debt in California while cutting services for the general population, where a Democratic supermajority got us into a surplus DURING the last recession? Why aren’t they sharing the California became the 5th largest economy on the planet with a Democratic governor and supermajority and are a net contributor to the national purse and THAT’s why Trump keeps attacking us?
When Trump attacked San Francisco publicly, it was an opportunity to counter about why he keeps attacking, and realizing it’s necessary to keep at it because he’ll attack back — but it’s an opportunity to learn how to counter and better share the positive message.
> why aren’t Democrats getting out there with the story of how Republicans kept getting us into debt in California while cutting services for the general population, where a Democratic supermajority got us into a surplus DURING the last recession?
Same reason you rarely hear fiscal truth. In my adult life:
– The three republican presidents all drove UP the deficit: Reagan, Bush the First, Bush the Lesser, Trump the Least™
– The two Democratic presidents reduced the deficit: Clinton and Obama (Clinton ran SURPLUSES, Obama cut the bush deficit by 2/3rds)
Democrats are the true fiscal conservatives.
That said, expect posts that confuse debt and deficit, much like some conflate weather and climate. Yes, when Obama took Bush’s trillion dollar deficit down to <$400B, the debt doubled. That’s on Bush running the first trillion dollar deficit. The only trillion dollar deficit.
Until Trump.
Posted by Starting with the man in the mirror, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
>> For example, why aren’t Democrats getting out there with the story of how Republicans kept getting us into debt in California while cutting services for the general population, where a Democratic supermajority got us into a surplus DURING the last recession? Why aren’t they sharing the California became the 5th largest economy on the planet with a Democratic governor and supermajority and are a net contributor to the national purse and THAT’s why Trump keeps attacking us?
Trump is doing what Republicans have done since 1964/1968- stirring up fear in the uneducated, while selling tax cuts to the rich. Reagan really made this strategy work, and we’ve been stuck with it ever since. Trump is, uniquely and dangerously, not hiding the ugly side. Don’t expect the uneducated to appreciate your economic policy arguments. A program based on a moral foundation that offers Hope might still work in Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Combine it with economic good sense for the east and west coasts.
Unfortunately, the Democratic Party leadership has learned nothing from the 2016 defeat, and the ineffective political strategies of the last three years.
2020 looks like it is shaping up to be a rerun of 2016.
@Joy B
But everyone is not powerless. Go pick a college in a swing state with a lot of progressives not voting and figure out a way to help students over the barriers and voting. Start a movement. Get help from the students walking out in Friday’s over climate change. This is a Democracy. Make some cool viral videos explaining any of the above. Help to overcome the bystander effect in voting. California went blue when turnout got higher. Start now. Incumbents have an advantage (something Democrats forgot with Bush) but not insurmountable. Turnout is the first and easiest solution Have Democrats all forgotten Obama already?
> has learned nothing from the 2016 defeat, and the ineffective political strategies of the last three years.
Uhhh, 2018? 40+ seats, etc..?
@testimony,
“Uhhh, 2018? 40+ seats, etc..?”
Uhhh, no Senate majority. That would have changed everything, including the Supreme Court fiasco.
No, Democrats have learned nothing.
Didn’t they pick up a couple while defending something like 26 of 34 seats in 2018?
It was unrealistic facing those odds, that they would pick up the Senate.
40 house seats destroys any notion that Republicans have been winning since 2016.
I’m with @testimony on that one.
Boring doctrinaire Democrats can defeat boring doctrinaire Republicans every few years as the public swings left and right with the election cycle, but Trump is not a doctrinaire Republican.
I don’t believe 2018 demonstrates the party leadership learned anything from the 2016 defeat. The party leadership wants to hang on to power more than they want to beat Trump or they are just too old to change.
The Meathead is the new Archie.
Reality is a staggering 40 seats.
But joy “feels” there was not a lesson learned.
K.
114 degrees in France, 123 degrees in India. Food shortages predicted. Meanwhile, weather in M0sc0w a balmy 60’s to a top of 80 degrees. Not surprisingly, Ru$$ians care nothing at all about preventing climate change.
Plot of my spy novel, Without Firing a Shot:
Oligarchs in geographically enormous, cold country, RUSla, prepare to be kings of the world by using cyber warfare to control governments of countries most likely to solve the problem (their old nemeses), and destroying the longstanding and strong alliances by installing greedy autocratic megalomaniac puppets as heads of state.
Their most powerful foe USAla was easiest to take over, because one of only two strong political parties, the Ruble-cans, had been trying, mostly successfully, to topple democracy for 40 years already and install themselves in power (a plan called “Permanent Ruble-can Majority”) by making its own people hate their form of government Of, By and For the people, in order to keep their own plutocrats in power. In many ways, Ruble-cans had already succeeded in manipulating their own countrymen to topple the most successful form of democratic government the planet had ever known.
It was childsplay for just a few RUSlans to hack into local USAla election boards, where it was easy to find who was registered but had never voted in any elections for years, and get enough personal information to organically steal their absentee ballots: just a few thousand in a few states, in rural areas where it was then possible through normal processes to change/forward, undetected, the ballots to just a few physical locations using completely different mailbox numbers, and change the results of the entire national election. So convenient for the Ruble-cans to make it nearly impossible to catch this kind of manipulation, and once the fix was in, the fix was in.
Now all the RUSla kings needed was to sit back and watch the fun, planning their vacation castles in once-cold $ibersk, as their foes destroyed themselves and the earth.
What they didn’t plan for was the fact that it wasn’t going to be possible to stop the warming where they wanted it, thus destroying all of Creation in a great flood. Ruble-can worshippers in USAla switched from believing their political idols were God to connecting the End of Days to a meeting at 666 5th Avenue in NYorkla, and sacrificed their children happily.
Will our hero get off his butt and stop waiting for a particular silver-haired Ruble-cans to save them with an erstwhile AHA moment, and go rally and register his fellow countrymen in key states, who also think the planet is worth saving, so they can stay in power long enough to stop RUSla’s ill-conceived plan and save the earth? Will our hero succeed in conveying that it IS worth voting in Californ-la, too, because when people turn out for national elections, they also tend to vote for the state races which prove extremely important. And it makes clear what the majority of USAlans really want. But it’s not enough, and time is running out.
Will he get his own party, the NNS (Naive Nearly Spineless-ettes) to wake up and realize what’s at stake, and the people with lots of power and money really do plot to get more of it without regard to anything else, and stop shooting themselves in the foot thinking no candidate is worth voting for if they aren’t perfect in every way for each and every individual? Will they stop playing into the hands of Ruble-cans who make fake accusations of what they themselves are most guilty of, in order to manipulate the NNSans to stop doing anything powerful (and continue the accusations anyway)? Will NNSans grow even a partial spine and learn how to engage?
As they say
Truth is stranger than fiction…
Shot: very nice, and thanks for sharing, but we do not need fiction.
Just pick up today’s USAToday:
“And even though the facts came out at the hearing in halting fashion, they were devastating. Among them:
►Mueller’s investigation did not exonerate President Donald Trump
►Russian interference was not a hoax and the investigation was not a witch hunt
►Russia interfered in our election in sweeping and systematic fashion
►Russia worked to benefit Trump as a candidate in the 2016 presidential election
►Trump developed messaging strategies around the release of stolen emails
►Trump lied and directed others to lie to hide those facts”
The word “democracy” is nowhere to be found in the US Constitution.
However, a “Republican Form of Government” is specifically guaranteed.
Yes – we had Russian interference:
1. The Fusion GPS document was formulated by foreign agents – 2 of which were Russian – and was used to validate the initiation of the witch hunt. That document was noted in the Report but Mueller declined to acknowledge any knowledge of how this all began or the report itself.
2. People who participated are directly related to former soviet countries which are currently under Russian Control as to gas, protection, and jobs:
Anna Eshoo, Jackie Spier (mother), Mr. Schiff – contributor to and U-Tube endorsements of the Armenia Fund. Money that goes directly to the homeland. Yes – they contribute to his campaign. The state of California has the largest contingent of migrants of former soviet countries which are under the umbrella of protection from Russia.
3. Hilary sold uranium to Russia and the Clinton Foundation was provided a large donation for facilitating that transaction.
4. Hilary refused to provide her emails and destroyed any reference to those emails.
Not to worry – Mr. Barr is going to go back and examine these activities. As everyone keeps saying – No one is above the law. That works both ways. The law of unintended consequences spins in all directions.
@Buckeye,
The old argument of “republic” versus “democracy” is semantic and a false dichotomy.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/05/13/is-the-united-states-of-america-a-republic-or-a-democracy/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.117dcee51886
“the American form of government has been called a “democracy” by leading American statesmen and legal commentators from the Framing on”
The U.S. is not a direct democracy but it is a representative democracy. One of the first parties was the Democratic-Republicans.
Go back and read, starting with the preamble:
WE THE PEOPLE.
Read it in your best William Shatner voice. (If it walks like a duck…)
Why is it that when Republicans get called to task for their relentless quest to destroy democracy and replace it with plutocracy, that they so often fall back on this false argument that we are a republic — as in, I suppose, “banana” republic (which we are not, yet, and were not intended to be) — not a democracy, as in representative democracy (which we are).
Representative democracy == democracy
Some folks enjoy being a congressperson without actually being one & Ms. Eshoo seems to fit that description. Without naming other names, she is not the only one.
Ms. Eshoo has her supporters who keep her in office so perhaps the real issue is with them.
As far as any noteworthy quotes go…”Make the world safe for hypocrisy” from USA Trilogy/Dos Passos sums it up best. Nothing changes, just the names in office.
Donald Trump may or may not be impeached by the House but the Senate will keep him in office. There’s your basic civics lesson.
Most Town Hall meetings around here are just a photo-ops & PR measures…possibly different in smaller, more rural districts around the country.
Folks shouldn’t be all that disappointed with what transpired. What did you expect…a serious discussion of pertinent issues?
Posted by Politics As Usual, a resident of Barron Park
>> Donald Trump may or may not be impeached by the House but the Senate will keep him in office. There’s your basic civics lesson.
And, if the Senate tosses him out, then, his “insurance policy”, Pence, becomes President, and you know the Senate won’t remove Pence. What has to happen is enough people in the midwest have to change their minds about the Republican Party’s RWA (Right Wing Authoritarian) agenda. So far, that hasn’t happened.
“Ms. Eshoo has her supporters who keep her in office so perhaps the real issue is with them.”
Apparently, her supporters outnumber the fringe 3-1, or more.
Three to one. Must be unnerving to be so far out of the mainstream. Judging by the posts that concentrate more on “feelings” than fact (“Ms. Eshoo seems to fit, so perhaps, I don’t believe, could be why”, etc) it drives them a little crazy.
Maybe the president would tell people to go back where they came from, if they don’t love their community. Sounds familiar. Has he done something similar?
Three to one. Must be frustrating.
Like Nancy Pelosi & Jackie Speir, Ms. Eshoo is a congressional fixture in our area & will not go away until she decides to retire from office.
And like Nancy Pelosi & Jackie Speir, Ms. Eshoo should not be counted on for any pro-active measures. They are old-school Democrats simply putting in their time with a ‘don’t rock the boat’ mentality & practice.
Their active participation in matters of consequence is similar to the student body representatives you had in high school.
By-products of toothless popularity contests!
> They are old-school Democrats simply putting in their time with a ‘don’t rock the boat’ mentality & practice.
Nancy Pelosi/79 is [50 YEARS OLDER] than AOC….that’s 3 generations removed.
It’s no wonder they are on different pages.
Old School (song & dance) VS New School (raising some hell).
Eshoo should be more worried about Gavin’s looming Recall and most of the gang of four being removed from the senate
My concern with progressive proposals like Warren’s is they don’t pencil out and hiring tons of IRS workers to try to track down everyone’s assets in order to extract a wealth tax seems impractical. Likely more and more included beyond “the wealthy” (too. Ague) in order to fund cradle to grave near-communism style “programs.”
We middle folks would be harrassed and overtaxed while ultra wealthy like Epstein will skate by offshoring.
> We middle folks would be harrassed and overtaxed while ultra wealthy like Epstein will skate by offshoring.
It was the GOP tax bill last year that gave billionaires like Epstein and corporations trillions of dollars, some of which will continue to be used to by political influence at the expense of the working and middle class.
> hiring tons of IRS workers
Fantasy from the fringe far right. Reality:
“The IRS audited 0.6 percent of over 150 million individual income tax returns, the audit rate down 47 percent from 2010 and the lowest coverage level since 2002. As the table below illustrates, the drops were sharpest for the highest income taxpayers.” https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/irs-data-book-tells-story-shrinking-staff-fewer-audits-and-less-customer-service
Less audits for the ultra wealthy because the billionaires own the GOP politicians which have cut auditing staff. So the name drop (Epstein) and cheating billionaires like him get a free ride on the back of the middle class. Courtesy of the bought-and-paid-for GOP politicians.
.
As mentioned: Three to one victory margin, courtesy of your neighbors. Must be frustrating.
The responses show the obvious frustration, as it’s all feelings, about age, etc.. and nothing of substance along with a falsehood or two.
Comments above are that Trump is somehow destroying democracy. Sorry – he is bringing up the stock market value – that is your 401K. If you could cash it out now you would be doing okay. He is bringing back manufacturing to the US soil which brings more jobs. The story is jobs, jobs, jobs. Meanwhile the D’s have done nothing of value except “resist” – which means doing nothing except try and swing political opinion concerning the Russians are coming. They were also coming in the Reagan years = they are always coming. They came in 2016 when Obama was in office and bought uranium and also donated to to the Clinton Foundation. That is money – actual money. Where were the D’s when that was happening -oh – that was the Hilary “reset”. You can’t make this type of stuff up. Meanwhile our local legislative participants are doing nothing except blame Trump. Sorry – not selling anything here. And our state is going sown the toilet.
The koolaid is strong with this fringe one. Note the absence of facts, and context:
> Comments above are that Trump is somehow destroying democracy
No, the facts about Trump are highlighting how dangerous he is to Democracy:
► “Mueller’s investigation did not exonerate President Donald Trump
► Russian interference was not a hoax and the investigation was not a witch hunt
► Russia interfered in our election in sweeping and systematic fashion
► Russia worked to benefit Trump as a candidate in the 2016 presidential election
► Trump developed messaging strategies around the release of stolen emails
► Trump lied and directed others to lie to hide those facts”
> He is bringing back manufacturing to the US soil which brings more jobs. The story is jobs, jobs, jobs.
Agreed. The economy, specifically jobs (the Dow is not an economic indicator) has continued along the path of the Obama Recovery form the Bush Recession.
Jobs by month since 2008 https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1gFLFOOP0wQ/XIJv1bbJBVI/AAAAAAAAxcQ/Ksu1OMghNL8q9-6OvpisOp6LLlS7LIZhwCLcBGAs/s1600/PayrollFeb2019.PNG
THe facs in the clearly show that Trump is just piggybacking on the Obama Recovery.
Same thing with manufacturing. BLS numbers show Trump is just piggybacking on the Obama Recovery.
https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/ces3000000001
> They were also coming in the Reagan years
A lie. No documented evidence of Russian attacks on election systems and the electoral process.
Again, no facts, just hyper-partisan, far fringe right lies. Zero facts.
> uranium … You can’t make this type of stuff up.
Actually, it is made up. If there was a real story with that Fox Fable, why hasn’t Barr’s DOJ given us facts and testimony? The GOP House and Senate for the last two years?
It’s a hoax on low-information/low-IQ voters like… well, take a guess.
> And our state is going sown the toilet.
“Sown” the turlit! From above: “California, the 5th largest economy on the planet” When you were born, it was the 20th? the 10th? Now it’s the fifth. Go spend a couple years in Mississippi and let us know how great it is.
“Sown” the turlit! All these very unhappy posters, venting their feelings with out facts. As mentioned: Three to one victory margin, courtesy of your neighbors. Must be frustrating.
Uranium?
You really shouldn’t mention that in public, it’s a clear tell. Very revealing as to how gullible you are.
For example: in your swamp-fever dream, how many shiploads of uranium have left the US for Russia?
Five hundred?
One hundred?
Fifty?
Twenty Five?
You talk about everyday with Henatty and Rush – surely you know the answer!