H2O Man
H2O Man's JournalAll Along the Watchtower
" No reason to get excited
The thief, he kindly spoke
There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But, uh, but you and I, we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us stop talkin' falsely now
The hour's getting late, " -- Bob Dylan; All Along the Watchtower
I don't think anyone is surprised by Judge Cannon's ruling per a special master. She had proven herself to be a Trump advocate when she said she was likely to appoint one, before even hearing the DOJ's response to Trump's original filing. In that sense, it was similar to knowing that the current Supreme Court would be eager to overturn Roe. However, in the current case, the potential for long-term harm to the public is not even close to the same.
The most significant OP I've read on DU:GD today is from our friend FelineOverlord:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217123883
One can like or dislike Maggie Haberman -- or have no opinion of her at all -- and still see the importance of her comment. Likewise, one can forgive Hyle Cheney for that last name, and recognize the value of making the ruling available.
If a judge in a trial said, "Bring the guilty bastard in, and I'll give him a fair trial," most everyone would recognize that judge was not objective. Likewise, when a judge states publicly that they are likely to rule in favor of one side, before even hearing from the other side, we know that they are not objective.
Her comments on the harm that indicting Trump might cause -- found on pages 9 and 10 -- further document her inability to be objective. Add to that her comments on the public interest, where she clearly shows that she thinks the Trump cult is by definition the public, and it appears there are issues the DOJ could appeal her decision on.
I trust the DOJ to make the best decision on how to respond to this naked attempto to delay justice. No special master is going to decide that Trump had the right to take and keep the classified documents. It already seemed likely that the DOJ wasn't going to indict Trump until after the November elections. But this is a speed bump on the road to justice, and not a spike strip. We need to keep our eyes on the prize.
Mr. Robinson
" Being an old farm boy myself, chickens coming home to roost never did make me sad; they've always made me glad." -- Malcolm X
Holding Cassius, I was focused on being a grandfather for the first time. But something that Eugene Robinson said, on the television I was only dimply aware of, struck me as intense. He said that President Biden's speech was a wartime address to the nation. Here's to you, Mr. Robinson, sane people appreciate you more than you could know.
A brand new link in the DNA chain going back hundreds of thousands of years deserves a better world than the one this old man is handing down. But I'm not wringing my hands in distress. There's a lot of fight left in this old bag of bones, ready to contribute to the larger fight taking place across the nation to battle the fascist threat to democracy.
Back home, I took a phone call from one of the heads of the campaign for Congress that I am working on. I like to find out if people are hoping their efforts will secure a job in DC , or if they are intent upon serving as a grass roots organizer. Perhaps a combination of both.
I was encouraged talking with this young man. I can easily tell who is interested in hearing what an old activist has to say, or if they believe they know everything necessary after sitting in a college/university classroom. For the best campaigns are neither restricted to top-down or bottom-up, but combine the two.
The best campaigns do not include clinging to old grudges. An obvious example would be that in 2016, the majority of white women voted for Trump over Clinton. And a significant percentage of black women -- the strongest base of the Democratic Party -- did not vote. But it would take the synergy of ignorance and pettiness to create the error in thinking that we do not have to appeal to black and white women to win in November.
In this region of rural upstate New York, the numbers of reistered voters goes in the following sequence: republicans, independents, then Democrats. Thus, everyone who has retained the math skills they mastered in the first grade can recognize that a Democrat has to appeal to independents to have a chance for victory. Those chances increase if the candidate can also appeal to some republicans.
At very best, it would be foolish to the point of self-defeating for us to engage in imaginary purity tests as November approaches. If you and I were preparing to go door-to-door, imagine if I said the most important factor for me is knowing if they supported Robert Kennedy or Eugene McCarthy in the 1968 Democratic primary. Why, you would know that I should focus on stuffing envelopes at campaign headquarters, not talking to potential voters. For you would know that my brain was stuck hip-deep in a bitter past.
Now, that's not to say that stuffing envelopes isn't just as important as going door-to-door. I imagine that, over the decades, I've stuffed about as many envelopes as I have knocked on doors. What it does mean is that we all have talents -- things we are good at -- as well as things we aren't as good at. Conversing on someone's porch, for example, is distinct from addressing a crowd. We all have something to offer.
We need people to reach out to teachers' and labor unions. To college senates and other campos groups. And on and on. Everyone's efforts are of value, and needed.
What I do best is convince voters who are to the left of the Democratic Party to vote for our candidates. That doesn't include all Democratic Party candidates equally, of course. I can break bread with those who wouldn't give most campaigners the time of day. And it wouldn't matter if I was wearing shorts and a Malcolm X t-shirt, or a suit. They know I'm not there to lie to them, and that they don't only hear from me come election season.
We are indeed at war, no matter if we want to be, or wish things were different. We now have the opportunity to make things different. If we all contribute to the effort, we will find that democracy is the antidote to the rise of fascism.
A Twist of Lennon
"Breezing through the deadwood on a hot summer day
I saw a human being lazybonin' out in the hay
I said, 'Uh, hey Mr. Human, can ya rainmaker too?'
He said, 'I guess it's okay, ya know, the only thing we need is water
Cool, clear water, water, water, water.' "
-- John Lennon; Old Dirt Road; 1974
Listening to President Biden speak this week, I was reminded of one of Minister Malcolm X's teaching methods. If you place a glass of sparkling clear water next to a glass of filthy toxic sludge, you can trust that a thirsty public will make the correct choice. President Biden has been serving up that sparkling clear water.
Now, I've liked Joe Biden from early on in his political career. I've always been on the left in the Democratic Party. I loved when Rev. Jesse Jackson ran for president. But I always thought Biden would make a great president, capable of instituting necessary changes in society. Not that I took him for a perfect man, for there is no such thing. But he takes responsibility for those times he wasn't right. I supported him in presidential primaries when he ran, and wished he was running times when he wasn't. I did switch to supporing Senator Obama early in 2008, because I knew history was unfolding in real time. And I was happy when he picked Biden for vice president.
When Joe Biden was elected president in 2020, I was thanful. Finally! As much as I had wanted him to be president in the past, I was confident that he was the most capable person to serve this country in a time of dire need. I like what he has accomplished. And I loved the two most recent speeches. They rank up there with the greatest in presidential history.
Donald Trump is sludge. A toxic waste. No person with a healthy mind could support his madness. Only those with unhealthy minds, poisoned with fears and hatreds, could fail to oppose his anti-American agenda. Thus, we must treat them with the care and intensity that we do any toxic industrial waste dump site. Isolate them. Treat those that might be rendered inert. And beat the hell out of each and every maga candidate in November. And incarcerate every one of those who have acted corruptly in advancing Trump's crimes.
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Member since: Mon Dec 29, 2003, 08:49 PMNumber of posts: 73,626