Laelth
Laelth's JournalJoe Biden CAN READ!
That’s all we need as a selling-point for our candidate.
Crimeny! Where am I? How did I end up here?
-Laelth
Barack Obama's speech put me to sleep.
I mean that quite literally. I think I registered the first half of it. I remember Obama saying that Trump was incapable of “growing into” the President’s job, but the rest of his speech I recorded only subconsciously. I may watch it again to hear what else he had to say, but make no mistake. Barack Obama put me to sleep.
I am not saying that his speech was boring. No. It was CALMING. I woke up this morning to find that no less a person than Rachel Maddow was deeply worried about the threat to the republic that Obama discussed in the second half of his speech. Sorry. I missed that. I was too relaxed. I just drifted off. Obama’s voice evoked in me an old, treasured feeling ... “It’s gonna be OK. He’s got this.”
“He’s got this.” Don’t you miss that feeling? After three and a half years of constant worry and tension, a nice, long speech from PBO was exactly what I needed. I was out like a light.
Strangely enough, I woke up right after his speech concluded, and I watched all of Kamala’s speech, which was excellent, but I had forgotten how much I treasured BHO’s VOICE. I have missed it—much more than I realized.
Kind of an embarrassing admission, but there it is.
-Laelth
The segment with Barack talking about us being a nation of immigrants ...
... was THE BOMB! 
I shed many tears. The music was great. The message was great. It’s the truth. Well done, DNC!
-Laelth
This segment ROCKS (DNC Night 2-Joe on foreign policy)
THIS is Joe’s great strength. Joe probably has a third of all the world’s leaders on speed dial. They know him. They trust him, and he promised them in Munich, a couple of years ago, that “We will be back.” And we will when Joe is elected, and our allies know this.
I have every reason to believe that most of the people of the world are VERY MUCH looking forward to Joe Biden being the President of the United States.
Go Joe!
-Laelth
I am SICK of hearing about "affordable" health care.
That means that (for Americans) health care isn’t a right (as it is in every other wealthy, civilized nation on Earth). No, you’re still going to have to pay for it, but maybe Joe can make it cost less. Maybe he can make it “affordable.”
This is not what I want to hear. I think it’s a bad argument, and I don’t think it should be featured so prominently on the second night of the DNC.
People don’t need “affordable” health care. Have you seen a hospital bill recently? Barely 5% of the American people can afford a visit to the hospital. Just shut up about health care if you’re not committed to universal, taxpayer-funded health care. Health care IS NOT affordable, and it never will be until we guarantee health care to all Americans, as a right, and commit to funding it completely.
Too many people are talking about “affordable” health care tonight. I am disappointed. Last night was great. Tonight, not so much. Not yet.
-Laelth
One day at a time. Let today be a good day.
Without putting too fine a point on it, I think it’s safe to say that the situation in which we currently find ourselves SUX.
The USPS is being sabotaged, right in front of our eyes, and it appears that there’s nothing that we can do about it. We’re in the middle of a global pandemic, and we have no national strategy to deal with it. In fact, our government seems bound and determined to make matters worse—insisting on opening schools, businesses, and whatever else might aid in the rapid transmission of a deadly virus. Some 30+ million Americans are unemployed, and their supplemental benefits just ran out with nothing to replace them. Some 25+ million Americans are facing eviction, and the moratorium on evictions just expired with no likelihood that it will be reinstated in the near future. A lunatic is in control of the nation’s nuclear codes, and he has declared that any election in November THAT HE DOESN’T WIN will be deemed fraudulent and invalid. Our very republic is being jeopardized by the person who is charged with running it. We have widespread civil unrest across the country—even in our smaller cities and towns. We’re in the deepest depression we have seen since the 1930s, and nobody with any power can do anything about it. Congress isn’t even in session. Our divided government can not alleviate the economic calamity that any sane person can easily see coming. This just SUX.
And it’s taking a serious toll on my emotional health. I suspect that many of you are in the same boat, so here’s what I suggest. It’s not much, but it’s something that is well-worth celebrating.
Today, at least, I am just going to focus on the first night of the DNC and celebrate how beautiful the Democratic Party has become over the years that I have been watching it evolve.
When I joined DU in 2004, we were considered the liberal-left fringe of the party. Now, most of our beliefs, our ideals, and our policy positions are considered mainstream. DU didn’t change—not much, anyway. The Democratic Party has changed, and it is a joy to behold.
Enjoy the convention, my friends and allies. Feel free to shed a few tears. I know I will.
-Laelth
In what year did you become politically "sentient?"
By “politically sentient” I mean cognizant of the fact that politics was a meaningful “thing,” that there were various political parties, that these parties had different agendas, that voting mattered, and that people disagreed, sometimes vehemently, on this topic.
It was 1980, and I was 13, so I couldn’t vote at that age, but I became aware, for the first time, that politics mattered to most of the adults in my life, and they often disagreed. I felt that I had to choose, and I did. As a native Georgian in 1980, it was fairly easy for me to support James Earl Carter, Jr. I didn’t start voting until 1986, but I can proudly say that I have never voted for a Republican in my life. That time—that moment in history—that initial emergence of “political sentience” made all the difference for me as a political person.
I would be curious to hear your own, unique stories. When did you become “politically sentient?” How did that historical moment affect your politics?
-Laelth
I would prefer for Biden to choose a black or Latinx man.
Given that he is determined to choose a woman, I think that costs us 2-3% points in the general election, right off the bat. In my opinion, Americans are more sexist than they are racist, for better or for worse. If Biden chooses a white woman, I think that will cost us another 1-2% of the national vote, for a total of -3 to -5% of the vote. If Biden chooses a black woman, I think that gains us about 2-3% in the national vote (due to a massive increase in voter enthusiasm), for a total of +/-0%.
Personally, I hope he chooses a black woman, and I hope he chooses Karen Bass.
That said, I think he could choose Betty Boop and still win in November 2020.
-Laelth
DICTATORSHIP
Mark your calendar. This day, August 7, 2020, the 233-year-old republic known as the United States of America ceased to be a republic and transformed into a dictatorship.
OK. Perhaps that’s a little hyperbolic. Perhaps I am over-reacting. If so, please talk me down, but I see what I see, and it’s not good.
Using the breakdown in negotiations over a stimulus package as his excuse, President Trump has declared that he must AND WILL govern by executive order (fiat) in order to address the multiple emergencies that this nation now faces. My position is that he can actually do it if he has the backing of his cabinet and the Republican Party. I suspect he will try.
What happens if Trump orders Secretary Mnuchin to issue stimulus checks to the American people. Mnuchin has the power to do it. He’s the Secretary of the Treasury. That’s where all the stimulus money originates. If he does what he is told, Congress’ power over the purse will be cut. If he refuses on the basis that the President lacks the power to appropriate money, he could save the republic. Which way do you think Mnuchin is going to go? If he follows the President’s orders, we will be living in a dictatorship. Who needs Congress if the President can control the nation’s purse?
John Woo has been telling the President that the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on DACA gives the President the right to craft law by executive order. Naturally, this is exactly what Trump wants to hear. Who needs Congress if the President can write laws? Trump declared today that he intended to address multiple, national emergencies via executive order. If his agents (members of the executive branch of the federal government) carry out those orders, which they might, without regard to Congress, then we will be living in a dictatorship. All the incentives for cabinet ministers, upper-level (political) bureaucrats, and Republicans, in general, favor backing and implementing executive orders that distribute stimulus money, extend housing moratoriums, provide supplemental unemployment insurance, and defer student loans.
Trump, it appears, intends to govern by fiat. He intends to blame recalcitrant Democrats for “forcing” him to do so. If his executive branch officials and the Republican Party (generally) back him in this dramatic seizure of power, I can not see what we could do to stop it.
I quote Benjamin Franklin. “Congratulations! It’s a republic, if you can keep it.” I suppose 233 years isn’t bad.
-Laelth
I wonder what the average age of our speakers at the convention will be.
A Politico article from today “leaks” the current, proposed line-up for virtual speakers at the Milwaukee Democratic National Convention, here:
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/07/who-will-speak-at-dnc-392533
On the list:
Jill Biden
John Kasich
Hillary Clinton
Bill Clinton
Bernie Sanders
Michelle Obama
Elizabeth Warren
Barack Obama
Kamala Harris
Joe Biden (obviously)
I have to wonder what the average age of these speakers (our leaders) might be. We are blessed with a deep bench, but I am disappointed to see that we are not featuring some of our younger stars. We have them. At least one of them needs to be featured at our convention.
It’s no wonder that young people don’t vote. If our convention lineup is any indication, it appears that we are not listening to young people. It appears that we are not interested in what they have to say.
Thoughts?
-Laelth
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Wills Point, TX
Home country: USA
Member since: Sat Oct 16, 2004, 02:36 PM
Number of posts: 32,017