DonCoquixote
DonCoquixote's JournalIt is great we are winning, but
Frankly, seeing the way the media has cheered Trump on for ten thousand reasons (money being chief among them) we need to ensure that in the final lap we finish with a clear lead that anyone can see. Even if it is a photo finish, the media will do their best to say Trump won by a nose. When I say the media, I mean both the internet, but also the venerable Grey eminences of newsprint and boob tube that have shown an embarrassing lack of competence.
In the Federalist Papers, the authors warned of those who have a "vested interest in disorder.". Do not fall for the crocodile tears that MSNBC'S talking heads will cry that Wednesday morning when they pretend to ask "how the hell did this happen?". Their coffee will be stained with blood, but they will have to pretend like a Trump administration is not the equivalent of a gravy train.
Point blank, we know that Ohio and Florida are homes to some of the most ruthless political operatives the GOP has. Yes, John Kasich hates Trump, but that does not mean the Ohio political machine is not ready to take orders and take cash. Florida, honestly, Rick Scott knows that if he can steal the state, he is ready for glory, and the fact Pam Bondi managed to get away with a bribe even after a series of crimes that would have destroyed most careers only make things worse. Rick knows that a lot of old Dixie and new Florida would rather drink Toxic Water and have heavy gun violence than vote Hillary. That should have been a figure of speech, but it is the literal truth. Yes many in Florida are sick of this, which is why we are a Blue State come Presidential elections, but, we know damned well there are folks willing to repeat the 2000 atrocity.
Not until the last spark fades
I am happy that Trump did exactly what he knew he would have done, flame out. Clinton did a great job of playing matadora to his bull (shit), though to be fair, many of the ladies on a decent high school debate team could have ripped him to hash.
However, we have shown a weakness to polls, which we know are often nothing more than cooked over bullshit. There is one, and only one way, to defeat Trump, regardless of whatever the media say.
VOTE
Get other people TO VOTE.
Full stop.
Know when the early voting in your state is. I am in a swing state of Florida, so naturally they cut early voting by a week.
Remember, if they LIMP over the finish line, they will act like they had a mandate from God. They did that with W. and now that the people even W. found awful are in the driver's seat, we could see the end of this nation. Yes, I know, your Jill Stein friends want that because they think they will crawl out of the wreckage to be anointed the new saviors, their bodies will be in the same graves ours are, especially if the Chinese say "enough of this shit!"
Ad even if you are not that thrilled with Hillary (and I am not) then realize our only hope to make thing progressive is to put pressure leftward starting five minutes after her victory, but also realize we cannot do that if we do not WIN.
The Titanic arrogance of using "Skittles" as a political football.
Sometimes, in the midst of all the big details, we lose sight of the small ones, but small ones can yield great benefit, and also do damage if overlooked.
Consider the "skittles" meme Trump's son used. Now, we can safely say Trump chose to use the Skittles analogy, as the old Nazi era version of that meme involved a mushroom. Now, why does the fact he used Skittles much worse. Is it because you make a candy joke right near Halloween, about one of the more popular Halloween candies?, partially, but not the whole.
Skittles is made by Mars chocolates, famous for making M & Ms. One of those M's stands for mars in fact. They are also known for being one of the worlds most aggressive defenders of their copyrights, to the point where they get mentioned as the example of a company ready to sue you into oblivion if you even HINT of a possible violation.
http://www.thedailymeal.com/Mars-loses-mms-trademark-case-sweden/6616
http://www.confectionerynews.com/Manufacturers/Mars-and-Mondelez-wage-M-M-s-trademark-war-in-Sweden
Do keep in mind, Mondelez is no mom and pop, they almost bought Hershey.
http://www.ibtimes.com/hershey-mars-lock-horns-over-similar-candy-packaging-249118
oh, and remember M and M's?
http://www.cracked.com/article_18616_5-bitter-truths-about-chocolate.html
and as for what makes them the way they are?
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/life-on-mars-the-mars-family-saga-has-all-the-classic-elements-1535722.html
So, we have a company that literally sets a standard for OBSESSIVE detail, aggressive defense of it's copyright, is known to be equally obsessive about everything, to the point where the aristocratic execs do not even give themselves perks, not because they are nice, but because they want to pour every spare penny into the business. Last, a company that is willing to sue entire countries, and has ample legal muscle to do it! They have the bankroll and legal muscle that makes the Trumps look like chumps.
AND THIS is the company that Trump dragged into the political arena? You know Trump's legal staff had to have a stroke! Of all the people to RISK getting into a fight with, you choose people who are psychotic and have much more money than you ever will?
I cannot believe this is an accident. If Trump's kids managed to get their MBA's without hearing about the company used as the example of aggressive suing, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. In addition to being arrogant enough to recycle a nazi meme, they also tried to be macho by poking one of the industry's legal dragons.
Why is this important? Simple, it shows the outright STUPID, DANGEROUS arrogance. It is one thing to be arrogant, another to be reckless. Yes, Mars is not suing them YET, but if heaven forbid they lose Halloween sales because of some political bullshit, the Trumps may WISH they stuck to politics. It also shows the sort of arrogance that is not merely the sort you do nto want to have near "the button", it also shows that they are NOT even very good at business. The mars Family is debt free because they aggressively hate executive perks. The Trumps, well we know them. The Trumps also took a crap on the very idea of copyright, because of all the copyrights that Mars has been known to make billion dollar companies pay a king's ransom for, you pick the Mars family, aka the people that make Willy Wonka look like white bread and mayonnaise.
fear and loathing of Milennials
Yes, I understand the media does a lot of parading of Milennials who seem to like Stein or Johnson. Keep in mind, the media desperately needed a narrative to sell, that somehow, anyhow, Hillary is not gonna winnnnn! The Bernie campaign fed that, but since Bernie folded up his tent and joined Hillary, the media does not have that, so they need a knock off.
That being said, some are buying into the side effect, thinking that those Milennials are bigots/stupid/stoners/sexists/ etc. You know the tos keeps me from quoting people her on DU, but you will find them. I would ask that people not get suckered into the trap that is being set, especially because the last thing we want is a generation gap. Most Milennials hate trump, precisely because he is the literal embodiment of the older boss that would exploit their labor, fuck them over, and act like they should feel honored for it.
to "but she was wrong to call half of us deplorable"
No doubt, the media will push the idea that Hillary was wrong to say half. After all, many in the media will say that they were only trying to give Trump their due, but they are not bigots, etc.
Let us cut to the point:
First, this is a very unconventional election, one where rude behavior has been rewarded. If what Hillary said was so bad, why has Trump not been held to account for doing and saying things that not even Bush or Romney would do? This election that made roadkill out of 14 other people, including Jeb Bush who, this time last year, was not only a shoe in for the nomination, but a serious contender for the victory in November. Donald Trump has not laid any incense before the altar of good politics, and for one solid year, he has gotten reward after reward after reward. Here is a man whose sound bites are rated pg-13 to R, talking about blood coming from (censored), and they are going to get mad because she said "half?". The tenor of the campaign has been set, and the media has said "we demand bad behavior."
Second: If Trump has hired the likes of Bannon, Manafort, and Lewondowski to be MANAGERS and OFFICIALS in his campaign, it can easily be assumed they speak for at least half his voters. It would be one thing if he hired (insert more generic mainstream conservative here.) Indeed, when Manafort got fired, there were many who thought there would be a pivot, where he might act more like a normal politician. Instead, he went right to the alt-right a publisher of material that a Bush or Romney would have to say was deplorable, the Ann Coulter side of the street. Now, if he feels that these people he hired do NOT represent his targeted voter, why hire them to make more voters? That would be like hiring an Italian Chef to make French Cuisine.
Third: but far far from last, IF Trump voters see things like the violence that has occurred at his rallies, or heard some of the r-rated stuff, and they still vote for Trump, then they need to be held accountable for it. Cry Godwin's law now, but this shoe fits, no not every German was anti-semitic. However, those that let Hitler gain power because they thought it would somehow "make German great again" can and were held accountable for the fact they supported him. There is a reason Germany was torn in half and not allowed to reform till decades later, why the EU was formed , in part, to somehow prevent Germany from startling another World War. The people who, may just hate Hillary, who may have hated Hillary back in the 90's, cannot just say "I'm voting for Trump" the way they could Bush or Romney, because Trump has done things that neither Bush nor Romney would have done. If nothign else, the "bromance" between Trump and Putin should make any so called "conservative" lose credibility or go into shock. Ask them if they would have let Obama talk of Putin the way Trump has.
To all the folks trying to reassure Hillary has this is in the bag.
I truly appreciate the intent, and I also appreciate the need to avoid our own tendency to despair (namely becaus eunlike the GOP, we have brain cells that think.)
But the last time I was assured, a man named W. got elected.
This will be a long four year fight, they will fight to say Trump won, they will fight to say trump won though he lost, then try to cripple Hillary. They are addicts that will sell their children to pirates if it gets their fix.
About Deplorable people
Part of the problem is that this media is willing to put anything Hillary says under an electron microscope, while Trump is literally encouraged to say things that would make you put your six year old in a "time out" chair.
Was "half of" a bad term, perhaps...but neither she nor we need to walk that back, because not only is it true, but it also brings focus to something that MUST be put to every voter, that if you vote for Trump, you are with Trump. Trump does not care if you hate Hillary Clinton, all he cares about is that you helped him get into power, and rest assured, the only way to keep him out of power is to make sure more people for FOR Hillary than him.
So, not half eh? Fine, judge him by the people who MANAGE his campaign, who he hired to do so. Bannon, outspoken racist and sexist. Lewendoski, fired for berating a woman, Manafort, possible Russian agent. During a normal year, any one of those three would be a deal breaker; even the Bushes would not hire them. Yet, we can easily see people "she had no right ta say half" with "OK, look who he hires to manage things." We have every reason to assume that if he hires these people, he likes the way they do things...
and if they are deplorable people using deplorable methods, we have every right to assume at least half the supporters like them too, or at the very least, that they will keep in power, and that Trump will not care if they are Deplorable!
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Member since: Thu Apr 17, 2008, 05:51 PMNumber of posts: 13,616