marcopolo63
marcopolo63's JournalWeve been here before...
The French Revolution took place when 3% owned 35% of the land. Today the top 1% own almost 50% of the wealth!
Versailles and Mar-a-lago - both have 10 characters and both were/are owned by tyrants who took refuge and held court at their remote “homes” to avoid scrutiny!
This could end in guillotines too!
Righteous and sometimes indignant...
Cenk and the TYT Network speaks to me and for me almost 100% of the time. Align, Align!! The establishment is the problem and they have a lot to fear in the message he and the Sanders campaign is giving voice to! This revolution will only get stronger as more people hear the message. I firmly believe that the rise of and ultimate success of the modern progressive American political movement is the only chance we have as a nation to prosper and thrive...
Not to push Time Warner Cable (TWC) on anyone, but
TWC ran the entire series from Season 1 - Season 5 over the past few months. At the moment all that is available at HBO On Demand is the entire Season 5, along with Season 6's new episodes as they premier. And they may still have a deal where the first month of HBO is free (a $14.95-ish savings).
I have been a book and show fan since the beginning and have watched every episode at least 2 times, and seem to learn new things each time. The complexity of the story lines goes far beyond the debauchery, pain and misery caused by the lead characters. It is a tale of power, mysticism, ruthlessness and activism that can be seen in similar story-lines today.
Trump is very much a Joffrey-like character...
Hillary may be somewhat Cersei-like...
Bernie - could he be the High Sparrow (introduced in Season 5), or is that Ted Cruz? Maybe its a hybrid of the 2...
It really sparks your imagination and let's one escape to another world. I think that's the real magic of GOT!!
Kill the boy John Snow. Kill the boy...
No one doubts Hillary's confidence and intelligence. These are her strengths! Unfortunately they also can be some of her most glaring weaknesses as a Presidential candidate. She comes off as one of those "can't do wrong", lawyerly types who will argue anything at the drop of a hat! I watched the entire Town Hall exchange live and was viscerally repulsed by her attitude of disdain for Bernie Sanders and his supporters. But like so much of what we've seen on Facebook, at DU and other online sites - Hillary and her supporters don't respect Bernie and his legion of backers.
All of that confidence in Hillary's strength of character and intelligence mean little in the electoral process of impressions and feelings. If a voter just doesn't like Hillary, for whatever reason - voting for her in November may not just be hard, it might be impossible. She is blowing an opportunity to grow the party, expand the electorate to her advantage, and to improve her favorability ratings. Maybe instead of being cocksure of herself all of the time, with this 2.7 million vote/900 pledged delegate lead - she might try being a little more Obama-like and open her heart to the 8+ million progressives supporting Bernie Sanders this election cycle.
To use the Game of Thrones reference from the title, "It's time to kill the lawyer, Hillary Clinton! Kill the lawyer". The only way Hillary can win the primary and general election is to earn the support of Bernie's Democratic voters, attract new people to the party (to include Bernie's millennial voters), and to win a majority of Independents as well. Being the know-it-all lawyer is not the way that is going to happen! She needs to become not just the Democratic woman who wants to be President, but the women WE want to become President of the U.S.A. Her performance on last night's Town Hall may have enthused her supporters - but I'm confident she didn't win over any new voters! Kill the lawyer Hillary Clinton! Kill the lawyer! 
Tweety bloviates too much...
I know I am stooping at calling Matthews Tweety. Not sure who started referring to him as Tweety - but it fits pretty well I think. He is sometimes on target with his diatribe, but typically just comes off as a mouthpiece for the establishment moderates. He lost me when he swooned over G. W. Bush's flight onto the deck of the aircraft carrier in 2003 for the "Mission Accomplished" speech and how he in general championed the War in Iraq during the lead up and beyond. While he isn't 100% wrong all the tome, and maybe not even 75% wrong most of the time - that guy is definitely 50% off base usually! In 2016 he has obviously been in the can for Hillary, and has shown a clear bias against Bernie Sanders' camping. I think Jimmy Dore is spot-on in his characterizations and complaints. What the heck is Tweety talking about?
I love his opinion pieces, along with those of his counterparts at TYT! They are the new media and I am paying attention...
My 1st OP - be nice: Nader 2000 vs. Sanders 2016 is an Apples to Oranges comparison...
Recently on DU a Clinton 2016 supporter (onehandle) posted a video from the 2000 general election featuring some of the celebrity support Ralph Nader received and the large rallies that the Nader campaign held in the waning days before voting day 11/7/2000. Their point was that the Sanders 2016 primary campaign is just a Nader 2000 redo that will undermine the Democratic front-runner. I think that's a bogus comparison and that there are some stark differences between the Sanders 2016 and Nader 2000 campaigns. Here's the short list:
-> Bernie is running as a Democrat! Nader never did.
-> Bernie is winning primaries and hundreds of delegates. Nader never did.
-> Bernie is now polling ahead of his main/only rival, Hillary Clinton in national polls, and overwhelmingly beating all Republican candidates in head to head general election polls. Clinton isn't. And Nader never out-polled Al Gore in 2000 or the Republican nominee (Bush of course) in 2000 pre-election polling.
Beyond these basic facts of history - while some of the faces supporting Nader in 2000 may be backing Bernie in 2016 (Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins to name a few), and while Nader's message is very similar to Bernie's - there are key differences between the Nader v. Gore and Sanders v. Clinton races. Let me list a few more facts:
-> Bernie chose to run as a Democrat and is bringing new people to the party. Nader didn't and Clinton isn't! Nader never challenged the Democrats in the primaries.
-> Bernie is raising millions of dollars through small, individual campaign contributions. Nader operated on a shoe-string budget and funded itself basically from rally to rally...
-> Bernie's electoral momentum is creating more popularity and generating huge rallies of enormous size! Nader held rallies to create momentum and raise cash!
Bernie's electoral success and popularity far surpasses Nader's in 2000, and is beating the establishment candidates this year from both parties. Consider that the Sander's primary rally in NYC's Washington Square last week (27,000+ attendees) drew more people than Barack Obama's general election rally in September 2008 at the same location (20,000+ attending)! So Bernie Sanders isn't just NOT a Nader, he is outpacing the popularity of the master campaigner himself - President Barack Obama! Clinton's popularity and rally attendance just doesn't compare, and her "unfavorables" top her "favorables" going on several months now! Al Gore was able to draw large crowds in 2000, but Hillary just isn't capable of generating the modern campaign enthusiasm that I believe is critical to winning general elections! As the ultimate party insider, she is able to win primary and caucus votes sometimes - but over the long haul come November 2016, I have serious doubts that Hillary has what it takes to win it all!
Sanders 2016 is running a legitimate and classic Democratic campaign, with broad-based support of true liberals, progressives, some "moderates" and even a few conservatives. Some final facts to close out my first post - further highlighting why Bernie is not Ralph:
-> Bernie has already received well over 3 million votes to date in the Democratic Primaries, with NY, PA, CA and 16 other state primaries yet to occur.
-> Nader netted just under 3 million votes total nationwide in the 2000 GENERAL election, less votes than the number of people who have contributed to the Sanders campaign.
Think about it. To say Bernie is a Nader retread is flat-out WRONG! Bernie is positioned to eclipse even Obama's primary electoral success in vote-getting and campaign contributions. While Hillary is a formidable candidate in the Democratic primaries - I believe if she wins the Democratic nomination she stands a far greater chance of losing the general election, than if Sanders is the Democratic nominee. I think Bernie would win the 2016 general by no less than 5%!! But with Hillary as the nominee - even if nothing adverse comes out of the Panama Papers about her, and if she is able to withstand and counter the barrage of negative ads that is sure to come - Clinton wins it only by the slimmest of margins. Big ifs all around! I am sticking with the sure win - Bernie Sanders!! But first we need to make sure Bernie wins the Democratic nomination!!
Apples to Oranges
Bernie is running as a Democrat! Nader never did. Bernie is winning primaries and hundreds of delegates. Nader never did. Bernie is now polling ahead of Clinton in national polls, and overwhelmingly beating all Republican candidates in head to head polls, while Clinton is not. Nader never out-polled Gore, let alone the Republican candidates.
So while some of the faces supporting Nader may be the same, and while Nader's message is very similar to Bernie's - there are key differences between the Nader v. Gore and Sanders v. Clinton races. First off - Nader never challenged the Democrats in the primaries. Bernie chose to run as a Democrat and is bringing new people to the party. Nader didn't and Clinton isn't! Bernie is raising millions through small, individual donations - while Nader was operating on a shoe-string budget and as stated in the video was funding future rallies from previous rally proceeds. Nader was holding rallies to create momentum, while Bernie's electoral momentum is creating more popularity and generating huge rallies of enormous size! The Sander's primary rally in NYC's Washington Square last week (27,000+ attendees) drew more people than Barack Obama's general election rally in September 2008 at the same location (20,000 attending)! Sander's is no Nader, and he is outpacing the popularity of the master campaigner himself - President Obama! Clinton's popularity and rally attendance just don't compare! Al Gore was able to draw large crowds in 2000, but Hillary just isn't capable of generating the modern campaign enthusiasm that I believe is critical to winning general elections! As the ultimate party insider, she is able to win primary and caucus votes - but over the long haul come November 2016, I have serious doubts that Hillary has what it takes to win it all!
Bernie truly has and is running a legitimate Democratic campaign, with broad-based support. Nader netted just under 3 million votes nationwide in the 2000 election. So far in the 2016 primary cycle Bernie has already received well over 3 million votes, and the NY, PA, CA and 17 other primaries have yet to occur. Granted Hillary has received more primary votes than Bernie, but to say Bernie is a Nader retread is flat-out WRONG! Bernie is positioned to eclipse Obama's electoral success. I'm not saying that if Hillary wins the Democratic nomination she loses the general election. But if Hillary is the Democratic nominee - the 2016 general election will be a lot closer in the final results than if Bernie is the candidate. I think Bernie will win the 2016 general by no less than 5%!! But with Hillary as the nominee - if nothing adverse comes out of the Panama Papers and she is able to withstand the barrage of negative ads that is sure to come - she wins it only by the slimmest of margins. Big ifs all around! I am sticking with the sure win - Bernie 2016!! But first we need to make sure HE wins the Democratic nomination!!
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Member since: Tue Jul 17, 2012, 01:43 PMNumber of posts: 64