dailykos--2020-02-18--What some of us have been saying all along (Tuesday mornings @TheVillage)

A few days ago , I had an important-to-me success : I finally managed to get an old friend to acknowledge that the harassment of some non-Sanders supporters by some Sanders supporters is both real and wrong .
This is the culmination of nearly four years of back-and-forth between us and other mutual friends , also Sanders supporters , on this topic , interactions which have not always been respectful on their part .
And it is not only this one friend of mine .
In the past week there have suddenly been several media pieces and personal moments of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supporters about this longstanding and problematic aspect of Sanders ’ s campaign .
On the one hand , it is a welcome and long overdue acknowledgment of what has been a painful reality for many .
On the other hand , I can ’ t escape the impression that this acknowledgment comes at least partially as an act of self preservation—the media is ( finally—glad they caught up to reality ) pointing to the alienating effect of such behavior as being a challenge to Senator Snders ’ s chances of winning the Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ honest self-reflection and self-betterment or out of concern for the victims of four years of sustained harassment .
It is also infuriating that , once again , it took a man saying what women have been saying consistently for a long time for the larger group to listen .
I will use this friend of mine once more as an example of what seems to be a wider phenomenon : After responding aggressively and even insultingly on multiple occasions over multiple years to my infrequent and gentle rebukes of specific Sanders statements , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that reported on Sanders ’ s call for supporters to avoid “ ugly personal attacks.
” My friend prefaced his post with what he called “ a good reminder ” about the counterproductively of insults and personal attacks .
As if this were the most obvious position one could possible take , the mature and responsible high road , as if he hadn ’ t consistently been jumping all over and punching out at ( I can ’ t say “ punching back at ” , because his and others ’ offenses towards @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unprovoked offenses , rather than defensive reactions to anyone insulting or even criticizing them ) anyone who expressed a desire for “ ugly personal attacks ” to stop .
In short , this friend was able to hear Sanders say these attacks are wrong , but has been unable to hear me or others , mostly women , when we ’ ve tried telling him the exact same thing , and for years .
Dozens and even hundreds of women I ’ ve heard from have been derided by Sanders supporters as hysterical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ establishment ” schills , and other things so much worse I don ’ t even want to write them here — often over the smallest differences of opinion respectfully introduced for discussion .
Some have been threatened or doxxed , and almost all have endured personal insults .
( Note : I am distinguishing criticism from insults .
“ You are failing to take x into account when you form this opinion ” is a very different form of interaction than “ You are an idiot and worse than Trump ” or “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . )
In short , many non-Sanders supporters have been first harangued by one subset of supporters and then gaslit by another partially overlapping subset telling them that what is happening to them is not actually happening to them and that they are horrible for even bringing it up .
Sadly , this is a form of interaction many women throughout history are familiar with .
It has been truly painful to see such an unhealthy pattern play out even within the same modern and progressive circles that should be more enlightened by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ aside all these ( serious and legitimate ) frustrations for the moment and bring the focus back to my success in finally getting my friend to open his eyes to all of this .
I thought I would briefly share the things that worked and didn ’ t work for me in the struggle to arrive at this point of mutual understanding .
As I said , it has been a long process .
I ’ m sure most if not all of you reading this are familiar with the feeling of weariness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There are times when I can not muster enough emotional energy to counter the ridiculous things people sometimes say .
There are other times when you can just tell that trying to correct or challenge someone on some point is doomed to fail—when they are too riled up to listen clearly .
All of this combined , and together with the distressing way things often turn out for me when I engage with Sanders supporters on this topic , has resulted is me venturing to say anything to people about it only on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I try to make these infrequent forays really count .
In this instance , it was the condescending tone and complete lack of self-awareness displayed in my friend ’ s “ reminder ” to be respectful to others that pushed me to straighten up and write back .
I began by repeating a point I ’ d made previously with him : that Sanders needs to say still more frequently and clearly that this harassing behavior is wrong .
Many of his supporters point to the fact that he has called for better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ excuse to wail that any requests for further disavowals are unfair or amount to harassment themselves .
But if the people who have been attacked feel it is not enough , it is not enough .
Simple as that .
I then , also not remotely for the first time , pointed out the asymmetric nature of criticisms of Sanders v. attacks by Sanders supporters against people making those criticisms .
While I do not doubt there have ever been “ ugly personal attacks ” made against Sanders supporters , both the frequency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ toxic subset of his supporters far outweigh those against them .
You can ’ t stack up “ cunt ” next to “ unhelpful ” , for instance—terms frequently used against those not supporting Sanders and those supporting Sanders , respectively—and see any kind of equivalence .
At this point , I specified that I was referring to instances of these horrible behaviors *exclusively* between people that I or others know and/or interact with in real life .
It seems a lot of Sanders supporters are finally admitting that Russian trolls may be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the acknowledgment is important , but it ’ s something people have been trying to tell them for ages while they have refused to see it and insulted anyone who said it was happening .
Not only that , but this “ there are bots and trolls ” admission is now being turned around and used as yet another cudgel to hit at non-supporters .
In the past week alone I have heard probably a dozen different people say that anyone who says there has ever been bad behavior from Sanders supporters is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who ’ s been taken in by Russian propaganda and needs to stop talking about it or they ’ re part of the problem .
In other words , it ’ s just another argument to tell people that what ’ s happening to them isn ’ t really happening to them .
It is for this reason that it was important for me to highlight that the things I was describing to my friend were occurring with confirmed American human beings , not online Russian agitators .
Finally , I put into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around in my head for some time regarding the knee-jerk behavior many Sanders supporters I have personal contact with engage in .
It ’ s a characterization I ’ ve been somewhat fearful of expressing prior to now ( see the previous discussion of emotional weariness and the desire to shield myself from political and personal attacks ) .
Namely , I find the aggressive defensiveness on the part of many Sanders supporters to the fact that some among them are toxic and awful unsettlingly similar to the “ not all men ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all lives matter ” sophistry we are all familiar with .
In the end , it was describing my friend ’ s behavior to him in these terms , with this specific comparison , that finally did the trick .
He is a smart person who thinks of himself as—and indeed in most ways truly is—progressive and tolerant .
He has nothing but disdain for the sexist and racist backlash to the # MeToo and Black Lives Matters movements .
I think to have his own reactions compared so bluntly to those he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his aggressive behavior in a new light .
And while it drives one part of me mad that it took him this long , he has now acknowledged his error forthrightly , which is difficult and admirable .
Here are portions of our interaction : Friend , in the preface to his reposting of “ Bernie Sanders to online trolls : Stop ‘ ugly personal attacks ’ ” ( Reuters ) : This is a good reminder , and a point Sanders has made several times .
You 're never going to inform @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He hasn ’ t made it nearly frequently or loudly enough in my opinion .
Death threats , doxxing , disgusting misogynistic and homophobic slurs , and I ’ m only talking about actual real life interactions with known human beings , not online entities whose identification can ’ t be confirmed , all going on since 2016 , and at least a handful of cases I know were from staffers .
There needs to be a more full throated disavowal of these things , and people need to be removed from these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ apology from Sanders .
Agreed , and those people are really holding the rest of the movement back .
Hundreds of thousands of people are counting on the most progressive candidate to dig us out of a hole , and a few hundred of them are shooting the rest in the foot .
I 'm glad to hear you say agreed , because I 've gotten a lot of disbelief and pushback that this is even a problem before , as have many people I know .
People need acknowledgment , not dismissiveness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them .
Supporters not engaging in these activities need to believe people when they tell what some supporters have done , rather than toss a defensive `` not all Sanders supporters '' back in their faces .
It is highly alienating politically and wrong personally .
It 's also been confirmed that Russian trolls have pulled a lot of this shit as well , and so Sanders supporters who have n't seen real people do this are quick to shift the blame onto them without stepping back and realizing that there 's some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one of them for a long time , and desperately needed perspective .
So there you have it , a small but not-so-small feat .
It can feel infuriating and exhausting to have to “ fight ” with people “ on your same side ” , rather than only against those “ not on your side ” .
But at least this battle came to a satisfactory conclusion : greater understanding and respect .
May all our political struggles end so well .
Though it would be nice if they could end well @ @ @ @

A few days ago, I had an important-to-me success: I finally managed to get an old friend to acknowledge that the harassment of some non-Sanders supporters by some Sanders supporters is both real and wrong. This is the culmination of nearly four years of back-and-forth between us and other mutual friends, also Sanders supporters, on this topic, interactions which have not always been respectful on their part.
And it is not only this one friend of mine. In the past week there have suddenly been several media pieces and personal moments of dawning realization on the part of Sanders supporters about this longstanding and problematic aspect of Sanders’s campaign. On the one hand, it is a welcome and long overdue acknowledgment of what has been a painful reality for many.
On the other hand, I can’t escape the impression that this acknowledgment comes at least partially as an act of self preservation—the media is (finally—glad they caught up to reality) pointing to the alienating effect of such behavior as being a challenge to Senator Snders’s chances of winning the Democratic nomination—and not out of a desire for honest self-reflection and self-betterment or out of concern for the victims of four years of sustained harassment.
It is also infuriating that, once again, it took a man saying what women have been saying consistently for a long time for the larger group to listen. I will use this friend of mine once more as an example of what seems to be a wider phenomenon:
After responding aggressively and even insultingly on multiple occasions over multiple years to my infrequent and gentle rebukes of specific Sanders statements, he posted a Reuters article last week that reported on Sanders’s call for supporters to avoid “ugly personal attacks.” My friend prefaced his post with what he called “a good reminder” about the counterproductively of insults and personal attacks. As if this were the most obvious position one could possible take, the mature and responsible high road, as if he hadn’t consistently been jumping all over and punching out at (I can’t say “punching back at”, because his and others’ offenses towards myself and others were just that: unprovoked offenses, rather than defensive reactions to anyone insulting or even criticizing them) anyone who expressed a desire for “ugly personal attacks” to stop. In short, this friend was able to hear Sanders say these attacks are wrong, but has been unable to hear me or others, mostly women, when we’ve tried telling him the exact same thing, and for years.
Dozens and even hundreds of women I’ve heard from have been derided by Sanders supporters as hysterical reverse sexists, naïve pawns, “establishment” schills, and other things so much worse I don’t even want to write them here — often over the smallest differences of opinion respectfully introduced for discussion. Some have been threatened or doxxed, and almost all have endured personal insults. (Note: I am distinguishing criticism from insults. “You are failing to take x into account when you form this opinion” is a very different form of interaction than “You are an idiot and worse than Trump” or “I hope you die,” etc.)
In short, many non-Sanders supporters have been first harangued by one subset of supporters and then gaslit by another partially overlapping subset telling them that what is happening to them is not actually happening to them and that they are horrible for even bringing it up. Sadly, this is a form of interaction many women throughout history are familiar with. It has been truly painful to see such an unhealthy pattern play out even within the same modern and progressive circles that should be more enlightened by now.
But I want to set aside all these (serious and legitimate) frustrations for the moment and bring the focus back to my success in finally getting my friend to open his eyes to all of this. I thought I would briefly share the things that worked and didn’t work for me in the struggle to arrive at this point of mutual understanding.
As I said, it has been a long process. I’m sure most if not all of you reading this are familiar with the feeling of weariness that our current national situation inspires. There are times when I cannot muster enough emotional energy to counter the ridiculous things people sometimes say. There are other times when you can just tell that trying to correct or challenge someone on some point is doomed to fail—when they are too riled up to listen clearly. All of this combined, and together with the distressing way things often turn out for me when I engage with Sanders supporters on this topic, has resulted is me venturing to say anything to people about it only on occasions few and far between. So I try to make these infrequent forays really count.
In this instance, it was the condescending tone and complete lack of self-awareness displayed in my friend’s “reminder” to be respectful to others that pushed me to straighten up and write back.
I began by repeating a point I’d made previously with him: that Sanders needs to say still more frequently and clearly that this harassing behavior is wrong. Many of his supporters point to the fact that he has called for better behavior on a few occasions as an excuse to wail that any requests for further disavowals are unfair or amount to harassment themselves. But if the people who have been attacked feel it is not enough, it is not enough. Simple as that.
I then, also not remotely for the first time, pointed out the asymmetric nature of criticisms of Sanders v. attacks by Sanders supporters against people making those criticisms. While I do not doubt there have ever been “ugly personal attacks” made against Sanders supporters, both the frequency and type of attacks leveled *by* the toxic subset of his supporters far outweigh those against them. You can’t stack up “cunt” next to “unhelpful”, for instance—terms frequently used against those not supporting Sanders and those supporting Sanders, respectively—and see any kind of equivalence.
At this point, I specified that I was referring to instances of these horrible behaviors *exclusively* between people that I or others know and/or interact with in real life. It seems a lot of Sanders supporters are finally admitting that Russian trolls may be intervening in their campaign. Again, the acknowledgment is important, but it’s something people have been trying to tell them for ages while they have refused to see it and insulted anyone who said it was happening. Not only that, but this “there are bots and trolls” admission is now being turned around and used as yet another cudgel to hit at non-supporters. In the past week alone I have heard probably a dozen different people say that anyone who says there has ever been bad behavior from Sanders supporters is an idiot (or much worse) who’s been taken in by Russian propaganda and needs to stop talking about it or they’re part of the problem. In other words, it’s just another argument to tell people that what’s happening to them isn’t really happening to them. It is for this reason that it was important for me to highlight that the things I was describing to my friend were occurring with confirmed American human beings, not online Russian agitators.
Finally, I put into words an impression I have had knocking around in my head for some time regarding the knee-jerk behavior many Sanders supporters I have personal contact with engage in. It’s a characterization I’ve been somewhat fearful of expressing prior to now (see the previous discussion of emotional weariness and the desire to shield myself from political and personal attacks). Namely, I find the aggressive defensiveness on the part of many Sanders supporters to the fact that some among them are toxic and awful unsettlingly similar to the “not all men” hand-wringing (and hand-washing) and “all lives matter” sophistry we are all familiar with.
In the end, it was describing my friend’s behavior to him in these terms, with this specific comparison, that finally did the trick. He is a smart person who thinks of himself as—and indeed in most ways truly is—progressive and tolerant. He has nothing but disdain for the sexist and racist backlash to the #MeToo and Black Lives Matters movements. I think to have his own reactions compared so bluntly to those he understands clearly as wrong allowed him see his aggressive behavior in a new light. And while it drives one part of me mad that it took him this long, he has now acknowledged his error forthrightly, which is difficult and admirable.
Here are portions of our interaction:
Friend, in the preface to his reposting of “Bernie Sanders to online trolls: Stop ‘ugly personal attacks’” (Reuters): This is a good reminder, and a point Sanders has made several times. You're never going to inform or change minds with personal attacks. Me: He hasn’t made it nearly frequently or loudly enough in my opinion. Death threats, doxxing, disgusting misogynistic and homophobic slurs, and I’m only talking about actual real life interactions with known human beings, not online entities whose identification can’t be confirmed, all going on since 2016, and at least a handful of cases I know were from staffers. There needs to be a more full throated disavowal of these things, and people need to be removed from these positions with a strong public statement and apology from Sanders. Friend: Agreed, and those people are really holding the rest of the movement back. Hundreds of thousands of people are counting on the most progressive candidate to dig us out of a hole, and a few hundred of them are shooting the rest in the foot. Me: I'm glad to hear you say agreed, because I've gotten a lot of disbelief and pushback that this is even a problem before, as have many people I know. People need acknowledgment, not dismissiveness, when something bad has happened to them. Supporters not engaging in these activities need to believe people when they tell what some supporters have done, rather than toss a defensive "not all Sanders supporters" back in their faces. It is highly alienating politically and wrong personally. Friend: It's also been confirmed that Russian trolls have pulled a lot of this shit as well, and so Sanders supporters who haven't seen real people do this are quick to shift the blame onto them without stepping back and realizing that there's some real toxicity as well. I was one of them for a long time, and desperately needed perspective.
So there you have it, a small but not-so-small feat. It can feel infuriating and exhausting to have to “fight” with people “on your same side”, rather than only against those “not on your side”. But at least this battle came to a satisfactory conclusion: greater understanding and respect. May all our political struggles end so well. Though it would be nice if they could end well more quickly… ;)


dailykos--2020-02-19--Federal Judge Stops Georgia GOP's Voter Suppression in its Tracks

In an unprecedented and indeed stunning move , the federal judge overseeing the voter suppression/voter purge case against the state of Georgia has handed the plaintiffs a victory without even bothering to hold a trial .
Judge Eleanor Ross has ordered Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to provide Georgia ’ s complete files on the mass purge of mostly black and other minorities from that state ’ s voter rolls .
“ Investigative reporter ” only scratches the surface and does not do justice to Greg Palast ’ s deep and dogged commitment to exposing and , yes , purging the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keeping black and poor people from voting .
Palast is also filmographer as well as a prolific writer .
He is the personification of the intrepid “ newspaper man ” of times gone by , right down to his “ Columbo ” -like rumpled trench coat and broad-brimmed hat .
The instant case is a shining case in point : For six full years now , Palast has been fighting Kemp and Georgia to force release of their hidden purge lists and other voter suppression methods and means .
Other media outlets have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rolling Stone Magazine , Aljazeera , Salon , Democracy Now , and The Guardian .
As quoted in Black Agenda Report , Palast had this to say about this unexpected but welcome victory : The basis of Palast ’ s suit is a scheme which is the brainchild of the influential right-wing lobbyist organization , the American Legislative Election Committee ( ALEC ) .
They call it “ Interstate Crosscheck.
” In this particular case , it went like this : Purge lists were secretly given to Georgia by the Kansas Secretary of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had earlier given Georgia ’ s complete voter rolls to Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach , a dyed-in-the-wool Trump lackey who has his own long and sordid history of conducting unrelenting racially biased voter suppression schemes and techniques both in Kansas and as head of a phony — now-defunct — “ Voter Fraud Commission ” set up by the Trump regime .
Palast ’ s attorneys pick up the story from here : Kemp tried to hide the Crosscheck lists which he got from his crony Kobach .
The lists are at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s office claimed he did not use the lists to purge voters , an assertion contradicted by his GOP predecessor .
Moreover , Zach D. Roberts of the Palast investigative team obtained the Georgia 2013 purge list provided by Kobach through ( legal ) investigative techniques — so we know , and the judge knows , he has more squirreled away .
Kemp finally turned over evidence that he purged 106,000 voters , overwhelmingly voters of color , that were on the Crosscheck list .
But that ’ s just the tip of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ co-plaintiff in this lawsuit .
She is also the Executive Director of the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples Agenda , a non-partisan group founded by Rev .
Joseph Lowery , the legendary civil rights leader and a confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King , Jr .
When asked about the Crosscheck tactics used by this current crop of Republicans , Lowery did not hesitate : “ It ’ s Jim Crow all over again.
” For his part , Kemp ’ s attorneys offered the , at first blush , strange “ defense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voter information to Kobach so that that information could be used to purge voters , not in Georgia , but in twenty-nine other states .
Well , the judge wanted to know — just exactly how did that work ?
The answer : Kobach ’ s Georgia voter rolls , for example , supposedly showed that thousands of still-registered-in-Michigan voters were also registered or actually voted in Georgia .
Now we are getting somewhere , reasoned the judge…close to an admission of guilt , in fact .
You see , using Georgia ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tens of thousands of their own voters from their rolls using the argument that names like “ James Brown ” and “ Mohammed Mohammed ” or “ Susan Jones ” and “ Carolyn Williams ” — almost all with different middle names — were actually the selfsame persons who had moved from Georgia to Michigan without bothering to update their registrations once they became Michiganders .
Amazing , no ?
Maybe even crazy ?
Certainly criminal .
The result in Michigan was absolutely devastating for Democrats in 2016 .
The Michigan purge of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of doubt allowed Trump to eke out a razor-thin 10,700 vote victory margin out of 4,548,382 votes cast — just enough to hand Trump all sixteen of Michigan ’ s electoral college votes .
The Crosscheck scheme runs even deeper , though .
Once again , Greg Palast : Now , use this selfsame process in the twenty-nine other states mentioned above…and , well…you get what we got — “ President ” Donald Trump .

In an unprecedented and indeed stunning move, the federal judge overseeing the voter suppression/voter purge case against the state of Georgia has handed the plaintiffs a victory without even bothering to hold a trial.
Judge Eleanor Ross has ordered Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to provide Georgia’s complete files on the mass purge of mostly black and other minorities from that state’s voter rolls.
The lawsuit was originally brought by investigative journalist Greg Palast who claimed that Georgia has illegally purged more than 500,000 voters from the rolls.
After hearing Palast’s attorneys’ charges and reviewing the evidence and Georgia’s defenses, Judge Ross said that the governor’s case was so weak that no trial would be necessary. On her own motion, an act called “sua sponte” in legalese, she ruled for the plaintiffs, even though Palast and company had not even requested such a ruling.
“Investigative reporter” only scratches the surface and does not do justice to Greg Palast’s deep and dogged commitment to exposing and, yes, purging the Republican Party’s decades-long efforts at keeping black and poor people from voting. Palast is also a filmographer as well as a prolific writer. He is the personification of the intrepid “newspaper man” of times gone by, right down to his “Columbo”-like rumpled trench coat and broad-brimmed hat.
The instant case is a shining case in point: For six full years now, Palast has been fighting Kemp and Georgia to force release of their hidden purge lists and other voter suppression methods and means. Other media outlets have been basically following his lead, including Rolling Stone Magazine, Aljazeera, Salon, Democracy Now, and The Guardian.
As quoted in Black Agenda Report, Palast had this to say about this unexpected but welcome victory:
Kemp and the new Secretary of State of Georgia want to keep the lid on their methods for removing literally hundreds of thousands of low-income, young and minority voters on the basis of false information. They cannot hide any more. This is a huge win and precedent for reporters trying to pry information from the hands of guilty officials.
The basis of Palast’s suit is a scheme which is the brainchild of the influential right-wing lobbyist organization, the American Legislative Election Committee (ALEC). They call it “Interstate Crosscheck.”
In this particular case, it went like this: Purge lists were secretly given to Georgia by the Kansas Secretary of State in 2015 and 2017. Kemp had earlier given Georgia’s complete voter rolls to Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a dyed-in-the-wool Trump lackey who has his own long and sordid history of conducting unrelenting racially biased voter suppression schemes and techniques both in Kansas and as head of a phony — now-defunct — “Voter Fraud Commission” set up by the Trump regime.
Palast’s attorneys pick up the story from here:
Kemp tried to hide the Crosscheck lists which he got from his crony Kobach. The lists are at least 99.9% wrong. Kemp’s office claimed he did not use the lists to purge voters, an assertion contradicted by his GOP predecessor. Moreover, Zach D. Roberts of the Palast investigative team obtained the Georgia 2013 purge list provided by Kobach through (legal) investigative techniques — so we know, and the judge knows, he has more squirreled away. Kemp finally turned over evidence that he purged 106,000 voters, overwhelmingly voters of color, that were on the Crosscheck list. But that’s just the tip of the purge-berg.
Helen Butler is a co-plaintiff in this lawsuit. She is also the Executive Director of the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples Agenda, a non-partisan group founded by Rev. Joseph Lowery, the legendary civil rights leader and a confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When asked about the Crosscheck tactics used by this current crop of Republicans, Lowery did not hesitate: “It’s Jim Crow all over again.”
For his part, Kemp’s attorneys offered the, at first blush, strange “defense” that he gave Georgia’s voter information to Kobach so that that information could be used to purge voters, not in Georgia, but in twenty-nine other states. Well, the judge wanted to know — just exactly how did that work? The answer: Kobach’s Georgia voter rolls, for example, supposedly showed that thousands of still-registered-in-Michigan voters were also registered or actually voted in Georgia.
Now we are getting somewhere, reasoned the judge…close to an admission of guilt, in fact. You see, using Georgia’s data, Michigan proceeded to purge tens of thousands of their own voters from their rolls using the argument that names like “James Brown” and “Mohammed Mohammed” or “Susan Jones” and “Carolyn Williams” — almost all with different middle names — were actually the selfsame persons who had moved from Georgia to Michigan without bothering to update their registrations once they became Michiganders.
Amazing, no? Maybe even crazy? Certainly criminal.
But!
The result in Michigan was absolutely devastating for Democrats in 2016. The Michigan purge of putative “Georgians” without a shadow of doubt allowed Trump to eke out a razor-thin 10,700 vote victory margin out of 4,548,382 votes cast — just enough to hand Trump all sixteen of Michigan’s electoral college votes.
The Crosscheck scheme runs even deeper, though. Once again, Greg Palast:
The evidence is overwhelming that Kemp used the Crosscheck list in some way to purge Georgians — 106,000 is not a ‘coincidence’ — I do want to find out why Kemp was using Georgia voter rolls to remove voters in other states.
Now, use this selfsame process in the twenty-nine other states mentioned above…and, well…you get what we got — “President” Donald Trump.


dailykos--2020-02-20--What was Missing From Tonight’s Democratic Candidates Debate

There was too much bickering among the Democratic candidates tonight in Nevada about details that were too wonkish .
Worse , the biggest disappoint was that Trump was hardly mentioned in the fracas .
Amazingly , there was no mention of Trump firing multiple public civil servants who he could no longer “ trust ” as being loyal to him .
And no mention of his pardoning criminals who were in jail because they had broken the public ’ s trust .
Attacking Trump on these two very public positions , could have been used to accuse him of defining @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public interest .
If a candidate had taken that clear and strong position , that person could have captured some major media coverage and defined that candidate as being above the fray .
Instead , too much time was spent attacking the wealthy , e.g .
billionaires like Mike Bloomberg .
Most people don ’ t have a visceral feeling about hating the super wealthy , because they don ’ t know them .
They are too distant .
They may not even like them , but unless they feel their pain coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ move the dial .

There was too much bickering among the Democratic candidates tonight in Nevada about details that were too wonkish. Worse, the biggest disappoint was that Trump was hardly mentioned in the fracas.
Amazingly, there was no mention of Trump firing multiple public civil servants who he could no longer “trust” as being loyal to him. And no mention of his pardoning criminals who were in jail because they had broken the public’s trust.
Attacking Trump on these two very public positions, could have been used to accuse him of defining trust in his personal interest not the public interest. If a candidate had taken that clear and strong position, that person could have captured some major media coverage and defined that candidate as being above the fray.
Instead, too much time was spent attacking the wealthy, e.g. billionaires like Mike Bloomberg. Most people don’t have a visceral feeling about hating the super wealthy, because they don’t know them. They are too distant. They may not even like them, but unless they feel their pain coming from them, those attacks will barely move the dial.


dailykos--2020-02-20--A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Pharmacy

I ’ ve had Type 2 diabetes for over 15 years .
After I retired five years ago , from a high stress job in Chicago and relocated to my boyhood home of St. Louis , my control of the disease improved quite a bit as my A1C , with only moderately burdensome management , remained in the lower ranges celebrated by the happiest patients in Big Pharma ’ s TV commercials for diabetes medicines .
But my ability to control my blood sugar took a bad turn about a year ago as successive tests have seen my test results @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I saw my doctor on Monday , he recommended we declare total war on the problem , with more frequent glucose tests , full bore carbohydrate counting and mealtime , fast acting insulin to supplement once a day long lasting insulin .
A complete record is kept of all of it .
It ’ s a significant modification of lifestyle , but then so are strokes , amputation and death .
I knew , of course , that going to war is always a gut punch to the budget , but I hadn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ above everything I ’ ve been paying to treat hypertension , diabetes and arthritis .
Though I have a sufficiently comfortable retirement that I can afford it , without cutting things out of my life elsewhere , I can easily understand that many retirees my age , as well as many others , definitely could not .
This realization about the exploding cost of my treatment impelled me to tickle the Google for some enlightenment and I got an eye full — In the past five years , the price of insulin in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who do not have medical coverage or insurance have to pay around $ 1000 every month for the life-saving drug .
Many resort to rationing their insulin intake , sometimes with tragic consequences… One insulin user from Minnesota , Quinn Nystrom , documented her five-hour trek for insulin on Twitter .
Nystrom said that she bought a nearly identical product — one vial of insulin from Novo Nordisk — that cost US $ 320 in the U.S. and $ 30 in Canada .
“ Where have we gone wrong America ?
!
?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ prices are for a product costing less than $ 10 to produce and market .
The cost of the four most popular types of insulin has tripled over the past decade , and the out-of-pocket prescription costs patients now face have doubled .
By 2016 , the average price per month rose to $ 450 — and costs continue to rise , so much so that as many as one in four people with diabetes are now skimping on or skipping lifesaving doses .
The perpetration of this predation on the sick and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ usual suspects , Big Pharma , aided and abetted by the indifference , at best , and corruption at worst , of disreputable politicians .
My story , and the stories of millions of others who suffer worse than I ever will from this and myriad other defects in America ’ s healthcare system , shows why that system must be radically reformed , cutting out the corporate corruption and greed and delivering care as a right , not a costly if not unavailable privilege .
Never give up !
Never surrender !

I’ve had Type 2 diabetes for over 15 years. After I retired five years ago, from a high stress job in Chicago and relocated to my boyhood home of St. Louis, my control of the disease improved quite a bit as my A1C, with only moderately burdensome management, remained in the lower ranges celebrated by the happiest patients in Big Pharma’s TV commercials for diabetes medicines. But my ability to control my blood sugar took a bad turn about a year ago as successive tests have seen my test results rise into more dangerous territory.
When I saw my doctor on Monday, he recommended we declare total war on the problem, with more frequent glucose tests, full bore carbohydrate counting and mealtime, fast acting insulin to supplement once a day long lasting insulin. A complete record is kept of all of it. It’s a significant modification of lifestyle, but then so are strokes, amputation and death.
I knew, of course, that going to war is always a gut punch to the budget, but I hadn’t really anticipated quadrupling pharmacy copays above everything I’ve been paying to treat hypertension, diabetes and arthritis. Though I have a sufficiently comfortable retirement that I can afford it, without cutting things out of my life elsewhere, I can easily understand that many retirees my age, as well as many others, definitely could not.
This realization about the exploding cost of my treatment impelled me to tickle the Google for some enlightenment and I got an eye full —
Here —
In the past five years, the price of insulin in the US has nearly doubled. Diabetics who do not have medical coverage or insurance have to pay around $1000 every month for the life-saving drug. Many resort to rationing their insulin intake, sometimes with tragic consequences…
And here —
One insulin user from Minnesota, Quinn Nystrom, documented her five-hour trek for insulin on Twitter. Nystrom said that she bought a nearly identical product — one vial of insulin from Novo Nordisk — that cost US$320 in the U.S. and $30 in Canada. “Where have we gone wrong America?!?” she tweeted.
Note that these prices are for a product costing less than $10 to produce and market.
And here —
The perpetration of this predation on the sick and infirm has been carried out by the usual suspects, Big Pharma, aided and abetted by the indifference, at best, and corruption at worst, of disreputable politicians.
[T]here are two main reasons why insulin is so expensive now. One is that U.S. laws let pharmaceutical manufacturers set their own prices and raise them without limit. The second reason, the authors noted, is that there isn't significant competition in the U.S. insulin market. Price competition typically comes from the introduction of a generic drug that directly competes with a branded product. But the authors said that current insulin makers have blocked the entry to such products by getting new patents based on things such as a new delivery device. * * * * * Quinn Nystrom, 33, from Baxter, Minn., has type 1 diabetes. She's been working with local and federal elected officials to improve insulin access and affordability. She's helped lead three bus trips to Canada so people could buy more affordable insulin. The same vial of insulin that she pays $340 for in the United States costs $30 in Canada, she said. "A single vial of current analog insulin costs around $3 to $6 to make. There is no reason for that price difference between the U.S. and Canada, other than that Canada holds down their drug prices with legislation," Nystrom said.
My story, and the stories of millions of others who suffer worse than I ever will from this and myriad other defects in America’s healthcare system, shows why that system must be radically reformed, cutting out the corporate corruption and greed and delivering care as a right, not a costly if not unavailable privilege.
Go Bernie!
Go Liz!
Medicare for All!
Never give up! Never surrender!


Bernie Can't Win...

And vulnerable Americans are going to die if Trump wins !
I follow polling a lot , and noting that Bernie is now leading in much of the polling for the nomination and in the prognosticators like 538 ’ s predictions , I wondered , what if… Bernie was our candidate ?
So I took a deep dive into the polling data of matchups between our democratic candidates for president and Trump .
At first , looking at the results of national polling , it looks great- Bernie and most every democratic candidate beat Trump in almost every matchup .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2016 , the will of the people doesn ’ t necessarily pick our presidents .
That power goes to an anachronism called the Electoral College which gives extraordinary power to 10 or so “ swing states ” to pick the president .
So I looked at the 10 states that will pick the next president , examining the recent polling results in those 10 states with Cook PVi below 5 that also made 270 to win ’ s latest list of states that their consensus of the pundits rated as tossup or barely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ polling since the first of this year- NH , WI , MI , NV , FL , and IA- Biden , Bloomberg , or Buttigieg frequently outperformed Sanders .
Only in FL does Sanders outperform Biden , Buttigieg , and Warren .
In PA , MN , ME , and OH the most recent polling was from last year so the surges of Buttigieg , Bloomberg , and Klobuchar and the decline of Biden are missing , but still Biden , Bloomberg , Buttigieg , Klobuchar , or Warren outperformed Sanders .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ states that will pick the next president Sanders trails our best performing and always more moderate candidate by between 2 % and 8 % in trial heats against Trump .
In states with PVi less than 5 , that ’ s frequently the difference between winning and losing .
And did I mention that the republicans will cheat , big time ?
Think massive voter roll purges , armed Trump vigilantes intimating voters , stolen ballot boxes , ad nausuem… Followed by a second Trump term that drags on well through this decade @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more .
Drunk with power after a rigged trial and acquittal in the Senate , Trump is already letting white collar criminals out of jail and hacking away at Social Security , etc.. Give Trump another term and there ’ ll be no limit to his power and ability to torment and even kill vulnerable Americans .
In 1972 and 1984 we responded to tyrannical republican presidents Nixon and Reagan by nominating great progressive candidates , McGovern and Mondale .
That political science experiment failed , as progressive candidates did not move enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make up for the moderate and independent voters we chased to Nixon and Reagan .
My generation learned Political Science 101 the hard way- Progressives can win in progressive places like Vermont , but in swing states only a moderate democrat can win , ‘ cause a moderate candidate plain and simple appeals more to the moderate voters in these swing states .
So while we love Bernie , this is no time for political science experiments like running a progressive for president when we ’ ve already done that experiment and know @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and now Trump re-election .
For the vulnerable americans who will suffer under Trump , it ’ s a risky political science experiment we can ’ t afford to repeat .

And vulnerable Americans are going to die if Trump wins!
I follow polling a lot, and noting that Bernie is now leading in much of the polling for the nomination and in the prognosticators like 538’s predictions, I wondered, what if… Bernie was our candidate? So I took a deep dive into the polling data of matchups between our democratic candidates for president and Trump.
At first, looking at the results of national polling, it looks great- Bernie and most every democratic candidate beat Trump in almost every matchup. But as we learned in 2000 and 2016, the will of the people doesn’t necessarily pick our presidents. That power goes to an anachronism called the Electoral College which gives extraordinary power to 10 or so “swing states” to pick the president.
So I looked at the 10 states that will pick the next president, examining the recent polling results in those 10 states with Cook PVi below 5 that also made 270 to win’s latest list of states that their consensus of the pundits rated as tossup or barely D or R. In the states with polling since the first of this year- NH, WI, MI, NV, FL, and IA- Biden, Bloomberg, or Buttigieg frequently outperformed Sanders. Only in FL does Sanders outperform Biden, Buttigieg, and Warren. In PA, MN, ME, and OH the most recent polling was from last year so the surges of Buttigieg, Bloomberg, and Klobuchar and the decline of Biden are missing, but still Biden, Bloomberg, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, or Warren outperformed Sanders.
In 9 out of 10 of these swing states that will pick the next president Sanders trails our best performing and always more moderate candidate by between 2% and 8% in trial heats against Trump. In states with PVi less than 5, that’s frequently the difference between winning and losing. And did I mention that the republicans will cheat, big time? Think massive voter roll purges, armed Trump vigilantes intimating voters, stolen ballot boxes, ad nausuem… Followed by a second Trump term that drags on well through this decade and becomes a Trump dynasty for decades more. Drunk with power after a rigged trial and acquittal in the Senate, Trump is already letting white collar criminals out of jail and hacking away at Social Security, etc.. Give Trump another term and there’ll be no limit to his power and ability to torment and even kill vulnerable Americans.
In 1972 and 1984 we responded to tyrannical republican presidents Nixon and Reagan by nominating great progressive candidates, McGovern and Mondale. That political science experiment failed, as progressive candidates did not move enough new democratic voters to the polls to make up for the moderate and independent voters we chased to Nixon and Reagan. My generation learned Political Science 101 the hard way- Progressives can win in progressive places like Vermont, but in swing states only a moderate democrat can win, ‘cause a moderate candidate plain and simple appeals more to the moderate voters in these swing states.
So while we love Bernie, this is no time for political science experiments like running a progressive for president when we’ve already done that experiment and know the results- A Nixon, Reagan, and now Trump re-election. For the vulnerable americans who will suffer under Trump, it’s a risky political science experiment we can’t afford to repeat.


dailykos--2020-02-19--How A Democratic Candidate Becomes The Nominee In 2020

This link is to good article about how someone becomes the Democratic nominee for President .
www.cnbc.com/ ...
It ’ s not necessarily who walks in to the Milwaukee with the most delegates if someone hasn ’ t reached the 1,990 delegate threshold to secure the nomination .
Keep in mind every candidate running understands how this process will unfold and agreed to the terms in advance .
There is no opportunity to call foul at the end because it didn ’ t end as they or you hoped it would .
For example you have a 1000 delegates and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not the winner .
It is then decided as people who are out of the running release delegates and they are free to choose .
On the 2nd ballot if no one has won the nomination on the first ballot , super delegates are able to join the candidate of their choice .
They tend to be more moderate and include party leaders and legislators .
This may put someone over 1990 delegates .
If not it goes on and can result in a brokered convention .
This year ’ s changes are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ progressive candidate since super delegates must abstain unless it ’ s not decided on the first ballot .
This is not some nefarious conspiracy .
Super delegates gave us Barrack Obama and Bill Clinton .
I respect people ’ s right to vote for the candidate of their choice .
I ’ m sure you do as well .
We all have our own ideas about who we think is the best person .
You , me and I every delegate that will be on the convention center floor in Milwaukee .
Beware @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get you mad at the media , the evil “ establishment ” and other candidates .
Please stay focused on the main goal , defeating Trump .
At the end of the day we need to put aside our differences otherwise Trump may win .

This link is to good article about how someone becomes the Democratic nominee for President. www.cnbc.com/...
It’s not necessarily who walks in to the Milwaukee with the most delegates if someone hasn’t reached the 1,990 delegate threshold to secure the nomination.
Keep in mind every candidate running understands how this process will unfold and agreed to the terms in advance. There is no opportunity to call foul at the end because it didn’t end as they or you hoped it would.
For example you have a 1000 delegates and your nearest competitor has 700 you are not the winner. It is then decided as people who are out of the running release delegates and they are free to choose. On the 2nd ballot if no one has won the nomination on the first ballot, super delegates are able to join the candidate of their choice. They tend to be more moderate and include party leaders and legislators. This may put someone over 1990 delegates. If not it goes on and can result in a brokered convention.
This year’s changes are a tad more beneficial to a more progressive candidate since super delegates must abstain unless it’s not decided on the first ballot. This is not some nefarious conspiracy. Super delegates gave us Barrack Obama and Bill Clinton. I respect people’s right to vote for the candidate of their choice. I’m sure you do as well. We all have our own ideas about who we think is the best person. You, me and I every delegate that will be on the convention center floor in Milwaukee.
Beware outside social media agitators who want to get you mad at the media, the evil “establishment” and other candidates. Please stay focused on the main goal, defeating Trump. At the end of the day we need to put aside our differences otherwise Trump may win.


dailykos--2020-02-20--Michael Bloomberg is the Mirror Image of Donald Trump

For the past 3 years , as US President Donald Trump has instituted travel bans on Muslim-majority countries , instructed US police to brutalize people they arrest , waged war on the nation ’ s working poor , assaulted the rights of women and LGBT people , and locked immigrant children in cages while separating them from their families , Democrats have rightly decried him as a racist , a tyrant and a bigot .
As the Democratic primaries heat up and voters decide who they will choose to take on Donald Trump and send him into the dustbin of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ danger of exposing their “ resistance ” as the charade that it is by nominating someone who is everything they so forcefully denounce in Trump : former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg .
Despite Democratic claims to oppose the massive wealth inequality that permeates this country and the tyranny of the richest 1 % , many Democrats have quickly thrown their faux concern to the wind and embraced the candidacy of someone who is an even bigger oligarch than Donald Trump .
Mike Bloomberg , a former Republican who endorsed George W. Bush @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2004 and supported the Iraq War , is one of the 10 richest people in the entire world with personal wealth of about $ 66 billion .
According to Common Dreams , “ Bloomberg could spend $ 100 million every single day on his presidential campaign between now and election day in November… and he would still have a net worth greater than $ 30 billion .
He would still be one of the 30 richest people in the world.
” Perhaps most disturbing of all is the fact that he is using @ @ @ @ @ @ @ American presidency .
Having only been in the presidential race for a few months , he ’ s already spent more money on TV ads than any presidential candidate in history , $ 400 million so far .
The DNC has even changed some its own previously agreed to rules to allow him on the debate stage in Las Vegas after he made them a generous donation .
If this billionaire oligarch is allowed to buy his way into the nation ’ s highest office , how will he treat those who are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ One need only look at his record as New York City Mayor to understand that he has a profound hatred of the less fortunate .
In a 2018 talk given to the International Monetary Fund , the Mayor harshly criticized minimum wage laws as an impediment to job creation and defended the awful practice of finger-printing the working poor who received food stamps .
Regarding the minimum wage in the United States , Bloomberg stated , “ The first thing to do is to get rid of some of these impediments to job @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a minimum wage means that the employer has to pay up to that level for their employees.
” When it came to a law proposed in 2012 to require “ recipients of large economic development subsidies to pay their employees at least $ 10 an hour ” , Bloomberg denounced the proposal as “ soviet communism.
” Apparently demanding big corporations that receive public money treat their employees fairly is “ soviet communism ” while the working poor who receive subsidies need to be finger-printed and treated as criminals .
Needless to say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the minimum wage until shortly before he announced he was running for President .
While corporate Democrats state they will never consider voting for Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders because he ’ s “ not a real Democrat ” , they seem to have no problem with the fact that Bloomberg spent his years as Mayor as a Republican .
In 2004 he endorsed the reelection of President George W. Bush and threw his support behind the reprehensible Iraq War that led to the deaths of over a million Iraqis .
At that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Bloomberg spoke , he unleashed his gestapo police force on peaceful demonstrators .
The thousands of unlawful arrests eventually led to “ the largest protest settlement in history ” .
He employed the same brutal tactics in defense of his friends on Wall Street against the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011 .
In Mike Bloomberg ’ s New York no one was allowed to challenge the rich and powerful , while the poor were criminalized or priced out of the city due to gentrification .
Most notorious of all his authoritarian policies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policy that exclusively targeted Black and Brown young men in impoverished neighborhoods before it was eventually ruled unconstitutional by the courts .
While the policy started under the previous administration , Bloomberg intensified it and , by his own admission , exclusively enforced it on people of color .
Podcaster Benjamin Dixon recently unearthed audio of Michael Bloomberg admitting to instructing the NYPD to racially profile , arguing that it is justified because “ only minorities ” are criminals .
Under the Stop and Frisk regime of Mayor Bloomberg , young Black men @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solely on the color of their skin , “ strip searched , punched , kicked , slammed , beaten , groped , tasered , choked , and shot in these stops .
Drugs were planted .
People were framed.
” This happened a documented 5,081,689 times during Bloomberg ’ s 12 year reign of terror , and that ’ s only what the NYPD reported .
More than 95 % of the time absolutely no contraband was obtained as a result of these stops .
“ The New York Civil Liberties Union found @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stops produced a gun and only 1,200 of those 10,000 were offenses that resulted in fines ” according to The Rolling Stone .
88 % of the people who had their rights violated in this way were either Black or Latino .
Only 9 % were white .
Bloomberg , however , insisted in 2013 that the real victims of Stop & Frisk were white men : “ I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little.
” When it came to murder victims in New York City , Mayor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as he did the victims of Stop & Frisk .
“ Nobody in New York gets murdered , ” he insisted .
“ If you get murdered , first thing we want to do is , what were you selling or who are your family members ?
Because it just has to be you ’ re a drug dealer or have… a family quarrel .
There ’ s just no other , no other kind of verdict whatsoever.
” [ Huff Post : Bloomberg ’ s racist comments go viral ] Undoubtedly one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s policies was Kalief Browder , who tragically took his life after being physically tortured and sexually abused at Rikers Island .
He was swept up and sent to the Rikers chamber of death without ever having been charged with a crime .
Despite all the pain and destruction he brought the Black and Brown communities of New York , that hasn ’ t been able to stop him from buying endorsements from some of the nation ’ s most prominent Black Mayors .
By touting the endorsements of Houston ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Muriel Bowser ( after a sizable donation ) , and San Francisco Mayor London Breed , and flooding the television market with ads showing him with former President Barack Obama , he believes that he can pull the wool over the eyes of Black voters and bury his lifelong support of white supremacist policies .
Derecka Purnell writes in The Guardian , “ If this is what it takes to defeat Trump – supporting a scheming , racist , Islamophobic billionaire – then we will lose much more than an election in November.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ women ’ s rights are concerned , Bloomberg uses similar language to Donald Trump .
While discussing the notorious “ bathroom bills ” meant to exclude Trans people from using the bathroom of the gender they identify with , Bloomberg said it all boils down to a debate about “ some man in a dress ” being in a locker with someone ’ s daughter .
Regarding women in the workplace , his past statements sound like they could have been made by the notorious “ pussy-grabber ” Trump .
“ If women @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” said Bloomberg to one of his employees , “ they ’ d go to a library instead of Bloomingdale ’ s. ” According to GQ , some 64 women have brought sex discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuits against Bloomberg and his organizations over the past decades .
While much attention has been focused on the authoritarian police state Black and Brown people were made to endure , the surveillance state that the Muslim community lived under has not been the subject of much focus .
Bloomberg and the NYPD , undoubtedly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , spied on seemingly every Muslim community from New York to New Jersey .
In the words of former attorney and Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah , “ Under Bloomberg , beginning in 2003 , undercover New York Police Department agents spied on Muslims where we ate , prayed , shopped and went to school… the NYPD would secretly videotape worshipers attending mosques , logging where Muslims wearing Islamic clothes ate meals and recording their lunch-counter conversations.
” The NYPD was given power and authority to spy on Muslims , based on their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ City .
Despite this tyrannical authoritarian policy of spying on the every move of American Muslims , the NYPD did not get a single lead .
Bloomberg has never even bothered apologizing to the Muslims whose rights he violated .
After all , this is a man with a deep suspicion of minorities and those he perceives as being non-white .
And while Democrats denounce Trump ’ s blatant Islamophobia and his anti-Muslim travel ban , it ’ s not at all clear Bloomberg wouldn ’ t enact similar discriminatory policies .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on Muslims , Black communities , Hispanic communities , women , LGBT people , poor people and working class families , is now trying to convince Democratic voters that he ’ s seen the error of these same policies that he was defending as recently as last year .
He made a tepid apology for Stop & Frisk in a Black Church the day before he announced his run for the presidency .
Is this timing a coincidence ?
Benjamin Dixon thinks not .
In his words , “ For Black and brown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s not much better than Trump is.
” Michael Bloomberg ’ s run for the Democratic nomination has exposed a very ugly truth about the Democratic Party .
The fact that so many Democrats were so quick to align with Michael Bloomberg even after he said that all criminals are minorities shows that the Democratic Party as a whole never really had a problem with Donald Trump ’ s racism and bigotry in the first place , and it will quickly throw its most loyal voters under the bus for power .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could possibly come down to two misogynistic white supremacist oligarchs who have a profound hatred for the poor and working class , who believe that communities of color need to be controlled and brutalized by a militarized police force .
This isn ’ t much of a choice at all .

For the past 3 years, as US President Donald Trump has instituted travel bans on Muslim-majority countries, instructed US police to brutalize people they arrest, waged war on the nation’s working poor, assaulted the rights of women and LGBT people, and locked immigrant children in cages while separating them from their families, Democrats have rightly decried him as a racist, a tyrant and a bigot. As the Democratic primaries heat up and voters decide who they will choose to take on Donald Trump and send him into the dustbin of history, Democratic Party leaders are in danger of exposing their “resistance” as the charade that it is by nominating someone who is everything they so forcefully denounce in Trump: former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Despite Democratic claims to oppose the massive wealth inequality that permeates this country and the tyranny of the richest 1%, many Democrats have quickly thrown their faux concern to the wind and embraced the candidacy of someone who is an even bigger oligarch than Donald Trump. Mike Bloomberg, a former Republican who endorsed George W. Bush for President at the GOP Convention in 2004 and supported the Iraq War, is one of the 10 richest people in the entire world with personal wealth of about $66 billion. According to Common Dreams, “Bloomberg could spend $100 million every single day on his presidential campaign between now and election day in November… and he would still have a net worth greater than $30 billion. He would still be one of the 30 richest people in the world.” Perhaps most disturbing of all is the fact that he is using this vast fortune to literally buy the American presidency. Having only been in the presidential race for a few months, he’s already spent more money on TV ads than any presidential candidate in history, $400 million so far. The DNC has even changed some its own previously agreed to rules to allow him on the debate stage in Las Vegas after he made them a generous donation.
If this billionaire oligarch is allowed to buy his way into the nation’s highest office, how will he treat those who are among the poor and working class? One need only look at his record as New York City Mayor to understand that he has a profound hatred of the less fortunate. In a 2018 talk given to the International Monetary Fund, the Mayor harshly criticized minimum wage laws as an impediment to job creation and defended the awful practice of finger-printing the working poor who received food stamps. Regarding the minimum wage in the United States, Bloomberg stated, “The first thing to do is to get rid of some of these impediments to job creation… We have minimum wages. And a minimum wage means that the employer has to pay up to that level for their employees.” When it came to a law proposed in 2012 to require “recipients of large economic development subsidies to pay their employees at least $10 an hour”, Bloomberg denounced the proposal as “soviet communism.” Apparently demanding big corporations that receive public money treat their employees fairly is “soviet communism” while the working poor who receive subsidies need to be finger-printed and treated as criminals. Needless to say he was not in favor of raising the minimum wage until shortly before he announced he was running for President.
x YouTube Video
While corporate Democrats state they will never consider voting for Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders because he’s “not a real Democrat”, they seem to have no problem with the fact that Bloomberg spent his years as Mayor as a Republican. In 2004 he endorsed the reelection of President George W. Bush and threw his support behind the reprehensible Iraq War that led to the deaths of over a million Iraqis. At that year’s GOP Convention at which Bloomberg spoke, he unleashed his gestapo police force on peaceful demonstrators. The thousands of unlawful arrests eventually led to “the largest protest settlement in history”. He employed the same brutal tactics in defense of his friends on Wall Street against the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. In Mike Bloomberg’s New York no one was allowed to challenge the rich and powerful, while the poor were criminalized or priced out of the city due to gentrification.
Most notorious of all his authoritarian policies was Stop & Frisk, a racist policy that exclusively targeted Black and Brown young men in impoverished neighborhoods before it was eventually ruled unconstitutional by the courts. While the policy started under the previous administration, Bloomberg intensified it and, by his own admission, exclusively enforced it on people of color. Podcaster Benjamin Dixon recently unearthed audio of Michael Bloomberg admitting to instructing the NYPD to racially profile, arguing that it is justified because “only minorities” are criminals.
“Ninety-five percent of your murders and murderers and murder victims fit the same profile. You can just take the description and Xerox it and pass it out to all the cops. They are male minorities 16 to 25. That’s true in New York. That’s true in virtually every city… One of the unintended consequences is people say, ‘oh my God, you are arresting kids for marijuana that are all minorities.‘ Yes, that is true. Why? Because we put all the cops in the minority neighborhoods. Yes, that is true. Why did we do it? Because that’s where all the crime is.”
Under the Stop and Frisk regime of Mayor Bloomberg, young Black men were routinely stopped by police officers based solely on the color of their skin, “strip searched, punched, kicked, slammed, beaten, groped, tasered, choked, and shot in these stops. Drugs were planted. People were framed.” This happened a documented 5,081,689 times during Bloomberg’s 12 year reign of terror, and that’s only what the NYPD reported. More than 95% of the time absolutely no contraband was obtained as a result of these stops. “The New York Civil Liberties Union found that only 14 out of every 1,000 stops produced a gun and only 1,200 of those 10,000 were offenses that resulted in fines” according to The Rolling Stone. 88% of the people who had their rights violated in this way were either Black or Latino. Only 9% were white. Bloomberg, however, insisted in 2013 that the real victims of Stop & Frisk were white men: “I think we disproportionately stop whites too much and minorities too little.”
When it came to murder victims in New York City, Mayor Bloomberg had as much empathy for them as he did the victims of Stop & Frisk. “Nobody in New York gets murdered,” he insisted. “If you get murdered, first thing we want to do is, what were you selling or who are your family members? Because it just has to be you’re a drug dealer or have… a family quarrel. There’s just no other, no other kind of verdict whatsoever.” [Huff Post: Bloomberg’s racist comments go viral] Undoubtedly one of the best known victims of Bloomberg’s policies was Kalief Browder, who tragically took his life after being physically tortured and sexually abused at Rikers Island. He was swept up and sent to the Rikers chamber of death without ever having been charged with a crime.
Despite all the pain and destruction he brought the Black and Brown communities of New York, that hasn’t been able to stop him from buying endorsements from some of the nation’s most prominent Black Mayors. By touting the endorsements of Houston’s own Sylvester Turner, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (after a sizable donation), and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, and flooding the television market with ads showing him with former President Barack Obama, he believes that he can pull the wool over the eyes of Black voters and bury his lifelong support of white supremacist policies. Derecka Purnell writes in The Guardian, “If this is what it takes to defeat Trump – supporting a scheming, racist, Islamophobic billionaire – then we will lose much more than an election in November.”
As far as LGBTQ rights and women’s rights are concerned, Bloomberg uses similar language to Donald Trump. While discussing the notorious “bathroom bills” meant to exclude Trans people from using the bathroom of the gender they identify with, Bloomberg said it all boils down to a debate about “some man in a dress” being in a locker with someone’s daughter. Regarding women in the workplace, his past statements sound like they could have been made by the notorious “pussy-grabber” Trump. “If women wanted to be appreciated for their brains,” said Bloomberg to one of his employees, “they’d go to a library instead of Bloomingdale’s.” According to GQ, some 64 women have brought sex discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuits against Bloomberg and his organizations over the past decades.
While much attention has been focused on the authoritarian police state Black and Brown people were made to endure, the surveillance state that the Muslim community lived under has not been the subject of much focus. Bloomberg and the NYPD, undoubtedly with the help of other police forces, spied on seemingly every Muslim community from New York to New Jersey. In the words of former attorney and Daily Beast columnist Dean Obeidallah, “Under Bloomberg, beginning in 2003, undercover New York Police Department agents spied on Muslims where we ate, prayed, shopped and went to school… the NYPD would secretly videotape worshipers attending mosques, logging where Muslims wearing Islamic clothes ate meals and recording their lunch-counter conversations.” The NYPD was given power and authority to spy on Muslims, based on their faith alone, outside of New York City. Despite this tyrannical authoritarian policy of spying on the every move of American Muslims, the NYPD did not get a single lead. Bloomberg has never even bothered apologizing to the Muslims whose rights he violated. After all, this is a man with a deep suspicion of minorities and those he perceives as being non-white. And while Democrats denounce Trump’s blatant Islamophobia and his anti-Muslim travel ban, it’s not at all clear Bloomberg wouldn’t enact similar discriminatory policies.
The New Mayor who inflicted so much damage on Muslims, Black communities, Hispanic communities, women, LGBT people, poor people and working class families, is now trying to convince Democratic voters that he’s seen the error of these same policies that he was defending as recently as last year. He made a tepid apology for Stop & Frisk in a Black Church the day before he announced his run for the presidency. Is this timing a coincidence? Benjamin Dixon thinks not. In his words, “For Black and brown boys in New York, he’s not much better than Trump is.” Michael Bloomberg’s run for the Democratic nomination has exposed a very ugly truth about the Democratic Party. The fact that so many Democrats were so quick to align with Michael Bloomberg even after he said that all criminals are minorities shows that the Democratic Party as a whole never really had a problem with Donald Trump’s racism and bigotry in the first place, and it will quickly throw its most loyal voters under the bus for power. In the end, the 2020 presidential election could possibly come down to two misogynistic white supremacist oligarchs who have a profound hatred for the poor and working class, who believe that communities of color need to be controlled and brutalized by a militarized police force. This isn’t much of a choice at all.
cross-posted on UShypocrisy.com


dailykos--2020-02-21--Trump has Turned the Republican Party into a Viper Pit, Full of Treachery, Fear, and Chaos

I know that we are in the midst of a heated Democratic Primary .
And the mainstream press writes about the “ Democratic Party in Disarray ” about as often as the days that end in -y .
But it is time to recognize that Trump gives us a great opportunity to push the Republican Party closer to the brink of oblivion .
This is not the same Republican Party that used to march in lockstep with whatever the leadership wants .
The Republican Party that used to possess great cohesion .
As much as they are our adversaries , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ great care of how the Party is able to fall in line with its power wielders .
Not the Party under Trump .
Trump ’ s idea of leadership is wielding as much power as possible , with all the underlings fighting to become Henchman Number Two .
Rather than distributing power down the chain of command in a predictable manner , the chain of command under Trump is blurred , unstable and changing all the time , and even his most staunchest footsoldiers likely on edge at all hours of the day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just like that .
What kind of environment does this leadership style cultivate ?
Well , we can see it playing out throughout the downballot ticket all around the country now .
In Alabama ’ s Senate race , challenging Democratic incumbent Doug Jones , the previous Republican incumbent , Jeff Sessions , is in an ugly primary battle with sitting Congressman Bradley Byrne , football coach Tommy Tuberville , and they ’ ve still got the mess of disgraced Roy Moore to deal with .
All of this started , mind you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cabinet .
Well , temporarily , anyways , as is any employment under Trump .
In Georgia ’ s special Senate race to replace Johnny Isakson , you ’ ve got technically-incumbent Kelly Loeffler , who was appointed by Gov .
Brian Kemp , vs another sitting Congressman , Doug Collins , where again , the shadow of Trump looms large over the contest .
And considering the other Republican incumbent Senator , David Perdue , is also facing re-election this year , depending on how badly the Loeffler-Collins-Trump triangle plays out , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conventional wisdom might otherwise expect .
In Kansas , early Trump ally Kris Kobach , who already cost the GOP the governor ’ s office , is currently looking like the front-runner in the GOP Senate primary to replace retiring Pat Roberts .
Then there is the tenuous relationship that Trump has with the Mormon wing of the Republican Party .
Obviously , the most recent drama , with Mitt Romney being the only Republican to vote to remove Trump during impeachment , but there is also Trump ’ s constant attacks on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And it is somewhat been a constant under the Trump regime , remember that with Trump the presumed Republican nominee in 2016 , former CIA officer Evan McMullin ran as an independent to offer a Conservative alternative to Trump .
While McMullin ’ s campaign was ultimately inconsequential on the national stage , his significant showing in Utah ( 21.5 % ) reflects that Trump is a liability with this once-stalwart base demographic of the Republican Party .
Note that these are all places where the Republican Party has largely dominated — but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republican Party has on these parts is looking less dominant by the day .
And while the Republican primaries were always arguably as contested as they are today , I think in the past , the GOP was a lot more capable of reining in the hostility of it .
They were a lot better at keeping it “ gentlemanly , ” in the majority of the public sphere .
And there was a stronger perception that they could make deals in the smoke-filled rooms out of the public eye , to keep @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump , that all seems to have gone by the wayside .
Nowadays , it seems like the Trump menu of backstabbing , badmouthing , and reality-show style conspiring is making it more and more to the forefront of these battles .
While I am not going to say because of this , the Democratic Party should expect to win all or any of these seats .
They are still going to be tough battles for our team to win , no matter what .
But still , they offer a great opportunity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Republican Party .
To further drive wedges between intra-GOP factions , to continue to drive GOP voters away from these toxic fights .
If the Primary battle between Sessions and Byrne gets ugly enough , for example , the damage could continue onto the General election , keep disgusted voters at home , and help Jones , for example .
This might be considered an optimistic prediction .
But this potential lies in intra-GOP battles all around the country .
I would dare say that the potential that Trump ’ s toxic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for fracturing , either for attracting former GOP voters to the Democratic Party , or simply driving them away from the GOP , period .
Towards that end , yes I think the Dem Party should be working toward a new 50-state strategy .
Because of Trump , places that Dems have largely abandoned , are once again chances to establish new grassroots .
First of all , there is this unquestioned notion , that the Republican Party — not the leadership and minority in power , but the vast number of voters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in lockstep with Trump and will overwhelmingly come home in November to vote for him .
I am not convinced that this entirely proven true .
The off-year elections since Trump won the Electoral College have been disastrous for the Republican Party .
They lost control of the US House .
They lost the governors offices of several states that Trump won .
They have lost nine state legislative chambers under Trump .
And unless Trump displays the ability to unite the Party the way he and the rest of the media thinks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prove so far , they stand to lose even more going forward .
So rather than treating the solidarity of the Republican Party under Trump as a given , we would be better served to point out how utterly false this is .
And if anything , to work to make it all-the-more apparent .
Under Trump , the Republican Party is now a viper pit .
For the leaders like Mitch McConnell who spent so many years turning it into a safe haven of re-election and unquestioning loyal voters , it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wait to get thrown under the bus , while you endlessly watch your back , all while trying to betray someone else first .

I know that we are in the midst of a heated Democratic Primary. And the mainstream press writes about the “Democratic Party in Disarray” about as often as the days that end in -y.
But it is time to recognize that Trump gives us a great opportunity to push the Republican Party closer to the brink of oblivion.
This is not the same Republican Party that used to march in lockstep with whatever the leadership wants. The Republican Party that used to possess great cohesion. As much as they are our adversaries, it was always worth noting and taking great care of how the Party is able to fall in line with its power wielders.
Not the Party under Trump. Trump’s idea of leadership is wielding as much power as possible, with all the underlings fighting to become Henchman Number Two. Rather than distributing power down the chain of command in a predictable manner, the chain of command under Trump is blurred, unstable and changing all the time, and even his most staunchest footsoldiers likely on edge at all hours of the day, that they can lose their positions just like that.
What kind of environment does this leadership style cultivate? Well, we can see it playing out throughout the downballot ticket all around the country now.
In Alabama’s Senate race, challenging Democratic incumbent Doug Jones, the previous Republican incumbent, Jeff Sessions, is in an ugly primary battle with sitting Congressman Bradley Byrne, football coach Tommy Tuberville, and they’ve still got the mess of disgraced Roy Moore to deal with. All of this started, mind you, because Trump tapped Sessions for his Cabinet. Well, temporarily, anyways, as is any employment under Trump.
In Georgia’s special Senate race to replace Johnny Isakson, you’ve got technically-incumbent Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp, vs another sitting Congressman, Doug Collins, where again, the shadow of Trump looms large over the contest. And considering the other Republican incumbent Senator, David Perdue, is also facing re-election this year, depending on how badly the Loeffler-Collins-Trump triangle plays out, it may see him more threatened than conventional wisdom might otherwise expect.
In Kansas, early Trump ally Kris Kobach, who already cost the GOP the governor’s office, is currently looking like the front-runner in the GOP Senate primary to replace retiring Pat Roberts.
Then there is the tenuous relationship that Trump has with the Mormon wing of the Republican Party. Obviously, the most recent drama, with Mitt Romney being the only Republican to vote to remove Trump during impeachment, but there is also Trump’s constant attacks on another Mormon, Senator Jeff Flake. And it is somewhat been a constant under the Trump regime, remember that with Trump the presumed Republican nominee in 2016, former CIA officer Evan McMullin ran as an independent to offer a Conservative alternative to Trump. While McMullin’s campaign was ultimately inconsequential on the national stage, his significant showing in Utah (21.5%) reflects that Trump is a liability with this once-stalwart base demographic of the Republican Party.
Note that these are all places where the Republican Party has largely dominated — but because of Trump, that stranglehold the Republican Party has on these parts is looking less dominant by the day. And while the Republican primaries were always arguably as contested as they are today, I think in the past, the GOP was a lot more capable of reining in the hostility of it. They were a lot better at keeping it “gentlemanly,” in the majority of the public sphere. And there was a stronger perception that they could make deals in the smoke-filled rooms out of the public eye, to keep the intra-party battles more telegenic.
Under Trump, that all seems to have gone by the wayside. Nowadays, it seems like the Trump menu of backstabbing, badmouthing, and reality-show style conspiring is making it more and more to the forefront of these battles.
While I am not going to say because of this, the Democratic Party should expect to win all or any of these seats. They are still going to be tough battles for our team to win, no matter what.
But still, they offer a great opportunity to build on these growing battles within the Republican Party. To further drive wedges between intra-GOP factions, to continue to drive GOP voters away from these toxic fights.
If the Primary battle between Sessions and Byrne gets ugly enough, for example, the damage could continue onto the General election, keep disgusted voters at home, and help Jones, for example.
This might be considered an optimistic prediction. But this potential lies in intra-GOP battles all around the country. I would dare say that the potential that Trump’s toxic GOP has throughout the country is rife for fracturing, either for attracting former GOP voters to the Democratic Party, or simply driving them away from the GOP, period. Towards that end, yes I think the Dem Party should be working toward a new 50-state strategy. Because of Trump, places that Dems have largely abandoned, are once again chances to establish new grassroots.
First of all, there is this unquestioned notion, that the Republican Party — not the leadership and minority in power, but the vast number of voters who are considered its base — is in lockstep with Trump and will overwhelmingly come home in November to vote for him. I am not convinced that this entirely proven true.
The off-year elections since Trump won the Electoral College have been disastrous for the Republican Party. They lost control of the US House. They lost the governors offices of several states that Trump won. They have lost nine state legislative chambers under Trump. And unless Trump displays the ability to unite the Party the way he and the rest of the media thinks, but has largely been unable to prove so far, they stand to lose even more going forward.
So rather than treating the solidarity of the Republican Party under Trump as a given, we would be better served to point out how utterly false this is. And if anything, to work to make it all-the-more apparent.
Under Trump, the Republican Party is now a viper pit. For the leaders like Mitch McConnell who spent so many years turning it into a safe haven of re-election and unquestioning loyal voters, it is now no better than a place to wait to get thrown under the bus, while you endlessly watch your back, all while trying to betray someone else first.


dailykos--2020-02-21--Bloomberg Is Running Against Sanders/Warren As Much As Trump

Wealthy people , celebrities and some politicians are often candidates for falling in to a trap that they are all knowing and adopting a sense of entitlement regarding their station in life .
The danger for a otherwise psychologically healthy individual to lapse in to a mindset of superiority over one ’ s peer is referred to as “ acquired narcissism ” .
People who may have started off being relatively humble , altruistic and empathetic can rather easily become co-opted in to a person who is accustomed to privileges that the power of their wealth has brought them , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have some degree of immunity to the customs and conventions that the average person on the street would be expected to observe .
This doesn ’ t make them a bad person or mitigate the skills that may have gotten them there .
One of the first casualties of acquired narcissism is perspective taking , that is the inclination , or in the extreme the inability to consider the ideas and feelings of others they perceive as having less status .
This is displayed in the attitude of arrogance .
If you watched @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have seen Bloomberg the narcissist on full display .
The people on that stage were for the most part standing there with Mr. Bloomberg because they had never started a business .
Like his predecessor for the office of the presidency , he sees those who haven ’ t run a business as somehow less qualified than himself for the job .
I have run several companies and I know that I am completely unqualified to be president and neither is Mike Bloomberg if he is citing that experience as what makes him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It certainly can ’ t be his stint as Mayor of NYC and his terrorizing minorities for all those years .
There are a lot of people who think it ’ s a great idea to have a successful business person come in to manage the government .
There are a skills that someone who has business experience might bring over , but there isn ’ t any guarantee that Bloomberg possesses these traits .
Just having on his resume the creation of profitable businesses is not an indicator that he can transfer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commander and chief .
CEOs are measured by their ability to creat market share , increase revenues and cut costs .
Which party would most like that kind of leader in the White House ?
Our government is a more like a giant non-profit .
Bloomberg ’ s identity and all his power is dependent on his wealth .
To many that kind of money is cause enough to imbue him with certain powers that he doesn ’ t necessarily possess .
This is why he has risen the polls , certain voters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ titans of commerce on the debate stage .
Bloomberg says he can beat Trump , my question is what makes him think so ?
He is not the opposite of Trump , he is a richer version of Trump sans the sociopathic criminal personality disorder .
Like Trump he unconsciously suspects he is nothing without his money , an imposter .
He hit on some business ideas that took off , if not for that he might have been a middle manager at a Wall Street brokerage firm .
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of their life .
Their rise and life stories are no less impressive as they overcame obstacles to rise to the top of their profession .
Unlike Bloomberg their success and influence in the public arena is built on the admiration of people who helped lift them up and placed them in a position to stand on that stage side by side with him .
How dare they challenge him as equals ?
They may represent a threat to the fragile psyche of a man whose whole public identity , and claim to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to create something that at the end of the day may have benefited no one but himself .

Wealthy people, celebrities and some politicians are often candidates for falling in to a trap that they are all knowing and adopting a sense of entitlement regarding their station in life. The danger for a otherwise psychologically healthy individual to lapse in to a mindset of superiority over one’s peer is referred to as “acquired narcissism”.
People who may have started off being relatively humble, altruistic and empathetic can rather easily become co-opted in to a person who is accustomed to privileges that the power of their wealth has brought them, to adapt the mindset that the they have some degree of immunity to the customs and conventions that the average person on the street would be expected to observe. This doesn’t make them a bad person or mitigate the skills that may have gotten them there.
One of the first casualties of acquired narcissism is perspective taking, that is the inclination, or in the extreme the inability to consider the ideas and feelings of others they perceive as having less status. This is displayed in the attitude of arrogance.
If you watched the debate this week, you would have seen Bloomberg the narcissist on full display. The people on that stage were for the most part standing there with Mr. Bloomberg because they had never started a business. Like his predecessor for the office of the presidency, he sees those who haven’t run a business as somehow less qualified than himself for the job. I have run several companies and I know that I am completely unqualified to be president and neither is Mike Bloomberg if he is citing that experience as what makes him the best person for the job. It certainly can’t be his stint as Mayor of NYC and his terrorizing minorities for all those years.
There are a lot of people who think it’s a great idea to have a successful business person come in to manage the government. There are a skills that someone who has business experience might bring over, but there isn’t any guarantee that Bloomberg possesses these traits. Just having on his resume the creation of profitable businesses is not an indicator that he can transfer those skills over to the role of commander and chief. CEOs are measured by their ability to creat market share, increase revenues and cut costs. Which party would most like that kind of leader in the White House? Our government is a more like a giant non-profit.
Bloomberg’s identity and all his power is dependent on his wealth. To many that kind of money is cause enough to imbue him with certain powers that he doesn’t necessarily possess. This is why he has risen the polls, certain voters want to see a battle of these titans of commerce on the debate stage.
Bloomberg says he can beat Trump, my question is what makes him think so? He is not the opposite of Trump, he is a richer version of Trump sans the sociopathic criminal personality disorder. Like Trump he unconsciously suspects he is nothing without his money, an imposter. He hit on some business ideas that took off, if not for that he might have been a middle manager at a Wall Street brokerage firm.
Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have lived within modest means most of their life. Their rise and life stories are no less impressive as they overcame obstacles to rise to the top of their profession. Unlike Bloomberg their success and influence in the public arena is built on the admiration of people who helped lift them up and placed them in a position to stand on that stage side by side with him. How dare they challenge him as equals? They may represent a threat to the fragile psyche of a man whose whole public identity, and claim to extraordinary competence is built on his ability to create something that at the end of the day may have benefited no one but himself.