Reflections: Some Valid Talking Points

Trump is a nightmare.

The Neo-Liberal Democratic "opposition" is just another set of shopworn corporate tools.

Bernie's "movement" has now fallen into line behind provoking war with Russia.

Identity Politics generates Cognitive Dissonance.

You are alone.

If you are sane, you are on your own.

Reflections: Election Day 2016--Hard Choices

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I just watched Bernie Sander's speech from Philly at the DNC last night. It is sad that it has come to this. But Bernie did get to me.

Obama promised most of what HRC now promises and was able to deliver only bits and pieces of it. HRC won't do any better unless the revolution extends down ticket. Even if you can't bring yourself to vote for Hillary--and I don't blame you there-- you must go and vote for the Democratic congressmen and senators who are up for election or reelection in your state and district. I personally contemplated abstention as an option this time around, but I now reject that notion as irresponsible and potentially destructive.

That said, we also need a strong anti-war movement such as we saw in the Vietnam era to put an end to HRC's murderous foreign policy agendas.It's all well and good if she can mitigate the obscene profit-taking of Big Pharma. But she must also put an end to the huge profitability of the arms industries and the slaughter of innocents abroad that those profits provoke and incite.

I haven't yet decided whether I can bring myself to vote for Hillary Clinton. But I have decided to vote. And as a resident of the crucial swing state of Ohio, with the polls currently showing Trump and Clinton tied, I am persuaded that if the election were being held tomorrow I would have to vote for Clinton--even though I would fear hating myself ever after for doing so.

Hillary Clinton is not a good human being, but we live in a fallen world and we must, of necessity, do the best we can with what we've got.

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Reflections: Berniebros

If this "Berniebro" phenomenon is symptomatic of a deeply ingrained societal strain of misogyny, I find it strange that there were not "Barrybros" operating in a similar fashion in 2008. Has this epidemic of misogyny erupted for the first time just this campaign season?

I can't help wondering if at least some of these "Berniebros" do not constitute a dirty tricks squad, deployed by the DNC to discredit Bernie Sanders and help ensure a victory for the Establishment candidate.
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Reflections: Some Thoughts on the Elections

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As for Hillary vs. Bernie:

Well, certainly if you're going to vote at all for a potentially viable candidate, Bernie is the best choice. That said, he's too much of a hawk for me to be very happy with him. If the perpetual war isn't ended, none of the other problems are going to be adequately addressed, because there won't be the funding available. So, as far as I'm concerned, the difference between Bernie and Hillary, or even any of the GOP assholes, is largely cosmetic.

As for Bernie’s “Political Revolution”:

To me, what it boils down to is that Bernie was an activist in the '60s and must remember well what happened in the presidential election of 1968 and again--to a lesser extent--in the election of 1972. So for him to imply that a "revolutionary" change is going to occur now, within the two-party system, is disingenuous. If he were a true “revolutionary,” he would have run as an independent and not worried about what that did to the Democratic Party (to which he does not belong.)

The choice between Bernie and Hillary in terms of workable policy is basically a coin toss.

The one thing that I care most about is ending the Orwellian perpetual war in the Middle East. And on that consideration, the difference between Bernie, Hillary and any of the GOP thugs is basically another coin toss: they are all hawks, even if it is for slightly different reasons.

As for a Michael Bloomberg candidacy:

I really can't take the prospect of a Bloomberg candidacy seriously. In the first place, nobody in fly-over territory knows who he is, or cares. And he doesn't have time to tell them. Americans don't like New York, or New Yorkers. Other former NYC mayors have had presidential aspirations and quickly found that their tenure in that office was minimally negotiable, at best—more probably, a negative.

Bloomberg is a rich Jew. Many Americans, whether publicly or privately, don't much like rich Jews. Bernie is at least not a billionaire. He is rich by the standards of ordinary working people, I suppose--but it's not his primary claim to fame.

Bloomberg running would just be a stunt--like Nader's candidacies were stunts--not a thing to be taken seriously.

Add to that—Bloomberg is boring. Boring doesn't sell; particularly not in today's political climate. I think the idea of a Bloomberg run for president is a non-starter.

Finally, on the subject of a Bloomberg candidacy, people in fly-over territory would vote for another Kenyan Marxist who's coming for their guns faster than they would vote for a New York Oligarch who's coming for their Super-Sized fast food sodas.

As for Bernie’s demographics:

It's also true that Bernie Sanders is originally from New York City. (At least a small percentage of the Americans who know that Bernie is originally from Brooklyn also know that Brooklyn is part of New York City.) 

Bernie, however, has had the good sense to get out of that vile place where his mother happened to have been when he dropped from the womb and into Vermont: Bernie is now a full-fledged, gun-totin' Green Mountain Boy! He’s been inoculated against his New-York-Jewishness by the fresh mountain air.

As for Donald Trump’s chances:

It's true that Donald Trump, who has drawn a fairly large number of enthusiastic followers, is both a billionaire and a New Yorker. But he is also a xenophobic fascist. Americans like fascists. Atlas Shrugged continues to be a best-seller sixty years after its publication. But I don't really believe that Trump will get the nomination. One way or another, it will go to a career politician, because The Machine is stronger than any individual.