US Election: 2016

[Kilo_302]

I'm of the mind that polls should be taken with a grain of salt, but this latest from CNN/ORC shows Sanders is the most favoured among all the candidates in both parties. If Clinton becomes the nominee I would think her current advantage over Trump would be dissolve as she becomes the focus of his attacks. All of her weaknesses play to his strengths. Sanders, on the other hand would be far harder to attack, in fact Trump would do well no matter who he faces to pick up some of his policies.

I also saw some interesting analysis last night that hypothesized the Republican establishment might actually prefer a Clinton presidency over a  Trump presidency. If they can keep the Senate and Congress she wouldn't be able to achieve anything anyway, and in the intervening 4 years they would be able ensure a victory the next time around. Clinton will only continue the current way of doing things, and the current way of doing things has seen middle America virtually disappear. If Trump is elected he will be unpredictable (at least he is now, though he seemed to moderate his tone last night), and no one likes unpredictability when you're legislating on behalf of big business like the establishment of both parties do.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/01/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-poll/

Sanders -- who enjoys the most positive favorable rating of any presidential candidate in the field, according to the poll -- tops all three Republicans by wide margins: 57% to 40% against Cruz, 55% to 43% against Trump, and 53% to 45% against Rubio. Sanders fares better than Clinton in each match-up among men, younger voters and independents.

Clinton looks to close Sanders out in March

The race for the presidency hits its primary season peak as 78% of voters, including almost the same share among Democrats, Republicans and independents, who say that the nation is more deeply divided on major issues facing the country than it has been in the past.

The survey asked voters to choose which of all the remaining top candidates, regardless of party, they trust most to handle seven top issues. Trump tops the list on the economy, terrorism and immigration, while Clinton is the top choice when it comes to health care, race relations and foreign policy. Voters are about evenly split between Trump and Clinton on gun policy.

Adding up all the candidates from each party, Republicans have the edge on the economy, terrorism, immigration and gun policy, while more voters choose one of the Democrats' candidates on race relations and health care, with about an even split between the two parties on foreign policy.

Voters' choices broken out by party provide an interesting window into areas where Trump might hold cross-party appeal. Though the share of leaned Republicans choosing Clinton on any of the tested issues tops out at 8% on health care, Trump is the most trusted for 15% of leaned Democrats on terrorism, 14% on the economy and 13% on immigration.

As noted above, Sanders holds the most positive favorability rating of any of the top candidates for president: 60% of registered voters view him positively, 33% negatively. He is the only candidate seen favorably by a majority of voters, and one of four who are seen more positively than negatively.

 

[CougarKing]

Don't faint, oh rotund one...  ;D

Associated Press

U.S. Governor Chris Christie's 'What Have I Done' Face After Backing Trump Has Gone Viral

Yahoo News
March 2, 2016

You would think that after Donald Trump stormed to victory on Super Tuesday, all eyes would be on the US presidential hopeful.

However, it was actually all eyes on New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who last week endorsed the controversial Republican candidate.

(...SNIPPED)

  :facepalm:

Vancity Buzz

'How to move to Canada' trending after Trump's Super Tuesday win
By
Vancity Buzz Staff
8:03 AM PST, Wed March 02, 2016

Google searches from people in the U.S. looking for information on how to move to Canada have surged since Donald Trump’s Super Tuesday performance south of the border.

Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton were the big winners on Super Tuesday, taking a step closer to landing the nomination from their respective parties. But while the candidates were no doubt celebrating their electoral achievements, it seems that the rest of the country was a little more apprehensive.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[Kilo_302]

Things are getting uglier at Trump events. The footage of adult men shoving and screaming at a teenage girl is extremely disturbing. But hey, this is what we get when conservative politicians use "dog whistle" politics and associate with hate group in the hopes of securing their votes for decades. This is the logical extrapolation of conservative politics in America. And the Conservatives here in Canada tried this stuff with the focus on Muslims in the last election. We are heading to a very dangerous place if this stuff isn't addressed head on.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/king-not-long-killed-trump-rally-article-1.2549868

On Monday, 30 black students attending a Donald Trump rally at Valdosta State University in rural Georgia were forcefully ejected — simply for being black.

On Tuesday, in Louisville, Ky., what happened to young black protesters at another Trump rally wasn’t just racist — it appears to be outright criminal.

While we have already widely reported that white supremacists are openly proclaiming that they are fully emboldened and energized by Trump, the natural progression of their romance with Trump is now on full display.

While Trump was giving his typical campaign speech about making America great again, several different predominantly black groups of protesters, who were simply there to hold up signs, began having those signs snatched and getting cursed by the white Trump supporters surrounding them.

We now know that those Trump supporters are open bigots, Neo-Nazis, and white supremacists belonging to many different groups including the Traditionalist Worker Party — a well-documented hate group. Their social media profiles are full of Nazi photos, KKK and white supremacist references, and some of the most insulting, despicable hate speech you'll ever see.


It is believed that Heimbach, one of the best known youth leaders of modern white supremacy and Neo-Nazism in the country, may be the man who can be seen in the red "Make America Great Again hat" who repeatedly shoved, pushed and screamed profanities at the teenage girl in the video. He has actually been banned from entering the United Kingdom because of his bigotry.


Before the rally began, he was seen by another protester wearing the same Traditionalist Worker Party T-shirt and eyeglasses he was seen with while assaulting the young girl. Heimbach can also be seen wearing the same shirt and glasses in photos throughout his social media profiles.

In fact, men and women can been seen wearing those T-shirts throughout the rally. For them, it appears, a Trump rally is a white power rally.

When I first saw the short 37-second news clip of this young girl being forcefully pushed and shoved by large grown men, my blood began to boil. In my lifetime, I have never seen grown men, many who at first appeared to be complete strangers, violently shove a young girl around like that. Some seem to just be pushing her for fun to the left and to the right, just because it's what other people were doing.

While it all goes down, the hate for her is visible in the eyes not just of the adult men who repeatedly shove her, but in the surrounding women who look on. Nobody, not a single soul, offers to help protect her or escort her out in a way that is remotely safe.

Nobody, though, was as violent and flagrant as the man in the Trump campaign hat with the white supremacist T-shirt. As he yells in the young girls face, and appears to attempt to stab her with a pen of some sort, he pushes and shoves her repeatedly.

Police and Secret Service do nothing.

"I was called a n----- and a c--t and got kicked out," said Shiya Nwanguma, a respected student at the University of Louisville to a local interviewerin a video posted on Facebook.

"They were pushing and shoving at me, cursing at me, yelling at me, called me every name in the book. They were disgusting and dangerous."

Another demonstrator, Molly Shah, watched as Heimbach tried to recruit other attendees.


"I watched him for hours recruit Trump supporters with five of his buddies," said Shah. "They later attacked the group I was with. The Neo-Nazis threw punches and kicked us. I am still awake now because my body is sore."

What we now know from the full video, particularly starting at around 28:00 in this video, is that the crowd was taking their cues from Trump — who repeatedly barked, "get them out of here" without giving anyone in particular a clue as to who he expected to do such a thing. So flippant in his directive, it appears that attendees simply began taking it upon themselves to manhandle protesters and force them out of the rally. Apparently wanting to have the feeling that they were doing what their Supreme Leader told them to do, everybody began to chip in. A random teenage boy shoved the young girl to one side until she is pushed again by someone else. A man wearing a military hat repeatedly shoved and yelled at her as well.

In an interview with the New York Daily News, Chanelle Helm, a protester and respected activist who attended the rally, said that she and others were not just spat on, but were cursed at and demeaned repeatedly by Trump supporters.

She distinctly remembered one disturbing chant, which was lead by the white supremacists, "You're scum, you're time will come. You're scum, you're time will come."

"In my entire life I had never had anyone look at me with such hate. It was like the videos and photos we've seen from the Little Rock 9 and other school integration moments from the 1950s and '60s where the fury was palpable in the eyes of the white women," said Helm.


She went on, "We were there alongside them for hours and hours waiting for the rally to begin. They would regularly bump into us on purpose, step on our shoes, accidentally wave signs that smacked us in the face. We actually heard them talking about us for hours. It was eerie."

Henry Brousseau, another protester, said "I was actually punched by fascists wearing T-shirts from the Traditional Workers Party."

After being removed from the event, Helm actually saw Brousseau vomiting afterward.

"All we want is justice, peace, and equality," said Helm. "All of us are peaceful protesters, but we clearly walked into a deeply racist and violent atmosphere at the Trump rally. Some of us who were taken out of there by police, by black officers I might add, were actually told that they wanted to get us out there for our own safety."

 

[Fishbone Jones]

The 'opinion' of someone daydreaming 'what if?' and the unprovable accusations of professional activists are typical fare. There is no basis to the Christie tweets except for a bunch of people guessing. Christie has said no such thing ("OMG!, what have I done?"). Activists will spill out their heart rending version of what they think was said and done, knowing there's no real way to disprove their accusations.

Once the battle lines are set, I'm sure we'll see more of these types showing up on both sides. As well, there may be other 'unsavoury' endorsements coming for both sides.

But if someone comes out endorsing you, there is no way of stopping them. It's not the candidates fault.

If ISIS said "We endorse Hillary Clinton" there's really not a lot she can do about it. She can say she doesn't accept the endorsement, but there is nothing stopping ISIS from running commercials and printing posters backing their choice. Nobody listens to that last soundbite "I'm Hillary Clinton and I approve this message."

 

[cupper]

If ISIS said "We endorse Hillary Clinton" there's really not a lot she can do about it. She can say she doesn't accept the endorsement, but there is nothing stopping ISIS from running commercials and printing posters backing their choice. Nobody listens to that last soundbite "I'm Hillary Clinton and I approve this message."

But at least she hasn't started retweeting their messages.

YET.

[

 

[cupper]

You know it says a lot about the state of the GOP when EVERYONE seems to be preparing to trash the frontrunner should he take the nomination.

Neocons declare war on Trump
Prominent Republican hawks are debating whether to hold their noses and vote for Clinton instead.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/trump-clinton-neoconservatives-220151?lo=ap_a1

Wall Street readies big Trump assault
Anti-Trump super PAC source says billionaire Paul Singer will make sure it has all the money it needs.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/donald-trump-wall-street-220141


Massachusetts Gov. Baker: I'm not voting for Trump in November, either

http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/charlie-baker-donald-trump-220130?lo=ap_c2


Sununu joins anti-Trump effort

http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/john-sununu-anti-trump-220148


DeLay: Trump would tear GOP 'to shreds'

http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/tom-delay-donald-trump-gop-220143

 

[cupper]

As if things weren't weird enough. :facepalm:

An Erotica Writer Imagined Donald Trump and Ted Cruz Hate-@&$#ing

http://www.vice.com/read/canadas-foremost-political-gay-erotica-writer-does-the-donald

Regardless of whether or not you're actually American, you're probably paying close attention to the s**t show that is the US presidential race right now.

Entertainment-wise, there's little to want for—racism, sexism, blatant lies, shockingly incoherent endorsements—this thing has it all. Up until now, though, there's been one thing notably missing in American politics: homoerotic fan fiction.

That changed today, when Sam Shiver, Canada's most prolific political gay erotica author, released her latest work, Can't Stump the Drumpf: An Erotic Tale.

Shiver, the writer behind classics such as Serving the Prime Minister: A Canadian Romance (accidentally brought to you by VICE Canada) and Foreign Affairs: A Diplomatic Romance, sent me a note (more of an apology) Wednesday afternoon linking to the GOP-based novella on Amazon.

"I had to do it, and I am so SO sorry. Enjoy," she wrote.

I'm sorry too, because I read it—all 11 or so pages—and Foreign Affairs: A Diplomatic Romance it is not.

While Shiver's previous books were more or less based on sexy, taboo affairs, this one is decidedly more sinister (and old and saggy.)

The main character, Ronald Drumpf, has his sights set on being president of the US, but he first needs to take out his main opponent—Ned Cruise.

"The thought of Cruise's melty face sent a shiver of rage down between Drumpf's legs," writes Shiver, who tells the story mostly from Drumpf's point of view.

Drumpf sets up a private meeting between himself and Cruise in a sub-standard Texas hotel room. Beforehand, he muses about some incriminating photographs he has of Cruise, about knowing "Cruise's dirty little secret."

Once in the same room, the politicians begin having an increasingly hostile exchange, in which Drumpf makes not-so-veiled threats by alluding to what he did to another GOP candidate, Mario Delgado.

***THIS PORTION DELETED***

Cruise replies, "You're a sick man, Ronald."

Without spoiling too much, the situation escalates into a rough and greasy encounter.

There's also a uniquely Canadian plot twist for all you erotic hosers out there but again, spoilers.

If I had to pick my favorite parts of the book, I'd say they were the descriptions of Drumpf and his "quivering jowls," "stubby fingers," and "wet plasticine"–like skin.

The story finishes with a bit of a cliff-hanger, leaving room for yet another sequel. If you are into geriatric porn, stay tuned, I guess.

 

[Privateer]

Funny - worth the read.

Chris Christie’s wordless screaming

I  believe that Donald Trump was talking, tonight, and that he, in fact, held an entire press conference. But it was impossible to hear him over Chris Christie’s eyes.

Chris Christie spent the entire speech screaming wordlessly. I have never seen someone scream so loudly without using his mouth before. It would have been remarkable if it had not been so terrifying.

Full article:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2016/03/02/chris-christies-wordless-screaming/?postshare=3851456967944312&tid=ss_fb

 

[Fishbone Jones]

As if things weren't weird enough. :facepalm:

You know it says a lot about the state of the GOP when EVERYONE seems to be preparing to trash the frontrunner should he take the

Yet he keeps increasing his lead. Is it really that the elites don't want him or is it more a matter that the real people of America are tired of the elites?

After years of platitudes, promises, prospects and pablum from the politicians and finding out they are being lied to, robbed and raped by those self same politicians, people are getting visceral. They are starving, losing hope, jobs, health and money and see no light at the end of the tunnel.

They are simply reacting to their base instinct and following someone that talks plain, so they can understand, and speaks to their specific problems at home. They don't give a rat's ass if the world is burning down, if ISIS is on the march, if Europe is going to hell in a handbasket. They don't care.

Trump (rightly or wrongly) is giving them hope, in words they can understand and digest in small sound bites and giving voice to Cooter and his kin.

They see Clinton, Cruz and Rubio as nothing more than establishment talking heads that want to tax, and talk, them out of their money, rights, property, religion and way of life.

The voter roll is full of disenchanted, spurned, injured and dejected servicemen that are now home and wonder why they lost friends, families, spouses, homes, careers and enemies to Bush, Obama and the rest. They did as asked and their lives haven't improved. NOT ONE FUCKING BIT. In fact, it has gotten much worse.

They resent the elites telling them how to vote. How to live. What to drive and wear, and who to be friends with. They are tired of being told, that they are not allowed to defend themselves, should the threat be imminent, by these self, same serving, body guarded and secured politicians.

Quit bashing Trump (and Saunders) for talking with and not down to the US electorate. Both these guys come off as mavericks. Mavericks that you can sit down, have a beer with, and then bitch them out for their performance without worrying about Homeland Security putting you on a no fly list.

The last few post links show just how worried the other contenders are worried about these two.

If politicians can't get off the stage and get out and wrestle pigs in the mud with the real 'Heartbeat of America' the election is theirs to lose.

Don't blame Trump or Sanders. This mess is the fault of all politicians that morphed from everyday jobs and speaking for their neighbourhood to full time, pig trough, elitist, dishonest, blackmailing, backstabbing, slime in suits.

Do I want to see the US on thier ass? In disarray? Rudderless, ineffectual and out of touch? Absolutely not.

However, to stand them on thier ear, I'd love to see Trump (or Clinton) win.

Then I want to see ' We the People' wake up, really, really quick, sort shit out and set the example for the rest of the world to get rid of these dregs that we elect.

And yes, a spillover into Canada wouldn't hurt.

 

[PuckChaser]

It's funny to see the mainstream media constantly attacking Trump, saying how evil he is, etc etc. Almost like the deliberate campaign the Liberal media in Canada used to try and paint Harper as a monster, to sway the election.

 

[Altair]

It's funny to see the mainstream media constantly attacking Trump, saying how evil he is, etc etc. Almost like the deliberate campaign the Liberal media in Canada used to try and paint Harper as a monster, to sway the election.

If you ignore the fact that the more airtime they give him ( negative or not) the stronger he gets.

Yet he keeps increasing his lead. Is it really that the elites don't want him or is it more a matter that the real people of America are tired of the elites?

After years of platitudes, promises, prospects and pablum from the politicians and finding out they are being lied to, robbed and raped by those self same politicians, people are getting visceral. They are starving, losing hope, jobs, health and money and see no light at the end of the tunnel.

They are simply reacting to their base instinct and following someone that talks plain, so they can understand, and speaks to their specific problems at home. They don't give a rat's *** if the world is burning down, if ISIS is on the march, if Europe is going to hell in a handbasket. They don't care.

Trump (rightly or wrongly) is giving them hope, in words they can understand and digest in small sound bites and giving voice to Cooter and his kin.

They see Clinton, Cruz and Rubio as nothing more than establishment talking heads that want to tax, and talk, them out of their money, rights, property, religion and way of life.

The voter roll is full of disenchanted, spurned, injured and dejected servicemen that are now home and wonder why they lost friends, families, spouses, homes, careers and enemies to Bush, Obama and the rest. They did as asked and their lives haven't improved. NOT ONE ******* BIT. In fact, it has gotten much worse.

They resent the elites telling them how to vote. How to live. What to drive and wear, and who to be friends with. They are tired of being told, that they are not allowed to defend themselves, should the threat be imminent, by these self, same serving, body guarded and secured politicians.

Quit bashing Trump (and Saunders) for talking with and not down to the US electorate. Both these guys come off as mavericks. Mavericks that you can sit down, have a beer with, and then ***** them out for their performance without worrying about Homeland Security putting you on a no fly list.

The last few post links show just how worried the other contenders are worried about these two.

If politicians can't get off the stage and get out and wrestle pigs in the mud with the real 'Heartbeat of America' the election is theirs to lose.

Don't blame Trump or Sanders. This mess is the fault of all politicians that morphed from everyday jobs and speaking for their neighbourhood to full time, pig trough, elitist, dishonest, blackmailing, backstabbing, slime in suits.

Do I want to see the US on thier ***? In disarray? Rudderless, ineffectual and out of touch? Absolutely not.

However, to stand them on thier ear, I'd love to see Trump (or Clinton) win.

Then I want to see ' We the People' wake up, really, really quick, sort crap out and set the example for the rest of the world to get rid of these dregs that we elect.

And yes, a spillover into Canada wouldn't hurt.

This.

Trump and Sanders are a result of all the establishment  of both parties running the country in a way that doesn't represent the people who vote them there.

Which is why it's hilarious to see in the GOP race, the establishment trying to rally around a anyone but trump strategy. They have not woken up to see that it is them that is the fuel that is fueling the trump fire. When they discount trump they are discounting every person who is sick of their bullshit and voting for the guy who as you put it, gets down in the mid with them.

It's this arrogant self entitled behavior that only makes trump stronger.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

If you ignore the fact that the more airtime they give him ( negative or not) the stronger he gets.This.

Trump and Sanders are a result of all the establishment  of both parties running the country in a way that doesn't represent the people who vote them there.

Which is why it's hilarious to see in the GOP race, the establishment trying to rally around a anyone but trump strategy. They have not woken up to see that it is them that is the fuel that is fueling the trump fire. When they discount trump they are discounting every person who is sick of their bullshit and voting for the guy who as you put it, gets down in the mid with them.

It's this arrogant self entitled behavior that only makes trump stronger.

Thanks for condensing what I just said and removing the passion. My message is still the same though.

To try and give you two things, to think about at once, try connect the above with the below.

Why are the Republicans trying to defeat Trump, instead of Hillary? Shouldn't she be the real target? Time for them to start thinking in the future, not the here and now. It shows the short sighted, partisan, mental defect that afflicts all parties.

They are self absorbed politicians that are looking at belly button lint instead of cleaning the dryer filter. They don't care about anyone but themselves.

Clinton has already counted Sanders out and is starting her 2016 Presidential run. She's trashing Trump and the Republicans at every turn. She doesn't even remember Sanders or that he was running against her. Her biggest problem now is all the ass kissers that are going to try become her running mate. She's not thinking party nomination. she's thinking White House........right now.

All the GOP knows is that they can't go after her until they have a champion. That's bullshit! They can start slinging all kinds of stuff at her right now without a prime time runner.

The Republicans shit the bed. They didn't see any of this coming, for some unfathomable reason. Now Clinton has put her eyes firmly on the prize for the Democrats to win, and the GOP still hasn't even figured who to run.

This election, no matter who it goes to, will be a bellwether of where civilization is going to go.

Put on your leather glove and wrap your rope. When this bull chute opens, we're in for a hell of a ride, but 8 seconds might not be enough.

 

[Steve_D]

Saw this yesterday and couldn't help but laugh.

 

[Kilo_302]

While both Sanders and Trump are the result of an angry electorate rejecting their respective party's establishment, to view them as being similar or two sides of the same coin is a mistake. Trump is a neo-fascist, of this there is no doubt. Whereas Sanders is providing constructive policies to mitigate current issues of income inequality and a growing sense that average voices are not being heard, Trump is appealing to authoritarian tendencies, racism and xenophobia. He is a real threat to democracy.

This is the logical conclusion of exclusionary capitalism. People no longer have voices so they lash out in the form of support for fascist ideas. Fiscal conservatism combined with regressive social views have won the day, and created this situation. The Republican establishment thought it could pay lip service to "family values" and working people while fleecing them on behalf of corporations and they could, to a point. The Democrats thought they could pay lip service to progressive ideas of equality and equal opportunity while legislating on behalf of the same corporations as the Republicans.

The only thing that could have prevented this situation was to address the structural issues of the US political/economic system, a return to New Deal capitalism that Sanders represents. Sadly, it might be too late. Trump really represents the first of what will probably be several fascist leaders in the United States who will all promise a return to greatness and progress for the middle class. This is literally what the end of an empire looks like, and it's quite terrifying, not just for Americans who aren't excited by the prospect of racial violence, but for the rest of the world. When a hegemon collapses it seldom does without lashing out against rivals. And this time we have nuclear weapons at the disposal of whichever unqualified autocrat is in power.



http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_revenge_of_the_lower_classes_and_the_rise_of_american_fascism_20160302

College-educated elites, on behalf of corporations, carried out the savage neoliberal assault on the working poor. Now they are being made to pay. Their duplicity—embodied in politicians such as Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama—succeeded for decades. These elites, many from East Coast Ivy League schools, spoke the language of values—civility, inclusivity, a condemnation of overt racism and bigotry, a concern for the middle class—while thrusting a knife into the back of the underclass for their corporate masters. This game has ended.

There are tens of millions of Americans, especially lower-class whites, rightfully enraged at what has been done to them, their families and their communities. They have risen up to reject the neoliberal policies and political correctness imposed on them by college-educated elites from both political parties: Lower-class whites are embracing an American fascism.

These Americans want a kind of freedom—a freedom to hate. They want the freedom to use words like “person,” “kike,” “spic,” “chink,” “raghead” and “fag.” They want the freedom to idealize violence and the gun culture. They want the freedom to have enemies, to physically assault Muslims, undocumented workers, African-Americans, homosexuals and anyone who dares criticize their cryptofascism. They want the freedom to celebrate historical movements and figures that the college-educated elites condemn, including the Ku Klux Klan and the Confederacy. They want the freedom to ridicule and dismiss intellectuals, ideas, science and culture. They want the freedom to silence those who have been telling them how to behave. And they want the freedom to revel in hypermasculinity, racism, sexism and white patriarchy. These are the core sentiments of fascism. These sentiments are engendered by the collapse of the liberal state.


The Democrats are playing a very dangerous game by anointing Hillary Clinton as their presidential candidate. She epitomizes the double-dealing of the college-educated elites, those who speak the feel-your-pain language of ordinary men and women, who hold up the bible of political correctness, while selling out the poor and the working class to corporate power.

The Republicans, energized by America’s reality-star version of Il Duce, Donald Trump, have been pulling in voters, especially new voters, while the Democrats are well below the voter turnouts for 2008. In the voting Tuesday, 5.6 million votes were cast for the Democrats while 8.3 million went to the Republicans. Those numbers were virtually reversed in 2008—8.2 million for the Democrats and about 5 million for the Republicans.

Richard Rorty in his last book, “Achieving Our Country,” written in 1998, presciently saw where our postindustrial nation was headed.

Many writers on socioeconomic policy have warned that the old industrialized democracies are heading into a Weimar-like period, one in which populist movements are likely to overturn constitutional governments. Edward Luttwak, for example, has suggested that fascism may be the American future. The point of his book The Endangered American Dream is that members of labor unions, and unorganized unskilled workers, will sooner or later realize that their government is not even trying to prevent wages from sinking or to prevent jobs from being exported. Around the same time, they will realize that suburban white-collar workers—themselves desperately afraid of being downsized—are not going to let themselves be taxed to provide social benefits for anyone else.

At that point, something will crack. The nonsuburban electorate will decide that the system has failed and start looking around for a strongman to vote for—someone willing to assure them that, once he is elected, the smug bureaucrats, tricky lawyers, overpaid bond salesmen, and postmodernist professors will no longer be calling the shots. A scenario like that of Sinclair Lewis’ novel It Can’t Happen Here may then be played out. For once a strongman takes office, nobody can predict what will happen. In 1932, most of the predictions made about what would happen if Hindenburg named Hitler chancellor were wildly overoptimistic.

One thing that is very likely to happen is that the gains made in the past forty years by black and brown Americans, and by homosexuals, will be wiped out. Jocular contempt for women will come back into fashion. The words “person” and “kike” will once again be heard in the workplace. All the sadism which the academic Left has tried to make unacceptable to its students will come flooding back. All the resentment which badly educated Americans feel about having their manners dictated to them by college graduates will find an outlet.

Fascist movements build their base not from the politically active but the politically inactive, the “losers” who feel, often correctly, they have no voice or role to play in the political establishment. The sociologist Émile Durkheim warned that the disenfranchisement of a class of people from the structures of society produced a state of “anomie”—a “condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals.” Those trapped in this “anomie,” he wrote, are easy prey to propaganda and emotionally driven mass movements. Hannah Arendt, echoing Durkheim, noted that “the chief characteristic of the mass man is not brutality and backwardness, but his isolation and lack of normal social relationships.”

In fascism the politically disempowered and disengaged, ignored and reviled by the establishment, discover a voice and a sense of empowerment.

 

[cupper]

As if things weren't weird enough. :facepalm:

I was wrong. It just got weirder.  :facepalm: :facepalm:

Caitlyn Jenner Likes Ted Cruz, Wants to Be His 'Trans Ambassador'
Jenner says she met Cruz before her transition "and he was very nice."

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/Caitlyn-Jenner-Ted-Cruz-Trans-Ambassador-370982061.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_DCBrand

Caitlyn Jenner is weighing in on the heated presidential race, and could be throwing her support behind one of the remaining four Republican candidates.

In an interview with The Advocate, the "I Am Cait" star and conservative Republican opened up about which presidential hopeful she's been watching.

"I like Ted Cruz. I think he's very conservative, and a great constitutionalist, and a very articulate man," the E! star revealed. "I haven't endorsed him or anything like that. But I also think, he's an evangelical Christian, and probably one of the worst ones when it comes to trans issues."

Jenner said she met Cruz before her transition "and he was very nice."

"Wouldn't it be great, let's say he goes on to be president. And I have all my girls on a trans issues board to advise him on making decisions when it comes to trans issues. Isn't that a good idea?" she asked reporter Dawn Ennis.

"You're going to be Ted Cruz's trans ambassador?" Ennis replied.

"Yes, trans ambassador to the president of the United States, so we can say, 'Ted, love what you're doing but here's what's going on,'" Cait explained.

While Caitlyn maintains her conservative beliefs, she added, "I get it. The Democrats are better when it comes to these types of social issues. I understand that."

So why is she still a Republican?

"Number one, if we don't have a country, we don't have trans issues," she said. "We need jobs. We need a vibrant economy. I want every trans person to have a job. With $19 trillion in debt and it keeps going up, we're spending money we don't have. Eventually, it's going to end. And I don't want to see that. Socialism did not build this country. Capitalism did. Free enterprise. The people built it. And they need to be given the opportunity to build it back up."

 

[cupper]

We need to keep this type of publicity up. Or build a wall. Either one.

Your President Trump move-to-Canada bluster? No one’s buying it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/your-president-trump-move-to-canada-bluster-no-ones-buying-it/2016/03/03/29676f04-e14c-11e5-8d98-4b3d9215ade1_story.html?hpid=hp_local-news_dvorak616pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

So Canada, eh?

That’s Plan B, apparently, as Super Tuesday primary results came in this week and Americans were forced to consider the real possibility of President Trump.

Petula is a columnist for The Washington Post's local team who writes about homeless shelters, gun control, high heels, high school choirs, the politics of parenting, jails, abortion clinics, mayors, modern families, strip clubs and gas prices, among other things.

I mean, two words on the Canada plan: Justin Trudeau.

And if he isn’t an adorable enough reason to go north, how about the new prime minister’s 50-percent female cabinet? “Because it’s 2015,” he explained, when asked why he made the revolutionary decision to opt for actual gender parity, rather than window dressing, when he picked his top advisers.

“Move to Canada” searches on Google spiked more than 1,000 percent this week.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks after Super Tuesday at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla. Some have vowed to move to Canada if he is elected president. (Andrew Harnik/Associated Press)
The Canadian Embassy’s website crashed after returns came in from Super Tuesday.

Realtors in lovely Cape Breton Island — after a local radio personality created the website “Cape Breton if Donald Trump Wins” — received calls from Americans interested in home prices.

The Mayflower moving company saw a surge in traffic on the “Moving to Canada” section of its website, company spokeswoman Melissa Sullivan said.

And Verizon Center was packed for the Toronto Maple Leafs game against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night. Were folks checking out a new home team? Brooks Laich made the move, even unwillingly, after all. Can’t we just follow him? Just trade us!

At this rate, the wall Trump wants to build along our southern border to keep immigrants out may have to be mirrored on the north to keep Americans in.

Careful, though. Toronto has its own Trump International Hotel and Tower. You can run but you can’t hide from a determined narcissist.

And will flight from Trump’s bombast and vitriol count as a political protest in Canadian eyes?

A handful of American service members fled to Canada to take a moral stand against the American wars they signed up to fight, convinced that the Canadians would see their point.

But Canada, once a haven for draft dodgers during the Vietnam War, has not been all sunshine and open arms for today’s deserters.

Kim Rivera was one of the more famous ones. The Texan fled to Canada with her husband and two children before a second deployment in 2007, after she was traumatized by what she saw on her first tour in Iraq. The Canadian government denied her application for refugee status and deported her. She was court-martialed and served a 10-month prison sentence here, giving birth to a child while locked up.

About a dozen other deserters are still fighting to stay. And even if they watched their army unit play soccer with decapitated heads, if they couldn’t stand the memory of a 10-year-old girl being shot before their eyes or if they married Canadians, then made tiny Canadians, Canada would not give them refugee status.

Canada is also seeing a wave of Syrian refugees, people whose entire villages were leveled by bloodthirsty warlords. So why would our neighbors up north give us haven from a bloviating yam?

Inconceivable.

Plus, if you’re worried about the air of authoritarianism we’ve seen at Trump rallies becoming the norm of a Trump reign, then meet Canada’s language police.

Yes, in places such as Quebec, they have language police. Everything has to be written in English and French. And the crusading language police famously vanquish signs at grilled-cheese stands, cupcake shops and cafés where English isn’t paired with French.

“A grilled cheese is a grilled cheese,” said Stephane Rheaume, who co-owns a targeted snack stand and has been the victim of language police. “It’s not a sandwich du fromage fondu.”

Anyway, this is not the first time Americans have threatened to flee in political protest — and the outcome is likely to be exactly the same.

Remember when Rush Limbaugh vowed to relocate to Costa Rica if the Affordable Care Act passed? Didn’t happen.

A fledgling Move to Canada movement blossomed when George W. Bush moved into the White House. A bunch of lefty celebrity types panicked. Eddie Vedder, Robert Altman, Alec Baldwin, Pierre Salinger, Johnny Depp and Barbra Streisand all made news about supposed exit plans.

Salinger actually made good on the threat, moving to France and dying there in 2004. Depp stayed in France for years but recently returned to escape French taxes.

After Bush was reelected in 2004, applications for Canadian immigration tripled. But few folks followed up.

Plus, the preferred destination of Americans isn’t wintry Canada; it’s sunny Mexico, the country whose people have been demonized by Trump.

Plenty of American expats — about a million, according to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City — have moved south of the border.

I met one of them on Isla Mujeres last year. He raved about the health-care system, his house in the “Beverly Hills” section of the island and how much he dislikes his grandchildren in Connecticut.

“They want me to visit every holiday,” he moaned between sips of margarita. Then he got on his scooter, his much younger Mexican girlfriend straddled behind him, and they left the taqueria.

Go ahead, be him.

Poutine vs. chilaquiles? No contest.

But this is funny: Despite the ugly tide of hatred that arose when President Obama came into office, his election did not inspire a political exodus.

Can we learn something here?

There was, amid the declarations of disgust and action on social media this week, a small resistance building.

“Folks talkin’ about movin’ to Canada if Trump gets elected. To each their own — me — I ain’t going no where — I’m staying put right here,” Kristi Merriweather of College Park, Ga., said via Facebook. “If my ancestors had decided to move to Canada because of slavery, broken promises, Jim Crow segregation, etc etc — I’d already be a Canadian. I come from tough stock — no man, no woman is going to spook me off.”

So take some deep breaths, people. Canada is likely to remain a nice place to visit — not an exit strategy.

 

[Kirkhill]

https://youtu.be/sCyzdD0vYOw

Seen this one yet?  Friend posted in on Facebook.

 

[Kilo_302]

Here's a handy sub-3 minute video that explains how Trump is part of a broader phenomenon taking shape across Western democracies. It makes the point that the appeal of these demagogues can be attributed to the facelessness of neo-liberal economics, the demise of New Deal type policies and a failure of governments to adequately redistribute wealth.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2016/jan/06/dont-let-trump-fool-you-rightwing-populism-is-the-new-normal-video


In other words: the obsession with low taxes, de-regulation, privatization with the resulting increase of corporate power in politics has led us here. All of these are policies embraced by both the Democrats and the Republicans, and in Canada, the Conservatives and Liberals (and unfortunately even the NDP in the last election). We were never in danger of a socialist revolution. We've been in the midst of what Chris Hedges (I forget who he was quoting) calls a "slow motion corporate coup d'etat" since the 70s.

To distract us from this reality the Left has been given gay marriage, the ridiculous idea of identity politics and political correctness. Basically social progress has been permitted as long as it doesn't affect economic structure (we can celebrate gay CEOs, but not gay socialists).

The Right was fed lies about family values, religion and told to fear "the other." It's a bit rich to see the establishment Republicans scrambling to prevent Trump from winning. They've spent decades pushing policies that are against the interests of blue-collar workers. Same goes for the Democrats (and the Liberals/Tories in Canada).  It's always been easy to blame the above social progress, government overspending etc for economic inequality, but in reality it's simply the fact that government has shifted priorities to legislating on behalf of capital instead of labour (corporations versus the citizenry).

http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/the-problem-with-the-never-trump-movement

For decades now, the Republican Party has been appealing to low-income and middle-income whites while promoting an economic agenda that runs contrary to their interests: tax cuts for the rich, deregulation, free trade, deep cuts to entitlement programs, and so on. Trump, who is hawking a tax plan that he appears to have ordered up at short notice from Art Laffer or Larry Kudlow, can be accused of adopting the same bait-and-switch tactics, but taxes aren’t central to his campaign. In promising to end illegal immigration and impose hefty tariffs on good from countries like China and Mexico, he can, at least, claim to be pursuing an agenda that would boost American wages and save American jobs.

Would his strategy work? Probably not. But in talking about safeguarding Social Security, forcing pharmaceutical companies to lower their prices, preventing people who don’t have health insurance from dying in the streets, and eliminating tax breaks that favor hedge-fund and private-equity managers (such as Romney), Trump is using the language of economic populism in a manner that none of his Republican rivals can match. Beholden to their campaigns backers, they are forced to confine themselves to the standard guff about cutting taxes, loosening regulations, and encouraging enterprise. At this late stage, many none-too-affluent G.O.P. voters appear to be smelling a rat.

In the past, Republicans cleverly obfuscated the regressive nature of their economic platform by appealing to social issues, and quietly playing the racism/xenophobia card. Trump, however, is beating his rivals at this game, too. On social issues, he has demonstrated that you don’t have to be a Bible-thumping pro-lifer to attract the vote of evangelicals. On immigration, by promising to round up and send home eleven million undocumented workers, he has trumped even the Cruz wing of the G.O.P. And in playing to white hate groups and other racists he is doing what other Republicans, particularly in the Deep South, have been doing for generations. But, while many of these Party regulars used a dog whistle, Trump is using a foghorn.


In the conservative intellectual world, there are people with a clear view of what is happening. “More than anything else, Trump has demonstrated that white working-class voters have minds of their own,” Reihan Salam, the executive editor of National Review, wrote in Slate earlier this week. “Why wouldn’t they be furious? The Republican failure to defend the interests of working-class voters, and to speak to their hopes and fears, has made Trump’s authoritarianism dangerously alluring.” Salam went on, “There is only one way forward in the post-Trump era. The GOP can no longer survive as the party of tax cuts for the rich. It must reinvent itself as the champion of America’s working- and middle-class families.”

Good luck with one, Reihan. To follow the program he and other reformicons have laid out, the Republican Party would have to accept that the Affordable Care Act is here to stay; extend tax credits for low-income households; offer workers “wage insurance” against the possibility of losing their jobs; invest more in public infrastructure; and vow not to introduce any further tax cuts for households earning two hundred and fifty thousand dollars or more. In short, the G.O.P. would have to move beyond Reaganomics, ditching the pretense that tax cuts and an untethered free market will produce enduring prosperity for ordinary Americans.

Finally, EVERYONE has been encouraged to identify as consumers instead of as citizens. This has led to mass antipathy (most students these days are more concerned about brands of phones than radical politics, or even politics at all). If there's a lesson here, it may be that the Right and Left who are not included in mainstream corporate politics can agree on some basic things and maybe we can even prevent what looks to be a descent in fascism.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Here's a handy sub-3 minute video that explains how Trump is part of a broader phenomenon taking shape across Western democracies. It makes the point that the appeal of these demagogues can be attributed to the facelessness of neo-liberal economics, the demise of New Deal type policies and a failure of governments to adequately redistribute wealth.

And here I thought it was because people were just tired of long term previous incumbents, like Obama and Harper? Oh, wait a minute, Canada just made a big shift to the left, didn't it...

 

[Kilo_302]

And here I thought it was because people were just tired of long term previous incumbents, like Obama and Harper? Oh, wait a minute, Canada just made a big shift to the left, didn't it...

Well that's the thing, the Liberal Party isn't actually that left-wing when economics is concerned, nor are the Democrats. Both parties cut social spending significantly in the 90s, both parties champion privatization and de-regulation (broadly, except when it bites them in the *** like 2008). And both parties have cut corporate tax and income tax on the wealthy, thereby necessitating cuts to the very programs that help blue-collar workers the most.

People wouldn't be tired of incumbents if those incumbents were actually legislating on their behalf.

But, to your point, if you want to see an example of how these people AREN'T governing with the interests of the average citizen in mind just look at the candidates in the US election. You have the wife of a former president running, and the brother of a former president who was himself the son of a former president. The idea that this is a healthy democracy is ludicrous. The same goes for Trudeau up here. These are clear oligarchies, and the central feature of an oligarchy is that government functions as a tool of elites. In our case, the corporate elite.