Mark Zaid, JFK and Trump

[Robert Wheeler]

59 minutes ago, Jeff Carter said:

Lesson to be learned: the US establishment (aka the 1%) is wholly opposed to large-scale programs designed to assist the population at large - single-payer health care, reduced college tuition, infrastructure projects, etc,

I would argue that those are "D" & "R" issues, where the "D"s base wants single-payer health care, reduced college tuition, infrastructure projects etc.  

The "R" base want's the same, but their are differences with the "D"s at the margin.  Single Payer Healthcare for an "R" base voter is a 100% premium deduction from gross income; free college tuition (adjust the tax code so that endowments are induced to use funds to lower tuition instead of building temples to wealthy benefactors; pay NCAA Division 1 Athletes for making their schools household names.) Infrastructure is a regional issue needlessly made political (ie. Amtrak's North East Corridor could easily have a profitable high speed train between DC and NYC; the Senator from North Dakota though won't vote "yes" on the bullet train unless he gets his low speed monorail in downtown Bismark. Nothing gets done.)

The point is that the "R" Base (actual voters) and "D" Base (actual voters) is relatively minor and surmountable in theory.

Nothing in DC, between the "R" and "D" elected representatives, is negotiated at "arm-length."

There are too many Rs and Ds that are beholden, if not actually owe, the 1% (I would say 0.01%) too many favors. More importantly, the R & D elected reps., both answer to the same 0.01%.

When the 0.01% want to build a pipeline through Syria, John McCain agitates publicly for the bombing to start and Chuck Schumer pretends to be against the idea. 

Both R&D Senators get to line their pockets for playing the part.

When Chuck Schumer calls for more banking regulation and Mitt Romney says it is against the "principals of capitalism", the regulations are written so that Chuck Schumer can get his photo-op and Romney's Big Bank friends can force a few hundred small town banks into insolvency. It's a win-win for elected R&Ds and the 0.01%.

Trump is an outsider. He is not an "R" in the Romney sense.

Sanders is an outsider. He is not a "D" in the Schumer sense.

The 0.01% is scared to death of not having the choice of getting an "insider" back in to the White House.

Getting rid of Bernie at least gives them a chance.

 

[Robert Wheeler]

34 minutes ago, Douglas Caddy said:

I don't mean to offend you, Robert, but I and all mentally sound persons are going to believe what Dr. Fauci says on this and not what you and Fox Fake News parrot.

From The Week article: "Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told lawmakers during a House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday that COVID-19 — the disease caused by the novel coronavirus — is probably about 10 times more lethal than the seasonal flu."

 

He is basing the death rate on known cases. No one knows the denominator. (ie. if you are infected, but non-systematic or only mildly, then you are not getting tested.)

[Robert Wheeler]

28 minutes ago, Douglas Caddy said:

Republicans make abrupt change on investigating Hunter Biden. Uumm I wonder why.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/senate-gop-chairman-abruptly-shifts-course-on-subpoena-targeting-bidens/ar-BB113hXx?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=UE07DHP

 

 

Because he was the conduit in a pay-to-play scheme with his father?

[James DiEugenio]

4 hours ago, Douglas Caddy said:

Merkel: 70% of Germany could get virus

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51835856

To really understand how polarized the USA has become, consider the above story and the fact that Italy is locked down.

So what does Trish Regan say on Fox TV yesterday: that somehow the coronavirus is a way to impeach Trump again.

This is how crazy the media has become in this country. The coronavirus is clearly a world medical problem of the first magnitude.   And, if you ask me, hospitals should have been furnished with testing kits throughout America and anyone who thought they had the symptoms, or just wanted a test should have been given one for free.  If they needed transportation, they should have been given it.  If Trump had done this, he would have been looked upon as a savior.  Instead he and his followers have tried to make political hay out of this.

This is what you do when you have a GOP that is empty of any ideas or vision.  They have become the party of hacks like David Bossie and Floyd Brown.

BTW, Wall Street is now an official Bear Market after losing over 1400 points today.

Edited March 12, 2020 by James DiEugenio

[Robert Wheeler]

#bidendidntkillhimself 

[James DiEugenio]

Jeff:

I agree with that analysis about Super Tuesday.

And from my understanding, although I cannot confirm it, Buttigieg was the guy who instigated it.

I have been around a long time, and I do not think I have ever seen anything like this before.  I mean, in some ways, it is worse than 2016.

 

[David Andrews]

Survey of American prison inmates: What's Wrong with America?

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/03/prisoner-survey-biggest-problem-facing-america.html

Coming Thursday: Trump’s Surprising Support Inside Prisons

Before prison, John Adkins didn’t care about politics. Now, after 23 years behind bars, he’s an ardent Republican. And he’s not alone.

“I don’t see Donald Trump as being anyone’s puppet.”

Edited March 12, 2020 by David Andrews

[Ron Ecker]

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson test positive for coronavirus.

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/tom-hanks-rita-wilson-coronavirus-1203531498/

 

[W. Niederhut]

27 minutes ago, James DiEugenio said:

Jeff:

I agree with that analysis about Super Tuesday.

And from my understanding, although I cannot confirm it, Buttigieg was the guy who instigated it.

I have been around a long time, and I do not think I have ever seen anything like this before.  I mean, in some ways, it is worse than 2016.

 

Gary Hart had a lot of momentum after winning the New Hampshire Democratic primary in 1984-- before the "Establishment" (including Dan Rather) intervened.

I remember it well because I was a medical intern that year, and I was walking down the alley behind my apartment building to Rose Hospital early in the morning after the New Hampshire primary.

Then I noticed that there were police cars blocking both ends of the alley and men with rifles on the roofs of buildings.  I thought that I had walked into the middle of a shoot out.   Scared the cr*p out of me!

A cop at the end of the alley informed me that they were guarding Senator Gary Hart, who had just returned to Denver after winning the New Hampshire Primary.  Turns out that Hart owned a condo in Denver right across the alley from my apartment building.

[David Andrews]

14 minutes ago, Ron Ecker said:

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson test positive for coronavirus.

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/tom-hanks-rita-wilson-coronavirus-1203531498/

 

From the article:

Earlier on Wednesday, the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

I'll be happy to meet you all for the first time - on the FEMA bus!

[Robert Wheeler]

25 minutes ago, Ron Ecker said:

Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson test positive for coronavirus.

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/tom-hanks-rita-wilson-coronavirus-1203531498/

 

Now that is interesting.

High profile, 24 hour coverage.

"Gump Succumbs, a Nation Mourns"

I'm guessing his tweets were going to get progressively more disturbing.

[Joe Bauer]

 

As I posted earlier, when major celebrities start getting the virus, and especially when some start dying from it ( as well as beloved older relatives ) the entire country will have a complete mind set shift.

 

From hopeful disbelief ... to a deadly serious survival acceptance.

 

This Orson Wellesian viral invasion monster is going to change us in many ways. 

Our common good value and need priority parameters will be forced to undergo a re-evaluation.

Other issues that have been used to divide us will be shown for their truly much less unimportant substance. 

 

Hang on everybody.

Edited March 12, 2020 by Joe Bauer

[David Andrews]

15 minutes ago, Joe Bauer said:

 

As I posted earlier, when major celebrities start getting the virus, and especially when some start dying from it ( as well as beloved older relatives ) the entire country will have a complete mind set shift.

 

Possibly.  But I get the feeling this is one of those incidents that becomes a poignant footnote in a future Ken Burns documentary.

More of America should look at this from the gossip sites' point of view: He went to Australia to play Elvis's manager because his career is slipping; she went because she couldn't trust him alone in Australia.  The film was shooting in Australia because, after The Great Gatsby remake that killed Tobey Maguire's acting career, no producers want to budget a Baz Luhrmann film shot in the Northern Hemisphere.

Of course, both your truth and mine could be correct, in which case, we end up on the FEMA bus because she couldn't trust him in Australia!

Edited March 12, 2020 by David Andrews

[Robert Wheeler]

14 minutes ago, Joe Bauer said:

 

As I posted earlier, when major celebrities start getting the virus, and especially when some start dying from it ( as well as beloved older relatives ) the entire country will have a complete mind set shift.

 

From hopeful disbelief ... to a deadly serious survival acceptance.

 

This Orson Wellesian viral invasion monster is going to change us in many ways. 

Our common good value and need priority parameters will be forced to undergo a re-evaluation.

Other issues that have been used to divide us will be shown for their truly much less unimportant substance. 

 

Hang on everybody.

Steven Spielberg

You can pretty much guess which celebs are going be taken out by the coronavirus by how many times they have appeared on CDAN over the past two years.

If you don't know CDAN, use duckduckgo and not google. (some adult textual content and no adult pictures if you are thinking that is the reason google is not reliable.)

[Ron Bulman]

17 minutes ago, Robert Wheeler said:

Now that is interesting.

High profile, 24 hour coverage.

"Gump Succumbs, a Nation Mourns"

I'm guessing his tweets were going to get progressively more disturbing.

That's pretty sick. I hope not.  I'm not a big fan of Hanks, some of his comedy is funny.  I Know Jim DiEeugenio destroys him in Reclaiming Parkland.  But I wouldn't wish this on anybody.