The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Testament

    In answer to Hal: "So what is it about the prospect of another Clinton in the White House that causes you to write so much so zealously in her service?"

    Pretty simple, Hal - when Clinton came in there was a high crime rate, entrenched poverty and welfare state, just coming off the unsocial/Iran-Contra Reagan-Bush years with a president who thought grocery checkout scanners were the height of tech. When he left, we had high employment, a ballooning internet industry, lots of jobs, black home ownership and jobs way up (including high up visible in his administration, plus Vernon Jordan as one of his most trusted advisors), a balanced budget, and a number of interesting possibilities for the future including trying hard to fix Israel-Palestine. Plus he balanced doing a bit of military action in hot spots - and for the first time got us helping a Muslim people who didn't have oil - rather than getting us heavily involved in foreign wars for crass imperialistic reasons, or doing nothing. We had a strong dollar but were *still* increasing exports, rather than the bullshit weak dollar/cheap goods approach.

    The Democratic Race - What We Know Now

    1. Sanders is much more electable than Clinton.

    The political class engages in periodic arguments over who's better positioned to win general elections - candidates who appeal to a relatively wide swath of voters or those who excite their base. Sanders does both, Clinton neither.

    Half a Loaf 2.0

    [to Flavius & Barefooted]

    The poor or disenfranchised simply don't know where the levers are to do the most harm.

    I know corrupt small businessmen and corrupt mega-multimillionaires. The difference is largely access. But I also know very ethical mega-multimillionaires. Money may provide a bigger venue to display corruption, but I glanced at the troopers in Paula Jones-gate yesterday, and besides lying in her case, they were already pulling other insurance scams. They simply had bad ethics.

    Perhaps It's the Candidate

    Perhaps it's the message.

    Perhaps it's the country.

    Perhaps it's girls.

    Whites.

    Blacks.

    Walls.

    Firewalls.

    Servers.

    Emails.

    Bail?

    Too big to fail?

    Jail.

    Where the boys are.

    Perhaps it's the person.

    Perhaps it's the people.

    Perhaps it's the baggage in an airport in the Cayman Islands.

    Perhaps it's circumstance.

    Perhaps it's the Times.

    Perhaps it's time..

    ...to think...

    ...that perhaps it's the candidate.

     

     

    Half a Loaf Rising

    Charles Blow on Hillary's "I have Half a Dream" effect on millennials (hat-tip Digby):

    Young folks are facing a warming planet, exploding student debt, stunted mobility, stagnant wages and the increasing corporatization of the country due in part to the increasing consolidation of wealth and the impact of that wealth on American institutions. - Blow

    As has been pointed out before, this is largely fighting the last 2 elections' problems. Obama expanded a program for student loan relief last year to 5 million people. Stagnant wages up to now has been less important than still-high-unemployment, but now that unemployment is at 5%, the still unhealthy ~2.3-2.5% wage growth has more of a chance of growing. (this article suspects workers have been pushing less hard for wages due to harsher conditions for unemployment benefits). While the planet is warming, renewables are taking off, electric cars are finally hitting the market, and energy costs are dropping due partially to increased solar & wind, but largely due to the rise of contentious fracking. (meaning also that for the first time in my lifetime, we're not really dependent on Mideast oil anymore, while Russia's hold on Europe has also waned). And hey, we're no longer talking about "studying" global warming - we're finally beginning to do something about it.

    Sense or Nonsense

    The allegation: Bernie Sanders published a "rape-fantasy essay".

    The decision:  Nonsense.  Unless Sanders contributed to Penthouse forum under an assumed name, he did not publicize a rape-fantasy essay.

    Hillary raises money from people with

    money because people with money have money that she can raise from them.

    If you take my meaning. 

    Richard Day's picture

    FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

     

    THE FREEDOM OF LIBERTARIANISM?

    DO NOT USE YOUR DEAD CHILDREN TO TRUMP MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS!

    synchronicity's picture

    Things That Make You Go Hmmm? Why Won't Iowa Dems Release Raw Data?

    Bernie Sanders Reddit Army decided to compile data from the Iowa Caucuses To Figure Out What Really Happened and Why the Iowa Democratic Party Will NOT Release the Raw Data...

    Iowa Voting Data Gathering & Verifying In Progress:

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18NUZvglPSC8S13jdEEa4qVWQRn_U5SDC1_rHfuew8L0/edit?pref=2&pli=1#gid=0

    Confusion and questions after the Democratic caucuses

    jollyroger's picture

    Hillary's Transcript Problem--transparency is a bitch.

     

    I will confess myself to be late to this particular party.  Until the recent interchange at the NH Debate, I had frankly not given much thought to the actual content of the HRC  trick turning speaking engagements at various venues of high finance and good fellowship.

     

    What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

    [transferred from comment - think everyone could use a dance break...]

    Important subliminal issue related to Woodward's "tone issue" - 

    So who won?

    Bernie was better than I expected him to be. Hillary was better than I expected her to be.. 

    As Bernie said in his last remark  they were both better than anyone we've heard so far in the disgraceful  Republicans mud wrestles.

    We're lucky to have two such high quality candidates.

     

    A Neocon/Neolib Apologizes to Hillary Clinton

    19th International AIDS Conference Convenes In WashingtonDear Hillary Clinton:

    I am writing to apologize for all the nasty things I've said and written about you over the past 20 years. I really really misjudged you. It's taken me like forever to get over that universal healthcare stunt you tried to pull in the early 90s. But since we put a stop to that nonsense with Harry and Louise, I've got to admit you've been a real trooper.

    Hillary finishes 3rd from last

    Checking out updates, CNN writes about the challenge Hillary will have going into New Hampshire, having essentially lost Iowa that she was supposed to win. It's that "essentially" part (my summation) and ignore that she either slightly (votes) or largely (delegates) won that reflects the fickleness of expectations. Sure, if you believed polls from Iowa 3 months ago, it was game over. If you have any experience in this, you know that polls can close rapidly as the day comes close. In any case, it's funny to see CNN treat it as a loss.

    Let us face the matter squarely

    As a commercial people should                                                                                                                   We have learned  no end of a lesson.                                                                                                            It will do us no end of good 

    Kipling

    What Matters Most?

    Yesterday Hillary got her 200th (out of ~250 possible) endorsement from a sitting Congressperson or Governor, weighted-wise according to FiveThirtyEight giving her the strongest backing (and superdelegates) of any candidate ever except George W Bush - and he had a House majority to work with. Bernie hasn't had such an endorsement since October, with a total of 3.

    Pandering to the 1%

    We've made it part of our DNA, our running commentary that we shouldn't be pandering to the 1%, the white well-connected who seem to get all the favors from government.

    Yet here we are, after a year of pandering to 1% of the population, 2 of the whitest states in the Union, 1 of which subsists on government corn subsidies, ethanol supports and other handouts that would make a supposed welfare queen blanche, 3.4% unemployment. Its industry pretty much all revolves around food and livestock production, including supporting manufacturing, with typical huge industrial agro firms progressives love to hate (and the leading hog producer and egg producer that animal rights advocates love to infiltrate - now largely illegal), along with a strong Des Moines insurance industry. Central to Iowa's survival is the atrocious modern "factory farm", along with key enablers like exemption of "agricultural runoff" from the Clean Water Act, abetting the high level of nitrates and animal waste flowing into Des Moines water system. While corporate farms for produce are largely prohibited, they instead exist as "contract farms" that look but don't behave like private farms. The conservative governor has opted out of Medicare expansion (1 of 15 states to do so).

    jollyroger's picture

    Ted Cruz, A notorious pervert (College room mate)

     

    While we wait to see if the Iowa caucus turnout favors Cruz (120,000) or Trump (160,000) it is mindblowing to step back and fully internalize just what a profound creep Cruz is.

    The oily Uriah Heap act is evidently a truly transparent look into his grimy soul.

    Consider that he is so despised that otherwise sane Republican sachems (eg, Bob Dole, Richard Burr) publicly state acceptance of Donald Trump as the party nominee before Cruz, and Trent Lott dismisses him "He is not a gentleman. Gentleman respect each other ".

    Reclassification is no excuse

    ClintonmicFor nearly a year Hillary has been claiming there was no classified information on her unsecured home-based email server.  Now that a number of double-secret emails have been found on it, she puts forth two excuses: 1) the information wasn't so classified when she received it and 2) there's an ongoing inter-agency dispute over the proper classification.

    hollywhitman's picture

    Investing Well: The State of the Oil Industry Post-COP21

    It’s no secret that to ensure a safe future for generations to come, we need to live in harmony with nature.

    Rather than burning fossil fuels to power our homes and relying on cars that run on gasoline — both of which pollute the air and contribute to greenhouse gases — it is our responsibility to seek alternative energy sources, those which are renewable and don’t adversely affect the environment.

    Millennial Volgon Conspiracy

    [to trkingmomoe & that millennial getting buzz around the tubez. "Conspiracy" is a reference to Volokh Conspiracy, just because. Millennial Volgon, I hope you can guess.] 

    I appreciate your posting and appreciate your support for Bernie. I even appreciate the millennial's post as kind of a prompting of nostalgic memories.

    jollyroger's picture

    Iowa Electoral Lone Wolves for Trump

    The next entry in the list of historical precedents shattered: Iowa caucus strategy demands strong ground game.

     

    Cruz is universally acknowledged to have the ground game and Trump is relying on essentially self-motivated first time caucus goers who are, in essence, the voting equivalent of The San Bernardino Two.

     

    Richard Day's picture

    FAST-FORWARD

    FDR in 1933.jpg

    I recalled a scene I viewed when my grandkids appeared at my apartment last month.

    Seany had proceeded to 'install' his DVD player into my TV; Everything worked, eventually.

    He played some Disney 'Ice' film. Precious was so enrapt by this presentation
    that she mouthed the words to the songs. 

    But there was this interruption: Daddy, Daddy, you must remove the wolves....

    Seany quickly fast forwarded the blood-thirsty wolf scenes.

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