Every couple of weeks...

President Trump tweets out some bloodcurdling message hinting at imminent war with Iran, Isis, North Korea or whatever....and the internet and opinion industry explodes with either joy or terror...and then...Nothing.
The trail goes cold then the Presidents tweets out something else and the cycle starts up again...so this leads me to the inevitable conclusion that the President lacks the requisite adult attention span to follow thru with any of his saber rattling....which is a bad thing should he ever be cornered in foreign affairs and sooner or later he will believe me.

This contrasts starkly with the laser like focus brought to bear by President Bush, VP Cheney and SecDef Rumsfeld in the lead up to the disastrous Iraq War II.  So I guess over the short term, there may be some safety in chaos...til that gets put to the test.

Revenge of the PUMAs....

Two weeks ago, if you had asked me on the down low, I'd a said that Middlesex 04 special election was Rep. Sean Garballey's to lose, it looked like he had a lock on the Arlington vote, and as Arlington goes, so goes the district.
Then I started seeing all sorts of "Friedman for State Senate" lawn signs in obscure parts of Lexington, which I foolishly attributed to Jay Kauffman's almighty reach in his home town.  But last night, Seemingly against the very God's Themselves, Cindy Friedman battled back to win the democratic nomination for state senate in Middlesex 04!
She lost Arlington by a thousand votes, and carried the district by about a thousand votes! No small achievement because on paper primary turnout along in Arlington can determine the nomination in the 4th Middlesex.  Friedman did it by having disciplined cadres in the dozens who worked a relentless voter ID model all over the district, they then executed. Ruthlessly on primary day. Their plan was, to hold Sean's Lead in Arlington to single digits if at all possible, make up the loss in Lexington and run the board everywhere else, and that exactly what happened. Hell, the woman carried Billerica, a town that Trump carried back in November!
The other big winners last night were Jay Kauffman & Bob Peters up in Lexington who turned the vote out with a six to one margin for Friedman, they can credibly claim to be "QueenMakers" in every way.
Clearly Garballey was relying on his immense personal popularity in Arlington to tip the district, but that might not have been a good call in a special election with unreliable turnout in play in five cities and towns.  Garballey got into the State Legislature nine years ago on a special election, he must have felt himself on familiar ground and sometimes that can be a source of faulty decisionmaking.
However, he is young and will likely try again for this seat when it opens up down the line nothing went down here to harm his prospects going forward.
Mary Ann Stewart on the other hand, ran poorly all over the district and did no business whatsoever in her home town of Lexington, if she wants to try for higher office again its hard to see how she gets that done given her numbers.
Anyhow, the PUMA faction in Arlington put some serious skin in the game yesterday and finally came up winners,  many tears of joy were seen last night at the Masonic Temple in Arlington....

In the 4th Middlesex Special State Senate Primary Tomorrow...

The Chimes at Midnight heartily endorses Arlington. Democrat Cindy Friedman.  Its said with much justification that there is little ideological difference between the candidates in the democratic primary, so the decision gets inevitably based on other factors, experience, personality, stamina....a host of datapoints.  But for sheer zeal, ability, compassion and a rare capacity for hard work, none exceed Cindy Friedman, she has been training for this job all her life, and ought to have the opportunity to Make Her Mark in the State Senate.
Without trafficking details I've had some experience with her willingness to go the extra mile on the part of a departed relation, Friedman has indeed a range of virtues that ought to be working on behalf of everyone in the district...this I can affirm without demure.
"Friedman in 2017!" & please vote in tomorrow's primary!

Another outcome of GA 06...

I suspect Handel's victory slightly emboldened the Senate Leadership to release an "All or Nothing at All" anti ACA Health Bill to the public...clearly McConnell & Ryan don't fear consequences at the polls in 2018.  Make no mistake this is a bad bill that will deny healthcare to millions, force those who do have it to pay more for less coverage.  Nothing drives this save a nigh autistic devotion to the twin conservative myths of rugged individualism & small government...but the "debate" (if I can call it that) is largely driven chimerical ideological notions. A lot of people may well end up suffering intensely and needlessly because the leadership of this country can't deviate from their fixed hysterical notions about public policy, to the point where they literally deny there is any "debate"  at all to say nothing of grounds for compromise.
I don't know what else to tell any of you, the wrong people have too much power and are deaf to discussion, under these circumstances saving some radical alteration in the composition of congress likely the ACA will be repealed and a veritable "health care recession" will fall upon the American People...
And when it does, this blog will be a loud loud voice for high taxes and a single payer system, we may as well "go for broke" if this thing works out as I think it will.

A note on GA -06

I wanna take a moment to reach past all the gloaters and social media bullies and pay unashamed tribute to the democrats of Georgia's Sixth Congressional District, they fought this thing down to the last ballot, the last voter, maybe they didn't win but they sure as shit were not defeated last night.  I've passed thru a few heartbreakers of my own and it must be special disappointment to come so close in such a challenging district.
All I can advise is, Don't Listen to the Haters, they are all as useful as tits are to a bull, The Just always sleep easier when they know they have executed their Duty Come What May.

Mirror Imaging the Tactics of Your Opponents....

Especially when you have imputed vast and imaginary powers to said opponents, is almost always a bad idea and complete confession of impotence.

Hence James Hodgkinson shoots up a collection of GOP Congresspersons practicing for a Baseball Game and some Jobber in London tries to drive his car thru from Muslims exiting a Mosque.

It almost never works, especially when you consider the motives which are usually driven by rage, reaction formation, suppressed envy etc.

Thought for the Day

Forgive me if this is repetitive:
"We must be Equal to Our Times".

I do not expect our national nightmare to end any time soon, in fact in many ways things will get worse before they get better.  Nonetheless our progeny are depending on us to stand the watch with all the vigilance of FDR's Myrmidions or Abraham Lincoln's Dauntless Legions.  We live in a Free Republic, Republics are inherently self regenerating therefore we are collectively responsible for our own safety and our own betterment.

Jeff Sessions' Testamony Amounted to...

"I Probably Did Nothing Wrong, But If I Did, Then I Don't Remember It".

Is it me or does this entire vile rabble exude the sheer pathetic terror of miscreants with something very serious to hide?

"We. Are all Targets Now"

And we have been so, for a very long time despite a pathological refusal to admit the truth. THAT is my big takeaway from today's shooting in Virginia. We've saturated our society with firearms and poured motivational vitriol into the ears of every twitchy weirdo from The Aleutians Islands to Cutler Harbor. Its a wonder this doesn't happen more often...oh wait IT DOES.
Congress ducked and ran like rats in a firestorm when one of their own Gabby Giffords got plugged in the head, they did less than nothing when Sandy Hook was turned into a pre teen graveyard...and it'll do nothing now believe me.
I'm repeating myself ad nauseum but the problem has become so widespread that I don't think any congressional action at all will even begin to resolve it. Like cowards we've waited too long and now we reap the whirlwind...whats the answer? Not sure, maybe we need to start building bulletproof redoubts in our homes or something.
Meanwhile succor to the victims....

If Trump's reciprocal summit with Theresa May in London

is suddenly "in doubt" it can only stand as a defacto admission that the PM's coalition stands on ver shaky ground indeed.
Hell I think a few good belligerent tweets from the So Called US President and May's Government could well fall.  I don't think Corbyn et al, want Theresa May's government to fall anytime soon, I suspect they'd like the country to get alittle rest from all these election whilst May and her Ministers get worked over well and thoroughly.
But Trump could upset that timetable, at the very least he could RUIN the Brexit Negotiations beyond hope of recovery, Theresa May already has so little work with, the wrong tweet from Donnie could compel her to "Sue for Peace" from the EU.
Hence the current indecision about Trump-in-London....

I want to take time to THANK Governor Baker and his

"Picked Finance Board at the MBTA" for holding my Green Line Commute between Park Street and Boyleston Station to an entirely manageable SIXTY MINUTES.
I thought for a while there that I'd finally kidnapped by the MBTA in a vain hope that the ransom might purchase a new and hopefully more reliable signals system for the Green Line.
Thankfully I was able to disembark and was only seventy five minutes late for work today....NICE GOING CHARLIE!!
The trouble with Charlie Baker is that he is a cowardly blockhead, he knows the MBTA's problems require revenues, maintenance and new equipment cost $$ after all.  But he persists in substituting administrative solutions to deal with systemic budget issues. In short he doesn't wanna solve the problem because that will cost money he simply doesn't want to spend.
Is anyone gonna hold him accountable for Epic Failures like Today's Red and Green Line Commutes?
Probably not...who are we kidding here after all?
Just please...DON'T give me that "we could do worse than Charlie Baker!"Rubbish,  Because right now an MBTA transit time that compares unfavorably with an ox cart seems a pretty dismal state of affairs....

Wow , from a twenty point lead to a Hung Parliament in the U.K.

I used to think you'd have to go a long long way in England to find a bigger chump in politics than David Cameron but by Ghod Theresa May surged right past him!
She went from a serviceable majority in the House of Commons to going Hat in Hand to Belfast to Preserve her Administration from dismissal. Now she clings to power at the behest of a collection of weirdo Orange Falangists in the North of Ireland who, irony of ironies are entirely PRO EU in sentiment.
If I was Jeremy Corbyn I'd promise the UK no vote of confidence over the intermediate term (unless "forced by irrevocable events") and just let this malfunctioning robot they got for a PM completely break down all by herself.
My Ghod Theresa May lost the youth vote by 44%, did she have NO IDEA those cohorts were laying for her after the Brexit referendum? Those kids a mere two years ago were beguiling themselves with the happy notion of working in start ups in the South of France now they've got to tote their resumes up and down Desolation Row in Liverpool, THE HELL they weren't gonna take that out on the Tories!
May broke an important unwritten rule in democratic politics never break a promise that the electorate is counting on, the voters in the UK were counting on a little peace and quiet in the voting booths after Brexit and Scottish Referendums...and Dumbass Theresa couldn't give them that....and they very nearly gave her "The Shove" in brute retaliation.
In other words her party's popularity depended on her pledge not to call an irritating snap election, she broke her promise and reaped a harvest of disaster, Instead of being fortified for the upcoming Brexit negotiations the UK is badly weakened.
Epic Fail All Around.
Frankly I think she'd a lost outright but for the last two terror attacks in England.  There I said it...if the conservatives wanna do any business going forward they are definitely need some new different and above all smarter cadres at the top...cuz there is blood in the water in the UK and certain cadres therein are developing a taste for it.

4th Middlesex State Senate Democratic Primary, Candidate's Forum, Arlington Town Hall 6-5-2017

Internet or no internet it still take ninety minutes of your life to discover there is almost no ideological differences between the three current democratic aspirants to the late Ken Donnelly's seat in the State Senate.
Where do Cindy Friedman, Sean Garballey and Mary Ann Stewart disagree....exactly nowhere folks.
Sentencing Reform a loud yes from all three, universal health care They are all all for it (but tellingly provide no plan to get there) nobody wants to raise the Charter School Cap and everyone wants to fix the funding issues at the MBTA.
This is not a field given to dissent from the broad range of concerns within the democratic party's base...neither were a lot of new ideas bruited about. If newness is in play it comes from everyone's desire to be a fresh perspective in State Senate.
Given the broad range of consensus in this particular race, I suspect a lot is going to determined by personalities, shoe leather politics, signage, mailings, name recognition and the willingness to spend money somewhat heedlessly.
So as such let me assert that Mary Ann Stewart seems a little more sure of herself behind the podium but her experience is limited to the Lexington School Committee (which admittedly isn't a bad place to start as the schools in that town seem very well run) and a lifetime of activism. In short she seems to understand a lot of the issues in this race from a point of view of the marches she has gone on and the petitions she has signed.
On the other hand, Sean Garballey has been in public life more or less since the day he graduated high school, not sure what his last private sector job was, I suspect it was literally scooping ice cream somewhere. Given that he is a very polished presence on the podium and can quote literally dozens of pieces of legislation he has either "gotten passed" or is "working on"....to hear him tell it, Sean Garballey is a One Man Great Society in the State House of Representatives. Tellingly though, how much of this legislative cataract is gonna be signed by Charlie Baker remains a silent sacerdotal mystery.
Which brings us to Cindy Friedman the Late Senator Donnelly's Chief of Staff a woman with a varied. Resume within and without the private sector, she has a strong insight into the legislative process and the mores of the State Senate in particular. She is funny and honest but very new to the game in terms of being up at the podium out in front so to speak and sometimes that shows....both her opening and closing remarks last night were read off of 3x5 cards, spiels like that ought to be memorized from the git-go.
Those are the choices in the Fourth Middlesex, given the degree of consensus this race may well come down to intangibles like name recognition, "likeability" and just plain luck.  Word on the street is, the race is very wery close with a lot of undecideds, (which is to be expected) last night's forum was thankfully well attended which might start turning some of those undecided numbers a bit.

Anyone who knows me,

knows I don't think much of off-year state democratic conventions, nothing much gets affirmed and more often or not the party ends up making obligations it can frankly so without.  So it comes as no surprise that this years's confab failed to impress me, granted a lot of anti-Trump rhetoric got aired, but everyone seems to be suffering from "gubernatorial aphasia" a weird inability to utter the name "Charlie Baker" let alone criticize him vociferously.
Listen, I yield to no one in criticizing Donald Trump, beating him up in front of the State Democratic Convention keeps the newcomers and activists charged up and thats usually a good thing....but ghod guys save some ammo for Charlie Baker, running him out of office next year is one of our tasks at least.
The sad thing is, Charlie is getting a pass from certain democrats they are resigned to perpetuating him in office as long as he doesn't interfere too broadly with our domination of the legislature or Senator Warren's tenure in office.  So its no wonder Trump gets beat down at convention time, he is he biggest broadest target.
The sad thing is, there is a case to be made against Charlie Baker, exactly what has he done about the opioid crisis, the transportation crisis, the budget shortfall and the attending revenue crisis?
To say nothing of his lack of leadership where Trump himself is concerned,...
These are all good places to start but so far no one wants to start there...

Ah The "Trump Bump"...

Just enough prosperity for just enough of a limited cast of multinational billionaires to start exporting US Jobs to a semi despotism called the Phillipines.  But...we were warned, Paul Tsongas said a service economy could never create the transmission belts beltween the lower classes and the middle class to keep said middle class in the business of keeping the Republic Strong.
But at least we are an Exporting Nation Again, even if our Chief Export seems to be mid level financial jobs to any overseas wage sinkhole the Board of Directors can Unearth.