I'll probably have to work until I'm 80 to make up the shortfall. However, thanks to the Trump Admin's chronic bungling with regards to the Corona Virus, I likely won't live to get anywhere near retirement. Poor Trump, he came back from India convinced he could use Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction as a cudgel against the democrats, and instead a deadly pathogen was waiting for him on the Tarmac...
That having been said I have to say, every time the President tried to reassure the nation last week, the market simply plunged, even the price of gold, even the big pharmaceutical research outfits saw plunging share prices. Meanwhile away from the cameras the President simply tweets, hoping some conspiracy narrative no matter how cringeworthy will somehow catch on. I doubt he even took his pajamas off all day Friday raging at the TV screens, ranting at his staff...upping his dosages.
Well so I read in the Globe a reliable vaccine is 12 to 18 months off, so unless dumb luck intervenes or this pathogen proves sensitive to warmer weather...we are officially in Deep Shit.
Saturday, February 29, 2020
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Ya know who Mike Bloomberg reminds me of...
William Randolph Hearst, back before World War One when Willy was an ultra-rich DIY Politician, from New York City...
Both men are nominal news media magnates, Hearst Penny Dreadful Newspapers, Bloomberg On Line Business News, both were politically ubiquitous being both democrats and republicans at various times and both solved political problems by spending their own money. Of course I think Hearst was at least initially, the far more progressive politician being an advocate for women's suffrage, municipal ownership of utilities, trust busting & generous old age pensions. In time though, Hearst would try to start his own third party, feud with the likes of NY Governor Al Smith and later, FDR before becoming a rather embarrassing republican stalwart. Ubiquitous indeed.
Bloomberg on the other hand is charting the same course, from the republican mayor of New York to free spending candidate for the democratic presidential nomination, although I'd never call any aspect of Mike's public career "progressive" if anything he is far more opportunistic than was Hearst.
And like Hearst he is running as an aggressive outsider with cash to burn on behalf of his supporters, allegedly he hates Trump with a mortal passion, but he also hates the prospect of a 70% Top Rate as well, so instead of deploying his wealth strategically to interdict Trump this fall, Mike is making a kamikaze run for President as a democrat to defect Bernie Sanders possible March to Glory.
Y'know like Hearst's Late Guilded Age, the USA just has too many damn billionaires with time on their hands, who think politics is somehow easy and who then run for office for entirely trivial reasons, to chase away the mid life crisis quite literally.
I dunno Sanders may be right, maybe billionaires should be taxed down off their Olympian Heights...I mean look what they do with their money.
Both men are nominal news media magnates, Hearst Penny Dreadful Newspapers, Bloomberg On Line Business News, both were politically ubiquitous being both democrats and republicans at various times and both solved political problems by spending their own money. Of course I think Hearst was at least initially, the far more progressive politician being an advocate for women's suffrage, municipal ownership of utilities, trust busting & generous old age pensions. In time though, Hearst would try to start his own third party, feud with the likes of NY Governor Al Smith and later, FDR before becoming a rather embarrassing republican stalwart. Ubiquitous indeed.
Bloomberg on the other hand is charting the same course, from the republican mayor of New York to free spending candidate for the democratic presidential nomination, although I'd never call any aspect of Mike's public career "progressive" if anything he is far more opportunistic than was Hearst.
And like Hearst he is running as an aggressive outsider with cash to burn on behalf of his supporters, allegedly he hates Trump with a mortal passion, but he also hates the prospect of a 70% Top Rate as well, so instead of deploying his wealth strategically to interdict Trump this fall, Mike is making a kamikaze run for President as a democrat to defect Bernie Sanders possible March to Glory.
Y'know like Hearst's Late Guilded Age, the USA just has too many damn billionaires with time on their hands, who think politics is somehow easy and who then run for office for entirely trivial reasons, to chase away the mid life crisis quite literally.
I dunno Sanders may be right, maybe billionaires should be taxed down off their Olympian Heights...I mean look what they do with their money.
Saturday, February 22, 2020
As Bracing as it Was...
to see Citizen Warren beat the living shit out of Mike Bloomberg at the Debate on Wednesday, I fear all she did was hold the bridle that Bernie Sanders may mount up and Ride Off to Glory. I am not one of those pundits who thinks "its all over" there are still plenty of potential surprises out there, but I do think kayoing Mayor Mike came at the expense of coalition building or even crafting an argument that might divide Sanders' base just a bit.
Who knows?
Perhaps the Senior Senator from Massachusetts wanted to be remembered as having gone down fighting, it could easily be that quite frankly.
Who knows?
Perhaps the Senior Senator from Massachusetts wanted to be remembered as having gone down fighting, it could easily be that quite frankly.
Sunday, February 16, 2020
New Hampshire, An Autopsy
I'm gonna say it, I think Elizabeth Warren just peaked too damn early, all her best debates were last fall and last summer, and in the teeth of a thirty person field in the democratic race for the nomination. I think it was a paradoxically smart decision to forego big ticket fundraising, it freed her time up for more campaign stunts and retail politicking, but when the cluster**k went down in Iowa it should have been someone's responsibility to leave enough money in the coffers for an 11th hour advertising blitz in NH. Because, lets face it, with Iowa's outcome ineffably tainted, that left open a gigantic chance for someone to make a last minute rush in NH, and who made that rush? Senator Amy Klobuchar!
So I'm thinking timing issues in the back stretch afflict the Warren Campaign, they made good decisions but were on the wrong damn schedule. There is no reason why she should not have finished in the top three up there, Senator Sanders went from 61% of the vote to a bare 28% last week that is a staggering loss of support, yet clearly very little of that accrued to Warren's Benefit, I think Buttigeig inherited a good chunk of Hillary Clinton's Base and then made some additions of his own, the rest of it went to Klobuchar and the leftovers were passed to Elizabeth.
Some of this is hypocritical to be sure, as if Warren's Detached Plan to pay for Medicare for All is any more dubious that Bernie Sanders' collection of hot-button soundbites, its just that Bernie isn't being held accountable and Warren, ever the honest policy wonk, is.
Sadly, Warren enters an elite club, formerly an all boys club if thats any comfort, she is one of the those elite Massachusetts Politicians who did not prevail in the NH Primary, Her, Ted Kennedy &...Mitt Romney.
Gaah.
Hang in there Senator, Do Not Go Gently into that Good Night.
Meanwhile, I do think this is the Waterloo of the Iowa Caucuses...I think the practice ought to be discontinued, and they can take their chances on Super Tuesday with the rest of us with a proper primary. Thats if we continue with the practice of free elections in this country.
So I'm thinking timing issues in the back stretch afflict the Warren Campaign, they made good decisions but were on the wrong damn schedule. There is no reason why she should not have finished in the top three up there, Senator Sanders went from 61% of the vote to a bare 28% last week that is a staggering loss of support, yet clearly very little of that accrued to Warren's Benefit, I think Buttigeig inherited a good chunk of Hillary Clinton's Base and then made some additions of his own, the rest of it went to Klobuchar and the leftovers were passed to Elizabeth.
Some of this is hypocritical to be sure, as if Warren's Detached Plan to pay for Medicare for All is any more dubious that Bernie Sanders' collection of hot-button soundbites, its just that Bernie isn't being held accountable and Warren, ever the honest policy wonk, is.
Sadly, Warren enters an elite club, formerly an all boys club if thats any comfort, she is one of the those elite Massachusetts Politicians who did not prevail in the NH Primary, Her, Ted Kennedy &...Mitt Romney.
Gaah.
Hang in there Senator, Do Not Go Gently into that Good Night.
Meanwhile, I do think this is the Waterloo of the Iowa Caucuses...I think the practice ought to be discontinued, and they can take their chances on Super Tuesday with the rest of us with a proper primary. Thats if we continue with the practice of free elections in this country.
Monday, February 10, 2020
Part of the Current Existential Dilemma
is that we liberals are forced to be both the apostles of progress & change and at the same time act as stern conservatives, mindfully conserving our rule of law and sacred constitution.
Normally, in a stable two party system, both political parties have a certain crossover state in both progress and conserving the democratic constitution legacy.
Alas though, the GOP has turned itself in a grifting party of utopian fantasies and base power worship, they are getting ready to depart the constitutional order, in fact a good chunk of them can't wait to become Sultans, Satraps, Counts, Dukes & Squadristi.
I take the long view, sooner or later, Trump Ends, but when he does, however he ends, he will try and leave behind the ruins of our American Experiment. I don't give a rat's ass as to his motivations, its his actions and intentions that concern us, and those intentions are pretty apocalyptic.
Which brings me back to our original dilemma, we liberals are conserving, Trump et al, are in outright revolutionary rebellion, we are affirming the law by applying the law, they are flouting the law and getting away with it thanks to Bob Barr and Mitch McConnell. And in some ways, conserving is not what we do best, lawless foes have to be aggressively confronted in a metaphoric sense, they have to be denied their sense of grievance driven entitlement, remember these are people who make bloodcurdling threats and then throw babies into cages on the border. They are the most painfully oppressive to those aren't in a position to retaliate/escalate.
Lets use our one great advantage over them, our creativity, we may be on the defensive somewhere but elsewhere we must be pressing forward. New coalitions must be formed, hard unforgiving work looms, nothing will come easily. And when things seems darkest, just remember, Pancho Villa crossed the Rio Grande with seven followers in April of 1913, in a year he had the whole Mexican Tyranny On the Run!
At least this must be the order of things dark & light, until somehow there is a political realignment compatible with our democratic system of government. I don't expect said democracy to perish, I do expect though, in so many different ways, we must fight for it.
Normally, in a stable two party system, both political parties have a certain crossover state in both progress and conserving the democratic constitution legacy.
Alas though, the GOP has turned itself in a grifting party of utopian fantasies and base power worship, they are getting ready to depart the constitutional order, in fact a good chunk of them can't wait to become Sultans, Satraps, Counts, Dukes & Squadristi.
I take the long view, sooner or later, Trump Ends, but when he does, however he ends, he will try and leave behind the ruins of our American Experiment. I don't give a rat's ass as to his motivations, its his actions and intentions that concern us, and those intentions are pretty apocalyptic.
Which brings me back to our original dilemma, we liberals are conserving, Trump et al, are in outright revolutionary rebellion, we are affirming the law by applying the law, they are flouting the law and getting away with it thanks to Bob Barr and Mitch McConnell. And in some ways, conserving is not what we do best, lawless foes have to be aggressively confronted in a metaphoric sense, they have to be denied their sense of grievance driven entitlement, remember these are people who make bloodcurdling threats and then throw babies into cages on the border. They are the most painfully oppressive to those aren't in a position to retaliate/escalate.
Lets use our one great advantage over them, our creativity, we may be on the defensive somewhere but elsewhere we must be pressing forward. New coalitions must be formed, hard unforgiving work looms, nothing will come easily. And when things seems darkest, just remember, Pancho Villa crossed the Rio Grande with seven followers in April of 1913, in a year he had the whole Mexican Tyranny On the Run!
At least this must be the order of things dark & light, until somehow there is a political realignment compatible with our democratic system of government. I don't expect said democracy to perish, I do expect though, in so many different ways, we must fight for it.
Saturday, February 08, 2020
Iowa again...
The Great French Philosopher Jacques Ellul once opined that modern technological civilization consumed the rights of individuals and gave in return, quite literally, speed. Physical speed, processing speed, speedy gratification & speedy oppression, speed quite literally is modern civilization's greatest commodity.
And so it was in the name of the "virtue of speed"that the app by which the caucuses results would be swiftly tabulated promptly crashed on election night leaving the entire affair in doubt for days.
Which leads my to my own personal codicil to Ellul's "Rule of Speed", that if something is important, its also unreliable. That the quest for sheer speed has made everything fragile & vulnerable utterly unable to withstand the metaphoric high speed impact. And so it was in Iowa, speed begat impact, fueled by the combustion of individual voting rights.
Be that as it may, Iowa was also a curtain raiser on electoral chaos this fall, and if last week's caucuses were an accident, believe you me, this fall it'll be deliberate nonstop hackery & interference. So I hope someone out there has an effective plan to deal with all this madness, and whatever that plan is, count on "double the estimate" come the end of October. I don't know how much can be done, given the almost certain attempted and or successful interference from foreign powers, but forewarned is forearmed at the very least.
One thing is for certain, if we want to hold on to our democracy in the USA we need to eschew the "virtue of speed" in favor of paper & ink analog ballots, with robust hand count back up systems. Or we can watch as our rights speedily vanish in a cloud of tweets.
But I wax lyrical, our rights cannot vanish, they can only be withheld by force per Thomas Jefferson, the degree of effort required to recover them is the measure of the strength of the tyranny. Which is another thing we'll have to remember come this fall.
And so it was in the name of the "virtue of speed"that the app by which the caucuses results would be swiftly tabulated promptly crashed on election night leaving the entire affair in doubt for days.
Which leads my to my own personal codicil to Ellul's "Rule of Speed", that if something is important, its also unreliable. That the quest for sheer speed has made everything fragile & vulnerable utterly unable to withstand the metaphoric high speed impact. And so it was in Iowa, speed begat impact, fueled by the combustion of individual voting rights.
Be that as it may, Iowa was also a curtain raiser on electoral chaos this fall, and if last week's caucuses were an accident, believe you me, this fall it'll be deliberate nonstop hackery & interference. So I hope someone out there has an effective plan to deal with all this madness, and whatever that plan is, count on "double the estimate" come the end of October. I don't know how much can be done, given the almost certain attempted and or successful interference from foreign powers, but forewarned is forearmed at the very least.
One thing is for certain, if we want to hold on to our democracy in the USA we need to eschew the "virtue of speed" in favor of paper & ink analog ballots, with robust hand count back up systems. Or we can watch as our rights speedily vanish in a cloud of tweets.
But I wax lyrical, our rights cannot vanish, they can only be withheld by force per Thomas Jefferson, the degree of effort required to recover them is the measure of the strength of the tyranny. Which is another thing we'll have to remember come this fall.
Wednesday, February 05, 2020
Well I coulda told ya that as soon as
John Bolton signified he was willing to testify at the Senate Impeachment Trial, that Senator McConnell would move Heaven & Earth to wrap that sumbitch up quick, and he did by Ghod.
Oh course McConnell shredded the US Constitution in the process and likely had to make some bloodcurdling threats at Senator Collins, but he got the job done. "High Crimes" only exist when democrats are in office I guess, the Constitution can now rest on its laurels assuming the GOP ever leaves office.
But mostly Trump still has his job tonight out of sheer fright, Lamar Alexander and his useless ilk couldn't stand up to the imagined death threats etc, they are scared of Trump in a childish helpless way and in that sad cringeworthy fear the Two Party System enters its death spiral.
Or not.
In the face of all these challenges I still assert that only a living democracy sworn to a Constitution and the Rule of Law can regenerate itself in times of deep degradation. Given that McConnell has suborned the US Senate on his behalf, we can expect Donald Trump to do everything in his power, legal and illegal to hijack the 2020 election, and if he succeeds in that Heaven Help Us.
But even in that final extremity, there is a light and a way forward, we are being tested by Inscrutable History and We Must Not Be Found Wanting.
"Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We...will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation."
Abraham Lincoln, 1861
Oh course McConnell shredded the US Constitution in the process and likely had to make some bloodcurdling threats at Senator Collins, but he got the job done. "High Crimes" only exist when democrats are in office I guess, the Constitution can now rest on its laurels assuming the GOP ever leaves office.
But mostly Trump still has his job tonight out of sheer fright, Lamar Alexander and his useless ilk couldn't stand up to the imagined death threats etc, they are scared of Trump in a childish helpless way and in that sad cringeworthy fear the Two Party System enters its death spiral.
Or not.
In the face of all these challenges I still assert that only a living democracy sworn to a Constitution and the Rule of Law can regenerate itself in times of deep degradation. Given that McConnell has suborned the US Senate on his behalf, we can expect Donald Trump to do everything in his power, legal and illegal to hijack the 2020 election, and if he succeeds in that Heaven Help Us.
But even in that final extremity, there is a light and a way forward, we are being tested by Inscrutable History and We Must Not Be Found Wanting.
"Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We...will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation."
Abraham Lincoln, 1861
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