Category: Politics

Bernie Sanders is stuck in the 1970’s; a time when a minority of people in the United States fawned admirably over the idea of a people’s utopia. When guys like Bernie visited Cuba or the Soviet Union, they got guided tours by people that worked for Vladimir Putin (or whoever was running the KGB at the time). They were conducted on a controlled tour to see how the ruling class lived in such places and told that this was the lifestyle that everyone in such a society could achieve. What they experienced during their visits was diametrically different than what people back home were saying about life under communism.

Folks like Bernie had soured on Vietnam and Watergate and thus were inclined to discount Western critiques of communism. Also, socialism was on the ascendancy in Europe which cherry picked various parts that they liked and selectively applied them to public policy. This reinforced the belief that transformation from capitalism was not only possible without revolution but desirable. This formative period for Bernie is his touchstone for what should be.

History has taught us a much different lesson about how radical change is implemented. Barack Obama took some concrete steps towards socialist transformation but was halted by Republicans taking control of Congress. Ultimately, Donald Trump was elected to correct Obama’s overreach—especially by Executive Orders. The Obama revolution was largely beaten back by Trump or significantly reduced in its impact.

This Presidential cycle, Democrats on the national stage are unanimous that they want to transform the United States into a socialist nation. There was little difference in the top tier candidates on any issues.

Sanders was the only guy in the Democrat field that was honest about his goals. I had assumed that Bernie was a true believer and tired of half measures. Given his age and rhetoric, I thought he was going all in on making the revolution happen now. I viewed this campaign as him giving his beliefs as a legacy to the next generation. I took him at his word on the campaign trail.

If you heard his speech the night of Super Tuesday, Bernie sounded ready to burn our whole country to the ground.

Now, what makes this movement unique is we are taking on the corporate establishment, we are taking it on the greed of Wall Street. The greed of the drug companies who charge us the highest prices in the world. The greed or the insurance companies. And given the existential crisis of climate change, we are saying to the fossil fuel industry… We are saying to the fossil fuel industry, their short-term profits on not more important than the future of our country, or the world.

But we are not only taking on the corporate establishment, we’re taking on the political establishment. But we’re going to win because the people understand it is our campaign, our movement, which is best position to defeat Trump. You cannot beat Trump with the same old same old kind of politics. What we need is a new politics that brings working class people into our political movement. Which brings young people into our political movement. And which in November we’ll create the highest voter turnout in American political history.

Super Tuesday Speech Transcripts: Biden, Sanders, Warren, Bloomberg Speeches to Supporters

I thought it was entertaining when the next day, Mark Stein took after Bernie for being spineless. Upon his return, Rush Limbaugh also piled on. Why?

Because Bernie was outmaneuvered yet again by the Democrat Establishment. The power brokers in the party called in their markers and cleared the decks of everyone but Warren on Monday. Warren split the vote to thwart Bernie on Super Tuesday and give Joe Biden a path forward to the nomination. Her job now completed, a few days later, she too, stepped aside.

Meanwhile, since Super Tuesday, Bernie has not attacked Joe Biden for anything. Joe is the most target rich opponent that anybody would ever hope to face in politics and all we get from Sanders is crickets. I have yet to hear a single media report about Bernie or what or where he is. What kind of guy ever succeeded in fomenting a revolution that quit at the first sign of adversity?

I think the young people that believe Berie’s B.S. are in for a shock. They finally find a politician that believes just like their college professors and after going all in for Sanders, he just leaves them hanging. Depending on what happens next, Bernie’s loyal followers might decide to sit out the election in November.

Bernie wouldn’t be the first guy to stake-out a position that is all about image and lacks substance. I get the feeling that the words of the man don’t match his deeds. Thus I’m starting to view him as an armchair revolutionary.

Will Bernie fold like a cheap suit or will he soldier on for the cause? We all know there’s not another Presidential run in his future because he’s too darn old. What he does in the next few weeks will be enlightening to watch.

Folks, just a quick update on the supposed results of Super Tuesday.

The media reports of Biden suddenly being ahead of Sanders by 60 delegates are true—from a certain point of view. What is missing is this. 290 delegates are still in play and not assigned to either guy. If you gave all remaining delegates to the candidate that currently leads in that state, Sanders is ahead by two. Biden would have 685 to Sanders with 687. Due to proportional assignment this won’t be the outcome but Bernie is not out of this yet… except…

What is going on with Pocahontas? Will she stay or will she go? Coming in third in your home state is usually an automatic sign to “pack it in” but this is politics. Will Warren stay in as the spoiler to Sanders chances or will she step aside and let the geriatric gents duke it out?

For a Party claiming to represent diversity to come down to the two oldest white guys in the race, it just illustrates the farce of Democrat image versus reality. Lest you think this is an accident, how was it that Jerry Brown has severed two terms as Governor of California in two successive centuries? Do you see a pattern? Power is pried from their cold, dead hands, and only reluctantly.

California votes will take so long to count that even though he won, Sanders will not be helped. The magnitude of his actual victory will probably not even get reported by the media as relevant because they will have moved on to the next shiny object long before the count is completed.

The media loves the drama of the horserace and the dream of beating Trump but somehow I think that the script will not go as planned.

Once Warren exits, stage left, Trump will be the youngest candidate in the race.

However this goes, the Presidential debates this fall will be entertaining; probably the best since Carter v Reagan.

By Chief

Note: The Chief sent me this post midafternoon yesterday but I didn’t have a chance to get this posted until the following day. — Editor

I wrote this past Friday that the Democrats have a Bernie problem. The problem isn’t so much his electability it’s the down ticket that matters. Bernie is popular in some core constituencies but deeply unpopular in others. The Democrats realized that and I have to give them credit for heeding my warnings. After Hidin’ Biden won big in South Carolina, his only decent showing to date, Tom Steyer dropped out. The following day Mayor Pete decided to drop out, and the “Klob-Butcher” dropped out and flew to Texas Monday to appear with and endorse “Hidin’ Biden.”

My initial reaction was that was odd, as Mayor Pete had actually shown quite well leading up to South Carolina, and had been tied with Bernie in the delegate race! The Klob-Butcher was actually starting to gain traction and the more friendly mid-western states were up next…so I was equally shocked by this. Just seemed like a lot of unnecessary dominoes fell instantly, almost like this thing is being rigged again?

Here is my hypothesis, somebody likely a Clinton appointee showed the DNC Bernie’s polling numbers in areas outside of academia and spooked the entire party. I’m sure campaign debt was paid off (also an opinion shared by the Blog Father) and suddenly…..wham Mayor Pete and Amy jump on the Biden campaign. I say suddenly because when you run for president, your campaign has rallies planned all over the place, on a given day you may visit 3 different states all in different time zones. I find it hard to believe these 2 just folded up the circus tents and jumped on Biden. Additionally I am not surprised on Steyer dropping out, he had a Jeb! One state strategy and it horribly backfired, as of writing I do not believe he has endorsed, only saying they need to beat Trump. Bloomberg I expect drops out after tonight, pending a bigger showing than I think. That would leave Biden, Bernie and Warren, the latter being key to rigging the election.

In essence, Warren and Sanders are competing for the same 40% or so of voters, if you believe like we do that if one dropped out, the supporters would vote for the other, as on policy neither differs that much. Warren needs to stay in, and likely got a promise to wipe out her campaign debt after she drops out. This sets up Biden to try to capture Bernie’s share + “x” and beat Bernie, in every state that remains, and allow him to pick up more delegates. Think back to 2016, Trump always got his 30-34% of the vote in each state, with Cruz and Kasich flopping 2nd and 3rd place finishes allowing Trump to continue winning states and an increasing delegate lead. Neither candidate would drop out, and eventually Trump got enough delegates to earn the nomination.

Here we are today, the eve of the “Super Tuesday” election primary and it’s going to get wild tonight. I say that because millions of folks have already voted, and the votes cannot be changed. Look for some wild finishes tonight, remember if a candidate gets above 15% they win delegates even if no longer in the race. Amy could well win Minnesota, Pete should do well in the mid-west states. Bloomberg is an absolute wild card in all of this, if he does well and presses on, it will be a brokered convention. The key is he needs to drop out ASAP and get behind Biden, because again, more and more states vote in the next few weeks, and his name is still on the ballot! Bernie is very aware this is happening, actually he is one of the most self-aware candidates remaining. He knows he has to ramp it up, and look for him to attack Biden big on the stump, as he knows Biden’s voters are not “hard support” like he enjoys from his voters. The key tonight is to watch Warren, if she drops out, Bernie’s chances of winning go exponentially higher, if she does not, Bernie knows this thing is rigged again, just like the last one.

My only words of advice: be very careful with Bernie’s supporters, the worst look possible is a smoke filled convention, with Bernie leading his folks out like the Pied Piper. If this plays out the way I think it will, Bloomberg, Biden, and Bernie in a smoke filled room, Biden will get routed at the polls and the Democrats could be looking at a super minority. Bloomberg can only buy off so many people.

Stay tuned,

Chief

Editor’s Note: I agree with Chief that it is unusual for so many people to drop out of the race the day before Super Tuesday. These folks have campaigned for almost two years to get to this point in the election—remember there were once 24 candidates in the field—and now the day before the Olympics of politics they all drop out??? What happened to the brokered convention? Clearly somebody connected with Clinton or Obama organizations dropped a dime on the candidates in the race. Also, if Biden is so great for blacks, why is it that no black candidates were part of the last minute endorsement or campaign blitz? Where are Harris, Booker, etc.?

Just a quick note on Mike Bloomberg’s campaign for President. Mike has reportedly spent close to half a billion dollars (~$500 million for folks in Rio Linda) yet I have not seen a single ad for his campaign. Not on radio, television, or the Internet! How can this be? Where is all that money going?

Truthfully, I think the answer is that Bloomberg’s pockets are being picked by his political consultants. It’s not unusual that consultants get as much as 15 percent of whatever the candidate spends. Bloomberg is also paying extra for media buys since many people want to advertise and there are only so many slots. In economic terms, demand is higher than supply so the supplier can pick their price for their product. As a result, “Mini” Mike is not getting much bang for his buck.

While I vote Conservative, I’m registered as having No Party Preference (NPP)—the second largest political block in California—yet I have not heard from any candidates other than President Trump. The County Clerk has offered me the opportunity to vote in one of four party primaries—none of which was Republican—so in theory I could vote for “Mini” Mike, or Crazy Bernie. About 30 percent of California is NPP and yet nobody is reaching out to us. I vote in every election so frankly I’m surprised.

Thus far, Bloomberg is not getting his money’s worth; however, there is one area that I expect he may drop even more funds. I think Mike will make candidates an offer that many can’t refuse; namely, I look for him to offer to pay campaign debts of those that drop out in exchange for their endorsement of his campaign and pledge of their delegates. I will qualify this idea by acknowledging that this might hinge on the outcome of Super Tuesday.

For a guy that’s supposed to be this big shot billionaire, Bloomberg is more out of touch than Biden or anyone else. He also has a deficit in charisma and personality and no amount of money can fix that.

Bloomberg really makes me miss Ross Perot. Perot was entertaining to watch and had a much larger following than Mike ever will.

By Troll

Mayor Pete Buttigieg, which is apparently pronounced Boot Edge Edge…I prefer Booty Judge due to obvious reasons but I digress. Ignoring his obvious homosexual tendencies (as in Seinfeld not that there’s anything wrong with that) he is a confirmed sociopath and not electable. Allow me to make my case.

Exhibit A: How he eats a cinnamon roll.

Just look at that, that’s a crime against humanity. He apparently unrolls his cinnamon roll like a crazy person, and proceeds to cut it up, and eat it like a chicken wing. Literally, he is not electable. Almost as bad as his next culinary fallacy. I still recall President Donald J Trump telling his young son Baron, cut up the pancake and take small bites while on the campaign trail, apparently Booty Judge took it literally.

Exhibit B: Mayor Pete likes to mix salsa and ranch together to form a secret sauce.

Pictured: Most Reverend Alfredo Sharpton and Mayor Pete praying their sacrifice may be accepted to which ever god they believe in. Sharpton had just washed the blood of his hands from a local BLM demonstration, Mayor Pete fresh off filling the number 2 hole.

Seriously what kind of crazy person mixes salsa and ranch together? Only a completely out of touch Mayor. He literally said this last week:

“I realize this might become one of my most controversial statements,” says the first openly gay Presidential candidate. “But you gotta understand, where I come from, we’re not purists about these things. Obviously, salsa is salsa and ranch is ranch, but if somebody’s gonna mix ‘em up, I’m not above dipping a tortilla chip in it and enjoying the mix of flavors.”

In most controversial stance yet, Mayor Pete comes out in favor of mixing ranch and salsa

Umm so I guess were calling that piece of genitalia a tortilla chip now? Wild move.

In closing, this guy is guilty of pre-crime your honor. Let’s arrest him for something before we read about him have a ton of bodies buried in his back yard. What kind of crazy person eats their cinnamon roll like a chicken wing, and who the heck thinks salsa and ranch together makes a decent combination?

The Troll

By Chief

At the time of this writing it appears inevitable that at the very least Bernie will have a large plurality of the delegates when the Democrats go to convention in July. Here at the blog, we speculate there is something a brewin’ behind the scenes because at the last debate; Booty Judge, Klob-Butcher, Mini Mike, and Demented Uncle Joe all attacked Bernie not just on his electability but also on his effect on down ticket races. As the headline of this blog mentioned, the real problem with Bernie isn’t HIS socialist policies, but the fact that said policies don’t play well everywhere.

William has been pounding the table saying this election will be California values vs the rest of the country. He is correct, as its shaping up that way. You see Bernie is very popular in some parts of the country, one could argue he even has a Trump-like following. Problem for Bernie is that his policies only play well around academia, with young voters, and people who love the word “free.” The flipside being his policies are deeply unpopular pretty much everywhere else. As a country, we have literally watched this play out the last couple weeks. He praised Fidel Castro, and is vehemently anti-Israel, this will likely end up in him losing Florida. He wants a complete ban on fracking, this likely causes him to lose Pennsylvania, Ohio and the upper Midwest. Start doing the delegate math and it’s hard to find a path to victory for him. Don’t get me wrong, Bernie will still run up big vote totals; however, CA, NY, IL, WA, and OR only count for so many electoral votes.

It’s not just Bernie losing on election night that poses the biggest problem for Democrats, it’s his coat tails or lack thereof that could be devastating. The Democrats in 2018 won big in the House, and won some governorships and statehouses, they won very big in the suburbs. The suburbs are where the Democrats are concerned about being routed this time around. They successfully made a case that Trump’s policies were not the best in those areas and won; however, this time it will be different. I don’t see those same voters embracing socialism. Nationally, the stakes are higher in 2020. We have a census going on where congressional lines will be re-drawn; the House could be re-shaped for a decade! This is the real reason the Democrats are so scared. Not only could their gains be wiped out, but they could find themselves in the minority for a long time.

We are still a ways out from November, and the Corona virus is taking its toll on the economy and international travel right now, so anything could happen. But I think the effort behind the scenes by the power brokers is very real. They want no part of a socialist running at the top of the ticket because win or lose, his policies become the de facto party platform. You are already starting to see incumbents distance themselves from Bernie and I cannot say I blame them. If I was a Democrat in an area that was not heavily exposed to academia or big city living, I would be updating the resume because you might be feelin’ the Bern on election night.

I am curious as to how this ends up playing out, but if I was a power broker, I would be trying to stop Bernie before he does irreparable harm to the country and the party. Their problem is how to do it without splitting the Party? Frankly, I’m not sure they can.

The Chief

Democrats let Uncle Joe out of the basement again today just to see if anybody cared. Joe has been having many pound me too (#MeToo) moments lately just to get noticed. Joe says outrageous and provocative things just to see if he can get an honorable mention in stories focused on Bernie Sanders and Mike Bloomberg. Here’s a few recent zingers that Joe has uttered this week with a straight face.

“150 million people have been killed since 2007 when Bernie voted to exempt the gun manufacturers from liability, more than all the wars, including Vietnam from that point on.”
Joe Biden 02/25/2020

Biden oddly suggests ‘150 million’ people killed by guns since 2007

Biden just declared that about 45 percent of the US population has died from random gun violence in the last dozen years and thinks blaming Sanders is the solution? Oh, and from that we are to think Biden is the best choice for President!! Hey Joe, most random homeless people still have enough brain cells left to know you’re full of excrement.

I don’t know if its his advanced age or dementia but the line between this life and the next is very thin in Biden’s world. Did you know that he negotiated a climate deal with a world leader that died almost 20 years before he was ever VP?

Presidential candidate Joe Biden appeared to make another misstep during a campaign event in South Carolina on Monday, claiming to have worked on the Paris Climate Accord with former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who died 19 years before the agreement was signed.

Joe Biden Claims to Have Worked On 2016 Paris Climate Deal With Chinese Leader Who Died In 1997

“One of the things I’m proudest of is getting passed, getting moved, getting in control of the Paris Climate Accord,” Biden told the crowd. “I’m the guy who came back after meeting with Deng Xiaoping and making the case that I believe China will join if we put pressure on them. We got almost 200 nations to join.”

Deng led China from 1978 until his retirement in 1992. Under his leadership, the Communist Party opened China to foreign investment and reaped the rewards of breakneck economic growth. The decision laid the foundations for contemporary China and its enormous economy.

At the same campaign event, Biden tried to demonstrate his vast understanding of Second Amendment issues with this comment:

“Who in God’s name needs a hundred rounds in a bullet, in a clip, with a gun you have?”

Biden says he negotiated climate deal with long-dead Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping

My response to Joe is that we need guns to protect us from pompous idiots like you that think you are superior to us because you got elected to office and parlayed it into a way to become millionaires at our expense. Public Service my foot.

But folks Biden wasn’t done yet.

Biden had another odd gaffe that day. Wrapping up his remarks at the South Carolina Democratic Party’s First in the South Dinner, he misspoke about which office he was seeking and made a puzzling reference to another Biden.

“Where I come from, you don’t get far unless you ask. My name’s Joe Biden. I’m a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Look me over. If you like what you see, help out. If not, vote for the other Biden,” he said.

Biden also raised eyebrows when he recently shared an unverified claim on the campaign trail that he was once arrested in South Africa trying to see Nelson Mandela in prison, something he had never previously shared.

So, there’s another Biden, an evil Biden? Joe is he hiding in your head too? Bipolar might explain as much as it answers. Was it just a “senior moment” that you claimed to be running for Senate or were you having flashbacks to when you thought you were relevant? Speaking of relevant, invoking a bogus story that even MSNBC doesn’t believe about you being arrested trying to see Nelson Mandela.

From that great Conservative Media outlet, The Washington Post

“This day, 30 years ago, Nelson Mandela walked out of prison and entered into discussions about apartheid. I had the great honor of meeting him. I had the great honor of being arrested with our U.N. ambassador on the streets of Soweto trying to get to see him on Robbens Island.”
— Former vice president Joe Biden, in remarks in Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 11

“After he [Mandela] got free and became president, he came to Washington and came to my office. He threw his arms around me and said, ‘I want to say thank you.’ I said, ‘What are you thanking me for, Mr. President?’ He said: ‘You tried to see me. You got arrested trying to see me.’”
— Biden, in remarks in Las Vegas on Feb. 16

Biden’s ridiculous claim he was arrested trying to see Mandela

We were reminded of that episode when we saw that former vice president Joe Biden has told voters at least three times that he was arrested in South Africa while trying to visit Nelson Mandela. The New York Times has done a great job deconstructing this story, but it cries out for our own fact check and a Pinocchio rating.

The South Carolina primary, with its large percentage of African American voters, is critical for Biden’s hopes to emerge as the top challenger to the current front-runner for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Sanders participated in the civil rights movement, unlike Biden, and photos have emerged of Sanders being arrested during a civil rights protest at the University of Chicago.

Biden, as a senator, was active in the anti-apartheid movement, helping pass sanctions on companies doing business in South Africa over President Ronald Reagan’s veto. But there is no evidence that Biden was ever arrested trying to see the imprisoned future president of a democratic South Africa.

Biden’s second statement — that Mandela thanked him for being arrested — also is not credible.

…there’s no excuse for telling an invented story like this.

Biden has never been shy about tooting his own horn. So it’s pretty surprising that on the eve of a primary critical to his election hopes, he suddenly recalls being arrested in South Africa — and being thanked by Mandela for being arrested. There is no evidence for either claim; neither appears remotely credible. Biden earns Four Pinocchios.

Folks when The Washington Times and Fox News agree that you’re blowing smoke up the voter’s tailpipes, then as Liz Warren might say, “Old White man in heap big trouble.”

When looking at the Biden campaign, I’m reminded of a line from the Kansas album Drastic Measures which asks, “Are you for real or are you going through the motions?”