Since Vietnam, the last war in which Americans were drafted into the
army, the Pentagon’s long term strategy has been to make the nation’s
gargantuan military machine and its wars as distant from the public as
possible. This helps explain why there hasn’t been a march on the
Pentagon since 1968. But Donald Trump doesn’t make long term plans. He
seems to want a giant chest thumping our-missiles-are-bigger-than-yours
military spectacle to boost his own popularity among the base that
elected him – disaffected white Americans who blame blacks, Mexicans,
women queers and foreigners for their own economic insecurity. His
military parade will do some of that.
But it’ll also draw attention to the fact that America’s massive war
expenditures are starving schools and libraries, housing and transit
infrastructure, warping what teachers teach and what students learn. At
$900 million plus apiece, every F-35 fighter is worth a small hospital.
At $13 billion apiece an aircraft carrier without the aircraft is worth a
dozen bus factories or half a dozen water and sewer and sewer systems
for a city of 200,000. While public roads are privatized, and public
schools can’t afford fast internet, teacher salaries or heat in their
overcrowded classrooms, the US military maintains a thousand overseas
bases on six continents and its own satellite network.
-- Bruce A. Dixon, "Dems Oppose Trump's Military Parade But Not the Bipartisan Warfare State" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Truest statement of the week II
Perhaps the most cynical point in the political theater surrounding
the bill’s passage was the eight-hour speech Wednesday by Democratic
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who read the stories of young
undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US when they were
children and have legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals (DACA) program. The bill includes no protection for the 800,000
DACA beneficiaries who face possible deportation beginning March 5,
when the DACA program expires.
Pelosi’s stunt, which followed the announcement of a bipartisan budget agreement in the Senate, was an elaborate attempt to provide political cover for the Democratic Party, which had already agreed behind the scenes to provide the votes needed to pass the measure in the House. In typical fashion, a number of Democrats were allowed to cast meaningless “no” votes to preserve their “progressive” bona fides for future elections.
The Democrats have only disdain for those who sought to pressure them to the left. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown said of constituents who appealed to him to vote against the budget deal, “If the suggestion is if I’m spooked by them or they affect my voting record, the answer is of course not.”
The passage of the budget bill shows the social character and political role of the Democratic Party. It is as much a pro-war, pro-corporate party as its Republican counterpart. It shares the Trump administration’s goals of increasing “border security,” reducing taxes on the wealthy, boosting corporate profits and preparing the military for total war—with its domestic component of internal repression.
-- Patrick Martin, "Democrats and Republicans pass budget to prepare US for war" (WSWS).
Pelosi’s stunt, which followed the announcement of a bipartisan budget agreement in the Senate, was an elaborate attempt to provide political cover for the Democratic Party, which had already agreed behind the scenes to provide the votes needed to pass the measure in the House. In typical fashion, a number of Democrats were allowed to cast meaningless “no” votes to preserve their “progressive” bona fides for future elections.
The Democrats have only disdain for those who sought to pressure them to the left. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown said of constituents who appealed to him to vote against the budget deal, “If the suggestion is if I’m spooked by them or they affect my voting record, the answer is of course not.”
The passage of the budget bill shows the social character and political role of the Democratic Party. It is as much a pro-war, pro-corporate party as its Republican counterpart. It shares the Trump administration’s goals of increasing “border security,” reducing taxes on the wealthy, boosting corporate profits and preparing the military for total war—with its domestic component of internal repression.
-- Patrick Martin, "Democrats and Republicans pass budget to prepare US for war" (WSWS).
A note to our readers
Hey --
It's early Wednesday morning.
Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
And what did we come up with?
Happy Valentine's Day and see you next week.
Peace,
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
It's early Wednesday morning.
Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with?
- Truest statement of the week
- Truest statement of the week II
- Editorial: Where to send money
- TV: When and why it's just not funny
- Entertainment roundtable
- A brief primer on THE INTERCEPT
- Somebody tell Hillary, it's time for letting go
- Tweet of the week
- Heaven save us from the 'experts'
- This edition's playlist
- South Central Michigan Greens to Meet 1-3pm Saturd...
Happy Valentine's Day and see you next week.
Peace,
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Editorial: Where to send money
Iraq needs 88 billion for reconstruction.
Or maybe it's 100 million?
Meanwhile who needs 17 million?
UNICEF -- it needs 17 million to rebuild Iraq's health facilities.
Before any money is given to Iraq itself, two things should happen.
First, the government needs to demonstrate it's really serious about ending corruption -- they've talked about ending corruption since 2006. It still hasn't taken.
Second, the leaders need to work on political reconciliation so that ISIS -- or another ISIS -- doesn't get a foothold in Iraq again.
UNICEF?
Unlike Iraq, it has a strong track record. Until the government demonstrates real changes, monies should just go to UNICEF.
TV: When and why it's just not funny
Patton Oswalt is a lot like Robin Williams -- if Robin had never possessed talent or sensuality.
The Clogged Duane is back yet again because, while Lincoln freed the slaves, no one has yet to free TV from fat, White men. He's stinking up A.P. BIO -- a series that wouldn't be all that funny even if he wasn't in it.
The premise is that college professor -- a college philosophy professor -- is hired by a desperate to impress high school. How desperate? They hire him to teach A.P. biology.
How desperate?
That's a question for NBC who hired Lorne Michaels and four other men (Seth Meyers included) to produce a sitcom. This is his sixth sitcom and only one has been considered a 'success' -- 30 ROCK -- a show that never ranked higher than 69 for any of the years it was in production.
The format prompts no questions, however. When you're alleged comedy lacks a single laugh, you go single-camera. It's easier to trick a network executive into believing they're just not getting the joke. Had it been filmed before a live audience, the exec might notice that it's not just him/her not laughing but also a studio full of people.
The suits blame their boss Bob Greenblatt.
Though still a few years from 60, he's seen as more conservative -- when it comes to programming -- than Leslie Moonves.
He also has no sitcom experience in his wheelhouse -- the closest would be the dramadies NURSE JACKIE and THE UNITED STATES OF TARA.
It's been a major battle, in the pilot season, for the suits under Greenblatt to get seed money and support for multi-cam sitcoms. But, under pressure from COMCAST, Greenblatt's agreed that something has to be done and that the answer really isn't GREAT NEWS or any other mild offering from Tina Fey.
The only hit comedy NBC currently has is WILL & GRACE which has demonstrated that viewers will tune in on Thursdays in 2018 -- just not for THE GOOD PLACE or GREAT NEWS or SUPERSTORE or any other so-self-infatuated-it-doesn't-have-to-put-out-for-the-viewing-audience program.
HAPPY PEPPERS could have been NBC's second hit of the season but at the last minute they passed.
It was a mistake.
Currently, there are 16 multi-cam pilots being considered by ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX -- with NBC considering four -- two of the four have Sean Hayes as an executive producer.
This fall could be the year that NBC finally is no longer the fourth rated network.
If Norman Lear's latest shot, GUESS WHO DIED, makes it to air many are praying the similar ground of a FOX possibility -- COOL KIDS, starring Vicki Lawrence, David Alan Grier and Leslie Jordan -- will kick it in the ratings. Norman's finally found success again after years of failing and did it via NETFLIX's ONE DAY AT A TIME. But while that's a multi-cam the old dog wants to make a mess of the rug today with a single-cam.
Lear always allowed preachy theatrics to step on comedy laughs and that's why it's amazing CBS is even considering a multi-cam from him. It's as though they're letting him run with scissors and boredom.
For 32 years, Lear failed to find a way to be funny and suffered one failure after another until 2017's reboot of ONE DAY AT A TIME. Rita Moreno mines the material and finds laughter in moments the scripts didn't even explore. Would that have been possible were a studio audience not present to demonstrate to the show runners just how right Rita's choices were? It is highly doubtful.
And it's highly doubtful Lear's efforts to proselytize will find comedy on the written page or the stage without a studio audience to warn his echo chamber when the preaching falls to harangue and fails to be hilarious.
Whatever happens next season, A.P. BIO probably won't be a part of it.
This show is a horrible mess -- one that never should have aired in the first place.
When you're casting Patton Oswalt, you're scraping the sides of the creativity barrel for whatever's left and, as Oswalt demonstrates in the role of Princpal Durbin, that ain't much.
Certainly not enough to deliver a laugh.
He hems and haws and he gets all glassy eyed, he's like a fat Jon Cryer and, in 2018, TV doesn't even need the original Cryer, let alone an outlet mall irregular.
He's not the only thing ugly about this show which manages to also have one of the worst lighting jobs -- it's lit so poorly, it's as though you're watching an early 70s sitcom -- say ABC's TEMPERATURES RISING. Then there's the 'writing' with supposed jokes that go down with all the ease of Muhammad Ali's Sour Cream and Onion Potato Chips.
When you're not gagging, you're suffering heartburn.
The only real winner is Glenn Howerton who stars as the lead.
Presented with one so-so script after another, he decided to go full on in A.P. BIO and demonstrates he can be do more than be the funny boy, he can also act. Next time, hopefully it with a script worthy of him.
The Clogged Duane is back yet again because, while Lincoln freed the slaves, no one has yet to free TV from fat, White men. He's stinking up A.P. BIO -- a series that wouldn't be all that funny even if he wasn't in it.
The premise is that college professor -- a college philosophy professor -- is hired by a desperate to impress high school. How desperate? They hire him to teach A.P. biology.
How desperate?
That's a question for NBC who hired Lorne Michaels and four other men (Seth Meyers included) to produce a sitcom. This is his sixth sitcom and only one has been considered a 'success' -- 30 ROCK -- a show that never ranked higher than 69 for any of the years it was in production.
The format prompts no questions, however. When you're alleged comedy lacks a single laugh, you go single-camera. It's easier to trick a network executive into believing they're just not getting the joke. Had it been filmed before a live audience, the exec might notice that it's not just him/her not laughing but also a studio full of people.
The suits blame their boss Bob Greenblatt.
Though still a few years from 60, he's seen as more conservative -- when it comes to programming -- than Leslie Moonves.
He also has no sitcom experience in his wheelhouse -- the closest would be the dramadies NURSE JACKIE and THE UNITED STATES OF TARA.
It's been a major battle, in the pilot season, for the suits under Greenblatt to get seed money and support for multi-cam sitcoms. But, under pressure from COMCAST, Greenblatt's agreed that something has to be done and that the answer really isn't GREAT NEWS or any other mild offering from Tina Fey.
The only hit comedy NBC currently has is WILL & GRACE which has demonstrated that viewers will tune in on Thursdays in 2018 -- just not for THE GOOD PLACE or GREAT NEWS or SUPERSTORE or any other so-self-infatuated-it-doesn't-have-to-put-out-for-the-viewing-audience program.
HAPPY PEPPERS could have been NBC's second hit of the season but at the last minute they passed.
It was a mistake.
Currently, there are 16 multi-cam pilots being considered by ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX -- with NBC considering four -- two of the four have Sean Hayes as an executive producer.
This fall could be the year that NBC finally is no longer the fourth rated network.
If Norman Lear's latest shot, GUESS WHO DIED, makes it to air many are praying the similar ground of a FOX possibility -- COOL KIDS, starring Vicki Lawrence, David Alan Grier and Leslie Jordan -- will kick it in the ratings. Norman's finally found success again after years of failing and did it via NETFLIX's ONE DAY AT A TIME. But while that's a multi-cam the old dog wants to make a mess of the rug today with a single-cam.
Lear always allowed preachy theatrics to step on comedy laughs and that's why it's amazing CBS is even considering a multi-cam from him. It's as though they're letting him run with scissors and boredom.
For 32 years, Lear failed to find a way to be funny and suffered one failure after another until 2017's reboot of ONE DAY AT A TIME. Rita Moreno mines the material and finds laughter in moments the scripts didn't even explore. Would that have been possible were a studio audience not present to demonstrate to the show runners just how right Rita's choices were? It is highly doubtful.
And it's highly doubtful Lear's efforts to proselytize will find comedy on the written page or the stage without a studio audience to warn his echo chamber when the preaching falls to harangue and fails to be hilarious.
Whatever happens next season, A.P. BIO probably won't be a part of it.
This show is a horrible mess -- one that never should have aired in the first place.
When you're casting Patton Oswalt, you're scraping the sides of the creativity barrel for whatever's left and, as Oswalt demonstrates in the role of Princpal Durbin, that ain't much.
Certainly not enough to deliver a laugh.
He hems and haws and he gets all glassy eyed, he's like a fat Jon Cryer and, in 2018, TV doesn't even need the original Cryer, let alone an outlet mall irregular.
He's not the only thing ugly about this show which manages to also have one of the worst lighting jobs -- it's lit so poorly, it's as though you're watching an early 70s sitcom -- say ABC's TEMPERATURES RISING. Then there's the 'writing' with supposed jokes that go down with all the ease of Muhammad Ali's Sour Cream and Onion Potato Chips.
When you're not gagging, you're suffering heartburn.
The only real winner is Glenn Howerton who stars as the lead.
Presented with one so-so script after another, he decided to go full on in A.P. BIO and demonstrates he can be do more than be the funny boy, he can also act. Next time, hopefully it with a script worthy of him.
Entertainment roundtable
Jim: It's roundtable time. A number of readers are saying it's been way too long since we've had an entertainment roundtable so that's what we're doing now. Our e-mail
address is thethirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com. Participating in our roundtable are The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava, and me, Jim; Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude; Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man; C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review; Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills); Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix; Mike of Mikey Likes It!; Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz); Ruth of Ruth's Report; Trina of Trina's Kitchen; Wally of The Daily Jot; Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ; Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends; Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub. Betty's kids did the
illustration. You are reading a rush transcript.
C.I.: I'll start. FAMILY
GUY, last night. Women are damned if they do and damned if they don't.
Taylor Swift mocked -- as she is so often by others -- for songs about
men, kiss off songs. I'm sorry -- "Under
My Thumb"? Did Mick Jagger have mockery for all of his kiss off songs
where he wrote the lyrics to Keith Richards' riffs? No. But women are
held to a different standard. Reality, a woman shows aggression and she
immediately needs to back off. That was
the argument when it was time for Tina Turner to record the follow up
to PRIVATE DANCER. Ike had already slammed her for "We Don't Need
Another Hero." She was told she was coming off "angry" and it was worse
for her because you were pairing "angry" with
"African-American." So she has to walk away from anything that seems
like "Better Be Good To Me" and then people are underwhelmed by the
follow up and wondering why she's singing about "physical attraction"
and lawyers and nonsense. Alanis Morissette is
another good example. The hit that makes her is "You Ought To Know."
Angry young men are applauded. Women? Not so much. She's mocked and
made fun of. BOY MEETS WORLD builds a whole episode around an Alanis
'type.' She comes back with an album thanking
India because, heaven forbid, a woman shows anger -- even in this
world. And she loses her audience just like Tina did before.
Taylor? Let's all dog pile on her because she's written some "Under My
Thumb" songs. Doesn't she know a woman's only allowed to
do one? This is the biggest load of nonsense. That we're the ones who
have to bring it up yet again goes to either the stupidity among the
so-called pop culture critics of today or just the lazy ass nature that
leads them to avoid every real issue in the
hopes that someone else will address it.
Jim: You're mad.
C.I.: I am. This is not a new episode of FAMILY GUY. We caught it because we had the TV on in the background -- Ava and I. And I'm so damn tired of these attacks on women being ignored. Taylor Swift can write any song she wants and should. And she's smart enough not to be bullied -- even with crap from FAMILY GUY -- into moving over to 'appropriate' songs for women.
Dona: Good for her, too. And I agree that it seems like they can focus on anything and everything except sexism. I especially call out the so-called Social Justice Warriors who've made the time to attack Taylor as too White or whatever their nonsense is but can't defend women.
Marcia: Exactly. They are useless, the SJWs. I can't stand them. As an African-American lesbian, I'm tired of their nonsense and their pretense. They don't speak for anyone but their own self-righteousness.
Jim: Okay, a lot of people are watching the Olympics -- or are expected to. Anyone here watching?
Wally: Nope. I can be semi-interested in track during the summer Olymics. I'm not interested in figure skating or skiing.
Dona: Or gymnastics. But then with the harassment scandal, I don't believe the usual amount are interested in gymnastics.
Jim: So no one's watching? Betty?
Betty: I ran track and played basketball -- why would you ever think I was a girly-girl? Like Wally, if it were summer, I'd check out the track and the swimming, maybe even the diving. But it's winter and I'm not interested.
Rebecca: And a lot of people are not interested for political reasons -- the athletes, the American athletes, who decided you start the games not with the opening ceremony but an opening jab at some politician -- usually Trump. That's turned off a number of people.
Mike: It's a big deal. People are sick of it. Can't we just have a competition, can't they just leave politics out of it? Apparently not. That's before you get into the cry baby of "I wanted to do the opening ceremony." Just try to have fun and stop being a cry baby.
Cedric: Agreed. There are too many crybabies. Not enough sports players. Stop the whining.
Jim: So no one's watching the Olympics. Okay. What are you watching?
Ann: That's what I hate about the Olympics. NBC airs them and we're all supposed to watch and no one wants to compete with them. I was all excited about the SCANDAL and HOW TO GET AWY WITH MURDER cross over but instead of it airing last week, we have to wait until March because there's no one willing to put anything on the schedule. I'm sick of this nonsense.
Isaiah: Agreed. And they tend to do it with the Oscars and the Emmys as well. Don't traffic cop me. I don't need you to tell me what to watch.
Jim: It really feels that way, doesn't it, Isaiah? They've put up cones and some guy in a yellow vest it trying to force us to watch something.
Rebecca: In the case of SCANDAL, this is utterly stupid. It's the final season. We should have an episode every week with no stopping.
Ann: Agreed.
Stan: Especially with HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER which, unlike SCANDAL, has been worth watching and then some. I don't care about the winter Olympics. It's a shame we all have to stop watching our shows so that no one competes with the Olympics.
Trina: Well let's call it what it is, it's rigging. It's like price rigging by hotels. When they have some big event, for example, they get together -- even though they're not supposed to -- and set the prices. This is illegal. And it should be illegal for them to do this with TV scheduling. It's like price fixing. Maybe with the Emmys, since it's an industry event, they can get away with it. But this should result in a complaint to the FCC.
Jim: You're mad.
C.I.: I am. This is not a new episode of FAMILY GUY. We caught it because we had the TV on in the background -- Ava and I. And I'm so damn tired of these attacks on women being ignored. Taylor Swift can write any song she wants and should. And she's smart enough not to be bullied -- even with crap from FAMILY GUY -- into moving over to 'appropriate' songs for women.
Dona: Good for her, too. And I agree that it seems like they can focus on anything and everything except sexism. I especially call out the so-called Social Justice Warriors who've made the time to attack Taylor as too White or whatever their nonsense is but can't defend women.
Marcia: Exactly. They are useless, the SJWs. I can't stand them. As an African-American lesbian, I'm tired of their nonsense and their pretense. They don't speak for anyone but their own self-righteousness.
Jim: Okay, a lot of people are watching the Olympics -- or are expected to. Anyone here watching?
Wally: Nope. I can be semi-interested in track during the summer Olymics. I'm not interested in figure skating or skiing.
Dona: Or gymnastics. But then with the harassment scandal, I don't believe the usual amount are interested in gymnastics.
Jim: So no one's watching? Betty?
Betty: I ran track and played basketball -- why would you ever think I was a girly-girl? Like Wally, if it were summer, I'd check out the track and the swimming, maybe even the diving. But it's winter and I'm not interested.
Rebecca: And a lot of people are not interested for political reasons -- the athletes, the American athletes, who decided you start the games not with the opening ceremony but an opening jab at some politician -- usually Trump. That's turned off a number of people.
Mike: It's a big deal. People are sick of it. Can't we just have a competition, can't they just leave politics out of it? Apparently not. That's before you get into the cry baby of "I wanted to do the opening ceremony." Just try to have fun and stop being a cry baby.
Cedric: Agreed. There are too many crybabies. Not enough sports players. Stop the whining.
Jim: So no one's watching the Olympics. Okay. What are you watching?
Ann: That's what I hate about the Olympics. NBC airs them and we're all supposed to watch and no one wants to compete with them. I was all excited about the SCANDAL and HOW TO GET AWY WITH MURDER cross over but instead of it airing last week, we have to wait until March because there's no one willing to put anything on the schedule. I'm sick of this nonsense.
Isaiah: Agreed. And they tend to do it with the Oscars and the Emmys as well. Don't traffic cop me. I don't need you to tell me what to watch.
Jim: It really feels that way, doesn't it, Isaiah? They've put up cones and some guy in a yellow vest it trying to force us to watch something.
Rebecca: In the case of SCANDAL, this is utterly stupid. It's the final season. We should have an episode every week with no stopping.
Ann: Agreed.
Stan: Especially with HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER which, unlike SCANDAL, has been worth watching and then some. I don't care about the winter Olympics. It's a shame we all have to stop watching our shows so that no one competes with the Olympics.
Trina: Well let's call it what it is, it's rigging. It's like price rigging by hotels. When they have some big event, for example, they get together -- even though they're not supposed to -- and set the prices. This is illegal. And it should be illegal for them to do this with TV scheduling. It's like price fixing. Maybe with the Emmys, since it's an industry event, they can get away with it. But this should result in a complaint to the FCC.
A brief primer on THE INTERCEPT
All you need to know about Glenn Greenwald's outlet in one quick Tweet.
Intercept's red flags showing their recent politicization:
1) Lost all cred by exposing a source https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/business/media/intercept-reality-winner-russia-trump-leak.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=65CB9E61C295AC3CD6FF8965086CBF83&gwt=pay …
2) Withheld document that could have ended Syrian war faster
3) Smears anti-war left as Neo-Nazis
Somebody tell Hillary, it's time for letting go
Hillary Clinton had $1 billion and couldn’t seal the deal. She had her chance. Must go away. Now.
She should go away.
Her Vaginal Secretions just don't get that.
They insist that John Kerry didn't go away after the 2004 election and Al Gore didn't go away after the 2000 election and . . .
But they did.
They went away.
They allowed the country to move on from the election (or, in Al Gore's case, from the Supreme Court ruling).
Not Hillary.
She will not let go.
She will not stop whining about the election.
She lost.
At POLITICO, Joanna Weiss pointed out:
We just passed Groundhog Day on the calendar, but it feels like we’re still living it; we can’t break free from the gnashing and rehashing of the 2016 election. It’s not just the Mueller probe and legitimate questions about Russian influence. It’s the emotional notes of triumph and defeat. President Donald Trump hasn’t dropped the subject, which is as perplexing as anything else Trump has done. But Clinton hasn’t dropped it, either. And at this point, she should.
Weiss goes on to explain how letting go could allow Hillary to show leadership.
But another reason she should let go is to allow others to step forward.
The 2020 election is now two years away and no one can get traction ahead of that year's presidential election as long as she's hogging the spotlight.
It's 2018 and there will be mid-term elections this year but what Democratic politicians can break through Hillary's never-ending whining about her loss.
It's over.
The electoral college voted.
If Donald Trump were removed tomorrow, Mike Pence would be president, not Hillary Clinton.
As Tina Turner once sang, "Don't care now who's to blame, I don't really want to fight no more, 'Cause it's time for letting go."
Heaven save us from the 'experts'
Repost from THE COMMON ILLS:
Heaven save us from the 'experts'
At LAWFARE, 'expert' Doug Ollivant heaps so much praise on Hayder al-Abadi you'd think the prime minister of Iraq had been edging him for at least two hours.
And you might take Dougie seriously . . . if you're an uninformed idiot.
This is the man, please remember, who insisted in July of 2017 that Nouri al-Maliki was in "a dominant position" and would most likely continue as prime minister of Iraq.
A month later, please remember, Haider al-Abadi was prime minister.
He's not got a very strong record when it comes to being right.
For example, in 2009, when US Col Timothy R. Reese was advocating that all US troops should be withdrawn from Iraq by 2010 (and noting the diminishing returns that were already evident on the ground), there was Dougie to pooh-pah it and insisting that this would harm the State Dept control of Iraq.
What State Dept control?
There was none. The US military handed control of Iraq -- a supposed independent country -- over to the US State Dept in October of 2011. But Iraq didn't want the State Dept -- didn't want training, didn't want anything from it. The State Dept, in fact, would turn over US facilities -- built by US tax dollars -- over to Iraq before they had 'controlled' Iraq for 12 months.
The plans of the State Dept -- including embassies throughout Iraq -- never came to pass -- though Brooke Darby did her best to insist that Congress should fully fund them.
Dougie never knows what he's talking about.
He just knows his war-on's wagging and dripping.
Let's be really clear what Doug was arguing against in 2009 -- this was not a drawdown, this was a full withdrawal.
The drawdown, he would insist at the end of 2011, "give[s] space for Iraq politics—both domestic and international—to normalize [. . .] For some pessimists, a further future complication is the continuing centralization of power by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, and a resumption of sectarian tensions. That’s a concern, but those who see him as the “next Saddam” or “Shi’a Saddam” vastly overestimate his powers. Maliki is working to increase the power of the executive, not very differently from most politicians in their country’s respective executive branch."
Oh, how quaint and uninformed.
Those of who were warning about Nouri were the ones who were right.
Those who were pooh-pahing?
Well exactly how did the Islamic State rise in Iraq?
Exactly why did Barack Obama overrule a third term for Nouri as prime minister and instead install Hayder al-Abadi?
Would someone please explain why those who were repeatedly wrong on Iraq still think the world needs to hear from them?
After all the millions killed and wounded, you'd think humility -- if not outright shame -- would cause these idiots and liars to shut their mouths.
But you would be wrong because they keep talking and, most of all, they keep getting it wrong.
It's past time the world made clear to these war enablers that the only words we need from them are, "I'm sorry. I was wrong. I will now shut up."
And you might take Dougie seriously . . . if you're an uninformed idiot.
This is the man, please remember, who insisted in July of 2017 that Nouri al-Maliki was in "a dominant position" and would most likely continue as prime minister of Iraq.
A month later, please remember, Haider al-Abadi was prime minister.
He's not got a very strong record when it comes to being right.
For example, in 2009, when US Col Timothy R. Reese was advocating that all US troops should be withdrawn from Iraq by 2010 (and noting the diminishing returns that were already evident on the ground), there was Dougie to pooh-pah it and insisting that this would harm the State Dept control of Iraq.
What State Dept control?
There was none. The US military handed control of Iraq -- a supposed independent country -- over to the US State Dept in October of 2011. But Iraq didn't want the State Dept -- didn't want training, didn't want anything from it. The State Dept, in fact, would turn over US facilities -- built by US tax dollars -- over to Iraq before they had 'controlled' Iraq for 12 months.
The plans of the State Dept -- including embassies throughout Iraq -- never came to pass -- though Brooke Darby did her best to insist that Congress should fully fund them.
Dougie never knows what he's talking about.
He just knows his war-on's wagging and dripping.
Let's be really clear what Doug was arguing against in 2009 -- this was not a drawdown, this was a full withdrawal.
The drawdown, he would insist at the end of 2011, "give[s] space for Iraq politics—both domestic and international—to normalize [. . .] For some pessimists, a further future complication is the continuing centralization of power by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, and a resumption of sectarian tensions. That’s a concern, but those who see him as the “next Saddam” or “Shi’a Saddam” vastly overestimate his powers. Maliki is working to increase the power of the executive, not very differently from most politicians in their country’s respective executive branch."
Oh, how quaint and uninformed.
Those of who were warning about Nouri were the ones who were right.
Those who were pooh-pahing?
Well exactly how did the Islamic State rise in Iraq?
Exactly why did Barack Obama overrule a third term for Nouri as prime minister and instead install Hayder al-Abadi?
Would someone please explain why those who were repeatedly wrong on Iraq still think the world needs to hear from them?
After all the millions killed and wounded, you'd think humility -- if not outright shame -- would cause these idiots and liars to shut their mouths.
But you would be wrong because they keep talking and, most of all, they keep getting it wrong.
It's past time the world made clear to these war enablers that the only words we need from them are, "I'm sorry. I was wrong. I will now shut up."
This edition's playlist
1) Sam Smith's THE THRILL OF IT ALL.
2) Alicia Keys' HERE.
3) Janet Jackson's UNBREAKABLE.
4) Aretha Franklin's ARETHA SINGS THE GREAT DIVA CLASSICS.
5) Tori Amos' NATIVE INVADERS.
6) Diana Ross' DIAMOND DIANA: THE LEGACY COLLECTION.
7) Taylor Swift's REPUTATION.
8) Diana Ross' TAKE ME HIGHER.
9) Ben Harper's BOTH SIDES OF THE GUN.
10) Diana Ross' SURRENDER.
South Central Michigan Greens to Meet 1-3pm Saturday, February 17 at Jackson Coffee Company
South Central Michigan Greens
=============================
Calhoun, Hillsdale, and Jackson Counties Local
People and planet over profit.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 12, 2018
For more information:
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Monika Schwab, Local Contact/SCMiGreens
South Central Michigan Greens to Meet 1-3pm
Saturday, February 17 at Jackson Coffee Company
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The South Central Michigan Greens local will hold its monthly meeting
1-3pm on Saturday, February 17 at the downtown Jackson Coffee Company
(201 South Mechanic Street).
This will be the group's first meeting in Black History Month, so issues
of diversity and social justice for the African-American community will
be a focus.
The meeting will also be the last before the Green Party of Michigan
holds a statewide membership meeting Saturday, February 24 in Grand
Rapids in the training room on the lower level at Community Rebuilders,
1120 Monroe Ave NW. Business at this meeting will include election of
new state party officers.
Co-founder John Anthony La Pietra of Marshall will go over the status of
possible ballot questions for this year. He will also bring copies of
the 2016 state platform, which is due to be updated this year, and will
announce his own plans for a 2018 political campaign.
Calhoun, Hillsdale, and Jackson County members of the Green Party of
Michigan -- and others who agree with the party's values -- are invited
to come and discuss local and state issues needing to be addressed, the
results of last year's elections, and the opportunities for Green
candidates to run this fall.
The February meeting is an event on Facebook at:
The South Central Michigan Greens local was formed last March to bring
together Green Party members and supporters at monthly meetings held
around the three-county area. For more details and news about the
local, please visit its Facebook page:
# # #
The Four Pillars of GPMI:
Grassroots Democracy
Social Justice
Ecological Wisdom
Non-Violence
For our Ten Key Values, add:
Community-Based Economics
Decentralization
Feminism
Future Focus/Sustainability
Personal and Global Responsibility
Respect for Diversity