No Dem Good Deed Goes Unpunished

David Horsey today gives us something to ponder in his op-ed No good deed … The Seattle Times:

But, in much of the commentary about the need for Democrats to focus their storytelling, there is an underlying assumption that may prove fallacious. That assumption is that voters will be receptive to a message about all the good stuff in the Democrats’ legislative product and will reward the party accordingly. Is that really true?

Republicans have achieved quite a bit of success by dispensing with any coherent legislative agenda. They run on red-meat issues like abortion, immigration fears, wars on Christmas, creeping socialism, antifa fantasies and stolen elections. The most pertinent current example is the success of the Republican gubernatorial campaign in Virginia, where suburban female voters were scared away from the Democrats by GOP rants about racial propaganda being foisted on schoolkids.

Elections are decided by about 10% of citizens in the middle of the political spectrum who do not pay a lot of attention to the details of legislation. Polls show that a disturbingly high number of Americans are unaware of the hundreds of billions of dollars the Biden administration pumped into the economy last year to keep businesses afloat and to keep solvent the many people who lost their jobs due to pandemic shutdowns. It is quite likely that, next year, Democrats will not get the credit they deserve for the important and possibly transforming legislation they are passing now, no matter how smart their messaging campaign may be.

The real lesson is this: Democrats need to accomplish as much as they can now while they control Congress, not because it will help them win in 2022, but because it is the right thing to do.

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blueINdallas
3 years ago

Due to inflation and the shortage of housing, it’s just “the economy, stupid,” again. The influx of immigrants from our southern border is going to feed the Republican narrative.

How folks FEEL about their world will determine how well Dem actions impact voters.

Republicans are master manipulators of human feeling. Dems need to focus on more than just actions. Dems need to counter the Republican, emotional propaganda machine.

Pogo
3 years ago

 I hope they line that Dart thing up carefully – wouldn’t want to inadvertently have a galactic bank shot sending an asteroid moon the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza into our little planet.

Blue Bronc
3 years ago

Interesting times.  CNn states that Americans are quitting their jobs in high numbers.  Cnn also states that Americans are more pessimistic about the economy in decades.  Strange.  I, not an economist but with a bit of MBA in me, would logically think that if you expect the economy to tank you would want to not be unemployed.  Another reason we are in very strange territory because of the pandemic.

old man
3 years ago

That Rittenhouse kid is the worst actor in the history of drama. 

craigcrawford
3 years ago

Interesting column Pat. I say run against anti-democratic Republicans trying to steal your vote and your constitutional rights, so they can start a dictatorship.
Slogan: Save Democracy

craigcrawford
3 years ago

 

Trump Defends Threats to Pence…

In a taped interview with Jonathan Karl Trump defended, quite extensively, supporters who threatened to “hang” former Vice President Mike Pence (AXIOS).

Jonathan Karl: “Were you worried about him during that siege? Were you worried about his safety?”

  • Trump: “No, I thought he was well-protected, and I had heard that he was in good shape. No. Because I had heard he was in very good shape. But, but, no, I think — “

Karl: “Because you heard those chants — that was terrible. I mean — “

  • Trump: “He could have — well, the people were very angry.”

Karl: “They were saying ‘hang Mike Pence.'”

  • Trump: “Because it’s common sense, Jon. It’s common sense that you’re supposed to protect. How can you — if you know a vote is fraudulent, right? — how can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress? How can you do that? And I’m telling you: 50/50, it’s right down the middle for the top constitutional scholars when I speak to them. Anybody I spoke to — almost all of them at least pretty much agree, and some very much agree with me — because he’s passing on a vote that he knows is fraudulent. How can you pass a vote that you know is fraudulent? Now, when I spoke to him, I really talked about all of the fraudulent things that happened during the election. I didn’t talk about the main point, which is the legislatures did not approve — five states. The legislatures did not approve all of those changes that made the difference between a very easy win for me in the states, or a loss that was very close, because the losses were all very close.”

craigcrawford
3 years ago

BREAKING: Federal grand jury has returned an indictment against former Trump adviser Steve Bannon

RebelliousRenee
3 years ago

Craig… finally…. Great news!
 
 

Sturgeone
3 years ago

they were trying to stretch my garland patience toward its outer limits, and I might be tempted to say that they almost stretched it unto snappage…….but I knew dat my homie garland was going to press ahead with the utmost of  utterly and carefully managed kick-assedness.   Or something like that.
Come Watson, the game is afoot!

Pogo
3 years ago

If Bannon is as smart as his background suggests he should be, he’s not having a great afternoon. WaPo

Former White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon was charged Friday with contempt of Congress after refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Congress.

He was indicted by a grand jury in Washington.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said the charges reflect the Justice Department’s commitment to “show the American people by word and deed that the department adheres to the rule of law, follows the facts and the law and pursues equal justice under the law.”

Bannon, 67, was subpoenaed on Sept. 23, one of a number of former advisers to President Trump who have balked at answering the select committee’s questions about the events before and during the pro-Trump riot that sought to prevent Congress from formally certifying the election of President Biden.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

So apparently Merrick Garland was being quiet about his referral rather than lazy.

Blue Bronc
3 years ago

This should be an interesting evening and weekend.  The SFB plane can’t fly, so that method of going to Belarus is shut off.  Train to Alabama or Mississippi?  Those states might hide him.  Maybe he will be found at ticket counter out in Dulles?  He has friends in low places, maybe one of them might take him in for a while.

Sturgeone
3 years ago

I think he’ll show up and try to baffle ‘em with bullshit.
Like he probably did in school 

craigcrawford
3 years ago

Excellent statement by Garland

Pogo
3 years ago

Ms. Bronc, and there are a lot of them.

A record 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in September as workers took advantage of the surge in job openings across the country, a sign of how labor market imbalances continue to complicate the economic recovery 20 months into the pandemic.

The number of people quitting in September constituted a whopping 3 percent of the workforce, according to a monthly Bureau of Labor Statistics survey released Friday. That number is up from the previous record set in August, when 4.3 million people quit their jobs — about 2.9 percent of the workforce. In February 2020, before the big wave of pandemic-related layoffs began, 2.3 percent of workers quit their jobs.

The new statistics reflect how severely in flux the labor market remains after the pandemic upended the course of business and life across the country in 2020.

What the hell could they be thinking?

Sturgeone
3 years ago

Haha…..Columbo, “No Time to Die”   the opening……at the wedding of Columbo’s nephew.   Wedding band is playing….”I can’t help falling in love with you” as an instrumental….then some kind of”La Bamba” sounding thing as a smooth instrumental.
Fantastic renditions in a manner of a certain type of playing. As if the band were…….wallpaper.

lol the Fanfare for the announcements.

craigcrawford
3 years ago

So it turns out all this time Garland team was carefully working the grand jury for a tight case. There’s a reason as a judge he was never reversed. 

Sturgeone
3 years ago

It takes a bit sometime for the federal govt to get its hackles totally up, but when it does, it’s usually not anything good for those who been fuggin widditt.

We went across the damn ATLANTIC OCEAN to whup nozzie ass while kickin japanese ass across the WHOLE OTHER OCEAN, and this bunch of goobers think their nozzie asses are gonna somehow prevail right here at home?

Smock smock. It is to laugh. You bet your sweet bippy. Wocka wocka .

blueINdallas
3 years ago

Just the other day I was thinking that Orange Adolf and his extended mob family might get on a plane and do a disappearing act.  

Blue Bronc
3 years ago

bId -the idiot’s plane is not flying the mob out of town. More evidence the cash flow is low.  Less opportunity to skim off other suckers.

Sturgeone
3 years ago

They’re still counting on the….ahem…….civil war.

Sturgeone
3 years ago

the indictment refers to Jan. 6 as a “domestic terrorist attack”.  
oooooooh, that’s cold…….

I try hard not to gloat as gloating is non-productive, but sheeeez……sometimes you just gotta.
*********************
But then, he’ll surrender Monday. No arrest, no perp walk. Make bail and walk out like he got a traffic ticket. And begin a long, long legal process with midterms one year away.
–Don Winslow

Bink
3 years ago

He’ll just take the 5th, now, but i suppose he had better provide the paperwork requested?

old man
3 years ago

Oh how I love the irony here , that is Garland isn’t sitting on the Big Court, and he didn’t go gently into that good night. 
He’s running Federal Grand Juries. 
“How you like me now , Mitch?” 
 

old man
3 years ago

” Common Sense ”
Says the Sun orbits the Earth , and that it’s  a flat disk riding on the back of a tortoise. 

Blue Bronc
3 years ago

Hmmm – this Friday, is Bannon a favorite of the former guy or is he a worthless pig?  It is so difficult to keep up with the mutterings of a mad man.

old man
3 years ago

Buzzer –
This is an over the air channel running game shows from the seventies and before. 
Included is Alex Trebek  hosting “Concentration”  wearing these huge puffy pop art sweaters ,
2 days ago , I watched him give away a “Yugo EV valued at over $4,500 dollars!”
Once again I was reminded that me and Toto weren’t in Kansas any more. 
 
 

old man
3 years ago

Speaking of the 70’s and the Yugo –
One of the great SNL skits of all time was ” The Adobe ”
Tagline –  ” German Engineering and Mexican Know How ”
Phil Hartman. doing the voice over. 
The entire car was made of wet terra cotta clay .
Among it’s features was a cup holder , they then showed a hand grinding a coffee mug into the console. 
 
God that was a funny bit. 

old man
3 years ago

Documents reveal new details of Trump political interference in COVID-19 response
 
During a press briefing on Feb. 25, 2020, former senior CDC official Nancy Messonnier warned about the coming dangers of COVID-19. She told reporters that the spread of the coronavirus was essentially inevitable.

“It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more a question of exactly when,” she said.
Her statement angered Trump, and the administration subsequently stopped granting CDC officials permission to brief the public. The agency held no briefings from early March until June, during some of the earliest and most confusing times of the pandemic.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/581322-documents-reveal-new-details-of-trump-political-interference-in-covid
 
 
 

old man
3 years ago

Lie, deny, rinse , repeat .
After nearly 30 years  of this , no wonder  “No good deed goes ………… ” 
Where’s that Lt Governor  from Penn. ? 

old man
3 years ago

Interesting column Pat. I say run against anti-democratic Republicans trying to steal your vote and your constitutional rights, so they can start a dictatorship.Slogan: Save Democracy

 
I would add a pro death cult posing as a party.  Get that guy from Frontline , and  tell the tale of American dead .  By next Sept.  it’ll be over a million. 

old man
3 years ago

I would attack  MAGA .
Posing this –
“What’s so great ?”

old man
3 years ago

John Fetterman
Put this guy out front in 2022  make him the face  of the Democrats. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Fetterman
 
 
 
 

old man
3 years ago

Change  the face  of the party .

old man
3 years ago

Not one rural voter is going to listen to AOC , but they will listen to this guy.  And he is no fool , he understands what we are up against. 
 
By the way  , I fear Biden will die in office .  The shit storm of troubles is eating him alive. 
 
His speeches  are a pinball  machine.  

old man
3 years ago

And now ……………… The history of Rock and Roll , it is Friday night  
 

old man
3 years ago

The rode eats it’s children .

old man
3 years ago

Moving on –

 

old man
3 years ago

The 13th Floor Elevators 
 
https://youtu.be/_c6gDKsPQDM
 
 
I worked this show  at the Vulcan Gas Company . 

old man
3 years ago

I worked this show  as well , by 1969 he was so  drunk he couldn’t go on stage .
 
https://youtu.be/l9xXchxodYg
 

old man
3 years ago

I was painting the Gas Company   at 2 AM  .  Big Momma  showed up with her very wired side man from LA. 
 
” Here’s Houston White ?  Here’s Houston White ? ”
(The owner of the Gas Company .)
Me –
He’s home in bed. 
 
Big Momma –
“Get him up ! I am tired  and I want to go to sleep.” 
 

 
 
 
 
 

old man
3 years ago

I was working the light show  when an A&R man saw Johnny Winters. 
 
I sold them weed in Flying Dutchman tins. 

old man
3 years ago

But the best  was  when Muddy Waters  showed up.
A purple Pontiac station wagon towing a tiny U-Haul trailer  painted  purple . 
I was over the Moon. 
He was supporting  Electric Mud 

old man
3 years ago

Here’s to the Sunny slopes  of long ago , I am not that fuzzy fellow on the left. 

old man
3 years ago

Nighty Night  –

old man
3 years ago

Sorry one more  bit of crazy  –
 

old man
3 years ago

Dam U Tube 
 

Sturgeone
3 years ago

Speaking of “Electric Mud” :
Staten Island’s Greg Hansen and I were stationed in Memphis in 68-69 and remained friends until he passed this year. Two of his kids, Marc and Matty are in a band now which they called “Electric Mud” in homage to The great Muddy Waters. Both former navy seals they now live and play music in San Diego.   (Their uncle by marriage is a Rolling Stone)
http://www.electricmudofficial.com/band

old man
3 years ago

Music  is our balm  to festering wounds. It is the  thread of our lives we all know our own songs that froze a moment in time.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Sturgeone
3 years ago

Their brother Dave, also a navy seal, played Chief Dave (as a seal) in the Movie “Act of Valor”.  Their uncle, Al Hansen was a hollywood low-level character actor, whose biggest shot was in Mike Myers’ movie billed as BAD ACTOR, who was in the movie kicked off the set by Myers and replaced with Charlton Heston during the Graduate spoof part of the movie.   He actually did pretty good landing parts on TV shows, like grizzly adams, little house on the prairie, etc. 
great family. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Dexter
3 years ago

He is playing this thing out like Abbie Hoffman ,making these subpoenas into a joke, referenced Chris Hayes last night.  But this time, Trump is not the Chief.  I am talking about Bannon, who just ridicules DOJ every day.  He’ll learn…won’t he?  I keep hearing the January 6 final rulings may be way off yet…months, a year, more.