69 thoughts on “Kamalapalooza”

  1. jack pointed out kamala’s obvious problem last night when he laid out the current options for a suitable surrogate to Hillary:
    “The boring competent get it done Hillary? Hey vote for Amy Klobuchar , The street fighter Hillary that will rip your privates out, vote Kamala Harris or the  “say anything to win, obvious ladder climbing Hillary” Kirstan Gillibrand”
     
    those who see kamala as another barack newcomer that has no experience other than being senator are forgetting that she at least ran rather large offices as Attorney General of California from 2011 to 2017, and as District Attorney of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011.  so she (and amy for that matter) has the necessary executive experience, she’s photogenic, empathetic, progressive enough not to offend the lefties and centrist enough not to offend the party pragmatists.  however, she suffers from same problem as Hillary that too many folks (aka media) see her as an unlovable bitch.    and this country is still not ready for blatantly strong-willed women as presidents.  

  2. pogo, your constitutional comment is right on  but you missed my point about the void ab initio argument vis a vis Venezuela.   why is it okay for USA to insist that another country’s fraudulent election supports an immediate regime change – even to threaten financial and military action –  yet doesn’t see the big orange mote  in its own black eye?  

    if the election is indeed valid, then yes the speaker of the house takes over when the prez & v.p. are thrown in jail/impeached/otherwise made inoperative; but if from the beginning the supposed winners were a sham, then she who actually won the majority of the valid votes should be declared the duly elected president. 

  3. bet many a bar fight has been fought last few days over a similar argument with regard to saints, rams and superbowl.
     
    except in that mess, they actually have a rule to remedy it.   
    bleacher report:
    Saints receiver Michael Thomas tweeted “Rule 17 Section 2 Article 3” early Monday morning, referring to the NFL’s ability to reverse a game outcome if it was affected by “unfair acts.” 
    Unfortunately for Thomas and his teammates, that option doesn’t appear to be on the table.

  5. I like what I see from Kamala Harris so far.  Has she made mistakes in the past… yeah… so what… the important thing is that she’s learnt from those mistakes.
     
    patd…  I disagree that this country isn’t ready for a strong willed woman as president.  I think we will be more than ready for that after 2 more years of trump.  And, as much as I like Jack, I will not let what I think of a woman candidate be defined by a male.
     
    We’re still a year away from the first caucus and primary votes.  Lots to think about…   and plenty of candidates to assess.

  7. I don’t have anything in particular against Harris other than the sense that the media seems to have fallen in love at first sight and is pushing her as the candidate of choice … way too soon for that.  A little “less is more” might be in order.  
    A perfect ticket might be staring at us as brave but good for the country consisting of two Hillarys.  Klobuchar/Harris or Harris/Klobuchar.  Gender, experience, POC, left coast liberal, Mid western values, intelligence, and sense of humor.  Between the two women you would have just about every desireable quality a President should have.
     

  10. whew.  Just saw the clip of the acting AG doing his “under the shower” talk.  The man has an issue, he should give it up and go into something less stressful. 

  11. Pat
    I don’t see her hard as nails prosecutor image a problem especially as she comes across as warm and inviting in social settings. Something neither Clinton nor Pelosi can do.
    Jack

  12. One other advantage for Harris is that she comes across as the Obama of our dreams and legend rather than the milktoast Republican lite person he really was. It gives her an advantage with the left as she doesn’t have to work as hard to prove her leftist quals. 
    So if you are looking for another Obama rather than another HRC, Harris is your person.
    Jack

  14.  
    Bink
    Sorry but Beto isn’t a contender anymore. The world wants a fighter this time around and his naval gazing Kerouac  road trip was a stumble right out of the gate.  But he does have that great Kennedy smile.
    Jack

  16. Flatus
    Right now, someone who can solidify the upper middle class suburban gains from the last election but given the hard left turn of the Democratic base I doubt that someone will appear.
    Jack

  17. Flatus
    But Truman became president because of FDR’s death. He almost didn’t get re-elected as the incumbent and I doubt that he could have gotten elected on his own. He wasn’t very popular at the time.
    Jack

  18. So far, I’m not getting my dream ticket of Klobuchar with Booker or Castro.   :-).  It’s going to be fun getting to the nomination.  
     

  19. One thing I’m afraid of is the “Medicare For All” slogan.  Virtually all developed nations have “Universal” healthcare, but they are different in how they are fomulated between the Beveridge and Bismark systems.  Given that the US is basically 50 countries in search of a government, some combination of the two forms might be an easier transition.
    Healthcare Systems – Four Basic Models  
     

  20. Kamala Harris dated Willie Brown that in itself is disqualifying
    The opening rally was good but I didn’t think her speech was all that great but it doesn’t matter because she has indeed won the media primary although she doesn’t deserve it.

  21. Jack, he minimized allied casualties in ending WW-2, formalized NATO, integrated the Armed Forces, faced-off China and Russia in Korea, laid the groundwork for Ike’s interstate system, got the soldiers back into the workforce (to the dismay of women), defended Margaret, etc.

  22. No purity tests for me…  I don’t give a rat’s ass who someone dated.   I’m willing to look at everyone who enters the Democratic race….   women, men, black, white, other, young, old, straight, gay, etc., etc.  IMO, we need all those voices.  So far it’s been a fun ride…  and it’s just beginning.
     
    I’m kinda bummed that Michael Cohen will now be testifying behind closed doors.  I get why Congress has chosen this route…  but I hate not making any popcorn.

  24. patd,  I see your point about our attempts to influence Venezuelan leadership – I was (wrongly) focused on trying to apply that logic to our election.  Venezuela is low hanging fruit for SFB to try and burnish his foreign affairs tough guy credentials – which could use some burnishing if he wants to try and tout them in 2020.  I think he’s trying to be too cute by half – let Citgo and Valero buy all the shitty Venezuelan crude they want so long as the $$ don’t go to Manduro?  How’s that work?

     
    I’m still not hitching my giddyup to any star yet.  I like Kamala & if she prevails at the end of the primary process I will wholeheartedly endorse her.  I definitely see her appeal and think she’d be a good choice.  I was listening to one of the MSNBC guests talking about the Harris rollout and he mentioned that he believed SFB would be much more concerned about a Biden than a Harris as an opponent.   That may indeed be correct – an experienced (to say the least) opponent who’s smarter than he is by a long shot and doesn’t hold positions that strike most folks as too far left to appeal to the middle. I haven’t begun to try and get the respective positions of the front runners clear in my head – it’s a bit early for that – so I don’t know what Harris will be offering policy-wise that may or may not promote vote getting from the folks who’ll make a difference in the outcome of the election.  It will be interesting to see.  

  25. Truman was a great president, and was under-appreciated in his day. He suffered from having to take over the role after a beloved giant left the stage. Truman was lucky to draw Dewey as his opponent in ’48, a man who was a tough prosecutor without the common touch. When pressed, Truman could be both warm and earthy. IF people really do confess all to their tailors, then America trusted Truman, their political haberdasher. 

  26. RR
    Normally I don’t care either but Willie Brown is a particularly loathsome and corrupt former elected office holder 
    I almost hate him more than Trump but then I have seen up close and personal the impact of his corrupt behavior

  27. I like Mr Jack’s characterizations of the candidates. Meaning, I agree with him.
    So far, it seems that this is the only place where people are talking up Klobuchar. I hope that the trail has a lot of influence in Iowa and Vermont, and not just in South Carolina.

  28. Getting involved in Venezuela is absolutely not in our interest and is completely avoidable at this time by not getting involved in the affairs of a sovereign Latin American country. Let the OAS take the lead or neighboring South American countries.
    We should stay out of Latin America except for relief during natural disasters and only by invitation on those occasions.
    Our primary interest in Venezuelan crude has traditionally been in lessening its availability for export to Cuba while not adversely affecting the Venezuelan economy by still providing them a cash market.

  30. And, I must say that I’m beginning to warm to Harris a little. (Sorry, Ms Cracker.) I can imagine her as a bridge between the Warrenite/Sanders/Ocasio-Cortez crowd and the Clinton/Holder/Bloomberg crowd. 
    I must say that it is more fun watching the Dem candidates than it is watching the bitter, rotten, old turnip.

  32. I’m ok with Kamala but I prefer Amy or Sherrod
    I don’t understand the media fascination with her

  33. Amy is very careful. She is not a bright shiny thing like Warren, Harris, or Gillibrand. I think this will be one of those rare elections that a steady, careful, competent, composed, but confident Democrat can win, as in 1976. I think America could choose someone who is like the nice mom or dad up the street over the screwball next door who has loud parties ’til the wee hours, lots of visits by the police, and collects garbage and rats in his yard.

  34. I will not let what I think of a woman candidate be defined by a male.
     
    renee, too bad others didn’t think like you do when the predominately male media did their hit job on Hillary.
     
    I agree with you and pogo about it being too early.  also too much can happen of a disastrous nature nationally security wise that will need the full attention of all sentient sensible senators right now.  junkets to iowa and star turns on late night comedy shows can wait ’til the summer doldrums.   as you said “it’s just beginning” and be the big inclusive tent welcoming divergent views.

  37. Flatus – your knowledge of our relationship with Venezuela is far deeper than mine (being practically none).  That said, I tend to agree with your assessment – it ain’t in our interest to involve ourselves in the political doings of sovereign countries.  Let’s face it – Venezuela isn’t the only country with corrupt, sham elections of their leaders.  I recall that against the advice of our foreign policy experts, SFB called and congratulated his Russian puppet master after his election.  And Dear Leader Kim?  And Premier Xi?  I guess Citgo doesn’t need oil from those countries…

  38. It remains to be seen who will catch fire. It is too early and there are too many potential choices. Harris will be the flavor of the day until the next person announces.
    What should be avoided at all costs is the tendency of Democrats to allow the quest for perfection and purity to stand in the way of the desired outcome as it did in 2016.

  39. RR – I am with you, plus I can dismiss pretenders, such as coffee boy and that old Russian “friend” sanders, who are not Democrats.  Give me Dems, give me under sixty-five years old, unless there is a big reason for considering them.  I want politicians, seasoned politicians; the Speaker demonstrated that with emphasis added.
     
    D.C. slowly shuts down for a wintery blast.  What is good is it is short lived and next week we return to above average temperatures.

  40. fun speculation in a politicususa oped “Sean Hannity May Soon Be Indicted and Arrested by Mueller” 
    […]
    According to journalist Kurt Eichenwald:
     
    “Hannity appears to have acted on directives from emails between Roger Stone and an intermediary who claimed to have communicated with WikiLeaks.”
     
    This new evidence may send Sean Hannity to prison unless he can come up with some plausible alternative explanation for his actions.
     
    What most likely happened is that Roger Stone told Sean Hannity to start talking about Hillary’s health because WikiLeaks had told Stone of their plan to leak emails suggesting Clinton was seriously ill.
     
    According to the indictment, Stone’s contact at WikiLeaks told him via email on August 2, 2016:
    “Would not hurt to start suggesting HRC old, memory bad, has stroke, neither he nor she well. I expect that much of next dump focus.”
     
    Also in the email, Stone’s WikiLeaks liason told him that Wikileaks’ president Julian Assange was planning a document dump of Clinton emails in October.
     
    A few days after the email was sent to Stone, Hannity began to focus on Hillary’s health, suggesting that she was having “seizures” and had some sort of neurological problem.
     
    Specifically, Hannity focused on a short video clip where Clinton bobbed her head as someone stuck a microphone in her face.
     
    “Are there many seizures like that?” Hannity said on the air. “This looks like violent, out of control movements on her part.”
     
    Eichenwald has argued that Hannity had confidential campaign strategy information that came from WikiLeaks through Stone, and this is supported by language in Mueller’s indictment of Stone.
    This would mean that Sean Hannity was a criminal co-conspirator in a foreign entity’s plot to receive and publish stolen goods – which is a felony and something you go to prison for.
    To convict Hannity, Mueller must prove that Hannity knew the information he was getting from Roger Stone was coming from WikiLeaks. But that may be easy for the federal prosecutors to do since they already have all of Stone’s electronic communications.
     
    If documentary evidence shows that Hannity knew that he was participating in the conspiracy to hurt Clinton, he’s in serious legal trouble and will likely be indicted. It is possible that Mueller may have in his files copies of incriminating communications between the Fox News host and other co-conspirators in addition to Stone, such as Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, Assange, and even members of Russian intelligence.
     
    This is not the first time that Hannity’s name has come up as a possible target of the Mueller probe. There are too many coincidences in Hannity’s reporting for him to have NOT been part of the conspiracy.
    We also don’t know what Hannity had going on with his attorney Michael Cohen, who may have already shared information about Hannity with Mueller.
     
    The Stone indictment was not the end of something, it was the beginning. It is a roadmap of where the Mueller probe is going from here. And it appears that the path Mueller is on will soon to lead him to more indictments, including not only the President of the United States but also his pal Sean Hannity.

  41. Jack,

    Trailmixers love shiney pennies- they always tarnish before the bill comes due. 

    Every fuckin’ time.

  42. the fox yelps. not a bark but a whimper.
    usatoday  via msn:
    ‘Bullying journalists is not Presidential’: Fox News anchor berates Trump for tweet
    […]
    In another tweet, Banderas noted that journalists often receive “plenty of criticism,” but said the president “ought not to be the one lashing out.”
    “We can and do stand plenty of criticism every day which is fine coming from everyday viewers. Our jobs are not meant to please others,” Banderas wrote in a follow-up tweet. “But the office of the @POTUS ought not to be the one lashing out. That’s not how this country works. That’s not how Freedom of the Press works.” 
    By “going on Twitter and insulting two of our journalists,” Trump put “a target on their backs. In turn his followers will then attack @johnrobertsFox and @GillianHTurner in support on Twitter,” she said.
    “Bullying journalists is not Presidential. Period,” she said. 
    One Twitter user pointed out that this was far from Trump’s first attack on journalists. His history of criticizing news outlets, hurling insults at individual reporters and restricting access for those whose coverage he dislikes stretches back to at least the launch of his presidential campaign. 
    “Very true. But where have you been the last few years?” a Twitter user identified as Jen Moody asked Banderas in response to her tweets. “Trump has criticized virtually EVERY OTHER REPORTER ON THE PLANET (other than Fox). Where were you when targets were being put on their backs?” 
    “I have always stood up for journalists, no matter what network they work for,” Banderas replied. 
    “That rock you’ve been hiding under the past 3 years, please describe it,” tweeted another user. 
    “Warm and dark. Just how I like it,” Banderas said. 
    Trump has often thanked Fox News for its coverage and several former Fox employees work in his administration. In November, Fox News publicly chastised hosts Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro for appearing on stage with Trump at a campaign rally. 
    In July, Bill Shine — a former top Fox News executive who left over the network’s handling of sexual harassment complaints — joined the White House communications team. 
    According to CNN, Trump has done 41 interviews on Fox News since taking office, “far more than every other major TV network combined.”

  43. If Hillary was a shiny penny in ’08 or ’16, I plead guilty, but I think Bernie! and Elizabeth were the 2016 shiny pennies, and Liz decided not to play.  In ’08 the shiny pennies were Obama ( took him a while to tarnish) and Edwards – didn’t take him long.  Hillary, not really.

    BTW, Bink, your 3:06 comment – right on bruddah.

  45. A better guessing game might be: who might the 2020 REPUBLICAN nominee be?  
     
    i’d have to go with Romney, and whatever criticisms i might have of him, i don’t believe he is the puppet of foreign adversaries, so, fingers crossed.

  46. I think Jeff Flake will explore his options and possibly Corker although I think he will decide he’s done
    Kasich looks too desparate and why would Dems want to help bail out the goopers????
    The wild cards to me are Nikki Haley and Marco Rubio -if they get in you know they see Trump as weak and not to be feared

  47. Piggy-backing on Mr Bink’s 3:25pm :
    As soon as one ripper runs against trump, they’ll all jump in. They are all just waiting to see who goes first. rmoney looks too much like an entitled Wall Street grifter, in my opinion – and my opinion is wrong way too often. nikki looks like a bright penny. The rest look like used car salesmen. My money is still on kasich. 

  48. KC, I saw that Brokaw bit and posted about it yesterday, linking the WaPo article about it.  Here’s my comment.

    Tom Brokaw spouting Iowa corn boy misconceptionsabout assimilation of brown immigrants into American society.  I have clients that demonstrate this exactly – Father understands OK but doesn’t really speak English with any facility, uses his two kids and niece and nephew – fluently bilingual with minimal accent in either language – to translate.  Niece and nephew’s kids are SSL kids – (Spanish as Second Language).  (Ironically – they are all owners/employees in 2 Mexican Restaurants here).

    We’ve had a pretty healthy number of Central and South American, but mostly Mexican, immigrants around here, working in the restaurants and with construction crews. I’d guess that many don’t have documentation.  I couldn’t care less.  In general they’re a bunch nicer than the redneck SFB supporters who give them shit about being Mexicans.

  49. Pogo
    sorry I missed that — 
    If you haven’t seen it be sure and get a look at his face when he is actually saying it – boy howdy  I’d have to say ole Tom is a bigot

  50. All that Brokaw brouhaha neglects the fact that if the children of Latinos are to get ahead here, way ahead, they have to become proficient in English, as Alcindor and General kelly are. Lack of proficiency in English is like an enormous wall, preventing access to most of America’s opportunities. I look forward to the day when the descendant of a Mayan immigrant can become the CEO of a Fortune 10 company, but she can’t do that without proficiency in English. 

  51. Ms Cracker,
    Harris looked like a bridge to me. Do I need new glasses ? What does she need to bridge that gap ?

  54. Senator Harris politically is more like Feinstein and Boxer and not someone who could form a coalition of left and right prior to the general.    I think Amy or Sherrod have a better shot at that.    But why not have a free for all primary.
    Let’s hear all the candidates equally.  Hey you media let’s stick to reporting the facts or have you gone SFB – the excessive fawning over Harris makes you look stupid.

  56. Some suggestions for Latino immigrants looking to “work harder at assimilation[into American culture]”, as Brokaw recommends:

    -generate more plastic trash
    -pretend American football is entertaining
    -put bacon on everything you eat
    -buy things you don’t need
    -wear pajamas in public
    -experience life through your phone only
    -read as little as possible 
     

  57. SFB is unstable.  He will do anything to avoid being netted and caged.  I would expect that to include nuclear weapons.  This is why he needs to be arrested and placed in a jail without outside communication.

  59. BB, I don’t experience what you’re going through. That said, I’m your comrade in arms; I support you and I’ll do anything you ask to help you through this episode.
    Please,try to remember your protocols (the ones that help/work) and do your best to ward the evil bastard off. Call your contacts…

  60. Last night I got up at 0115 to take a couple of Tylenol. While taking an extra paper cup of water to chase them down, I blacked-out collapsing onto the kitchen floor. On the way down, I smacked my head, right forearm and right leg just below the knee. This type of thing happens half a dozen times a year. It sucks.

  63. That does suck.  Forget the neighbors- they probably vote Republican.

    Pardon my vitriol, today, it’s influenced by the coverage of all of these terrifying political developments and my subsequent perusal of sychophantic conservative opinions concerning them- always a mistake to read their hateful bile, but sometimes i can’t resist.

    It’s like watching a house burn down, while the people in a position to extinguish it argue about who started it, what the best way to put it out might be, and if it’s even actually on fire at all, with every moment that passes decreasing the likelihood that there will be anything left to salvage, while occasional passers-by yell unproductive, thinly-veiled racist nonsense, just to piss people off. 
     

    Stay frosty.
     

  64. BB. Haven’t thought of Arthur Brown in years-a bunch of them. Thanks for the memories. Da da da dada da … I loved the Crazy World. 

  69. flatus,  each time you passed out in the past was it right after eating or taking medicine – IOW swallowing something?    if so, be sure to include that fact when talking to your doc.
    here’s one old report from old cases in  NIH files:

    Swallow syncope is a relatively rare syndrome and belongs to the “reflectional syncope” syndromes. Omi et al2 reviewed 63 reported cases of swallow syncope in children and adults from the English-language literature between 1793 and 2005. Since then, another 17 cases have been reported in the English literature (table 1). This syndrome is more common in males, and most patients have been adults, but some cases were also noted in young children

     
    there also can be increased occurrences of fainting when there’re problems with an aging tongue apparatus causing air restriction.   some heart conditions likewise.     
    take notes and be sure to tell the doc (might want to mark calendar of each faint prior to next appt)

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