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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
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Yes, because that is absolutely not suspicious in any way.
edited 10th May '17 8:39:36 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprisedThis is a crock of a response. The reason Mello's defeat is noteworthy—in fact, the only reason Mello's defeat is noteworthy—is because Sanders nationalized a local mayoral race in an effort to distract from his then-refusal to endorse Ossof.
For months now, we've all had to endure Sanders fans, here and elsewhere, telling us that the only way for Democrats to win is to embrace Sanders' economic message and give him and his acolytes control over the future of the party. We've had to watch Tom Perez and other DNC leaders kowtow to Sanders, taking him on a so-called Unity Tour in which Sanders has flatout refused to promote unity. All in an effort to bring Sanders' supposed army of voters into the party and trigger a Blue Wave by "moving beyond identity politics" and "fighting economic inequality" and "winning back the white working class" and all of Sanders' other talking points.
And in those months, what's happened? Nothing. Sanders refused to endorse Ossof until it was far too late, and actively harmed his chances with the "not a progressive" line. It's one thing to not endorse a guy, it's a whole other thing to actively attack him. Then, to make it even better, Sanders proceeded to waste his supposed influence, not on electing Congressmen or Senators or even rallying people against Trump, but on a mayoral race in Nebraska. And even then, he couldn't pull off a win.
That's why we care about this race. Sanders' self-proclaimed status as saviour of the Democratic Party is dependent on his ability to get Democrats elected and he has failed. Again and again and again. He's failed to get all but one of his endorsees elected, he's failed to support Democrats like Ossof, and that's on top of his initial failure to, let us never forget, win the damn primary. Sanders couldn't win for himself and it increasingly looks like he can't win for anybody else either.
The one who made this about Bernie Sanders was Bernie Sanders. Excuse us for judging him by the criteria he himself set out.
If that really was the case, then he just made it even worse for himself. Snubbing a guy who is an advocate for womens' rights only to endorse a guy with an anti-abortion voting record? Smooth.
edited 10th May '17 8:53:10 AM by M84
Disgusted, but not surprisedObama: 'You get the politicians you deserve'
Obama was speaking in Milan at a summit on food innovation. He has spoken broadly about the democratic process in a handful of public appearances since the end of his tenure, and he devoted his good-bye address in Chicago to democracy and urging Americans to engage in politics.
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And I repeat: that is exactly why I support Mandatory Voting.
Rep. Dave Brat (R-Virginia) booed and hollered at Town Hall, specifically over Health Care vote.
All these Republicans getting yelled at at town halls just keeps making me think the House is going to go Blue. I can't see the House staying Red with all this anger. And I don't even think it's about "We'll put the Opposite Party in just to check on the Leading Party" anymore, I think that touching American Health Care is just a curse for Politicians that do it.
edited 10th May '17 9:04:23 AM by DingoWalley1
Wasn't it Eisenhower who said that Social Security was the "third rail" of American politics: touch it and die? Well, Republicans keep poking at that electrified train track and keep getting burned. They can't seem to help themselves.
Edit: Mandatory voting doesn't inherently solve the problem of ignorant voters turning out for the guy that offers them the Moon and/or promises to stick it to those evil "others".
edited 10th May '17 9:06:47 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. I'd abolish the Electoral College before attempting mandatory voting.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"He is kinda glossing over the fact that the GOP is trying to prevent people they don't like from voting.
Continue writing our story of peace.![]()
Something enabled because they have control of state legislatures thanks in part to Democrats not turning out... note the self-fulfilling prophecy here.
"Why should I vote — they don't listen to me and it won't make a difference?"
"Man, those people in office, they're doing horrible things — why doesn't someone do something about it?"
*ahem*
edited 10th May '17 9:13:19 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
So they're going to block their own voter base from voting? I don't think they can, and their own Voting Block are the ones who are pissed and attending these Town Halls and yelling at their Representatives.
Plus, several States have been successfully sued because of their discriminatory behavior against voters (both for Voter ID and Gerrymandering); the Republicans desperate attempts at Blocking the 'wrong people' from Voting is being chipped away at.
edited 10th May '17 9:15:05 AM by DingoWalley1
Let it be noted that Republican voters switching to Democrats out of anger at their own party is a vastly different scenario from Democratic voters failing to turn out because they're disillusioned.
If Democrats turned out, they wouldn't have to depend on Republicans dramatically screwing up to win elections.
edited 10th May '17 9:15:05 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Honestly, I think from Sanders' point of view, he had to snub Ossof. Sanders' whole persona right now rests on the notion that he can bring (white) millennials into the party. And yet here was Ossof, a young, white, millennial guy—the bloc that Sanders supposedly controls—doing well without Sanders' help, and doing it in large part due to support from women and minorities. If Ossof were to win, it would be evidence that maybe, just maybe, the old man from Vermont isn't the future of the Democratic Party or the progressive movement.
Frankly I sometimes wonder if the reason he endorses so many flawed candidates (Canova, Mello) is so that when one of them does win he can turn around and say "see, I got a candidate with X, Y, and Z problems elected. You need me."
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We'll see how the landscape is come 2018 - keep in mind that we had a government shutdown and Republicans still gained seats a year later.
As for Obama's comment, I'm reminded of this particular rant from Duckman:
"We want leaders to make tough choices, then we vote 'em out when they do!"
edited 10th May '17 9:19:33 AM by ironballs16
"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"

So, we only have pictures of the Trump/Russia meeting today...from Russian State Media.
The US Press wasn't allowed inside.
New Survey coming this weekend!