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Norton
climber
The Wastelands
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Feb 19, 2019 - 03:36pm PT
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He’s a 77-year-old socialist who’s abrasive when he’s in a good mood, and who’s still blamed by many Democrats for Hillary Clinton losing to Donald Trump. But go ahead, try to argue that Bernie Sanders isn’t the front-runner in the 2020 Democratic race right now.
Sanders blew past every other announced candidate’s early fundraising numbers in just the first few hours after making his second presidential run official on Tuesday, and he’s expecting to easily hit the 1 million website sign-ups he asked for as a first show of support for his campaign.
“Short of Joe Biden entering the race, Sanders on paper starts off with more advantages than anybody else. He’s got the largest list; he’s got the most intense following that has stayed with him since 2016; he has a proven ability to fundraise from his small-dollar base,” said Brian Fallon, a Democratic strategist who was the spokesman for Clinton, leading the public charge against Sanders last time around. “He’s in the exact opposite position that he started off the 2016 campaign in.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/02/bernie-sanders-democratic-frontrunner-president/583066/
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Contractor
Boulder climber
CA
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Feb 19, 2019 - 05:04pm PT
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The filibuster must stay intact to thwart our clearest threat- an imperial President.
How so?
In true divided government, without overwhelming majority numbers by either party, the filibuster gives the minority party the opportunity to stop extreme laws. Unfortunately good laws are stopped as well. When there exists this type of parity, perhaps the populace is not in dire need, nor has the appetite for new partizan laws.
Remember when the world was coming to an end because of Congressional deadlock and sequestration under Obama? We survived, the economy boomed and the annual budget deficit was lowered substantially.
That said, lets all be patient here- when the Dems get the numbers across the board, with total investigation power and filibuster-proof majorities, I'm all for legally pinning down the sick fuking Republicans and punching them in the face until Nancy's arm falls off.
Sorry for the rancor but the complicit and despotic Republican politicians and their goons have shown they have zero respect for our Constitution- let's not be them.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Feb 19, 2019 - 05:17pm PT
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A little aside.. I feel shut down right now. What was I thinking planning a trip to West LA and back around rush hour? That how to tell I spend too much time ensconced in my home retreat.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Feb 20, 2019 - 07:37am PT
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What happened to all the Conservatives in this thread?
Edward? blahblah? Lituya?
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dirtbag
climber
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Feb 20, 2019 - 07:57am PT
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Thanks contractor.
I get what you are saying, but politics has become so polarized that it has become impossible for congress to actually legislate. Bad laws can usually be corrected, but filibusters have transforned from an occassional tool to check congressional abuse to an instrument of abuse. I shudder to think about how our government would likely fail to respond in an actual crisis, such as the Great Recession.
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EdwardT
Trad climber
Retired
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Feb 20, 2019 - 11:08am PT
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Washington (CNN)Attorney General Bill Barr is preparing to announce as early as next week the completion of Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, with plans for Barr to submit to Congress soon after a summary of Mueller's confidential report, according to people familiar with the plans.
The preparations are the clearest indication yet that Mueller is nearly done with his almost two-year investigation.
Should be interesting to see what they make public.
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dirtbag
climber
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Feb 20, 2019 - 11:23am PT
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Huh...and what they include/leave out in the summary to congress (which I assume we would not know about).
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Feb 20, 2019 - 11:30am PT
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Washington (CNN)Attorney General Bill Barr is preparing to announce as early as next week the completion of Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, with plans for Barr to submit to Congress soon after a summary of Mueller's confidential report, according to people familiar with the plans.
What is even more amazing about that press statement, is how short a time it took for the new AG to be caught up in a leak.
If you think about it, there have been no leaks from Mueller's office.
Quite a difference in professionalism.
Makes it seem pretty unlikely that Barr will be able to secure the report from the people.......
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dirtbag
climber
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Feb 20, 2019 - 11:37am PT
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And another question is: has mueller exhausted all leads, or is this probe ending prematurely?
Trump has tried more than once to kill it, and he now has people in the doj who might be loyal enough to kill it for him.
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Splater
climber
Grey Matter
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Feb 20, 2019 - 11:38am PT
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Even if the Mueller investigation is ending,
the House investigations are just starting.
Considering that the Starr/Whitewater investigation went on for 4.5 years into shady investments in which the Clintons were bit players,
it is clear that dozens of different investigations of trumpy's hundreds of crimes are needed, in each of which he was the chief.
You could also compare Darrel Issa's nonstop 4 years of partisan hack attack dog BS hearings on minor issues of the Obama administration. (benkwazy?, IRS, solar panels, etc.) If that deserved 4 years of attention, then Trump's scandals deserve 400 years of attention.
https://www.salon.com/2014/12/11/good_riddance_darrell_issa_a_wasteful_blowhards_humiliating_history/
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/obama-issa-darrell-230218
Issa's replacement was Chaffetz of Utah:
"The post—which earned him widespread scorn—may have been the first sign that Chaffetz was misreading the national mood and especially the attitudes of his largely Mormon constituents. While they largely disliked Clinton—she won a mere 23 percent of the vote in his district—they also harbored concerns about Trump, whose ethical conflicts and curious associations with Russia were rapidly piling up.
On February 9 2017, Chaffetz got a wake-up call when he returned to Utah for a town hall, where he was besieged by a hostile, heckling crowd, shouting “Do your job,” and “We want to get rid you.” These listening sessions are typically subdued affairs, but this one drew hundreds of angry constituents, who demanded to know why the chairman of the House oversight committee was not doing more to investigate President Trump. (A pair of Utah Republicans recently bought a billboard on the highway to Chaffetz’s Utah office that asks, “Why won’t Chaffetz investigate the Trump-Russia connection?”)
Chaffetz, who during the Obama administration reveled in launching headline-grabbing investigations, suddenly seemed reluctant to unleash his committee’s typically aggressive investigative powers. Trump’s conflicts of interest, he claimed, fell largely outside his jurisdiction. “I know it’s surprising and frustrating to Democrats, but the president is exempt from these conflicts of interest,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. As for the Russia connections, particularly those related to former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Chaffetz said there was no need to further probe Flynn because he’d been fired. “It’s taking care of itself.” "
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/04/jason-chaffetz-oversight-chairman-retiring-congress-trump/
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couchmaster
climber
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Feb 20, 2019 - 11:57am PT
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I feel that Bernies bus left in 2016. He missed it. This will be Joe Bidens time.
Here is a pictorial voting guide below to help us all determine what kind of as#@&%es we are being. Hope it helps.
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dirtbag
climber
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Feb 20, 2019 - 12:26pm PT
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He has tried twice, and his candidacies went nowhere (well, sort of true, he did end up as veep).
I’d love to see him stumping for the nominee.
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August West
Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
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Feb 20, 2019 - 12:34pm PT
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I have mixed feelings about doing away with the filibuster. When a Party is out of power in all three houses, there needs to be some way to put the brakes on the bulldozer. It's true enough that in a representative democracy, those three houses were voted into power by the people, but the majorities that put them there are only slight- it's not like there is an overwhelming mandate from voters.
And we all know that the bulldozer agenda oftentimes has little to do with the interests, or reasons why voters put them into power in the first place.
Maybe some kind of built-in limitation to it?
There are good and bad things about the filibuster, but I don't see it lasting much longer. The filibuster is not in the constitution and it is not even a law. When 51 senators adopt the rules of procedure each term, they include it. At any time 51 senators can get rid of it. So it is really nothing more than a custom that has been chipped away at.
I think it is unlikely that the filibuster will be passed into law. It is only a matter of time before it is gone.
And as far as those who will weep its passing: the filibuster dramatically changed over the years. It was not traditionally a mechanism that meant everything in the senate took 60 votes. It was a way to raise a temporary stink. Somebody actually had to be on the floor speaking and no other senate business could happen. You might be able to delay legislation for a day or two, but eventually a simple majority would get a chance to vote.
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August West
Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
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Feb 20, 2019 - 12:40pm PT
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He’s a 77-year-old socialist who’s abrasive when he’s in a good mood, and who’s still blamed by many Democrats for Hillary Clinton losing to Donald Trump. But go ahead, try to argue that Bernie Sanders isn’t the front-runner in the 2020 Democratic race right now.
He might well be the front runner right now, but it is a long race. Hillary was a huge front runner in 2008 and almost no one knew who Obama was.
I sure hope the democrats don't nominate someone who would be mid/late 80's by the end of a second term and that include Biden.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Feb 20, 2019 - 12:42pm PT
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"You could also compare Darrel Issa's nonstop 4 years of partisan hack attack dog BS hearings on minor issues of the Obama administration. (benkwazy?, IRS, solar panels, etc.) If that deserved 4 years of attention, then Trump's scandals deserve 400 years of attention."
Man, ain't that a fact.
From the standpoint of functional government, where legitimate issues are investigated for reasonable cause (and not simply political theater), the higher road here would be for House Dems not to quid pro quo Issa's bullshit investigation efforts during the Obama administration.
But it's awfully hard to resist the temptation not to, especially since there is soooooo much valid bullshit that has come down from this administration & Trump, personally.
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Contractor
Boulder climber
CA
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Feb 20, 2019 - 01:55pm PT
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I was ambivalent regarding McCabe's role in all this. His ravaging of Trump on this book tour is unprecedented and Trump is ready to explode.
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apogee
climber
Technically expert, safe belayer, can lead if easy
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Feb 21, 2019 - 07:26am PT
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Do you suppose that cartoon is supposed to emulate someone in particular?
One could say it applies to Bernie (maybe not), but Scott Adams is a well-known Trump supporter. Hmmm.
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Feb 21, 2019 - 08:01am PT
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I sure hope the democrats don't nominate someone who would be mid/late 80's by the end of a second term and that include Biden.
I am generally opposed to people who are over the age of seventy running for elected office. I would make an exception if the dem nominee was Biden, or even Bernie. However, it's important that they choose a running mate younger than sixty, to me at least.
Somewhere I read that a Biden/O'Rourke ticket was a possibility.
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EdwardT
Trad climber
Retired
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Feb 21, 2019 - 09:15am PT
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Good post, dingus.
The fact that so many people think these old codgers are the best candidates says plenty about the state of the Democratic party.
WTF people? You're going up against a hugely unpopular President. Arguably the worst ever. And you want to bring a 77 year old to the fight?
Joe & Bernie
Time to bring in some new blood. Maybe even Beto. All those candidates now in Congress are regularly part of a circular firing squad. New blood. If Trump wins re-election, especially if it's because the Dems blew it, the public outcry we heard in '16-'17 will pale in comparison to what happens. Don't blow it!
BTW - Carter wasn't old when he took office. Just 52.
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