The horizon is not so far as we can see, but as far as we can imagine

Nevada Caucuses

Early numbers coming in indicate that Bernie is crushing the field. This is what he needs to keep doing, so the DNC et al. can’t steal the nomination at the convention.

Previous

Open Thread

Next

Week-end Wrap – Political Economy – February 23, 2020

29 Comments

  1. Z

    It’s looks like the majority of voters in NV support the same candidate as the Russians rigging the election.

    Z

  2. Benjamin

    Liberal pundits are losing their damn minds. It’s incredible to watch.

  3. bruce wilder

    Biden finally makes himself useful by making Buttigieg and Warren also-rans.

  4. Z

    Biden’s strength is NV is misleading, I believe. His showing in NV is mostly due to the strength of Harry Reid’s political machine.

    Z

  5. Dan

    The Sanders campaign is using the Bannon playbook with a kind face. Ignore the absurdist media narrative and just continually pound home the message. But this time the messenger is a decent human being as opposed to a pathological liar. And that attracts a lot more people.

    This thing’s only just begun. I’m not a particularly “movement” kind of guy and I can’t get enough of this stuff of late. People finally have something to believe in. The excitement and solidarity seems to be contagious. I’ve been misty-eyed more often than I care to admit.

  6. Dan

    There will be bloodshed if they try to steal the nomination from him at the convention. I mentioned before that while this primarily younger generation of Bernie supporters isn’t exactly the Red Army, they are nevertheless angry.

    Apparently the establishment had a hard time maintaining control in 2016. It will not be pretty if they try anything this time. Tom Perez and the DNC know that.

  7. different clue

    It appears that caucus-goers are understanding the need to send Sanders fully prepared to achieve the potential of his one single Luke Yodawalker moment in Milwaukee.

    ” First ballot or first ballot not! There is no second ballot.”

  8. Tom

    Cheating Pete and Backstabbing Liz got wrecked. Sleepy Joe is done.

    Coronavirus is the wildcard:

    South Korea has independently confirmed Coronavirus transfers through urine and feces which means it can get into the water supply. They also found it survives on surfaces for 22 days. This is why China continues to disinfect entire cities and welds entire apartment complexes shut.

    Italy has more cases and has declared a state of emergency. Iran has several children in critical condition and has closed all public buildings. Iraq has confirmed a case who has no history of travel to China and Israel has confirmed a case. Turkey has 27 suspected cases in Van which is a smugglers hub of sorts.

    At this point the Pandemic is unstoppable and there are thousands of suspected cases in the US we can’t even test as the CDC doesn’t have the resources and what do have is only for those that went to China or had a known contact with another confirmed Coronavirus Case. The one my colleagues picked up is now in intensive care and we are not waiting on CDC anymore. Our Medical Director is assuming all Flu Cases are Coronavirus till proven otherwise.

    If you guys get Flu like symptoms, demand a CT scan and call a Lawyer and threaten to sue till you get one. If you have it and it starts to cause breathing difficulties, agree to intubation immediately, do not try to wait till you actually go unconscious, it would be too late then, get intubated stat so they can take the strain off your lungs and give them the time to heal while the immune system wages war.

    Regardless, the US is not equipped to fight a Pandemic, For Profit Healthcare and out-sourcing have seen to that, and open borders exacerbates the problem.

    The political implications of Coronavirus sweeping across the US and killing and sickening millions are incalculable.

  9. Mark Pontin

    Dan wrote: ‘I’ve been misty-eyed more often than I care to admit.’

    Watch it. That thing you’re feeling is called ‘hope’ and can really mess you up if you’re not careful.

    Right now, every time I feel ‘hope’, I remind myself to remain fully prepared for the DNC to pull a brokered convention and appoint some neoliberal ‘centrist’ or even H. Clinton as a ‘unity candidate.’

  10. Mark Pontin

    (continued….)

    Recall, after all, that the DNC is a private corporation that’s already been to court to argue that they’re under absolutely no obligation for the party’s presidential nominee to be the person voted for by the broad mass of Americans who happen to be registered Democrats.

    Remember, too, that their wealth and position are gone should Sanders prevail. Arguably, what Trump did with the Republican party was in part possible because the Republicans are ironically slightly more democratic and fearful of their base, and Trump’s ascent doesn’t actually impinge much on individual Republicans’ continuing grifting and corruption.

    The Democratic establishment’s modus operandi, on the other hand, is grounded in complete contempt for and manipulation of the broad mass of Democrat voters. Because their contract with their big donors, essentially, has been that they’ll stop any real leftist politician from ever gaining traction. So, in other words, they had one job to do in those big donor’s eyes and they’ve failed to do it. Hence, they’re now fighting for their survival in a way the Republicans weren’t and aren’t with Trump.

    And they’re absolutely stupid enough to imagine that if — should Sanders and his movement make it all the way to the convention with a majority or even a plurality — they can pull some suppressive maneuver at the convention and appoint someone else as the presidential nominee, and they can survive longer-term.

    The truth is, of course, they won’t survive either way.

    Sanders’s movement won’t go away, for one thing. For another, it’s conveniently forgotten today by the PTB that for more than a decade following the assassinations of the Kennedys and MLK, the events of the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, and then the election of Richard Nixon, bombings by groups like the Weathermen, the SLA, the FALN, the Black Liberation Army became daily occurrences in the U.S. In one eighteen month period in 1971-72, for instance, there were 2,500-odd different bombings.

    This was in a era, moreover, when the U.S. was at the very height of its preeminence and could competently carry out projects like Apollo and go to the Moon, and the economy — unless you were African-American — was friendly enough to working people so an ordinary person could support a family and buy a house by working as a cashier or in a factory. In 2020, conversely, in a U.S. where there are something like 900, 000 homeless and the bottom half of the population are so strapped that they couldn’t put together $400 for an emergency, the explosive potential among the population at large is far higher than elites have any clue about.

    I am thinking about being out of the country for the second half of the year, frankly.

  11. dbk

    I see that Matt Taibbi put out a Twitter-call asking if anyone had a plan to form a non-insane network a few hours ago.

    Woke up in the middle of the night as the NV results were coming in, and caught the following on CNN International: “Of course, Nevada has a more … diverse population” to explain Bernie’s lead (he had about twice the number of votes Biden had at that point).

    Wasn’t it like a week ago when the good folks at CNN were saying “But Nevada has a more diverse population than Iowa/NH, and Bernie may not be able to muster the Latino/Native American/etc votes he needs”?

    Stay well, Ian, please; many of us are going to need a voice of reason over the next nine months.

  12. Joan

    @Dan, I totally agree. And yes, @Mark, it’s called hope and I’m really scared to feel it.

    In terms of the nomination getting swindled, the Trumpers made sure their candidate got the nomination, when the Republican establishment was showing every sign of trying to steal it away from him.

  13. Stirling S Newberry

    This morning’s headline:

    “Biden: We kept Sander’s down below 50%, Now on to the first real test for Confederate Leadership.”

  14. 450.org

    Impressive win for Bernie. Kudos is in order. If the DNC is as all-powerful as many here state or imply, how come it couldn’t stop Bernie yesterday in Nevada come hook or crook? Polly correctly predicted Sanders would win by lapping the field but it did not predict Biden’s “strong” showing. AI is not sufficient or sophisticated enough yet to detect, let alone predict, cheating if and when it does occur. Biden treated this as a victory last night in his speech labeling himself the Comeback Kid. Sure, yeah, right. Whatever.

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/washington-secrets/ai-picks-sanders-to-win-big-in-nevada-biden-voters-shifting-to-buttigieg

  15. 450.org

    If Bernie sails through the remaining primaries on a wave of positive momentum and he wins the Dem nomination uncontested without a hitch, I have no doubt that once the dirty tricks ensue in the general, many of you here will claim it’s a DNC conspiracy against Bernie. Whenever it’s conveneient you blame it on the DNC even if your reasoning makes no sense whatsoever. The DNC is not going to let Bernie sail through the primaries and win the Dem nomination uncontested only to try to cheat him out of the general. If any cheating occurs in the general should Bernie win the Dem nomination uncontested, it’s by Trump & Putin but just you wait and see. When that time comes and I believe it will come, Bernie’s so-called online support will scream and holler it’s the DNC or the deep state who’s responsible rather than directing their outrage and ire where it should be rightfully directed and that would be at Trump & Putin.

  16. 450.org

    Sanders’s movement won’t go away, for one thing…

    Yes it will. If he doesn’t win, it’s done. We’re done. Game over. This is the last chance with the caveat this may not even be a chance although it’s certainly far superior to anything else listed as an option.

    It’s nice you’re so privileged to be able to be out of the country for the second half of the year. Most people don’t have such options. It’s nice to see someone as privileged as yourself supporting a candidate who represents “working people” while still enjoying all the privilege neoliberalism has bequeathed to you and stolen from others. Of course, I’m assuming you really do support Bernie but when it comes to the internet, one can never be so sure.

  17. KT Chong

    Creepy Joe has not won a single state so far, but he is so hyped that he finally won a participation award.

  18. 450.org

    Joe already arrived at his Candyland Plantation in South Carolina. Samuel L. Jackson is no doubt serving him up some right fine grits, sunny-side up quail eggs and country ham & biskits this morning for a breakfast worthy of the bes durn massa dis down unda side of the Mason-Dixon.

    Has ya julip massa biden, all minty & frosty jus like yuns like it.

  19. 450.org

    Regardless, the US is not equipped to fight a Pandemic…

    Sure it is. With Trump at the helm, we need not fear anything or want for anything. He will provide and he will deliver us. He is god’s kingdom on earth. I was speaking with Vlad yesterday, and he assured me that with Trump as POTUS for life, all is well and will be well in the garden. So, hush now little baby, don’t you cry.

  20. realitychecker

    Nobody has ever seen Ian Welsh and the 450 Raver Guy in the same place at the same time!

    Just sayin’ . . .

  21. StewartM

    Bruce

    I would rather have both Warren and Mayor Pete above Biden, for the effect on the upcoming primaries. The faster the SS Biden sinks the more African-American vote (Bernie stands currently at #2) Bernie is likely to pick up on Super Tuesday. Warren and Mayor Pete are very unlikely to make inroads on that.

  22. Hugh

    The main stream media consensus made two fundamental errors. First, it assumed that a majority of Democrats would quickly and dutifully line up behind one of the centrist, i.e. conservative candidates. Originally, this was supposed to be Joe Biden, but the media conveniently forgot that he was a dreadful campaigner, had enormous amounts of baggage, and has not aged well/wasn’t up to it. While the media flirted with second tier candidates like Warren, Buttigieg, and Klobuchar, their attention giving each a short term boost, and as Biden’s star faded, it became abundantly clear that the Establishment’s other “great white hope” was Michael Bloomberg and the heft of not just his millions but his hundreds of millions. But again, they ignored that he too had a lot of baggage and that his tens of billions had not made him a Democrat but an autocrat, constitutionally incapable of engaging in debate with lesser mortals. The combination left him completely open to evisceration by any and all of the other candidates, especially Elizabeth Warren. So with the Biden candidacy just kind of evaporating and drifting off into the ether and Bloomberg’s implosion, the Establishment and its media suddenly have no first tier contender. They are shocked, surprised, and confused that their anointed ones have fizzled despite this being entirely expectable.

    The second error was that Bernie Sanders could be ignored or dismissed. That is if they ignored and dismissed him the rest of the country would too. They stared at the youth and diversity of his base and dismissed it despite what they were looking at being both the future of the party, and the country. And they ignored Sanders’ populism which has an appeal not just to Democrats but independents and even many Trump voters. Indeed Sanders is the only candidate who can take voters away from Trump. Vote for Sanders and you get a populist in the White House without all the daily grind of Trump’s racism, fascism, crookedness, and non-stop embarrassing tweets. I’m not saying Sanders would take a lot of Trump voters but he would get some and Trump can’t afford to lose any.

    So to recap, we have one Democratic candidate, a progressive and populist, who has his act together and has earned his frontrunner status and we have a bunch of Establishment corporatist candidates who haven’t.

  23. realitychecker

    @ Hugh

    Hey, that was a pretty good rundown there–I know I’ve prodded you recently about upping your game (cuz I recall how damn good you used to be :-), so I appreciate the quality.

    Just a couple of observations, for what they are worth;

    The MSM is often wrong, and always gets away with that, and counts on being able to, because they place all their ultimate reliance on the Memory Hole. Which probably still exists.

    And, Sanders as President will face resistance at least as savage and relentless as Trump has, from every single Establishment-aligned power source that exists.

    Interesting times, indeed.

  24. Benjamin

    @450

    “Yes it will. If he doesn’t win, it’s done. We’re done. Game over. This is the last chance with the caveat this may not even be a chance although it’s certainly far superior to anything else listed as an option.”

    Your FUD has been acknowledged and discarded, just like every other of your worthless comments.

  25. Willy

    “MSNBC is like the 700 Club for establishment Democrats.” – J. Scahill

    Indeed. Somewhat financially stable, senile and dying. Time to adapt, MSNBC.

    I’m curious to see what happens if Sanders isn’t derailed by whatever means and does indeed, get the nomination. I may enjoy the MSNBC pundits suddenly talking like Trump wasn’t so bad after all.

  26. bruce wilder

    I see Buttigieg is challenging the count in Nevada that put him in 3rd place behind Biden. Apparently, his campaign’s fine calculations anticipated that he would get more of Biden’s vote than he did — or that Harry Reid’s machine allowed him. Pete the Cheat doesn’t like being cheated, apparently.

  27. Z

    Well, the cats got out of the bag: Bernie’s movement is building, fueled by a common urgency, bonded by a common cause. They are feeling their first tangible signs of their strength. They may have caught the DNC in NV on their heels too. They were planning on having that voting software they used in Iowa in place, the one who lists Young Republican Pete’s campaign as an “investor”, but that fell through with the Iowa embarrassment.

    One of the most promising signs about the NV Caucus was that the rank-and-file in the Culinary Union went against their leadership’s preferences. Said to hell with their Neera Tanden influenced leadership and that they still want medicare-for-all even though they have pretty good coverage themselves. They wouldn’t allow us to be divided along those lines.

    The DNC doesn’t have a magic button to rig the nomination. If the movement is big enough they won’t be able to deny it. They can do some shaving at the edges, but there’s always risk involved in those operations and with everyone walking around with a recording device of one type or another is the risk worth it? Who can you truly trust these days?

    The movement won’t stop with Bernie. And it won’t stop if they stop Bernie.

    Z

  28. Mojave Wolf

    Just wanted to contribute to the celebration. Everyone else has already said everything I might’ve, but, yay. 🙂

    Also, watching the various talking heads on Saturday, hee! Hella fun. 🙂

    & Buttigieg’s efforts to declare victory from 30 percentage points off the pace in 3rd place, wow.

  29. different clue

    About Cheatin’ Pete McKinsey suing to set aside his poor showing, a satirical song could be written.

    ” How do you keep ’em down with the Pete, after they’ve seen Ber nie?”

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén