2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumHere’s Why the 2016 Presidential Election is So Crucial for Liberals and Everything We’ve Worked For
Heres Why the 2016 Presidential Election is So Crucial for Liberals and Everything Weve Worked For
August 16, 2015 By Allen Clifton
Ive written an article similar to this before, but I really felt the need to narrow down some of the points I made in that article to emphasize just how important they are.
Let me start off by listing a few numbers for everyone:
78
80
80
83
Those are the ages that Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsberg will be when the next president is sworn in, respectively. The next president we elect (assuming he or she serves two terms) could very well be the individual who selects four Supreme Court Justices.
Yes, our next president could single-handedly shift the balance of power in the Supreme Court one way or the other for the next 20+ years.
Now, on the Democratic side theres the battle between presumed nominee Hillary Clinton and the underdog Sen. Bernie Sanders for the partys nomination. While I am a Clinton supporter, Ive maintained from day one that the goal of the left shouldnt be to pick just one candidate and only vote for that one person if they were to win the nomination. Our main goal, before anything else, should be to ensure that a Republican does not win the White House in 2016.
If Clinton is the nominee, Sanders supporters need to get their asses out there and vote for her. If Sanders is the nominee, then Clinton supporters need to do the same damn thing. I couldnt care less what you think about either candidate, both are much better choices than any clown running for the GOP nomination.
Naturally, Sanders credentials as a liberal are essentially unquestioned. Hes easily the most far-left candidate most of us have ever witnessed. Well, at least one whos been taken seriously during a campaign. But for those who might say Clinton is no different than a Republican youre absurd. While shes clearly not as far-left is Sanders, she still supports:
Read more at: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/heres-2016-presidential-election-crucial-liberals-everything-weve-worked/?
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)What a foolish post, do you have a basic understanding of U.S. History?
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)Unhappy events abroad have retaught us two simple truths about the liberty of a democratic people.
The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is Fascismownership of Government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.
The second truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if its business system does not provide employment and produce and distribute goods in such a way as to sustain an acceptable standard of living.
Both lessons hit home.
Among us today a concentration of private power without equal in history is growing.
This concentration is seriously impairing the economic effectiveness of private enterprise as a way of providing employment for labor and capital and as a way of assuring a more equitable distribution of income and earnings among the people of the nation as a whole.
That 1% asshole... wow.
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)Do today.
Hello - MIC Explosion In The 60s
Hello - Powell Memo
Hello - Lobbyist Explosion In The 70s
Hello - Reagan Union Busting In The 80s
Hello - Repeal Of Glass-Steagell By WJC
Hello - Patriot Act By Bush
Hello - Great Recession In 2008
Hello - Citizens United By SCOTUS
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)And to pretend they didn't is either straight ignorance, or purposeful denial.
But hey... You go on with your bad self.
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)What about the environment?
What about worker conditions?
What about worker pay?
What about crime?
What about racial rights?
What about women's rights?
Really do you NOT see this?
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)Took control which lasts to this day and that control is now stronger than ever.
With HRC and WJC, the third way was enabled which legitimized corporate control by taking corporate money.
That control has now been ratified by Citizens United enabling unlimited political funding by Oligarchs, Corporations And Banks.
HRC won't change a thing that compromises the profits of her big money donors.
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)daybranch
(1,309 posts)but he certainly let the oligarchy in the back door unseen later in his Presidency and certainly was no friend to African Americans.
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)Okay you pick the best one, we'll do a little research.
SonderWoman
(1,169 posts)DanTex
(20,709 posts)Have you written some kind of script to do this?
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
DanTex
(20,709 posts)eventual nominee, whoever that is, wins the presidency? Or are you in the "Hillary is no better than the GOP" camp?
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)Just slightly different around the edges that do not matter to the Oligarchs, Corporations And Banks.
DanTex
(20,709 posts)Or global warming, healthcare, minimum wage, women's rights, gay rights, etc.?
You're willing to throw all that out simply because Hillary is wealthy?
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)All the rest is window dressing for the 99%.
DanTex
(20,709 posts)cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
DanTex
(20,709 posts)Or anything else apparently. I'm starting to understand.
Agschmid
(28,749 posts)cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)Gay Rights - Oligarchs, Corporations And Banks could care less - Any President is free to do what they will.
Healthcare - HRC will not change the ACA because it is good for Corporations.
MH1
(17,608 posts)It may sound harsh but that's how our system works.
If 1%er A isn't going to destroy the planet and the country (or at least not faster than the current trajectory), and might even make some marginal small improvements, while 1%er B is clearly going to accelerate the destruction of the planet and the country, get us into wars, and make things worse on EVERY front, some of them even affecting YOUR precious snowflake butt,
ISN'T IT PRETTY FUCKING CLEAR WHY YOU WOULD VOTE FOR ONE OF THEM?
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
randome
(34,845 posts)Intelligent debate is out, don't you know? DU has become Trump-i-fied! Yell! Curse! Threaten! That'll show ya!
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)eom
hedda_foil
(16,376 posts)In other words, it's goddamn it to hell in a handbasket critical to survival.
DCBob
(24,689 posts)While shes clearly not as far-left is Sanders, she still supports:
Gay rights.
Womens rights.
Overhauls to our education system to make college affordable (or even free).
Policies to combat climate change.
Expanding and improving health care reform (lets not forget shes been advocating for universal health care since 1992).
Immigration reform thats even more to the left than President Obamas proposals.
Campaign finance reform.
Read more at: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/heres-2016-presidential-election-crucial-liberals-everything-weve-worked/?
daybranch
(1,309 posts)Actually all the democratic candidates support these. Hillary to a lesser degree than the others I believe, except for womens' rights where she is trying to stop women from turning to Bernie.
She is hoping we will see her as a negotiator with republicans on all of these to get the best deal. This looks just like Bill's triangulation which got us NAFTA, Mandatory Prison Sentences, disastrous welfare reform etc. Her policy on climate change is simply business and my support of it will save us all. And campaign finance reform - she does not even know if she supports getting rid of Citizens United.
I guess until I see a policy which challenges the oligarchy, I will just keep working harder for Bernie. To me,Hillary is more of the same and I want better.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)Since 2004, or later. Why should we believe she won't "evolve" again after the primary, or GE?
She supports charter schools, race to the bottom, and NCLB (Bush family school "reform"
Nope. She evloved on that too - now says that America is too diverse to support "one size fits all" (I guess she thinks Medicare is a failure). Now is in favor of mandating that profiteers be part of the system.
This is dubious, since she's the biggest beneficiary this time around of our ridiculous system.
I appreciate the zeal of the BOG/HRC/New Dems/Turd Way, but facts need to be taken into account as well as campaign sound bites.
DonViejo
(60,536 posts)there are at least 14 paragraphs after what you've ID'd as "the rest."
DCBob
(24,689 posts)I didn't see "the rest" when I first opened.
thanks!
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)anytime thereafter. Regain the majority in congress and by George issues important to the average USA citizen will become a reality. The USA Supreme Court is an important component of the workings of the USA's democracy. At this point in time, several justices do not practice it. Scalia is one asshole.
Thanks for information!
ismnotwasm
(42,022 posts)Thank you