More and more, the media seems especially enraptured with political candidates whose policy positions are vague to the point of being nonexistent. It helps if you are somewhat good-looking, young, and have a certain charisma if you want to appeal to today’s journalists. But no one cares about what you want to do to actually help people.
So You Want to be a Political Rock ‘n’ Roll Star
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The Final Countdown" talk show on Radio Sputnik. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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Hey, I can top that! Over at the New York Times, are two articles about Biden. One is about his announcing his candidacy, and one is about Anita Hill telling him exactly where he can stick his apology. Last night, each had about 1,800 comments. Today, neither story had any comments at all. When I tried to access the comments last night, I got a “due to technical issues” about the comments being unavailable.
I have never seen that message before. Ever.
My suspicion is that the comments were collectively the equivalent of a magnifying glass hovering over a gasoline-soaked anthill and that the Times decided they weren’t a “good fit.” Perhaps they’ll return in a day or two, but by then most people will simply not go back to review them.
Picking a darling is one thing, but it’s pretty clear to me that too much of the Times’ behavior in the past decade or so is suspicious.
From Jayson Blair and the deliberate ignoring of the dangers he posed by almost the entire Times staff,
To Alessandra Stanley’s error-filled articles (plural) that earned her not a pink slip but praise for how great a writer she is (and the assignment of her own editor to keep her from driving the car of Times credibility into the canal),
To whatshisname who couldn’t recall sending a couple thousand dollars to someone who he was interviewing,
To the dirty tricks in 2016 involving the primary (remember the photo of Sanders that made him look like he was 4 feet 4 inches tall, staring over the edge of the podium or the shot from above and behind that looked like a before photo for Bosley Hair for Men?)
Picking a favorite? That’s been going on for decades. But completely distorting the template of at least acting like professionals and running things in a defendable fashion? That’s even worse than anointing a darling.
Hey, how about we simplify the process? Vote for the guy with the shortest rap sheet!
Aren’t the qualifications named above those that apply to constestants on so-called «reality [Sic !] TV shows» ? Given that the US now has a president who led one such, this seems entirely appropriate to me – what’s your beef, Ted ?…
Henri
On a more serious note : David Swanson has a list of 10 basic questions for US presidential candidates on his Let’s Try Democracy website….
Henri
With that list of impertinent questions, Swanson will be lucky not to be knee-capped by DNC/HRC’s thugs, much less have the questions presented to any Dem candidates.
I would rephrase the tax question: when all work is done by robots, WHO will pay the taxes that currently subsidize the hyper-wealthy?
When all else fails (as it has) maybe we should try democracy.
Lest the concept seem too radical for those who still carry the flag for the racist genocidal founding assholes, this should not be too far a reach; once upon a time, before the Sixteenth Amendment, the flow of accountability worked this way.
Imagine the people of each state paying income tax directly to their elected state legislatures instead of to the Feds.
Imagine the Federal government then having to justify its expenditures to the several State legislatures (INSTEAD of having the Federal government directly taxing individuals, and then spending unaccountably what they like, and then dropping a few dollars back to the states, while the States struggle under the burden of a continuous undeclared wartime austerity imposed upon them by the Feds).
Imagine if the Feds had to justify to the several State legislatures their uncounted trillions of dollars of expenditures spent on world military domination (as they now do) while saying that there is no money left for health care, infrastructure, education, etc., and then the State legislatures, after having made funding agreements with the Feds (giving the Feds their allowance, so to speak) then having the State legislatures stand for re-election before the People of the several States who pay the taxes that the State legislatures collect and pay to the Feds.
I like the idea of elected State legislatures standing between the People and the Feds; and having the Feds become accountable to the State legislatures; and having the State Legislatures being accountable to the People.
It would be like taxation WITH representation. What a revolutionary idea.
Imagine that.
Who could oppose such a radical and democratic retaking of power from the Feds, but tyrannical authoritarian sociopaths? Especially since this is the way accountability worked before the Sixteenth Amendment reversed the flow of accountability.
The Eighteenth Amendment that prohibited alcohol was repealed when it was found not to work. Why not the stupid Sixteenth?
Repeal the Sixteenth Amendment.
Put the state legislatures in between the taxpaying People and the overreaching war pigs who now sign their names in court as the “’United States’ versus ‘Whomever’”.
@Glenn, It’s not good for your health to walk around with all that hatred inside you.
I read one SF story around tax time, the protagonist figured out what he owed in taxes, then turned to the next page wherein he designated where his dollars would be spent. It being a SF story, he of course earmarked some for space research, and not so much for defense.
Nice idea, but then we live in a society where most people can’t manage their own finances, there’s no way we could collectively run the country’s.
“Lest the concept seem too radical for those who still carry the flag for the racist genocidal founding assholes”
I preemptively addressed you conservative Vichy Democrats who want to continue to feed the fascist pig empire while existing as a colony.
“Eisenhower would be shocked to hear that America spends $700 billion on defense. Here’s how he described the opportunity cost of war in 1953:
“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”
https://www.businessinsider.com/eisenhowers-chilling-analysis-of-defense-spending-2012-11
As a compliment to Mr Swanson’s impertinent questions, to which I linked above, I now post one to William Astore’s recent TomDispatch article….
But as we know, it’s all the fault of those dastardly Russians….
Henri
Every time a big mystery-controversy collapses, there are always those who will try to deny their own words. It’s hard to believe that behavior continued on after the advent of the internet, where their words are recorded for all eternity. Look! See? You did too say that, right there at the end of this link.
Then there are some who deny those words even as they are still making them. That takes some pretty special denial, there, henri.
“People condemn President Trump for his incessant lying and his con games — and rightly so. But few Americans condemn the Pentagon and the rest of the national security state, even though we’ve been the victims of their long con for decades now. As it happens, from the beginning of the Cold War to late last night, they’ve remained remarkably skilled at exaggerating the threats the U.S. faces and, believe me, that represents the longest con of all. It’s kept the military-industrial complex humming along, thanks to countless trillions of taxpayer dollars, while attempts to focus a spotlight on that scam have been largely discredited or ignored.”
CrazyH is not lying about this pillage of the American People by the corrupt government that also pillages the rest of the world.
It’s not a lie if you don’t know any better.
After all, he took the bait on Russiagate, hook, line, and sinker, and so has credible ignorance to fall back on in his defense should he ever admit his stupidity.
CrazyH is not lying about this pillage of the American People by the corrupt government that also pillages the rest of the world….
HUH?!
I guess that’s technically true, because I’m not actually commenting on those things right this moment. I have commented on such before, if you’re curious about my beliefs they’re on record for all to see, but they bear little resemblance to what you seem to think.
“After all, he took the bait on Russiagate, hook, line, and sinker, and so has credible ignorance to fall back on in his defense should he ever admit his stupidity.”
KNOCK-KNOCK? McFLY? ANYBODY HOME? Have you even heard about the Mueller Report? Is this a new idea for you?
The Russians really did try to throw the election for Trump.
I was right.
You were wrong.
It’s just that simple.
Funny! Although not funny, the way you can usually help me laugh at stuff that isn’t funny. And now Creepy Uncle Joe is officially in.
Another thing that bugs me is how Dems are buying into the idea that we absolutely must NOT say ANYTHING negative about any Dem candidate (except Bernie Sanders of course). It’s been there before, but this round it’s really become explicit. That used to be the way the GOP worked. It was Reagan’s 11th Commandment: “Thous shalt not speak ill of another Republican.” I thought Trump had destroyed the principle forever, but now Dems seem to have adopted it.
So I have been wondering off and on, how bad would a “Democrat” have to be* before other Dems would drop this “don’t say anything bad; just vote for whoever gets the nomination” attitude? Yesterday afternoon, I was thinking about it and for some reason “The Boys From Brazil” popped into my head (the movie; never read the book). Really good movie. And I thought what if they actually found a verifiable Hitler clone? But this one had been brought up really well and was a really good guy and was a Democrat? Actually, unless you believed that Hitler was genetically destined to be evil, which I don’t really, it would be OK.
*Yes, I know there is a lot wrong with Biden besides the bad touching. A LOT.
Maybe this is an idea for a cartoon? Probably not. Concept probably needs a lot of work.
A similar consideration occurs (or should) in other fields. For instance, Ted was recently the victim of a drive-by shooting by the LATimes (and its henchmen). The details can be found with a little online searching.
One of the, uh, what do they call it?, one of the butt-boys at the beck and call of the LAPD was recently the recipient of a Pultizer for his — let us agree to call it “investigate reporting” — for the LATimes. I don’t know if he had a speech; one shouldn’t speak with one’s mouth full.
A look at the people on the Pulitzer committee lists one Junot Diaz. Diaz, recently, came under quite a bit of manufactured outrage–I say manufactured because, hey, he’s still on the Pulitzer committee, isn’t he? And, to be fair, he has not been tried in any court other than the one of popular opinion, and maybe Ted can offer a word or two about how fair the Star Chamber can be–because of some very serious accusations (again, use the Google).
The democrats have a similar attitude to all of this. They really don’t care what you’ve done. They really don’t care whose genitalia you’ve taken into the orifice of your choice. They don’t care how oily, corrupt, hypocritical or whatever you are.
They backed Bill Clinton when he was being a creepy sex pervert. (And you know what? I ADMIRE Bill Clinton because he came from NOTHING.) They backed Barack Obama when he made sure NOT. ONE. BANKER. Went to prison, but Chelsea Manning did. They backed Barack Obama when he kept Gitmo open. They backed Obama when he went after whistleblowers like they were the last few passenger pigeons. They shouted themselves hoarse defending Hillary Goddamn War Criminal Clinton and her pay-to-play money laundering racket called the Clinton Foundation. (Google “Hillary Clintion” and “cook stoves”). They simultaneously advanced the notion that Russia “meddled” with the U.S. elections while going deaf, dumb, and blind about how the dnc and HRC literally–and I use the word “literally” in the literal sense–stole the election from Bernie Sanders in 2016.
So, to answer your question of “how bad” a democrat would have to be? I “literally” do not think there’s any depth that’s corrupt enough. I think that if Hillary Clinton strapped on a dildo blessed by her idol Henry “War Criminal” Kissinger and used it to molest an entire ward of coma patients, there would still be idiot-supporters like Lena Dunham cheering her on and “arguing” that she’s the only hope for stopping Donald Trump.
Having said all of that, I will close with the following observations. In, at least, the past 40 years, Bernie Sanders represents the only legitimate and realistic chance the 99% have of getting government back on track. If he doesn’t win in 2020, there’s no other candidate who has the ability to generate enough outrage to win in 2024, 2028, etc.
So this upcoming election is for all the marbles. This is for the meat in the sandwich. This is for $15 an hour, universal health care, free college tuition, and a jobs program that will give everyone a living wage–if not a job that allows them to soar creatively. If Sanders doesn’t win, the 1% will speed up their stripping away of everything that’s left. We will all go to the poorhouse. I cannot stress this enough. Pete Buttigieg, and his corporate owners, won’t do it. Kamala Harris and her efforts to jail the innocent won’t do it. That spastic idiot Beto O’Rourke (who looks like a less sexy version of one of my college roommates), jumping on tables like an ersatz Robin Williams, won’t do it. The resurrected ghost of Goldman Sachs spokesprostitute Hillary Clinton won’t do it. We, the Middle Class, have collectively put every goddamned thing we still own on the little square of felt that says Bernie Sanders, and now we’re watching the wheel spin and the little ball bounce around. We cannot tolerate the planted disruptions that try to distract us from how Sanders is our last and only chance.
I genuinely hope that this answers your question. The democratic party cannot be trusted with anything. And if anyone reading this is still too bugfuckstupidcrazy to understand that, please, please, please, cut your throat right away. The world will be richer for your absence.
“one shouldn’t speak with one’s mouth full.”
I am definitely going to steal that one, file off the serial numbers, and claim it for my own.
+1
Actually, it’s a line from Betty White. As I don’t work for the New York Times, I will say that I regret not giving her credit in the original post. (If I did work for the New York Times, I would argue that I did not make a mistake that merits correction–and that’s one I’m stealing from William Safire. How I got that line from Safire is a story for another day.)
From what I am given to understand, some people (as we all know, corporations are «people») in the US are ahead of the curve on not paying taxes directly to the federal government…. 😉
On the other hand, these «people» don’t usually seem to have much difficulty with that federal government engaging in wars of aggression – for which they do not pay – abroad….
It is, of course, all the fault of those dastardly Russians, presumably in collusion (beautiful word !) with those nefarious Chinese…..
Henri
The problem is that the Vichy Democrats are in collusion with the fascist Republicans, whom they have jealously emulated since the time of Reagan.
They feign opposition to Republicans only because they want to take their place and BE the Republicans.
The Demoncrats don’t want to kill the goose that lays golden eggs for the Republicans; Democrats want all of the golden eggs for themselves.
The majority (greater than 40% of voters) know there is little advantage in voting for the either of the two parties who claim mandates with less than 30% of the votes.
Our stupid, foul-mouthed troll has once again missed its cue, blaming your humble interlocutor instead of those dastardly Russians (or perhaps it confuses me with Gospodin Putin). And indeed, what one has posted on the internet generally remains there – even if trolls hiding behind fatuous pseudonyms do attempt to render it difficult for those who might wish to wade in their accumulated filth…. 😉
Henri