Business As Usual

The voters have had it. They know that business as usual means they get reamed. The Republicans' answer to this is to privatize everything so that we can get reamed harder and deeper. In doing this the Republicans are following the philosophy of Calvin Coolidge who famously said, “The business of America is business.” The Republicans have even inflicted on us a corporate Supreme Court, a horrible Supreme Court, an unethical Supreme Court that is intent on granting the oligopoly all of the powers of an oligarchy (click on the Supreme Court label). With Injustices Thomas and Scalia sitting on that court it seems as though even the highest court in the land is worshiping the power of money! In Republican land the people blame this apparent political and judicial corruption on the power of government rather than the power of money, which is why the more educated you are the less likely you are to be a Republican! Rather than delving any deeper into the Republican silly sop, I will concentrate on the Democratic reaction to the rule of money.

This whole argument between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders about who is part of the establishment, or who is more progressive is not an argument about experience or qualifications; rather it is an argument about who is more inclined to break the business as usual pattern and bring about needed reforms. Hillary Clinton is now wining about Bernie Sanders bringing up her super pack, and the speaking fees and campaign contributions she has received from Wall Street and major corporations. She says that bringing up her speaking fees and contributions to her campaign and/or super pack is smearing her. Okay, so here are my questions to her:

Do you, Hillary Clinton, favor overturning Citizens United, and if so, why?

There is no way she can talk about the need to overturn Citizens United without talking about the corrupting influence of the money unleashed by that horrible decision. That being the case, I think she will also have to concede that it is fair to question whether she is receiving money from the people and corporations the government regulates. Rather than playing the victim and replying with righteous indignation to those questions, Hillary should just fess up. She should say that the fact that she, who really wants to get the money out of politics, feels that she has to take such contributions in order to be competitive shows how much we need to reform the system. She should then invite us to hold her accountable for how well she is able to accomplish that.

Iowhat?

Iowa caucuses always seems to surprise us. Since 1972 they have only picked the eventual Republican nominee fifty percent of the time, and the results of the caucuses are frequently disputed. Here we go again with disputed counts and coin tosses in the Democratic Caucuses. I think I will hold my comments on that until we see how it shakes out. I am already catching some flack for what I have written thus far. When I wrote on Daily Kos that Iowa appeared to be a virtual tie between Bernie and Hillary, and that we had a long way to go in the nominating process before the fat lady sings, I got a rather snippy reply from a Hillary supporter. This person said the fat lady will sing as soon as there is a primary in a state where the demographics more closely resemble the demographics of the rest of the nation, and that she hopes Bernie supporters will be more gracious in defeat. Bite it! I will be polite to the extent that I will vote to keep any Republican out of the white house. But I will become unbelievably rude if Hillary Clinton is elected and she goes back on her stated opposition to TPP or returns to the Clinton triangulation strategy! This is not a game. The establishment has ignored the Democratic base for far too long. We demand reform and we demand it now!

In regard to the Republicans: The Canadian Texas turd won the caucuses regardless of the fact that the birther dullards in his party would have to exclude him on the grounds that he is not a natural born citizen. And that question to the extent that we can say it is settled law, would disqualify Ted Cruz as a candidate on the grounds that he is not a natural born citizen! Frankly I would like to see the Republicans nominate him. I simply cannot conceive of the people of this nation electing such a destructive and reprehensible Senator who is so universally disliked by his colleagues.

The Donald slipped from winner to weaner, and Marco Rubio is riding his rear bumper. Speaking of Rubio, it looks like his performance in Iowa is going to make him the clear choice of the establishment (read the plutocrats). My nephew, who does not pay much attention to politics and leans Republican, happened to see Rubio's spin on coming in third in Iowa. “I don't like him,” my nephew said. “I think he's another Mit Romney! That was really an astute comment coming from someone who does not pay much attention. Like candidate Romney candidate Rubio is a bloviating wind sock. There simply is no there there. But he does have a talent for spewing untrue hyperboles and Alec taking points!

Now we will have to see how candidates such as Bush, Kasich, and Fiorina are going to react to leaving such unattractive skid marks in the toilet bowl! Will they withdraw or risk a few more swirlies before making an exit?