I wasn’t planning on talking about this but there’s been a lot of talk recently about the possibility of a brokered convention for the Democrats this year. Now I’m not sure if that is because it’ll really happen or if it’s because a brokered convention is every journalists wet dream. A chance for these people to pretend they’re in West Wing and talk about a bunch of bullshit for a week. As of now though it just seems like a nice distraction for a lot of the media an establishment as their freakout over Bernie continues.
There was a report in the NYT today that talked to about 100 superdelegates who want to hand the nomination to someone else besides Bernie. They dreamed of Sherrod Brown, Michelle Obama, maybe even Nancy Pelosi. Anyone but that divisive, unelectable guy……you know the one who’s the most liked in the race and leads almost every poll against Trump 1v1.
MSNBC discussed the possibility of a brokered convention today, and even when I thought MSNBC had reached peak insanity with their coverage they found a way to top it:
That’s right this former State Rep & MSNBC contributor argued that people don’t get to choose the nominee, the party does. This attitude is exactly the kind of out-of-touch backwards logic that makes the Democrats lose. Because there’s no doubt if Bernie Sanders goes into the convention with at least 40% or so of the delegates and then doesn’t get the nomination, that will be the END of the Democratic Party. But this just shows how out of touch the party elite is because they’re so worried about losing that they are willing to do something like this. And these same people would come out after the election and be shocked as to why their people didn’t turn up after telling 40% of them their vote didn’t matter in the primary. It’s actually very simple, there would be no easier way for Democrats to lose the election than by going through a year+ long primary, only to tell their base that the person who got the most votes isn’t the nominee.
This whole thing though comes down to self-protection against Bernie. The democratic party won’t be able to act like they’re barely left of center and argue from a position of weakness with Sanders at the top of the ticket. They’d actually have to fight for their ideas instead of trying to be Republican-lite. Plus if Sanders actually won, these donors and lobbyists would lose their superdelegate powers and would no longer be influential with Sanders fighting for public funding of elections and taking on special interests. That’s what this whole charade is about, not electability, not about ideology, but about the Democratic elite losing some of their power and influence.
So let’s hope this doomsday scenario never has a chance to happen. But if it does it will be very interesting to see if the Democratic leadership would destroy the party itself in order to try and save themselves.
I’ve always disliked the format of the debates but after the train-wreck debate tonight in South Carolina, it seems like the perfect time to post this. The debates are terrible when the moderators don’t take control, when the networks treat the debates like a reality TV show, when they ask bad questions or don’t follow up, and they never seem to cover all of the important issues.
To fix these debates there are 4 easy steps to take:
Take control away from the DNC & the networks. Instead do what they used to and have different interests groups (like the League of Women’s Voters) host the debates
Have Debates focused on specific topics. Have a climate debate, a healthcare debate, a foreign policy debate, an education debate, a labor debate, a debate on poverty, etc.
Have those debates hosted by experts. Let people who have an actual depth of knowledge about each subject ask the questions and push-back on the candidates.
Have a “mute” button. If a candidate goes too far over the time limit you mute them. They try to yell and get time, mute them. Multiple people try talking over each other, mute them all.
I think these easy changes would make these debates infinitely better. Instead of terrible moderators asking bad questions or the whole thing becoming a glorified food fight….have experts host issue-oriented debates. Take the party and the networks out of the equation. That way instead of focusing on talking points or getting a good 15/30 second clip you can blast all over the web, candidates will be forced to talk in-depth about their ideas and plans.
FINALLY there were some fireworks on the debate stage, they started early and never really stopped. We had Warren vs. Everyone, Everyone vs. Bloomberg, Bernie vs. Pete, Pete vs. Amy. Gut reaction Bernie Sanders is the winner, not because he had the best performance (he didn’t) but because Bloomberg & Biden would’ve been better served not showing up at all and because Warren, Pete, & Amy went at each other a lot. This is by far the most likely debate to shift the race as I could see it hurting Bloomberg and it will definitely shake-up the Pete/Amy/Warren tier. My gut take rankings on each person’s performance goes:
Warren
Sanders
Amy
Pete
Biden
Bloomberg
Warren went scorched earth on nearly everyone tonight and if she’s gonna get results it’ll be because of a performance like that. Bernie is also a winner cause he handled himself well while letting everyone else fight it out. Pete and Amy both had decent debates but I’m putting Amy first because 1. it was hilarious that you could tell Amy was envisioning hitting Pete with anything and everything she had on the podium all night and 2. her line saying something like he just memorizes talking points because he lacks real experience was by far the best line either of them had all night. Bloomberg obviously last because…well you saw it…..and if you didn’t just imagine everyone going for the jugular off the jump, him getting booed, and well just basically worst case scenario. NBC’s weren’t as bad as I assumed but still waiting for the Democratic Debates have questions framed from a left-wing perspective. Maybe next time
What every Pundit sees in their nightmares
Random Thoughts
Michael Bloomberg made his debut tonight and was immediately attacked by everyone on the stage. They went after him over stop & frisk, sexual harassment, buying his way into the race, supporting Bush, being against Obamacare, the list goes on and on. But i think what hurt him the most when Warren and Biden went after him on the NDAs. They (rightly) called out that Bloomberg could release these people from the NDAs and all he had to say was he was protecting a consensual contract or some nonsense like that. Bloomberg was getting shit on all night and if you remember that the he bought his way onto the stage….that means tonight was officially the most he’s ever spent to get shit on………..since his last trip to Epstein’s Island of course.
Everyone on stage taking turns hitting Bloomberg
The other big story of the night was Elizabeth Warren going nuclear. Mike Bloomberg is the best thing to ever happen to her campaign. I don’t know why she doesn’t have this same energy all the time. She’s at her best when she’s going after corruption not when she’s picking stupid fights. Her campaign is still in trouble but she might’ve done enough to get the results she needs in Nevada and South Carolina. But if she doesn’t, at least she went down kamikaze style and left everything out on the stage and that makes me like/respect her more.
Joe Biden needed some of the energy Warren had tonight. He is making his last stand in South Carolina and he disappeared multiple times in the debate. (I still can’t believe I lost my bet for Biden least speaking time) He only had a few moments today where he looked lost mid sentence, which is a solid night on the Biden Curve, but besides attacking Bloomberg early he had nothing close to memorable. After that performance, it looks like he’s in danger of not finish top 2/3 in Nevada and that could end up killing his campaign before he can make his “last stand”.
Bernie Sanders clearly dislikes Mayor Pete and he does not hide it well. He loves pointing out Pete’s billionaire donors and how it affects his positions. It seems like an effective attack and Pete even showed his hypocrisy on stage multiple times. He’s said he thinks its smart for Bernie to embrace democratic socialism, praised Denmark tonight (a model country for many of Sanders’ plans) but also in the same debate talks about how worried he is about the electability of socialism and how bad/divisive Sanders’ plans are. Sanders/Warren would be well served to keep attacking Pete over his donors and his hypocrisy….It must hurt Pete to have his high school hero have visible disdain for him…but I know, between Bernie and Amy, it gave Pete some PTSD tonight cause it looked like he was at risk of being shoved into a locker numerous times tonight.
There was a lot of words flying back and forth between Warren, Pete & Amy which makes sense since they are fighting for survival to and past Super Tuesday. When I wrote the debate preview I compared the race between these 3 to a scene in The Dark Knight when the Joker does some recruiting and I don’t mean to pat myself on the back toooo hard buttttt I think it’s a near perfect comparison.
DNC to Warren/Pete/Amy: There’s only room for 1 of you
The questions for the debate weren’t as bad as I was expecting but of course there was the mandatory fear-mongering over socialism. Sanders gave a good rebuttal talking about socialism for the rich and I have seen him give better answers when he has more time. Plus it doesn’t seem to be too big an issue since he won the 1st 2 contests, leads in the polls, and 70% of people in exit polls in IA & NH supported Medicare For All. As much as it physically hurts me to type this (and I never thought I’d say this)……..I have to give Chuck Todd credit for a good question. Please stop booing…..Don’t get me wrong….he still sucks. But when he asked about a contested convention it was verrrryyyyy telling that every other candidate besides Bernie was cool with superdelegates choosing the nominee. After 2016 you’d think every candidate would want less of the DNC involved, less superdelegates but apparently not. It’s almost as if they see that as their only chance to win.
Tonight 6 Democratic Candidates will take the stage in Nevada for the reality TV show debate hosted by NBC. Now for this debate preview you, the reader, have several options because here at DoC we cater to those of every learning style. If you hate reading, you’re in luck cause we’ll start with the state of the race in 1 picture. If you like lists, then keep reading because we also have the 6 biggest storylines going into the debate. Keep reading after that if you’re looking for more insightful thoughts (or if you’re just a masochist). If you somehow make it through all that, your reward is a betting guide at the bottom. So just think of this as Dante’s Inferno but for debate coverage…..(which itself would be in about the 7th circle of hell in Dante’s version).
The Primary in 1 Pic
5 Biggest Debate Storylines
Bernie Sanders: Now that he’s the sole frontrunner it’ll be interesting to see how he’s treated. The moderators will likely attack him and his policies like usual but will the candidates go after him. The debates so far have lacked a lot of attacking or edge but this could be the one that turns the tide especially with people like Warren and Biden desperate.
Mike Bloomberg’s Debut: After purchasing his way onto the debate stage, we will see how Bloomberg does. Hopefully everyone goes after him so we can have some actual intrigue on the stage for once.
Price for a Spot on the Stage: Another Bloomberg storyline has been exposing just how much it costs to buy off the DNC. Now any billionaire (or lowly millionaire with nothing better to do) knows the price to get themselves on a democratic debate stage. Instead of spending money on staff or bus tours or whatever the fuck else…Cory Booker, Julian Castro, John Delaney, etc. should’ve used their money to stay on the stage. Something to remember for 2024 I guess.
Biden’s Articulation: Now some people are saying that Biden biggest struggle is connecting with voters but in debates, it’s undeniably his ability to form complete/coherent thoughts. If he has trouble doing that tonight the end might be around the corner as more and more of his donors jump ship for the U.S.S. Oligarch Bloomberg.
Warren’ Strategy: Not too long ago the media was ready to crown Warren but now her campaign is in trouble. After a decent performance in Iowa she embarrassed in NH where she couldn’t even get 10%. She entered the race as a progressive going hard after corruption but has now seemingly pivoted to the “woke” SJW lane. Look out for who Warren goes after. Look to see if the “unity” candidate makes any attacks tonight (and on who).
Pete & Amy: Both of these Midwestern moderates are in the same position of having campaigns that are like goat yoga classes…..in that they are almost exclusively supported by rich white people. Both need to attract voters of color and without that it’s hard to see either of their campaign trajectories going up. Again it will be interesting to see if they attack each other, focus on Bernie, try to end Biden, or haze the newbie Bloomberg.
More Thoughts
Ironically, the media has helped Bernie Sanders tremendously. By constanlty ignoring or demeaning him they have allowed him to somehow be the frontunner and an underdog at the same time. Meanwhile the rest of the field is fractured which could allow Bernie to lock this thing up sooner rather than later. It’s hilarious watching how desperate the media has become. They have used the electability/socialism smears for over 4 years on Bernie and he’s withstood that. After throwing so much at the wall the only thing they have left right now is that his supporters are mean online. Now if you’re unfamiliar with the American news media this is your crash-course on why they’ve lost the respect and trust of the public. There are seemingly infinite problems in the world yet the media finds time to cover the breaking news that some people are assholes online. But of course there are only 2 reasons it gets coverage. 1. They do not like Bernie. 2. People are being mean to them. They miss the good ol’ days where they were respected as authorities, could make or break candidates at their whim and could delude themselves into thinking their position/salary were deserved. But now they face the harsh reality that real people don’t care what they have to say and can just go online and tell them to fuck off and take their shitty takes elsewhere. I will give MSNBC credit though, they had a clip before NH which was maybe the funniest moment of the campaign so far. A woman who was torn between multiple candidates, told them that she was pushed over the edge to vote for Bernie because of how bad/biased the MSNBC coverage of Bernie was.
This debate is also notable because it will be the first appearance for Michael Bloomberg after the billionaire paid off the DNC to change the rules. I have mixed feelings about this. Overall I’m Team #FuckBloomberg, but it is objectively hilarious to see just how much it costs to buy off the DNC. (Honestly Bernie Sanders should just start a grassroots fundraiser to buyout the Democratic leadership. He could raise enough money to get Tom Perez to resign in less than 24 hours) But I am glad to see Bloomberg on the stage so people realize he’s more than just a guy who bombards you with ads. In reality he’s a 5’5 (former Republican) Oligarch with a record of terrible policies, quotes, and behavior. Yes he has used his fortune to advance some good causes…but he could also just continue to do that instead of wasting that money on a vain Presidential run. Joe Biden needs to come out and show he can do more than namedrop Obama and talk about winning hypothetical elections. It would also help if his teeth didn’t almost fall out of his mouth, his eye doesn’t start randomly bleeding, or if he didn’t tell everyone to vote for someone else (something he apparently loves to do).Warren, Pete, & Amy are people who should be on the attack as I don’t see any way all 3 of them are still in the race after Super Tuesday. They could all gang up on Bernie or Bloomberg, or they could try and put Uncle Joe out of his misery, or backstage it could be like that seen from The Dark Knight where the Joker (in this case Tom Perez) drops a broken pool stick down on the floor in front of them and says there’s only room for one of them (my money would be on Amy in that).
Betting Guide
Anywhere on the Internet you can find shitty takes on politics. It is a rarity that you will find a place that will give you shitty political takes and shitty betting tips. As usual with these betting guides, all lines come from Predict-It which lets you buys “shares” of candidates so I will give you the share price as well as a more traditional line.
Most Speaking Time: Right now Bloomberg and Bernie are the favorites at around 40 cents (about +150). I will probably sprinkle a little bit on both of those guys as I think there probably gonna get it. If you like anyone else they have great odds (My pick out of the rest would be Warren at 9 Cents (+900).
Least Speaking Time: Right now the favorite is Klobuchar at 35 cents (+186) with Warren a close 2nd at 30 cents (+233). My pick would probably be Amy but I hate picking all favorites so I’ll go with Biden at 15 cents (+560).
# of Candidates who say “Billionaire”: This is a lock for at least 2 (Bernie/Warren) and with Bloomberg on the stage I think everyone will say the word billionaire at some point, so I’m gonna take 6 for 20 cents (+400). I might also sprinkle some cash on 5 just in case at 27 cents (~+300).
Non-Debate Bets: As I’ve been saying for months I’m still betting on Bernie to win the nomination. He’s somehow even odds at this point so I might throw some more $$$ on him tonight with my winnings. I’d also bet on him to win SC (about the same odds). I’d also look to bet on 2nd place in SC. If Biden collapses, someone like Steyer, Peter, or Warren could slide up into 2nd place and they all have great odds right now.
This year for the Democrats is an important one for Primaries. From the Presidential election to all the down ballot races. Doesn’t matter if you are afraid of socialism or if you’re candidate was screwed by the DNC or if they couldn’t hire anyone due to the blacklisting by the DCCC. You must “Vote Blue No Matter Who”. Remember the importance of the fight. You are supporting the Democrats, the party who puts the country over trivial, tribal bullshit. That’s why your ideology, morality, and conscience be damned you must vote for the Democratic nominee no matter what! Without further ado, here’s a thread of people who fall under the “Vote Blue No Matter Who” umbrella:
*Tom Perez when an app finally works*
Mayor Pete when he sees a Billionaire’s money
Elizabeth Warren anytime someone brings up 2016
Squirtle appealing to the Latino vote
Gabbard 2020 (Part 1)
Kloubuchar 2020
Gabbard 2020 (Part 2)
“Yang/Blue 2020” -MSNBC
Chris Matthews when he hears someone talking about socialism
Joe Biden when his figures out all those people he told to vote for someone else, actually did
Delaney 2020
StarKist 2020: For Small Business Enthusiasts, Those who favor stricter regulations on the fishing industry, & Those who support regime change in Japan
Mayor Pete’s Birth (Footage Courtesy of the CIA)
Bloomberg 2020
Pictured: Candidate Thomas the Tank smuggling illegal lumber from the Amazon Forest
Mini “Mike Bloomberg” Cooper
Bernie laying out his platform
Now Remember, you must vote for any of these candidates, solely because of the color blue. Fuck all the “purity tests”. It doesn’t matter if you agree with all their policies or think they’re corrupt or think they won’t do good for the country. It doesn’t matter if the person was very recently a Republican, doesn’t matter if they love regime change, or Wall Street. Nope doesn’t matter if they’ve taken money from Weinstein or Epstein………no, all that matters is that little D………next to their name on the ballot. It doesn’t matter if you are just color blind. Just remember “Vote Blue No Matter Who” so you can take pride in knowing you helped put in charge a slightly less corrupt party and truly earned that sense of moral and intellectual superiority.
You can get shitty takes on the Primary anywhere you look….but here we’ll also give you shitty gambling takes. All of the information and odds for the betting guide come from Predict-It, a site where you can buy or sell “stock” in candidates. You can bet on individual contest winners, 2nd place, the nominee, or on the general election winner (among other bets). As I have said in basically every betting guide, I’d advise hammering Bernie as he’s been under-valued (though that’s changed now mostly). He has the most donors, raised the most money, has the most enthusiasm, is the most liked, is trusted most on the issues and now has taken the lead in national polls. If that’s not a clear frontrunner I don’t know what is. The picks I’m gonna give are for the winner of the nomination, winner of the general, and some individual contest picks.
Nomination: Though he’s the favorite my pick is still Bernie Sanders: 47 cents (about +120). If you’re high on Bloomberg you can get him at 25 cents (+300) or if you want a risk, think about Warren at 5 cents (+1900) not that she’ll win but that her stock will rise enough to make $.
2nd place in NH: I wouldn’t touch who’s gonna win NH as Bernie is the heavy favorite (80 cents or -400). I think Pete might fall and I’m gonna take a risk at betting he won’t finish 2nd which is 25 cents (+300) and maybe even sprinkle Warren to finish 2nd at 5 cents (+1900).
SC Winner: Again I’m gonna take Sanders at 44 cents (~+122) but if you think Biden will hold on you can get him at 37 cents (~+180).
SC 2nd Place: If Biden falls he’ll fall hard and I think someone else could pick up 2nd in SC. I would think about Steyer at 22 cents here (~+350). Pete or Warren have great odds if you think one of them can pick up enough Biden supporters.
Super Tuesday: Since it’s early you can get a winner for a lot of the Super Tuesday states at 30-40 cents. Pick who you think will have the momentum by then and take advantage of the odds.
General Election Winner: You should know by now I’m riding with Bernie Sanders at 31 cents (~+230). If you don’t trust any of the Dem candidates, Trump is the favorite at 55 cents (-122).
EXTRA Wild Card Pick: Iowa Winner: Now since the Iowa caucuses were such a clusterfuck there has yet to be a declared winner. There has been a recount initiated by the Bernie and Pete camps and it is incredibly close in state delegates. Because of that I’ve picked up some stocks for Bernie to be declared winner in Iowa at 20 cents (+400).
This was an eventful week and one that was a complete disaster for the Democratic Party. Impeachment finally ended, unsurprisingly, with an acquittal which was slightly overshadowed by the Dem elites showing their incompetence when they couldn’t figure out what happened in Iowa. Bernie Sanders won Iowa’s popular vote and it looks like he’ll be tied with Pete for delegates but the data looks riddled with errors so who knows. Sometimes I honestly think the leaders of the Democratic Party are trying to lose that way there’s no pressure on them to actually do something.
Impeachment Finale
After being impeached in the House, President Trump was acquitted by the Senate after no witnesses were called and with Mitt Romney being the only Republican voting to convict. Like usual in Washington, neither side looks good in what happened, but the Democrats certainly look worse. There were no witnesses called as some Senate Republicans admitted the President did what he was accused of but that it was a simply a “policy difference” and not worthy of impeachment. As always it was very funny watching the goalposts move from Republicans from “he didn’t do it” to “But, but, but, Joe Biden” to “it wasn’t that bad” and then it just moves to the next outrage. The one thing you kinda have to respect the GOP for is that no matter how many times they change their story or contradict themselves they stand firm and it works as they don’t get called out by the media for any of it. Other Senators (Susan Collins) are saying they didn’t vote to convict because Trump learned his lesson from this whole thing (no joke needed for that claim). However, even with all the goalpost moving and spinzones coming from the right, the Democrats look manage to look worse. As I’ve been saying from the beginning it was incredibly stupid to focus something as big as impeachment on Ukrainian aid. No real, actual person gives a shit about that. The Democrats STILL DON’T HAVE HIS TAXES. They’ve controlled the House for over a year and can’t do something as simple as that. If they really wanted to take him down they should’ve gotten those and said hey look how much money he’s making off being President. Maybe investigate assassinating a couple of foreign officials? Look at paying off a pornstar? Planning a Trump Tower Moscow? The scam that was Trump U? Obstruction of Justice? Nope….the geniuses in the House leadership chose fucking Ukraine aid to hang this whole charade on and because of that, they got the result they deserved.
Debacle in Iowa
Speaking of Democratic incompetence, the candidates running to face off President Trump had the first contest in Iowa this week. Now of course the party that’sbeen sooooo concerned with election interference used the unhackable tech of paper to count the votes right??? Of course not….instead they decided to use a fucking app designed by some Hilary for America grifters. The company that designed this app was legitimately named SHADOW….because nothing says transparency like allowing a company named Shadow to handle the results. They then decided to double down on their stupidity by releasing only 62% of the vote while they tallied the rest. Now ignoring how stupid that is, if you’re gonna do that you do it must be because you’re positive those votes are 10000% correct. Obviously, they were riddled with errors and the media reported them because they apparently have nothing better to talk about than incorrect data. The whole thing is such a shitshow it’s hard to believe these people in charge ever got power over anything let alone an entire fucking political party. If you fuck up and don’t have the results that same night, then wait until you have every single vote counted and have tripled checked their accuracy before releasing it. Heads have to roll after this whole thing. The leader of the Iowa Democratic Party has to go and so does Tom Perez (DNC chair). Lucky for Tom though it would make the Dems look worse if they fired him after only 1 contest so he’ll get to stay in power a little longer. It’s ironic though that for over 4 years Democrats have been clinically paranoid about Russia, seeing Putin behind every dark corner, but when it came down to it the biggest threat to elections was their own incompetence.
Trump Admin Blowing Up National Monument For “The Wall”
The Intercept ran a good story, about how the Trump administration is setting off dynamite in a national monument, UNESCO biosphere, and land sacred to local Native Americans in order to build more of his wall in southern Arizona. This is the type of story that the national media and Democrats should focus on more. Even when Republicans controlled Congress for 2 years they couldn’t pass funding for the wall. But no one seems inclined to try to stop this or any other building of the wall. Regardless of you’re stance on immigration, everyone should be in agreement that the wall is an incredibly dumb idea. You know you’re “solution” to a problem is bad when there are several easy ways to avoid it. Even ignoring tunnels (the most used way to get into the country) anyone looking to get in the U.S, faced with a wall can get past it with a couple shovels, a ladder, a fucking trampoline, or even a Bluth Company stair-car.
Trump Admin Bringing Back Landmines
Yes you read that correctly, the Trump admin is bringing back LANDMINES. Honestly between a wall and landmines what fucking year does Trump think it is??? However, there are some odds of what outdated thing Trump will bring back next and knowing him one of these will be brought back before his term is up.
My Pick: Tar & Feathering +325
Nancy Pelosi Rips Up Trump’s Speech
Now I didn’t watch the State of the Union speech but it must’ve been pretty inconsequential if the big story coming out of it was Nancy Pelosi ripping up Trump’s speech afterwards. My only take on this is…..I don’t give a single shit and neither should you. There’s an infinite amount of more important things going on in the world. Plus it’s not even close to the worse thing Pelosi did this week…
Juan Guaido Goes to Washington
The Venezuelan opposition member was a guest of the President for the State of the Union and Nancy Pelosi proceeded to welcome him as a guest to Congress. She praised him for his “courage” and as a “friend to democracy”. Now for those who have not followed the Venezuela saga, the U.S, among other imperialists, have called for the removal of President Maduro citing irregularities in his election. Guaido tried to claim himself President but when that foolproof plan somehow didn’t work he stuck around still trying to gain legitimacy. All the puppets of the Military Industrial Complex are backing him and it seems like a sensible plan as whens the last time a CIA backed leader ever failed or did anything bad??? Now in spirit with Guaido, after the embarrassment in Iowa, I am declaring myself the leader of Iowa and I’m sure that once the CIA gets back to me on my endorsement request I too will be celebrated and welcomed to Washington with open arms as a legitimate leader.
Clown Take of the Week
As always there were a lot of contenders for this award. Everyone who suddenly doesn’t care about Iowa after Bernie won was in contention but there were too many to single out just one. Instead the winner of the Clown Take of the Week is former Senator and current MSNBC talking head Claire McCaskill. Talking about Mitt Romney’s Impeachment Vote, she said “He’s going to sleep soundly. His children are going to look at him with pride. And at the end of the day, isn’t that way more important?”. This quote is the perfect showcase for the how shallow the liberal ideology is. All you need to do for these neoliberals or establishment figures is just 1 thing and you’re past is forgotten and you’re a hero. Previously it was John McCain for his vote against repealing ObamaCare. Then every #Resister built a shrine to lifelong Republican Robert Mueller and treated him as their deity. Now people are doing the same with Mitt Romney. Forget Bain Capital and everything else they went after him for in 2012 and forget him tucking his tail between his legs and interviewing for a job with Trump after 2016. Now that he made this vote that literally accomplishes nothing he is the epitome of courage and morality.
.@NicolleDWallace: "Mitt Romney's life will never be the same, but I'm sure he has no doubt in his mind that it's worth it."@clairecmc: "He's going to sleep soundly. His children are going to look at him with pride. And at the end of the day, isn't that way more important?" pic.twitter.com/Z8AHVSRQNj
Person who was deemed out of touch by people they are accountable to: Nothing MSNBC: Take our money…We need your expertise
Clown of the Week
Nancy Pelosi did everything she could to win this, as did another moron MSNBC talking head Jason Johnson (quick thread on his incompetence this week). But the only person that could be the Clown of the Week is DNC chair Tom Perez. Either Perez was in the dark about the app that would be used in Iowa or he thought it was a good idea….either way he looks like an idiot. Then he came out of the blue right before the final results came in and called for a recount. Now this is not something the DNC can actually do as it must be called for by a campaign. Perez (and the DNC by extension) just looks so bad through all of this as if he was actually concerned about the legitimacy of the results he would’ve called for none of the results to be released until they were confirmed accurate. Coincidentally Perez made this call right as Bernie was catching up to Pete in State Delegates (and extending his popular vote lead). Honestly the fastest way for Perez to get me to respect him would be to say he was trolling. Clearly he wasn’t though and even if you ignore all the shadiness that occurred in Iowa (the app was developed by people with clear links to the Democratic establishment, Pete paying the company that developed it, releasing partial data with Pete leading, & Perez’s timing) it is still a complete disaster. While I do think there was some nefariousness going on, I think the main problems here were greed and stupidity. This is one of the biggest reasons people like Perez and the DNC despise outsiders like Bernie….cause they know if someone like him was in charge all the cash going to idiot strategists and consultants will dry up. It’s seems impossible now that after the election Perez will be in charge of the DNC but honestly if he makes it that far he should be thankful.
No better way to split up the week than by looking back on some of the last week of news. Some of the bigger things that happened (impeachment/ Israel/Palestine proposal) will have their own blogs…. but we’ll look at an update from the Iranian Strike, Joe Biden’s weird campaign habits, Mike Bloombrg not knowing how to pet a dog, CNN shunning Tulsi Gabbard, and the Media Clown of the Week along with Biggest Joke Story of the week.
Most Under-Covered Story of the Week: At least 50 total service members suffered Brain injuries after Iran missile attack
After President Trump assassinated Iranian General Solemaini, Iran responded with missile attacks at a U.S base in Iraq. Initially there were no casualties reported but now there is reportedly a total of 50 people who have been treated for traumatic brain injuries. Thankfully a lot of those have not been too serious and many of those who were affected are back on duty. It’s still crazy to see how little this is being covered in the news especially since the Trump administration has yet to back up their “imminent threat” explanation and when the President suggested 4 embassies were being targeted….his Defense Secretary immediately that shot down. But when you think about it, it’s really not shocking it hasn’t been covered when you think of the influence of the Military Industrial Complex, the bipartisan war consensus, or the desensitizing of drone strikes. So why would a media that loves to fear-monger and applaud conflict cover something that could damage that and only caused the same amount of concussions that happen every NFL Sunday.
CNN excludes Tulsi Gabbard from townhalls
CNN announced it would be holding townhalls in New Hampshire in early February….just a few days before the primary there. Obviously it included the top 3 candidates (Sanders, Biden, Warren) as well as the other 4 candidates who have qualified for the Feb debate (Pete, Klobuchar, Yang, Steyer) but it also strangely includes Deval Patrick and does not include Tulsi Gababrd. Now while Gabbard hasn’t made the last 2 debates, she’s polling at 5% in New Hampshire….which is more than Yang, double Steyer and Patrick is so low in the polling that RCP doesn’t even have his average listed. If CNN only included people who made the debates, Gabbard still has a gripe but it’s not newsworthy…. unless they arbitrarily add a guy that has generated such buzz and support that a poll with him at 1% is flattering. Also worth CNN is denying the only woman of color still in the race a chance to make her case, so by Media logic, CNN are clearly racists and sexist if they exclude Gabbard. It’s been clear for a while that the media is biased against, Gabbard but CNN hosting 8 candidates in NH and not including the 6th highest poller in the state just puts it out there so even Helen Keller could see it. This “impartial network” has yet to respond to the criticism from Gabbard & others about this.
Joe Biden Keeps Telling Voters to Votefor Someone Else
The former Vice President has run one of the strangest campaigns of anyone so far. From having his eye nearly explode or his teeth almost fall out in the debates, to sucking his wife’s finger on stage at a rally, to lying about his record on Iraq & Social Security. Biden has also at times struggled to form complete sentences or coherent thoughts but somehow his support remains solid as a rock (someone should test him for the PEDs Larry David was on). But one of the stranger things Biden has done is tell any person who asks even a mildly tough or critical question to just vote for a different candidate. Almost everything Biden has done so far from his “No Malarkey Bus” to talking about record players & Venezuela in a question about race relations to calling a voter fat and challenging him to a pushup contest has been so weird and funny it doesn’t need any more commentary.
Back in September, a reporter asked Biden to make his case to skeptical voters.
The DNC Announces its Committee Member for 2020 Convention
Tom Perez and the DNC did a little Saturday night news dump when they announced their committee members for the 2020 convention. Now I don’t know why they did that as no one does/should care about this news. There are the normal people you’d expect the DNC to appoint….lobbyists, health-care executives, defense contractors, big donors, etc. This seems like standard business for the DNC but it wouldn’t be news if it was just those people. Nope the DNC has shoot themselves in the foot by adding someone so ridiculous that this gets attention…..John Podesta. Yes the same John Podesta of “Podesta Leaked Emails” fame. Somehow after 2016 this is someone they not only wanna associate with publicly but put onto their rules committee. Just when you think the Democrats can’t be any stupider they continue to boggle the mind with things like this.
NYT keeps changing Bernie Sanders Headlines
The Twitter account @NYT_diff is a bot that keeps tracks when the New York Times changes a headline or article and occasionally it shows some funny/weird changes. This week there were 3 different stories on Bernie Sanders that had the headline changed after publication. Since almost everyone just gets their news solely from the headline today, it no doubt can have an effect. Last Wednesday the Times published a story, “Bernie Sanders has Narrowed Lead in New National Poll” which was seemingly too positive for NYT so they changed it to “Why Bernie Went on the Attack Against Joe Biden”. The next day the story “Stop Comparing Bernie to Trump. It’s Ridiculous.” comes out so another change was made so the story became “Please Stop Calling Bernie Sanders a Populist”. Now just yesterday the Times put out “The Bernie Juggernaut” which, you guessed it, was changed to “Bernie Could Win the Nomination. Should We Be Afraid?”. Now no one reading this is surprised the NYT aren’t the biggest Bernie fans but its still funny seeing them change any headline with a positive slant towards him to a negative one. No one should think of Bernie as narrowing the lead or as different than Trump or a juggernaut…..No he’s attacking or not really a populist or must be feared. In reality the only people that should should fear Bernie are the NYT and the rest of the establishment and it’s funny watching how they react to that fear.
Bolivia Update
Some of you might not remember the coup in Bolivia that happened recently where most of the media cheerleaded the effort in the name of “free and fair elections”. Well today an article came out where the interim President is going back on their promise not to run in the new election while also actively trying to get the candidate from the former President (Evo Morales)’s party out of the race. Now obviously in a world filled with consistent, value-driven pundits (crazy I know) those same people would be outraged over this too but alas since the left-wing leader is out of power they’ll just chalk it up as another U.S victory in South America. #Democracy
Michael Bloomberg Meets a Dog
A video came out where Michael Bloomberg grabs and shakes a dog’s snout. Yes you read that right…he tried to shake a dog’s mouth like it was a hand. There’s really nothing else to add. It’s simply one of the weirdest human/dog interactions of all time….and it wasn’t the first time he’s done it.
Absolutely Disqualifying BehaviorHas this guy pet a dog before? Is he a real human??
Media Clown of the Week
This week’s winner is…..Washington Post Writer Jennifer Rubin. On Monday she dropped a new column about how Bernie’s “Trump-like campaign” would be a disaster for Democrats. First let’s put aside the facts that the last Trump-like Presidential campaign won and that Rubin is a Republican giving Democrats advice. Some of that great advice she’s given has been praising Kamala Harris, Beto O’Rourke, and Steve Bullock (RIP to all 3 of their campaigns). Rubin is also someone who admitted to misleading readers by writing biased columns in favor of Mitt Romney in 2012. Somehow she gets paid to do the same thing, along with the other garbage she put outs via her mouth and/or fingers. But obviously it’s a conspiracy theory to question the Washington Post for biases at all. I am thankful for people like Rubin though in one respect. You can always look to her and others like Chris Cilizza and know that whatever the say….the opposite will probably be true.
Biggest Joke of a Story
TYFYS Washington Post for thinking of Anti-Semites
I refuse to click on this article for many reasons but mainly because the only acceptable answer to the question is who fucking cares.
Tonight’s debate, the last one before voting starts, was honestly…… a pretty boring one. I’m not sure that any of the candidates really helped or hurt their stock significantly. If I had to pick a winner it would either Bernie or Biden because he didn’t face many attacks even though he was having one of his patented *struggle to form complete sentences* nights (which shows how low the bar is for Biden). Bernie faced the toughest questions and a lot of the attacks which made him seem like a frontruner and he was able to stand up pretty well which should also help him. Overall I think everything in the race will remain pretty consistent. It looks like a 4-way race in Iowa & New Hampshire and everyone else needs to try and build momentum. Here’s some thoughts I jotted down on each candidate at various points in the night:
Bernie Sanders: Got the majority of attacks from other candidates/moderators. Got the first laugh of the debate with the Biden/North Korea joke. Was emphatic in denying he said a woman couldn’t win the Presidency. Should’ve went harder on Biden on electability (iraq, trade, social security, corruption). Did he lose any supporters? Probably Not Did he gain any supporters? Maybe
Joe Biden: Somehow avoided any attacks. Benefits from Warren/Sanders scrap as he fades into the background. Though he didn’t face many attacks from his opponents he fought a hard battle with the daunting task of articulating a coherent thought in full sentence form. The bar for Biden might honestly be underground at this point because this was a good night for him. Did he lose any supporters? Maybe Did he gain any supporters? Maybe
Elizabeth Warren: Gave her standards argument and sounded compelling doing it. Solid night for her but the whole thing with Bernie Sanders just wasn’t the best look. When everyone assumes it was someone in/related to your campaign who leaked this you, have to say what actually happened. (If you didn’t leak it say that) If he actually said it, there’s 2 options (he said “I don’t think a woman can win (sexist but seemingly out of character) or he made a point that sexism would hurt her campaign (more likely but also a point made by other candidates and in the media). So either say “He said it and he’s wrong and it was sexist or He made a point that I disagreed with because I yada, yada, yada, and I’m the best candidate to beat Trump. She didn’t have a bad night but didn’t excel. Weird she went after Bernie but won’t talk about Hunter Biden even though corruption is a central theme of her campaign. Did she lose any supporters? Probably not Did she gain any supporters? Maybe
Amy Klobuchar: Gotta give Amy credit she’s consistent. She sticks to the 3 M’s, Mom Jokes, Moderation, Midwest. She passed on another chance to attack Pete’s record, Midwestern Nice won this round. She probably has the best record out of any candidate not in the top 3. The media is trying too hard to make her stick but I’ll take her over than Pete or Steyer any day. Did she lose any supporters? Probably Not Did she gain any supporters? Maybe
Tom Steyer: Steyer always has a couple good ideas and I think I’m actually starting to like him as a person but he needs to end this vanity campaign. A complete non-starter for him & Bloomberg is if you actually cared so much, why not spend those hundreds of millions you’re spending on TV ads or billboards and spend them on actually helping people instead of trying to become President so you could maybe help them in the future. Did he lose any supporters? (Unclear if he has real, live supporters but) Probably not Did he gain any supporters? Maybe
Pete Buttigieg: Easily the most hateable candidate in the race. There’s not an issue in the world that’s not personal to Pete. He didn’t have a bad night but never really stood out. Disappeared at times. Only idea I like from Pete is sunset provision on any vote to authorize military force. At the same time he sorta looks like the kinda guy who might get off everytime he ordered a drone strike. Did he lose any supporters? Maybe Did he gain any supporters? Probably not
There was only one loser from the night though, not surprisingly, CNN. The debate started with a decently substantive debate over foreign policy, trade, and healthcare. This highlighted the differences between the top 3 candidates but (like usual) the framing of the debate was way off. The debate around healthcare is always framed through cost. Never is it should healthcare be a right, why does America pay more than anyone for healthcare, why are drug prices so high, etc. CNN shows their bias with questions like “How do you make sure [Medicare-For-All] doesn’t bankrupt the country” instead of “How do we make sure people don’t go bankrupt due to healthcare costs” or “Is the healthcare system we have today morally bankrupt”. Every question seemed to have been taken directly from insurance agency propaganda. On Foreign policy the questions about Iraq were solid but it took Tom Steyer to bring up the report that leaders (under R & D admins) have consistently lied to the public about the war in Afghanistan. I would have also liked to see the moderators push back on Biden for Syria, Libya, & drone strikes during the Obama Administration since he used that to try and shield himself. I just don’t understand how every single debate is just right-wing questions. Of course the candidates should face questions framed that way but in a Democratic Primary, you would think there would be some questions framed from a left wing perspective. I also hate how every issue is framed “Candidate X, why is Candidate Y wrong” or “Candidate Y, Candidate X said this about you please respond”. Yes you need to hash out the differences between the candidates but instead of just orchestrating mini fights, why not bring some actual facts or studies in and actually push back on the candidates’ talking points. But CNN really showed their bias/incompetence with the Warren/Sanders scrap.
I’m surprised it took CNN more than a half hour to get to their favorite piece of gossip at the moment, whether a woman could win the Presidency. Even though its a textbook he-said she-said situation as they were the only 2 people in the room, CNN is treating the accusation Bernie said a woman couldn’t win as a fact. Now let me remind you that this is the same group of people who with Trump always say “yes experts or facts say (x) but Trump says (y)” and treat it likes its a real debate. So apparently, according to CNN, a pathological liar like Trump should get the benefit of the doubt but when Sanders denies an accusation, doesn’t matter, it is still a fact.
Moderator: "So you didn't say that?" Bernie: "No I didn't" Moderator: "Sen. Warren, what did you do when he said it?"#DemDebate
Tonight is the last debate before voting starts in Iowa (the site of the debate). Soon we’ll move on from dumb punditry based on nothing but the poll du jour and instead onto dumb punditry based on cherry picked results that fit their preconceived notions. This debate will feature 6 candidates (Sanders, Biden, Warren, Buttigieg, Klobuchar, & Steyer). Nobody knows what will be talked about during the debate yet (though since CNN is hosting so we know Hillary Clinton will have been leaked the questions already) but there will definitely be questions on impeachment, why we can’t afford to pay for Medicare For All like every other major country, and why war with Iran might actually be good. Wolf Blitzer is one of the moderators tonight which will be interesting (1st time that sentenced has ever been typed out) to see if any of the candidates will speak out and take an anti-drone stance directly to his face. There will also almost certainly be a question about the Warren/Bernie sexism thing that leaked yesterday. Recap Here for anyone that missed it or just likes to read some good ol’ fashioned CNN bashing. (Side Note: What is wrong with Elizabeth Warren? From not running in 2016 to not endorsing Bernie in hopes of being VP to releasing a DNA test to now having her campaign leak something from a meeting 2 years ago…..whatever the political equivalent of the Midas Touch is, Warren seems to have the opposite. Did she receive a recent endorsement from Drake or something??? Warren had her surge, got all the glowing media coverage and now is resorting to desperate attacks like this. She went after Pete in the last debate and was pretty effective, why not keep doing that? It’s so easy even Amy Klobuchar’s mom jokes were landing against him. Pete looks like a grown up Patrick Bateman mini-me or a candidate created perfectly in a CIA lab to be President except he was cut short by about half a foot (just enough to give him a Napoleonic-complex). If you’re Warren and looking to attack someone new why not Biden? Warren never touches the Hunter Biden stuff but is willing to imply that the person she’s closest to (both personally and ideologically) is sexist which seems like a wild strategy to this pundit jabroni. The whole thing makes little sense but we’ll see how she handles it tonight.
Another thing that I’m sure will be touched on is electability. Now that the establishment media has finally realized Bernie could actually win, the attacks are sure to be on their way. It could backfire for them though as it highlights the holes in their groupthink that Bernie is unelectable but Biden is the most electable out of anyone. Instead of trying to convince you why that’s wrong, I’m gonna resort to a tactic favored in sports media, the blind resume. I’m gonna show 2 candidates record and let you decide who is more electable (keep in mind how Trump won in 2016):
Somehow the same geniuses who saw Trump effectively attack Clinton in 2016 over the Iraq War, Trade Deals, and Corruption think the guy with all the same baggage is somehow the most electable. The idea that Biden is the most electable is so accepted in the media its glossed over as if its a fact. Assumptions like that are the reason less people are tuning in to hear the “expert” opinions and instead turning to idiots like me on the Internet.
The overall State of the Race right now seems to be a 4 way race for the first 2 states (Iowa & New Hampshire) with the other candidates looking to use a good performance in one of those states to keep them in the race . Because of this I’ve got the field into 3 tiers now, those who can plausibly win the nomination, those who need momentum from an early state, & billionaires. Below I’ll lay out the tiers and each person’s path to victory.
Can Win the Nomination:
Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren: Both Sanders & Warren are in a very similar position. If one of them wins the first two contests that could catapult them into winning big on Super Tuesday and becoming the unquestioned frontrunner. If either wins 1, it obviously helps but they’ll still be in the pack. Worst case for both of these candidates is if they don’t win either Iowa or New Hampshire in that case they could be on a path to dropping out.
Joe Biden: Best case for Biden is that 2 different people win Iowa & New Hampshire and he can hang on in Nevada, South Carolina & on Super Tuesday. Worst Case for Biden is either Sanders or Warren win both and significantly cut into his support. If that happens his only appeal (electability) could be shattered and this run will end like the previous 3 times Biden has tried to run, failure
Candidates Needing Momentum
All the other candidates need momentum from the first two states to give them a chance to get significant delegates/bring in the money to keep them in the race. The Top person in this category is Pete Buttigieg who could win in Iowa or New Hampshire but it’s hard to see him winning the nomination if he can’t break 1% with African-Americans. Winning early might help but it seems crazy to think a big chunk of black voters will support the guy who has controversy over policing & race relations in the small town he was mayor as well as the guy who faked black endorsements for a plan of his during this campaign. Amy Klobuchar needs a strong performance in Iowa to prove she has actual support and keep her in the race. A poor performance would likely lead to her dropping out if her “MidWest appeal can’t work in Iowa (quick prayer for her staffers if that’s the case). Andrew Yang and Tulsi Gabbard seem to be focused on New Hampshire and a good performance there, or a surprising performance in Iowa, would keep them afloat while disappointing performances could likewise see them exit. Though I will say Yang is unique in that his grassroots fundraising could keep him in the race for a while if they stick with him.
Billionaires
The last tier of candidates are the billionaires Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg. The media was shocked recently by Steyer’s rise in Nevada & SC (if you want to know why he’s surged, click here). Both are spending insane amounts of money so far which has bought them single digit support in polls. However, it’s very difficult to imagine either one has the ability to actually get people to vote for them. The only good thing about these 2 in the race is that for so long political scientists and laymens alike have argues about the role of money in politics and now we will finally see exactly how much support a person can straight up buy.
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District of Clowns 