Monday, January 26, 2015

Fraidycats, the Kochs' errand boy, and Ms. Democrat


So the Republican presidential clown show had its first big meetup in Iowa this weekend and the people who make their living reporting on all these things are enjoying their first outing. Apparently Sarah Palin gave a "bizarro" speech. The rest of the aspirants competed to warm whatever it is that conservatives have in place of hearts. Mostly I intend to forgo this poisonous topic, but I'm letting myself go just this once (for a long while.)

One tidbit that might pass unnoticed deserves highlighting. John Bolton, a crackpot conservative foreign policy intellectual who was George W.'s ambassador to the U.N. (an institution he despises) apparently made quite a hit with his mantra: "it's a dangerous world." Of course it is, but probably less so for citizens of this country, surrounded as we are by two oceans and living under something like the rule of law, than for just about anyone on the planet. But it's the business of the GOP to keep our more credulous fellow citizens scared out of their wits. So prepare for lots of Big Fear.
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A friend questioned me over the weekend about which of these lilliputians I think will end up running in 2016. Just for the heck of it, I'll record an early prediction here: look out for Wisconsin governor Scott Walker. He's made a career of demonizing the largely Black population of Milwaukee, repeatedly elected as the county executive by white surrounding suburbs eager to quarantine the darkness in the city. As governor, he made it his main business to break Wisconsin's state employee unions and fought off a labor inspired recall campaign. He demolished a highly plausible woman opponent in the 2014 cycle.

So what if he's an unprepossessing errand boy for the Koch brothers who can't move an audience? He seems to me to have the right qualifications to survive while the rest of these clamoring idiots and self-referential assholes tear each other up. And bring on Hillary: he's already shown he's a tough guy ...

Of course I could be wrong, but I bet some of the money guys for the Reps look at Walker as plausible compromise from among the circus.
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Speaking of Hillary, I'll repeat here what I always say about her. Once we elect her, I hope she proves me wrong, but I don't trust any promises she may make to move the country in the direction of greater economic equity. She's run with the wrong crowd, Wall Street and Walmart, for too long. But if she's the Democrat, we must elect her. The majority of us can't afford a president who works only for whites and the one percent. I'll even work to elect Hillary. But since I live in safely Democratic California, I glad I don't have to cast my single personal vote for her!
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5 comments:

  1. PseudoPiskieMonday, January 26, 2015 7:20:00 AM

    I've been watching Walker too. He's scary tho I'm not afraid. Fear is not in my vocabulary unless I'm speaking of the purpose of Fox Network.

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  2. Rain TrueaxMonday, January 26, 2015 8:08:00 AM

    Walker concerns me because of what he did to the unions where i see the average middle class has to hope stay strong at least somewhere or it's all over for the middle. His social policies, of course, would be anathema to me. He's slick and looks very slimy to me :( Of course, I want no Republican because I don't trust what they say versus what they do.

    I find it hard to see how someone can work for a candidate they themselves would not vote for but then that's the option we all have, I guess. I am still hopeful she won't run and it'll be Biden maybe with someone more progressive as a veep. Warren has said she won't run, and I don't think she has enough foreign policy experience right now to really want her to do it. I don't think Sanders can win being as far left as he is, but I could get excited about him as a candidate more than anybody else. He'd lose though given the nature of our country right now. It might take a Republican winning to show Americans what they really do when they get power. Bad thought though for the damage they could do the environment which is already in trouble.

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  3. HattieMonday, January 26, 2015 9:31:00 AM

    Wisconsin is strange. I lived there for five years in the 60's. The big problem is similar to the one in Texas and Austin: the most liberal town in the state, Madison, is also the state capital. This leads to endless confrontations and polarization. Madison, to conservative Midwesterners, is regarded as Sin City. Many hold on to their quaint anti-Semitism, racism and attachment to other good old American values. Milwaukee is apprently still the enclave of reactionary white urbanism that it was 50 years ago.
    For good perspectives I recommend The Progressive and the writings of journalist John Nichols, a 7th generation Wisconsonite.
    Nothing going on there today is brand new. The bad guys were Chicago gangsters in the old days; when I lived there they pulled the strings of politicians like the then Republican governor Knight. Now it's people like the Koch brothers who do this stuff, operating with complete impunity, not even regarded as criminals!

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  4. CinderellenMonday, January 26, 2015 12:08:00 PM

    It feels like Bizzaro World when *any* city in Wisconsin can be described as "sin city". How can average citizens forget what unions have done for them?

    Like you I will vote for Hilary if it comes to that. Personally I think she is a liar and a person of low character and thus singularly suited to being Secretary of State. No one in the clown car is even acceptable.

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  5. BrandonMonday, January 26, 2015 3:39:00 PM


    "But since I live in safely Democratic California, I glad I don't have to cast my single personal vote for her!"

    Likewise, except I live in Hawaii.

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