“The establishment,” Donald Trump famously said during his closing argument for the presidency, “has trillions of dollars at stake in this election.”
He described “a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities.”
He asked the country to be “brave enough to vote out this corrupt establishment.”
Now, less than four weeks after riding that line to victory, he formally invited the establishment into his administration.
On Friday, Trump announced the creation of a “Strategic and Policy Forum” that will serve to advise him on domestic economic matters. The list of advisers is a who’s-who of corporate elites.
He’s not the only one making a major turnaround; many of them had previously and enthusiastically supported his Democratic opponent.
The chairman of the forum is Stephen Schwarzman, the CEO of the Blackstone Group, a private equity and investment banking giant. Blackstone blasted out the release highlighting the creation of the forum this morning on its own website, saying that it is “composed of some of America’s most highly respected and successful business leaders,” who “will be called upon to meet with the President frequently to share their specific experience and knowledge as the President implements his plan to bring back jobs and Make America Great Again.”
Although Schwarzman is a Republican, his company — like so much of Wall Street — spent much of the campaign getting close to Hillary Clinton. Blackstone’s Chief Operating Officer Hamilton “Tony” James hosted a fundraiser for Clinton in December 2015 that featured, among others, Democratic-aligned billionaire Warren Buffet. More than a dozen executives at the firm gave tens of thousands of dollars to Clinton’s campaign. The firm held an invitation-only, swanky reception at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
Another member of the new advisory group is Larry Fink. Fink is the chairman and CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm. Fink spent years ingratiating himself with top Democrats and was once short-listed as a replacement for the Obama administration’s Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. He even hired former Hillary Clinton aide Cheryl Mills to serve on the firm’s board of directors of his firm — and was poised to take over and staff Clinton’s Treasury Department.
Evidently, Fink has now jumped ship and joined the Making America Great Again team, and Trump, in turn, has no problem tapping him for advice.
Here is the full list:
- Stephen A. Schwarzman (forum chairman), chairman, CEO, and co-founder of Blackstone;
- Paul Atkins, CEO, Patomak Global Partners, LLC, former commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission;
- Mary Barra, chairwoman and CEO, General Motors;
- Toby Cosgrove, CEO, Cleveland Clinic;
- Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co;
- Larry Fink, chairman and CEO, BlackRock;
- Bob Iger, chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company;
- Rich Lesser, president and CEO, Boston Consulting Group;
- Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.;
- Jim McNerney, former chairman, president, and CEO, Boeing;
- Adebayo “Bayo” Ogunlesi, chairman and managing partner, Global Infrastructure Partners;
- Ginni Rometty, chairwoman, president, and CEO, IBM;
- Kevin Warsh, Shepard Family distinguished visiting fellow in economics, Hoover Institute, former member of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System;
- Mark Weinberger, global chairman and CEO, EY;
- Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO, General Electric;
- Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize winner, vice chairman of IHS Markit;
Disney CEO Bob Iger co-hosted a Hollywood area fundraiser for Hillary Clinton in the summer of 2016.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra was thought of so dearly by the Clinton campaign that she was considered as a possible vice presidential pick — according to hacked emails released by Wikileaks.
Boeing CEO Jim McNerny has given thousands of dollars to top Democrats and lauded Clinton’s leadership at the State Department — which helped Boeing win contracts — while simultaneously funding the Clinton Foundation and helping sponsor paid speeches by former President Bill Clinton.
These are precisely the people Trump warned about when he darkly declared that “those who control the levers of power in Washington, … they partner with these people that don’t have your good in mind.” Now they’re all working together.
Top photo: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump shake hands after the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
I am stunned. That may decide the election / render irrelevant the recount, invocation of EO 13603. As said before, IF there is an alignment of sorts with “them”, then Trump will be sworn in.
Duly considering the advice of the Forum is not satanic. And if it turns out to be, then: what the devil meant for evil, God meant for (and turned into) good.
I’m waiting for Trump to give Hillary her old job, SEC of State. Yeah both of them were elite fat cats members of their own private club. And no one should be surprised that the American people will come after American corporations. Welcome to the same old, same old BS. Politicians should be required to take Ethics every week.
I just want to show this story to every Clinton, Trump, & Johnson supporter I met & say, “This right here is why I am voting for Jill Stein, the only Presidential candidate that won’t take their money & is on the ballot in all but three states, making her capable of winning. She is the only logical choice for President. She is the only moral choice for President. Period.”
Then she goes out & proves it by demanding a recount in three states with virtually no chance of winning herself, only doing so to show just how terrible our election processes are. What more can I say?
It makes me wish I hadn’t voted for Kerry in ’04 or Obama in ’08–twice! once in the Indiana Primary & once in the general election.
I am SO glad, however, I voted for Ralph Nader in 2000. Unfortunately, I had to write in his name, too, just as I had to do for Jill Stein this year. (I wasn’t able to vote in 2012; long story; personal problems)
Well then ,Hillary should be happen with the outcome of the election, because her owners will be taken care of by Trump. Except that he will collect the pay offs, not her.
It is the special skill of the “corrupt establishment” to make itself very useful to those in power. Following the announcement of the election results, it probably took the establishment about 30 seconds to switch allegiances. Mr. Trump’s speeches, once described by the establishment press as rambling and incoherent, are now perceived to be broad ranging and free thinking. Mr. Trump would be foolish not to enlist the services of such loyal vassals.
WHAT, WITH THE CLOTH OR SOMETHING?
Well, who is surprised. The US voted just for a new POTUS, not for a new establishment.
One key fact you failed to mention, that being, unlike Hillary who would have had to dance to their tune, Trump owes them nothing. At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with talking to business leaders. As Sun Tzu stated in the Art of War, “keep your friends close and your enemies even closer.”
Sure, Trump is totally doing this for the benefit of the US and not for his own personal gain. Just like Obama with his Treasury appointees and cabinet picks. I wouldn’t hold your breath. What you fail to mention is that even if he was trying to “keep his enemies close”, this still goes against his campaign rhetoric of “draining the swamp”. The people that voted for him certainly weren’t hoping that he’d “keep his enemies close”. I’d say to conservatives to not fall for the same con job that the progressives fell for when they elected Obama.
The corporatists and hawks with which Hillary would’ve surrounded herself are better than the ones coming to Trump’s cabinet, because Republican policies are always more palatable when served up by Democrats.
Those who opposed W’s agenda and who will oppose Trump’s are the same ones who’ve most stridently defended Obama over the last eight years for serving up the same business, and who would’ve vigorously defended Clinton reactionary administration had she won.
It is fitting for this nation to politically collapse from inner rot exactly like our environment is collapsing from believing what our political losers had to say at the time, and are still saying now! It is legalized graft and corruption all of the way to the top…and that is where the real rot lies!
Dont forget to blame the Jooos Bill.
How’s that hopey changey thing working out for you?
THE REAL RISK BEHIND TRUMP’S TAIWAN CALL
excerpt:
Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, Dec 3, 20156
http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-real-risk-behind-trumps-taiwan-call
Americans will be paying through the nose for every job Trump convinces this gang of blackmailers to keep in America.
Sarah Palin calling Trump out on this crony capitalism of tax breaks and incentives to buy corporate “loyalty” was disturbing and funny at the same time… funny that a Repub did it, and disturbing that we heard the truth from Palin of all people rather than Bernie or Ellison… or real defenders of workers for that matter.
I doubt that Trump supporters will be doing the math… jobs minus tax breaks= less American greatness… but maybe Palin or somebody else will manage to get through to them.
Clark, rrheard and maisie pretty much covered the reality aspect well, but I had to add the mention of the unreal Palin bit. My world may just crumble if she keeps it up.
Whoops… turns out Bernie did note the Carrier deal would incentivize other corporations to extort taxpayers to keep jobs in America.
Not quite the same forceful language, but still better than silence.
A lot better… and worthy of a correction.
Elections matter. Get out and vote. You can make a difference.
All that above: bullshit.
Let’s say you care about the earth, and personally you believe there’s something that can be done to stop pollution and industrial destruction. Let’s say you also believe that the work Tesla (ie Musk) is doing w/ electric cars is part of the therapy.
Hopefully you’re aware then that electric cars ain’t new. Hopefully you’re aware that back in the day Standard Oil (ie Rockefeller) helped to destroy the electric car.
Meet the old boss, same as the new boss.
It doesn’t matter who is the president of the US, at the end, of these presidents work for the same boss: the 1%. You can see the Clinton’s, the Bush’s, the Obama’s ending as great friends. Politics in the US is the greatest show on earth, a disgusting show. Eight years ago we thought, just because he is black, was going to be different, big disappointment, the guy is a passive aggressive warmonger with “Madame Secretary, Clinton”. Under Trump’s presidency we are going to see situations we have never seeing before because the guy is unpredictable but one thing for sure, he is not going to work for the 99%, the system will not allow him so, those who voted for him thinking he is different, don’t dream, it is not going to happen, he has business to attend, his own business.
The Military-Industrial-Entertainment complex.
I’ll be worried the moment the establishment starts praising him.
If you don’t like his picks then it means he is picking the right people
The article was simply pointing to Trump’s hypocrisy in hiring the very people he said needed to be expelled from the mix; ironically, people most associated with Hillary Clinton.
So, in praising Trump’s choices, what you’re saying is, Clinton actually had a very good team of professionals. So, why the beef when they were with Clinton, but not now with Trump?
Creating a FORUM of talented leaders who oversee enormous ranks of employees globally is not “hiring” them or appointing them to administration positions. Reread the intent of this panel. It’s all about JOBS, creating them and keeping them successful.
When you “drain a swamp”.. what are you left with? Mud. Does that answer your question?
You mean slime.
With Mr. Trump, it’s not so much who he hires, as who he fires. My understanding is that once in office, he plans to fire one member of his cabinet every week. This will keep them on their toes, and give the Washington pundits something to talk about. The final composition of the cabinet may therefore end up being quite different than the team he is putting together now.
Your so right. Trump’s Smart and Shrewd. He’s so underrated by his haters. Their all in for a Rude awaking.
Your argument is not really supported by the facts you are giving here. You are saying that Trump labeled these people as part of a “global power structure elite” . Now he is working and giving positions of power with that same establishment, making him a hypocrite and so forth.
But are those people you listed really “precisely the people Trump warned about”? You don’t give any evidence to support this. You state that these people have executive positions at big corporations. Then you write that a couple of these people held fundraisers for Clinton companies. I don’t understand how that equals your conclusion that these people are part of “the corrupt establishment” that Trump warned us about?
CEOs of major corporations are, by definition, part of the establishment. You can rationalize it all you want, but it is what it is.
WTF is happening in Dakota. Don’t try and bullshit the Cherokee .
$5 for a brave warrior .
$1 for a women or child
that was posted way out west b!!
We are talking AMERICA !!
So it goes .
they’re all palestinians now
stealing land is cheaper than buying it
http://presstv.com/Detail/2016/12/02/496113/Palestine-Israel-Prisoners-Hunger-Strike-Hall
They are just paid agitators and a few idiots who followed along for free
This is exactly why there is no fundamental difference between Donald Trump and the Hillary Clinton establishment. They will not discuss how to economically empower the 99 percent, but instead how they can OWN the world. The wealthy class knows exactly why they are rich. But they are not sharing anything about how OWNING substantial wealth-creating, income-producing capital assets make them rich. Instead they political rig the system to further empower themselves to accumulate more and more capital asset wealth through a closed system that requires past savings in order to invest, instead of empowering EVERY child, woman and man to acquire OWNERSHIP of future capital asset wealth formation, simultaneously with the growth of the economy. This can be accomplished by replacing “past savings” with “future savings.” In other words, by using insured (insurances instead of savings), interest-free capital credit REPAYABLE out of the future earnings of the investments. Exactly the financial mechanism that the rich have always used.
We can change this, by supporting the enactment of the Capital Homestead Act (aka Economic Democracy Act) at http://www.cesj.org/learn/capital-homesteading/, http://www.cesj.org/…/capital-homestead-act-a-plan-for…/, http://www.cesj.org/…/capital-homestead-act-summary/ and http://www.cesj.org/learn/capital-homesteading/ch-vehicles/. And with Monetary Justice at http://capitalhomestead.org/page/monetary-justice.
Some of these fellows are pretty decent chaps, but you must be supremely ignorant of reality if you think Donald Trump can be advised by these incompetent creeps.
Decent Chaps ?
Is that cowboy talk ?
Whoa!
Who didn’t see this coming?
A billionaire. hate-mongering clown who blames immigrants and Muslims for ruining the country and who calls the president illegitimate and his opponent a crook turns out to be a fraud besides besides being an ignorant blabbermouth?
Only the morons who voted for this p.o.s will be surprised I suppose — like those poor souls who joined the Heaven’s Gate cult to await the spaceship in the comet, a fateful decision must be made soon.
Each day that passes after the election, the desperate “winners” who cry “He’s not Hellery” sound more and more pathetic.
The aliens won’t wait forever you know.
It’s cathartic to comment here, but more constructive to tell Donald who he SHOULD pick. He wasn’t expecting to win and didn’t have his cabinet selected. On election night, the “non-fake” NY Times odds infograph showed Trump with a 5 percent and Hillary 95 percent chance of winning. After he won, Melania’s face wore an expression of sheer dread. She certainly was unpleasantly surprised. Now Trump is scrambling to fill the positions with competent people and is relying on advice, good or bad. He needs to hear from outsiders. He is a businessman and he thinks outside the box and communicates with tweets. Tell him who is best suited and why. Email/Tweet Trump, Bannon, Kelly-Ann, Melania with your suggestions. I emailed Team Trump my recommendations of Tulsi Gabbard, Bernie Sanders and Barbara Lee. A few days later, Tulsi Gabbard was summoned to Trump Tower. I’m sure it was just a coincidence, but then again …..
Fanatical you are..
Trump is to Sanders as Sanders is to Clinton as Clinton is to Trump
as they all are products in a corporate owned convenience store.
It is quaint that so many people, like Mr. Jilani,
still prefer to cling to the labels “republican’ and “democrat”
as if they had real meaning
while the glaring evidence presented in articles such as this one
clearly shows that these two labels represent the same thing.
Political Coke and Pepsi, but both leave you with less nutrients and
side effects which are more toxic and deadly.
WOW! Big surprise!
“Trump is to Sanders as Sanders is to Clinton as Clinton is to Trump”
Billy said the same thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAVKG0I6XXA
Grit or Tory; it’s the same sorry, I mean story or do I. Every rational person knows that both god and money are giant frauds. I just finished a great book, “Sapiens” which helped me to understand that almost everything is a fraud; corporations, obviously, the nation state, of course, the law and on and on. All these myths/frauds are created so large groups of humans can function; in fact, myth and it’s believe and acceptance in 6 impossible things before breakfast are the only reason large groups can function at all. As the author points out; you could never convince a Monkey to give you a banana today for the promise of unlimited bananas in Monkey heaven tomorrow but you can convince millions of humans. Kinda helps you to understand whats happin better than “What’s the matter with Kansas” or even “Deer hunting with Jesus”. The propaganda starts at birth and continues all through your childhood and even adulthood. Even the atheist commies “believe” their frauds. I hold out little hope for humanity as we have way too much power for our little brains and although we have had the power to destroy ourselves since a few years after Hiroshima, the biotechnology power we have and are developing will change us or turn us into Cyborgs or some form of non biological life form we can not even imagine. Of course, it will be the corporations and the military which are becoming one and the same making the decisions and they are led by psychopaths. Enjoy yourselves; it really is later than you think.
Sounds an interesting read. The biggest issue for me, looking at the preview, is that it was published in 2011 and the most recent DNA and anthropology indicates that earliest humans evolved in South Africa with new findings such as Homo Naledi. DNA shows that humans are equally distinct from chimpanzees and bonobos, the latter of which he doesn’t even mention. Bonobos are of particular interest due to the nature and structure of their societies. A fascinating book on that subject is “The Athiest and the Bonobo” bu Frans de Waal.
I would be concerned as to how much of Harari’s book is based on out-dated anthropological/DNA aspects. Perhaps the conclusions are still valid but…
I guess the great uneducated Fump (FU mr. president) voting block has no memory. They have decided the country was just doing to well and decided to go backwards again. If they knew anything, they would know that under GOP administrations, the country goes into recession. Look at just what a great job they did for the country and the world under GW. Now, they have a president elect who is even stupider than that to ruin the country. Already he has filled the swamp with insiders and back tracked on several promises. Hope the FUMP voters can keep over looking his constant lies, while they collect their unemployment checks/welfare and food stamps. Ooops, they just voted those out also. Here are 282 promises made by your draft dodging coward elect. Fump voters can check them off as he gets them done. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-will-give-you-everything-here-are-282-of-donald-trumps-campaign-promises/2016/11/24/01160678-b0f9-11e6-8616-52b15787add0_story.html
It’s not exactly a mystery why Obama isn’t doing more to restrict the power of the executive branch while he still can.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose… The pathetic thing is people actually believed in his schtick.
I am beginning to think that the reason the media gave Trump so much free air time is that they wanted to make certain they had a lot to talk about for the next 4 years!
If one has no guiding star, one must play both sides of the street. Getting a bigger piece of the elitist pie is the ultimate goal, no matter which side one must traverse.
One ? Is that number or a person ? WTF is ” one ” ?
Take your pick. “One” in this context is “one person.”
This is a worrisome development. I am trying to keep my mind open to the possibility that Trump manages these people to maximum advantage for the country; but I am mentally preparing for disappointment.
If I was of the mind that either of the two had spoken the truth during the election process I might of been surprised by your sudden revelation. However, they are both nothing more than pawns in a corporate world.
How about that police state at Standing Rock? Those war crimes are pretty intense.
Another solid analysis:
http://www.mtv.com/news/2955564/skin-in-the-game/
In an keeping with what Maisie and Carlin argued: if, and that’s a big if, a “cross-identity” political coalition is ever going to seize control of one or the other party, most likely the Democratic party, they are going to have to purge any and all elected officials who can’ t make it abundantly clear that they are not in bed with “the real owners” of this country financially and otherwise, and can stand with whatever cross-identity political coalition they can assemble out of both universal economic concerns AND universal values of “cultural” egalitarianism. That is not to diminish or de-prioritize either, it is to realize they are not mutually exclusive and must be rhetorically messaged simultaneously and fought for simultaneously.
Those Dem candidates will have to learn to fund (i.e. permit the people to buy back their government) their campaigns on millions of low dollar donations (or accepting some high dollar ones with no strings attached and/or no disproportionate favor/access whatsoever shown to those high net worth donors and bundlers). And then figure out ways and hope to heck you can deliver on your platform.
Short of that you get what you get in America which is 50% of the population who is totally indifferent or hostile to “politics” because they get the short end of the stick one way or the other regardless of whose in power. Maybe not in the same kind and degree, but their lives still end up sucking. They aren’t stupid. Just rightly disillusioned and righteously angry.
If they can figure out a way to do that, they will win in landslides for generations.
this is the most ridiculous story I have ever read. Hillary is now responsible for every corrupt person in the US or possibly the world. what a bunch of garbage. FYI the Clinton foundation is a charitable foundation responsible for saving thousands, if not millions, of lives. How many have you saved?
Well it helps if you can read for comprehension. The article most certainly did not assert “Hillary is now responsible for every corrupt person in the US or possibly the world.”
And here’s a newsflash–most American citizens could give a flying fuck that the Clinton foundation exists, except the Americans that work for it.
Personally I don’t really believe in the model of over-reliance (or much reliance in the first instance) upon “private charitable” billionaire funded foundations to do the work that governments and citizens should do via foreign aid and/or simply giving away life saving medicines and food to those in need as a function of international government institutions.
Maybe if those billionaires and multi-millionaires were willing to have themselves taxed in their own nation states to the point those “problems” didn’t exist in the first place, and to fund true global humanitarian international aid (and an economic system that doesn’t create the situations in the first place), instead of “look at me I’m such a multi-millionaire/billionaire fucking super star important capitalist philanthropist” (which is a type of oxymoron i.e. “capitalist” – “philanthropist”) then maybe we wouldn’t have some of the problems going unaddressed that can purportedly only be addressed through “capitalist philanthropy”.
And for the record, until America’s problems with lack of affordable life saving drugs, and access to health care, or poverty or crumbling infrastructure or all the problems are addressed meaningfully in this country, as harsh as it sounds, pretty sure most Americans aren’t going to have the stability or security to, as a majority, give two rips what happens in most far flung places all over the globe except to the extent in implicates preventing pandemics that could reach our shores. Again, something America if it wanted to as a function of government could increase government funding to both domestic and international organizations, and not have to rely on
“capitalist philanthropy”.
So save your outrage.
As far as how many people’s lives I’ve saved–directly from immediate death – 2.
As a function of what I do for a living during the foreclosure crisis no way to predict the outcome of counterfactuals, but I kept 100s of people in their homes instead of being foreclosed on and put on the street and the consequences to life and limb of that. And that’s not counting the other lawyers in my state that used the case law I helped established at the trial court and appellate level to keep countless of their clients in their homes.
Sorry if that’s not good enough for you.
Because the owners, the owners of this country don’t want that. I’m talking about the real owners now, the BIG owners! The Wealthy… the REAL owners! The big wealthy business interests that control things and make all the important decisions.
Forget the politicians. They are irrelevant. The politicians are put there to give you the idea that you have freedom of choice. You don’t. You have no choice! You have OWNERS! They OWN YOU.
They own everything. They own all the important land. They own and control the corporations. They’ve long since bought, and paid for the Senate, the Congress, the state houses, the city halls, they got the judges in their back pockets and they own all the big media companies, so they control just about all of the news and information you get to hear. They’ve got you by the balls.
(George Carlin)
” They’ve got you by the balls. ”
Hmm– me and George went to Cardinal Hayes Memorial High School together ,
circa 1952/56 . George was a stinkin , drinkin , fighting Irish lad and Jabonski ( Our Dean of Decipline ) cut his sorry ass off in our senior year .
George had a way !
Maisie ,,
cool down , chill out , Geez Lawd almighty it a friggin joke . The whole THING .
Humans don’t kill humans ,, RIGHT?
Nobody expected these people would actually be banished to Siberia. People who supported Mr. Trump will still cling to the faint hope that whereas Mrs. Clinton would have unquestioningly implemented their agenda, Mr. Trump may push back on some of it. It may be a vain hope, but I don’t know why The Intercept is so keen to snuff it out.
It’s not like you will persuade anybody disappointed by Mr. Trump caving into the establishment that they should have voted for Mrs. Clinton. So if your plan is to charter a time machine and get all those people to go back and recast their votes, it won’t work.
Oopsie Daisy, I guess this one is going to blow another lid off another monumental Democratic party hypocrisy:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/king-democratic-staffer-exposes-soft-bigotry-senate-dems-article-1.2893049
The internal links are worth the read too.
And here you go:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/12/the_myth_of_the_rust_belt_revolt.html
But of course according to Dem establishment and big donor brain trust they are either/all: bigots, racists, sexists, privileged, owe their votes to Dems, vote against their own LOTE self-interest, narcissists, ignorant, childlike, lacking in civic virtue or responsibility if they don’t vote Dem, in bed with Putin, don’t see that Dem “incrementalism” is the only and very best outcome they could ever hope for in their short miserable lives, . . . .
I’m sure I’m missing a whole bunch of other excuses except the real reasons that matter–Hillary Clinton, and all the primary voters who backed her thinking she was the most “electable” and best possible theoretical candidate don’t really under understand human beings, politics, messaging, what “integrity” looks like to regular folks, or organizing for the long haul so that those “gettable” voters get got and turned out at election time.
And they never will apparently. Because, you know, nothings really wrong with Dems because Hillary Clinton won the popular vote going away by loading up heavily in a bunch of hyper-solid blue states. Which of course taken together with $3.50 might get you a cup of cheap coffee at liberal heaven — Starbucks.
And until Dems grasp the following (as opposed to continuing to blame the following voters for their fecklessness or lack of “civic responsibility”) they will continue to lose:
Geez yah think? And by “asking them” I think you need to do a bit more outreach than phone push polls, focus groups, and bean counting everybody into some “demographic” group that you appeal to individually rather than universally. And then you need to figure out how to deliver results. Otherwise, why should people bother. It really isn’t rocket science. Either that or figure out how to groom a candidate every four years that is charismatic and campaigns like Pres. Obama did who seemed to be able to get those votes.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/12/the_myth_of_the_rust_belt_revolt.html
You get what the STATUS QUO allows you to vote for !
Perfect example of why all those “centrist” Dems can shove it up their collective asses why people have zero faith that the Democratic party or GOP aren’t almost universally on the same bipartisan team when it comes to the economic policies of this country. And that voting for either only matters on the margins. Probably should think about that when you can’t convince 50% of the people of your nation to participate in elections. They aren’t stupid or lazy. They know they get screwed either way by and large.
And then they find 37 different excuses why Democrats lose–from all GOP voters are ignorant bigots (and any nominal Dem who doesn’t vote for Dems either abstaining or voting their conscience is too), to voters owe us their vote to its your “civil responsibility” to vote LOTE and vote Dem, to anyone who doesn’t vote Dem is either/both privileged or childlike and seeking purity ponies, to the world will crumble if the fascist Trump is in office, to our fellow citizens are now going to go wilding all across America rounding up everyone they don’t like up . . . .
They will never learn. And I laugh at them. You stand for something or you stand for nothing. And that means fighting for who you nominally represent (not trying to have your cake and eat it too by sucking up to the very people and institutions that fight economically against the very people you claim to represent, so you can keep attending rich people cocktail weenie get togethers and maintain your lifetime sinecure in DC), and for what’s right, even if you aren’t assured victory in the short term.
What in the holy love of irony are you going on about?
The fact the Dems are financially in bed with, or bipartisanly share much of the same donor class, advisors, et al, that their purported “opponents” in the GOP do, and pursue policies that are only marginally different at the global macro level notwithstanding some significant domestic differences (in taxing and spending) that aren’t cutting the proverbial mustard going on decades.
Sorry that’s news to you, or why it is that Dems are hemorrhaging consistent voter support going on decades as nominally the party of the “working class” (which is largely laughable and not supported by the evidence, unless evidence they care is economic crumb sandwiches for the very poorest of Americans).
I think they can and should be doing a whole helluva lot better. But they don’t because they don’t really stand for much of anything coherently or consistently. And they sure as shit don’t know much about fighting for what little bit they do.
Those who voted for Trump motivated by economic anxiety and reasonable anti-establishment sentiment, are going to angrily abandon him. By contrast, those who primarily love his embrace of the alt-right racists, xenophobes and Islamophobia, will defend him no matter what he does as long as he gives them sufficient satisfaction for their bigoted agendas.
I really doubt it, Mona. Did you see how he defended his picks in last night’s Ohio rally? He basically said, “yeah, their billionaires, they’re good with money, isn’t that what you want?” And his fans/voters ate it up. Sickening.
It’s the silent majority that ultimately gave him the votes they need. The people with better things to do than go to rallies. But they do pay attention.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADN1lLEp3H0
His most vocal supporters are more alt-right than anti-establishment for sure.
I’ve come to realize that often those who call themselves “libertarian” are just alt-right. Case in point: InfoWars.
Agreed. But in the rest belt and elsewhere, Trump won voters who had voted for Obama, sometimes twice. States and counties that Sanders also carried in the primaries. Areas where populist concerns are ascendant, but not by any means, always with the racism and other ugly features of Trump and the alt-right.
It is those voters who should now be seeing how snookered they were.
So it “Those” vs the rest of us ? Mona , please leave your allegiances and listen ,,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADN1lLEp3H0
A lot of people voted for him out of disgust in Hillary and or the failure of obamacare. Don’t act like there’s not racist groups on the left and scared of things like the environment and such. I guess it’s easier to call names so you can dismiss everything instead of trying to understand and make sense