Fair Warning
Warning: Today would not be a good day to send me an email about how Bernie Sanders got screwed by the DNC and Putin.
I am not kidding you. A reader sent that to ME.
Within 30 minutes of Elizabeth Warren suspending her campaign. Sends me that crapola. And how now we’re going to end up a corporatist country because freekin’ Bernie Sanders is the only one – the only one, mind you! – who could save us. And this is the death of America and it’s all my fault, I guess, because I did not vote for Bernie Sanders.
Screw you. Today, of all days.
Let me tell you something, buddy. Elizabeth Warren was Bernie wrapped in better packaging, no jutting finger, less snobbery, far less ego, a genuine smile, and CAN GET THINGS DONE.
First off, the DNC can’t plan a one man parade, much less a coup. They are as ineffectual as … come to think of it, Bernie Sanders. I’m the one screaming to stop giving them money or the time of day. And Putin has a real funny way of hurting Bernie by putting out bad stuff about Joe.
Good Lord, y’all are beginning to sound like a Trumpite. He’s also the only one and everybody is plotting against him.
Elizabeth Warren suspended her campaign today because Hillary Clinton spooked too many people about running a female. She remains a far superior candidate than the two who are left. My heart is broken. But, I’m writing Joe Biden a check today because I am sick, sick, sick of the Bernie whine. Look, anybody who cannot beat the DNC surely isn’t ready to run a country.
Sorry, guys, I’ll probably take this down in a hour of two but DAMN – what manner of fool sends me a paranoid BernieWhine today?
UPDATE: After I post this, Epp sent me this link by Garry Kasparov.
I didn’t do that, in case anyone is wondering, as I am still working out the probabilities for both Prez and Vice Prez. Warren, if she supports Biden the rest of the way, has a good shot at the latter, but Mayor Pete and Amy have the same or better chances.
Biden, I’m pretty sure, will be the eventual nominee.
1JJ, I completely agree that Elizabeth Warren was CLEARLY the best candidate. Her “thank you” email to supporters today made me tear up. Warren has all the progressivism without the socialism of Sanders. She also has oodles of intelligence, charisma, integrity, energy, and compassion. I hope she DOESN’T endorse either Biden or Sanders. Make whichever wins the nomination (probably Biden) BEG her to take the V.P. slot.
2I hear it, too. My heart. Breaking.
3Come to think of it, I hear yours, too. All the way over here in Florida.
Warren was also my preferred candidate. I could get on the Sanders bandwagon without too much trouble. Biden was down the list. But, it looks like this is going to go in Joe Biden’s direction. The one event the DNC can probably influence is who gets the nomination and the full weight of the entire Establishment Democratic Party is now behind Biden. I’m now closing ranks and supporting the Party candidate. Let’s just win this thing in November.
4I agree with you. Bernie is running for his ego. I don’t dare post that anywhere but here because of his obnoxious followers.
5I hope Joe picks a great VP and cabinet and he just serves as a figurehead. With the Supreme Court skewing ancient, and needing to keep Congress and win the Senate, there is too much at stake to nominate a divisive figure. Hillary said the quiet part out loud when she said no one likes BS or wants to work with him.
I got the most interesting comment yesterday. If Biden is the candidate and I vote for him, it is a vote for Trump. But, if Biden is the candidate, the poster tells me, she will write in Sanders because he is the better one. I asked how that was not a vote for Trump since he is not the candidate – she said, well, he should be! All I could think of was WOW!
6I voted for Bernie in Colorado 4 years ago, but not this year. I truly doubt he could beat Mango Mussolini because the R’s woud decimate him with negative [incorrect] ads about Socialism. I love most of what he proposes, BUT it will NEVER get passed in Congress unless we elect 300 clones of Bernie to the House and Senate.
7What if Joe picked Bernie as his running mate? Would that satisfy the Bernie or no one people?
8And could that team beat the combination of tRump and Putin?
Warren was the best candidate by a country mile and would have made a great president.
9I’m sorry to see Elizabeth Warren dropping out of the race, but she’s a realist. She had no chance of becoming the nominee. I do hope that she doesn’t endorse either candidate, although I’m not sure it would be Bernie if she did so.
I also think that she has no chance of becoming VP, because of her age. Do we still have a Department of Commerce? She’d be great at that. And, of course, as a Senator, where she could get a lot done if everybody supported Amy McGrath against Moscow Mitch. Throw a few bucks at her campaign, if you can, please?
10I’m thinking up breakup lines for the Democrats and the Berniecrats. We just need our space. We can still be friends. We still love you, just not in that way. We will keep in touch.
11Don’t take this down, JJ!
Kasparov’s take on all this is fascinating. It was the part about what Putin might have on Bernie in his vaults to pull out at the most propitious time, though, that really gives me pause.
At worst, Biden will have people around him to keep him on the straight and narrow–Obama not the least among them. He has never given us reason to think he won’t listen to people telling him he’s wrong–unlike the Current Occupant who apparently only listens to his gut full of fast food.
12I have been angry for weeks about the lack of press Elizabeth Warren got before the primaries. I have wanted her all along (although Kamala Harris was a close second), and I am broken-hearted she is out and Bernie is in. Warren has every bit of what it will take to take on the monster in the White House. She, after all, is the one who persisted, and she takes crap from no one. I will vote for Bernie if he’s the one left standing after the primaries are over. But I won’t vote for him with joy in my heart. My money and energy at this point go to turning BOTH houses of Congress blue. Neither Bernie nor Biden will get a damn thing accomplished if we have the GOP trolls controlling either house.
13Move on over y’all. I’m another depressed and disgusted Warren supporter. As are most of my colleagues, mainly millennials. I remember the dark days of 80s, they’re remembering that their first presidential vote was for Obama. And I mean this in the most lovingly sincere way…bless all our hearts.
14Ralph @10 Even in my mopey mood your breakup lines made me laugh. Thanks!
Yes, J.J. please don’t take this down.
15Senator Warren got my vote. Because she was the best candidate for the job. AND the most electable.
I like Joe, but his ability to finish a sentence is getting steadily worse, and repugnantcans will have a field day with it. Haven’t read the Kasparov pc. yet, but I’ve said since 2016 that the Cato Institute probably has an entire campus somewhere devoted to Bernie pics with him holding the Soviet flag. Hammer’s and sickles. Remember folks, when Bernie visited Russia, it was still a COMMUNIST country. Not a free democracy with fair elections like they are now. (I’m sure everyone in this joint sees the sarcasm, but MAGA’S won’t) I’m probably not the only one who can see a Bernie nomination as the basis for convincing 40% of our citizens that PUTIN IS WORKING HARD TO KEEP BERNIE FROM LEADING US TO THE COMMUNIST DISASTER THAT HE HELPED OVERTHROW IN HIS OWN COUNTRY!!!
Putin the hero. Putin the savior of democracy. MAGA’S will brag about how they totally approve of a foreign country controlling….us. I like Bernie too. It’s just that IMHO he’d be the propaganda gift that keeps on giving. And of course I’ll happily vote for whoever’s nominated.
But it shoulda been Elizabeth.
Same page, JJ
16Amen – this August will be the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and I was hoping we could celebrate with Warren as our candidate. I’m not feelin’ any Joementum but absolutely don’t want Bernie, so I guess I’ll root for Joe and hope for a woman VP.
17I’m getting whiplash with this Bernie like/Bernie hate commentary. I’ll say AGAIN, Hillary spoke the truth about him. He & his followers prove it more every day.
18Big lack of systemic change tears. Warren is a true hero and I can’t wait to hear her voice again when she has regrouped and is ready to persist yet some more.
19We will always trust the judgement of Senator Warren. But the next Democratic debate would have been so much better with her there, doing what the “moderators” have not done to date – keeping the grumpy old white men in line.
That said should Senator Sanders emerge as the nominee, we’ll vote for him. Stay humble, Bernie, because Senators Harris, Klobuchar and Warren will either be in the Senate watching, or part of your cabinet.
Chins up, folks. Whoever wins the nomination must win the general. For that they will need a good woman with them, be it Senator Warren, Senator Cortez-Masto, should be Gov Stacey Abrams, and several notable Congresswomen.
Best wishes to VP/Sen Biden, too. Should he be the nominee, we sincerely wish he does have the “long coattails” to effect down ballot races.
20I don’t tweet (twit? [yes, that’s snark]) but I read Stonkettle’s tweets on my old fashioned computer machine. Here is a very colorful and very succinct thread to those having a he’s-not-my-candidate-I-will-write-in-who-I-want-because-I”m-too-pure-and-I-won’t-compromise temper tantrum: https://twitter.com/Stonekettle/status/1235592946227064832
21Senator Warren is the only one who could simply eat Mango Mussilini in one bite. She win any debate since she’d do her homework and his, then shame him for not doing his. It feels good to have all of you who agree. Please don’t take this post down, JJ. We’re with you.
22Sorry y’all, you will have to click the “show this thred” under “Thursday begins in the usual fashion…” to read all of what Jim has to say.
23Now that the corporatist’s seem to have sewn up the d nomination with puppet joe it is time to focus on new leadership in the House, Senate and party apparatus.
24Last time Speaker Pelosi said this would be her last term as speaker. taking her at her word I would like to see rep. jayapul from Seattle as new speaker and dump steny on garbage heap.
Rep Jayapul has been in Congress long enough to learn the arcane trivia that governs that body, is in a safe seat ( Congresswoman for life -Jim McDermot’s old district)
Sen. Warren as new Majority leader in the Senate make schumers mutual fund owners have to go out and find another d senator to buy. If bullock wins he, with munchkin (W.Va), are probably up for sale for right amount from corporate interests.
Place a solid progressive such as AOC as new head of the DCCC.
Possibly Hanabusa as new head of DSCC.
That way next time progressives won’t be blackballed by party org. when they go after thuglicrats such as lipinski and cuellar.
That way the party could help push joe against his natural inclination to just work with r’s with the knowledge that he has a compliant party org. to accept his give aways to thuglicans.
Don’t feed the trolls – let them make their own borscht.
25Elizabeth Warren is twice the leader as any man in politics and they all know it, especially the Incompetent who tries to humiliate her any chance he gets. In a perfect world, Senator Warren would be President and making America a fair and more livable country for all of us, because she has a plan for everything, except sexism.
26Thank you, k, for your observations!
Face it– Warren is a woman in America. She never had a chance. She might be able to do some serious horse-trading with her delegates at the convention. People who think Biden is electable have no idea how Trump is going to harp on the “dementia, dementia, dementia” theme– Tucker Carlson’s already doing it, and it’s much more effective than his harping on Hillary Clinton’s stumble and fall at a 2016 appearance.
I tried to point out Sanders’ good points, but the comment never made the cut here.
27Let’s look at a couple of facts.
1. Bernie is polling at 12% in Florida. The only way Bernie could win Florida is by giving every voter in Florida $10,000. The last time somebody lost Florida and became president was 1924.
2. If Bernie really believes he should throw away his already slim chance to be president just to praise a ruthless dictator, then he doesn’t have the judgment to be dog catcher, much less president.
3. Bernie just had a heart attack and refuses to release his medical records. Sound familiar? I’m sure each and every one of you Bernie Bros. was perfectly satisfied and had no complaints when Trump did the exact same thing. Bernie is a fast learner. It didn’t take him long to learn from Trump about covering up health problems.
4. If you honestly think there would be not be a huge difference between Biden and Trump in the White House, I can’t help you. You have to help yourself. Politics is the art of the possible, not the world of “If I don’t get exactly everything I want I’m going to take my vote and go home!” You need to learn to see the world as it is, and figure out how to improve it, as it is.
5. See paragraph 1. Politics is the art of the possible. It is not possible for Bernie to beat Trump, and most of the reasons for that are his own damn fault. Bernie needs to just go away.
28I’m still gonna wear my mint green Warren t-shirt.
29Let me start with: I’ve helped Sen. Warren get elected twice. And voted for her 3 times. I voted for her the 3rd time after agonizing for days if I should support Biden (or Bill Weld; I’m not enrolled as a Dem.). A thought a LOT of people had before relegating Warren to 3rd place in her own state.
And with luck I’ll help her get elected again…
30Excellent post. I linked to the Kasparov op ed and to the entire post, hoping to provide some real illumination to all the fire coming from some Democratic conspiracy theorists I know. One can but try. Thanks for the help.
I felt the same way about Elizabeth. Damn.
31Bernie is the old man who lived next door who shook his finger at us when he confiscated the ball that rolled from our yard into his rose patch.
32dump steny
So say we all.
And Pat “blue slip” Leahy should be kept far from the levers of power in the Senate should we prevail in November.
33I want Stacy Abrams for veep.
34@linda: And I want Stacy Abrams in the Senate, but i don’t think either of us is likely to get our wish.
35treehugger @ 13:
Not only would Biden get nothing done if either house was red, he wouldn’t get one judge confirmed — at any level. The SCOTUS, certainly, would empty out completely before McConnell would let him seat one judge there.
Just ask Merrick Garland.
36You should not only not take this down, you should engrave it on bronze and post it on the masthead.
37Hubby and I are unhappy about Warren’s exit, we don’t get to vote until May. Rep Hakeem Jeffries of NY is interested in running for Speaker. He’s on the judiciary committee and was one of the impeachment managers. Quickly on the rise in the body. Pelosi trusts him. Would be first PoC Speaker.
An advantage of Biden over Bernie is getting out the vote for down ballot races for Senate and House. Imagine Jaime Harrison ousting Lindsey Graham in SC. Amy McGrath could beat McTurtle. Though I voted for Bernie in the primary in 2016 (then voted for Hillary in the general) I can’t support him this time. I’ve learned too many negatives including his not voting for the Magnitsky Act (which put Russian sanctions in place, which Dotard45 is trying to reverse to help Putin). He was only one of 4 senators to do so. Against gun safety legislation. I know Biden has plenty of negatives on his record but he’s a good and humble man. Now for him to name a woman VP.
38Heads Up from Juanita – this is only the second post coming from cgregory. The other one was yesterday, complaining that he wrote pointing out Bernie’s good points but that “it didn’t make the cut over here.”
I do not know who Erik Roth he’s quoting is but maybe it’s this guy.
I think we caught us a troll!
This was compiled by Erik Roth:
Joe Biden Was Instrumental in Launching the Iraq War —
https://therealnews.com/stories/biden-launch-iraq-war-documentary
February 21, 2020
A new documentary detailing Joe Biden’s pivotal role in launching the Iraq War exposes just how far he’s trying to distance himself from his war vote.
We speak to the film’s director, Mark Weisbrot.
Fact Check: Joe Biden Has Advocated Cutting Social Security for 40 Years —
https://theintercept.com/2020/01/13/biden-cuts-social-security/
January 13 2020 ~ by Ryan Grim
125+ Reasons You Should Not Vote for Joe Biden —
https://medium.com/@westonpagano/125-reasons-you-should-not-vote-for-joe-biden-e3cc298cad88
Jan 28, 2020 ~ by Weston David Pagano
No Joe!
39Joe Biden’s disastrous legislative legacy —
https://harpers.org/archive/2019/03/joe-biden-record/
March 2019 ~ by Andrew Cockburn for Harpers
Totally agree with you, Miss JuanitaJean.
“Let me tell you something, buddy. Elizabeth Warren was Bernie wrapped in better packaging, no jutting finger, less snobbery, far less ego, a genuine smile, and CAN GET THINGS DONE.”
This.
40WELL SAID!
41Well, back Biden if you want to; he’s better than Trump. But I think Trump is going to mop the floor with him in the campaign. At least you have more info about him.
On the other hand, it will be interesting to watch both of them talk past each other on TV.
42Let’s review.
2009-2016 President Obama with 6 of those 8 years being a Moscow Mitch led Senate blocking at every step. Word: Merrick Garland
2017-present It could have been Hilz. But no, we got Orange Foolius* with Moscow Mitch fluffing for him* all the way. Words: Neil Gorsuck and Boofy Kavanaugh
Today 2020 going forward brush up on your Fleetwood Mac: “If you wake up and don’t want to smile
If it takes just a little while
Open your eyes and look at the day
You’ll see things in a different way…”
Ladies, you HAVE a coalition. Adding to what you already have won in the House and Senate, do not think for one minute that Commander Mark (D-AZ) is not one of you or that he’s not doing this for you and his wife, Gabby Gifford. Again, who would you rather have on your side, Jaime Harrison (D-SC) or Leningrad Lindsey. Amy McGrath (D-KY), MJ Hegar (D-TX), Sara Gideon (D-ME), and more. Persist! Go out and get them. 2021 can be your year.
2024 Now you’re thinking. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will “be of age.” She and a flurry of excellent choices under the age of 70, 60, 50 and 40. Your biggest challenge may be explaining to the less bright among the electorate that “no, they will not see AOC on their ballots; that they must look for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.” WWEWD (What would Elizabeth Warren do)
43Let’s see, Sanders outspends Biden by 2X at least and blames Biden’s victory on corporate scheming.
Sanders is as delusional as Trump.
44Many years ago, during the debate about the Equal Rights Amendment, Donald Kaul, columnist at The Des Moines Register, wrote, “In a democracy, it’s hard to feel much sympathy for an oppressed majority.”
It was mostly women who didn’t vote for Warren.
45Mr. Eagar @44 & 45, may we get you a double shot of covfefe expresso or a plain shot? @44, bring back the old Fairness Doctrine or an updated version before we discuss the media coverage or lack thereof affecting any candidacy. @45, the “candidate viability” rule dismisses millions of votes below an arbitrary threshold making it very difficult to make any assessment as to whom voted for who. For example in one very small precinct 4 Warren votes on a first ballot became 2 for Klobuchar, 2 for Sanders on the second ballot. Don’t ask … j/k. Please do ask, but iirc either Ms. Juanita Jean Herownself explained all that in a previous election or DaChipster laid out how all that works. Maybe someone can locate those previous answers from the archives here. Worth a read.
46I have an amazing story from yesterday morning that I will not share here (because it is somewhat embarrassing), but the punchline is that I was physically attacked yesterday morning by a Bernie Bro after calling him out for running a crossing guard’s stop sign at my kid’s school during drop off.
Conspiracy-theorist children with persecution complexes and anger management issues – every one of ’em.
And to think I supported that guy in 2016. His remaining supporters are just fascists on holiday.
47Cgregory, we get it. You’re voting for Trump.
48Henry @48, no just please, no. That’s not what cgregory stated. The key issue is to encourage everyone to vote their conscience. If they cannot in good conscience pull the trigger for Biden or Sanders, they can effect the down ballot races to return Democratic control to the Senate.
Having supported Bernie in the 2016 primary then voting for Hilz in the general have every intention of voting for the eventual Democratic nominee in the 2020 general; this time, again. Respecting how important this election will be, cannot in good conscience castigate those who have reached their personal end point in supporting the DNC or anyone who has never voted. Best we can do is support their choice and hope we can encourage them to vote their futures on the down ballot selections.
49Always admired and liked Warren as have millions of Democrats. She could play a big role in helping voters see the big picture- defeating the orange one to rid us of this nightmare administration and also the equally big picture of flipping the Senate and keeping the house (and flipping statehouses). I hope and believe she’ll take that responsibility seriously when she decides what to say and do the next 8 months. Whoever the candidate is, they’ll need to get some never Trump Republican votes while fighting the never ending false accusations the GOP and Russia (and the Senate) will be throwing on the airwaves. Warren can be an intelligent voice against those forces.
50