February 07, 2020 By: Juanita Jean Herownself Category: Uncategorized
Welcome to The World's Most Dangerous Beauty Salon, Inc.
My name is Susan DuQuesnay Bankston. I live in Richmond, Texas, in the heart of Tom DeLay's old district. It's nuttier than squirrel poop here.
I am honored and privileged to know Miss Juanita Jean Herownself, hairdresser extraordinary and political maven. Since she does not have time to fiddle with this internet stuff, I type her website for her and you can read it if you want to. If you don't, she truly does not give a big bear's butt.
A lot of what I post here has to do with local politics, but you probably have the same folks in your local government.
This ain't a blog. Blogs are way too trendy for me. This is a professional political organization.
It drives me nuts that people like Romney and Shrub end up looking like decent people, in comparison to Cheatolini and the openly hovering flying @$$monkeys he’s surrounded by. Romney’s company (Bain) stole employees’ benefit funds from the companies they bought out. Shrub allowed Iraq to occur. And yet BLOATUS is threatening our constitutional Republic, and even the foundations of Science needed to deal with disease and climate disasters (before and during).
But for today, I am willing to laud my former governor, instituter of Romneycare, standing unbowed…
1Let’s not forget that Romney was one of the first sycophants to suck up to Trump, trying to get the Secretary of State position. Showing a lick of sense now does not make him a courageous defender of truth, justice, etc.
Vested interest disclosure: I worked as a grubby utility man and crane operator at a large steel mill and foundry operation in the 70s. Indeed it was Bain that stole all the retirement funds and retiree health insurance from the workers, gutted the company, and shut it down. So I feel like Romney owes me over 30k in 1987 dollars. But what really makes me despise him is the large number of my old friends and co-workers who are entering retirement with only Social Security and major job-induced health problems to get by on.
2Last night on Rachel Maddow’s show, she brought up an election scandal from 2002, in which supporters of a Republican Senate candidate (Sununu) in which his supporters were able to jam the phone lines preventing results from being reported. Sound familiar?
3That made me recall another trick they pulled during the primaries involving Hillary and Obama in 2008.
The Repugs registered as Dems for the primaries and all voted for Obama. They were certain he could never win in the general
election. Then they re-registered as Rs to vote for McCain.
In addition to the phone lines being jammed this year in Iowa,
It was a shock to see that conservative/centrist Iowans voting
for a socialist and a homosexual. I could see that happening easily in New York or California, but Iowa? These are candidates
Trump has mentioned he wants to run against, rather than Biden whom he fears. Something’s fishy here.
@maryelle — to be fair, Iowa was the first state (2009) in the US to begin issuing marriage licenses for same sex couples and have provided benefits same sex partners of state employees since 2003. Also there was a poll in 2017 in Iowa which showed that 59% of Iowans supported same sex marriage.
So…there is a core of more liberal leanings in the state, and since Dems anyhow lean more liberal on this, it’s not that unexpected that Pete got a lot of support.
I’m less likely to see conspiracies under every rock. Will there be shenanigans over the next few months? Yup, you can bet on it. The closer we get to the election, especially after a candidate is name, I’d put big money on it.
Were the results in Iowa caused by shenanigans? Maybe, maybe not. We’ll probably never know 100% but there are other explanations.
4Someone needs to explain to Republicons that irony is not an ore to be mined. Wait for it. We’ll be ‘hearing’ from Louie any second now as his colleagues are trampling all over his turf.
Mitt Romney ‘ethicist.’ Lord of the Flies and Bain Capital mascot Mitt Romney is the face of what passes for ethics with Republicons.
Leading incel and drunk Matt Gaetz is whining on behalf of the ***king moron*. Whining for Donnie* is the charitable equivalence of delivering a food basket to David Koch.
5maryelle@3, concern trolling by Republicons is a lot like the Uncle Remus story of Br’er Rabbit and the Tar Baby. Brad Pascale has run the numbers and he* wants Biden as the Democratic candidate. Loveable Joe is the male version of Hilz 2008, 2016 with the added bonus of Clarence Thomas 1991.
Iowa? Fuggedaboutit. Concern trolling, conspiracy nuts gone wild and over promised technology. The Three Horses of D’oh.
6In no way am I demeaning Bernie or Pete, just observing something that doesn’t seem to make sense for Iowa.
7Could the Rs be up to their old switcheroo?
I know that this went on in 2008 because my boss, who was an insufferable bigot and a Repug told me that the party strategy to beat Hillary was to register as Dems in the primary and vote for Obama because they could not believe an African American could ever win the Presidency. We all know how that turned out.
maryelle, no doubt about it that you are correct in that Republicons will be unleashing every trick in their bag of dirty tricks. But their rat molesting is probably the least effective trick. The effort to register as Ds for the primaries then back to Rs in the general, not particularly productive in terms of numbers. Sewing distrust about the electoral process to suppress the vote? With that Republicons are playing with a double edge sword. Particularly if Democrats ignore the concern trolls and the “ears” are all their Republicon base.
Motivating Democrats to hit the voting booths in 2020 … maybe we should thank the Toddler-in-Thief* … because he* is one hell of a reason for Democrats to vote this year.
8The purge has begun/ramped up.
An honorable man, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, was walked out of the White House, summarily fired from his NSC liaison position; as gratuitously was his twin brother, also an officer in the NSC.
This happened shortly after Putin’s Puppet Comrade Donnei smeared Vindman again today.
This is just a sliver of what is to come. November is a long way off.
I’ve mentioned a ‘suitable solution’ to the problem before, and was justifiably censured [it’s illegal to speak of]… Pence would be a [micro]step up from His Vileness.
9Rod Serling [and Jerome Bixby] was a prescient genius: The Twilight Zone, “It’s A Good Life”, 3 Nov 1961.
A juvenile Comrade Donnei as Little Anthony Fremont in Peaksville, OH:
https://youtu.be/IuAzvb38PyI
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Good_Life_(The_Twilight_Zone)
10to LizzyMom @4
Well, we know that at least one shenanigan DID happen in Iowa last Tuesday:
The far right R’s did jam the phone lines. It was all over social media: the phone numbers were published and the word was put out, “Clog the lines! Clog the lines!”
And people trying to phone in their results when the app failed did sit on hold for 2 hours or more and many gave up trying.
To be honest, I hadn’t thought about R’s voting in the caucus. It certainly isn’t beyond the realm of belief.
IS Iowa’s primary process closed?
Florida has closed primaries — one has to register as a Democrat to vote the Democratic ballot in the primary — and vice versa.
11I’ve known at least one person here to register as a Republican in order to vote for the most rabid right wing candidate in the primary though he always [he says — and I believe him] votes for the Democrat in in the general election.
So it does happen — on both sides.
Sandridge @9:
Are you certain about that “[micro]step up”?
imo, Pence is just as vile — and a lot smarter. BECAUSE he’s more subtle.
Frying pan, meet fire.
12I know that the Rs registering as Dems in the 2008 primaries did happen because my rabid repug boss, who was a big R donor, spilled the beans to me and several other employees, thinking because we were white we wouldn’t want Obama in the White House and would have to vote Republican. In fact he was laughing about how clever their plan was. This was in Pennsylvania, but he gave the impression this was a national strategy. Now who’s laughing.
13I think we have to be vigilant about every election event now, given what we’ve been through.
twocrows @12, You make a good point, but don’t you think that outside of Pence’s religious nuttery he’s a bit more mentally stable and perhaps predictable?
BTW, the ‘Friday of the Long Knives’ has now sliced up Amb of EU Sondland too.
14An imperfect analogy of course, as these people aren’t Brownshirts, although Sondland had some faith in the fuehrer. The guy did spend a huge amount of taxpayer money redecorating the Amb’s residence [and the fancy chef probably goes too].
I’m purty certain this is the first Friday toons to get this level of discussion. At least since I’ve been hanging out here. Probably because our current situation is as close as it’s ever been to the surrealism depicted in the best political cartoons.
15“open Letter” to the DNC:
As undecided voters this election cycle the current debate format is not helpful. The ‘moderators’ frame questions in Republicon terms only to further inject themselves into the debate by which follow up questions they allow and to whom they give time. Please, no more media “personalities” as moderators. Their agenda is clearly influenced by a horse race ratings mentality, thus wasting the candidates’ time.
The current stacking of primary/caucus order is a bad joke. Iowa? Really!? Followed by NH and SC. The ‘winner(s)’ are not representative of which candidate is the most likely to succeed in a general election. Nor do those 3 states indicate which candidate is most favored by Democrats at large.
It’s why Democratic Party-affiliated funders and media opened the campaign season by touting the clownish center-right dementia victim Joe Biden as their “front-runner.”
It’s why those funders and media shifted to the Wall Street plaything Pete Buttigieg after Biden re-exposed himself.
“Alfred E. Neuman’s”Buttigieg’s role is to muddle public perceptions, screwing Warren and Sanders in the early states to help set up Republicrat Bloomberg.Buttigieg. This guy: So, Shadow, Inc. got money from Wall Street Pete (from the financial sector via Butiggieg, that is), a former consultant with the infamously dark and globalist McKinsey Company and a onetime U.S. Navy Intelligence Officer. Give him an exit door along with his set-up oligarch guy, Bloomberg.
While appearance isn’t everything, perception is. There’s an internet meme from which the DNC can learn. “Democrats are afraid that American voters are going to interfere in the 2020 election.” Mr. Perez, we think you are a fair man, a decent man, so please end some of the crazier internet conspiracy theories. Just say no. Say no to those who would give you bad advice; advice that would have you interfering with legitimate candidates. Thank you.
16Off-topic, but top of the list of day late, dollar short:
“Susan Collins says she’s opposed to any retribution against impeachment witnesses”
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/08/politics/susan-collins-retribution-impeachment-witnesses/index.html
Along with her self-righteous statement: “I think it’s important to understand that when you’re in an impeachment trial, you consider the evidence that is before you,” the Maine Republican told reporters on Friday after speaking at the Maine Chiefs of Police Association Winter Conference in South Portland.
… but she failed to add on “but be sure to avoid evidence that contradicts the partisan vote you’ve already decided to make”. Does that woman not have any sense of how ridiculous she is?
17The Surly Professor@17, unfortunately So-so Collins rapid descent could be attributable to either failing health or seriously flawed advisor(s), maybe both; or simply she’s a Republicon harnessed to Moscow Mitch’s vacuous talking points.
18Jane & PKM: I only know of her through her votes in the Senate, and don’t know about her health or advisors. Keeping in mind my ignorance, my real concern is the distance between Senators (esp. the multi-term ones) and the people they allegedly represent. The bubble that encases rabid right-wing nutters is even more tightly circumscribed for the wealthy and powerful, and I seriously wonder if the bullshit they pump out is sincere and honestly believed by themselves.
So it’s a real question: is this person really so lacking in self-awareness that she actually thinks she did what was best for the country? Or just so used to lying that she would be shocked that anyone would recognize it as such? Either way, it’s kinda scary.
19The Surly Professor, probably both of your answers to your question are correct. First clue for Maine voters should have been when she broke her promise (1996) to serve only 2 terms. Lesson to Maine and voters in other states – when politicians lie to your face, do not hesitate to get rid of them.
20Jane and PKM at #16 noted that:
1) The debate format was not helpful, especially since many questions are framed in a way a Republican might frame them.
To my mind this cuts both ways: It does not allow candidates to expound on their own ideas (but they have adverts and campaign events for that), and it does allow Democratic candidates to address GOP talking points, which they will have to do in a general election.
The GOP does not have a significant primary, so the GOP is focusing on Democrats exclusively; they don’t have to explain themselves in their own debates, as they will have none. Social media is an excellent place to amplify the worst qualities of each Democratic candidate and rodent-copulate our primaries.
Trump is using the same strategy against the Democrats he used in the GOP primary debates in 2016: Find what he views as the strongest contender and take him or her out. Go through them one at a time and repeat until there are none left.
For this Democratic primary, it seems he thinks Joe Biden is his biggest threat. Worse, now he has the GOP-controlled Senate and government departments under his thumb to help him (recently the Treasury Department released Hunter Biden’s financial records to the Senate GOP while stonewalling the House’s request for his tax records, which is required by law).
If Biden fades enough he is no longer viable as a candidate, Trump will then turn on the next-strongest candidate, just as he did with the GOP primary.
In 2016, because Trump started out strong, none of the GOP candidates attacked him directly as he took out each one, figuring they would pick up that candidate’s supporters when they dropped out.
2) Both the GOP and Trump are counting on exploiting the purity ponies in our own party who will only vote for their candidate or stay home. The number one job should be to get the fascist out of the White House. Number two is hold the House and flip the Senate, but the worst damage can be stopped by at least taking the Presidency.
3) I tire of GOP talking points spread amongst Democrats to divide and conquer, for example “Biden is centre-right.” (That would be the Biden who first floated the idea of government support for same-sex marriage: See a 2012 Think Progress on that when he endorsed the idea on television: https://thinkprogress.org/breaking-joe-biden-endorses-same-sex-marriage-4a0d0303e6e2/ )
There is a rather famous scatter chart showing major parties around the world and where they fit on the (not very helpful) left-right spectrum. The Democratic Party is solidly in the middle of the left-leaning parties. That chart is found in this article near the top of the page: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/26/opinion/sunday/republican-platform-far-right.html
Traditional parties enjoy the widest support in most every country, even when their positions gradually change. The Democratic Party is the oldest continuously running party in the whole world, and this is reflected in the registered voters in our party being more than those of the GOP.
Moreover, ideology is more accurately reproduced on a Nolan chart, such as found at Political Compass (that Website will ask questions of you and place your responses on a Cartesian plane rather than a left-right line).
21To further address Jane & PKM at #16, on the issue of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.
The Democratic Party does not control whether a state has a caucus or primary, that is controlled by statutes written by a state legislature. States don’t have to pay for caucuses. Iowa’s caucus is written into its state statutes. To get rid of the caucus, you will first have to flip the Iowa legislature blue.
That was noteworthy here in Nebraska, where we had a caucus in 2016. This time round, there are a number of GOP contenders for downballot positions, so the GOP-controlled Unicameral changed the law and this year we get a primary instead.
As to the matter of the order of the primaries, Iowa and New Hampshire have statutes on their books which require their caucus and primary to be first and second in the nation. If another state moves a primary ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire, state law automatically kicks in to move Iowa and New Hampshire to the front again.
To change that, you will need to elect a sufficient number of people in those states to repeal those first and second in the nation laws. Good luck.
As for the demographics of South Carolina, they are not representative of the country as a whole. I doubt you could make an argument that any one state’s demographics represent the nation as a whole. (For example, the state with the highest percentage of refugees is Nebraska.)
For example, South Carolina has nearly three times the African-American populace compared to the nation as a whole. That population is an important voting bloc in the Democratic Party.
The state’s population is 23rd largest in the nation (it’s in the top half).
There really is no “perfect” solution to the problem of state primaries and which should go in what order. By the time my state’s primary rolls around, nearly all choices will be effectively eliminated.
22James, very true and thank you for a well thought out full response. As you concluded, “no ‘perfect’ solution” and here we are with “all politics is local” to a large extent.
23Jane & PKM at 23:
You’re welcome.
All politics really is local, as I painfully found out in my reëlection campaign to my village board in 2018.
I was the token Democrat on the board for six years, and in both elections I won by a large margin.
Then I was outed as an atheist.
A literal neo-Nazi (the number tattoo on his neck gives it away) who’s yard looks like the county dump ran against me on a write-in candidacy. His only platform plank was “Did you know James is an atheist?”
My town is small enough I know everyone in it. Campaigning here consists of just chatting with people at the store or bar, walking around to every house, that sort of thing.
I lost by two votes.
Since then he’s turned out to be an awful trustee, and several people who voted for him have told me “I wish I’d voted for you.” (eyeroll emoji)
24James, in a country once proud to have a separation of church and state we’re looking at morons who would nail JC himself back onto a cross and celebrate Orange Foolius as the new Fuehrer.
25Jane & PKM at #25:
It kind of reminds me of the political cartoon of people prostrating themselves before a Trump statue done up as a golden calf.
Strangely, I’ve only seen one MAGA hat in the wild here in my county, despite living in what Cook Political Report rates as the most conservative House district in the nation (NE-3)
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