Bernie’s doing well.  In fact, he’s kicking hell out of the centrists.  That’s because, despite centrist claims that people only want a centrist, most people don’t really want a centrist.  Perhaps surprisingly, the incremental, baby-steps ‘let’s-make-sure-nothing-happens’ message isn’t catching on with those falling – or who have fallen – through the cracks.  Go figure…

The Washington Post did what they could, declaring Bernie the darling of the Russians.  Of course, the centrists jumped all over that but I found myself with questions.  For instance, the first line of the story says that it’s unclear what form the Russian “assistance” is taking.  (“No, we don’t know what they’re doing but they must be doing SOMETHING!” isn’t very…persuasive…)  If 2016 is any indicator, the complaint is that the Russians might be saying mean things about various candidates to try to inflame passions.

Really?  Is that it?  Because, truthfully, when I saw a meme saying that Hillary had personally killed Vince Foster, it made no difference to me if the message originated with the GOP or the GRU, I knew it was bunk.  So what passions might the Russians inflame regarding Bernie?  Oh, the DNC might be trying to rig the primaries again?  Berners know that.  Berners are all over that.  The Russians saying so won’t inflame the passions of Berners.  It will only make the centrists crazy because the centrists are working so effing hard to hold on to the fiction that the DNC didn’t cheat in 2016.

But the DNC DID cheat in 2016 and handed the “election” over to trumpery.  If the centrists will accept that one simple fact, there will be no more passions to be inflamed.  Russian influence ended.  Simple.

Of course, if the Russians are hacking into voting machines and flipping votes, that’s an entirely different matter but our corrupt system doesn’t allow officials to acknowledge even the possibility – you know, to “protect the integrity of the system.”  Obviously, if ANYONE is hacking in and flipping votes there IS no “integrity of the system” to protect, right?

Another question: was Bernie the ONLY candidate briefed on the Russians?  That’s the impression left by the Post story but at the same time, we also know that our fearful misleader got furious with Joseph Maguire, his director of National intelligence, because Maguire briefed Congress about the Russian interference (like he was supposed to) before bringing the information to the Trump Crime Family.  I’m guessing, here, but my guess is that ALL of the candidates were briefed.  It’s just that the corporate media needed a quality smear against Bernie so pretending he knew and kept it a secret and nobody else knew seemed like a good move.

Wouldn’t that be the very same kind of thing the Russians stand accused of – making up things to smear one candidate?  Is it better or worse if the lies come from Americans?  Inquiring minds want to know…

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I don’t think Mike Bloomberg cares that he didn’t do well in the “debates.”  I think he used the occasion to identify areas his massive campaign buys need to focus on in order to deceive the largest number of people.  I mean, have you SEEN his ads?  He’s just promising to fix everything for everyone – and he’ll do it on day one.  He’s taking credit for things he didn’t really do and NOT taking responsibility for things he DID do.  But he’s going to spend enough money to stay relevant.  I don’t know how that will work on the national stage.

From time to time here in California some billionaire tries to buy their way into politics.  They spend massive amounts of money declaring they’re beholding to no one so they should get elected.  Generally?  They don’t…

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Here in my home town, they’re shuffling the homeless around again.  I’ve seen all kinds of ideas and thoughts about the best way to solve the problem.  Curiously, I still have NOT seen “a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work” on the list.  (So-called “free market” Capitalism rejects the concept of an honest wage…)  True, that would only impact one portion of the problem but it would certainly reduce that one portion of the problem…

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I guess this wasn’t supposed to be funny but a guy called “Mad” Mike Hughes died the other day.  He died when he tried to launch himself into space – in a homemade rocket – in order to prove the world is flat.

Apparently, the Darwin Awards are alive and well – even if it’s recipients are not…

Quick question: now that Senate Republicans have declared soliciting foreign influence over American “elections” perfectly acceptable, do you think the Dems should get with the Chinese?  A promise to lift the Dumbass tariffs – but only if the Dems win – could easily be enough to get the Chinese to start hacking into voting machines right along with the Russians and Democratic and Republican parties…

I still think fair elections were better but apparently, we have a new paradigm…

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And now the preliminaries have begun.  So who leads the pack?  Well, that would be one Bernie Sanders.  No, wait!  Pete – we’re giving it to Pete.  (People will believe Pete, won’t they?)  On to New Hampshire so Joe can…what?!?  Bernie?  Again?  Too big a lead to lie about, eh?  Okay, alright Bernie gets New Hampshire.  On to South Carolina where Joe will…

I’ve been laughing at the pundit class.  I’ve read many analyses about who can and can’t win and why.  I’ve noticed that no matter who’s doing the analyzing or which arguments they hang their hats on, they all agree on one thing:  amazingly, each pundit is sure the only candidate that can win is the candidate they, personally, preferred before they even started writing their analyses.  Seems fair and balanced to me.  (Okay, my turn, then…)

I like Bernie.  Most of the arguments I’ve heard against Bernie are pure bunk.  Dems can’t run Bernie because conservatives will call him names.  That position pretends the GOP can’t or won’t call any of the other candidates names should they get the nod.  Is that true?  Let’s ask Pocahontas, Sleepy Joe, or Mini Mike, shall we?  The GOP certainly wouldn’t lie about an opposing candidate, would they?  Let’s just check in with swift-boat captain John Kerry and see.

I’ve also heard that Bernie has “no coat tails.”  That is, his presence on the ballot won’t help down-ballot Democrats.  I don’t even understand this argument.  The person who brings out the most voters will, automatically, help the down-ballot candidates specifically BECAUSE there are voters in the booths.  You know what won’t help down-ballot candidates?  Turning off huge swaths of the voters by artificially sidelining the preferred candidate in favor of the “loyal” Democrat, causing them to stay home.

And “loyal” is relevant.  See, one of the positions loyalist Dems take is that Bernie isn’t a Democrat.  Technically, correct but he HAS worked faithfully with the Dems throughout his political career.  On the other hand, Mike Bloomberg seems to be trending with the party because he IS pretending to be a Democrat – for now.  He has a history of jumping back and forth between parties as he sees fit.  The Dems would rather run a “sometimes Dem” instead of a demonstrated ally just because Bernie won’t subject himself to party dictates?  Apparently…

I’ve heard that running Bernie will only inflame the right.  Bunk again.  The right is already inflamed – like an antibiotic-resistant rash.  Somewhere between 35 and 40% of the electorate will come out for trumpery.  The number won’t be higher because that’s the current, measured level of ignorance in America.  It might be slightly lower because some in that 5% margin of those who voted trumpery in 2016 might well vote for Bernie in 2020 – specifically because he offers the change most Americans want to see…

But red hat conservatives will come out in near-perfect lockstep because they will be told to come out in near-perfect lockstep or everyone will die or some such and these are some scared and angry little people.  In short, nothing anyone on the left does will change what happens on the right.  Why, it almost seems as though picking a candidate based on what the right might do isn’t a good idea at all…

Here’s the reason the DNC should just honor their charter and facilitate fair primaries: the DNC allowed Bernie to run as a Democrat.  If they didn’t want him to win as a Democrat, they shouldn’t have allowed him to RUN as a Democrat.  Rigging the outcome can only do damage.  If the Dems only want Dems (or, in Bloomberg’s case, pseudo-Dems), they should close the process to everyone else…

Listen, in the general, I’m absolutely, positively going to vote ‘Blue to Block.’  In part, this is because I think it’s important to TRY to stop Donnie Dumbass.  But I realized the other day, my motives aren’t pure in the matter.  Normally, I’m not much of a ‘told-you-so’ kind of guy.  But when the Dems sideline Bernie, foist the “safe” candidate on the electorate, and then lose – again – I intend to bash the crap out of the Democrats for the rest of time for again sidelining the candidate that could win in favor of one who can’t.  Fair warning…

Apparently, Donnie hates this picture.

I can see why.  It not only exposes his fake, spray-on “tan,” it kind of highlights his tiny little hands.  He says it’s Photoshopped.  In fairness, there are apparently other copies of this photo where he’s less…colorful.  My guess is the toned down version is the Photoshopped version because, of course, he lies about everything, every day.  But I don’t think it’s fair to attack the guy over being ugly and having little hands.  We should attack him for his Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Avarice, Wrath, and Sloth, instead…

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I recently had a rather stunning observation.  As you might know, I interact with conservatives on a regular basis.  I don’t mean doing a business transaction with someone who leans right without ever discovering the person leans right.  I mean the occasional political discussion with dyed-in-the-wool conservatives.  You will not be surprised to find we often disagree but I like to engage in the talks because of the times I find where we DO agree.  My basic position is, well, was, that our goals are the same, cons and mine.

I noticed when the impeachment inquiry began, my conservative friends online disappeared – as a group.  My conservative friends in real life were clearly uninterested in discussing politics.  Conservative input was just…gone.  Then came the nullification and my cons were back.  Amazing.

So, I got into a political discussion with one of them and the very moment the conversation touched on the subject of the impeachment, the individual in question went nuts.  The “conversation” was over.  My friend just launched into a loud, non-stop diatribe as he walked away, finishing his rant as he retreated through a door.

I thought it was weird.  We’ve had many discussions.  We mostly disagree but we do so respectfully.  There was nothing respectful about this fulmination – and then he was gone.  Okay, so maybe he’s having a bad day or something, you know?  Maybe the over-the-top response was just an in-the-moment thing.  But then I ran into another of my conservative friends.

He, too, had “left the field,” as it were, during the inquiry and show-trial.  He, too, was now back, ready to talk politics.  And when the topic moved to impeachment?  He, too, went OFF!  Loudly!  It’s a little startling when the shouting starts.  It’s a little impressive that these older guys can hold enough air to supply such an aggressive, loud, and non-stop, rant.  Of course, their information is wrong but they don’t know it and they REALLY don’t WANT to know it.

I realized two things:  1) the response was intended to ensure that the conservative never risked hearing anything about the process Fox “News” hadn’t pre-approved and 2) the power of propaganda is nearly insurmountable.  I’m AMAZED that nearly 40% of this once-great nation is so completely manipulated by propaganda.

It leaves me in a weird place.  I continue to be fact- and evidence-based.  But in this post-truth world, facts and evidence are merely inconveniences to be overcome.  I don’t really know how to interpret a world that thinks it can insist on a preferred reality instead of living in actual reality.

I used to wonder how entire nations could be led around by disinformation and propaganda.  Now I know…and it sucks…

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I need to clarify something.  When it comes to the ImPOTUS and the process used during his trial, I reject the word “acquitted” in favor of the more accurate “nullified.”  This can be confusing because the corporate media only uses “acquitted” as though that’s what happened.  In order to be acquitted, the jury has to hear and consider the evidence and make a judgement based on that evidence.  The Republicans in the Senate rejected and blocked evidence because allowing it made it more difficult to pretend Trump was not guilty.  That’s a nullification, not an acquittal.  Here, see?  I lifted this definition of nullification from Wikipedia.”

“Jury nullification, or a perverse verdict, generally occurs when members of a criminal trial jury believe that a defendant is guilty, but choose to acquit the defendant anyway because the jurors also believe that the law itself is unjust, that the prosecutor has misapplied the law in the defendant’s case, or that the potential punishment for breaking the law is too harsh.”  (Emphasis added…)

See?  The conservatives know Trump is guilty.  They just don’t care.  They didn’t “acquit” Trump.  They nullified the charge.  But in so doing, they tacitly acknowledge their belief that Trump is guilty.  So we all agree…

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Ah, the Dem wars are heating up!  Thanks, Iowa.  Well, thanks to the DNC for what they did in Iowa.  I was concerned this was going to happen.  I tried to tell anyone who would listen NOT to get too attached to any one candidate.  (“Vote blue to block!”)  We KNEW the DNC was going to cheat and foist some useless no one on us – but we also know that the country is in desperate trouble.  If Americans can’t replace Trump, we’ll never recover.  We needed to unite.

It looks to all the world as though Bernie won the Iowa caucus but the DNC CANNOT, WILL NOT allow Bernie to win anything.  So they go into closed-door session and dribble out information as they can create it.  They HAVE  to acknowledge Sanders’ success – to a degree – so he gets second place with – surprise, surprise – Pete Buttigieg as the unexpected front runner – a “hat tip” to the fact that Joe Biden – the first choice of the DNC – came in a distant fourth.  This means that…

RATS!

This is going to take some getting used to.  I keep thinking about this upcoming “election” as though it’s as honest as it should be and things will work out according to the will of the people.  It’s going to take me some time to re-align my thinking to the new paradigm where Putin’s Petulant Puppet “wins” every “election” going forward with 94% of the vote…

In law, there’s a thing called ‘Double Jeopardy.’  Bearing in mind that I’m no lawyer, the basic concept of Double Jeopardy is that a person can’t be tried twice for the same crime.  Well, kinda.  A person actually CAN be tried twice for the same crime.  It’s just that the prosecution can’t use evidence that has already been adjudicated.

So, let’s say a guy gets tried for murder but the case is mostly circumstantial.  A car like his was seen in the area.  He’s known to have that kind of wrench.  Someone saw someone who looked like him but couldn’t be absolutely certain.  So the guy is acquitted.  Then, home security video is discovered that shows the guy getting out of his car, captures the license plate, shows the killer looking directly into the camera as he bludgeons his victim.  The killer is even still wearing his name tag from work!  They CAN arrest the guy and try him again.  THIS time, they’ll only use the video but the video is conclusive.  Guilty.

House Democrats rushed their impeachment inquiry.  I don’t know why.  (They never discuss these things with me.)  There was some “urgency” that also allowed for a month-long hold for a power play.  Call it ‘Prosecutus Interruptus.’  They pulled out before they were finished and pretty much made a mess of everything.

It seems likely that, Republicans having declared their intent to nullify the process, Democrats just figured, “Why put all that work into something that has already been declared DOA?” and took what they could get, creating Articles of Impeachment that – in my opinion – made the case but allowed corrupt Republicans to lie, lie, lie.  (Which, of course, they’ll do under any circumstances…)  I watched every minute of the event that I could.  One thing that became clear was the GOP kept arguing – among other things – about how LONG the process might take.

So the GOP is going to whitewash the process and nullify the impeachment rendering whatever evidence was presented unusable in the future.  The thing is, AFTER the impeachment articles were drawn up, so much more evidence became available the Dems were shown to have rushed the thing WAY too fast.  And most of the new evidence is BETTER evidence consisting of firsthand accounts from people who were in the room at the time (John Bolton) or specifically participated in the process (Lev Parnas).

So…what if, the moment the corrupt Senate nullifies the process, the House took another vote and impeached the motherfucker again!  THIS time, they could take the first vote the GOP insisted was the most important thing in the world.  THIS time, they could take their subpoenas to court and have the courts rule that, yes, the executive branch DOES have to comply with subpoenas.  THIS time, they could use firsthand witnesses and eventually, get the documents they didn’t get last time.  Their first run at it was so slipshod, they could lose ALL of that evidence and STILL present a stronger case.

No, of course they won’t.  But I like the idea…

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Has anybody else been noticing the drop in the DOW?  How could you not?  Over 600 points the day the corrupt Senate voted down justice.  Despite what Americans are told daily in the corporate media, the DOW is nothing more than a CEO happiness index.  If someone cuts pay for the workers, the DOW goes up because the CEO gets to keep more money.  If someone has to pay a fair wage, the DOW goes down because CEO’s DON’T get to keep as much money.

The official, corporate reason given for the drop in the DOW is that Wuhan is closed due to illness.  I have to grant, closing a city of eleven million people IS going to have an impact on the world economy and it makes sense the DOW might react.

But, to me, it ALSO makes sense that the business community isn’t happy about the corrupt Senate’s actions.  Severing the checks and balances that maintained this once-great nation since the start destabilizes…um…everything.  When, in history, has a country devolved into dictatorship and seen things get BETTER for business and/or the average citizen?

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The United Kingdom leaves the European Union on the same day the corrupt US Senate votes down justice.  It seems appropriate that the UK and the US die the same day.  In the United Kingdom, Scotland is moving quickly to create the not-so-united kingdom.  Scotland wants OUT of the UK and back into the EU.  I suspect Northern Ireland will soon follow, lest they be cut off from the rest of Ireland by hard borders.

England will still have Wales, of course, so they still get to be “United.”  But they’re not going to be as strong, economically, as they were with Northern Ireland and Scotland.  The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, is taking a hard-line approach to the EU, which is funny since the EU has all the power in the negotiations.

I expect a severe downturn in England’s economy.  I think the same is going to happen to the American economy because of the failure of the American government.  (That kind of destabilization is never good for economies…)  I expect a rough ride.

Plan accordingly…

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Now let’s set aside the boring stuff and get to the important news.  The Santa Clara 49ers take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowel 54! (That’s not a typo.  One is supposed to pay the NFL if you use their actual game name.  But you know what I mean…)  I like the Niners and want them to win.  The Chiefs are a VERY good team and have a very real chance of winning as well.  As the Super Bowel, I’m hoping it’s not a crappy game!  It promises to be a very entertaining.  So, I’m going to use this space to hope for the health and safety of ALL of the players (AND that the NFL hasn’t already decided a “winner” brought about by selective officiating…)

Enjoy the game…