Book deadline open tread

The deadline for my concise, popular history of Phoenix is now approaching at crisis speed. So I must leave the blog to you, with my apologies.

I may be largely offline until late July. I will continue to update Arizona's Continuing Crisis and the Front Page as I can. And there's plenty to read in the special-report pages and the archived columns.

Meanwhile, feel free to comment on the news.

 

Comments

[cal Lash]

Gee whiz Jon, I thought thst would take a couple of years more to get that all together.

[Ruben Perez]

I understand it's a coffee table book which will have photos of cal during the early years and the women he dated. Followed by cal the middle years and the women he dated. Next, cal they retirement years and the women he dated.

The forward will be written by the lawyer who handled the restraining orders for all the women you dated.

Personally, I'm looking forward to it. I like coffee. I like tables and I like books.

[cal Lash]

All nudes
Scary huh Ruben

[wkg_in_bham]

Interesting article about the state of the Fine Arts:

“Placing things in context is what contemporary students do best. What they do not do is judge. Instead there was the same frozen polite reserve one observes in the faces of those attending an unfamiliar religious service—the expression that says, I have no say in this. This refusal to judge or take offense can be taken as a positive sign, suggesting tolerance and broadmindedness.”

“But there is a broadmindedness so roomy that it is indistinguishable from indifference, and it is lethal. For while the fine arts can survive a hostile or ignorant public, or even a fanatically prudish one, they cannot long survive an indifferent one. And that is the nature of the present Western response to art, visual and otherwise: indifference….”

https://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/how-art-became-irrelevant/

[wkg_in_bham]

In a similar manner:

WHY DO INTELLIGENT PEOPLE NO LONGER CARE ABOUT ART?
By Michael Lind

The fine arts don’t matter any more to most educated people. This is not a statement of opinion; it is a statement of fact.

http://thesmartset.com/artless/

[cal Lash]

WKGINBHAM obviously u do not subscribe to Adbusters.

[soleri]

wkg, I think it's clear most art forms are really exhausted. This includes popular art like movies, pop music, fiction, and dance. It's as if every possible piece of the terrain has been strip-mined, commoditized, and sold off.

The business of art is still big, of course. Concerts routinely sell out, and buzz can still create a stampede for a book (witness the publication of Harper Lee's first novel). But the excitement and ferment of new voices has really waned. The more people who write, paint or compose, the less we uncover much that's new. Some things are good, of course, but the excitement of real novelty is mostly gone.

I was culturally literate for a long time and now I'm not. That is, I still know who the "greats" are but, for example, I don't know the most popular musicians today are. I tried to keep up but the effort grew tiresome.

On one level, this is a subtext of the culture war, which is why Commentary is interested stoking some anger from the right. But most right-wingers this side of Victor David Hansen don't really care. They might love Country-Western or even the rock stylings of Ted Nugent, but virtually every popular artist out there now is also liberal. They're liberal because society as a construct reflects cosmopolitanism and tolerance. It's really hard for a good artist to also be a reactionary, and I think the reasons are obvious.

Of course, several generations ago we had major writers like WB Yeats, TS Eliot, Robinson Jeffers, John Dos Passos, and WH Auden who were deeply conservative. But they were writing as part of an extant canon. I still read them with great pleasure but that canon is dead now as a living trust. Western Civ had its day in the sun and it's no longer light outside.

If I had to sum it all up, the problem with culture is not that we need to consciously ennoble ourselves one way or the other. No, the problem is that in a globalized marketplace culture is incresingly an amorphous assertion. Cities, as you might agree, were at their best when they exhibited concrete aesthetic values. Those values have been transvalued once and for all. Welcome to the future where every value is possible but none is compelling.

[Pat]

Snoop Dogg, Lady GaGa, the Kardashians, who says we ain't got no culture?

[wkg_in_bham]

I think the distinction between “Fine Arts” and “Pop Culture” is a fuzzy one. Between the two is a small region that might be called “Middle Brow”. Thing that are clearly on the “Fine Arts” end of the spectrum are clearly struggling – even in New York:

https://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/lincoln-centers-dark-legacy/

If there’s an upside, at least in some places, in some venues, things are doing OK. Per the above:

‘Regional groups such as the San Francisco Symphony, Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet, and the Houston Grand Opera are now at least as influential as their older counterparts in New York.”

I count myself among the indifferent – for the most part. I can choose to go or not go the symphony or the gallery. I can read or not read whatever I want. What I can’t choose is the presence of large ugly buildings. You might say “well that’s what America asked for”. I don’t. Modernism was rammed down our throats. Can anyone look at the Federal Courthouse in Phoenix and say “what a wonderful building”?
I think a parallel can be made with regard to architecture and say music; there’s “fine art” and “pop culture”. Most residential stuff is pop. Not to worry too much; it’ll be torn down and twenty or thirty years and replaced with something else – probably equally as bad.

[Proud Arizonan]

Who is going to the Trump and Arpaio Republican immigration rally in Phoenix?

It is encouraging to see Republicans demonstrate their true beliefs on immigration over the denials of warmonger McCain and Rightist Flake.

Stand up Arizona Republicans. Don't let the party politicians distort your core beliefs!

[cal Lash]

PA, make sure you up your meds and take a barf bag with you when U go to the Thorazine shuffle.
From an honest 75 year old Arizona Republican.

[Ruben Perez]

Thank God someone brought up trump/ourpiehole.

I was concerned the prospect of nude photos of cal started us on a tangent of "fine arts".

[Ramjet]

New topic:
I understand that the state of Arizona is contractually obligated to pay private prisons based on the number beds they have whether thay are occupied by a person or a "dummy" (redundant: if they were not a dummy) they would not be there.
How does this apply to the recent unpleasntnees in Kingman considering the movement of 1000 plus from there.
Anybody have any thoughts on this.

[cal Lash]

Private prisons are dens of cruel and unusual savagery. They have also created a slave market.
Greed is the name of the game for private prisons and "charter" schools. Need to find out if the Utah based prison in Kingman is still getting paid for the guaranteed beds

[Hattie]

Looking forward to your book.

[PA]

Cal,

You are not a real Arizonan Republican. Sheriff Arpaio has been re-elected how many times?

Warmonger McCain wants to sell state Republicans down the river so he can kiss with the DC crowd and continue maximum funding of the war machine. Maybe he should run as Hillary's VP?

[cal Lash]

Arpaio and McCain are Republicans to get elected. I always thought Joe was a conservative catholic democrat. His biggest buddy has been Dennis Dicocini whose god father was Joe Bonanno and they help raise St Janet. Last real republican was Ike and somewhat Nixon. That Joe has been elected so many times demonstrates how many red neck bigots there are in this state. Joe and I both worked BNDD and so I sent Joe a congratulations letter the first time he got elected hoping he would bring investigative and administrative professionalism to an office that needed it. Didn't happen but he certainly made a lot of dishwashers and lawn tenders fearful. The same folks I spent years working everything from the lettuce fields to law enforcement with. And i have been a real Republican since 1961.

[cal Lash]

Let me be clear I do not support John McCain or Hillary Clinton. So far it's a circus full of clowns.
and
as a retired cop I know hundreds of other law enforcement proffessionals from street cops to police chiefs and many Fed's. I have yet to talk to one that holds Joe in high regard.

[PA]

Cal,

You agree that Arpaio has been re-elected in Arizona countless times. Trump's statements on immigration are in line with exactly what Arpaio represents.

Your characterization of Arizona Republicans who love Arpaio as redneck bigots only supports my position. McCain is misrepresenting the deeply held beliefs of Arizona's Republican electorate.

McCain should run for office in Virginia. He is a passionate advocate for enriching Northern Virginia with unmitigated military and intelligence spending while not truthfully advocating the deeply held beliefs of Arizona Republicans on such an important issue for the state as immigration.

[soleri]

Much luck to you, PA. The party base that isn't "racist" per INPHX is going to push the GOP off the cliff. Finally, Republicans get to be Republicans in their deepest hearts and darkest ids. It just ain't them niggers. It's them spics, too. The Donald is only heightening the contradictions of a plutocracy ruling by deflecting attention to social issues they don't really care about. Now, maybe Hispanics will feel motivated to vote since the ugly message is being delivered straight to their faces: you're rapists and scumbags.

Will someone please pass the popcorn?

[Ramjet]

How about some irony?
Trump is a very important feature in the card game spades.

[Cal Lash]

I am not faulting Joe for getting elected four times and he has at least a 50/50 chance of a fifth term. As is Trump likely to overwhelm a weak Bush. I have known and been in contact with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s office folks since 1950. My pick for best Sheriff was Cal Boise, a politician that used the strength of posse members to get elected (as has Arpaio) and at a time when the Democrats still were in power. But historically between lawn mower and bible salesman the MSCO has been poorly administered and allowed to wallow in unprofessionalism. When Tom Agnos retired from the Phoenix Police department and got elected sheriff he brought good administrative skills. But, MCSO was a bigger thing to administer than Agnos had done at the Police department. Also Agnos was a really nice easy going guy and not, in my opinion, not the leader MCSO needed. Also he and his Chief Deputy, a strict Marine type were not criminal investigators. This lack of investigative skills was their downfall in their handling of the Temple case.
Arpaio got elected as a result of Agnos failures and also that Arpaio’s background seemed a good fit for Handling MCSO affairs in the big sprawling Maricopa County. And he had the political connections. He could always depend on Democrat US Senator Deconcini Robo calls and later know that Democrat US Attorney Janet Janet Napolitano was not going to look hard into his affairs and got more reassurance when Napolitano got Dennis Burke into place as the US Attorney in Arizona.
Again I am not faulting Arpaio from getting elected, that’s what he does. All I can do is vote my opinion. What I do fault Joe for misspending funding and failing to address the lack of professional criminal investigators. Detectives in soft clothes, carry a concealed not in your face weapon, driving small efficient vehicles, not tanks and solving horrendously violent crimes not trying to push people washing dishes out of the country. But then it’s obvious what gets you elected in Arizona. Again I am not faulting the politicians, Donald’s and Joes, of the world but the ill-informed, mean people that keep voting for their ilk. Along that line, I think one of the stupidest statements is “Seal the Border”. There is not a country in the world that’s capable of “Sealing” a border. There has to be a better way. The last time Arizona shut down all vehicle traffic at order ports, Arizonans were faced with having some huge shortages. I have represented a number of large companies that depend on immigrant labor. And in my talks with their managers they want a solution to obtaining the labor of immigrants. PS my ancestors came here illegally.
At 14 and 15 when I worked the John Jacobs fields I was almost always the only “Gringo”. Occasionally there would be a Gringo tractor driver but everyone one else was Hispanic. Not just Mexicans but Spaniards (see mining). When I ran the Sweet Potato sheds for Carol Arthur Farms, I was the only Gringo along with one Black laborer, everyone one else was Hispanic.
A story for another day: In my opinion County Jails should be separated from Sheriff departments.
I look forward to voting for someone besides Arpaio and Trump. But so far the offerings are poor.

[Cal Lash]

The GOP "RIGHT" said:
http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2015/07/10/trump-tops-white-house-dossier-poll/?awt_l=N1qGl&awt_m=3aw28jk30CTM1Od

[cal Lash]

Note: I was able to vote in 61. But I became a Capitalist in 46.

[PA]

Jeb Bush's bohemian life experience in Latin culture outside of the US, his Spanish speaking household, and his spouse's inability to get along with Anglos in Houston will not energize the Republican voting base in 2016. Rubio? Forget it.

Scott Walker is the only candidate that will give the US electorate a choice. Do you want another member of the Bush or Clinton dynasty or do you want real Republican change.

What massive midwestern migration has done for Arizona, what Governor Walker has done for the state of Wisconsin, is what can be accomplished for the US with a Walker Presidency.

Republicans such as INPHX need to be honest with themselves about what it means to be a real Republican. No more living in denial about their deeply held racial beliefs nor wimpy claims that there is no evidence that Republicans are racist.

Republicans vote your heart. Arpaio, Trump and Walker.

[cal Lash]

I was thinking Gonzales, Sanders and Mujica.
and i must be a Republican racist as I prefer the company of Hispanics.

[cal Lash]

PA if you are such a proud American how about posting by your real name instead of hiding by a blow hard handle. Let me take a wild guess. Your first name is the Biblical Paul and your last name begins with an A.

[cal Lash]

Trump sure to win as today he promised a bigger "Wall".
groan!

[Ruben Perez]

Want to know what trump's and Bernie's appeal is at the moment?

They both are not practiced, life long liars like Hillary and the two dozen GOP bozos.

President Trump
Arpaio secretary of da Fence
Babeu secretary of your interior
Lindsey graham First Lady

[Ramjet]

Want to blace blame for Arpaio ?
Try Jonathon Doody and Alex Garcia plus the lawnmower man.
I used to say that the MCSO could not catch a cold in a swamp in a blizzard.
Don't think it is much different now.

Buena Suerte Amigos!

[cal Lash]

The Southwest was at its best in 1300. The European religious looters and rapists began the destruction of a fine place. ( yea I know they brought a new and better god to those heathen Mayans and Aztecs. Otherwise Ruben would be King)
The Scott Walkers of today aim to completly destroy the Great Sonoran Desert and other great Wilderness places.
Only Bushes Money can save him as he is too weak to withstand assualts by his competetiors Along that line the Bush Brothers along with the Clintons, Walker and Christie should be prosecuted for financial crimes along with Wall Street.
Hopefully the Javelinas will visit tonite with the Cactus wrens living at my place. The rabbits are out now chewing on a number of the desert offerings keeping an alert ear for willy coyote. A mad roadrunner charged by today. In pursuit of what I do not know. Maybe tha Mexican Spotted Lizard that occasionally cools off under my porch canopy.

[[email protected]]

PS its a nice Arizona desert nite for a bicycle ride or a walk in the desert. It's cool and there is a gentle Sonoran Desert breeze that turns sweat into an evaporative cooler. I smell a monsoon on the horizon.
Hasta Mañana

[phxSUNSfan]

"Snoop Dogg, Lady GaGa, the Kardashians, who says we ain't got no culture?" - Pat

I think you need updated modifiers for your Google searches. Given that the list above was likely to have been popular with those under 35 at one time, I took that as a friendly jab at Millennials' cultural tastes. I think you would be surprised by the type of music popular today. For instance, you might not be opposed to listening to Sam Smith, Mumford and Sons and Beyonce. For artists like Beyonce the choreography is nearly as important as the songwriting. At a nightclub, you have to be able to dance well. If you can upstage the ladies in stilettos, even better!

I don't remember the last time Gaga released playlist material (or was on the Billboard 100). The Kardashians have never been that popular. They lacked viewership but were often the topic of ridicule on social media. They reached their peak in 2010 with 3.92 million viewers. Current shows like HBO's Game of Thrones (GoT) attracts nearly double that number. That speaks volumes given the fact that viewers must pay a premium to watch GoT.

More importantly, Millennials favor living in urban areas with access to cultural amenities, such as: theaters, museums, live music venues, sporting venues, etc. Interesting fact: the recent Women's World Cup final drew more viewers than this year's NBA and Stanley Cup (NHL) finals and last year's World Series Game 7.

wkg_in_bham, I do like The Sandra Day O'Connor United States Courthouse, or at least the inspiration behind the architecture. The failure lies in the lack of materials that would help mitigate the effects of the intense desert sun and summer heat. The atrium is too sterile and whitewashed for Phoenix.

[Pat]

Phoenix Suns fan, I'm blessed with a millennial, and after enduring the agony of her adolescent tastes (Brittany Spears, Back Street Boys)she finally matured into a human and now has very eclectic tastes. Some of the "alternative" music out there today is quite good. Some hip-hop, even though I don't get it, promotes social justice and eschews misogyny. she reads books by some guy named Chuck, but at least she reads. Hell, if anything, millennials might rescue culture from its slide into the depths of mass-marketed Super bowl halftime glitz. Of course, you may like that stuff just fine...its promoters sure hope you do, anyway.

[INPHX]

There is more great entertainment available today than at any time in history.

There is more lousy entertainment available today than at any time in history.

[cal Lash]

So Pat is your kid 15 or 35?
But INPHX, Chaplin, Bruce and Carlin are Dead. As is Muddy Waters. So I read and watch the birds.

[Ruben Perez]

Chapo Guzman break out of prison to do list:

1. Check with Eric holder to verify my savings account at HSBC bank.

2. Send president of Mexico final payment for tunnel.

3. Send campaign contribution to that Polk lady in Prescott, AZ. My income depends on pot remaining illegal.

4. Send someone back to the prison to get my Kindle charger.

[soleri]

Trump has it wrong: it was white America that stole from Mexico:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/trump-white-criminals-stole-from-mexico

[cal Lash]

Soleri when I was in SAU (swat) a very militant Sergeant I worked with promised me Mexicans would take back what we stole. Primarly through population. I have a book somewhere by a economist that predicts in 100 years Mexico will be a world power.
Vote Chapo for president.

[cal Lash]

As Uall know Tom Cruise is filming a movie wherein the Bush boys take delivery at a Flordia airport of two kilos of coke. A few years back I hired a retired DEA agent to do some research. He was still very angry about the supervsors above him at the request of other federal agencies for shutting down his arrest of Bill Clinton for providing cover for large illegal drug shipments arriving in the South. Electing Hillary will offset Cruise making that movie for at least 4 years.
Ruben I recommend a small beach front villa in Urugay rather than the Joe Smith pines for you

[cal Lash]

Mexico
"The Next 100 years" by George Friedman

[cal Lash]

Forgot to mention, Chapo ' s escape was funded (and timed) by Trump and Arpaio and their election campaign funds.
and Jeb so far has raised $114 million

[cal Lash]

Of note the az republic reports that 2/3 of AZ Republican legislators signed up for Obama care.

[jmav]

Good to hear about AZ legislators and Obamacare use. They now have first hand knowledge of the considerable improvements that Obamacare brought to the individual health insurance market.

[soleri]

wkg, this link is for you:

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/conservative-case-against-suburbs-poltergeist-remake

[Petro]

Open thread?

On Communication And The Changing American Demographic - A Looming Concern

:)

[Cal Lash]

Good stuff Petro and Soleri. Glad to C U R writing Petro

[Petro]

My bad - it's "Open Tread," not "Open Thread!"

Treads

[cal Lash]

I posted earlier that County Jails should not be under the jurisdiction of Sheriffs. To bolster that see in the Front pages, The US starves it's Prisoners.

[jmav]

Cal,

What jurisdiction should jails be under?

[cal lash]

County Jails: separate run institutions reporting to the board of supervisors and with an outside auditing unit.

[cal Lash]

For years sheriff's have been able to use enforcement and jail funds without much overview. So guess who gets the short end of the stick. Arpaio ' s administration's took this intermingling to a new high.

[wkg_in_bham]

@ P S Fan re “Millennials favor living in urban areas….”: So did the “Greatest Generation”, Boomers, Gen X and everyone else everywhere. I think an urban region of one-to-two million “just right”, but that’s another topic.

Re O’Connor Courthouse: I commented on this in RC’s posting and won’t repeat myself. I hate the building. You speak of materials and sterility and are right on the mark.

[Ruben Perez]

Jmav,

The numbers I'm seeing show the uninsured percentage has gone from 15% to 11%.

Many people who didn't have coverage now have coverage.

Many people who had coverage no longer can afford coverage.

Have we gone through all that hoopla for a 4% change?

[INPHX]

Thanks to whomever is in charge-

The article listed on the Front Page about the casino and Tunica county is really well done.

What a mess.

[Rogue Columnist]

You can thank Dick Silc, our Front Page Editor.

[Ruben Perez]

Trump visits Arizona.

PA man arrested after flying to AZ to have sex with a horse.

Coincidence?

[jmav]

Ruben,

Good question. Personally I think it was worth it. Much of the hoopla has been the result of Republican energies focused exclusively on absolute repeal instead of modifying the legislation to make it work better.

My premiums before ACA enactment doubled over the past five years. With the subsidy my premiums are approximately $150 less per month. Coverage is essentially the same.

When I bought coverage before the ACA was passed I was never confident that the policy would actually pay if I became seriously ill. I was reluctant to see doctors and have them discover an illness that would become a pre-existing illness for future coverage. Now I don't mind.

My premiums for years before ACA enactment were also going up a lot due to increased medical costs and my age.

I would like to look at the specifics of claims by people who say they can no longer afford coverage. One Libertarian Republican friend who made such claims about premiums costs post ACA simply didn't do the math. I pulled up the Healthcare.gov website and we cranked the numbers. They were eligible for good coverage and low premiums. They didn't talk about it anymore nor buy coverage.

The underlying problem remains the cost of healthcare and drugs which was never the primary focus of ACA.

[Ramjet]

I believe I just found a quote that applies to most,if not all,
of the denizens of this blog.
To Wit:

Virtually all ideologues, of any variety, are fearful and insecure, which is why they are drawn to ideologies that promise prefabricated answers for all circumstances. "

American-Canadian journalist Jane Jacobs
Hope the qoute is properly attributed. I wouldn't want to be guilty of pulling a "Whitaker".

[Ruben Perez]

Interesting quote.

I can only think of a very small number of ideologues on the blog.

Fearful and insecure? Not a chance.

[cal Lash]

I like the thought of being an "Impractical Idealist".

[Pat]

Donald Trump has a message that will resonate with all Texans, and I for one look forward to his El Paso rally.

[Ruben Perez]

Only in Texas could a person wearing a button that says "I support the troops" stand in front of a TV camera and ask a U.S. army colonel why he is planning on taking over the state by martial law.

[Petro]

Who all is going to the Bernie rally at Phoenix Convention Center, Saturday night? (7:00 pm, doors open at 6.)

Right off the light rail, I just might be there myself. Want to see some good numbers to scare the Hillary out of the Democratic Party.

[Petro]

Yea, I'm going. As I mentioned to someone else - it's not about winning, or even supporting a candidate. It's a chance to "Occupy" for an hour.

Let's see if we can get numbers that are "unexpected" for Phoenix, AZ.

[soleri]

Mike, even if you achieve a symbolic victory, what would the point be? To make Democrats certain losers in 2016? To complete what Ralph Nader undertook in 2000, which was to purify the Democratic Party of the realism you find so offensive?

I agree with everything Bernie Sanders stands for. But politics is about building a coalition, and not everyone agrees with you and me. So, you temper the message in order to make it more inclusive. You sacrifice a measure of idealism for power without which no idealism is achievable in our civic lives. If you're merely voguing your personal virtue, you're not working for the common good so much as vamping your rejection of coalition politics. That is political vanity.

I think there's a fundamental mistake left-wing idealists make about our system and it's not unlike the one the Tea Party makes on the right. The craving for a savior is a religious enthusiasm. We think we'll elect the "right person" and the world will be set right. But the president is not a king. He - or she - is merely the instrument of our collective will. I wish more people agreed with you and me, but power is diffuse not only in our institutions but in the citizen-units who comprise our democracy. It's also compromised by special interests, mainly economic, that buy protection for themselves in Congress as well as the presidency. Campaign finance reform would go a long way to removing this corruption, but thanks to the non-election of George W Bush, which resulted in a hard-right Supreme Court and Citizens United, that is a long way off.

I see this strong tide of enthusiasm and think of others in human history, like the Crusades, religious awakenings, the temperance movement, and radical dualisms like McCarthyism and the current Culture War. We are not about to establish the City of God on Earth. The best we can do is move the nation slightly in the direction of reason and compassion. We need to temper our idealism just enough to understand that perfection is a siren song that leads the earnest and naive off a cliff. Bernie Sanders is a great truth teller, but he's not Jesus. We need to keep these distinctions in mind lest we inadvertently sacrifice the nation one more time to right-wing nihilism.

[Petro]

Oh, fucking please.

This isn't about venerating Sanders.

It's about communication.

Give it a rest.

[Petro]

"Temper our idealism."

Christ on a crutch.

[Rogue Columnist]

Excellent points, Soleri.

[Tex]

Government stay away from my medicare.

[Anon]

"Vote your heart"

Christ on a cross.

[drifter]

Venerable President Bush III thanks all his supporters who voted for Sanders in the 2016 elections.

Now enjoy your seven day work week and 5 day paycheck.

[Jerry McKenzie]

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/7/how-private-equity-cheats-pensions-at-workers-expense.html

Bernie as Christ?! Too flawed. Still, Bernie 2016. The interviews with Robert Scheer with the Real News on Truthdig touch on what soleri said too. Chris Hedges (same bat-channel)nails it to a cross.

[Ruben Perez]

Repub congress plus repub prez equals death to middle class and life to Wall Street.

Repub congress plus Hillary equals death to middle class and life to Wall Street.

Repub congress plus Bernie equals hope but at least a standoff.

Repub congress plus trump equals reality TV in the Oval Office.

The person we NEED has not surfaced yet.

[soleri]

Jerry, imagine a wave of enthusiasm carrying Bernie to the 2016 Democratic nomination. Then imagine the Republican campaign against the self-declared Socialist. Imagine the nation voting for him anyway (admittedly, we're already in an alternative universe, but let's go there). How does Bernie govern? A virtual Republican like Obama couldn't find a single Republican vote for their health-care plan. How does Bernie, a Godless, Jewish Socialist, govern after Republicans declare war on his very person?

Politics is not a panacea for what ails our hearts. We are no better than the sum total of incoherent viewpoints that comprise this dream we call America. Bernie Sanders is not going to clarify our national purpose anymore than a sainted Abraham Lincoln could. Only we can do that. Only we can push the Overton Window to the left. Only we can get our voters to the polls at mid-term elections. Only we can demand greater income equality and less "defense" spending. Only can we push our errant stream of political madness in a direction of sanity. One person, any person, cannot do that. Only we can.

Bernie is a messiah in a country that no longer believes in collective effort. That in itself should be a sign that this will not end well. You want to take a short-cut? Take up yoga.

[Anon]

Bernie as a material vote recipient equals a republican president 2016.

[HMLS]

Sanders doesn't have what it takes to be elected in 2016, a billionaire benefactor.

[HMLS]

Portland is a good town for yoga.

[cal Lash]

Jerry c u in Urugay.

[Jerry McKenzie]

I don't think anyone sees Bernie as a messiah (or even a socialist -- at best he's an FDR Democrat). Indeed, without a Congress to support him, the USA will continue to be dead in the water and continue to suck the marrow out of the nation. As to HC, I don't expect anything at all from her but more of the same. Maybe we'll even get that war against Russia!

[RNC internal memo 999]

"Defense spending" is the outdated term. Going forward please refer to military spending as "Safety spending".

[Ruben Perez]

Cal, you are purposely misspelling the word so that it says

U...R....U....Gay ?

Someone is going to catch you.

[wkg_in_bham]

Not to be an alarmist, but good stuff to know…

From:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one

“Just north of the San Andreas, however, lies another fault line. Known as the Cascadia subduction zone, it runs for seven hundred miles off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, beginning near Cape Mendocino, California, continuing along Oregon and Washington, and terminating around Vancouver Island, Canada. The “Cascadia” part of its name comes from the Cascade Range, a chain of volcanic mountains that follow the same course a hundred or so miles inland. The “subduction zone” part refers to a region of the planet where one tectonic plate is sliding underneath (subducting) another. Tectonic plates are those slabs of mantle and crust that, in their epochs-long drift, rearrange the earth’s continents and oceans. Most of the time, their movement is slow, harmless, and all but undetectable. Occasionally, at the borders where they meet, it is not.”

[Rogue Columnist]

This was fully reported years ago by the Seattle Times’ Sandi Doughton — she also has a great book. But when the elite Eastern media figure something out, it’s BREAKING NEWS. So yesterday I was deluged with emails from friends around the country.

Yes, we’re doing fine. We also have a pet volcano, mudslides, wildfires and are a first-strike target because of the ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) base in Bangor. We live dangerously on the Ring of Fire. Sleepless, no.

[soleri]

Jerry, Bernie sees himself as a Socialist. Notice the capital S. I don't think there's anything wrong with this but I'm already very liberal. Much of the nation is easily spooked by the word, however.

I'm not a great fan of Hillary but if "more of the same" means pushing back against right-wing nihilism, I'll vote enthusiastically for her. Imagine what you'll get with another President Bush - more tax cuts for the rich, more cuts to the safety net, more hard-right Supreme Court justices, more defense spending, fewer environmental regulations, nothing on carbon, more corporate rule on Capitol Hill, and fewer privacy protections for women.

If that's not enough for you, then you're a purist for whom nothing is ever enough.

[Jerry McKenzie]

Soleri, as a progressive, I thought I would get that from President Obama too, but I am under no illusions as to who Hillary is for (we'll get a few bones casually tossed stage left for women and minorities). I am more cynic than purist.

[Ruben Perez]

Wkg, I've stood on the San andreas fault. One foot on one plate. One foot on the other plate.

All that happened is that half of me wanted seafood and the other half wanted beef.

Sadly, there wasn't a surf and turf restaurant within a hundred miles.

[Jerry McKenzie]

If there were a chain of San Andreas Fault Surf and Turf restaurants, would they be able to get insurance?

[Ruben Perez]

Sure, no problem.

They could even sell pastries.

You know, shake and bake.

( : - )

[Petro]

soleri - here's a more measured response than my tequila-fueled christ-on-a-crutch outburst last night:

There are times when extremism is called for, and is rewarded. I can't say for sure if these times are of that character, obviously, though I could probably make a good case for such a probability. But, who knows?

Sure, Sanders could be hobbled as Obama was, but we're talking about apples and oranges here, really. Barack had a few more liabilities (non-white, "Muslim") that the cretins could get a handle on. What do they have for Bernie? Socialist? Eh, I think this might be one of those times when the public might full-throatedly reject that as a derogation.

Now, what I have just said is a bit much, since I have serious doubts as to his ability to win the Democratic nomination (they're probably a sterner enemy than the GOP.) But, like I said - backing Bernie in the primaries is at least as utilitarian as Occupy*.

But, to get back to the fantasy - I'm not one of those fools who thinks a person is going to save the world. However, I would appreciate a Rooseveltian "now make me do it" president.

---

*Interesting how the pope seems to be inciting riots against capitalism. :)

[Petro]

One final note: If your world-view is more aligned with reality than mine - and that is a distinct possibility - then wounding Hillary from the left in the primaries will only enhance her campaign in the general election. "See, she deftly batted those DFH's down."

I have no interest in "pushing her to the left," since any such rhetoric she adopts to do so would be obviously specious, anyway. But, if the mood of the country is such that she feels the need to do that, then so be it. She is canny enough to make that calculation all on her own.

[Trust Fund Baby class of 2016]

We the people can show our solidarity with Bernie as the write in candidate.

Workers Unite!

[Petro]

Yea, write-in's are stupid, O Sarcastic One.

[cal Lash]

the pope has a lifetime subscription to Adbuster. And not the King James version.

[cal Lash]

PS, Go Petro.

[cal Lash]

Ruben I looked Uruguay up on Google. So I'm turning off spell ck. Urugay.

[soleri]

Petro, our problem on the left is not that we lack fire. It's that we lack the basic units of political mobilization except for The Democratic Party. Compromised as it is, it still remains the only organization capable of mounting a challenge to the corporate coup in America. The right, by contrast is full of evangelical churches, "think" tanks, astro-turf groups like the Tea Party, well-funded cause groups (NRA, etc), huge media (Murdoch empire, talk radio), and various hate groups. Our tendency, therefore, is to throw hail Marys, like Occupy, or deplete our advocacy in the Green movement, or with quasi-independent players like Bernie. There's a lot of energy here that gets squandered once the critical moment passes. That's why we should take care not to declare war on the Democrats since they're really the only organization we have.

I think it's telling that Bernie's wave is comprised largely of disaffected young white kids, many of whom have college degrees and are impatient with dinosaurs like Hillary or irrelevancies like Martin O'Malley and Jim Webb. But that impatience still needs an effective channel if it's going to make its impact felt and longer lasting. You want a more ideological party? One that gets its issues on the table and in the public square? The best thing you can is work inside the party and invigorate it.

I was involved in the Democratic Party in Arizona for several years so I know how easy it is to feel defeated by stasis and a citizenry that is more animated by racial hatred than economic injustice. After a while, it all felt uphill. I don't blame anyone for giving up, particularly since I gave up on Arizona altogether. Donald Trump is helping wake up the Hispanics to the fact that people on the right are a pretty hateful group of people, however. At some point, Republicans will reap the whirlwind.

50-50 America is breaking in our direction. We need to take care that we still have a party and organization ready to capitalize on this tectonic shift. I can't guarantee that the party will be uncontaminated by hucksters and greedheads. Money is still the mother's milk of politics and absence some financial angels without dirty hands, we'll probably still need Wall Street money. But at some point in the not-so-distant future, America becomes saner. That's the primary goal now. Get to a place where we're no longer wasting our breath debating emotionally-damaged crazies. Once the shift occurs, politics will stop feeling so desperate.

Every sane and kind person I know is a Democrat. This is our tribe. Don't feel ashamed of it or walk away from it. We're flawed creatures but we're on the team that understands social democracy, racial justice, environmental stewardship, and the basic carrying costs of society. If you're feeling besieged, take heart. We're going to win.

[Petro]

You know, soleri, I pretty much agree with everything you've said. This:

"...But at some point in the not-so-distant future, America becomes saner. That's the primary goal now. Get to a place where we're no longer wasting our breath debating emotionally-damaged crazies..."

If this is your pivot-point, I would say that we're just in disagreement over the timeline. Optimist me (or is that pessimist me?) thinks we're at that place now. The GOP seems pretty obviously crazy to me now - I mean more-so than usual, not just to us "sane" progressives, but to the country in general.

I suppose the outcome of the Sanders challenge will better inform the both of us just how close to "now" that place is.

I'm going to be at the Convention Center Saturday night to take the temperature of this very question - and I will be mightily resisting the knowledge that just a few short weeks ago the venue was filled with cosplaying superheros and aliens.

;)

[INPHX]

Soleri:

You guys understand the "basic carrying costs of society"??

How about these?

A trillion dollars of unfunded STATE pension liabilities.

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/07/15/Illinois-Not-Alone-States-Facing-1-Trillion-Pension-Shortfall

Well, not to worry. At least all of the federal government programs are paid for:

Oh, wait:

https://www.cbo.gov/publication/50250

Deficits as far as anyone can see.....

Tax your way out of that mess, genius.

Man- if increasing taxes and spending to try to dig out of those holes is winning, I'd hate to see what losing must look like.

[Petro]

INPHX:

The "deficit" is a fiction when you are printing the money. We get to choose how we allocate our resources. It's not like there's an accountant in the sky that's going to pull our funding.

It's a matter of priorities. Maybe something like "make sure all of us are happy and healthy and then you can consider a yacht or an annual Caribbean adventure."

When the wealthy stop hoarding their prize-money (mostly overseas,) and we're still in a "deficit," you can get back to me.