The eternal US elections - 2016 edition

[YMix]

The stealthy, Eric Schmidt-backed startup that’s working to put Hillary Clinton in the White House

[Typhoon]

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Reason | Is America Ready for a Scientologist President?

My guess is that Scientology will one day end up as a mainstream religion.

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You Scientologist


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Never. I'm a Happy Scientist.

[monster_gardener]

The stealthy, Eric Schmidt-backed startup that’s working to put Hillary Clinton in the White House

Thank You VERY Much for your post, YMix

Interesting..........

Am reminded of the collaboration between the Business Community/Trusts & the Republican Party in the 19th Century.......

Till Teddy Roosevelt became President.....

Wondering if this may be going even further........


FWIW I have been advised to use DuckDuckGo rather than Google because DuckDuckGo doesn't track searches.......

https://duckduckgo.com/

[Nastarana]

Having now seen the Democratic debate, I can say that news looks good for Mr. Perfect and the Republicans if they can field a creditable candidate. This is the weakest Democratic lineup I have ever seen. All five are Eastern and old. Mme. Clinton looked and sounded dreadful. I know it is unfair to use categories, looks, dress, to judge female politicians which are not normally not applied to their masculine counterpoints, but, one would think, that in going on 40 years in public life, she might have learned how to present and conduct herself in public.

Lincoln Chaffee. God knows what that is all about.

Martin O'Malley. Seems to have been brought in to convince Catholics to vote for Democrats. He may have been promised a cabinet position.

Jim Webb. I used to think well of him, but clearly, the resume is not the man. I did kind of like the opening statement, in which he was at pains to point out that, unlike SOME persons we could mention, HIS exotic foreign wife is NOT a shallow, shopaholic tart. But, she is also wife number 3, not good as far as American women are concerned. Men, if you aspire to the presidency of the USA, you are well advised to stick it out with wife number 1, or 2 at the most.

Senator Sanders, the guy soaking up Mme. Clinton's oxygen at the moment, was the only person on stage who sounded like he actually cared about what he was saying. If only he were ten years younger.

Poor Mme. Clinton. After decades of both Clintons sucking up to Israel and its allies in every possible way, there is an actual Jewish guy running against her, and making her look like the fool she is. When the man who is a long time fixture on New York State public broadcasting, and the public voice of the New York State Jewish establishment says he has already announced his preference, he is voting for Bernie, I don't think that bodes well for the Clinton candidacy.

The one significant moment, I would suggest, came when Cooper tried to trip up Sanders on gun control. In the ensuing crosstalk, Sanders pointed out that he represents a rural state in the Senate (he is, BTW, the only candidate who currently holds any kind of office, or any job at all, as far as I know). Friend of Monsanto Clinton snapped, this is not about rural vs. urban. Actually, that is exactly what it is about, the phrase 'gun control' for Democrats being a symbol for those dippy hippy crazies who want to outlaw GMOs and stop the Keystone pipeline. Who would have thought a Jewish guy who grew up in Brooklyn would emerge as the spokesman for voters who care about food and environment issues.



The Democratic Party's rising stars, Warren, Cuomo, Tester, Klobuchar, Merkeley, McCaskill et al, had better get it together and soon, or they may not have a national party at all any more.

[manolo]

Just a thought.

Foreign policy has since WW2 not been easy for the U.S. Many wars and interventions have been lost, proven futile or created way more problems than they solved. After W Bush, now also Obama is grilled and accused over his foreign policies notably in the Meddle East and North Africa. Failures. How well informed is Obama's fp team?

Parodite,

just noticed your "Meddle East". Nice one.

Alex.

[Simple Minded]

Having now seen the Democratic debate, I can say that news looks good for Mr. Perfect and the Republicans if they can field a creditable candidate. This is the weakest Democratic lineup I have ever seen. All five are Eastern and old. Mme. Clinton looked and sounded dreadful. I know it is unfair to use categories, looks, dress, to judge female politicians which are not normally not applied to their masculine counterpoints, but, one would think, that in going on 40 years in public life, she might have learned how to present and conduct herself in public.

Lincoln Chaffee. God knows what that is all about.

Martin O'Malley. Seems to have been brought in to convince Catholics to vote for Democrats. He may have been promised a cabinet position.

Jim Webb. I used to think well of him, but clearly, the resume is not the man. I did kind of like the opening statement, in which he was at pains to point out that, unlike SOME persons we could mention, HIS exotic foreign wife is NOT a shallow, shopaholic tart. But, she is also wife number 3, not good as far as American women are concerned. Men, if you aspire to the presidency of the USA, you are well advised to stick it out with wife number 1, or 2 at the most.

Senator Sanders, the guy soaking up Mme. Clinton's oxygen at the moment, was the only person on stage who sounded like he actually cared about what he was saying. If only he were ten years younger.

Poor Mme. Clinton. After decades of both Clintons sucking up to Israel and its allies in every possible way, there is an actual Jewish guy running against her, and making her look like the fool she is. When the man who is a long time fixture on New York State public broadcasting, and the public voice of the New York State Jewish establishment says he has already announced his preference, he is voting for Bernie, I don't think that bodes well for the Clinton candidacy.

The one significant moment, I would suggest, came when Cooper tried to trip up Sanders on gun control. In the ensuing crosstalk, Sanders pointed out that he represents a rural state in the Senate (he is, BTW, the only candidate who currently holds any kind of office, or any job at all, as far as I know). Friend of Monsanto Clinton snapped, this is not about rural vs. urban. Actually, that is exactly what it is about, the phrase 'gun control' for Democrats being a symbol for those dippy hippy crazies who want to outlaw GMOs and stop the Keystone pipeline. Who would have thought a Jewish guy who grew up in Brooklyn would emerge as the spokesman for voters who care about food and environment issues.



The Democratic Party's rising stars, Warren, Cuomo, Tester, Klobuchar, Merkeley, McCaskill et al, had better get it together and soon, or they may not have a national party at all any more.

Nastarana,

Not a bad assessment, IMSMO. As one born at the end of the Baby Boomer generation, Clinton and Sanders remind me of the angry, white, frustrated, middle class hippy Baby Boomers of my youth who were 10-20 years older than I.

As a resident of NY state for 30 years, the current "there's no room for anyone but Hilary" aspect of the DNC machine operation reminds me of Hilary becoming the replacement senator for Moynihan. No doubt there were many people from NY waiting in the wings for a decade or more for Moynihan to retire. But strangely the former first lady from Arkansas got the job.

Population density does seem to be the key dividing line between the parties. Much more than ideology, based on my interactions with members of both parties.

I would like to see the implementation of a law that forbids any current office holders from running for office while employed as an office holder. Example: any current senator, governor, or president must run for office only after they are out of office. If the current position you have is important, how can you do it while devoting time to campaigning?

I think preventing consecutive terms of any office, and thereby preventing a sitting senator, governor, president, etc. from running for re-election, or any other office would be more effective than terms limits. If you did your job well, you will get elected again. If the new guy was better, he just raised the bar.

[Nastarana]

Simpleminded, I suppose you do know that Sen Gillibrand is a Hillary groupie. Not only does the former First Lady get a senate seat held for her, she also got to handpick her replacement.

[Simple Minded]

Simpleminded, I suppose you do know that Sen Gillibrand is a Hillary groupie. Not only does the former First Lady get a senate seat held for her, she also got to handpick her replacement.

Very, very interestink! as Artie Johnson used to say!

It will be interesting to see how this all moves forward, several females I know who describe themselves as strong, Liberal, Democrats claim that women en masse will not vote for Hilary. I do not know if their opinions are typical, but they are all in their mid 50's so I would not assume they know the opinions of the other generations.

Other than the NYT, and CNN, the American MSM does not seem too keen on Hilary. I think she may have bitch slapped them a few too many times. Those who consider themselves king/queen makers demand recognition.

I think if Biden gets in, Hilary is out of the running within days. The back room discussions must be fascinating.

[Parodite]

Parodite,

just noticed your "Meddle East". Nice one.

Alex.

Another nice one is "Muddled East" (Tm Typhoon). A swamp that tends to suck you in and digest you into something else.

[Nastarana]

Simpleminded, I suppose you do know that Sen Gillibrand is a Hillary groupie. Not only does the former First Lady get a senate seat held for her, she also got to handpick her replacement.

Very, very interestink! as Artie Johnson used to say!

It will be interesting to see how this all moves forward, several females I know who describe themselves as strong, Liberal, Democrats claim that women en masse will not vote for Hilary. I do not know if their opinions are typical, but they are all in their mid 50's so I would not assume they know the opinions of the other generations.

Other than the NYT, and CNN, the American MSM does not seem too keen on Hilary. I think she may have bitch slapped them a few too many times. Those who consider themselves king/queen makers demand recognition.

I think if Biden gets in, Hilary is out of the running within days. The back room discussions must be fascinating.

She had to be promised the State Dept. last time around. What is she holding out for this time, Pres of the World Bank maybe?

[manolo]

Parodite,

just noticed your "Meddle East". Nice one.

Alex.

Another nice one is "Muddled East" (Tm Typhoon). A swamp that tends to suck you in and digest you into something else.

Parodite,

This happened to the Wehrmacht in the Pripet marshes.

Alex.

[Simple Minded]

She had to be promised the State Dept. last time around. What is she holding out for this time, Pres of the World Bank maybe?

I never thought of that. Being both Secretary of State and involved with the Clinton Foundation, has been a boon to fund raising. And she often shrieks against "special interests" in DC......

[Nastarana]

No less than JHK agrees pretty much with my assessment of the Democratic debates.

http://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/ ... -fix-this/

Kunstler has just, it would seem, figured out that Israel is about to loose its last, best (onliest?) ally to some sort of new civil war. Unfortunately for Kunstler, et al, the people who have positioned themselves to benefit, Mexicans, Chinese, are unlikely to care about Israel or its "right to exist". The neocon operatives wanted to see the world drenched in blood--talk about being careful what you wish for!

[Typhoon]

Say it ain't so, Joe.

[Typhoon]

No less than JHK agrees pretty much with my assessment of the Democratic debates.

http://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/ ... -fix-this/

Kunstler has just, it would seem, figured out that Israel is about to loose its last, best (onliest?) ally to some sort of new civil war. Unfortunately for Kunstler, et al, the people who have positioned themselves to benefit, Mexicans, Chinese, are unlikely to care about Israel or its "right to exist". The neocon operatives wanted to see the world drenched in blood--talk about being careful what you wish for!

Kunstler is an entertaining read, especially his section on obscene modern architecture.

His Mommy and Daddy analysis is spot on.

However, like virtually all pundits, his

après moi, le déluge

predictions to-date can be summed up as not even wrong.

[Simple Minded]

Good ole Peggy.

Two Departures and a Grilling
Stephen Harper loses, Joe Biden bows out, and Mrs. Clinton survives the Benghazi Committee.

By
Peggy Noonan

Oct. 22, 2015 7:52 p.m. ET

An interesting question for history is who was the real leader of the West the past half-dozen years, Angela Merkel of Germany or Canada’s Stephen Harper, voted out this week after almost 10 years as prime minister. His great success was in helping bring his country through and past the global meltdown of 2008. He was loyal to Western principles and a friend of America even when, as in recent years, its leaders’ decisions left him doubting and dismayed.

A general rule of politics: After 10 years they are going to throw you out. But the vote was overwhelming after a charmless, dour campaign. The incoming prime minister is the 43-year-old son of charismatic former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Justin Trudeau has been a snowboard instructor, schoolteacher, bartender, bouncer, speaker on environmental and youth issues, and advocate for avalanche safety. Sensing “generational change” and gravitating toward “a life of advocacy,” he entered politics and served two terms in Parliament. He has been head of the Liberal Party two years. He is handsome, has a winning personality, exhibited message discipline during the campaign, and is a talented dancer. There’s a sense we in the West have entered a new screwball phase. Watching Mr. Trudeau’s victory speech, I remembered the columnist Dorothy Thompson reaction on watching the newly inaugurated President John F. Kennedy. There’s something not fully stable there, she thought. But we have to let history do what it enjoys doing, which is surprising us.

Joe Biden’s decision not to run for president left me sad. He would have enlivened things. He has always reminded me of what Democrats were like when I was a kid—kind of normal and earthy and fun. They did not spend their time endlessly accusing people of being sexist-racist-homophobic-gender-biased persons of unchecked privilege. They would have thought that impolite.

I can’t imagine Joe Biden ever needed an image consultant to coach him on how to be himself. As if he had a choice.

Going in, the question about Hillary Clinton and the Benghazi Committee was: How will she come out? Would she emerge triumphant, bruised, stronger, exposed? How would the Republicans, who’ve proved themselves largely hapless in grilling those involved in various scandals, do this time? In 2013, in front of a Senate committee, Mrs. Clinton blunted attacks with her dramatic rhetorical question: “What difference, at this point, does it make?” When I watched I thought, “She just won.” But afterward “What difference does it make?” became a kind of shorthand for high-handed theatrics. It is hard to judge the impact of most Clinton performances in real time because Mrs. Clinton is a practiced actress and it takes people time to figure whether they believed the act or not.

Her goal was clearly to take all comers and end this. She wanted to make the Republicans look like tiresome obsessives, which usually wouldn’t be hard.

She took her seat in the hearing room handsomely coiffed, beautifully made up, wearing a sober, dark high-end pantsuit. Young journalists tell me I’m not allowed to describe how she’s dressed or whether she looks tired (no, well-rested) or stressed (no, cool as a cucumber). I tell them if they’re going to be journalists they can’t start out as word cops. Nor should they in their work put politically correct limits on their ability to describe a scene. If you mean to be a craftsman, you cannot start your career as a censor.

Chairman Trey Gowdy (nondescript suit, hair under control) wasted no time: “We are going to pursue the truth in a manner worthy of the memory of the four men who lost their lives.” He set a tone not of theatrics but factuality. He defended his committee’s investigation by asserting previous congressional probes had not been “serious” or “thorough” because they lacked sufficient access to relevant documents.

This undercut Mrs. Clinton’s ability to make points by repeating, as she has recently, that this is the eighth investigation. Mr. Gowdy cleverly brought up Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s witless comment suggesting the purpose of the investigation had been to damage her popularity. He blunted every charge and complaint he knew she was about to make.

She sat blank-faced, furiously thinking.

Elijah Cummings, the panel’s ranking Democrat, said in his statement the investigation is political, a “taxpayer-funded fishing expedition.” Having watched him in hearings the past few years I cannot determine whether his chronic umbrage is real or feigned.

In Mrs. Clinton’s opening statement she spoke slowly, in a calm, lower-register voice. When she spoke with personal warmth of the late ambassador, Chris Stevens, she was actress-y in a way you’d like if you like her and not if you don’t.

The preamble was meant to posit her as a person who felt authentic pain at what had happened in a way that suggested she’s suffered enough

She then perhaps cheekily pivoted to what we can learn from the tragedy. This was meant to establish her deep experience and command and was occasionally off-point: “Retreat from the world is not an option.” She evoked the Reagan-era deaths of 258 Americans in the Beirut Marine barracks and, more cleverly, security failures in the administrations of her husband and of George W. Bush. That was meant to make Benghazi—only four dead—look comparatively insignificant.

The first hour-and-a-half seemed to focus on niggling things, as if no one could get their hands on the thread. Viewers at home may have given up. Then the pace quickened. There were hundreds of requests regarding security issues in Benghazi in 2012, and Mrs. Clinton said not one reached her desk. This is remarkable. A secretary of state who supported a military action that unleashed chaos and sends her friend, the ambassador, into that chaos has no awareness of his requests for more security? Sidney Blumenthal had her personal email address but Chris Stevens didn’t?

There were substantive fireworks when Rep. Jim Jordan suggested the administration used a protest over an anti-Islam video as a cover story for what Mrs. Clinton knew to be a planned and deliberate terrorist attack. He suggested a motive: The attack came less than two months before the 2012 election. He presented proof she knew Benghazi wasn’t a popular protest about a video. She never really answered the charges, falling back on quickly unfolding events, confusion, a fluid situation. She dodged, and it was obvious. “I wrote a whole chapter about this in my book,” she attempted. She pretended the line of questioning was an insult to those who died. No, it was an insult to her. She was passive-aggressive: “I’m sorry that it doesn’t fit your narrative, Congressman.” She later spoke of how wounding it is to have one’s assertions received with such skepticism. This was unpersuasive.

How did she do? How did they do? The Republicans were able interrogators. For Mrs. Clinton it was mixed. At moments she was poised and in command, at others more scattered and scrambling. She has considerable faith in her talent for double talk. She suffered through and survived, and will soon be saying what she wanted to say: I took any and all questions, there is nothing to add, the issue has been addressed. Next.

[manolo]

Folks,

Hillary "unscathed", or as a commentator on the BBC world service said, "They didn't lay a glove on her".

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015 ... ur-stretch

Alex.

[Typhoon]

Folks,

Hillary "unscathed", or as a commentator on the BBC world service said, "They didn't lay a glove on her".

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015 ... ur-stretch

Alex.

Consulting the Grauniad for their opinion of Ms. Clinton is like asking one's barber if one is in need of a haircut.

[manolo]

Consulting the Grauniad for their opinion of Ms. Clinton is like asking one's barber if one is in need of a haircut.

Typhoon,

Are you suggesting that there is bias in the press?

Alex.

[Simple Minded]

Consulting the Grauniad for their opinion of Ms. Clinton is like asking one's barber if one is in need of a haircut.

Typhoon,

Are you suggesting that there is bias in the press?

Alex.

Shirely, not bias, but perhaps, self-interest?

[noddy]

i can easily count more than two anusi at el gradiun, they are mayhaps dodecahedronassed.

[manolo]

Shirely, not bias, but perhaps, self-interest?

SM,

That's a fair point. I can see why an English newspaper readership might favour a prosperous and stable nation over the pond. Such outcome would be in everyone's interests.

Alex.

[Simple Minded]

Shirely, not bias, but perhaps, self-interest?

SM,

That's a fair point. I can see why an English newspaper readership might favour a prosperous and stable nation over the pond. Such outcome would be in everyone's interests.

Alex.

Give thanks to the agnostic god for the existence of that 3000 mile wide moat. The English, Irish, Germans, and French who come here get corrupted by the dark side, Shirley, one who can afford neither pants nor underwear would also fall prey.......

[Mr. Perfect]

Having now seen the Democratic debate, I can say that news looks good for Mr. Perfect and the Republicans if they can field a creditable candidate. This is the weakest Democratic lineup I have ever seen. All five are Eastern and old. Mme. Clinton looked and sounded dreadful. I know it is unfair to use categories, looks, dress, to judge female politicians which are not normally not applied to their masculine counterpoints, but, one would think, that in going on 40 years in public life, she might have learned how to present and conduct herself in public.

Lincoln Chaffee. God knows what that is all about.

Martin O'Malley. Seems to have been brought in to convince Catholics to vote for Democrats. He may have been promised a cabinet position.

Jim Webb. I used to think well of him, but clearly, the resume is not the man. I did kind of like the opening statement, in which he was at pains to point out that, unlike SOME persons we could mention, HIS exotic foreign wife is NOT a shallow, shopaholic tart. But, she is also wife number 3, not good as far as American women are concerned. Men, if you aspire to the presidency of the USA, you are well advised to stick it out with wife number 1, or 2 at the most.

Senator Sanders, the guy soaking up Mme. Clinton's oxygen at the moment, was the only person on stage who sounded like he actually cared about what he was saying. If only he were ten years younger.

Poor Mme. Clinton. After decades of both Clintons sucking up to Israel and its allies in every possible way, there is an actual Jewish guy running against her, and making her look like the fool she is. When the man who is a long time fixture on New York State public broadcasting, and the public voice of the New York State Jewish establishment says he has already announced his preference, he is voting for Bernie, I don't think that bodes well for the Clinton candidacy.

The one significant moment, I would suggest, came when Cooper tried to trip up Sanders on gun control. In the ensuing crosstalk, Sanders pointed out that he represents a rural state in the Senate (he is, BTW, the only candidate who currently holds any kind of office, or any job at all, as far as I know). Friend of Monsanto Clinton snapped, this is not about rural vs. urban. Actually, that is exactly what it is about, the phrase 'gun control' for Democrats being a symbol for those dippy hippy crazies who want to outlaw GMOs and stop the Keystone pipeline. Who would have thought a Jewish guy who grew up in Brooklyn would emerge as the spokesman for voters who care about food and environment issues.

More or less. I was amazed that no one but Hillary is actually running for President. You still get surprises here and there.

The Democratic Party's rising stars, Warren, Cuomo, Tester, Klobuchar, Merkeley, McCaskill et al, had better get it together and soon, or they may not have a national party at all any more.

Ehh, these people aren't rising stars. The Democrats are finished.

[Heracleum Persicum]

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Why Trump Matters

Something startling is happening to middle-aged white Americans. Unlike every other age group, unlike every other racial and ethnic group, unlike their counterparts in other rich countries, death rates in this group have been rising, not falling.

That finding was reported Monday by two Princeton economists, Angus Deaton, who last month won the 2015 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science, and Anne Case. Analyzing health and mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and from other sources, they concluded that rising annual death rates among this group are being driven not by the big killers like heart disease and diabetes but by an epidemic of suicides and afflictions stemming from substance abuse: alcoholic liver disease and overdoses of heroin and prescription opioids.

The analysis by Dr. Deaton and Dr. Case may offer the most rigorous evidence to date of both the causes and implications of a development that has been puzzling demographers in recent years: the declining health and fortunes of poorly educated American whites. In middle age, they are dying at such a high rate that they are increasing the death rate for the entire group of middle-aged white Americans, Dr. Deaton and Dr. Case found.

The mortality rate for whites 45 to 54 years old with no more than a high school education increased by 134 deaths per 100,000 people from 1999 to 2014.

“It is difficult to find modern settings with survival losses of this magnitude,” wrote two Dartmouth economists, Ellen Meara and Jonathan S. Skinner, in a commentary to the Deaton-Case analysis to be published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“Wow,” said Samuel Preston, a professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert on mortality trends and the health of populations, who was not involved in the research. “This is a vivid indication that something is awry in these American households.”

Dr. Deaton had but one parallel. “Only H.I.V./AIDS in contemporary times has done anything like this,” he said.

I had already posted that NYT article.

My prediction is , Trump and Hillary will fight it out .. Hillary probably will lose

You might be looking @ President Trump.

Another disaster in making.


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