A Preliminary Strategic Cultural Assessment of the US 2020 Political and Election Operating Environment

by Adam Silverman, writing for Balloon Juice
…
It is exceedingly important to understand the American operating environment in 2019 and going into 2020, especially for those planning on running for office or working on their campaigns, and to place their campaign strategies and planning, and, perhaps, their campaigns themselves within the context that the US is at war. Putin has made it very clear since 2014 that as far as he was concerned Russia was, at least, in a new cold war with the US and the US was the aggressor. And 2014 is around when he started to really ramp up his active measures and cyberwarfare campaign of information and psychological warfare against the US, the EU, and NATO. At the same time the US is also enmeshed in a low intensity internal war between revanchists who seek to establish a white Christian herrenvolk state and society and those that don’t. This is largely breaking along party lines. The Republicans, especially the base that supports the President, fighting for herrenvolkism. The Democratic Parties broad multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-religious coalition fighting against it. And Putin’s active measures campaign, his war against the US, is stoking the Republicans and seeking to demoralize and deactivate the Democrats. This is the theater of operations in which everything – from the primaries to the general election to senatorial and congressional elections to state and local elections – will take place over the next two years... read more.

Shut Down Webgrabs

David Martin Micky... Try to understand this. Your guy slashed taxes on the wealthiest Americans driving the deficit up to $779 billion, which must be borrowed at interest, raising the deficit even more. Now he wants $5 billion more to pay for a wall he promised us Mexico would pay for. And now you’re praising him for “saving billions”? Think again. Government shutdowns do not save anything. Workers who are now showing up to work without pay will have to be paid eventually. Projects that are put on hold will have to be completed. The delays will likely cost more in the long run. The good news is you don’t have to support him to be a conservative. There is nothing “conservative” about this man. He is rash, foolhardy, impulsive, and wasteful - the exact opposite of conservative. He tells you one thing then does or says something else - because he thinks you’re stupid. Please prove him wrong.

First Reaction: False Equivalency Edition

I can see the headline now: 

"25 HIGH SCHOOL KIDS KILLED BY MAN WITH CELL PHONE"

From The Comments, Welfare Edition

Robert Reich posted on Facebook a New York Times article about the impending stock market crash, of which he said, "A recession is on its way. But don't join Trump in blaming the Fed. The real problem is Trump himself: His tax cut for corporations and the wealthy -- almost exactly a year old -- were frittered away as corporations used their tax savings to buy back their own shares of stock, and the wealthy used theirs to gamble in the stock market. These steroids wore off as soon as the spending stopped. The rest of us are left holding the bag of a giant deficit. 
And Trump's trade war with China is causing the entire global economy to quake. No surprise there, either. When the largest and second-largest economies in the world collide, the losses are huge.

No, the Fed isn't doing this. Trump is. He took the credit for the stock market boom. But the odds he’ll accept responsibility for the bust are zero."

. From the comments: 

I have read many of the comments here, not all. Let me tell you how it works for the poor people who are not in the stock market. 15 years ago I was working making $50,000 a year. I had already worked for 20 years and I was doing well. 14 years ago I was in an accident that broke my body so bad that I was unable to work anymore. I had to apply for disability. During the time I had to wait and appeal (because they always turn you down the first time), I was forced to use my savings to live and pay bills, including doctor, hospital, and prescription bills. By the time my disability was approved, I had lost my house, all of my life savings, my wife, and had sold almost everything of value that I spent a lifetime acquiring. I kept my son who is the most valuable thing in my life so that was the only good thing that happened. So after the government made sure I was poor they started their ongoing effort to keep me poor. Just as they do with the elderly, disabled, and the rest of the poor in our country. My son and I found ourselves living on $1,000 a month. Of course, we had assistance with Medicare, Medicaid, and other social service programs. These were services that I had paid into my entire working life to ensure that I would have income in case something happened and I couldn't work. I paid my share of disability insurance premiums out of every paycheck, then had to fight my own government to get what I was promised. When Obama was in office things got a little better for us and it looked like we might be able to live with some dignity. When Trump was elected it seems like the first thing he and the Republicans tried to do was take the things away from us that we needed to survive. We rely on food stamps to eat, and I'm not ashamed of that. But people don't understand how that works. My son and I get less than $200.00 a month for food, they don't pay for any prepared food, or toiletries, household goods, or many of the other things needed to live. Even with food stamps and assistance, you are never allowed to get a dollar ahead. A good example is my $10.00 raise in my disability payment. The day after I got my 2019 statement showing my increase I received a letter saying my food stamp amount was reduced by $11.00 due to my raise. Now the Republicans want to cut my disability, they want to cut Medicare, Medicaid, reduce or end the food stamp program. They want to eliminate the prescription medications that control my pain and allow me to do things most people take for granted, like basic hygiene, and simple household duties. Since Trump was elected it appears that the Grand Old Party is engaged in an all-out war to kill me and people like me. When Obama was president I could go to sleep at night thinking that things were getting better for us. Now I go to bed and I can't sleep because my government is trying to kill me, and everyone else who isn't rich, white, and male. So how well the stock market is doing is a worthless measure for people like us. I know the economy directly affects all of us but those of us at the bottom don't celebrate when the rich get richer. I get tired of hearing that people in my situation are the problem in this country. I get tired of being called a taker for using the programs that are in place to assist people like me. I'm tired of my own government giving trillions to the rich, paying for more than a dozen wars, and conflicts around the world that we have no business being involved in, and giving money away to foreign countries while taking it away from American citizens. All in all, I'm just tired of our country being run by a bunch of old, white millionaires who are so power mad that they don't care if the country goes to hell, as long as they are in charge when it does. - Jim Schoeff

The Non-Citizen Welfare Recipiants of Foxworld

In Foxworld, non-citizens are able to get welfare and free medical care, 

and that's why "illegals" (yes, there are Fascists living in Foxworld) like

living in America so much.

First Reaction: Gun Control Edition

Soo... if the Government tells me they're going to tear down my house to build a highway,

who do I shoot? 

Snagged from Facebook: Always Been A Liberal

A friend forwarded this on Facebook:

“I've always been a liberal, but that doesn't mean what a lot of you apparently think it does.

Let's break it down, shall we? Because quite frankly, I'm getting a little tired of being told what I believe and what I stand for. Spoiler alert: Not every liberal is the same, though the majority of liberals I know think along roughly these same lines:

1. I believe a country should take care of its weakest members. A country cannot call itself civilized when its children, disabled, sick, and elderly are neglected. Period.

2. I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Somehow that's interpreted as "I believe Obamacare is the end-all, be-all." This is not the case. I'm fully aware that the ACA has problems, that a national healthcare system would require everyone to chip in, and that it's impossible to create one that is devoid of flaws, but I have yet to hear an argument against it that makes "let people die because they can't afford healthcare" or "if you can't afford insurance and you get sick you have to declare bankruptcy" a better alternative. I believe healthcare should be far cheaper than it is, and that everyone should have access to it. And no, I'm not opposed to paying higher taxes in the name of making that happen.

3. I believe education should be affordable and accessible to everyone. It doesn't necessarily have to be free (though it works in other countries so I'm mystified as to why it can't work in the US), but at the end of the day, there is no excuse for students graduating college saddled with five- or six-figure debt.

4. I don't believe your money should be taken from you and given to people who don't want to work. I have literally never encountered anyone who believes this. Ever. I just have a massive moral problem with a society where a handful of people can possess the majority of the wealth while there are people literally starving to death, freezing to death, or dying because they can't afford to go to the doctor. Fair wages, lower housing costs, universal healthcare, affordable education, and the wealthy actually paying their share would go a long way toward alleviating this. Somehow believing that makes me a communist.

5. I don't throw around "I'm willing to pay higher taxes" lightly. If I'm suggesting something that involves paying more, well, it's because I'm fine with paying my share as long as it's actually going to something besides lining corporate pockets or bombing other countries while Americans die without healthcare.

6. I believe companies should be required to pay their employees a decent, livable wage. Somehow this is always interpreted as me wanting burger flippers to be able to afford a penthouse apartment and a Mercedes. What it actually means is that no one should have to work three full-time jobs just to keep their head above water. Restaurant servers should not have to rely on tips, multibillion-dollar companies should not have employees on food stamps, workers shouldn't have to work themselves into the ground just to barely make ends meet, and minimum wage should be enough for someone to work 40 hours and live.

7. I am not anti-Christian. I have no desire to stop Christians from being Christians, to close churches, to ban the Bible, to forbid prayer in school, etc. (BTW, prayer in school is NOT illegal; *compulsory* prayer in school is - and should be - illegal). All I ask is that Christians recognize everyone’s right to live according to their own individual beliefs. When I get pissed off that a politician is trying to legislate Scripture into law, I'm not "offended by Christianity" -- I'm offended that someone is trying to force people to live by their own religion's rules. You know how you get really upset at the thought of Muslims imposing Sharia law on you? That's how I feel about Christians trying to impose biblical law on others. Be a Christian. Do your thing. Just don't force it on others.

8. I don't believe LGBT people should have more rights than you. I just believe they should have the *same* rights as you.

9. I don't believe illegal immigrants should come to America and have the world at their feet, especially since THIS ISN'T WHAT THEY DO (spoiler: undocumented immigrants are ineligible for all those programs they're supposed to be abusing, and if they're "stealing" your job it's because your employer is hiring illegally). I'm not opposed to deporting people who are here illegally, but I believe there are far more humane ways to handle undocumented immigration than our current practices (i.e., detaining children, splitting up families, ending DACA, etc).

10. I don't believe the government should regulate everything, but since greed is such a driving force in our country, we NEED regulations to prevent cut corners, environmental destruction, tainted food/water, unsafe materials in consumable goods or medical equipment, etc. It's not that I want the government's hands in everything -- I just don't trust people trying to make money to ensure that their products/practices/etc. are actually SAFE. Is the government devoid of shadiness? Of course not. But with those regulations in place, consumers have recourse if they're harmed and companies are liable for medical bills, environmental cleanup, etc. Just kind of seems like common sense when the alternative to government regulation is letting companies bring their bottom line into the equation.

11. I believe our current administration is fascist. Not because I dislike them or because I can’t get over an election, but because I've spent too many years reading and learning about the Third Reich to miss the similarities. Not because any administration I dislike must be Nazis, but because things are actually mirroring authoritarian and fascist regimes of the past.

12. I believe the systemic racism and misogyny in our society is much worse than many people think, and desperately needs to be addressed. Which means those with privilege -- white, straight, male, economic, etc. -- need to start listening, even if you don't like what you're hearing, so we can start dismantling everything that's causing people to be marginalized.

13. I am not interested in coming after your blessed guns, nor is anyone serving in government. What I am interested in is sensible policies, including background checks, that just MIGHT save one person’s, perhaps a toddler’s, life by the hand of someone who should not have a gun.

14. I believe in so-called political correctness. I prefer to think it’s social politeness. If I call you Chuck and you say you prefer to be called Charles I’ll call you Charles. It’s the polite thing to do. Not because everyone is a delicate snowflake, but because as Maya Angelou put it, when we know better, we do better. When someone tells you that a term or phrase is more accurate/less hurtful than the one you're using, you now know better. So why not do better? How does it hurt you to NOT hurt another person?

15. I believe in funding sustainable energy, including offering education to people currently working in coal or oil so they can change jobs. There are too many sustainable options available for us to continue with coal and oil. Sorry, billionaires. Maybe try investing in something else.

16. I believe that women should not be treated as a separate class of human. They should be paid the same as men who do the same work, should have the same rights as men and should be free from abuse. Why on earth shouldn’t they be?

17. Just because I am Pro-Choice doesn’t make me “Pro-Abortion”. It’s a woman’s body and it is her choice. I also believe that since abortion is so frowned upon, that birth control should be available to anyone who needs it.. it should be covered. Just as in many instances ED meds are.

I think that about covers it. Bottom line is that I'm a liberal, because I think we should take care of each other. That doesn't mean you should work 80 hours a week so your lazy neighbor can get all your money. It just means I don't believe there is any scenario in which preventable suffering is an acceptable outcome as long as money is saved.

So, I'm a liberal.

Shawn Patterson