Deuce in Senate, Now Who's Ready To Serve For America?

So the Trump Insurrection failed, the disgraced POTUS and his white supremacist followers face trial, Anthony Fauci can at long last speak openly with the blessing of sound leaders (welcome to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris), and poetry has never been that supercool (O Say Can You See Amanda Gorman?).

But. 

Coronavirus destruction has yet to peak, Qanon propagandists have yet to mutate and splinter into new murderous sleeping cells, Obstructionist in Chief Mitch McConnell remains the most noxious politician in town, and the GOP has yet to declare its independence from its worst enemies from within (don't count on Kevin McCarthy, whose new blend of mccarhyism will forever associate the House GOP's legacy to that of the ultimate traitor). 

Can new budget chair Bernie Sanders balance Trump Era's kolossal deficits?

This time, GOP lawmakers won't go away with the outrageous elusive tactics they used for the 2020 impeachment. They'll have to decide how History will remember them by answering simple questions: is it okay for a President to incite an insurrection? can Donald Trump be allowed to run again for office?

I count on justice to at last catch up with Trump, his corrupt family, his enablers (Ted Cruz must go, but bigger fishes must as well), and all blends of hatemongers who preyed upon the desperate and the gullible.

blogules 2021
Since 2003, nonsensical posts about noncritical issues in nonenglish (get your blogules transfusion in French)
NEW: join blogules on Facebook!!! and Twitter (@stephanemot, @blogules)
Enjoyed my neuroses? Check my prose: dragedies.com.

A Democratic. National. Convention. With Mender In Chief Joe Biden.

Forget the confetti, forget the spin room, Zoom-in on issues and character. The 'Unconventional Convention' delivered the goods that matter.

'We The People' DNC 2020 will soon give way to 'Me Donald' RNC 2020, an alternative reality show where America will be pitched as stronger than ever, admired and respected overseas, her POTUS a winner, a strong, courageous patriot that will protect the people from a chaos like the World has never seen before. As if America weren't on her knees, despised overseas, her POTUS a pathetic failure, a coward narcissist that corrupts and bankrupts everything he touches, and the very person who keeps bringing and nurturing 'unpresidented' chaos. A sick joke that gets every day sicker and deadlier.

But let's get back to a Democratic National Convention that was all about Democracy, all about the Nation, all about Convening. 

 

Joe, Kamala, Michelle, Barack - one message: vote to save democracy, the constitution, the soul of a nation, and its future.

We saw all kinds of faces and faiths, we heard all kinds of voices (even from more significant Republicans than ever before), we felt all sources of positive and sustainable energy to tap into. We witnessed the cultural and political diversity that makes America truly great. 

Four pillars emerged*: Michelle and Barack Obama reaffirmed the moral and constitutional foundations, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris provided the platform for changes which they may not embody best themselves, but will do everything to enable as the next presidents of the United States**. They proved that they care, and that they know how to get things done. 

These four faces do not say 'we won' to Bernie or A.O.C., but 'we will win all together' to keep democracy and the debate alive. That's why Joe is the perfect president for this time. Because he knows he's not perfect, because everybody knows he's the ideal, non-ideological Mender in Chief, and because he already demonstrated that he could listen to and work with people like Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, or John McCain.

More urgent debates will arrive soon, even more thrilling; Meltdown Trump will need even more boxes of uppers as usual to confront the man he likes to depict as 'sleepy', and I can't wait to see Kamala face to face (no chaperones) with 'Cheerleader's Cheerleader' Mike Pence...

Beyond conventions and debates, democracy will only win if everybody votes on time. Massively. In every State. In every county and parish. In every town and township. And for that to happen, everybody must get ready now, make a plan to defeat the voter suppression campaigns led by Trump and his enablers.

blogules 2020
Since 2003, nonsensical posts about noncritical issues in nonenglish (get your blogules transfusion in French)
NEW: join blogules on Facebook!!! and Twitter (@stephanemot, @blogules)
Enjoyed my neuroses? Check my prose: dragedies.com.

* I'm not forgetting the formidable Jill Biden, both a pillar and the keystone.

** full disclosure: Kamala Harris was my favorite candidate during the primaries.

Ending the Trump-McConnell Era

Donald Trump is focusing on 4 priorities to secure his reelection:

• delaying the upcoming downturn to after November 2020, even if it means destroying US competitiveness to achieve it 
• building the new sections of the wall he promised, even if US taxpayers pay for it, and double if you consider the fact that he's taking on other budgets to do it (triple if you consider the fact that he's slashing security and military budgets). 
• positioning Democrats as socialist extremists, even if some oblige by doing it by themselves (exhibit A: Bernie Sanders) 
• preventing key demographics from voting, through classic voter suppression techniques (e.g. gerrymandering) as well as through his own trademark methods (e.g. turning politics into a disgusting circus, scaring minorities away with threats of ICE raids)

For the moment, DJT seems on a much better track than in 2016. The question is: this time, how much will he be allowed to compensate a likely loss in popular vote with help from the outside through hacking or election meddling?

Until the elections, he will get the opportunity to score some wins (the wall? USMCA? China?), but risks keep piling up (collateral loan obligations? China? House commissions? post-Mueller lawsuits? Jim Mattis?)...


On a more direct electoral front, Trump is facing a different Democratic field:
- the business-as-usual candidate isn't a clear leader anymore: Joe Biden's lagging too much behind Hillary Clinton in too many ways, except maybe in his miserable skills as a presidential candidate.
- the natural liberal candidate of 2016 seems to be at long last claiming the spot she abandoned to Sanders because Hillary decided to run again: Elizabeth Warren is an energizing candidate, and embodies change much more convincingly than Bernie, who in contrast looks like an old don Quixote great at barking at windmills, but unable to get them produce anything. Sanders still has the power to crash the party if he chooses to linger once more.
- Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg seem to settle for Veep positions, but a lot can happen until IA-NH. Warren-Buttigieg? Biden-Harris? Warren-Harris could kick some serious ass.

One good news for the Democrats: if defeating Trump remains the common goal, his impeachment is now on a dedicated track, and key issues look much better separated and visible. The POTUS doesn't need anyone to draw spotlights on immigration or climate change (great idea, to invite fellow G7 members to watch Hurricane Doral from the front seat next Summer), but Mitch McConnell has at last become a prime target on issues as critical as gun control or SCOTUS nominations (mass shooting or Ruth Bader Ginsburg health scares unfortunately coming as recurring reminders). 

It is essential to target the Trump-McConnell duo, because winning doesn't stop at the White House. You need to reclaim the Senate, and to restore some dignity there as well.


blogules 2019
Since 2003, nonsensical posts about noncritical issues in nonenglish (get your blogules transfusion in French)
NEW: join blogules on Facebook!!! and Twitter (@stephanemot, @blogules)

Politically Correct as in Post-Clinton

Donna Brazile's revelations* didn't come as a surprise. Everybody knew that the Clintons sank the party they helped reform a quarter of a century earlier. Well we knew for the political part, but the financial dimension is so much engrained in their fabric that this latest scandal makes perfect sense.

I don't feel sorry for Bernie Sanders, who would have lost anyway, but for a country that should never have lost its most vital institutions to its worst enemies.

I'm glad this comes out now. Not as a distraction to the Russia probe, but to silence Hillary, who hijacked the conversation thanks to her book tour, poisoning minds with the notion that the DNC remains totally under her spell. 

We badly need different voices. Obama yes, but only on rare occasions, and on essential issues. We don't need grandparents in the Pelosi - Biden - Sanders variety (if they're over 65, make them fun listening to, like Liz Warren or Al Franken - what a 2020 ticket!). We need fresh, new voices, like Kamala Harris, Chris Murphy, or better Deval Patrick, should he return to politics. And the Democratic Party must totally reform itself. Otherwise, the Barry Sanderses, Oprah Winfreys, or Mark Zuckerbergs will dance on its grave.

Can Al Franken draw the US electoral map as well?

Of course, same goes for Republicans, who must step into the post-Trump era before DJT destroys what's left of it. For the moment, the GOP's soul relies on a 81 year-old with brain cancer (John McCain), two senators on the way out (Jeff Flake with a better potential than filpflop Bob Corker), and the one cool guy who could change it all, Ben Sasse.


blogules 2017
Since 2003, nonsensical posts about noncritical issues in nonenglish (get your blogules transfusion in French)
NEW: join blogules on Facebook!!! and Twitter (@stephanemot, @blogules)

Follow Us

* "Inside Hillary Clinton’s Secret Takeover of the DNC" - Politico 20171102 exceprts from her book

DNC 2012 Day 1: Come Together, Now

If the 2012 Republican National Convention was all about getting at Obama and at each other's throats*, the 2012 Democratic National Convention reminded us from Day 1 the origin of the word "convention": literally "coming together".

Everybody is behind President Barack Obama, and everybody shares the same positive vision of America as a land open to opportunities, not a land confiscated by opportunists. Everybody looks forward with a man who is proud of his record and doesn't try to hide it.

The thing is that America's better off than when Obama took office except politically, and precisely because of the GOP's deliberate sabotage and systematic obstrusive tactics. RNC 2012 only highlighted internal wars, dogding key issues? DNC 2012 resolutely faced Afghanistan, war, and veteran issues, and Tammy Duckworth stood in front of Romney Duckforcover like a Brave in front of a Dodger.

Stacey Lihn also stood in front of Romney like a brave for her daughter Zoe, who owes her life to Obamacare and may lose it if Mitt were elected. Obama cares for you, Zoe. For Romney you're just a burden, some distant statistics. And each time Republicans talk against Obamacare, they point out the fact that Obama cares, and that Romney doesn't, that he simply doesn't get it.

Clint Eastwood couldn't find his words while talking to an empty chair? Ted K. slammed Mitt's Ks from his grave (Deval Patrick, Rommney's successor as Massachusetts Governor wrapped the Boston sandwich).

I'm glad I switched to CNN for the DNC: I could watch Ted Strickland's awesome one man show. Towards the end, I quickly zapped to check that FoxNews censored him in order to protect "Romney the outsourcing pioneer"... and that they aired boring Kathleen Sebelius instead. Thanks to CNN, I could bump into past and future comets, from Mike Dukakis to Kamala Harris.

I'm not always a fan of Rahm Emanuel, but I liked the way he summed-up Obama's score: General Motors alive, Bin Laden dead. Romney prefers General Motors dead and Bain Capital alive. GOP tried to sell Romney-Obama as Reagan-Carter*, but Mitt's not even Reagan's empty chair, and Barack and Michelle's siblings (Maya Soetoro-Ng & Craig Robinson) are leagues over Billy Carter!

Following Martin O'Malley's boring speach, Joaquin Castro woke up the audience, and Julian Castro rocked the house, nailing Mitt "flip-flop" Romney with the sweetest "actually..."

Michelle Obama clearly won the day. She's not just a great First Lady and Mom in Chief, but a wise politician and a fantastic leader. Where Ann Romney read a script and played a role*, Michelle Obama spoke her mind out, the most sincere and convincing way. She's the one who fights against obesity, not for fat profiteers. She's the one who stands for the 1% who matter: those defending the nation, not those dodging taxes and military duties. And she's the one who cleaned the White House after 2010, and put Obama back on tracks for 2012. Tonight, Michelle Obama connected, and smacked America's most powerful home run. Over the fence, beyond all divisions. The First Lady.

Truth is: Obamas care, Romney scares.

Come together, now.

blogules 2012
Since 2003, nonsensical posts about noncritical issues in nonenglish (get your blogules transfusion in French)
NEW: join blogules on Facebook!!!

* see "Total Un-Recall: RNC 2012 In Denial, Welcome to Tampa, FL (Fantasy Land)", followed by "Lies, damned lies, and RNCs" and "Romney's big night? A bitter sleeping pill"