Category: Politics

  • Coronavirus, Gig Economy, and Deaths of Despair

    To my surprise, when I woke up this morning and started to read the news, Charlie Warzel wrote a piece about how the coronavirus quarantines are affecting people along class lines disproportionally. (I hate to brag, but I pretty much said the same thing a little while ago.) Affluent people will not suffer the same way people who have to work will, and also the gig economy is now structured so that others have to support the ones who stay home.

    And then to make this a really happy Friday, the New York Times also had a story on how working-class Americans, those who do not have a four-year college degree, are dying in higher numbers to “deaths of despair” which is defined by death due to alcohol, drugs or suicide. The data is striking and rather scary. There is a lot to unpack here, and I suggest that you read it.

    All of it is important, but what jumped out at me are two data points about how working-class Americas are less likely to be married and to go to church. The stereotype for as long as I can remember has been the opposite; working class America was the church going and family values people. If that notion is now turned on its head, does that mean that “values voters” are now college educated liberals?

    What all of this reminds me of is what Studs Terkel always said about the importance of solid, reliable, dignified work, and how that is the cornerstone of communities. That a worker needs to know that their job will be there tomorrow, that they will be paid a fair wage, and that they are respected for the work they accomplish.

    Right now, the data is showing that this doesn’t exist anymore for working class Americans, and they are getting pushed into gig economy roles, which is clearly becoming a second-class worker in America.

  • Biden Is Winning, Now Walk the Walk People

    Okay… I have to admit it, and be honest about it; Joe Biden did it. He hasn’t clinched the nomination, but he did the things you need to do to win. Biden had the turn out, grew his supporters, and outperformed everyone’s expectations.

    I am a Bernie supporter, and I do believe that we need to make serious, major changes in this country. The only candidate I see who has the resolve to do that is Bernie. I know he’s not out of it, but all of us in the Sanders camp have to take a very hard look at the fact that the youth vote didn’t show up, which was a huge kick in the crotch. And though in roads were made with the Latino vote coming out, no other demographic voting block grew for Sanders, which makes it look like Bernie has hit a ceiling. It hurts to say that, but those are the facts.

    What I really took away from Biden doing so well is that the idea of beating Trump is more important to Democrats than changing the fundamental structure the country. Basically, when it comes to policy, Biden is saying that he will be a third Obama term with tweaks. I wish that weren’t true, but it’s what happened.

    Now, I will hold out hope for Bernie, but I am fully prepared to do what I had asked moderates to do is Bernie won; I will support Joe, and I will work towards his election.

  • DNC Tries to Stop Bernie: Don’t Deny the People Their Choice

    I never held much stock in the idea that centrist Democrats would actually band together and try to stop Bernie from getting the nomination, but after Pete, Beto, and Amy all showed up for Biden yesterday, I am beginning to think that a fix, though not in, might be in the works.

    When I read Michelle Goldberg this morning, and her take is that Bernie cannot attract new voters to win against Trump, it really started to sink in how much Bernie scares the crap out of mainstream Democrats.

    For this piece, I will do a thought exercise. This is not what I currently believe, but I want to do an experiment.

    Let’s just say that all of the middle of the road Democrats all are right about Bernie; if Sanders gets the nomination, he loses to Trump. Well, how did that happen and what does that mean?

    If the centrists continue down their path of trying to pack the vote against Bernie, and create a contested convention where Sanders loses the nomination, then the centrists have just handed Trump a victory. It plays into the narrative that “elitists” know better than the people, and that’s how democracy dies, they would say. Also, if the Democrats do this, then the majority of Bernie supporters won’t show up. (They did it in 2016, remember?) Finally, it sends the message to the people of this country that incremental to no change is better. Sadly, mainstream Democrats aren’t listening to the rest of this country who are actually hurting, which is why they are looking for a Bernie to shake things up. That was a big reason why people voted for Trump, and the mainstream Republicans tried to do the same thing to derail that nomination. They failed and we got Trump.

    I don’t know for certain what the right answer is. Luckily, no one does, but denying voters their choice is not a solution. It will only make things worse.

  • Don’t Eat Your Own

    Ung… That’s how I feel about people supporting candidates in the same political party.

    Forest for the trees, and forgetting who the real problem is, seems to be happening a little too much.

    I see it from supporters for all candidates. When trying to have a conversation about the differences and what that would mean if that person got elected, what I find is that everyone is claiming that the other candidates are the second coming of evil… after Trump that is.

    And then everyone ends with, “But I’ll vote for whoever gets the nomination.”

    Will you?

    Really?

    You can’t tell me how awful Sanders is, and then I am supposed to believe that you will vote for Sanders when it comes down to it? Even though you just told me that he will lose to Trump. You aren’t going to think that the cause is lost and just stay home?

    That’s what I fear, because Bernie fans did that in 2016, or they went for Trump… Which boggles my mind, but the more research I read up on, it makes a little sense now; Populism.

    The democrats need to chill out.

    No one is that evil, and the easiest way to make someone electable is to show up and vote.

    I can see Biden getting to nomination, and I see Bernie fans again staying home. And I can see Bernie getting it, and all the moderates then will think the game is over, and they will stay home.

    We need to think about this process as Thanksgiving; your family may annoy the crap outta you, but you are going to show up anyway.

  • Moderates Don’t Get It

    I like Bret Stephens, and I know that he is a very smart guy. He is knowledgeable, logical, and pretty funny as well. He put out this op-ed in the New York Times today, titled, “The Democrats Are in Trouble: The party’s riskiest bet is now its likeliest.” A little dramatic, but hey, they guy is trying to sell papers here.

    Bret starts off by saying that he is/was for Bloomberg, but Mike melted down at the debate, and now the Democratic party is in dire straits because, as Bret sees it, Bernie is now going to win the nomination.

    Stephens then rhetorically asks, why Democrats want to risk it with Sanders, to which Bret answers;

    “Maybe it’s because they have overlearned the lessons of the 2016 election: that nominating the centrist and responsible candidate served them poorly. Or maybe it’s because they’ve reasoned that “electability,” being an insufficient requirement for the nomination, is an unnecessary one as well. Or maybe they feel that, when their hearts scream Yes, it’s best to ignore the brain’s screams of No.”

    Sadly, what will cause the Democrats to lose in the Midwest, which is where this election is really coming down to, is this thinking that people in the middle of this country want a person to be reasonable and logical, and to have a plan that appeals to everybody. That’s the “electability” that Stephens refers, and that might be a winning argument if the other guy was Mitt Romney or John McCain, two who also tried to run campaigns aimed at the middle and “electability.”

    Except, that’s not who is running.

    Look, I don’t like Trump, but compared with a Democrat moderate, Donald comes off as the cool guy who doesn’t give a fuck. That makes voters excited, and excited voters show up.

    Bernie has the most excited votes behind him, and they will get others to show up with them.

    Again, people, there are no significant numbers of swing voters out there. Again, read “The Audacity of Hate,” if you don’t believe me. To that, I just have to add, Democrat moderates, ya’ll gotta chill out, man. Bernie is not the problem.

    The belief that logic will beat passion is.