Minutes of Gabbard Staff meeting with Constituents, 25 Aug 2017

Representative Tulsi Gabbard scheduled an open meeting for constituents to meet with her Kauai Outreach Liaison, Kaulana Finn, on 25 Aug at the Kauai Vets center.  The subjects covered were wide ranging but all attendees were supportive of the positions Representative Gabbard has taken.  Several of the attendees came because of the urging of an alliance of three Net Neutrality organizations.

An overall theme that was made clear at the beginning of the meeting was that all attendees did not think it right that monopolies, or near-monopolies should be permitted to concentrate wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer billionaires.  The motto at Kauai Indivisible is, "We are All in this together", meaning that America does not exist solely for the benefit of the 1% (or a few Oligarchs).  It was recognized that not all Americans have the same skills, ambition, and wants, and that certainly hard work should be rewarded, but America must leave no one behind to satisfy the greed of a few.  Not an easy balance to achieve.

Network Neutrality 

• The internet would not exist if it were not for government investment.  (Ignoring the reason the government made that investment.)   If "Intellectual Property" is suppose to be patented and/or copyrighted in perpetuity, then those corporations that have benefited the most from development of applications that use the Internet (Facebook, Google, Amazon, etc.) should be paying a hefty use fee.  
• The purchase of Oceanic Time-Warner by Charter to form Spectrum is viewed with skepticism.  The flurry of "new" offers from Spectrum that promise better service at a cheaper price are confusing, but for those who took the time to make the comparison, it appeared that a customer who switched would receive significantly less service for a very small decrease in price.  (No one wanted the 500 channels of nothing that cable offers.  We were all resigned to the fact that the [F. A. Hayak] "free market" is not being allowed to operate putting the cable companies out of business.)
• KIUC needed to deploy smart meters to ensure the reliability of the Kauai electrical grid.  The rural nature of Kauai precluded the deployment of a fiber-optic network, but (for example) Lafayette, LA, utilities deployed a fiber-optic network that provides over three times the internet bandwidth provided by Kauai's Spectrum at the same cost.  And since the connection to the LUS (for example) network is merely an ethernet port not requiring a cable modem, it is much more reliable.  Allowing cable companies to continue their de facto monopoly over Internet access throughout the USA will severely harm adoption of new technology solely to benefit a few cable owners who already have more money than they can ever spend in their lives.  Where is the "free market" the neocons [Koch Brothers (neoliberals?)] claim so important?
• Google has adjusted its search algorithm which de-prioritizes news about "left-wing" issues.  Again, a de facto monopoly is allowed control of American Public Opinion.  How is a progressive candidate suppose to achieve a fair hearing when all of corporate America (which includes many Democrats such as Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer) is arrayed against these new ideas?
• Internet access should be free.  It was not discussed what the Internet usage fee assessed against coporations discussed above would be used for, but, after the fact, it seems free internet for every American Household would be a worthy goal, especially since this would support so many other goals (including income equality and infrastructure build-out).
• The Internet is being used to manipulate markets.  The book "Flash Boys" by Michael Lewis makes it clear that the neoliberal catechism of a "Free Market" is a sham.  It is "free" solely in the sense that it allows near-criminal fraud to be perpetrated on the average American.  It is imperative that a transaction tax be promulgated.

Healthcare

• While the ACA (Obamacare) may have been the best a Congress controlled by corporatists could manage when it was first passed, it remains a give-away to the corporate Insurance Companies.  "Dollar-Bill McGuire", head of United Healthcare, became a billionaire by skimming off the top of the premiums paid -- sometimes because of a [Sarah Palin] "Death Panel", run by an insurance claims adjuster, that would deny care.
• Medicare Part E (for Everybody) is the -ONLY- solution for healthcare insurance in the USA.  The reasons should be obvious so they are not listed here.
• The US government funds much of the research for the development of new drugs.  It then turns this research over to private entities at no cost.  These "private entities" then charge astronomical prices without any reimbursement to the "commons" (the US government).  This must stop.  (Did we mention Joe Manchin's daughter?  With Democrats like him, who needs Republicans?)
• Healthcare must be free for anyone on American soil.
• Healthcare providers should remain independent of the government but well-regulated.  Unlike heath insurance, which is basically a mundane, rules-based process, an independent, entrepreneurial provider sector would provide innovation to raise standards of care more rapidly than the government acting alone might.  Still, this sector will need to be "well-regulated" with representatives of "the people" monitoring the process and insuring safety.

American Empire

• Support for Representative Gabbard's trip to Syria was unanimous.  It was recognized that the representative for HI-2 appears to be the only member of congress looking for a way out of the foreign diplomatic mess (war) Bush started, Obama continued and Trump does not understand.
• At least one participant stated that he voted "none of the above" (i.e. did not vote) for President in 2016 because of, among other things, Hillary Clinton's war-hawk nature.
• North Korea was completely destroyed by the USAF during the Korean War.  Some of those attacks (such as destruction of reservoir dams) should be declared [are?] war crimes.  North Korea has excellent reasons for developing their own Nuclear Weapon to deter American Aggression.  Why does America need to bully other countries?  What is gained by pretending such an impoverished entity, such as North Korea, is an existentialist threat to the United States?
• America has been involved in the overthrow of many Democratically Elected governments including Iran in 1953 (causing attendees to wonder why John McCain wants to "Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran).  Marine Corps General Smedley Butler explained why in his 1935 book "War is a Racket".  Who benefits from the drone murders of children in Yemen?  That 1% which owns the Military-Industrial Complex.
• Today's sanctions against Venezuela (25 Aug) have nothing to do with protecting the people of Venezuela.  

Education

• Betsy DeVos is destroying American Education
• Most Charter Schools are being established to encourage segregation.  (See Nancy MacLean's book referenced below.)
• All education through a BS degree should be free.
• Students seeking higher degrees should be paid for taking that action.
• America was scared when the Russians launched Sputnik.  WWII GIs demanded they be paid back for their service.  American education worked in the '50s.  Ever since, it has been down hill solely to promote the interests of the 1%

The Democratic Party of Hawaii

• The Party establishment betrayed Democratic voters when 8 of 10 Super-Delegates voted for Clinton even though 70% of the vote for the PPP (apparently some don't realize that this is the Hawaii Democratic Party primary) was for Sanders.
• The split in the DPH is enormous and it cannot be papered over by repeating how bad Trump is.  For whatever reason, many voters don't care about Trump if they can't depend on the DPH standing up for their issues.  In an absurd way, it is like Bob Dylan said, they want to drag you down into the hole that they're in.
• If the head of the LGBTQ caucus wants to promote the issues of that caucus, fine, in fact great.  But if Michael Golojuch wants to use his position to frustrate the "rest of us" and promote a corporatist agenda for DPH, then expect Democratic Voters to become "Former" Democratic voters.
• It cannot be over-stated that the complete incompetence of former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz has severely impacted voters faith in the Democratic Party.  That incompetence forces one to question why she was ever appointed to that post and does not reflect well on the 2016 Democratic Nominee for President.
• Support for the JAMPAC lawsuit against the DNC was strongly felt.  Mazie Hirono's attempt to pivot on, and ignore, that question at her May town hall shows her to be a corporatist not a Democrat.
• Support for the Democratic Party on Kauai can best be described as "lethargic",  Perhaps the "fool me once, fool me twice..." cliche could explain it -- save for the fact that the truth is "fool me for 30 years".

The "Fight for $15"

• The minimum wage should be immediately raised to $15.
• There are some people incapable of performing a job at a $15 level -- what do we do about them?
• Al Franken explained in his book, "Giant of the Senate", that he is a Democrat because when the Democrats run the government, they provide the tools, help and "bootstraps" that make it possible to pull ones self out of grinding poverty.  A minimum wage of $15 by itself is not going to accomplish the job.

Other 

• GMO and Stem Cell research use more or less the same tools.  When G. W. Bush, because of his failure to understand science, launched his campaign against Stem Cell research he set back finding the cure for cancer by at least ten years.  Standing against GMO has a similar problem.  It is not the GMO that is the problem but what that GMO technology is used for in very narrowly defined situations.  As an example, the idea of putting the Bt gene into different plants to combat insect damage sounds like a good idea, until one realizes that now that gene is in the food being consumed and it may, in fact,  lead to an individual having "leaky gut".  One of the attendees said he had that symptom and went on to explain what it was.  The public must be educated on exactly what GMO really is.  On the other hand, better regulation of chemicals applied by farmers and households and governments is imperative.
• In every issue, American Billionaires have come to believe that because they are rich, they are smarter than everyone else.  They then use their accumulated wealth to pursue their vision of America without seeking any input from the "rest of us".  Over and over again, we see that the American Taxpayer finances research and invests in infrastructure that is then given away to an oligarch.  The myth of the "Free Market" insists that these billionaires can manage their huge investment, but in reality, they use their wealth solely to gain more wealth and more control over the American Economy.  President Carter showed that breaking up ATT lead to a tremendous spurt in economic activity that provided jobs and helped raise the living standards of all Americans.  When President Reagan reversed that process, the Oligarchy again began to accumulate more wealth to the detriment of the "rest of us".  The Oligarchy must be dismantled.

Summary

• America is being destroyed by neoliberalism.
• Nancy MacLean's book "Democracy in Chains" is an outstanding history of how America ended up in this position starting with the "Brown v. Board of Education" decision in the '50s.
• The wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East are solely for the benefit of the 1%, not the people who live on Kauai, or Hawaii or any American anywhere.
• Fascist or Socialist seems to be the Hobson Choice.  Hard work and innovation should be rewarded but at what point does this morph into an immoral quest of greed.  Those who cannot care for themselves should be taken care of.  Those who can take care of themselves should be provided every incentive to do do.  That's "incentive" which is a "positive" option, diametrically opposed to the Republican/Calvinist philosophy that if you're rich -- God Loves You; and if you're poor -- God Hates You.

Godfather Politics

Who doesn't like The Godfather?  The transformation of the fresh-faced Michael from a WWII Marine hero who fought for "Truth, Justice and the American Way" into a ruthless crime boss who had no qualms about having his own brother assassinated makes for a fascinating story.  The phrase, "It's just business" was the dominant theme of all three parts.

Did you have trouble following the story?  Who where the good guys?  Who were the bad guys?  And then even more importantly, was Michael a good guy?  A good guy who turned bad?

The difference between right and wrong is explored as Vito (The Godfather) wants to avoid getting into distribution of drugs.  Truth be told, one cannot be sure his avoidance was because he was afraid of some political backlash or because he thought it immoral.  A war between the families erupts as Sollozzo, backed by  the Tattaglia family, must have a way to wealth, more wealth and the most wealth.  The war leads to a rapid shifting of alliances where individuals had to evaluate which of the myriad sides might win.  Making decisions based on little information even Vito's life-long friend Tessio switches sides.  However Vito being just a bit smarter warns Michael of Tessio's treachery.  As Tessio is lead away to his execution, he tells Michael, "it was just Business, " to which Michael replies, "I know."

Gosh how familiar this seems.  Every man out for himself, joining and abandoning alliances whenever it suits his own interests.  Always putting other's interests as secondary such that loyalty nearly becomes synonymous to selfishness.  A true Ayn Rand society.  Just like the American Political System.

I use the Crime Families as a metaphor to understand membership in American Political Parties.  Individuals make alliances to form organizations that will work toward achieving the common goals of each individual.  Individual motivations are often inconsistent, changing without notice or reason.  Take for example the (near) criminals in The Magnificent Seven who banded together for a noble cause, contrast that with The Great Train Robbery where men banded together solely for economic gain.  This is what happens when supporting a political party.

Both the Democrats and the Republicans are supported by individuals, organizations and coalitions that have widely diverse motivations.  It is generally conceded that the Republican Party is dominated by groups that solely seek economic gain, best exemplified by the Koch Brothers and perhaps best known for forming the Tea Party after Obama's election in 2008.

The best example of how easily one can switch sides is David Brock.  When Bill was President he viciously attacked both Clintons, but then he wrote Blinded by the Right and switched sides.  Brock remained the same evil soul though when he founded Correct the Record which often pilloried the Sanders Campaign and actually offered "rewards" for dirt on Donald Trump.

Where are the politicians who actually take a stand and stick with it for year after year after year?  They seem to come from small states where the voters get to know them and where it is difficult to smear their record.  Unfortunately, once these politicians venture on to the National Stage, their character is immediately attacked by both the Republicans and the Democrats.  Yes, I am talking about Bernie Sanders here.  I listened to him for years doing "Brunch with Bernie" on the Thom Hartman show.  There are 30 of these shows available on YouTube.  Other show segments are available on Free Speech TV.  Senator Sanders always comes across as a man of compassion as he answers questions from anyone, anywhere in the USA with a consistent response.  Not like some politicians who will say one thing on TV and then something else in a speech to Goldman Sachs which they won't release the transcripts to.

It is debatable whether or not a politician who only lies on occasion is better than one who lies all the time.  The question reminds me of the broken watch that is at least right twice a day.

Forty-Five percent of American voters voted for "None of the Above" in 2016.  The Democratic "Get out the Vote" (GOTV) campaigns failed because it just concentrated on how bad Donald Trump would be.  I had no doubt Trump would be awful, but even with as bad as it appears to be, after having voted for the "lessor of two evils" for 40 years, I cannot convince myself that I would feel any differently if Hillary Clinton had been elected instead.

Most of the politicians who run our country seem to be more concerned with their own success than the success of the American People.  Who can blame them when the distribution of wealth in America is so concentrated at the top.  There are just over 2000 Billionaires in the world.  The top eight have more wealth than half of the world's population.  When one considers that a US Senate seat can be purchased for a mere $10million, the power of these Billionaires becomes obvious.  If you have $1000 in your pocket, how much does it hurt to give away $1?

So which "crime family" do you support?  Which political party does your "crime family" support?  Can you depend on the other members of your "crime family" to support you?  If your "crime family" is a labor union (remember this is a metaphor!) do the "bosses" represent your interests or their own?   If your "crime family" is a professional organization (like the AMA) are they promoting better health care or better pay for physicians?  If your "crime family" is the NRA are they pushing gun sales or do they really think that gun ownership is under threat from "liberals"?  How can you tell?

Americans have to decide which very specific issues they support and rather than choose which politician to support, they much choose which issue.  If a politician says he/she supports your issue, do NOT take their word for it.  Maybe send in a campaign contribution, but then follow up over and over and over again, clarifying that this is your issue.

Single-payer healthcare (also known as Medicare Part E: E for everybody) comes to mind.  Americans as a whole support single payer.  But the Democratic Party does not even those who are co-sponsors of HR676.  If you want single payer you need to specifically support groups that do.  Remember, politicians, even those you respect the most, have to be elected to be effective.  You have to tell them, every day, what it is you want.  Give them two minutes to be talked to by "the other side" and they will switch their vote.

Trump Jr: What's the big deal?

Robert Parry writes about how the Clinton Campaign financed the “Steele Dossier” and claims that it is the same kind of “international intrigue” that Trump Jr. is accused of in dealing with the Russians. He makes a good point.  

However when he brings up the Magintsky Movie, I wish he hadn’t been quite so forceful in his defense of the movie maker.  As this movie review suggests, there is so much “fake news” made by -all- sides* of this argument (there are hardly just two) that Americans are left ever more in the dark.  And, of course, Magintsky's boss calls the movie a lie.

The comments to Parry’s article reflect the conflict.  They point out that Parry failed to mention that Steele was first hired by Republicans, which, of course, is then loudly denounced by Clinton supporters (or at least those who hate Trump).

Now Americans just pick who we want to believe and yell at those who have a different perspective.

Being “forced” (or induced) into taking a side makes it impossible to talk about real issues.  Have you heard about support for single-payer health care, or just how bad the new Republican bills are?  Do you remember the Corporate Crime committed in 2008 when the banksters “got away with it”?  Is the current stock market rally just another prelude to the next crash?  Will we be seeing the ghost of Hank Paulson and will John McCain be interrupting his Presidential campaign to deal with the crisis?

Are you aware of the precipitous drop in the price of corn to less than 1/2 of the 2012 prices?  The drop in beans and wheat as well? A typical boom and bust, but one that is going to cause another round of farm bankruptcies next year, maybe even this year.  Have you heard recently about the cost of college and how to address those student loans?  It seems to have faded away buried under an avalanche of articles about how bad Trump is.

All in all, the most prevalent attacks on Trump and his administration appear to me to be without merit and meant to distract.  The same thing can be said of how the Republicans (and the MSM) worked over the Obama Administration.  I just cannot help but feel caught up in a web of lies being spun by both political parties which concentrate on telling the voter, “Hey I’m not that crooked [Democrat/Republican].”

We’re being scammed from all sides.  Just as the true crimes of Hillary Clinton were overlooked in 2016, the true crimes of Donald Trump are also not being revealed now.  We are being presented with a circus of distractions that allow the oligarchs to raid our treasury and destroy our Democracy.  We need to band together and realize that, "We are all in this together."

*sides:  a short list

— those who claim to be Democrats but hate Clinton

— Democrats who love Clinton

— Republicans (the many smaller “sides” are so well controlled)

— Trump supporters, yes, not the same as Republicans.

Forget "men are from Mars, women are from Venus", though that is an excellent starting point for a stimulating discussion around a fire-pit.

Today, July 4, the better blog is George Lakoff's dichotomous analysis of:

1.  Why many Trump supporters and GOP-supporters are enthusiastic, even as the policies and practices of DJT and the GOP work to their disadvantage?

2.  Why is there such visceral hatred of the Affordable Care Act, even though it benefits many in the GOP and DJT-backers?

I recommend reading it to see if it resonates for you and becomes a platform from which a turn-around can be achieved.

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/44489-two-questions-about-trump-and-republicans-that-stump-progressives

We want to get to solutions but analysis is the best starting place.  Please feel free to weigh in, react, and propose.  We have a country to lose or to help save.

Who's the Sherif for "there ought to be a law against ...."?


     Slightly below the surface at last Sunday's picnic was some hint of despair about the chances for a representative democracy, right below the surface question about the relevance of the Democratic Party.

     I still like Mr. Obama's exhortation, don't get mad, vote!, but who is counting and whose votes are being counted?

     I had bookmarked before the Georgia 6th District contest the Greg Palast article herewith reproduced from RSN.

    Talk later, anyone?

p.s.  Q.  Who is monitoring the hen house?  A.  Not just the Russians.

Michael

Will New Jim Crow Scam Tip Georgia's Ossoff-Handel Congressional Race?

By Greg Palast, Reader Supported News

19 June 17

GOP goons grab reporter when he asks how 40,000 minority voter registrations vanished

aren Handel took a break from beating up Democrat John Ossoff to attack a reporter: me.  In the televised debate between the two candidates vying for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, Republican Handel claimed, “a reporter supposedly representing some very liberal Democratic organization almost literally accosted me.”

Handel's handlers trying to prevent Greg Palast from asking a tough question

In fact, is was a trio of galoots working for Handel who accosted me.

But who accosted whom is less important than Handel promoting the dangerous new trend of attacking the press, sometimes physically, when questions are uncomfortable or challenging.

Handel is afraid I’ll report what I began uncovering in my investigations in Georgia’s 6th.  I first came here in 2014 for Al Jazeera, when I interviewed an enthusiastic group of Korean-Americans based in the 6th, the Asian-American Legal Advocacy Center. When I returned to cover the current race, I found the Asian-American voting rights office shuttered and empty.

Apparently, the group which had launched a “10,000 Korean Votes” registration drive discovered that many of their registrants simply never appeared on voter rolls. Their lawyers’ query about missing voters to the Secretary of State resulted in a raid by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and a threat of criminal charges.

Voting rights attorney Nse Ufot told me what happened:

“They were doing a campaign to register 10,000 Korean-Americans to vote, and had quite a bit of success. At some point during the campaign, they noticed that many of the folks that they were registering were not showing up on the voter rolls. So, they reached out to the Secretary of State to say, "Hey, where are our folks? Why aren't they showing up on the rolls?"  They never got an official response.  What they did get was the GBI kicking in the door and requesting all of their files.”

While no charges were brought, the terrifying raid, was enough to put the Korean voter group out of business.
And Ufot’s own group, New Georgia Project has seen the registrations of new voters of color suspiciously…vanish.

Ufot told me, ‘We submitted 86,419 voter registration forms.  There are 46,000 of the folks that we've registered who have made it, and 40,000 of them are missing.’

So New Georgia Project contacted the Republican Secretary of State’s office.

“You know what they told us? ‘We don't know what you're talking about. What forms?’  They did not disappear. We intentionally registered voters on paper forms so that we could make copies. We knew who they were. They were not on the voter rolls.

When African-American activists raised a ruckus over the disappearance, they got the same treatment as the Korean-Americans: a Gestapo-style raid on their offices, threats of criminal charges and jail term.

But the African-American organizers had long faced down Jim Crow intimidation tactics.
I wanted Handel’s story—and not just as a candidate.  She herself was Secretary of State, and up to her chin in these vote suppression games.

I started out by asking if the Democrats were stealing the election, and she was pleased to say, “They’re pulling out all stops!”

But when I got to the subject of her office purging voters, one of her henchmen jumped in front of me, slammed me backwards and while two others grabbed and muscled me away.  She refused to answer to a question about the raids on voter registration groups, but the crowd answered for her, chanting “U! S! A! U! S! A!” – as if a journalist asking a question is the new enemy of America. And that’s frightening. Not the clowns who assaulted me. They were more buffoonish than threatening.

I don’t want compensation, I don’t want to press charges. I want an answer to the question: Who will decide the race in the Sixth—the voters or Jim Crow?

---

Greg Palast has been called the "most important investigative reporter of our time - up there with Woodward and Bernstein" (The Guardian). Palast has broken front-page stories for BBC Television Newsnight, The Guardian, The Nation Magazine, Rolling Stone, and Harper's Magazine. He is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Billionaires & Ballot Bandits, Armed Madhouse, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, and the highly acclaimed Vultures' Picnic, named Book of the Year 2012 on BBC Newsnight Review. His books have been translated into two dozen languages. His brand new film of his documentary reports for BBC Newsnight and Democracy Now! is called Vultures and Vote Rustlers. 

Talking Politics while eating Hot Dogs.

Around a dozen people showed up at the 16-2 picnic held at Kukuiolono Pavilion on 18 June.  The food was plentiful so much of the excess (unopened of course) will be donated to the Kauai Food Bank.  Everyone was concerned with the direction our country is going as we tried to "brainstorm" a solution.  At times, tempers started to rise, but we quickly admitted that each of us had a different perspective and so things cooled down long enough for anyone with something to say to have the opportunity to say it.  Although no solutions were agreed upon, the topics under discussion were very broad.  The way I recall the discussion...

Is the Democratic Party viable (relevant) any longer?  

The answer is yes and no and even maybe.  A party that cannot elect its members to government positions can hardly be called relevant.  (The Greens for example.)  But then the only way to be elected to office in Hawaii is to be a Democrat, which means there is no candidate choice other than the one the party presents, but then how is that choice made?

Some wanted to work on support for a third party rather than the Democrats, but they were countered by those who pointed to the lack of success of the Green Party.  Even if the Greens remain on the ballot, what is the possibility of a Green being elected to any office in Hawaii?

Another group wanted to work within the Democratic Party and take it over.  They see the Democratic Party on Kauai (at least) as being "dead" and ripe for an insurgency.  The DPH was thwarted from electing a Clinton supporter as State Party Chair at the 2016 convention because of in-fighting among the establishment.  This group sees no party establishment left on Kauai to even battle so that if all the groups like Kauai Indivisible or People Power Kauai and others could create a "KNCC" (Kauai Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), the Democratic Party on Kauai would belong to them.

The last group took umbrage at the premise.  This group seems to have been loyal to the party and the party loyal to those members.  It would not be fair to label these folks as members of the "establishment", but they certainly do not appear to question the hierarchy.  It might be more correct to label this group as "insiders" where all "insiders" may not have the same values, but they recognize that they are the Party decision makers, so they don't want "outside forces" diluting their influence.

If you didn't vote for Clinton in the General, it is your fault that Trump is President.

The heading of this section is somewhat misleading since it was recognized by the picnickers that Hawaii's electoral votes were going to go for Clinton no matter who the individual voted for.  But the gist of the point was to apply this blame on a national scale (or more specifically to the voters of Wisconsin and Michigan who didn't show up.)  

This is the "lesser of two evils" argument.  Several specific issues where Trump is obviously "worse" than Clinton would have been were brought up.  The fact that Trump at least got the USA out of the TPP (which Clinton called the "gold standard" until she realized that it might cost her votes) was countered by the argument that the TPP was still happening, ignoring the fact that the USA was not going to be a signatory to that treaty.  The TPP, like NAFTA, benefits some Americans and is detrimental to other Americans, it is hardly a "yes" or "no" question.  Whether it is a "win" or "loss" that the USA is not a participant while the rest of the world signs on is totally unknown.  Those against participation in the TPP were just happy that Trump got us out.  (Yes, giving Trump a "win" -- maybe.  Waiting on his "better deal" to be revealed.)

However, those who made this argument (non-voters failed) did not seem to be aware of the "moral injury" caused by the USA pursuing foreign policies detrimental to the rest of the world.  When informed of Clinton's involvement in the overthrow of the Democratically elected government of Honduras there was no counter argument.  The point being made, as an American you are responsible for what America does, whether in its borders or outside its borders.  Is it really all right that America used a drone to kill an American Citizen without any judicial review?  No trial at all?  How can this be moral?  

So, sure there are huge differences between what Trump is doing and what Clinton might have done in any number of specific areas.  But does that mean it is all right for Clinton to overthrow the government of a foreign country?  Is this a case of not wanting to know the evil committed in your name?

DNC Superdelegates?  Or the Electoral College.

It does appear that confusing a DNC Super Delegate and a voter in the Electoral College is easy.  This confusion is understandable since politicians like Mazie Hirono conflate the two issues.  

A Superdelegate is someone the DNC has arbitrarily determined to be eligible to vote for who will be the Democratic Presidential Candidate.  Members of Congress automatically get this award,  while other "high donors" may actually "purchase" this designation by contributing enough to the party.  Remember that 70% of those voting in the Hawaii Presidential Preference Poll wanted Sanders, while 8 of 10 Hawaii Superdelegates voted for Clinton.

The question then was asked how those members of the Electoral College could live with themselves after having betrayed America's voters.  It was actually the DNC Super Delegates who committed the betrayal.  Unfortunately there wasn't time to get into understanding the difference.  Just understand that they are not the same thing.  Doing away with Democratic Super Delegates could happen tomorrow.  On the other hand, the Electoral College is part of the US constitution and has been around since the founding of the Republic so it could take decades to eliminate.

The point is, if a member of Congress is proud of being a Superdelegate, and she tries to tell you how horrible the Electoral College is, she is trying to bamboozle you.  (Start the video at 43:23 to see Mazie Hirono conflate the Super Delegates with the DNC and fail to answer the question but retreat to her "stump speech".  Her answer was not specifically discussed today.)

Local Kauai Government

Oh Boy.  So many issues with no resolution except to say everyone at the picnic felt powerless.  We were united in our desire to find and fund alternatives to our County Council and State Representatives but felt powerless to overcome the "good ol' boy" network.  Unless supporters were disinclined to speak up, we all agreed that if Kauai's mayor runs for Governor it will be embarrassing.  (Even though we were united against Governor Ige.)

No Conclusions

What's next?  We all left baffled without a new plan.  We all recognize that if anything is to be different, it is up to us to make that change.  But no one had any idea what to do.  The argument remains, "Support my issues" vs "Vote the lesser of two evils" (which implies that will fix it later).

At least we came together to talk about it.  We need to do it again soon.

A Tangled Web of Rumors

A Tangled Web of Rumors

A recurring theme has emerged after the 2016 election claiming "the Russians did it,"  meaning that Russia somehow caused Hillary Clinton to lose the Presidential election (rather than her own incompetence) because Russia wanted Donald Trump to win.  Most of the stories surrounding this claim are filled with wild speculation and leaps of fantasy but have been repeated often enough, from so many different sources, that many believe the central claim.

Several alternate explanations, which are just as fantastical, have arisen that may appear to be attempts to counter the central Russian theme.  We know that the Steele Dossier, which details Trump's dealings with Russia, is a real document.  We also know that there are at least two lawsuits against the Democratic National Committee (DNC) concerning the way they did not follow their own charter in running the Presidential Nomination process.  These two matters get conflated by the 1% in a way that is distracting voters from "real" issues.  (The pending passage of "Obamacare repeal" for instance.) They are being used as a foundation on which to build conspiracy rumors that attack either the Republican Party, the Democratic Party or even both, but the goal is to get you to pay attention to irrelevant "facts" so that the 1% can continue to pick your pocket.

The Steele Dossier

Buzzfeed is the only media outlet to make the dossier available.  They open their January 10 story by stating that the document is unverified.   Rachael Maddow has featured the dossier on her show several times.  Other news organizations have since published stories that portions of the dossier have been verified.  An analysis of the dossier is posted in Wikipedia.  While there is a lot of speculation about the veracity of the dossier, the many so-called experts may believe or not believe its contents.  How is the "average citizen" suppose to choose "sides"?

The 1% don't care, just as long as you fight with one another about meaningless matters.  The dossier is just one portion of the "Trump/Russia" connection but it is used as a foundation for other anonymously sourced reports that are putting more and more pressure on Trump.  (While I surely think Trump a fool, I have to ask the question, "How in the world did a fool get elected President?  What were the forces that made that possible?  How do those forces gain by feeding me irrelevant information?"  Netflix "House of Cards" is suppose to be a fantasy -- is it?)

I am reminded of Judith Miller's reports in the New York Times about Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction that were used to justify that war.  She was fired for those stories because they were suppose to be false, but late last year some outlets still reported that WMDs were indeed found.

These rumors just won't die.  They are much like Clinton's lie during the Michigan Primary that Sanders did not support the Auto Bailout.  Of course he supported the Auto Bailout.  He did not support the give-away to the 1% that was included in the bill that he voted against.

Lawsuits against the DNC

At least two lawsuits were filed against the DNC in 2016.  The first was file because the DNC suspended Sanders' campaign access to the DNC voter database.  It is a complicated mess.  The second was filed as a class action lawsuit by contributors to the Sanders campaign because of collaboration between the DNC and Clinton's campaign to the detriment of Sanders.  The legal filings for the DNC lawsuit include information that all Democrats should be aware of.  (See Note below.)

These lawsuits are sometimes conflated but they serve as a foundation for rumors and what are often called "conspiracy theories".   Shawn Lucas was the process server for the class-action law suite who was found dead in his home.   Beranton J. Whisenant, Jr. was a U.S. attorney found dead on a Miami Beach and rumored to have something to do with the class-action case (although as a US attorney, he shouldn't have had any interest in the civil case).  Also the DNC is also suppose to have murdered Seth Rich because he was the one who supplied Clinton's emails to Wikileaks and not the Russians.

Fact vs Fiction

Living in an era of Fox News reinforced by social media and propaganda web sites like Alex Jones Infowars, it is becoming more and more difficult to separate Fact from Fiction.  Unfortunately, facts often are conflated with obviously false, wild rumors and then the facts get dismissed as not being true.  It is way too easy to believe or not believe these allegations depending on which version most closely comports to your opinion.

The Clinton campaign repeatedly blames Russia for her loss when there is no proof.  Trump is alleged to be a Russian pawn but the story (so far) depends a lot on anonymous sources.  Many, both Republican and Democrat, believe that Hillary Clinton runs a "murder, inc." organization.  The denial of that rumor is used to obfuscate the fact that Huma Abedin simultaneously worked for the Clinton campaign, the Clinton foundation and her own consulting firm.  We must view very skeptically both the conspiracy claims and the denials of those conspiracies.  Look for the underlying facts.  Often there is a truth that you should not allowed to be denied.

Do you recall when Dan Rather was fired from CBS News?  Do you recall Gary Webb's story about how the CIA imported crack cocaine into LA to finance Oliver North's (Reagan's) campaign against the Nicaraguan Contras?  Do you recall how strongly the "main-stream media" rejected these stories?  There may have been details that were not correct, but they were, in general, true.  We have to be aware of the motivations of the myriad alliances that corporatists make with one another and how those alliances are merely temporary and only hold as long as all members of the alliance can make money.

Why do Conspiracies divert out attention?

Do not be diverted from understanding that middle-class America has been getting smaller and smaller since Reagan was elected.  Bill Clinton was instrumental in deregulating the economy which caused the tech-bubble in 2000 and the Great Recession in 2008.  George W. Bush made no efforts at all to counter the movement of wealth from the middle class to the 1%.  Barack Obama made some wonderful noises, but Obamacare still leaves insurance companies with CEOs who are paid exorbitantly for not really doing much; there are still US troops in Afghanistan; Guantanamo is not closed; the list goes on and on and on.  These facts end up dividing us as we enter into false debates about trying to blame either the Republican or the Democrat.  The truth is, neither party is on your side.  But it is your fault for not paying attention.

Keep your eyes on the prize.  What do you want from your government?  Translate those wishes into concrete actions you can take to change the Democratic Party remembering that we are "all in this together".  Sadly, if you don't work within the party, you will be presented with two more corporatists in 2020.

Note:

If you would like to review the court documents you can either join PACER and look for the case numbers or you can use a search engine (google) to look for the case numbers.  It is up to you how deep into this you might want to go.  Case No. 0:16-CV-61511-WJZ is the Wilding lawsuit.  Case 1:15-cv-02211 is the database lawsuit.