Politics and Memory: aka "What did I vote for last night...?"

I don't do mornings. Or afternoons, evenings, midnights... (Picture completely stolen)

Did you see the Feb 4, 2016 Democratic debate? It was last night. Really solid moderation this time, some hard hits to both sides.

And yes, Bernie was crushed on Foreign Policy. Absolutely. Clinton was very good and specific here, knows her stuff. And yet... she made those vague "politician's promises" about everything in her Domestic Policy. No policies there. Give and take.

Quick post about something we wanted to ABSOFREAKINGLUTELY HIGHLIGHT: a viewer sent a question to the moderators. It involved Hillary Clinton's speeches - ahem, her $600,000 Goldman Sachs speeches (how much do you make in a year? Just make 3 speeches you plebian). The question was brilliant: "Mrs. Clinton [to paraphrase], show us the transcripts of your Goldman Sachs speeches." These speeches were made in private to one of the six largest banks in the US.

Chuck Todd added a bit. "We know you have transcripts, and let's broaden that. Give us all your paid speeches." (Paraphrasing and emphasis ours.)

Clinton has made a point she is not bought-and-paid-for, here she is, having been offered an extraordinary fee for a speech at one of the biggest and most destructive banks this past economic meltdown. What did she say?

What did I say?

Her response, exact quote: "I will look into it. I don't know the status, but I will certainly look into it."

The link to the full debate is here. Watch it and judge for yourself! (There were a few minor glitches at the link.) That exchange between Chuck Todd and Clinton is at 45:20. Absolutely check it out.

The framing Todd gave was - you can't dodge this. These transcripts exist. What did you say to Goldman Sachs behind closed doors? Hillary's response, "I will look into it... I will certainly look into it."

This is our interpretation - Hillary's wracking her brain to remember what she said during those speeches. Did I say something voters wouldn't want to hear? What can I release about those speeches? Or perhaps she knows what she said, she remembers other promises she made, private ones behind closed doors. In either case...

Gosh... what did I vote for last night...?

And we're going to put that against a really, really minor (but funny) point that Sanders wanted to correct from Chuck Todd. At 1:28:30 at that same link.

In an earlier debate, Bernie weighed in about Clinton's email scandal. "I don't give a damn about these emails. Let's talk about issues," (paraphrased). Chuck Todd brought up an excellent point about email scandal, and asked Bernie to weigh in; Bernie challenged him on Todd saying "darned."

"Close enough," Bernie said, "I believe I had stronger wording" (paraphrase). Bernie joked that he said he didn't give a "damn," not a "darn." (1:30:55)

And quite frankly, Bernie in several instances has corrected pundits and reporters for their spin, or ignorance, on his record, his stand on issues, substantial things. This one's pretty funny, he's correcting Todd's exact wording on not giving a "damn."

But more importantly, Bernie remembers. You know what makes remembering things like that easy? Gee umm being consistent. Not lying.

Having a consistent message, supporting the same causes for God knows how many decades kind of you know, makes it easy to answer a question when someone asks you something. Or helps you correct the pundit/reporter of their spin.


It's fine that Hillary can change her mind, or "evolve" on issues. In fact, that's great. But Bernie's been right - he's been voting for these issues - all along.

And back to the transcripts: we get the sense Bernie's not going to fight a bit dirty here. He might not ask for those transcripts. Quite frankly, this is where we (the voters) come in.

Fight for those transcripts. Fight for transparency in government. I, personally, need to see what Hillary said when no one but the rich were watching. Does she have another message she's sending out? To her campaign funders? Make her remember ALL the promises she's been making.
(And call up your Representatives, your Senators to release those transcripts. Democrat, Republican, whatever, just put the pressure there. Your voted politicians ALL have websites and contact information. And trust me, they get ANNOYED when you call them up to complain, haha. Prod 'em.)



We're going to end on another important note: what policies will Hillary enact? Bernie's policies: $15/hr minimum wage, break up the six large banks, close corporate tax loopholes... etc. etc.

Take a stand, woman. You have no right to complain about someone's policies without offering your own (unless you're Republican). Now, this late in the game: what are your policies? What will you vote in?

-Mgmt

PS Please weigh in on what you read here, and our interpretation! Start that discussion! Thanks!

Some advice for the malcontent masses

They say: You only get one vote. Not exactly true.

We've been keeping up a bit with this latest presidential cycle. The biggest thing that supporters say of one Democratic candidate over the other Democratic candidate is this:

That's great, but it's not feasible. He can't do it.

This is what we have to say, where we weigh in: you're absolutely right. He can't.

Make no mistake, voting in the most progressive and strangely "radical" candidate as Democratic Presidential nominee, or even as President of our country, will not change our national policies. It may change the conversation of our current policies, may change the tone of those conversations, but it will not change the way things work. How things have worked, for the past several election cycles.

That's great, but it's not feasible.

Yes. This is because there are checks and balances in our governmental system, intended to prevent (or at least slow) the proliferation of corruption, the power of profit over the running of an entire country. These checks and balances will almost certainly check and balance what any one politician - even The Top Politician - can accomplish.

But that's good. It keeps the total wackos in place (usually). It's why our constitution isn't modeled on, say, Dictatorship or Fascism.

We're a Democracy. And in a Democracy, there is only one solution. While there still is Democracy, anyway.

Here it is:

That's great, but it's not feasible. He can't do it alone.

Vote this cycle, vote hard, and then after? - vote often. And then speak up, explain why you voted how you did. We have the technology these days to make our (small) voices heard: social media, even if not mainstream media.

Go read up on Arab Spring. (Why are we still behind?) Perhaps American Spring is on its way.

Vote for your candidate, and then actually support him or her. We're going to be honest here, we do support Bernie Sanders. But we understand our vote is not a one-time quarter-in-the-jukebox end-all-be-all. Put your money where your mouth is. Put your vote where your mouth is. And, yes, put your time and your actions where your mouth is.

Because he can't do it alone.

-Mgmt.