How We got Trump...and beyond?

I'm hoping the Democratic Party noticed how quickly, driven, and confident Republicans were when they passed their bizarre and radical agenda with lightning speed. An agenda not supported by most Americans.

The Democratic Party's problem was aptly illustrated by Tom Tomorrow in This Modern World years back when Hillary and Tom Daschle were calling the shots. I found this clipping while cleaning out my stockpiles of old radio shows:

Because of their unmotivated agenda, we got the government we deserved; an excitingly new lower bar of expectations from the Trump Republican Party:

I also found this in my kid's old saved homework file (why I have such a file is still a mystery). It's perfect, isn't it?:

Democrats, wipe that damn smile off your face!

DNC Chair Tom Perez is a lousy speaker, and a perfect example of why the Democratic Party sucks.

Yesterday I watch a Chuck Todd interview with Tom Perez (seen in the clip below) that just floored me. Todd was incensed that Perez didn't put any real effort into securing that open House seat in Montana. Perez smiled and blathered happy talk about the digital age, feeling good about the parties direction, great respect for other party leaders, blah, blah, blah.

The only on target criticisms came from Republicans...seriously? Here's a short clip of Chuck Todd desperately trying to understand the Democrats bumbling response to the likely election of a thug Republican who beat on a reporter, and why the GOP voter base is energized by the moral and ethical breakdown of our government:

That was a disaster. Smiling Tom Perez is going to kill us in 2018, at a time when the Democrats will have at their disposal more ammunition against Trump Republicans than at anytime in our history; 23 million losing insurance under their AHCA, cuts to schools, the environment, farmers, drug research, children's health, the cover up of Russian meddling in our elections, presidential profiteering on the public dime...etc..

Serious times deserve Serious Faces: The alternative reality constructed around the Democratic Party's supposed disastrous agenda was the result of every hysterically angry, blunt Republican politician promising to save the country from steady job growth, historically low uninsured and unemployment numbers, an end to endless wars, the growth of clean cheap energy, all the while never once offering to "work together."

Please stop smiling! And please, please, please stop writing horrifically cliched press releases and fund raising emails that say nothing, provide no links to stories, and insult potential voters intelligence instead of firing them up.

Hillary, Democrats should not appease, go along with Narcissist Trump and Authoritarian Republican Party! Obstruct!

Republicans did what they set out to do; rub a Trump victory in our face. That was the real agenda:

Humble winners?

The biggest mistake Hillary Clinton and the Democrats could make now is agree to get along with a right wing authoritarian megalomaniac and the anti-American pro-business Republican Party.

Liberals, progressives and Democrats cannot agree to abandon any of the issues and progress the country had made over the last century. If we do, we can expect even lower future election turnouts.

The country is about to do what no other industrialized country in the world would do, go with supply side trickle down voodoo economics. We've seen it fail in every Republican state, despite massive spending cuts that never seem to be enough.

But this also means the end of net neutrality and an affordable internet, block granting Medicaid for the poor, and making the alt-press the go to media source.

Declare a revolution.

Abandoned Rural Voters waiting for Democrats!

Blue Jean Nation's Mike McCabe should be the first stop for every wayward Democrat who still can't answer a question yes or no; who still muddies up and stumbles around the easiest solutions; and still can't find it in their hearts to outright oppose any part of the Republicans agenda. I personally flame on when I hear them beg to be included, promising to give up every value they hold dear just to be a part of the process. Weakened, bruised and battered...how has that worked out?

McCabe's focus is on disenfranchised rural voters, farm communities I've written about ad-nauseam. My growing list of stories, ignored by the party, can be found here. Republicans have all but abandoned them, instituting hard line policies that are killing local control, their schools, roads, and polluting their wells. 

The thing is, Democrats have been on the farmers side for years. And McCabe's advice and consultation is free, so take it. Audio from WPR's Central Time. 

1. Restore home rule. Republicans used to be for local control, now they are controlling the locals. If local communities want to put rules in place to protect their air and water and landscape from sand mining or put limits on high-capacity wells or manure spreading by large-scale animal feedlots, let ’em. Give ’em back control over their schools, their local zoning, their taxation. Let ’em manage their affairs.

2. Keep rural schools open. A local school is a rural community’s bedrock, even to a greater degree than in urban or suburban areas. The rural school is a hub of community activity. Everyone goes to the school play or the high school football game. School district consolidation and school closings have hit many rural communities with the force of a bomb. Anyone who cares about the vitality of rural communities knows that extreme measures need to be taken to keep rural districts viable and their community schools operating.

3. Rethink bypass-happy highway planning. Most every major highway project done any time in recent or distant memory that reaches out into rural areas has featured bypasses of small towns. Think about the impact this has on those communities. Their family-owned cafes and coffee shops and restaurants close. Their main streets die. Shaving a few minutes off your or my travel time can be a death sentence for a small town.  

4. Universal access to high-speed Internet and mobile phone service. Look at a map showing which parts of the U.S. have access to broadband. The urban centers do and the rural areas don’t. The telecommunications industry and its apologists in public office often are heard saying that programs are in place to address this disparity. But the fact remains that in 2015 over half of all rural Americans lack access to high-speed Internet. How can you start a business and compete in today’s economy without access to these services? High-speed Internet and mobile voice are to the 21st Century what telephones were in the 20th, namely essential communications technologies. Essential technologies that remain out of the reach of most rural people.

The last point has more to do with offering free college tuition to all, without regards to income:

5. Stop means testing. Many rural voters oppose programs to help what they regard as the “undeserving” poor is an incredibly important point for Democrats to ponder. For decades now the Democrats have ignored the political law of universality: That the most widely supported and successful government programs are ones where everyone pays and everyone benefits … the party had a big hand in creating things that tangibly benefited everyone … like Social Security and Medicare, rural electrification, the GI Bill and the interstate highway system. Today’s Democrats seem to want to means test everything and target assistance to particular constituencies, which makes their programs highly vulnerable to the divide-and-conquer tactics of the Republicans.

Doing these five things would be enormously helpful to rural areas. But today’s GOP won’t do any of them. They won’t do the first four because today’s breed of Republican is philosophically at odds with the measures required to accomplish those aims. In fact, they are moving in the exact opposite direction. And they won’t do the fifth because it is politically advantageous for them to be able to pit the poor against the nearly-poor. If these five steps are to be taken, it’ll be the Democrats taking them. If enough of them wake up to the need . . . and the opportunity.

Little Houses Melissa Gilbert getting ripped by press, because she's a Democrat and celebrity, running for Congress.

Funny thing about liberal actors becoming politicians; they can't be taken seriously and they're ridiculously liberal.

But Republican actors going into politics, they're legendary and encouraged:

Corporate Naming rights for state parks wasn't bad enough for Democratic Party of Wisconsin?

This isn't the first time the DPW resorted to a mindless, provably wrong statement to make a point. It's as if corporate naming rights for state parks wasn't bad enough to begin with. Democrats don't need to be deceptive or hyperbolic to make Republicans look bad. We just need to honest:

Thanks Scott Walker, Wisconsin not great anymore...

Before Scott Walker people got along and loved living in Wisconsin. Not anymore. What is it about the Republican penchant for making everything seem nastier than they should be, more costly than we ever could have tolerated, and just a little bit "cold war" scary.

A recent poll shows shines a light on how policy affects the general nature of a state's population under Republican and Democratic control. Cap Times:

Between June and December last year, Gallup asked people about their satisfaction with the state in which they live. Gallup reported the responses:

In Wisconsin, 49 percent of those surveyed say it's at least one of the best, with 8 percent putting the state at No. 1 and 2 percent ranking it at the bottom of the union. Minnesotans see a better life across the border, with 61 percent calling their state among the best. Of that, 13 percent had Minnesota at the top, while 2 percent said it was the worst.

One more interesting side note: party dominance in the top states has an affect too. But that's a bad thing if you start with the idea that "divide and conquer" is part of your bigger vision, especially in a purple state. Many aren't that happy. That's why Minnesota beats us again.

Wisconsin Republican Party's Joe Fadness like Reince, filled with empty and condescending hot air; "liberal Madison activist." Ouch?

Fox 6 in Milwaukee has sent reporter Mike Lowe into the upcoming governors race where he turned up this look at how things are shaking out so far. This was done before Upfront with Mike Gousha's interview with Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris, who despite not having great screen presence, instills a massive amount of competence for the governors office (which works for me).

Former Commerce Secretary Mary Burke gets coverage here too, but really, I would much rather focus on Joe Fadness, the dufus from the Wisconsin Republican Party. If the following comment passes for actual criticism, conservative voters should be ashamed of themselves. THIS is real criticism?

Fadness: "Mary Burke is a liberal Madison activist who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting Democrats, and now she's going to spend millions of dollars attacking Scott Walker!"

Hey, how about those conservative Madison activists in the Capitol telling the rest of the state what to do? Can Fadness really bad mouth Burke for spending money on Democrats after Republican millionaires like...Dumb Ron Johnson, James Sensenbrenner, Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney spent millions of their own money? Or how about Republican sugar daddies Sheldon Adelson, the Koch's, Bob Perry and Harold Simmons, who spent millions? The balls. Here's another:

Fadness: "I think the dysfunction of the Democrats is really coming to light right now, where you have these party bosses..."

No, Republicans have party bosses, Democrats have cats to herd. Here's Lowe's report:

Wisconsin still more Democratic than Republican. You'd never know it watching the Walker Authority.

Still more proof the Walker/Republican agenda completely ignores every Democratic Wisconsinites. Are we really a red state...don't think so according to the respondents:

Ari Fleischer calls Democratic Convention "hall of zealots."

If you missed my earlier blogs a few years ago, I made the claim that Ari Fleisher was the biggest asshole. Today...he still is.

Republicans can do what they want.....

Have you noticed how easy it is for Republicans to say no. No to tax forms, no to the details of their plan to take America back, no to how they would create jobs, no to how free market health care would work. Actually, that last one would cost lives, just so they can live out their ideological theories.

Republicans always stick to their guns, never get flustered, never get embarrassed, never admit they're wrong, push lies that turn into truthyness, blame others, double down on stupid, and still win a few elections.

Are the Democrats the most inept party in the history of our country? Yes. They fold under pressure, they "compromise" their values, never answer a question directly, play nice to the opposition, respect those that would cut their throats, and never stick to a strong agenda of health care for all, returning voting rights, strengthen public schools, returning labor rights, and lead on wind and solar energies.

How hard it this...my god.

Rep. Grigsby on Democrats playing safe all the time: "People don't see change, they see us maintaining status quo."

What lesson should Democrats learn from Scott Walker and the new radicalized Republican Party? 

Do something!!

(Her fight with cancer), and what Rep. Tamara Grigsby describes as the toxic environment in the Capitol, convinced the Milwaukee lawmaker that her time in the Legislature should end after four terms.

In her interview with the Cap Times, Grigsby said what I think every Democrat in the state, and every Democrat in the country should be thinking right now, and act on:

CT: You said Democrats “played it safe” when you had the majority. How did that hurt the party?

TG: People don’t see change. They don’t see movement. They see us maintaining the status quo. Whether or not we like Walker’s leadership style, he did something different. He did something bold. He did something radical.

We have not done that and it hurts my constituency. They see our time in charge as an opportunity missed to address some of their very dire needs. That puts us in a position where we lose steam and we lose support. We lose those folks who voted for the first time.

Walker Power Unchecked.

Scott Walker has no desire to start working with Democrats, not now, not ever. He was given a second chance at turning Wisconsin deep red and he's not going to waste the moment.

So I found it hilarious that he would feign kindness and cooperation in is "second" term. 'Hey, come on over the mansion and have a few beers and brats, spill your guts and I'll use it against in January.'

Sen. Mark Miller of Monona took the bait and is feeling all warm and fuzzy, and he's pissing me off. We need to draw the line, we need to make demands, and we need hold everything up until we get what we want. That's why the people elected them. They were mandated by their constituents to represent them. We're a republic.

Here's a video I hope we see less and less of;

Rethinking, and Decompressing.

A lot of analysis is going on right now, trying to explain why only 57% of Wisconsinites turned out to vote. Lot's of speculation.

Isn't it odd that the recall voting percentages were identical to the 2010 results? It's like nothing happened in-between.

Why? My conservative friend in Milwaukee has been telling me the following over and over for the last year and a half; the recall was a direct challenge to the Republican win in 2010, and they weren't going to let anyone take away their vote; he felt backed into a corner; the recall was a waste of money; and more importantly, the recall wasn't warranted.

Many also thought this was a one issue campaign. For them the recall was over the top, because on the surface they saw a balanced budget, a strategic tax freeze on localities that gave the appearance of budgetary magic, and no visible signs of disaster. Wisconsinites are willing to give up even more, despite having given up so much during the Great Recession.

In His Eyes: What I see in Walker's eyes is a sociopath, what most others see is a trusting governor moving "forward." After all, he served two terms as Milwaukee County Executive in a Democratic stronghold. Like W.'s re-election in 2004, we're on a collision course with conservative economics.

Plan of Action: Democrats can't continue to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. Democrats need to forcefully push their agenda, like the Republicans, and never back down. It would help to develop repeatable agenda points, focus group tested, to create a gut reaction that motivates without thinking.

At the end of Walker's term Democrats should be ready and focused on reversing everything he's done over the last four years. Bitter revenge? Not at all, we just know from past conservative economic black holes that they don't know how to run government, which is why they want to turn the U.S. over to the private sector. They're lazy and love to freeload as government lawmakers with nothing to do.

Remember Rep. Terry Moulton's deadly silence when asked to name just one job creating law passed by the legislature? Beside the fact that no bills were like that were passed, Moulton revealed the Republicans little secret; they actually don't write any of their stuff. A bill appears and it's voted on. No one could take credit for the mining bill because no one knew where it came from, or they weren't telling. They import their bills from other sources. That's why Moulton is a taxpayer supported freeloader, who won his recall election by voters appreciated his hard work?

Lead, not Compromise: We have to replace Blue Dogs, take the party back, and fight like hell every day, not just around elections. Democrats need to campaign 24/7, all year. Leading may be a little authoritarian, but it's always good to aim high when dealing with Democrats. We can no longer afford to have pathetic, generic, un-commited wishy washy statements like Rep. Peter Barca's:

“There is a lot of work to do in healing our divided state. I hope Gov. Walker understands and stays true to his pledge to build consensus and be more inclusive going forward. And I will continue to extend my hand to work on the issues the people of Wisconsin care about – creating good-paying jobs, closing the skills gap and ensuring a quality education for our students.

My god the guy who steamrolled a hard right agenda just kicked your ass! Give me a break. Think that's bad, take a look at our new senate leader Mark Miller:



Miller almost redefines the meaning of wimp. Scott Walker redefined "forward"...for him, wiping out 80 years of progress is forward movement.

Well, this is just a first draft for me. It's back to finding more shocking indicators we may be further down the path to fascism than anyone might have imagined.

Why are we Recalling Gov. Walker?

Sly in the Morning took a stand on the upcoming recall; if getting Walker out of office wasn’t all about collective bargaining, he was checking out (or voting for a third party candidate).

My heart sank. Will liberals ever stop shooting themselves in the foot. Sly has been the voice of labor in the region since long before the protests. His activism and radio show have been the only counter balance to the radical conservative lunacy that has vilified labor, teachers, firefighters, police officers, the middle class and trashed the First Amendment. 

I think Russ Feingold summed up the reasons best in his weekly email:

Since taking office last January, he has attacked the rights of Wisconsin workers, passed an undemocratic voter ID bill, and done the bidding of the Koch brothers and his deep-pocketed corporate backers at every turn. All across the country, people are starting to stand up to the corporate special interests that want to buy our democracy.

Take notice Sly, it’s not all about collective bargaining, as Feingold clearly stated above. It’s one of maybe 3 or 4 main reasons why Walker has got to go. But it’s not ALL about collective bargaining.

For me, I might add to the above, the uncompromising way the Republicans passed their agenda.

  

Keeping the message short and easy to understand is pivotal to winning the recall election. Any candidate running against Walker would be wise to be point blank clear why Walker needs to be replaced.

Let me repeat that: 

A Democratic candidate must always give the reasons mentioned above FIRST in their media response, not hidden somewhere in their typically long winded rambling answers.  All we can ask our Democratic candidate for governor, and our long winded legislators, is to stop it, stop it now. Get to the point and stay on point. 

Democrat Beats Republican Challenge in La Crosse to fill Assembly Seat.

Why aren't we celebrating the quiet race that took place in La Crosse, putting one more Democrat in the state assembly, beating out a toxic Republican candidate. Toxic in that he was part of the GOP. 

WTDY: Democrat Jill Billings has won election to a Wisconsin Assembly seat that was left vacant after last summer's recall elections.  Billings defeated Republican David Drewes in a special election Tuesday in La Crosse. Unofficial results showed Billings won with 72 percent of the vote, compared with 28 percent for Drewes, with all precincts reporting. The election was necessary after former state Rep. Jennifer Shilling won election to the state Senate in August. She defeated Republican Sen. Dan Kapanke in the recall election.

This is what I want to hear from Democrats: “These are the bills we will repeal!”

Framing the political issue has been a massive failure for Democrats. They can’t create an energized electorate even if their political life depended on it, and it does. The public is on their side on so many issues, yet strongly worded statements of conviction and advocacy are non-existent. Replacing Walker and many extremist conservatives would be easy if Democrats didn’t find a way to self-destruct or make convoluted statements that tune people out.

Take the current “emergency jobs” session. It wasn’t just a GOP wish list of ideologically driven trash that passed, but an in your face assault on a majority of Wisconsinites who aren’t conservative. We’re talking about a government elected by a small group of voters. In less than 10 months, the state has turned into Texas and that’s not representation.

Promise to repeal this stuff guys:

Repeal Castle Doctrine: jsonline: "Homeowners who shoot intruders would receive strong legal protection." Image that, by just giving people a license to carry a gun, suddenly “responsible” armed citizens don’t need to be as “responsible” anymore. The original bill didn’t even protect firefighters and emergency medical technicians entering someone’s home.  Sloppy. “Under its provisions, malevolent, reckless, or paranoid people who shoot trick-or-treaters or repairmen on their porch will be presumed to be acting in self-defense," reads a statement issued this week on behalf of the criminal law section of the State Bar of Wisconsin. Shame on the 9 Democrats who voted for this new protected class of killers.

Repeal Employment discrimination: Republicans approved workplace discrimination by letting employers of the hook on punitive and compensatory damages, leaving only back pay and attorney costs. Basically a slap on the hand, and only if you get caught.

Reinstate Affirmative action: The state Assembly debated furiously for two days “a measure that would prevent the state from considering race as a factor in awarding certain college scholarships. The fire in that debate died out in the light of day when lawmakers from both sides learned race hadn't been considered as part of those scholarships for over a year.” Ooops? Thank you Democratic Rep. Peggy Krusick, for not only acted like a typically divisive Republican, but also shooting the party in the foot.

Repeal Charter School Fees for the Poor: We’re on our way to a class system of education in Wisconsin. Private voucher schools are now on their way to pricing undesirable poor families out of the system, all the while they are demanding the same per student spending as public schools. “The Assembly approved a bill (that) would allow the private schools receiving taxpayer money through the Milwaukee voucher program to charge certain fees to their students regardless of their family’s income. The schools could charge for meals, uniforms and gym clothes, musical instruments, transportation…etc.
Repeal Activist Judge Shopping bill: “Those who sue the state would get to choose their court venue.” It only made sense that Dane County would take such cases, the seat of state government. But Republicans offered this jaw dropping reason that says a lot about who really supports activist judges: "Republicans, who have lambasted Dane County judges as too liberal, would allow citizens to sue the state in any county they wanted.” Can you say conservative activist “judge shopping.” Amazing?

Repeal SAGE Destruction Law: The SAGE program is a small class size educational program, something Republicans hate more than anything, despite all the resent studies that proves it works. So guess what they did? "Loosen the requirements on school districts … The bill would allow a school board to skip the class-size limits in some cases.” Beautiful.

Repeal Cap on Attorney Fees: Working their way around our Constitutional guarantee for our day in court, Republicans pulled the rug out from getting legal representation, essentially closing the court house door. Rep. Robin Vos, who has been personally burned by the current law, thinks the checks and balances of the free market and those private sector attorneys should be eliminated. "They say it's all about the little guy," Vos said. "It's not. It's all about the trial lawyer. Everyone will get their day in court - every single Wisconsinite - but what businesses will get is some certainty." 

A lie accompanied by “business certainty,” the vacuous Republican statewide theme. 

Not Obama, but Congress should create jobs. House Republicans have the purse strings, have Done Nothing!!!

I am so tired of the press pretending Obama dropped the ball on jobs. Excuse me, the congress was tasked to do that, and the House Republicans were put in charge of job creation. How did the message get so screwed up? From Fox News:

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer's VETO Brand.

I continue to maintain the current Republican Party of extremists, are grooming at the state level, no nonsense, take no prisoners Democratic politicians and fighters. States are now the farm teams to a stronger and more populist Democratic Party. Like the governor below.  

What do you do if you're a Democratic governor with an extremist Republican legislature? Use the VETO branding iron. From awhile back, a few moments worth noting, and the fact that Rachel Maddow notices these things:



NOTE: Yes, I'm cleaning out my video files and found a few that I never got a chance to post.

Vermont Gov. Shumlin Stood Head and Shoulders Above Walker at Congressional Hearing.

Here's Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, who couldn't contrasted more with our own unqualified state executive, Gov. Scott Walker. It's amazing how different two people could be solving their statewide problems.  Here Shumlin stands up for collective bargaining.



Even more support for collective bargaining, directed at a wise ass smug Republican:



Here, another Republican tries to make the case that federal mandates are hamstringing states, Shumlin won't have that BS: