You know where there was no blue wave this cycle? Ohio-- not even a ripple. It was another status quo election in Ohio, as though nothing at all was going on in the country-- nothing at all. Just... same ole/same ole. All the incumbents in the gerrymandered congressional districts-- each one carefully designed to return incumbents-- were reelected. And in the one contest where there was no incumbent, the party stayed the same.
-by Dorothy ReikIn 411 BC the comic playwright Aristophanes' heroine Lysistrata led her followers on a sex strike to force an end to the Pelopponesian wars. It was a comedy then but in 2003, Leymah Gbowee led the women of Liberia in a sex strike to end their civil war. It worked and she won the Nobel Prize. Centuries ago, in 1600, Iroquois women stuck to stop tribal wars. They got what they were striking for.
Trump, Rapist by Chip ProserThe headline of the new Kaiser Family Foundation poll tells us a lot about America: Poll: Two-thirds of Americans Don’t Want the Supreme Court to Overturn Roe v. Wade. Two-thirds is a lot. But one third is the hard core Trumpist base.
What would closet case Ben Gay Lujan do if the party started recruiting anti-LGBTQ candidates?Even if they started out, long, long, long ago as idealists-- and even entered politics because of idealism-- most entrenched Democratic professional politicians became, somewhere along the line, an ideal-free careerist for whom the Democratic Party is now merely a vehicle for their own, personal career objectives.
I don't go in for identity politics at all. Voting for someone because they were born a woman, gay, of any particular religion, Asian or black, for example, is not my cup pf tea. Nor is voting for someone who is a veteran, a scientist, a doctor or part of any age group. Take women. Women make up 51% of the population but just 22% of the Senate and 19% of the House. That's outrageous.
Yesterday, the House passed H.R. 36, Trent Franks' so-called "Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act." It passed 237-189, every Republican but Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) and Charlie Dent (R-PA) voting YES, and every Democrat except 3 far right Blue Dogs voting NO:
If the Democrats are going to win back another seat in Kentucky, it's likely to be the 6th district, which includes Lexington and Frankfort and is currently held by Andy Barr, who was first elected in 2012 by ousting conservative Blue Dog Ben Chandler. It's the only red district in the state that has a PVI that isn't double-digit Republican and the only red district in the state where Obama busted through 40%. Statewide, Trump beat Hillary 62.5% to 32.7% but in KY-06 it was a less humiliating loss, "only" 54.7% to 39.4%. When Barr first beat Chandler it was 153,221 (51%) to 141,436 (47%).
Blue America is now backing 3 exceptional military vets for Congress-- Doug Applegate (D-CA), Randy Bryce (D-WI) and Jim Thompson (D-KS). I have to admit, though, that we didn't decide to endorse any of them because of their service. We endorsed each one because of their progressive policy positions and because they convinced us that they are sincere about those positions.
There actually can be such a thing as too many choices. But you don't need Bernie Sanders to limit your deodorant selection. Costco will do it for you on a voluntary basis.
