stevenkesslar

Damn right, Sis! Even if you are my Sister In Cock, and I am not into incest, I still think you are sexy when you get angry! Democrats have to get out and vote. And organize. And give. I've been sending monthly contributions to Ossoff, Brown, Peltola, and Talarico since they won their primaries. I have now added Platner in Maine and Turek in Iowa. Once Michigan has their primary I will add whoever wins there. So my hope is that we can hold all the blue Senate seats, and flip North Carolina as a now fairly sure thing. Then we have to win three more. Ohio, Alaska, and Maine seem like the most likely. Iowa and Texas may be possible. Here's too much information: It's an hour long rant between three more centrist talking heads that largely focuses on this whole "democratic socialism" thing. Two points I will make. First, I was surprised by the level of derision toward this economic populism movement. Especially from Mark Halperin. All three of these guys are essentially long time voices of The Establishment. So I get it. They would all like a more centrist policy orientation. Whether that be Fox News right of center or Joe Biden left of center. But it just feels insulting. There are a few minutes around 15:00 when Halperin reads a press release from Bernie Sanders, which is mostly just facts. Like Sanders talks about how many democratic socialists are winning. And how ideas like taxing billionaire oligarchs more and providing stronger protection for labor unions are popular ideas. Poll after poll says most Americans support labor unions, and want the rich to pay more taxes. What's to dismiss or ridicule about that? I think Halperin is the best political journalist in America today. His 2Way thing did by far the best job of covering how people - especially swing voters - felt in 2024. It was no shock that for many people Trump ended up being the lesser evil. It's the economy, stupid. In a word: Bidenflation. So maybe Halperin is right that the "socialist!" bogeyman will scare moderate voters off. But if "socialism" means housing or health care is more affordable, it may not be so scary. New York is a center of capitalism in America and the world, and yet Mamdani won. The wind is at his back. Second, I completely agree with what Democrat and former Biden guy Kevin Walling says. And what you say, Sis. What really matters is turnout. And one of the tests will be Colorado's 8th congressional district. One of those Colorado races is a democratic socialist who won in deep blue Denver. So whether the Democrat is the "progressive" who was a House member for 30 years and lost, or a newcomer "democratic socialist" who won, Democrats will hold that seat. The 8th is a whole different matter. Progressive Manny Rutinel got about 40,000 votes in the Democratic primary, about twice as much as his moderate opponent. Incumbent Republican Gabe Evans got about 40,000 votes in the Republican primary, running unopposed. That's 100,000 votes added together. In 2024 Republican Evans won with 163,000ish votes, compared to 161,000ish for Democrat Yadiro Caraveo. So the fall election may have more than three times as many voters deciding who wins. And probably the ones who are most centrist or most undecided didn't even show up for the primary. What I do know is the same things were said to dismiss Wellstone. He was too radical. And he just kept hammering on economic populist themes. He was left-wing enough that he never did win in a landslide, even as the incumbent. But he won. And in Minnesota it was Wellstone and his politics that turned a losing decade around. If the Fall election is about economic populism, Manny Rutinel will probably win. He may get more people inspired to actually vote - especially if it is young voters who are pissed off. If the election is about socialism or "woke" bullshit, he will probably lose. Either way, it is on the democratic socialists or progressives to prove that they can win. And that, if they win, they can actually govern. I'm not persuaded that the solution is more moderate Democrats who have more and more corporate lobbyist money. They tend to block serious change and go along with what corporations want. Biden actually said that a lot in 2008 when he ran for POTUS. That was right after we lost about 6 million factory jobs to China or automation. Biden blamed that on Republican control under W. But he also said too many Democrats addicted to corporate campaign money just went along and did not fight like hell. The anger and cynicism that bred was Trump's ticket to The White House eight years later. I'm excited. Trump is such an incompetent narcissistic greedy piece of shit that he has opened the door for young people who stand for the exact opposite. This year and 2028 will be their big test.

You too, Sis. Not to date myself (or you), Sis, but we have been here and done this before. In the 1980's when Reaganism ruled and I was a college student in Minnesota the Republicans had pretty much a decade long lock on the two US Senate seats and the Governorship of Minnesota. I recall a conversation one day with a left-wing college professor I consider a mentor, and my best friend at the time - a liberal like me. "The problem with you, Jeff, is that you haven't figured out yet that electoral politics is bullshit." That's what the lefty college professor said to my friend. Fast forward several years and the college professor is US Senator Paul Wellstone, and my friend Jeff is his campaign manager. After Paul died in a plane crash Jeff started the training group Wellstone Action, which included graduates like Tim Walz, and current Senate candidate and likely next US Senator Peggy Flanagan. Here's a nice reason to be patriotic. I worked for Wellstone Action for a decade, training thousands of people across the country to run for political office. https://fb.watch/I7Gm6ydDfR/ As one commenter notes: Todd McNamara Wellstone was an early version of Mamdani! Wellstone never called himself a democratic socialist. But he was considered far too lefty to take out a relatively moderate (by today's standards) Republican US Senator. Yet he did. The secret sauce is economic populism. When you listen to people and try to make rent and homes and health care more affordable, turns out they like you. Who knew? Zohran knows, apparently, You are coaching him well. Enjoy the secret sauce, Sis. 😍🥰😁 Steve Bannon himself is heralding that these democratic socialists are dead serious about helping working class people with working class issues - and not corporate lobbyists. Good for them. Of course, Bannon calls them jihadists. The Establishment Democrats freaking out most tend to be the ones like Jeffries and Schumer who think, with cause, that if we could only get more corporate money in our pockets we would win more. There is truth to that. But economic populists like Wellstone and Mamdani have proven time and again that if you listen and focus on things like affordability, rather than stuff like starting wars with Iran and genocide and higher gas prices and pleasing corporate lobbyists who give you money, you win. Jeff Merkley is another one. Same story. Oregon had an even longer rule of two relatively centrist Republican US Senators. I met Jeff when he ran the local Habitat For Humanity. He helped me form Portland's first citywide affordable housing alliance and aim it at redlining banks to successfully create lots of affordable homeownership programs. Stuff like that got him eventually elected to the US Senate. Who knew people care about affordable housing? Meanwhile, Trump just enriches his family and elite pals feeding at the public trough. God bless America. We really need it right now!

You are such a whore. I love it. And apparently you are doing quite the job with your pretty boy Zohran, Sis. He is literally infectious. His socialism seed is spreading everywhere. It must taste really good. 😁

My Dad grew up in Michigan. So I know. It's a shit hole. 🫢 Fair is fair. Why don't you send Hoekstra back to the shit hole he came from? 😉

Oh. And I forgot. I have a favor to ask @RockyRoadTravel. Since you're a neighbor and being kind and all, do you think you could take in one of our Gay refugees? I'm fine with him being Gay, of course. He just runs up too much shit on credit cards. Like wars, and what not.

Honestly, I had to check. All that "pride" talk almost made him sound Gay. He's not. Being a refugee and Canadian is bad enough. A Gay Canadian refugee? I don't know how you overcome that! 😉

Um ................... will a JPG do? 😉

To be fair, that is a biased perspective. For some of us, cruelty is good. Rape is awesome. Murder and genocide are swell. Hell, Sis, as much as I love you, wouldn't it still be great if I could just blow your fucking brains out on 5th Ave? 🫢 All this could be ours, if we could simply stop being stuck up bitches and just engage in Dog Think. With Dog Think, you just have to be good and loyal and true. Like our MAGA Pup. Because if you are good and loyal and true, there is no cruelty or rape or genocide. There is just American Greatness, which is good for loyal and true dogs. But not for Us Gays, of course. Case in point, according to The Economist/You Gov poll: In hindsight, do you think the decision to go to war in Iran is the right decision or wrong decision? Democrats: 5 % right decision, 81 % wrong decision Independents: 14 % right decision, 60 % wrong decision Republicans: 61 % right decision, 16 % wrong decision MAGA: 75 % right decision, 13 % wrong decision All voters: 26 % right decision, 54 % wrong decision MAGA means never having to say you're sorry .............. for cruelty, or rape, or murder, or even genocide! Don't you wish you were a dog like our MAGA Pup? If you are a MAGA pup, you can't lose. Lies are winning. Rape is winning. Cruelty is winning. Kill Iranian school girls? That is a huge fucking victory in Dog Think! Just make sure you lie about it. If you are a MAGA pup, you will and must get your little loyalty and stupidity fix by posting thousands of Tik Toks about how Trump gloriously won the Iran War. Frankly, our stupid lonely MAGA Pup is coming up short. Stupid, I guess. MAGA says the US won the Iran war. 65 % of MAGA voters say the US won. 54 % of Republicans say the US won. 14 % of Independents say the US won the Iran war. 7 % of Democrats say the US won the Iran war. Overall, 25 % of voters say the US won, 22 % say Iran won, and 44 % say neither side won. Most people who are not MAGA think the whole thing was a mistake. God bless MAGA! God bless cruelty! God bless Trump and Republicans cutting Medicaid and food aid while they raise gas prices! God bless killing Iranian children and lying about it! God bless our Trump Pup for taking out errant Republicans who call victory "losing". Every good and loyal and true MAGA Pup knows MAGA, and Trump, can never lose!

The stupid lonely old dog lives in an alternative reality. Jordan would have fun with it. So would Bill Cassidy and a bunch of other Republican Senators. Of course, our murder pup used his teeth. Trump brought our sadistic pup to the meeting with him, and ordered Barknaway to rip Cassidy's throat open. So much for dissent. We did win the Iran war, right? Barknaway doesn't need any treats today, by the way. He got to eat Bill Cassidy's throat. And there is no need to send our genocide loving pup to the dog house. Apparently there won't be a housing bill, since Trump and Barknaway value loyalty and blind obedience over affordability and bipartisanship. Who knew? Who needs lower prices when you can be cruel instead? Barknaway is in his glory.

He's a perfect metaphor for Trump. I love it how he wastes all his time just proving to a few people how stupid he is.

An interesting question came up yesterday: Is the stupid barking dog actually a space alien sending us sophisticated messages we are incapable of comprehending? Is the pup into Trumpian genocide, or world peace? It's worth a thought. I watched Disclosure Day yesterday. And I couldn't help noticing some remarkable similarities to our annoying Pavlov's dog. First, in the film the aliens come to us as animals. What's the difference between a cardinal or a deer, and a constantly yapping dog? Second, the aliens try to communicate with us in a garbled language we can't understand. Very much like a barrage of Tik Tok videos. Third, there is an overall air of conspiracy, lies, deflection, paranoia, and - most important - banal stupidity. Very much like a barrage of Tik Tok videos. So perhaps there is some very sophisticated message here. Or, more likely, the vast and profound message the yapping dog is sending us is simple: DON'T LISTEN. If empathy and intelligence are going to come from somewhere, it won't be from Trump. Or from his good and loyal and true dog. Or Tik Tok. The world seems to be learning this together. Well, at least we'll always have Israel. And genocide. So we just get conspiracy, lies, deflection, paranoia, and - most important - banal stupidity. Oh, and higher gas prices. 😱 Personally, I find it satisfying to NOT listen to a stupid lonely old man who posts banal videos that say stupid old things. On the other hand, if Emily Blunt or Josh O'Connor have something to say, I will gladly listen.

If fairness, Dog Think is way less complicated than you make it sound. It works like this. Dead Protestor that ICE kills - 3 LOUD BARKS Dead Iranian School Girls - 7 LOUD BARKS JD Vance says we won the war we lost - THREE MINUTES OF LOUD BARKING Lindsey Graham says we lost the war JD Vance says we won - RIP HIS THROAT OPEN It's actually pretty simple. Plus, give the pup some credit. He is good and loyal and true. Besides, his first post on this thread was "Song Song Blue." Great song, great movie. Granted, our dumb pup is no Hugh Jackman. But what's a dog to do?

Or he could just bite off the foot of Tom Cotton. That said, truth to be told, JD Vance has more fashion sense than Tom Cotton and certainly more than Trey Gowdy (I know, Sis. You may disagree,) Fox's Trey Gowdy complains about the MOU: Iran is “better off than they were before the hostilities began” And JD's turn in Trump's line of fire is coming. Maybe Barky will have to chew off JD's shoe? It's all so depressing. Barky had such potential when his Momma looked kindly on Joe Biden. One wonders where the ignorance and cruelty came from?

Which is why they are about to lose their temporary power. Can someone adopt @Barknaway? I am worried sick that when Trump finds out all his stupid yapping was worthless, and only reflected his own ignorance, that Trump will turn @Barknaway into Trump Steaks. Please let's be compassionate to @Barknaway. He is good and loyal and true.

Tom Cotton, the Senate’s foremost Iran hawk, is in a Trump-induced jam A decade after blasting a remarkably similar Iran deal, the Intelligence chair is now treading carefully. Will @Barknaway have to take out Tom Cotton? Will @Barknaway have to take out Jordon Bardella, and a world full of right wing leaders who reject Trump's pig-headed "USA First And Only" stupidity? My heart bleeds for @Barknaway. Yes, he is a dumb dog that will go along with genocide. And destroying American prestige to fuel Trump's ego. But it is only because he is good and loyal and true. What else is a sadistic dog loyal to Trump supposed to do? Poor @Barknaway!

Times are tough! Our sadistic pup @Barknaway is good and loyal and true. What if Trump orders our sadistic pup to assassinate The Genocide Jew? To me, being a dog lover, having @Barknaway take out The Genocide Jew on Trump's command is better than seeing Trump turn @Barknaway into Trump Steaks. But who would have thought it would come to this!!!!!!!!!! Wasn't the whole point to kill a lot of innocent Iranian school girls? Excuse me. I meant, wasn't the whole point to kill Gay-hating theocratic mullahs? Instead we gave them a "Get Out Of The Strait Of Hormuz For Free" card. Please God! Do not let Donald Trump turn good and loyal and true @Barknaway into Trump Steaks. Better to off The Genocide Jew.

Who knows. Maybe Trump will ay Canada $300 billion in reparations, too! 🤔

The Most Surprising Miscalculation of Trump’s Second Term He has underestimated the power of patriotic sentiment in countries besides the United States. Trump is good at three things: ego, greed, and genocide. Oh. I forgot. Rape. As a diplomat ....................... well, he sucks. As a POTUS ................... duh! He is an abject failure. Wonder how many languages he knows how to "stupid flailing asshole" in?

Are you happy precious barking pup? Lots of people are dead like Iranian school girls. Maybe you even got to chew off the legs of one of the Gaza children that The Genocide Jew targeted for mass murder. What fun! All so the US can be humiliated. And so you can bark and bark and bark about how Obama and Biden and Clinton are to blame. You are a very stupid and murderous pup. But we still love you! Now the US is weaker and Iran rises. Go kill some Iranian to celebrate!

Talarico is actually ever so slightly leading Paxton in a new poll. Even better, Sherrod Brown is leading in a poll in Ohio. If there is anyone in the US who has credibility as a working class, pro-union guy who fights for the working class, it is Sherrod Brown. The fact that he was taken out as Ohio Senator in 2024 despite that, because people were pissed at Democrats for inflation, says a lot about the challenges Democrats face. The best hope I see is that Democrats manage to win the latest coin toss in 2026 and 2028 and then actually do something to help the working class. Then, like AMLO and his movement in Mexico, they might actually be able to sustain power for a decade or so. Rather than just set up the next coin toss.

Gas prices. And the "L" word. One of the guys I have been listening to a lot lately is Robert Pape. He predicted when the Iran War started that Trump would get caught in an escalation trap. And now he has. So Pape is now predicting Trump's base will further degrade for two reasons. And to be clear what he means by that, the swing voters - young men, Hispanics and Blacks who were fed up with Biden thanks to inflation - are already lost, Pape says. He's talking about the roughly one third of Americans who are true blue MAGA folk. Gas prices will be one thing that just keeps slicing away at Trump's support. But the other one is the "L" word: loser. Trump is spinning cartwheels with his cankles and genocide threats to avoid looking like a loser. But if he wants an agreement with Iran that will get gas prices down, he's going to have to look like a loser. So maybe the MAGA echo chamber can look past more corruption. But even the Divine Miss Graham will shit her dress when she learns Trump really is a loser! What a dumb fuck genocidal POTUS to do? Consult with Justin, maybe?

And you can't let the US government have his tax returns and he and his family fleece the world.

The new polls are devastating for Trump. I have not seen a specific poll on "gas prices". If you asked 100 people if they like higher gas prices, 100 would probably say NO. The more MAGA-oriented question would be, "Is this short term sacrifice in higher gas prices worth it so we can Make America Great Again by nuking Iranian civilization, killing tens of millions of people, disrupting the global oil infrastructure, and creating a big recession?" 😱 No doubt some loyal MAGA folks would say, "Sounds great to me." Patriot Pete would be down on his knees voraciously sucking Trump's cock while the nukes drop incinerating Iranian children. You gotta give Patriot Pete credit for even being able to find Trump's cock, really. Or maybe he just sucks on the fat ankles instead. President Trump Job Approval - Inflation As far as MOST Americans - not to mention most people on the planet - go, Trump is in big trouble. He ran for POTUS to lower prices. Only 30 % approve of the way he is handling inflation. 2 in 3 Americans disapprove. Probably many of those are Trump supporters who usually don't vote. And won't vote in 2026 because Trump actually gave us a war that caused gas prices and inflation to spike. The exact opposite of what he promised. Narcissistic piece of shit. If Democrats could win the votes of the 2 in 3 Americans that don't like how Trump is handling inflation, that would of course be a landslide. Now is the time for Democrats to be talking about how they will help Americans in the pocketbook. I'm a one trick pony. But I keep going back to those child tax credits. For tens of millions of Americans, they did basically offset the sting of inflation while it was spiking the most. For one year, child poverty was cut in half for White, Black, Asian and Hispanic working class families. That's not DEI. That's decency. At least Democrats did something. It's not the same as a factory job. But they did something that helped tens of millions of working class Americans in their pocketbook. Just bitching about how Trump sucks is fine. That will be sufficient to do well in the midterms. It will not be sufficient to govern. Which arguably is the sad lesson of the Biden/Harris Administration.

To intentionally mix stock and flying metaphors, you will have to decide. Is this a buy the dip moment? Or is this Trump just crashing? Both can be true at the same time! Speaking of which, it is possible to despise Trump, and profit off his antics. I made a lot of money buying the big dip last April when he had a tariff tantrum. And, speaking of dips: If you don't recognize him, that's Tom Lee on the left, Wall Street perma-bull. I found that graphic because it is simple. Here is Tom Lee's own version of it: Note that was from January of this year. He has been right so far. It's probably not exactly clear, but that chart is basically a composite of US stock market performance in every midterm election year since 1928. The standard vocabulary I keep hearing is midterm elections are "choppy" market years. Usually followed by a year with unusually good returns. That has nothing to do with who the POTUS is. It's the way the stock market has been. And what seems to be accepted by many Wall Street people as dogma. So in any midterm year, odds are we'll have a "crash", to use the word in the image above, going right into the elections. In a year when we are losing a war, oil prices are rising, inflation is hot, and mortgage rates are up, it's probably even more likely. So Wall Street, if this plays out, will basically be saying: "Donald Trump, you are a worthless piece of shit. You, worthless piece of shit, are losing a war that is fucking up the global economy. You, worthless piece of shit, are bringing back inflation. You, worthless stupid piece of shit, are making long rates go up. What part of being a worthless piece of shit do you not understand, you worthless piece of shit?" Granted, it's not exactly news that Trump is a worthless losing piece of shit. Except to him. But if anybody can pierce the worthless piece of shit's narcissistic armor, it may be Wall Street. Greed loves greed, and listens to it. Speaking of greed, I wouldn't mind a nice buyable dip this fall. Meanwhile, back to the airline thing. Buckle your seat belts. It may be a bumpy ride.

Gosh! That's a tough one. Even for a smart ass like me. So I consulted with one of the best American leaders ever. But I guess you have to give credit to Trump. They did get fooled again.