Am I crazy?

[lookin]

Maybe it's because I'm weary of all the lies 24/7, but I could see myself voting for Jack Smith for President.  His regard for the facts, clear thinking, and pursuit of the truth seems like a much-needed antidote to the gaslighting we've endured for the past decade.

As far as I know, he's not interested in politics and has never said whether he thinks of himself as a Republican or Democrat.  A candidate's compassion is at least 80% of my voting decision and I don't know where he stands on the distribution of wealth between the 1% and the 99%.  But one thing I'm sure of is that he'd tell me where he stands and why.

My fantasy also extends to him running as an Independent, leaving behind the baggage of both the Republican and Democratic parties and aligning himself with the current majority of voters.  Of course he'd also leave behind the Democratic and Republican campaign war chests and that, while in line with getting money out of politics, could  be a fatal flaw in my daydream.  (I wouldn't be averse to him running as a Democrat, as I believe there's room in the party for him.)

Another flaw may be that he has little political experience, but I've long believed that a President's effectiveness relies largely on the team (s)he puts in place to help get things done.  I also thought he had no international experience but then I learned that he spent a couple years at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

I wonder what my esteemed fellow posters think of washing off the political stink of the past ten years and reestablishing ourselves as a rational and law-abiding democracy and whether Jack Smith could be the one to do it.  If you can't see him as President, how about as Vice-President?

[Suckrates]

1 hour ago, lookin said:

Maybe it's because I'm weary of all the lies 24/7, but I could see myself voting for Jack Smith for President.  His regard for the facts, clear thinking, and pursuit of the truth seems like a much-needed antidote to the gaslighting we've endured for the past decade.

As far as I know, he's not interested in politics and has never said whether he thinks of himself as a Republican or Democrat.  A candidate's compassion is at least 80% of my voting decision and I don't know where he stands on the distribution of wealth between the 1% and the 99%.  But one thing I'm sure of is that he'd tell me where he stands and why.

My fantasy also extends to him running as an Independent, leaving behind the baggage of both the Republican and Democratic parties and aligning himself with the current majority of voters.  Of course he'd also leave behind the Democratic and Republican campaign war chests and that, while in line with getting money out of politics, could  be a fatal flaw in my daydream.  (I wouldn't be averse to him running as a Democrat, as I believe there's room in the party for him.)

Another flaw may be that he has little political experience, but I've long believed that a President's effectiveness relies largely on the team (s)he puts in place to help get things done.  I also thought he had no international experience but then I learned that he spent a couple years at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

I wonder what my esteemed fellow posters think of washing off the political stink of the past ten years and reestablishing ourselves as a rational and law-abiding democracy and whether Jack Smith could be the one to do it.  If you can't see him as President, how about as Vice-President?

 

You are weary ?   I am BEYOND weary, and ANGRY AF.......Trump is in full blown dictator mode,  but is turning out to be the worst kind of dictator.   While other dictators are subversive, and try to do their crimes in the dark, having their victims "fall out of windows" or die of "poisoning",   Trump is gloating and in full glory murdering Americans in full view and then immediately LYING about the circumstances and blaming the victims.  The COVERUP has become worse than the actual crime,  preventing and denying investigations and declaring the killings are justified and smearing the victims.....   How has America allowed this to happen ?

As  for Jack Smith, you are right, but he is also Trumps worst nightmare, a voice of fact and truth, 2 things Trump doesnt understand, recognize or allow.....Smith is the kind of voice Trump is trying to eradicate, silence and deny.....  Of course Smith is the type of person a normal American would want in service of them,  but in the current climate of our country, it is nothing more than a daydream, and your fantasy..    How do you make that fantasy a reality ?   Only ONE way I can think of.........

While I agree with every word of your last statement, I cant help but realize, at this time its nothing more than a pipedream.   However, in our history, pipedreams HAVE become reality...the people just need to believe and keep working towards it, eventhough it seems FUTILE now. 

[stevenkesslar]

5 hours ago, lookin said:

I wonder what my esteemed fellow posters think of washing off the political stink of the past ten years and reestablishing ourselves as a rational and law-abiding democracy and whether Jack Smith could be the one to do it.  If you can't see him as President, how about as Vice-President?

Great post and great question, @lookin.

If there is someone who can wash off the political stink, it ain't Jack Smith.  Like you, I respect him a lot.  But he is at the core of the partisan "lawfare" debate.  So I assume a lot of MAGA people view him as the Wicked Witch of the West.  Their whole idea now is that the violation of laws and norms and the destruction of alliances and institutions is just fine.  As long as you lead our team.  Smith is someone I suspect many of them would like to burn at the stake.

I view the failure to prosecute Trump for Jan. 6th as a massive fuck up on the part of Biden.  And Merrick Garland specifically.  They had four years.  I'm not a lawyer.  And I am sure there were all kinds of political and legal nuances involved.  But I still think they fucked up.  Had a jury found Trump guilty, it may have changed the outcome.  Or maybe not.  One of the disturbing things about 2024 is that the party that usually likes to throw Black criminals in jail suddenly decided that being a felon was a mark of honor for Trump.

One of the smartest guys in the room is Doug Sosnik, one of Bill Clinton's top political advisors back in the day.  He said in a recent interview that "exhaustion" will be a theme in 2028.  When voting for POTUS people often tend to go for the opposite of what they had.  We of course did that already in 2020, when Boring Biden was viewed as a solution to Trump Crazy.  But for inflation, I don't think almost half of voters would have wanted Crazy back. 

Arguably Democrats have an advantage in 2028 simply because they are not the party of Trump Crazy.  JD Vance won't be able to get away from Trump Crazy any more than Harris could get away for Old Joe.

Sosnik thinks - to state the obvious - Democrats need to focus on economics 100 % and play to the populist tide.  Clinton was the last Democratic POTUS who could win in states like Arkansas.  What Sosnik also said is that one way Democrats can help our 2028 nominee is by toning down the "toxic" parts of the Democratic brand that make Democrats unelectable in states like Missouri and Montana.  I agree. 

Probably the best way Democrats can do that is by emphasizing affordability and things like "tax the rich" and deemphasize the stuff that drives culturally conservative voters crazy.  Democrats seem to be getting and reading that memo.  One can hope.

Several Republican analysts have been saying lately that the part of the Trump 2024 coalition that is most at risk is the younger Zoomer voters who tilted toward him, mostly because of economic concerns.  High inflation, high rent, high mortgage rates.  To state it bluntly, young Latino men could give a shit about law and order.  If anything, they saw Trump as a force for law and order in 2024.  Close the damn border.  They care about prices.  They applaud when Ruben Gallego says every Latino man wants a big ass truck and cheap gas to fill it with. 

Democrats should focus on that.  Not law and order.  Democrats have the vote of the people like you and me and my beloved Sister In Cock, who are appalled and exhausted.

If I had to bet, Gavin Newsom will be the 2024 nominee.  A successful (right now) Governor of a huge blue state running is not a bad idea.  And he owns the Resist Trump lane, which he clearly sees as the ticket to ride.  I doubt the party will go for AOC in 2028, any more than Sanders was able to close the deal in 2016 or 2020.  So the interesting question is people like Andy Beshear or maybe Josh Shapiro.  In theory, at least, 8 years of Andy Beshear would help to close the red state/blue state divide.  But, in theory, Barack Obama and Joe Biden were supposed to do that, too.  Didn't work.

I tend to agree with the Big Thinkers who see this polarization and populism as one part of a much bigger trend or cycle that plays out through history.  They'd argue that we're hurtling toward some kind of crisis - of institutions, of monetary systems, inflation, federal debt - and these are just all symptoms.  So, sadly, I agree with my Sister In Cock that these things are pipe dreams right now.

It will probably get worse before it gets better.  First thing is we have three more years of a piece of shit President who destabilizes everything to go.  And he is screaming and shouting that he is above the law.  Ugh!

 

 

Then again, when you think about it, why would anyone feel exhausted, anyway?

 

[Suckrates]

Could it be, as all pundits have started to say after Pam Bondi's "negotiation" letter to Tim Walz about he can get ICE out of Minn simply by providing the DOJ with their voter registrations and other personal citizen data, that all this state invasion, cruelty and brutality shit is just a cover of election subversion, and Trumps attempt to once again STEAL elections come the mids ?

Seems plausible based on the info provided and statements by Walz regarding Bondi's "semi demand".....

It wouldnt be surprising as everything we have seen Trump doing lately is in service of something OTHER THAN what he claims it was.....

Venezuela was not about Drugs, it was about oil.

Greenland was not about security, it was about distracting from Epstein.

So Minn is really not about immigration or crime, its about subverting the coming elections......

Trump is a slimy snake and must be watched carefully.   Believe him when he talks about taking action, but dont believe his reasons......   Follow the money and power.  Its the only things that motivate him. 

 

[stevenkesslar]

3 hours ago, Suckrates said:

So Minn is really not about immigration or crime, its about subverting the coming elections...

I'll say one contrarian thing.

"Defund the police" hurt Democrats in 2020.  

Jim Clyburn has said that the South Carolina Senate race was tied for a while in 2020, when his young protege Jamie Harrison was on the ballot.  His analysis is that all the "defund the police" stuff is what ensured The Divine Miss Graham won again.  That's a stretch. 

That said, if Democrats could have figured out how to break through to moderate voters who are right of center on some cultural issues, we could have won Iowa and North Carolina.  Obama did.  Obama was also Deporter In Chief.  So Democrats have a history of being able to elect liberals who can play to the center.  Biden was one, before age and inflation led him to defeat.

So the danger now is that Democrats will fuck it up again, and go back to "Abolish ICE."  Sorry, but that is why Trump was elected again.  People don't want that, either.

I agree with Doug Sosnik, who I quoted above.  Carville was the 1992 icon who famously said, "It's the economy, stupid."  But Sosnik had just as much to do with that message and Clinton's successes.  Democrats need to let Team Trump Crazy do the Crazy Thing, which they do better than ever.  We need to moderate to win.  Especially on immigration.