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Since my brother is a Clinton supporter, living in the  critical state of California, and since his main reason seems to be that he  thinks she’s the more electable candidate, let me address that issue tonight: she is not.

If the election is, as it seems it will be, between either Clinton and Sanders on the one  side, and Donald Trump on  the other, I’m fairly certain either Clinton or  Sanders will win.  Only buffoons support Trump, and they are already out.
Then, there will be debates.  Clinton or Sanders will give intelligent answers, dripping with facts, logic and statistics, Trump will yammer on about how wonderful he is  and wave his short, little  fingers (oh, yes they are) in the air.

I think Sanders would handle it better than Clinton, because Sanders has had the same positions for the last 35 years, and he just needs to keep explaining it.  Clinton’s got a whole lot to answer for, numerous ways in which she can be attacked.

If the Republicans pull a fast one and nominate Kasich, Trump may go independent and they would lose spectacularly.  Or, he may not, he may acquiesce, maybe they  will offer him a deal – tax breaks, licensing, something like that – and he will quietly back away.  If it’s Kasich  v. Clinton it’s a race between a conservative a lot of people don’t like and a ‘liberal’ who a lot of liberals don’t even think is a liberal.  Clinton could lose to Kasich.  But, I’m pretty sure Trump will be the nominee and, in any event, Democrats shouldn’t worry too much about what Republicans do or say.  That is the chronic problem of Democrats.  If Democrats start acting, and talking, like Democrats, they will win.

Now, my brother thinks the reason Sanders is leading in the polls is because Republicans haven’t  really turned their hate machine on him yet.  I don’t know.  I’ve been hearing plenty of hate from Clinton supporters.  In any event, the only charge Republicans have against Bernie is that he’s a socialist, and here are a few  ways we can answer that:

1. DEMOCRATIC Socialist!
2. So was FDR.
3. So was Jesus.
4. Do you have a Social Security card?  You’re a socialist.
5. Did you go to a public school?  You’re a socialist.
6. It’s the system which works in Europe, and Canada, and Japan and South Korea and Australia and New Zealand.
7. We give billions of dollars of aid to Israel.  How is it they’ve got universal health care and we don’t?
8. Come on.  He’s not exactly Joe Stalin.  Look at the guy.
9. As long as you  agree that the government can charge SOME taxes, then we’re just quibbling over the amount, and an extra 4% on people making over $250,000 a year is not excessive.
10. At least he’s honest about it.

I’ve lived here 18 years and this city still surprises me.  Generally, it is about the most politically apathetic place I’ve ever been.  When literally millions of people were marching in the streets of Rome and London to protest the American massacre of Iraq, we could barely muster a dozen for a candlelight vigil in old town square.

Truth and Love

The other day, though, the president of China paid a visit.  There were protests, counter protests, and a technological-artistic protest of mind blowing brilliance and simplicity.  The protesters threw paint on the Chinese flags which lined the route to the castle, held signs saying ‘Remember Tienanmen’ and stuff like that, and made a lot of noise with kazoos.  They seemed to be mostly Chinese.

That was an interesting aspect to it.  There is a Chinese community in Prague.  I don’t know any of them personally.  I suspect most white people don’t.  They are the nice folks running all those restaurants and quite a few of the potravinies, but we don’t know their politics.  They give  change and don’t glare at their customers, and we leave it at that.

The counter protesters were also Chinese, but they were organized by the Chinese embassy, bused from place to place, and wouldn’t talk to the press.

The protest that knocked me out, though, that made me think ‘this is what protest demonstrations should be like in the future, was a light show.  ‘Truth and Love’ (in Czech) and other slogans were projected on the walls of Prague Castle, and ‘Free Tibet’ in English.

Police said they figured out where it was coming from, but they never found the projector, and haven’t made any arrests.  I don’t know that any laws were even broken, although  I’m sure police would have shut it down if they could have.

I don’t know if the perpetrators were Czech or Chinese, but I suspect Czech.  It’s got a David  Cerny vibe to it.  In either case, it’s brilliant.  If you choose your screen correctly, your message can be visible to massive numbers of people.  There’s no sound, so it’s not as offputting as most protest demonstrations.  It’s not vandalism, like graffiti, because it’s temporary.  It’s cool, it looks like the Bat Signal.  Nobody needs to get arrested or beat up by police.  In fact, by the time the police figure out where it came from, if they ever do, you can be long gone.

I hope to see more protests like this in future (but only for causes I agree with)

Hillary Clinton has said she won’t debate  against  Bernie in New York unless he  “tones down” his attacks  on  her, which is absurd.

First, if  you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.  If you  can’t  deal with  Bernie, you’re not going to do any better against Trump.

Second, she and her supporters all squealed like stuck pigs when it was suggested that Hillary change her tone, which was merely a stylistic suggestion.

Third, what’s to tone down?  Sanders has been  respectful throughout, even gracious (“I think we’re all sick and tired of hearing about Hillary’s e-mails”)  It’s Sanders’ supporters, i.e. people  like me, who she wants to ‘tone it down.’

Fourth, piss off, Hillary, that ain’t going to happen.  With Arizona you made it clear that you were determined to win at any cost, even disenfranchising voters within your own party.  We are at war now, and it’s no holds barred.  You don’t like our tone?  Tough shit.

Fifth, when she was  losing to Barack Obama in 2008, she said “A candidate should  be ready to debate anywhere, any time.”

Sixth,no problem.  You don’t want to debate, don’t debate.  We will call you a political coward, which is what  you are, and it will stick, because we are right.

I saw a post on facebook today that said “Beware of people who have no dreams of their own, but are good at killing other people’s” and I was set to comment and say “That’s exactly what I think of Hillary supporters who keep urging us to give up, to pledge our loyalty to her as the presumed candidate.”  Filthy, low-life, energy sucking dream killers.
But I thought better of it.  There was nothing political in the post.  Some people want their facebook pages to be full of flowers and kittens and cupcakes and lovely, lovely little platitudes and why should I harsh their buzz.  I wouldn’t go into a church and shout out “There is no God!”,  I wouldn’t go to a cat show and try to convince people that dogs are better than cats, even though that is my  sincere belief.

And then, I noticed that the person who posted the meme isn’t even American, so it truly would have been out of place.

That’s pretty much the way I feel, though.  Nobody says “Oh, I just love the way Hillary’s been against private prisons since October.”  I’ve never heard anybody say “I think her policy on fracking is brilliant!  Regulated but not banned is the way to do it!”  I’ve never heard one of her supporters say “I think it’s brilliant how she supported the Iraq War but later apologized for it.”  No, they just say “She apologized for it,” as if we’re supposed to wipe the slate clean.
No, if pressed, they’ll say they love her because she’s a woman, or because she’s been criticized so much and half the stuff they say about her isn’t even true (which means half is).
They have no dream.  They have no vision of a better world.  Like the jealous lobster that will never let one of their friends escape from the pot, they are just trying to kill other people’s dreams.

We cannot let them succeed.

I’m off to the  cottage in about 20 minutes so I will hammer out this morning blog now and an evening blog when I return tomorrow night so no days will be missed in the continuum.

“There’s a bit of symbolism going on here.”

 
Three for three and with huge  majorities!  80% in Alaska, nearly 80% in Washington, and about 70% in Hawaii, where there was the added joyful bonus that they caught one of Hillary’s people actually trying to abscond with some ballots, the blatant form of election fraud Matthew Broderick tried to pull in ‘Election,’ which was a seriously brilliant movie, if there’s anybody whose never seen it, they should.
It’s 5 for 6 out of the last 6 contests, and would be 6 for 6 if Arizona was counted as a win for Sanders, which it should have been.  In any event, I believe Arizona was a Pyrrhic victory for Clinton, because the fraud was so blatant that anyone whose main issue is fairness in  politics, maintaing the Democratic system, everybody gets to vote, cannot, in good conscience,  support Hillary going forward. Even 5 out of 6 gives us back the momentum, slashes her delegate lead considerably, and gives us the right to say to those people harassing us on Facebook saying “You must pledge to vote for the Democratic candidate no matter who it is,” “You first.”
Plus, of course, there was the bird.