The road to 2020

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Marianne might win. I’m serious. Right now the media is jumping all over her past statements about medicine. She is not against medicine she just thinks there’s far more to wellness and healing than drugs...and yes, there’s a lot more work to do in understanding and combatting something like depression besides pharmaceuticals. Pills don’t cure loneliness, they don’t cure emotional trauma. It’s deeper than biology. As for vaccines, she had her daughter vaccinated...she favoured that choice...she is just not sure they should be mandatory. In a way that causes more people to rebel against them...because, they don’t like being told what to do with their bodies, and quite frankly there are a lot of reasons not to trust big pharma...and we should all be a bit skeptical while at the same time, discerning, about whether we are supporting public health or corporate wealth, and in what instances.

The mainstream media gave too much airtime to DJT, now they are worried and trying to nip Marianne in the bud. I knew she’d get an eye roll from the public...but now that I’ve watched her, I think she is right about every single thing she has said on the debate stage, every position she holds in the current debates makes sense...except about Medicare for all. She is walking that back now. Or at least how it came out. She consulted with her supporters after the debate.
That’s refreshing.



Let’s face it, she’d be a lot more savvy, and compassionate, as president, than Trump. She is not stupid, or nearly as flakey as portrayed, when she speaks. It looks like Trump fans want her to win the Dem nomination because they want some kind of battle of spiritual forces. She would win that “duel”. I think she’s exactly the right person to go up against him (and there’s a non zero chance that could happen). She is right that policy wonks trying to go back to the pre-Trump past are not a match for Trump, election-wise. But that is not to say she wouldn’t have policies. She’s just not hammering out the details on all of them yet because making detailed policy promises hardly ever works out anyway. It can’t, because creating and implementing actual policy is a process that does (and should) involve other people.


For me, so far:

Sanders and Warren about equal favourites.

Marianne is my favourite outlier. If she doesn’t get on the Presidential or VP ticket I think she should have an important position in the cabinet. I like her that much, and I’m kind of surprised by that. But politics...including in Canada, needs visionaries and people who inspire positive change, not just wonks.
 
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I hope she lasts through most of the debates. I like her approach. She’s saying things that need to be said. And if she wins I’d be just as happy. She needs a thick skin though, because people will be trying to tear her down.

Oh yeah, Trump is a dark psychic force. That’s not even a joke. It’s just an uncommon way for a prospective politician to talk. She’s correct though...he’s taken up real estate in everybody’s head, and stressed out most of the world...and has appealed to a base of soulless vampires. It’s true.
 
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I think someone like Marianne Williamson can contribute a lot to a party, especially during a time like this. They can question, put forward radical ideas without too much fear, and so on. Basically push a rethink of some of what the "traditionalists" stand for. But they don't always make good leaders the rare times that they do go all the way. It would be interesting to see, but I am not sold old her being President. And I think Trump will have a field day with her in the campaign. It's not just a thick skin, she'll also need a loud voice to be heard over the massive tweet-storm he would unleash about her "flakiness". It would make the "Pocahontas" line he used against Warren years ago look mild by comparison.
 
I think someone like Marianne Williamson can contribute a lot to a party, especially during a time like this. They can question, put forward radical ideas without too much fear, and so on. Basically push a rethink of some of what the "traditionalists" stand for. But they don't always make good leaders the rare times that they do go all the way. It would be interesting to see, but I am not sold old her being President. And I think Trump will have a field day with her in the campaign. It's not just a thick skin, she'll also need a loud voice to be heard over the massive tweet-storm he would unleash about her "flakiness". It would make the "Pocahontas" line he used against Warren years ago look mild by comparison.
True. But I think she could actually defend herself against him and even make him look foolish to his supporters. The battle between good and evil...actually, crazy as it sounds, I think it comes down to that. And I think Marianne’s first step as president would probably be to surround herself with several of the other current candidates, whom she respects (and I hope whoever is to win would consider her as well)...she is not stupid and she’s not going to govern like a dictator. That already shows.



:)
 
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I think someone like Marianne Williamson can contribute a lot to a party, especially during a time like this. They can question, put forward radical ideas without too much fear, and so on. Basically push a rethink of some of what the "traditionalists" stand for. But they don't always make good leaders the rare times that they do go all the way. It would be interesting to see, but I am not sold old her being President. And I think Trump will have a field day with her in the campaign. It's not just a thick skin, she'll also need a loud voice to be heard over the massive tweet-storm he would unleash about her "flakiness". It would make the "Pocahontas" line he used against Warren years ago look mild by comparison.
When has there been anyone like her before? Trump had populist appeal but she has a better brain, and a better “heart”. I think she has the savvy and even if she is seen by people now as nothing but a new age guru...she is proving herself to be more than that. Her competency is actually impressing me - she has rational political ideas - and I think it surprised a lot of people.


Trump will tweet as Trump does. He’s the one who looks like a weirdo everyday all the time. The more he tweets about how flakey anyone else is, the worse he looks. And when he brings out the worst in his supporters, the worse they all look.

:)
 
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When has there been anyone like her before?

Never in the USA at that level, but other countries have certainly had candidates with non-traditional outlooks and backgrounds. Heck, Ukraine just elected a comedian not long ago. And there was Doug Henning, the late stage magician and TM practitioner who started the Natural Law Party here (Did they even survive his passing? Haven't heard of them in eons.). But it is rare for someone from "off the beaten political path" to rise to that high a level in a traditional party in North American politics. Then again, Trump arguably came from "off the beaten political path", too so maybe "politics as usual" really is changing.
 
I think it is a real shift. And I think Marianne is right. If voters aren’t “feeling” that the candidates represent change, and really care about what they care about, they won’t vote for them. Or, they will stay home. I really think we’re at a generational cross-roads just because of the passage of time, and with the numbers of younger voters catching up to the biggest generation - and voters want to (need to) see change, they want to be inspired to be part of it, and they are rejecting the old status quo. Canada has not caught up in a lot of ways - we’re still pretty politically traditional, and go for wonkish choices that seem safe (which I think is a dangerous attitude today because new approaches are crucial) - and because our election cycle happens before theirs...it will take inspirational change there, and in 4 years we’ll be following the US (that’s our pattern...our mentality changes as a result of theirs, even before we notice - as in our political shift to the right that makes standard left wing positions look fringe when they are not. In a way it’s inevitable that that pattern exists given how close we are with them.)

:)
 
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It's a bit frightening looking back and seeing how sure everyone was that Trump was a 'joke' candidate...
 
It's a bit frightening looking back and seeing how sure everyone was that Trump was a 'joke' candidate...

My memory of 2016 - especially during the Republican primaries - wasn't that people thought Trump was a "joke." He always had a solid core of support. But people didn't think he could win the Republican nomination because they thought he had no growth potential - that eventually the Republican Party would coalesce around one of the more conventional candidates. That just never happened. Trump gained momentum. His mocking and personal attacks against his opponents - which started with those Republicans who were his opponents for the nomination - struck a chord with a certain segment who had never necessarily been Republican (it's well established that there are a lot of Trump supporters in some states who voted for Obama in the previous two elections) but who started to come on board with him. He somehow tapped into their disillusionment with the system. That this rich guy who knows nothing about the every day life of the average American and who probably cares less became seen (by some anyway) as the champion of the little guy is one of the great mysteries of recent times.
 
Unleashing people’s harboured racism by being heavily involved with the birther conspiracy was another way he attracted potential voters - the large majority of his voters were white voters - looking for scapegoats for their disillusionment, to whom he gave permission to be racist...it’s rather alarming to me how rabid the core group is (the send her back lock her up chants, we should all be concerned about a president condoning and even enjoying). I think that’s part of the mystery, solved. The other is that in times of unrest, there are lot of people who look up to authority figures to solve everything by laying down harsh laws to restore “order”....especially on the right today, if not always. They are generally more impressed by authoritarian power.




:)
 
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Unleashing people’s harboured racism by being heavily involved with the birther conspiracy was another way he attracted potential voters - the large majority of his voters were white voters - looking for scapegoats for their disillusionment, to whom he gave permission to be racist...it’s rather alarming to me how rabid the core group is (the send her back lock her up chants, we should all be concerned about a president condoning and even enjoying). I think that’s part of the mystery, solved. The other is that in times of unrest, there are lot of people who look up to authority figures to solve everything by laying down harsh laws to restore “order”....especially on the right today, if not always. They are generally more impressed by authoritarian power.




:)
The birther stuff doesn't really explain how Trump triumphed in the primaries. Birther supporters were already with him. They were that "core" he had already established that loved him from the start that no one thought could grow.

Everyone - and I mean everyone - thought that as Republican presidential candidates dropped out their support would go to someone else. Jeb Bush was originally seen as the obvious mainstream choice, and his failure to gain appeal was the first warning sign - obviously people were fed up with "establishment" candidates, and no one was more "establishment" in the Republican Party than someone with the last name of Bush. With Bush faltering, Ted Cruz became - hard to believe- the "mainstream" opponent to Trump. But no one really became the "consensus" candidate against Trump, so he kept winning primaries (and delegates) with well under 50% of the vote. It wasn't until very late in the primsry season that Trump started racking up 50%+ votes in primaries.

Looking back, there were 2 key things that probably led Trump to the nomination. In November 2015 there was a horrible terrorist attack in Paris, France that killed over 100 people and was committed by an Islamic extremist committed to ISIS. That ramped up a lot of fear and hatred in people - and Trump knew how to appeal to fear and hatred. Then there was a debate among the Republican candidates in January 2016, just before the start of the primary season, that Trump didn't attend. Without him there the remaining candidates went after Ted Cruz, who was probably the last candidate who had a chance to beat Trump. That wounded Cruz and Trump was basically left as the last candidate standing.
 
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I’m not seeing any good in the Republican Party. They’re rotten, the whole barrel... Trump apologists and sycophants and those putting career before country. ...and even Reagan, who is their modern-day gold standard, was a racist jerk (putting it nicely). Anyone hanging on to the belief he was a decent Republican should listen to recently released archived phone recordings of him talking to Nixon, and be dispelled of your false notions. I don’t think the GOP have any legitimacy now, because they almost all want to protect Trump and keep him in office like he’s their King...no matter what. It’s sick.
 
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Good idea, actually. New format for the US elections: Survivor : DC. :LOL: Mark Burnett probably needs a new hit. And the Dems overcrowded field makes it feel a bit like a reality game show already.
Its already kind of like that anyway...except low “official” polling numbers and not enough individual donors gets them voted off.
 
Interesting clip about social breakdown in the US, featuring Cornel West; who is a real intellectual, with a genius brain and a huge heart, and who is being very wise (IMO) to appear on both left and right wing -as well as MSM - media, respectively and respectfully. He doesn’t change his message for his audience, but he seems to have a positive impact on a lot of people.



:)
 
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