War Pigs Belong In The GOP

Hard to recognize the War Pig in the picture above? Trump? Mike Pompeo? Tom Cotton? Lindsey Graham? Miss McConnell? Kevin McCarthy? Could be any of them. Also could be Status Quo Joe, Mayo Pete or any of the 8 Democratic war mongers who voted with Trump against the War Powers Resolution Thursday. Don't forget the names:

• Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)
• Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)
• Max Rose (Blue Dog-NY)
• Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)
• Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)
• Stephanie Murphy (Blue Dog-FL)
• Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)
• Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA)

No Bernie supporters there, that's for sure. In fact... that looks like a slate of Status Quo Joe backers, doesn't it? I don't wonder why either. Yesterday Ally Mutnick and Sarah Ferris wrote for Politico that "A slate of endangered House Democrats is coalescing behind Joe Biden for president as the Iowa caucuses approach-- a surge of support triggered by fears that Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren at the top of the ticket would cost them their seats. More than a dozen swing-seat freshmen have taken part in at least one private call session with Biden, Amy Klobuchar or Pete Buttigieg in recent weeks. A handful have already gravitated toward the former vice president, and more are expected to follow before Democrats start voting on Feb. 3, according to interviews with 15 lawmakers, aides and campaign strategists."

Rot gut New York right-winger Anthony Brindisi, a chair of the Blue Dog caucus and a proud war-monger, told Politico, "I’m looking at all the moderates in the race. If we’re going to campaign on issues like Medicare for All and free college for everybody, we’re not going to have a winning message in 2020." Brindisi and the other members from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party are whining that claim they "have studied internal polling showing Biden outperforming other Democratic contenders in head-to-heads with Trump in their respective districts."




Conservative New Dem Cedric Richmond is one of the whiners, although he is in no jeopardy whatsoever, just someone who hates progressives and progressive ideas. Richmond's super blue Louisiana district (PVI is D+25) would vote for a pile of shit-- which they do in terms of their congressman-- rather than a Republican. Obama won the district with 75.8% in 2012 and Hillary did nearly as well in 2016. Carefully gerrymandered to pack as many African-Americans into one seat as possible, LA-02 is just 28% white and takes in most of the New Orleans metro before meandering west and then north to include the African-American neighborhoods of Baton Rouge. Republicans don't bother running candidates against him and he's considered a congressman-for-life, even though he's an avatar of a status quo that has served his constituents very poorly. Co-chair in charge of black voters for the Status Quo Joe campaign, he said that "The wrong person at the top of the ticket-- and I’m not saying who that is-- there would be down-ballot carnage all across the country, and I think that people are starting to recognize it."

Biden has 33 current members of the House backing him, most of whom are conservatives, primarily Blue Dogs and New Dems. Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA) is a conservative Biden backer who voted for endless war last week. Almost all of his supporters have "F" rated voting records from ProgressivePunch. One, Conor Lamb (PA), endorsed him last week, saying he's "definitely concerned that someone’s who more on the fringes would have a hard time winning our state themselves, and I want a Democratic candidate to win Pennsylvania and win the presidency."

Another extremely right-wing (for a Democrat) freshman is Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT). Now that Van Drew has left the party for the GOP, McAdams is among the half dozen worst House Dems, all with far worse voting records than Independent-- former Republican-- Justin Amash this cycle:

• Justin Amash (I-MI)- 55.36%
• Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT)- 32.14%
• Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dog-VA)- 30.36%
• Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK)- 28.57
• Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ)- 28.57
• Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC)- 25.0%
• Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY)- 23.21, widely considered the most likely Dem to follow Van Drew into the GOP

McAdams told Politico that if Bernie or Elizabeth Warren wins the nomination he would distance himself from them. "My ideas are different than theirs," he said. "So as long as people understand that I’m going to be independent of any candidate and really be true to my district, I think that’s most important." But he isn't true to his district, not at all. There are 4 counties or parts of counties that make up his district (UT-04). Salt Lake County has 5 times the number of voters than the other 3 combined. Here's how they voted in the 2016 Democratic caucuses, when Bernie was up against the status quo conservative Democrat McAdams backed:

• Salt Lake- Bernie 78.8%
• Utah- 85.3%
• Sanpete- Bernie 84.9%
• Juab- Bernie 77.5%

Yeah, so, so much for this lying sack of excrement being true to his district. His district wants change and Biden is the no-change candidate. They voted so overwhelmingly for Bernie because Bernie is the change candidate. McAdams is a liar, trying to justify being so outrageously out of step with Democrats in his district.

Progressives have long fought back the notion that a Democratic nominee must pick up support from independents and even Republicans in order to beat Trump.

They argue that robust voter turnout-- turning out the kinds of numbers that Sanders and Warren have seen at events across the country-- will be key to winning back states like Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Klobuchar's congressional allies, like freshman Rep. Dean Phillips (New Dem-MN), argue the opposite.

“I tell people all the time, enjoy reading your national polls, but care about six of them," Phillips said, arguing that the race would instead come down to a few battleground states mainly in the Midwest. "That’s what this next election is about."

“We’re no longer a country that is really fighting for their respective bases," said Phillips, who organized the call with Klobuchar and his colleagues this week. "It’s fighting for the diminishing number of people who really do vote on both sides of the aisle."

Let's see Dean explain how Klobuchar, whose entire case is that the Midwest is clamoring for her-- is immediately eliminated in the first round of Iowa caucus voting. You need 15% to proceed too round two. According to the Real Car Politics polling average for Iowa, Klobuchar is at 5.7%, behind poll average leaders Bernie (21.3%), Mayo Pete (21.0%), Status Quo Joe (17.7%) and Elizabeth (17.0%). The brand new Iowa Poll from the Des Moines Register also shows Klobuchar with virtually no chance of emerging from the caucuses with any delegates-- and that the likely Iowa caucus-goers want progressive candidates, not status quo establishment shills:

• Bernie- 20% (up 5 points)
• Elizabeth- 17% (up 1 point)
• Mayo Pete- 16% (down 9 points)
• Status Quo Joe- 15% (stasis)
• Klobuchar- 6% (stasis)
• Yang- 5% (up 2 points)

New Anti-Berner Model Test In California’s 15th Assembly District Election

The Democratic establishment’s “failures” against Republicans, and great success at marginalizing Progressives, both result from the same rich incentives. To help you laugh through your tears at this corrupt game of top-down class warfare, watch the video above and enjoy the music video, which we encourage you to share (and to adapt freely, per its Creative Commons statement).

One local California race could create a new template-- very good or very bad-- for elections nationwide, featuring:

• a new and depressing type of establishment candidate (Buffy Wicks),
• a new and exciting type of local Progressive candidate (Jovanka Beckles),
• a sadly familiar example of turf wars between local moderate-progressives, and
• a glaring example of how the Democratic establishment’s version of ‘identity politics’ excludes minority candidates who refuse to be bought.

1- Establishment Donors’ Counter-Attack into Heartland of Grassroots Progressivism

The California State Assembly recently tried to bury state #Medicare4all without a vote, in a typical result of the excessive influence of Big Pharma, Big Insurance, Big Carbon, Big Security and other killers of policies, people and planets. As Bernie-inspired candidates challenge local establishments nationwide, the state and national Democratic establishment is counter-attacking in the Bluest big state’s Bluest Assembly District-- California’s 15th centered in Berkeley.

This district’s June 6 primary election has everything:

• national/state money vs local grassroots;
• Hillary’s vs Bernie’s supporters;
• neo-liberals dropping their mask of identity politics; and
• turf wars between different communities’ Moderate-Progressive local establishments.

The national and state Democratic establishments have richly funded the candidacy of a veteran national fundraiser, who has zero track record of office-holding or local residence, and who is the least Progressive candidate in a large field.

Clicking the image directly below will allow you to listen to a music video mocking this candidate’s professional money trails and fails.



Buffy Wicks is the only candidate in the AD15 race who opposed Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Presidential primary. While largely tailoring her platform to the district, she remains visibly the furthest ‘Right’ on charter schools (whose promoters are among her donors) and tenants’ rights. Buffy, who describes herself as a “community organizer,” headed Hillary’s California 2016 primary campaign, after heading a pro-Hillary Super PAC, after playing significant roles in Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns’ fundraising, and heading the Obama Administration’s Office of Public Engagement-- during the notorious post-election demobilization of grassroots participation in Obama For America.

Buffy’s many prominent endorsers include California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, who (in between campaigning alongside Hillary) presided over the 2016 Presidential primary, including incorrect instructions to voters and poll workers, and alleged ballot-tampering, which suppressed votes for Bernie.

How Buffy raises and spends big bucks:

Massive fundraising by Buffy includes donations from mega-donor and Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker (whose brother spent $70 million to secure this year’s Democratic nomination for Governor of Illinois), and from senior personnel in the offices of Rahm Emanuel and Cory Booker. It was leaked, and then acknowledged, that Buffy poll-tested the resonance not only of her own potential positions, but also attack lines against four other candidates. Buffy has access to virtually unlimited funds in order to carpet-bomb the district with expensively tailored positive and negative messaging.

Damage Control by Progressives?

An important goal for Progressives should be keeping Buffy out of November’s second round (general) election, by driving her down to third place or lower in the June 5 first round (‘jungle’) primary. The larger turnout of general elections will enable Buffy’s high spending, buzzwords and celebrity endorsements to reach more people than is possible by other candidates’ face-to-face contacts. Relegating Buffy to third place would be a nationally influential rebuff of the national money machine’s over-reaching. But a strong turnout of well-informed Progressives in this district can accomplish even more.

2- Nation’s Most Successful Grassroots Progressivism Alongside Local Turf Battles

Jovanka Beckles is the AD15 candidate whose election would bring to state government, and to national visibility, a uniquely successful local Progressive political model. Jovanka is a working-class veteran of the nation’s most Progressive city council, which has built the nation’s best record of winning elections and implementing successful Progressive policies, in the face of massive oppo-spending by global villain Chevron Corporation, in Chevron’s long-dominated ‘company town’ of Richmond California. This under-reported story is recounted in the 2017 book Refinery Town: Big Oil, Big Money, and the Remaking of an American City, and the 2018 book Winning Richmond: How a Progressive Alliance Won City Hall. During an eight-year track record as a city councilor advancing a broad Progressive agenda against Chevron’s environmental, safety and tax abuses, Jovanka has stood up gracefully but firmly to very crude gay-bashing, as culturally conservative Richmond’s first out gay politician. Jovanka is endorsed by Our Revolution (local and national), by the Working Families Party, by Blue America and by numerous local unions (and statewide SEIU-CA), Greens, Democratic Socialists, and other Progressive organizations. More details are at her campaign website here.

How Blue (& Green) is California’s AD 15?

Assembly District 15 is uniquely fertile territory for an ‘immoderate’ and unapologetic Progressive like Jovanka. Most of the district is in the U.S. Congressional District of Barbara Lee, who cast the sole vote against the post-9/11 over-broad Authorization for Use of Military Force, and who has been re-elected many times with more than 80% of votes. The district stretches from the North of Oakland (birthplace of the Black Panther Party), and its wealthy enclave Piedmont, through the ‘People’s Republic of Berkeley’, to several smaller and poorer towns.

Turf Wars Weaken Local Progressive Establishments:

Jovanka’s (and Buffy’s) first round prospects are improved by the likely division of first round votes between the candidates of three different local communities’ Moderate-Progressive local establishments.

• North Oakland: The Oakland establishment is mainly supporting Oakland City councilmember Dan Kalb.
• Berkeley: The Berkeley establishment, which held this seat for 38 years, is mainly supporting Berkeley School Board director Judy Appel.
• West Contra Costa County: In 2014 the Berkeley establishment’s long winning streak was finally ended by Tony Thurmond of Contra Costa County. Tony, who is giving up the seat to run for California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, has endorsed Rochelle Pardue-Okimoto, a first-term El Cerrito City Councilmember, and a nurse who also obtained the endorsement of the California Nurses Association. Tony apparently recruited Rochelle into the contest, and certainly shepherded her endorsement by the California Legislative Black Caucus (and maxxed-out donations by some of its members). Presumably Tony would like to keep the seat from being regained by the Berkeley establishment, and was also happy to prevent the boat-rocking Jovanka from being the first round’s only candidate from West Contra Costa County-- and only Black Woman.

3- Jovanka’s Four-fer Rips Off Establishment’s Mask of Identity Politics

Policy commitments and credibility are the most important thing about all candidates, but there is education and entertainment value in this contest’s testing – and revealing the hollowness-- of the national Democratic establishment’s lectures on the need to support minority candidates. Jovanka’s identity is a ‘four-fer’-- count’em: Black, Woman, Gay-married (and a mother and grandmother), and immigrant (as a child from Panama). The following table compares identities of the top 7 out of 12 declared candidates, in this field of (self-described) Progressives.

Could it be any clearer? The establishment vets candidates for fit with the corrupt money system-- a vetting which can achieve new extremes of predictability by retooling, into candidates, that system’s operatives, like Buffy. Contrary to its dishonest rhetoric, for every level and faction in the establishment, the highest priority is to exclude grassroots-mobilizing minority candidates, like Jovanka.

Establishment rhetoric about the importance of candidates’ “experience” is also dishonest. Every other candidate in the above table has more experience in public office, more local dues paid, and more knowledge of the district, than the establishment’s pick Buffy, who has zero. In contrast, the longest legislative experience in the field is Jovanka’s eight years on the Richmond City Council.

This race is testing a new local election model: retooling a fundraising operative into a fake Progressive candidate (aided by a track record free of previous positions on policy), to carpet bomb a Progressive and highly educated district with a carpetbag full of money and celebrity endorsements. If this succeeds, it will be repeated everywhere because, if they can fake it here, they can fake it anywhere.

Progressives Can Win-- But It Takes Clear Heads And Hard Work

Schumer and Trump are both authoritarian assholes and the NY Post report Sunday claiming Trump prefers Schumer to Mitch McConnell or Paul Ryan shouldn’t surprise anyone. Schumer and Trump speak the same language and have a certain outer-borough sensibility in common. Ryan, from Wisconsin, and McConnell, from Kentucky, might as well be from Uranus. No doubt each is trying to figure out how to best use the other in the upcoming Beltway drama starting too unfold.

Apparently Schumer, who has a problem with self-control, told someone about a private phone conversation he had with Trump in which Trump disparaged McConnell and Ryan. Schumer’s interpretation was that Trump likes him more than McConnell and Ryan “because, according to “a source, ”they both wanted him to lose. They are Republicans and Trump knows they didn’t support him… These two fellas are both New Yorkers. Washington is like a cafeteria table. You sit where you know."

Trump and Schumer, one an unruly ne’er-do-well who flunked out of schools and the other a straight A goodie-two-shoes who made it to Harvard, both “took on” the Manhattan Establishment… and won. Trump and Schumer have world views with more in common than Trump would have with backwater political hacks like McConnell, know for sneaking around in the middle of the night and blowing strange men in Louisville’s pickle park, and Ryan, who was manufactured by a bunch of wealthy, dedicated Ayn Rand devotees.

While none of the 4 political leaders would have any way to authentically relate to the problems discussed in Steve Early’s new book, Refinery Town:  Big Oil, Big Money, and the Remaking of an American City, which includes a forward by Bernie Sanders, Trump and Schumer are both skilled enough to appear to get it and turn the book’s thesis, if need be, into a stepping stone. Mike Miller’s review at Counterpunch Friday is down right celebratory about the sustained, 15-year success in the Bay Area of the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) and calls the story “a good antidote for the despair that now runs rampant among many American progressives. RPA,” he wrote, “was built by people on the left.  In its politics, it departed from much of what has been the more mainstream progressivism.”

• It is multi-issue, not single issue.

• It raises money from individuals and organizations like unions; it isn’t foundation dependent, and it accepts no funds from corporations.

• It is multi-ethnic and racial; its members are young and old, and they come from a variety of backgrounds: environmental groups, unions, interest and “identity” organizations, senior clubs and more; it is thus forced to deal with ‘contradictions among the people’ in its internal deliberations, candidate selection and policy formulations.

• Its focus is on economic justice and environment issues, not identify politics.

• While its focus is electoral, it joins issue campaign coalitions with a variety of organizations, including the Saul Alinsky/Fred Ross-tradition Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) (heir to ACORN) and the Alinsky-tradition Contra Costa [county] Interfaith Supporting Community Organization (CCISCO), a local affiliate of the PICO National Network, unions (particularly the Steel Workers local at Chevron and public employee unions like AFSCME and SEIU, interest and constituency organizations (environment, human rights, GLBTQ), and others—thus giving it a more-than-election time relationship with organizations whose members include the voters it wants to reach.

As well, Early describes the transformation of what was a Chevron company town to one that now talks back to its patron, and forces it to become more accountable—particularly on local tax, pollution/health and safety issues that in past uncontested Chevron formulations denied resources to the city and threatened the well-being of both residents and workers.

Because he is a member of RPA, Early is also able to give an insider’s view of an important change in the composition of the organization’s leadership—from older to mixed young-and-old, from “Anglo” to multi-ethnic and racial, and from left politicos to a more eclectic body whose roots are in a variety of experiences and left-of-center points of view.

…The politics of RPA’s growing influence and displacement of the city’s old guard is another of Early’s themes.  An older African-American community leadership made its accommodation with Chevron, and was the beneficiary of its plantation economy paternalism:  money for community-based nonprofits, and for black politicians who had the view, epitomized by veteran council member Nat Bates, that Richmond should be thankful for Chevron’s presence and not challenge any of its prerogatives.

…Early deals with the broad range of issues that are part of RPA’s agenda, including environment, taxation and public services, immigration, public health (a defeated soda tax campaign), the loss of a nearby public hospital, poverty and more, and, of course, the arrogance and power of Chevron. In this review, I want to focus on affordable housing and police, and RPA’s internal governance discussion, and comment on some strategic questions that, from my perspective, are unfortunately not part of the book.

That Chevron arrogance and power, by the way, had an interesting positive to it:  RPA could make the environment a mass-based issue because Chevron was shitting on everybody, without regard to race, ethnicity, class, age or gender.

…Early takes us on an important digression—a look at the limits of urban reform in a hostile state government environment.  Specially, he looks at the battles between New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo, the former a progressive Democrat, the latter a corporate Democrat.  He notes, “Amid continuing academic and journalistic celebration of municipal innovation and mayoral leadership, the Cuomo-de Blasio rift provides a good reality check on the constraints faced by elected leaders in cities large and small.”  He’s right.  For Richmond, the situation is even worse because it doesn’t even control its schools (they’re part of a larger school district) or its public health delivery system. And the problem in the Trump era will expand exponentially!

The book’s epilogue vividly portrays the financial squeeze Richmond faces, and the dilemmas faced by reformers who want to preserve and extend public services, pay adequate wages and benefits to their employees, and implement progressive taxes. Whether RPA can wend its way through these contradictions remains to be seen.  In the meantime, Early properly warns, “[A]s RPA’s experience in Richmond demonstrates, even successful electoral work conducted at the local level over many years does not by itself build year-round, multi-issue political organization.  That takes an unconventional approach to politics, before, during, and after any election.”

Indeed!

Let’s consider that RPA could and should be the model for local electoral mobilizing against Big Carbon and thus climate disruption. And if you’re not familiar with the Bay Area, remember that Richmond is nearly the last chance to preserve any substantial amount of affordable housing (and low income electorate) in the Bay Area. They have much undeveloped land that would become even more desirable if Chevron refinery emissions were further reduced. RPA's recently achieved 5/7 super-majority on the city council enables them to vote through more cool things, such as using eminent domain to acquire securities on underwater home loans, a project from a few years ago that might be less logical in view of surging property values -- unless that surge is stopped by voters' recent passage of rent control.