If You Are Over Forty, We Are Likely Political Enemies

My friend called it a "snarky remark." To me, it was an observation. He said there was an "implication" made that he was not concerned about the welfare of young people. I said what I meant forthright. 

It seems hypocritical to me for older people to complain about others not being concerned about their existence, and not supporting 83% of the people under the age of 29 who are worried about their long-term existence. It seems to lack intellectual integrity when the candidate whose disappointing end to her campaign didn't support what either old people or young people need to exist.

Cuomo and Biden Should Sell Used Yugos; Perez Still Needs to Resign

With the hope that they can keep Joe Biden from spewing some gaffe-ridden bile about how Trump is messing up, the DNC is hoping that the flavor d'jour, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, can put aside the fact that they have no plan for handling these situations and win the public over.

As I sit here at my table hearing Cuomo explain that they are trying to "avoid an apex" by looking for a flattening of the bell curve, I realized how stupid the average person must be for that to be considered smart. 

So that you understand if you don't, we are wanting to see a flattening of the curve which means the growth is slowing so that we can reach an apex, at which point the rate starts heading downward. It doesn't take a math degree to understand that our objective in the bell curve is to reach the "zero" on the far side of it. At this point, we are still heading up the front side of it hoping to see the curve flatten so that we reach an apex and start the downward trend.

Truth Versus Prejudice, Cigarettes are Good for the Economy, and Super Tuesday Results

It's the day after Super Tuesday, and many people are looking at the results to see what the truth is today. There is no need to do that. Truth does not change. I believe as my father did that if Jesus were to come back today, that he would say the same things today that he said then. What Dad and I might disagree at first about Jesus is his race. I would have been around people who told me to look at the region of the world that is being talked about, and then to consider whether someone born there would be a white person or a dark-skinned person.

The most beautiful thing about talking to my father about things like that was his willingness to consider evidence. If he were presented with evidence that shed light on truth, he did not turn his back on the light so that he wouldn't see it. He might struggle to let go of prejudices he had long believed when he didn't know the truth, but he would eventually let the prejudice go in favor of the truth. In the case of the race of Jesus Christ, it would not have been that he thought Jesus had to be a white man; it would have been more like he had never thought about until it was pointed out to him.

Barack Obama, His Implicit Endorsement, and Racism

My children took me to see Michael Che back when Obama was the president. He quipped that he, as a Black man, would rather hang out with George W. Bush than Barack Obama. He said he just imagined it would be more fun with Bush slapping his knee and asking him if he knew another joke than for Obama to tell him, "Now, Michael, we don't talk about women that way around here."

While Che's joke is really a statement of Obama's character and serious nature on one hand, it is also social commentary about the difference that the character of a person makes on really important matters. One of the most memorable comedic quips with deep social commentary at its base was when Wanda Sykes answered the question "What is soul food?" with "the second-leading cause of death of Black men under 50." The deeper meaning is for us to ponder what the leading cause of death for Black men under 50 is, and, once I say it that way, the social commentary becomes more obvious.

In both cases, what the comedians said were funny. In both cases, what the comedians implied were really more significant. It makes us think and ponder what is meant. Comedy works like that sometimes.

Perez and DNC: Resign So Democrats Can Win

If you are one of the people who is also concerned about whether or not Bernie Sanders is electable, it is time for you to try to figure out how your favorite candidate can win in a third-party run. With Bernie Sanders' caucus win in Nevada, it is time for Tom Perez to resign, and anyone who cannot get behind the candidate with the most support should go with him. 

For years, those of us who have supported the progressive wing of the Democratic party have been told that we weren't needed or wanted. We were told that the idea is party unity by people who have been anything but unifying in their behaviors or with their rhetoric. As we have watched the party of the people evolve into the party of special interests marketing the image of liberalism, we have been told that the party is opposed to Republicans, but making changes is not necessarily the best way to go about improving things. 

That's marketing lingo.

That is Slime, Not Grease, on Pete Buttigieg's Hands

With the Iowa debacle still unresolved, the candidates headed off to New Hampshire for the first primary of the election season. As we know, Pete Buttigieg declared victory on Monday with only 40% of the precincts reporting and him in second place. Apparently, he had received word ahead of the actual results being posted because of a service he purchased from the software company tabulating the votes.

All the reporting stopped when Bernie Sanders campaigners disclosed that the tallys didn't match the numbers his precinct captains had been entering into an app his team designed and didn't mention to the Democratic party. Numbers weren't adding up the same, so the Iowa party and the DNC went into lock down.

Biden, Bernie's App, and Buttigieg's Suspicious Rise

The Iowa caucus is a debacle that leaves many questions. One thing it cleared up, though, is that Joe Biden is a loser this election cycle, too. 

He took on the persona of a tough guy who wished he could meet Trump 'out behind the gym.' He backed off of those sentiments when he was confronted about whether or not he really meant he would punch Trump given the chance. Of course, he wouldn't; it was just, you know, locker room talk. He just wanted to make it clear that he doesn't speak clearly, but it wasn't clear what he meant except that he clearly didn't mean what he said.

He probably also regrets walking around Iowa telling people to not vote for him. He ended up with less than 15% of the count, and will likely leave Iowa with few, if any, delegates. His best days are behind him, and they were wasted being on the wrong side of history quite often. 

Bernie Should Exploit Bloomberg by Boycotting Debate

Imagine it is February 19th in Nevada. The DNC is hosting its next debate, and, because of a recent rule change, Republican Michael Bloomberg has bought his way onto the stage. Along with establishment frontrunners Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Pete Buttigieg, the other candidates who are running for the money side are also there. There is a small audience of well-behaved cronies who have been told how to behave.

Meanwhile, also in Nevada, an all-day event is taking place with artists who are lining up to support the progressive wing of the party. The headlining event taking place at the same time as the debates, but on a competing channel, includes Bernie Sanders, Tulsi Gabbard, Andrew Yang, and Mike Gravel discussing the various ways they envision the future.

At the same time that Buttigieg is throwing one-liners that have Biden visibly upset and Elizabeth Warren doing her cheerleading moves to calm everyone down, the all-stars of the candidates will be flipping a big middle finger at the establishment by putting on a clinic of what the Democratic party will be like when progressives rule the roost. It would be so eye opening that even the densest of the 'vote blue no matter who crew' will understand the difference between what is and what soon will be.