Happy Birthday, Ralph Nader!

Today [Tuesday, February 27, 2018] is the 84th birthday of consumer advocate and former presidential nominee Ralph Nader.

Born February 27, 1934 in Winsted, Connecticut, Ralph Nader admitted to having voted for about 20 years for “the lesser of two evils.” He was referring, of course, to the Democratic Party. He no longer does that. And Nader has me thinking I may be heading where he is now politically. My theory is, If you go enough election cycles—that is counting both midterm and presidential election years—without voting for one’s preferred of the two major political parties, especially saying no to both, then you find you have truly broken the habit.

I admire Ralph Nader. He has been correct about so many things. I laugh at Democratic Party Loyalists who have used him as a scapegoat since 2000. I welcome them, if they think Nader is so damaging, to drive their cars without safety belts—especially while they are traveling the interstates. (I am, of course, referring to his 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed.)


For more information on Ralph Nader: Wikipedia.org — Ralph Nader.


Here are fifteen [15] quotes from Ralph Nader:

“Things have gotten so bad in this country, you look back at Richard Nixon with nostalgia.”

“The essence of globalization is a subordination of human rights, of labor rights, consumer, environmental rights, democracy rights, to the imperatives of global trade and investment.”

“Capitalism will always survive, because socialism will always be there to save it.”

“Ours is a system of corporate socialism, where companies capitalize their profits and socialize their losses…in effect, they tax you for their accidents, bungling, boondoggles, and mismanagement, just like a government. We should be able to dis-elect them.”

“We live in a two-party tyranny that doesn’t believe in competition, can enforce it with penalties and obstructions, and they’re getting closer and closer to being both one corporate party with two heads having different labels.”

“The only difference between the Republican and Democratic parties is the velocities with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door. That’s the only difference.”

“If you choose the lesser of two evils, you are still choosing evil.”

“Can you imagine [Al Gore is] in a neck-and-neck race with a bumbling Republican governor [George W. Bush], from Texas, with such a horrific record? …What does that say about the Democratic Party?” 

“Gore beat Gore… He didn’t get Tennessee, his home state. That would have made him president. And he blundered in Florida and didn’t ask for a statewide recount.” (Ed. note: Bill Clinton carried Tennessee, then a bellwether state, in both of his elections. Florida carried for Clinton in 1996. A 2000 Al Gore finished with an initial electoral-vote score of 267. A faithless elector reduced it to 266.)

“This assumption that my votes only come from Democrats is simply not true…”

“We have a Democratic Party which cannot defend the people from the worst Republican Party in history because it’s a Democratic Party of war and Wall Street.”

“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not followers.”

“A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and the energy to get it done.” 

“Power concedes nothing without a demand. The struggle for justice should never be adjourned. The forces of injustice do not take vacations.”

“All empires eventually destroy themselves. That’s the record of history.”

Recommended interview, in print, of Ralph Nader:

The Intercept — The Democrats Are Unable to Defend the U.S. From the “Most Vicious” Republican Party in History

Recommended entries from his blog Nader.org:

Nader.org — Hillary’s Corporate Democrats Taking Down Bernie Sanders

Nader.org — Hillary’s Convention Con

Nader.org — What Does Trump Mean by “Make America Great Again”?

Recommended videos related to Ralph Nader:

Open Weekend

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UPDATE 02.25.2018 @ 08:30 a.m. ET: A reminder for readers—Progressives Chat will not have a new blog entry on Monday [02.26.2018]. This “Open Weekend” should be used for more comments ones would make on Monday. New blog entries this week will be on Tuesday [02.27.2018] and Thursday (03.01.2018]. —Candy83

Entertainment Weekend

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David Pakman

In previous years, I was gradually taking on viewing YouTube-uploaded talk programs suited for progressives and progressive politics. (I still do that—but not so much nowadays.)

I tuned in The Young Turks. And then, as one who used to watch more regularly Free Speech TV, I tuned in both The Thom Hartmann Show and The David Pakman Show.

Well, in recent times, I have been tuning out the ones no longer worthy of my time and/or no longer worthy of my general trust.

I tuned out when I sensed there may be a selling out. Well, I wasn’t that cynical to immediately consider it a sellout. But, after the DNC’s rigging of the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries, I tuned out those who said they would, or we voters should, vote for Hillary Clinton in the general election.

I tuned out Cenk Uygur and The Young Turks.

I tuned out Thom Hartmann and The Thom Hartmann Show.

And I tuned out David Pakman and The David Pakman Show.

It became most obvious to me, not so much with Uygur and Hartmann (who I don’t think of so much as a sell-out but is a, bottom line, Democratic Party Loyalist), that the most immediate sellout who I had been following was Pakman.

The following video is David Pakman’s smear job on 2016 Green Party nominee Jill Stein.

After that video, uploaded to YouTube on August 8, 2016, Pakman was taken to task. I tuned out his program. His sidekick, Louis Motamedi, left the show shortly afterward. (It may have been coincidental. I didn’t get myself so involved that I could say one thing or another. But, the timing was interesting. According to Wikipedia, Motamedi’s then-upcoming departure from the program was announced August 15, 2016.) And, after this, I tuned out Pakman.

I feel the loss of my trust in Pakman, and his program, was verified—beyond what I had anticipated—by Hard Bastard. Although his politics are more on the right, I have included Hard Bastard in my “Recommendations” because he contributes a lot that is good for me to follow. I appreciate Hard Bastard’s videos—and he has a number of them—on a propagandizing David Pakman, on his David Pakman Show, and one can find a number of those videos here: Hard Bastard — David Pakman.



Here is one of those videos:

I created this blog entry because, previous to Election 2016, I had been a subscriber to The David Pakman Show. Just last week, I received an e-mail offering a special rate if I was to return with once again subscribing to The David Pakman Show. I think my answer is obvious. While it may not come through here very clearly, I will leave a screen shot copy of that e-mail below.

Note: The next regular blog entry will be not next Monday but Tuesday [February 27, 2018]. There will be the weekend threads this Friday [February 23, 2018]. Posting comments are good seven [7] days from the date of a blog entry.

Presidents’ Day

This may be a holiday not many here would not want to celebrate.

Here is source information on the holiday: Presidents’ Day.



I have a question: During your lifetime, has there been one U.S. president who was truly great?



I will add the following two videos which I came across Sunday night [February 18, 2018] from Jamarl Thomas. Very interesting. I think readers will appreciate them.

Open Weekend | Amy Vilela

This “Open Weekend” thread is a regular thing for Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

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UPDATE 02.16.2018 @ 03:00 p.m. ET: 

I am adding this video, from The Jimmy Dore Show, in which he interviews Amy Vilela. 

She is seeking nomination first followed by election to the U.S. House seat from the 4th Congressional District of Nevada. This is an area, as noted by Wikipedia, which includes “most of the northern area of Clark County [Las Vegas].” 

It is a newly created district, as Nevada increased population in the 2000s to go from three congressional districts and five electoral votes to its current four congressional districts and six electoral votes. 

It is a swing district. Democrat Steven Horsford was the first winner, from 2012, as Barack Obama carried the state with re-election. It flipped Republican, in the midterm elections of 2014, for Crescent Hardy. In 2016, despite Democrats losing the White House, nominee Hillary Clinton carried the state and Ruben Kihuen won a party pickup here.  (Compared to the state, Nevada #04 tilts slightly Democratic but is a swing district. Here is more information: Nevada #04—Elections 2012, 2014, and 2016.)

Kihuen, not on board for Medicare For All, drew a Democratic primary challenger in Vilela. Kihuen, under scandal for sexual misconduct allegations, has opted to not seek re-election. That should pave the way for Vilela. But, the Democratic Congressional Committee Campaign [DCCC], totally the corporate party establishment, does not want the nomination won by Vilela. 

I have considered contributing to Vilela’s campaign. I went to her website. Unfortunately, a credit-card contribution gets linked to Act Blue. I have come across to not trust Act Blue. So, I would have to mail a check. But, I am keeping a check on myself. I am thinking, “If the citizenry needs me, then they need a world of help that goes beyond just my being one individual thinking I can be of help. So, they are going to have to make it happen.”

Entertainment Weekend

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

I wish everyone at Progressives Chat a Happy Valentine’s Day!

Abraham Lincoln

ABRAHAM LINCOLN
February 12, 1809–April 15, 1865

It was on this day, February 12, in 1809, which marked the birth of the 16th United States president Abraham Lincoln.

Depending on your viewpoint, it can be argued that there have two U.S. presidents—Abraham Lincoln (R-Illinois) and Franklin Roosevelt (D-New York)—who had the most positive impact on the nation and its people.

Lincoln was elected to his first term in 1860 with a very divided electoral map, and six years after the founding of the Republican Party, and the first from his party elected to the presidency of the United States. Without doubt, this was attributed to Lincoln’s success with the Civil War. With re-election in 1864, while the south seceded, Lincoln carried 22 of 25 participating states, for 88 percent of participating states. (For the sake of layout, the maps will appear at the bottom of this blog entry. Minnesota, admitted into the union in 1858, and Oregon, admitted into the union in 1859, voted for the first time in 1860. Kansas, admitted into the union in 1861, West Virginia, admitted into the union in 1863, and Nevada, admitted into the union October 31, 1864, voted for the first time in 1864. The latter two were admitted into the union during the Civil War.) 

Here is a link to a timeline on the life of Abraham Lincoln:

Timeline

In the meantime, here are ten [10] quotes from the 16th president:

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”

“No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.”

“You can fool all the people some of the time, some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

“Marriage is neither heaven nor hell, it is simply purgatory.”

“I think that slavery is wrong, morally, socially and politically. I desire that it should be no further spread in these United States, and I should not object if it should gradually terminate in the whole Union.”

“Government of the people, by the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.”

“We the people are the rightful masters of Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.”

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

Election Maps: 1860 & 1864

^ ELECTION 1860: Minnesota and Oregon joined the union. From 1860 to 1908, Minnesota along with Pennsylvania and Michigan carried Republican. While the country flipped Democratic for Woodrow Wilson, [the trio] voted for Progressive Party’s Teddy Roosevelt in 1912. [They] returned to the Republican fold in 1916 and held until 1928.

^ ELECTION 1864: Kansas, West Virginia, and Nevada voted for the first time and sided with re-electing Abraham Lincoln. Nevada’s bellwether status would not commence until 1912. In 1864, Lincoln’s domination of the map (from participating states) included Republican pickups Maryland and Missouri. Two states Lincoln never carried nowadays vote Strong Democratic: New Jersey and Delaware.

Open Weekend

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Entertainment Weekend

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Rethinking the ‘Blue Wave’

Last month, I wrote of my sensing that the 2018 midterm elections may be a Democratic wave to the tune of Team Blue winning majority control pickups of the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and the majority number of state governorships.

Here is the link:

A 2018 Blue Wave

Nine months from today, Tuesday, November 6, 2018, will be the midterm elections. This is the 2018 midterm elections in which the Democratic Party—in response to Republican incumbent U.S. president Donald Trump with low-approval poll numbers (typically in the 30s percentile range)—should be the major party to win gains with flipping, at the very least, a new majority-control of the U.S. House. (When I write should, I am referring to historical voting pattern. Also: Historically, the U.S. House flips before the U.S. Senate when a new majority control goes to the party opposite the incumbent president in a non-presidential cycle.)

Thanks to the Democrats’ role in DACA, with their leader in the U.S. Senate “Wall Street’s favorite senator” Chuck Schumer of New York, it looks a little less certain. Truth is…I don’t care to see the Democrats—should they boast yet another lineup of nominated and re-nominated corporate Ds—become re-empowered.

An interesting FiveThirtyEight asks, “What Happened To The Democratic Wave?” It touches on the issue of the Democrats leading in the polls over the Republicans nationally by about +6 percentage points. In late-2017, the Ds’ polling margins for congressional preference were in double digits.

Here is the link:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-happened-to-the-democratic-wave/




If that isn’t enough, Counterpunch has a piece as well on this topic. It is titled “Democrats Could Lose Again.”

Here is the link:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2018/02/05/democrats-could-lose-again-this-fall/





 Note:  Due to timing, nine months out, I wanted to submit this on a Tuesday. (I have done that.) So, there will be no blog entry on Wednesday [February 7, 2018]. There will be the usual weekend threads on Friday [February 9, 2018]. One may post comments up to seven [7] days from the date of a blog entry’s thread.

‘A Shakeup At “The Young Turks”; Jimmy Dore Left Out? “What Happened!?”…To Cenk Uygur’s Main Show?’

Jamarl Thomas, who is superb at analyzing politics from a truly progressive viewpoint, uploaded this very interesting video just yesterday [Sunday, February 4, 2018].

Thomas has a lot to say about The Young Turks and Jimmy Dore.

(Note: Although no image appears on screen, the video does play. You can click it. Its running time is two hours. So, you may want to take in at least a few minutes of it to see how deeply you would get into viewing it.)

Open Weekend

This “Open Weekend” thread is a regular thing for Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Please take this Progressives Chat to wherever you may want it to go.

Entertainment Weekend

“Entertainment Weekend” threads invite you to share anything—including content—on movies, television, and music on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.