‘Chris Hedges: Don’t Be Fooled By Joe Biden’

• Article link: ‘Chris Hedges: Don’t Be Fooled By Joe Biden’.

No Sympathy for Liz Cheney

Former U.S. president Donald Trump is orchestrating Liz Cheney’s downfall in Congress. 

The No. 3-ranking Republican—from the single At-Large congressional district in Wyoming—upset her fellow Republicans by stating the 2020 United States presidential election was legitimately won in a Democratic pickup by Joe Biden (who, in the process, unseated Trump)—and the Republicans need to move on from Trump with regard for the direction of their political party. 

This isn’t a quote. But, it is the position of Liz Cheney.

Not long after the 2008 United States presidential election of Barack Obama is when I first noticed Liz Cheney. She would make the rounds on those Sunday-morning talk programs from the broadcast and cable-news networks. Her message: Barack Obama wasn’t protecting us. Her motivation: To continue from her father, 46th U.S. vice president Dick Cheney, with more stances and pushes to continue endless wars.

Liz Cheney is a warmonger.

I recently caught a Hill video of Florida congressman Matt Gaetz—not a supreme person (by any stretch)—having his fun over Cheney’s downfall. Gaetz does not have an entire message which makes me want to truly decamp from the Democrats to the Republicans because he dumps on the Green New Deal while talking about ending endless wars. In other words: Gaetz is not trying to form a new coalition. He says some things that are perceptive. He then counters them with attacks against other factions he should try to win over. What Gaetz offers is a mixed message which will politically and electorally go nowhere. But, for the sake of some entertainment, it was enjoyable to some extent. (Video appears at the bottom.)

My take on the Republican Party, in its current form, is that it needs to get rid of the Old Guard. That the Republicans need to counter-realign against the Democrats by outflanking them on the left on vital issues like economy and the Military Industrial Complex (which, of course, also address war).

The GOP has this problem in common with the Democrats. 

The primaries voters, on the Democratic side, are not smart when it comes to counter-realign, against the Democrats, and they cannot do so without ousting their Old Guard (who are long overdue for their exits). 

The Republican primaries voters are smarter. 

During the 2010s, the Republicans were better at unseating party incumbents, in their bids for re-nomination, because in part they wanted other figures. The Democrats should have gotten rid of every corrupt neoliberal who has made a career in Democratic Party politics—especially when it was ripe to do so—and they willingly failed. (A great example: The 2016 Florida #23 primaries. They needed to oust Debbie Wasserman Schultz, after she become exposed as the corrupt DNC chairwoman who worked for Hillary Clinton and against Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries.)

The Republicans need to get rid of not only Liz Cheney but also Mitch McConnell, who caused them losing the two party-held U.S. Senate seats in 2020 Georgia with his manipulation of a bill that would have delivered $2,000 stimulus checks to U.S. citizens with this COVID–19 pandemic. (Trump wanted it. Which is why McConnell, more so than Trump, cost the party both seats in Georgia.) McConnell did this timed with the early-January 2021 runoff elections with vulnerable Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler ending up unseated by Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. The fact that the former majority leader did this and, yet, fellow Republicans have allowed McConnell to continue to lead them in the upper chamber is every bit an example of the cesspool in Washington, D.C. as are the Democrats having allowed Nancy Pelosi to still lead them in the lower chamber of Congress as she helped cost them their majority in 2010, helped cost them the presidency in 2016, helped cost them seats in 2020—even with Democrats having flipped the presidency—and is now positioned to cost them their current majority in the midterm elections of 2022.

I recommend the following by Shant Mesrobian: Why Are Democrats and Media Liberals Cheering For Liz Cheney? He has a really good read on the overall motivations of Liz Cheney; those who support her; and the Democratic Party Establishment which defends her.

Not only do I not have sympathy for Liz Cheney…

I want this parasite—who has her elected position solely due to her father—out of Congress.

How the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau’s Report Affects the Map

Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau reported on population changes. Such changes affect some states for how many congressional seats and electoral votes they will be allocated with in coming elections. (Specifically at the level of U.S. President, this will be applicable to Elections 2024 and 2028.) 

In all, there are 13 states which will be experience the following changes:

• One state, Texas, which ranks the No. 2 most-populous state in the nation, will increase by +2.

• Five states will each increase by +1. In their ranked population order, they are: Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Oregon, and Montana. (For the first time in its near-150-year history, Colorado will be allocated with a double-digit electoral vote—10. A recent source on state populations has Colorado now at No. 20, having previously supplanted Minnesota at No. 21 and now Wisconsin at No. 20. Over the next ten years, Colorado may be in position to supplant Maryland at No. 19 and, as it is not out of the realm of possibility, Missouri at No. 18.)

• Seven states will decrease—none by more than –1. But, as easily predicted and understood, most of these states are (to whatever each’s extent) among the Rust Belt. In their ranked population order, they are: New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and West Virginia. Also standing out, with a decrease of –1, is the nation’s most-populous state: California. (For the first time in its history, California will lose both a congressional seat and an electoral vote due to low growth in its population change.)

There were results which surprised some who tried to predict gains and losses but neither manifest. Many had predicted a gain for Arizona. It remains at 9 congressional seats and 11 electoral votes. (Many predicted more than what was gained with Texas and Florida.) Many also predicted losses for Minnesota and Rhode Island. For the former, this would have dropped it from a double-digit electoral vote of 10 to a single-digit electoral vote of 9. (Minnesota will remain at 10.) For the latter, had it dropped it would have become reduced to one at-large congressional district. (Rhode Island was lucky.)

When I consider the changes throughout a considerable period of time, I think as examples of my home state Michigan and a state I consider a second home, due to frequent visits with my relative, and that is Colorado. When I first voted at age 21 in 1992, Michigan had 18 and Colorado had 8 electoral votes. Applicable to Elections 2024 and 2028, Michigan will have 15 and Colorado will have 10 electoral votes. Michigan used to have a population more than double that of Colorado. Now, Michigan has a population approximately 50 percent more than Colorado. They are two good examples of very notable population changes. After all, it has been frequently reported that the population trends are with gains in the Sunbelt and the West and losses in the Midwest and the Northeast.

The above electoral map is from the outcome of Election 2020. Then-Republican incumbent Donald Trump was unseated by then-Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Trump finished with 232 and Biden won with 306 electoral votes. Reallocation of applicable states’s electoral votes would adjust that map’s score to 235 [Republican] vs. 303 [Democratic].

Perusal of the map from 270toWin: Light hues are for those unaffected. Tinted [grayish] colors are for ones which will decrease by –1. Medium hues are for those which will increase by +1. Solid hue, applicable only to Texas, is to indicate it will increase by +2.

‘Recommendations’ Updates

Last week, I added three more sources to the Recommendations list: The Vanguard, Steve Lehto, and Louis Rossmann. 

Launched on YouTube in May 2020, The Vanguard covers and discusses politics and also reviews numerous other independent content creators. The Vanguard does have exclusive content—such as its recent interview with Noam Chomsky. 

Steve Lehto is an attorney from Michigan who is really good with alerting viewers to legal issues (Lemon Law and Consumer Protection). 

Louis Rossmann, of the Rossmann Repair Group Inc. in New York, repairs numerous Apple products and has videos which are also related to business and consumer issues.

The Three G’s

As one of the millions who plays and enjoys the Nintendo video game Animal Crossing: New Horizons, I have watched plenty of streams—both on YouTube and Twitch—from content creators. (In ACNH, you arrive on, and eventually build and establish, your own island in which you have animal villagers and human residents.) 

One such content creator’s name is Sam. He is the creator of “Crunchy Island.” Over the last year, not long after the March 20, 2020 debut of New Horizons, Sam created his island in which he invites other content creators to compete in mazes which ultimately lead one to winning a popular villager they want. (Related video appears below.) 

Once the contest ends, and a winner emerges, the other participants say, “GG.” 

GG is an acronym for Good Game! 

When it comes to Democratic Party politics, also good at playing their games, there are three Gs. 

GGG! 

They are:

• Gaslighting

• Gatekeeping

• Grifting

This is the case not only with people who make their living in Democratic Party politics. It is also applicable to establishment media which work with the Democratic Party. It is also applicable to political pundits. It is also getting more and more revealed nowadays with some sources in independent media.

They: 

• Gaslight

• Gatekeep

• Grift

Two recent Jimmy Dore Show videos give examples with his former boss, The Young Turks’s Cenk Uygur, along with his partner in GGG crime Ana Kasparian, and there is even the much-trusted and -revered intellectual Noam Chomsky. 

This is, in their current form, the Democratic Party.

• Gaslighters

• Gatekeepers

• Grifters 

The Three G’s.

Regarding Oscar and Chloé Zhao

Next Sunday, April 25, 2021, will be the 93rd Academy Awards for film achievements for the year 2020.

I have mentioned, in previous years, that I don’t tune in like I used to.

Part of the reason, and I’m sure this is how other regulars here feel, is that Hollywood is too much in bed with the Democratic Party. That what gets said—what gets expressed—comes across as an extension of the corrupt, corporate, Democratic Party Establishment and their neoliberalism and, of course, their propaganda. This means trying to influence how people think and feel—how they should live—when, in reality, they do not relate to most people. It is another example of the differences between the haves and the have-nots.

Another reason why I don’t feel so engaged is because the Oscars have become old. 

It feels like a lot of the productions and the people who end up winning were determined weeks, even months, ago. A website like GoldDerby, by awards expert Tom O’Neil (who has written books on the history of the Oscars, Emmys, and Grammys), follows this like sport. They’re very observant and have it pretty much figured months in advance.

This ends up coming across as pre-determined. Not all of it. Enough of it.

Since there has been much word of mouth, for months, I expect—and it has been expected—that the 2020 Best Director Oscar will go to Chloé Zhao, pictured above, for Nomadland. (She recently won the Directors Guild of America’s prize for film achievement. Usually, the DGA winner goes on to win the Oscar. And Zhao has won nearly every pre-Oscar prize along the way.)

Nomadland is about a woman—played by two-time Oscar winner Frances McDormand (who co-produced the film and is nominated on that count along with her performance)—who loses her job and travels in search of work. She also finds other people experiencing much of the same. It is based on the book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century, by Jessica Bruder. (I have not seen Nomadland. It is available for streaming on Hulu. I may get to it. Subject matter is very relevant to this period in our history.)

While I expect Zhao to win, I also expect a narrative which has been pre-written will be reported. While Zhao would become the second woman in history to win the Oscar for directing (the first was Kathryn Bigelow, the 2009 winner, for The Hurt Locker), this narrative will point out that Zhao is a woman of color. Zhao is Chinese. She was born March 31, 1982, in Beijing, China.

This will, more than likely, become another example of identity politics. And the point of that will be to help enforce the narrative that Hollywood is enlightened. This of course means the same about the Democrats.

I think that is the wrong way to look at this.

Should Chloé Zhao win the 2020 Best Director Oscar, it bares in mind she may also win with each of her four nominations. As the director of Nomadland, Zhao is also nominated for Best Picture (as one of its producers), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing.

That is both uncommon and one hell of an achievement.

Achievement in excellence, not identity, is how we should regard the possibly Oscar winning Chloé Zhao.

‘Georgia and the GOP’ … ‘AOC and the Dems’

Recent news items call for me to respond in this blog topic.

Georgia and the GOP

The Republicans in Georgia—with its governor Brian Kemp—want to stop the Democrats from being able to continue to win Georgia. 

In his 2020 Democratic pickup of the presidency of the United States, Joe Biden unseated Republican incumbent Donald Trump with among his pickups Georgia. 

It was the first time since 1992—also an election in which a Democratic challenger unseated a Republican incumbent U.S. president—that the Democrats carried Georgia. 

So, the Republicans want to stop their bleeding. That is what Brian Kemp and the Georgia GOP are trying to achieve. 

They won’t succeed. 

Since 1968, every U.S. presidential election which delivered a party switch—from Democratic to Republican or from Republican to Democratic—saw a given state realign to the party which won it over and, from that point forward, has not carried for the party which lost it. I touched on this in a previous blog topic. And I think the 2020 Democratic pickups from two states and a congressional district—this would be Arizona and Georgia (as well as Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District)—are applicable. 

The post-2020 Georgia GOP are foolish with this effort.

AOC and the Dems

The last week—maybe two weeks (not exactly sure)—have seen U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez (D–New York #14) expose herself as a sellout. 

#ForceTheVote—going back to December 2020—is when people finally looked to AOC, and her fellow “Squad” members, as fake. 

I am remembering, after she unseated Joe Crowley in the 2018 Democratic primaries, that Jared Beck—the plaintiff attorney in the DNC lawsuit—was tweeting that Ocasio–Cortez was not real. By then, Beck had given up on the Democrats—saying they are criminals—and summarized people’s belief in Ocasio–Cortez, and anyone affiliated with the Democrats, as naive. 

I give credit to Jared Beck. He has earned it. For me—I haven’t voted for a Democrat in a general election since 2014. The DNC rigging the 2016 primaries, Barack Obama orchestrating Joe Biden’s 2020 nomination, and the other rigged elections in between (like the 2017 California Democratic chairperson election) have done nothing but strengthen my resolve to not vote again in a general election for Team Blue.

At this point, the role Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez has is to continue to try to lure people—especially young people—to vote in general elections for the Democratic Party.

Graham Elwood On the China–Iran Deal and Smedley Butler

The above videos were published March 31 and April 3, 2021 to YouTube by Graham Elwood. 

The first is titled “China Makes Iran Deal While US Pushes War.” It is a good example of how China is demonstrating more intelligence than the United States when it comes to leadership—and the future.

The second is titled “Smedley Butler: The Original Anti War Marine.” It is about the U.S. Marine Corps officer (1881–1940) who doesn’t get mentioned much—even though he exposed imperialists who tried to overthrow 32nd U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt.