Democrats need to drop the identity politics now

July 31, 2019

The public dislikes identity politics big time. Right-winger Steve Bannon rejoices when Democrats try to sell themselves through special appeals to race, gender, ethnicity or sexual identity. When Democrats dwell on identity politics, “I got ‘em,” he said. “(W)e can crush the Democrats.” Identity politics is dated and even ignored by many in the groups being pandered to, as Kamala Harris’ low poll numbers among African Americans suggest. After the California politician attempted to smear Joe Biden as racially insensitive in the first Democratic debate, Biden’s high ...

What’s next for Democrats post-Mueller hearings?

July 30, 2019

The Washington Post, which has done everything in its dwindling power with articles, editorials and columns denouncing, demeaning and attempting to destroy President Trump, appears to have temporarily — but only temporarily — raised the white flag. A headline following former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s appearance before two House committees said: “Democrats struggle to figure next move against Trump after Mueller Hearing falls flat.” Democrats’ hatred is so deep for the president, who refuses to submit to their demands — the usual scenario for Republican ...

Recall Trump’s debt promise?

July 30, 2019

Ah, memories. Remember how presidential candidate Donald Trump grandly promised to eliminate the federal debt in eight years? That’s a memory he apparently hopes we forget. You could hear that in the absence of “debt” or “deficit” in the high praise he enthusiastically tweeted Thursday (“I am totally with you!”) for the two-year budget deal that White House and congressional budget negotiators reached last week. Unmentioned in the president’s tweet is how much the national debt has grown on Trump’s watch to a new record, more than $22 trillion in February for the ...

9/11 fund: It never should have come to this

July 29, 2019

“Hold tight to your anger, don’t fall to your fears.” — Bruce Springsteen, “Wrecking Ball” It never should have come to this. The first responders who, on a September morning 18 years ago, rushed into toxic clouds that once had been the World Trade Center never should have been put through bureaucratic hell. Sick and dying because they answered the call for courage, they never should have been forced to drag themselves repeatedly down to Washington to lobby Congress for medical care and compensation. Comedian Jon Stewart never should’ve had to use his celebrity to help ...

Dems should blame themselves

July 29, 2019

By John Kass Chicago Tribune (TNS) There must have been a point in the Robert Mueller hearings when the big thinkers of CNN and MSNBC curled up on the floor in fetal positions and began breathing into brown paper bags, trying to remain calm. Breathe. Collusion. Breathe. “Did not reach a determination as to whether the president committed a crime.” Breathe. Ted Lieu? Breathe. Those paper bags popped in and out, out and in, when Democratic media wizard David Axelrod and Harvard Law’s Laurence Tribe pronounced the Mueller hearings an unmitigated disaster for their side. And Donald ...

Migrants flee something worse

July 19, 2019

Not long ago, President Donald Trump tweeted that detained migrants, most hailing from Central American countries, are “living far better now than where they came from, and in far safer conditions.” Trump was responding to searing reports of the filthy and overcrowded facilities where detainees, including young children, endure a lack of access to water, food and showers. To state the obvious, Trump’s comments display his callousness, lack of empathy and petulant belief that lies and deception make everything better. But after my initial horror, I realized: He’s not entirely ...