Candidates

Is Hillary a real person?  Sure.  Everybody's a real person.  Is she the kind of person I'd want to support for President of the USofA?  Not really, but if she ever comes out with some concrete policy positions, I just might feel better or worse about her.  Right now, I'm with Bill DeBlasio, waiting to see if she might (ahem) "clarify" what she's thinking.  Her history would have me believe she's more hawkish than I can accept, and a bit more in the pocket of Wall Street than I'd like.  Needless to say, whatever positions she takes for the campaign will not bind her to any particular positions she takes as president, but that's true of anybody in politics.

While it would be nice if Ted Cruz managed to win the Republican nomination since that would more or less guarantee a Democratic victory next year, I'd much prefer somebody who might push Hillary further left.  Given the yahoos who form the Republican base, Rand Paul doesn't seem to have much of a chance, but given his foreign policy positions, I might even consider voting for him over Hillary (or the third-party candidate I usually wind up supporting here in dependably Democratic New York.)  Tell me though: what is libertarian about opposing abortion and same-sex marriage?  And if, by some miracle, he ended up our next president, would he follow through?  Politics as usual.

If the Republican base had any brains, it would nominate Marco Rubio.  He's good looking, articulate, and smart.  Granted, I don't much care for his positions on, well, anything, but if the GOP is looking for a winner, I think he'd be a better bet than Jeb Bush.

Dead Cops

According to PBA President Patrick Lynch, who seems to be auditioning to take over Rush Limbaugh's job after the fat man finally kills himself with prescription pain killers, Bill DeBlasio has "blood on his hands" because the mayor supported non-violent protest in the streets of New York City, and wants to put limits on "stop and frisk — the easiest way for patrolmen to build impressive "arrest records" and move up in the ranks.

Ismaaiyl Brinsley, the shooter, started his day in Baltimore, where he shot his girfriend.  She is not a cop.  Then he rode the bus to New York and took the subway to Brooklyn, where he found Ramos and Liu sitting in their squad car, and shot them.  They were cops.  Then Brinsley shot himself.  He was not a cop.

Given his criminal history, we can be sure he didn't like cops.  How much did the Garner and Brown deaths influence his actions?  My guess is, not much, if at all.  He was ready to kill himself, maybe because he knew he'd be screwed after shooting his girlfriend.  He wasn't using Garner and Brown to justify shooting Ramos and Liu, he was using Ramos and Liu to justify shooting himself.  Killing the cops let him go out thinking he would look like a "hero."

Nobody thinks he's a hero.  Everybody knows he was just nuts.

Changing Direction

Okay, I was kind of obsessed with the evils of religious belief last month, but the holiday season has a way of doing that to me.  Despite John Kerry's current attempts to make progress towards Israeli-Palestinian peace, I will not obsess over the concept of the "Jewish (apartheid) state" for at least a month or two.

So, instead, let's try to parse the significance of Bill DeBlasio's inauguration as Mayor of New York City yesterday.  His address was both populist and progressive, but there was a bit of weirdness involved.  For one thing, he was sworn in by Bill Clinton, the man who led the Democratic Party away from its progressive ideals and into the pocket of Wall Street — the alleged "Democrat" who signed the bill to "end welfare as we know it," would not consider the regulation of derivatives, and signed the bill that ended Glass-Steagall.

Was it a signal?  Hillary was there too.  Did the Clinton presence signal that Hillary is ready to move the Democratic Party back towards the left if she gets her turn to run in 2016?  And if she runs as a progressive, will she follow through if she wins?

Also present was the not especially progressive Democratic Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, also mentioned as a potential candidate in 2016.  Since he currently holds office, if he means to make a progressive turn he'll actually have to do it, right out there in public.  (It also would be nice if he could follow through on his promise to clean up the Albany cesspool of corruption.  New Yorkers used to look down on New Jersey as a cesspool of corruption.  These days, it's kind of a toss-up.)

Andrew's father, Mario Cuomo, anticipated DeBlasio's use of the "Tale of Two Cities" analogy a few decades ago, when he delivered the keynote address at the 1984 Democratic Convention.  To me, it remains the greatest convention speech of modern times, far surpassing the 2004 Obama speech (which turned out to be, largely, bullshit.)  Andrew ought to give it a listen — and so should you.

Clinton v. Christie? Oh, crap!

It's more than two years until the Iowa conventions, but the pundits, of course, have to say something.  Chuck Schumer, the senator from Wall Street, also has weighed in, along with a bunch of Hollywood assholes on  behalf of Hillary.  Christie is not yet endorsed by any big shot Republican PACs, which demonstrates that big shot Republican PACs are not quite so dumb as Hollywood assholes, but the pundits don't much care.

We've already had another Clinton, a slightly darker complected "first Black president" by the name of Barack Obama.  We certainly don't need another.  This time around, we need a liberal.

Christie, on the other hand, is just another opportunist with a gigantic ego and a tendency to dissemble.  I would like it, of course, if the Red States advanced Ted Cruz, but only if the Democrats had somebody who was a real Democrat to oppose him.

Yes, I dream of Elizabeth Warren, but that probably won't happen this time around.  Too bad.  Warren v. Cruz would offer voters a real choice — kind of like DeBlasio v. Lhota.  Okay, I apologize.  Lhota is not nearly so bad as Cruz.  If he ran against Hillary, I just might vote for him.

Candidates

Terry McAuliffe

In "purple" state Virginia, Clintonista Terry McAuliffe looks likely to defeat TPA (Tea Party Asshole) Ken Cuccinelli.  McAuliffe is kind of a turd, but I guess he's better than the TPA.  Albeit I preferred Hillary to Barack, I think we've had more than enough Clinton administration.  Surely, the Dems can find somebody better that Hillary to run against whatever TPA the party in decline nominates in 2016.  Jeez, I hope it's Cruz!

Charlie Crist

Now the former Republican governor of Florida intends to run as a Democrat against TPA Rick Scott.  Can a moderate Republican reinvented as a (probably Clintonista) Democrat make a comeback?  Granted, Florida is in the dumb zone of the USofA, but not all of those old northern retirees are senile yet.  Go Charlie!

Bill DeBlasio

DeBlasio, whom I kind of endorsed back in early August, when everybody thought Christine Quinn was a shoe-in, is being viewed as the great hope of the Left these days.  Some of the asshole commentators think DeBlasio is the anti-TPA, but DeBlasio and I were supporting the likes of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, not to mention Daniel Ortega, for many years before the Tea Party figured out the government was not on their side.

Too bad tax changes in New York City require approval from the insanely corrupt New York State Legislature.  DeBlasio's goals, sad to say, may be unattainable.