Carpe Diem, Senator Warren

[RiverLover]

Yeah, I know....

"She doesn't want to run, she wants to stay in the senate." & "We need her in the senate" & the worst "She signed a letter 2 years ago!!"

However, try to clear all of that chatter from your mind, for a moment, & open your mind.

Read the following poignant plea & hope like hell (with me) that this time, Elizabeth heeds the call & goes for the leadership role we all know she would excel in & would help Bernie take the country to greatness....make FDR proud.

Carpe Diem, Senator Warren
by Hank Edson
Common Dreams
2/2/16

With yesterday’s dead-heat contest in Iowa between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, the moment has arrived when Elizabeth Warren’s commitment to fixing our democracy and our economy is being put to the test.

A person can have great judgment and intellect, but if their timing is off, ultimately even those strengths are proven flawed and inadequate. We must have real results if this person is going to be a real leader. Often this person is going to have to take real risks to get real results.

Warren’s timing, judgment and courage are all now being challenged. It’s not enough to be independent, articulate, and passionate from the bully pulpit.

Achieving leadership’s full capacity inevitably involves taking a stand that is by nature risky, but all the more necessary because one’s deepest convictions will not allow any other course of action.

One feels compelled within to seize the moment. Whatever the risks of taking a stand, the risks of letting the moment pass are greater. However, unconventional the action required is, that action remains the most obviously impactful.

If destiny offers someone like Warren the opportunity to swing the tide of the nation toward a more honest and just governance and they hesitate, well then ultimately they weren’t the leader we hoped for. Warren has had this opportunity served up to her by Bernie Sanders in the most admirable way. There is no room for her to pretend the moment of decision is not upon her.

These sentiments won’t sit kindly with Warren’s many well-deserved admirers. But ultimately, these sentiments are a very high form of praise. Warren is not being tested by the opinion of the writer or by the opinions of so many countless progressive Americans, but by her own principles and standards and by history and by the outcomes that will flow from the way she conducts herself in this pivotal moment.

She has already made herself worthy enough to be judged by history and her own principles. That in itself makes her a contender. But let’s not pretend she’s more than that while our country is still so dysfunctional, while she has an opportunity to make a powerfully positive difference beyond her current contributions and yet has not done so.

We need to treat these leaders, not as idols it is sacrilege to challenge, but as our brothers and sisters it is fair to demand an explanation from and helpful to their own process to challenge.

....snip....

The difference between Sanders and Clinton is night and day. Clinton belongs to an old order and an old day now dead. Progressives, and particularly the younger among us, are changing the political culture of our country and the result is we are entering a new day in American democracy. Regardless of the outcome of this contest, this dramatic shift heralding hope for a planet under siege is being telegraphed by the passionate movement supporting the Sanders campaign. This movement will not give Elizabeth Warren a “pass” while millions look to her to join with Sanders based on her own record of advocacy and statements of principle.

The progressive movement widely and justly recognizes that Elizabeth Warren can be a great president. Her own judgment has left that prospect to the future. In the present moment, however, she is called to recognize she can be a great leader now in a moment in our history that may not come again for a planet imperiled by climate change and an accelerating concentration of wealth. She can be a great leader now, in this unique moment in time, by partnering with Sanders as his vice presidential nominee and collaborator in a broadly inclusive, sophisticated, and principled campaign to uplift society through the quality of our governance.

...snip....

Read the rest~
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/02/02/carpe-diem-senator-warren

I didn't write this, but I think its brave & brutally honest. It will be controversial & I don't care.

I hope she's listening.

[onehandle]

1. She will endorse Hillary sooner than you think.

Be patient.

[bunnies]

2. That would make her a hypocrite of epic proportion.

We'll see.

[onehandle]

4. Nope. She covered her ass when she signed that letter urging Hillary to run.

I don't think the 'Not Hillary' Party (who wanted Warren, but settled for Sanders) realize exactly how political Elizabeth is.

Full disclosure: I've sent Warren more money than any other single politician.

[RiverLover]

5. Jeezus How many times do we have to go over this? A million? She signed it out of obligation as a

female in the senate. She's been fighting Hillary & her Wall Street Corruption since DAY 1.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You've been pretty clear, and we showed it in Jeff Zeleny's piece, that you say you're not running for president in 2016. It seems like you've just affirmed it again. You also signed a letter -- several senators signed a letter earlier this year encouraging Hillary Clinton to run.
So is she your candidate in 2016?
ADVERTISING

WARREN: You know, all of the women -- Democratic women, I should say, of the Senate urged Hillary Clinton to run. And I hope she does.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You hope she does. And if she does, she is your candidate, you're going to endorse her?

WARREN: If Hillary -- Hillary is terrific.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, you've said she is terrific very many times. You say that again in this book, "A Fighting Chance." But this book leaves out something of a pointed criticism from your earlier book, "The Two Income Trap."

There you praised first lady Hillary Clinton for her opposition to this bankruptcy bill pushed by the big banks, but go on to talk about how she, as New York senator, seemed she could not afford that principled position.

Senator Clinton received 140,000 in campaign contributions from banking industry executives in a single year. Big banks were now part of Senator Clinton's constituency. She wanted their support, and they wanted hers, including a vote in favor of that awful bill.

So do you think that -- are you worried that somehow she will bow to big business, those were your words in that book, if she becomes president?

WARREN: Look, I've made it clear all the way through this book and really what I've been working on for the last 25 years, that I'm worried a lot about power in the financial services industry.

? Story continues below ?

And I'm worried about the fact that basically starting in the '80s, you know, the cops were taken off the beat in financial services, these guys were allowed to just paint a bull's eye on the backsides of American families.

They loaded up on risk. They crashed the economy. They got bailed out. And what bothers me now is they still strut around Washington. They block regulations that they don't want. They roll over agencies whenever they can. And they break...

STEPHANOPOULOS: Did they rollover Hillary Clinton?

WARREN: Well, that's -- they break the law, and still don't end up being held accountable for it, and going to jail.

One of the things that I focus on really hard throughout this book is that that is one of the prime examples of how the playing field is tilted and how we've got to push back against it.

It's a central issue for me. It's something I'm going to keep talking about. And I'm going to keep talking about it with everyone.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Right. But -- I understand. Do you think Hillary Clinton will push back on that as well?

WARREN: Well, I'm going to keep talking about this issue. And I'm going to keep pushing on this issue.

http://crooksandliars.com/2014/04/abcs-stephanopoulos-makes-elizabeth-warren

As any thinking person can see, Steph tried like crazy to get her to say she endorsed Hillary, and she refused.

She will endorse her ONLY if Hill wins the nom. She'll be obligated to as a Democrat.

Unless she's like Obama. But I don't think so.

[onehandle]

8. Where does it say it was an 'obligation?' And if it was an 'obligation,' what does it say...

...about her that she went along with it?

[cui bono]

9. +1

[RiverLover]

3. Perhaps

Obama proved to me that I can believe in someone with complete & utter certainty & be completely wrong.

Should Warren do the same by endorsing Hillary, that's it for me & this "movement" for People & Planet before Profits & the hope of getting money out of politics & our govt.

But I hope to God you're wrong.

[LuvLoogie]

13. I've got the perfect solution where you could be completely confident in the righteousness

of your chosen candidate. That would be yourself, of course.

[RiverLover]

17. Well my righteous ass is tired of pipe-dreaming for decency in our government

We've got industries writing their own legislation, for christs sake. America shrugs. A city has its entire water pipe infrastructure destroyed & every single person in that city is at risk now, to save $9000. It will cost over a billion to fix it. American roared for the 24 hour news cycle & politicians used it for exposure...& next! We have a natural gas leak that's made an American city unlivable. America doesn't even shrug. No one knows! There are millions of hungry underfed kids in our country. Oh well. The ocean's coral reefs & trees & bird species & bats & butterflies & bees are dying & no one cares, as long as they can watch the Super Bowl or get the next issue of Vogue....

My mom, in the end, had it right. (She was the only rethug in my family who was converted by Obama. Her hope once he was elected was relatively short-lived.) But anyways, she said what is the use in getting upset if you can't do anything about it.

She led a happy, productive life & the world is a better place for her having been here.

That's all my righteous ass will be worrying about should things go Status Quo 2016! & the populist movement turns out to be led by more phonies. If all of our marches & all those damn petitions, & writing our legislators & meetings don't mean squat, how healthy is it exactly to keep at it?

The moth & the lightbulb.

My hope however is that this will have wings, Warren will stay true, and next year, we will have President Sanders.

[LuvLoogie]

18. There are many injustices in this world, too many.

And we suffer the consequences, sometimes for centuries. But you can't assume the responsibility for it all, nor can you expect anyone else to assume it. There is only so much time in a day.

If one is serious about making the world a better place, then one is going to have to seek and accept the help of like-minded individuals. And the working group will change from agenda to agenda.

A collective goal is always at the mercy of individuals wanting what they want when they want it.

[Fearless]

6. You really have no idea.

She's more likely to endorse no one than her.

[onehandle]

10. Do you seriously think that when Bernie drops out that she won't endorse Hillary?

Really?

[Fearless]

12. If ifs and buts were candy and nuts...

It ain't going to happen.

[cali]

14. I guarantee you that Bernie will not be dropping out.

[Warren DeMontague]

16. If Hillary is the nominee, I suspect she will get EW's endorsement.

If Sanders is the nominee, I suspect that she will be on the short list of veep choices.

With Hillary that is unlikely to happen, I would be greatly surprised if she picks anyone other than Julian Castro.

[demwing]

7. K&R

[gyroscope]

11. That would be a dream ticket

however I do think we need Warren in the Senate, so my next VP choice would be Martin O'Malley.

[dreamnightwind]

15. I think we need Bernie in the White House

and Warren is the person, besides perhaps Obama (and he is more on Hillary's side) who can do the most to put Bernie there.

I don't think she will help him, but IMHO helping him (campaigning for him might be enough, wouldn't have to be as the VP) would be the single greatest act she could do to leverage change of our corrupt and broken system.