reACTIONary
reACTIONary's JournalWhat is a maroon?
Bugs Bunny often quips "what a maroon", taken to be his idiosyncratic way of saying "moron". He is sometimes quoted on DU.
The word, however, refers to "a fugitive black slave of the West Indies and Guiana in the 17th and 18th centuries; also a descendant of such a slave."; “runaway black slave,” “wild runaway slave,” “the beast who cannot be tamed,” or “living on mountaintops.”
https://www.britannica.com/topic/maroon-community
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/maroon#:~:text=1%20%3A%20a%20person%20who%20is,Sentences%20Learn%20More%20about%20maroon
Like a lot of cartoons of a certain age, the humor of bugs is sometimes crude and racist, even if a bit obscure.
DNC meddling led to Iowa caucus debacle
A lot of this "lessons learned" audit report is straight forward lessons learned in tech management. A lot of it is just a pissing contest. But there are some bigger lessons to be learned buried in the report and the article.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/12/iowa-caucus-dnc-report-444649
“The DNC has certainly taken the position that there should no longer be caucuses in any state and has imposed requirements that make it even more difficult to carry out caucus,” the report concludes.
Since 1972, Iowans have held the nation’s first presidential nominating contest, a position that has come under attack from Democrats who argue the state’s overwhelmingly white population is not representative of the country and therefore should not play an outsize role in picking the party’s nominee.
In particular, the audit points to the difficulties the state party faced in increasing participation while avoiding any processes that were similar to primary voting because of New Hampshire’s insistence on being the first primary state in the nation.
* Get rid of caucuses. Just fucking get rid of them.
* Who the fuck cares if your state is the first state. Or the first 'primary' state. Just fucking get over it.
Also, get your tech act together - sheesh.
Obama's 'defund the police' comments showcase a radical cynicism
Obama dismissed “defund the police” as a “snappy slogan.” Obama’s concern was tactical: “You lost a big audience the minute you say it, which makes it a lot less likely that you’re actually going to get the changes you want done.”.....
Still, as much as Obama may be correct about White anxiety, he is wrong about the supposed toxicity of “defund the police” as a slogan. The people it turns off were unlikely to support the effort anyway, and the phrase carries with it the power to compel attention — and, with it, long-overdue change.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/06/obamas-defund-police-comments-showcase-radical-cynicism/
If you are explaining, you are losing ...
"Why They Fight - The Democrats are a big-tent party. The GOP isn’t. That explains everything."If you are explaining, you are losing.
A Weird Monolith Is Found in the Utah Desert
New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/us/Utah-monolith-red-rock-country.html
Biden won places that are thriving. Trump won ones that are hurting.
“It’s a fundamentally different economic geography than we saw 30 years ago, and our politics seem to be following pretty closely,” said John Lettieri, president of the Economic Innovation Group. “Democrats are consistently and increasingly capturing the most economically productive and vibrant areas of the country.”
The transformation has been swift — and stark. In the 2000 election, Republican George W. Bush won 2,417 counties that drove 45 percent of the U.S. economy, while Democrat Al Gore won 666 counties that made up to 55 percent of the economy, a fairly even split of the economic map.
In 2020, Biden won 477 counties that account for 70 percent of the U.S. economy, while Trump won 2,497 counties amounting to just shy of 30 percent of the economy... For Democrats, it was a notable increase from 2016, when Hillary Clinton won counties amounting to 64 percent of the U.S. economy.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/11/15/biden-trump-economy/
Jennifer Rubin (reported opinion) responds:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/11/15/biden-can-do-something-rural-america/
The Case for Political Exile for Donald Trump
Emperor Donald I ...... history offers a solution that could work to everyone’s advantage: political exile.In April 1814, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated the throne of France..... It was a humiliation, but not a total one. The treaty allowed Napoleon to keep his title of “emperor” and gave him a new principality to rule: the Mediterranean island of Elba...
.....Following this precedent, why not give Trump his own island realm, and an imperial title to go with it? The chance to call himself Emperor Donald I might satisfy even this most titanic of egos and make up for the humiliating election loss to “Sleepy Joe.” Trump could build himself a palace, copying the décor from his penthouse in Trump Tower, which was itself inspired by Versailles. He could install Rudy Giuliani as Grand Chamberlain, and William Barr as his Lord High Executioner. Ivanka and Don Jr. could fight over who would inherit the crown. As absolute monarch, Trump could ban abortion, immigration and taxes, while declaring gun ownership mandatory for all his subjects. He could build a new Trump International Hotel, fly in supporters to stay there, and then stage rallies with them to his heart’s content.
Pro-Trump rally overshadowed by group seeking to tally every vote in Philadelphia
Source: Washington Post
PHILADELPHIA — Mail-in ballots are steadily being tallied in Philadelphia, a blue stronghold in a swing state vital to both presidential hopefuls. As of early Thursday, Biden held 79 percent of the votes vs. Trump’s 20 percent, with 97 percent of the divisions reporting.
Outside the downtown convention center, where workers have been counting votes around-the-clock since Tuesday night, about 100 people were waving signs Thursday that read, “Count every vote.” The mood was gleeful; a DJ played Kenny Gamble and James Brown while activists danced. “We’re out here to bring good vibes,” organizer Nelini Stamp said. “We want to show the masses that we want every vote to be counted.”
Across the street, about a dozen more subdued pro-Trump supporters questioned the legality of mail-in ballots being counted. “We’re very concerned with the integrity of the election,” said Dercy Teixeira, an organizer with FreedomWorks in D.C. “We agree every vote counts, but only every legal vote.”
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/11/05/trump-biden-election-live-updates/#link-PE5J7WKU75EI3B7O7YG5GP7FJA
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