I just watched Thom Hartmann and almost word for word

[BigmanPigman]

he said what I already posted on DU tonight.

He was on the Stephanie Miller Podcast.

Even if his "base" wakes up to their own selfish, personal desires it is already too late to derail it. The GOP is going full steam ahead and too many of us are going to go bankrupt and die before it can be derailed.

I am a realist. I have been warning everyone for years and years. Two months from now is 2026. We ARE being destroyed right now. We won't make it to a 2028 election. Too many of us will already be dead as a result of the GOP's 40 year old agenda.

?si=LA6CyBVqid7Dk1cX

[Bread and Circuses]

1. In January , a friend thought that I was over-reacting .

I found others like you and me.

I have formed a small network of allies who I can trust with my life, beyond my own family . They’ve seen this wrecking
Ball coming at us, too.

I think concentration camps, extradition to parts unknown are all IN THE CARDS.

I’m sorry to say that.

I wish all beings loving -kindness. 🪷

[Johnny2X2X]

5. IN THE CARDS

We already have concentration camps and extradition to parts unknown. It's happening right now and not just to people who have overstayed their Visas.

We've lost our country and the most dangerous days are coming soon when this regime feels like their hold onto power is threatened.

They are deranged madmen, there is nothing they will not do to retain power, nothing.

Stephen Miller is a genocidal maniac who literally wants to exterminate 2/3s of the population of the United States. He's probably 3rd in command of our country right now.

I honestly think if it looked like they were going to be swept out of power and there's nothing else they can do to stay in power they would consider dropping nuclear bombs on Blue parts of the country.

[Bread and Circuses]

11. Exactly. I think we have dueling shadow presidents ....

[pnwmom]

2. Too bad he was so unhelpful with HRC. His negativity about her

helped Trump win in 2016, IMHO.

We could be living in a whole different world now if Trump hadn't won that first term.

[Liberal In Texas]

4. He supported Clinton in the general..all the way.

He was a Sanders supporter in the primary.

[pnwmom]

6. Too late. I knew two young Sanders supporters who had already given up on her by then.

Whatever Hartmann said in the general campaign didn't undo what he'd said in the primary. That's the general problem with a primary campaign -- it can tarnish a candidate before they enter the general. And Hartmann, in his zeal for Bernie, didn't hold back.

[Liberal In Texas]

8. First of all, you're "young Sanders supporters" apparently don't understand the concept of party primaries.

People run to get the nomination. Sometimes there are arguments between the candidates and the supporters of the candidates. But once the primary is over, you must support the party's candidate.

Secondly, I probably listen to his show every day. I don't recall him saying things that would "tarnish" Hilary so people wouldn't vote for her in the general. Your friends were no doubt hearing things that weren't on Hartmann's show. And there was plenty of that around. Thom worked every day during the general to get her elected.

I continue to call BS on this.

[pnwmom]

10. I'm sure many don't understand the concept of primaries, but the fact remains that

a candidate is better off if they haven't had to get through a grueling primary.

Among other things, Hartmann kept referring to her as a "centrist Democrat," and that was false. She wasn't a Democratic Socialist like Bernie. She was a progressive or liberal Democrat.

There are real centrist Democrats, like Joe Manchin and John Federman, and she wasn't one of them. But people who didn't know any better bought the idea that she wasn't any more liberal than Manchin, and concluded there wasn't any point to vote.

Thom Hartmann, 2016: "And then there's the question of who is more electable in a general election: an unabashedly progressive democrat, like Bernie Sanders; or a "centrist" democrat, like Hillary Clinton." https://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2016/02/if-you-want-win-go-progressive

Because of Bernie's choice, echoed by Thom Hartmann, to repeatedly label her a centrist, Hillary had to defend her record of being a progressive. Of course that didn't help her in the general. She was being attacked from both sides: as a centrist from Bernie's side, and as a "communist liberal" from the other. Instead of being able to move to the center -- as is normal in a general election campaign -- she had to shore up her support from Bernie supporters, thanks in part to people like Thom Hartmann..

"Hillary Clinton Is A Progressive Democrat, Despite What You May Have Heard."
"If Sanders is the standard by which you’re going to decide whether a politician is a progressive, then almost nobody from the Democratic Party would qualify. Take Sanders out of the equation, and suddenly Clinton looks an awful lot like a mainstream progressive -- firmly on the left side of the American ideological spectrum and maybe on the left side of the Democratic Party’s, as well."

"One reason it’s easy to miss this is that Clinton’s domestic policy agenda doesn’t include one signature idea or position that’s going to dominate the headlines or get activists excited. Instead, it’s a series of proposals that, together, would fortify the social safety net, strengthen regulation of industry, and bolster public services. To the extent these programs require new spending, the money would largely come from new taxes on the wealthy." https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-progressive_n_572cca08e4b0bc9cb0469098

[thought crime]

12. "a candidate is better off if they haven't had to get through a grueling primary."

Those who lose after a "grueling" primary were probably too weak to begin with.

[pnwmom]

13. No, being in a primary weakens ANY candidate in a general, compared to a candidate

who sails through a nomination process and can wait to go into attack mode in the general.

Even so, Hillary would have done better if her opponent had conceded once she had the necessary votes. Instead, he hung on till they got to the convention in July, and even brought his protesters with him. That was all by the rules, of course. Unfortunately, it handicapped her compared to Trump, whose party had joined behind him much earlier.

[Liberal In Texas]

14. That probably had little to do with her losing. But you can believe what you want to believe.

Her reputation was poisoned for years by RW media. She was a punching doll for the RW and even some in the MSM since she was first lady when her husband was president. I know people who aren't particularly political and even lean to the left and more than once I was told that they didn't like or even hated Hillary. I could never get a straight answer as to why, they just didn't like her. Didn't like her looks or her voice. It had nothing to do with her ideas or policies.

Propaganda has power when it's constantly repeated. Unfortunately, her reputation was injured by this for years and years before the '16 campaign ever started. And she had this baggage going back all the way to the '08 run.

[thought crime]

15. All by the rules, of course.

I understand that primaries can seem inconvenient, but hopefully the days of anointing candidates are over. Bernie Sanders took a few lumps in the 2020 primaries and came through with grace and dignity, not bitterness. I hope Democrats have learned some lessons. We need to see full and robust primary debates in 2028.

[oasis]

16. And speaking of primaries , I recall Hartmann

and Bernie discussing a possible challenger to President Obama during his first term.
I found it hard to warm up to Hartmann after that.

[Emile]

7. He's also a du'er.

[themaguffin]

3. I cannot stress how much I hate defeatist shit.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

9. Agree.

I hate it too.

I also hate the "let's reopen old wounds" and rub them in with "I told you so's!"