(10-22-2019, 03:11 PM)David Horn Wrote: [ -> ] (10-21-2019, 02:11 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: [ -> ] (10-21-2019, 01:19 PM)David Horn Wrote: [ -> ] (10-21-2019, 02:08 AM)Eric the Green Wrote: [ -> ]I'm not ready to write off Bernie just yet. People of all ages have heart attacks, and come back stronger. That is the case with Bernie. But, his chances do seem to be diminishing, at least for now.
In any other context, I would agree -- but not this one. The stakes are the highest ever, and any factor that makes a candidate even slightly risky is probably enough to torpedo his or her chances. That's more the case when the issue is health related. It may not be fair, but Bernie's done, and just doesn't know it yet.
We'll see, but the problem is, as you well stated, we have no alternative to the older candidates. Warren's honeymoon is over too. The Democrats do not have a viable candidate; those in their 60s who could have been, such as McAuliffe, Landrieu and Brown, dropped out for whatever reason. So the Democrats' only hope is to get an old geezer elected to replace the Republican old geezer, to stop the bleeding for one term, or else the bleeding will continue for one term (perhaps with the congress becoming the virtual president), and then probably new candidates not running now will arise for the 2024 election that will decide the fate of America.
No! It's this election or never. Your prescription reads like a passage from a Silent manifesto: not too much and not too soon … please. In short, the already aggravated many will just do an eyeroll, and elect Trump again. Populists haven't been this successful worldwide in 100 years, and the reason is simple. The people are fed up -- everywhere. A nice middle-of-the-road politician inspires much more revulsion than support these days. That's why we have a real estate hustler running the country, and the reason we need someone bold to oppose him this time. A cycle or two in the future, that may be a bad idea. But that's then and this is now.
Well, it's not a prescription. I agree; I might even say it may be too late. Long over due, anyway. I hope you don't mind my predictions. I think I need to keep making them because they give a long-term perspective. I think people need this.
Also I keep reminding people that these "successful politicians feeding on people fed up" (nice pun there, thank you
) are not populists. They are
demagogues.
Bernie is a populist. He wants to return power to the people, and appeals for the people to rise up and vote.
That's a
populist. People who appeal to the lowest fears and prejudices of the people, like our hustler president, are
demagogues. It's an important distinction to make.
What we've got now is a bevey of new tyrants. And we've got people power everywhere rising up against them. That's going to be the battle of the 2020s.
Why are so many tyrants appearing today? Well, revolutions attract repression and reaction. The Arab Spring, which was spurred by climate change, caused an unprecedented (but predicted by me, as you know) wave of immigrants, arousing xenophobia in many places, for example in Europe, in southeast Asia and southeast Oceania, and in the USA. And specifically this wave was partly caused by the repressions of the revolutions (chiefly by Assad). And the other factor is that some people who are fed up get confused and vote for or otherwise submit to their oppressors and to demagogues who pose as liberators. As far as I can tell, that's what happened in the USA and Brazil, at least, and Venezuela too. Otherwise, I see the strong and well-known astrological indicator of Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn. And this current pall will clear up in the early 2020s as the planets move into Aquarius. Many indicators show the progressive forces getting the upper hand as we move farther into the next decade.
So, although I agree "it's time now," I put out as a
beacon of hope,
not as a prescription, that whatever happens in 2020, and the indicators look rather poor from our point of view, the progressive tide will still be rising and will not be stopped. So, hang on, it's going to be a bumpy ride. and worth staying around to watch!
But people here can put out their own predictions. Mine is not the only crystal ball. Maybe one of the best, though
I can't change what the ball tells me, just because I might not like what it says.
