New York magazine put up a lengthy post that doesn't quite endorse cyclical history but pretty darn close.  Disastrous culture shattering events happen about when the people die off that remember the last such disaster.  One mechanism mentioned in the article is a tendency for tyranny to follow democracy.  At a time when the most freedom and equality triumph, when the many are the most free, when the elite are least potent, that is the time when a narcissistic demagogue will rise, blame some other race or culture for not so serious problems, and bring the whole thing down.

Originator of the theory?   Plato.

Reason the United States lasted so long as a democracy?  The founding fathers read Plato.  They put certain mechanisms in the Constitution, now fading in influence, that kept the elite in power.

Theme of the article?  Trump is Hitler.  Doom and the destruction of civilization as we know it is coming.

It's worth a read.  Democracies end...  when they are too democratic

It used to be that a President or First Lady had died, when the flags were lowered.

Now, every violent event can cause them to be lowered.

Does this mean that the standards for lowering the flags have dropped, or does it mean that our society has dropped to the level that we should be mourning it?

Whatever happened to Republicans attacking the Democrat by saying they are liberal extremists?  Now the GOP attacking the Democrat for not being liberal enough.

Quote:https://gop.com/what-they-are-saying-kai...gressives/


"Liberal Groups Were Teed Up To Criticize The Pick" Of Kaine
The Huffington Post: "(Clinton's) Choice Could Also Aggravate The Elizabeth Warren Wing Of The Democrat Party…" "Kaine may help Clinton carry that state, but her choice could also aggravate the Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democrat Party, which sees the Virginian as a business-friendly centrist unlikely to champion their top financial reform goals." ( The Huffington Post, 7/22/16)
The Washington Post: "Liberal Groups Were Teed Up To Criticize The Pick" Of Kaine. "Even before Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (D-Va.) was unveiled Friday as Hillary Clinton's running mate, liberal groups were teed up to criticize the pick." ( The Washington Post , 7/22/16)
Charles Chamberlain Of Democracy For America Said Kaine's Support For Wall Street Should Be "Disqualifying." "On Thursday, as speculation was mounting that Kaine would be Clinton's choice, Charles Chamberlain, executive director of the activist network Democracy for America, which backed Sanders in the primaries, said that it should be 'disqualifying' for any potential Democratic vice-presidential nominee to 'help banks dodge consumer protection standards.' That was based in part on a bipartisan letter that Kaine signed on Monday urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to 'carefully tailor its rulemaking' regarding community banks and credit unions so as not to 'unduly burden' these institutions with regulations aimed at commercial banks." (John Wagner, "Kaine's VP Pick Greeted By Blowback From Progressive Groups," The Washington Post , 7/22/16)
"On Friday, Norman Solomon, The Coordinator Of A Group Billing Itself As The Bernie Delegates Network, Called Kaine 'A Loyal Servant Of Oligarchy.'" (John Wagner, "Kaine's VP Pick Greeted By Blowback From Progressive Groups," The Washington Post , 7/22/16)

• "The Group Has Threatened To Protest During The Democratic Convention If Kaine Is The Pick." (John Wagner, "Kaine's VP Pick Greeted By Blowback From Progressive Groups," The Washington Post , 7/22/16)
  

The Washington Post Headline: "Kaine's VP Pick Greeted By Blowback From Progressive Groups" ( The Washington Post , 7/22/16)
Los Angeles Times Headline: "Progressive Groups Have Already Warned They Aren't Ready For Tim Kaine" ( Los Angeles Times , 7/22/16)
Politico: "Kaine's Selection Likely Won't Satisfy The Liberal Wing Of The Party…" "Kaine's selection likely won't satisfy the liberal wing of the party, which had pushed for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) or another liberal stalwart to balance out Clinton." (Politico, 7/22/16)
Washington Examiner's Byron York: "MSNBC Debate: Kaine Is A Progressive. No, He's Not." (Twitter.com, 7/22/16)
Los Angeles Times : "Some Progressives And Former Backers Of (Sanders') Presidential Candidacy Signaled Their Dissatisfaction With The Choice Of Sen. Tim Kaine…" "Some progressives and former backers of Bernie Sanders' presidential candidacy signaled their dissatisfaction with the choice of Sen. Tim Kaine as Hillary Clinton's running mate before it was even announced." ( Los Angeles Times , 7/22/16)
Adam Green, Founder Of The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Questioned The Choice Of Kaine And Attacked His Support For TPP. "Adam Green, founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which was neutral in the primary but has ties to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, questioned the choice of a running mate who supports the Trans Pacific Partnership. 'It will be very ironic if voters go into election day thinking Donald Trump is better on the TPP issues than the Democratic Party,' he said." (Michael A. Memoli And Evan Halper, "Progressive Groups Have Already Warned They Aren't Ready For Tim Kaine," Los Angeles Times , 7/22/16)
Slate's Nora Caplan-Bricker Called Kaine's Selection "A Symbolic Kick In The Teeth For The Feminist Organizations That Faithfully Championed Hillary Over Bernie Throughout The Long Primary Season." "It's not just that Kaine, like all 47 veeps in our nation's history, is a white dude, not a 'first' who could have driven home just how historic Hillary's candidacy is. He's also, at least in his personal views, opposed to abortion due to his Catholic faith-a symbolic kick in the teeth for the feminist organizations that faithfully championed Hillary over Bernie throughout the long primary season." ( Slate, 7/22/16)

If one believes the 4T started in 2008 then that’s makes this election a parallel to 1936 so who is a more incompetent candidate Trump or Alf Landon.

So a Saeculum that started with McCartyism is ending with a candidate in the pocket of the Kremlin...


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trum...ly-a-thing

Quote:Over the last year there has been a recurrent refrain about the seeming bromance between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. More seriously, but relatedly, many believe Trump is an admirer and would-be emulator of Putin's increasingly autocratic and illiberal rule. But there's quite a bit more to the story. At a minimum, Trump appears to have a deep financial dependence on Russian money from persons close to Putin. And this is matched to a conspicuous solicitousness to Russian foreign policy interests where they come into conflict with US policies which go back decades through administrations of both parties. There is also something between a non-trivial and a substantial amount of evidence suggesting Putin-backed financial support of Trump or a non-tacit alliance between the two men.

Let me start by saying I'm no Russia hawk. I have long been skeptical of US efforts to extend security guarantees to countries within what the Russians consider their 'near abroad' or extend such guarantees or police Russian interactions with new states which for centuries were part of either the Russian Empire or the USSR. This isn't a matter of indifference to these countries. It is based on my belief in seriously thinking through the potential costs of such policies. In the case of the Baltics, those countries are now part of NATO. Security commitments have been made which absolutely must be kept. But there are many other areas where such commitments have not been made. My point in raising this is that I do not come to this question or these policy questions as someone looking for confrontation or cold relations with Russia...



http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trum...ly-a-thing

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/us/pol...37&gwt=pay

Quote:Hillary Clinton named Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia to be her running mate Friday, selecting a battleground state politician with working-class roots and a fluency in Spanish, traits that she believes can bolster her chances to defeat Donald J. Trump in November.

Mrs. Clinton’s choice, which she announced via text message to supporters, came after her advisers spent months poring over potential vice-presidential candidates who could lift the Democratic ticket in an unpredictable race against Mr. Trump...



http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/23/us/pol...37&gwt=pay

https://www.rt.com/usa/352710-wikileaks-...ary-email/

Quote:          Nearly 20,000 emails and more than 8,000 attachments from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) have been released by WikiLeaks. Many of the emails indicate that top DNC officials were hostile to the Bernie Sanders campaign.

The emails released Friday cover a period from Janury 2015 to May 2016. They purportedly come from the accounts of seven major figures in the DNC: Senior Adviser Andrew Wright, National Finance Director Jordon Kaplan, Finance Chief of Staff Scott Comer, Communications Director Luis Miranda, Northern California Finance Director Robert Stowe, Finance Director of Data & Strategic Initiatives Daniel Parrish and Finance Director Allen Zachary...



https://www.rt.com/usa/352710-wikileaks-...ary-email/

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/white-hous...41193.html

Quote:WHITE HOUSE: Student debt is good for the economy

[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098)].[/color]
(Occupy Wall Street demonstrators protest against the rising national student debt in Union Square in New York on April 25, 2012.REUTERS/Andrew Burton) 
President Barack Obama's top economists think that you have the explosion in student debt all wrong.
The massive increase in student debt has caused quite a bit of worry from economists concerned that it is driving down spending from these borrowers and stunting economic growth.
The Council of Economic Advisers, which conducts economic research on behalf of the White House, wrote in a massive 77-page research paper released on Tuesday that the opposite, in fact, is true.
"Federal student loan programs help expand access to high-quality education, which has long-lasting benefits to individuals as well as the overall macroeconomy through higher labor productivity and faster GDP growth," said the report from the CEA.
The basic thinking here is that by allowing access to more college education — which has been shown to correlate with higher income and economic stability — the increase in student debt has provided the US economy with better-equipped workers and spenders, driving growth.
Student debt has increased from $200 billion for all Americans in 1996 to $1.3 trillion at the end of 2015. Additionally, said the report, the number of people holding student debt increased from 23 million in 2004 to over 40 million last year. Despite this boom, the CEA said that there are benefits to the increase.
[/url]
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098)].[/color]
(Council of Economic Advisors) 

The CEA argues that the premium businesses paying for college graduates compared to noncollege graduates is also at an all-time high, making the access to higher education paramount for Americans who want a secure economic future.
The report said:
"In 2014, the median full-time, full-year worker over age 25 with a bachelor's degree (but no higher degree) earned roughly 70 percent more than a worker with just a high school degree.
"Moreover, people with a college degree are more likely to be employed—facing both lower unemployment rates and higher rates of labor force participation."
Based on wages and the difference between college graduates and noncollege graduates, the CEA calculates that the economic benefit of a degree to an individual was $500,000 for a bachelor's degree and $180,000 for an associate degree. Both of those are well above the average student debt load of $17,900.

[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098)][url=http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/578e710f88e4a71b008b9299-960/screen%20shot%202016-07-19%20at%202.24.39%20pm.png].[/color]
(Council of Economic Advisors) 

The CEA also rebuked the idea that the increase in student debt is the same as the growth of mortgage debt that led to the financial crisis. The basic argument by the CEA is that the degree that comes out of student debt is different than the material good that comes from a mortgage.
"Unlike borrowing to pay for current spending, student loan debt is an investment in human capital that typically pays off through higher lifetime earnings and increased productivity," said the report.
On the other hand, studies have shown a number of negative outcomes from increased debt, including but not limited to:

• Young people are delaying buying a home, a highly stimulative move for the economy, because of student debt.
  
  
• The rising student debt may be slowing small-business formation.
  
  
• The average head of the household under 40 spends more on student debt than groceries.
  

The CEA did acknowledge some issues, saying that public investment to ease the growth of student debt was important. Also, the report acknowledged that students who fail to complete college do not receive the same wage benefits and often struggle to repay loans.
In the end, the CEA said that the benefits to the US economy and the personal economies of every student borrower outweigh the costs of taking on more student debt.
"College remains an excellent investment overall, and the majority of dollars in the student loan market continue to fund investments with large returns to student borrowers and the economy," concluded the CEA.
Check out the full report here »

So given that vitriol and chant of “lock her up” against Hillary Clinton, I predict that if she’s elected president she will be impeached.  And if they economy is bad when it happens and her approval rating is in the tank many Democrats will vote to remove her from office.

In the thread "the best songs ever" there have been some great 4T songs posted, but that thread doesn't focus exclusively on 4T songs. We definitely need a thread for that here, because 4T music is the future. Since we're currently in the 4T, the music of our current era should be represented here. Here is a place to post the best songs from 2008 onward.