I respond to an "All politicians are the same because the corporations run everything" claim.

So your saying that Al Franken is indistinguishable from Paul Ryan? And that they're both indistinguishable from Ron Paul Jr? Nonsense. Who we vote in makes all the difference in the world and believe it or not, constituent phone calls can affect votes. But that requires that people PAY ATTENTION at all times every day to what's happening in Congress. It's not something that we should wait every 4 years to think about. The worst outcomes for America were pretty much all decided in midterm elections. Think about it.

The plot thickens:

The article may be overwrought but there's not a single word in it that I don't know to be true from other sources: Seth Abramson

Regarding fake news sites:

Just my opinion: The people I am describing have immunized themselves from the possibility of being proven wrong. Having written off all 'fact checking' sites as being corrupt, they are then free to believe whatever makes them feel good. It happens on both sides of the Political spectrum. I think the thing that unites all the people who are susceptible to such manipulation is that they start by identifying an enemy first and then filtering everything else they know through how it relates to their particular battle. If your enemy is drug companies or Monsanto, then you are susceptible to Natural news. If your enemy is Hillary, then you are susceptible to US Uncut. If your enemy is Obama, the you are susceptible to the Daily Caller and Briebart. What these sites all have in common other than spreading lies, is the fact that they regularly attack legitimate news sites as biased and incomplete.

Trump voter lost home, blames incoming Treasury secretary

I suspect we'll be seeing a lot more 'buyers remorse' stories as the term wears on: Oops

Sigh......

It's truly disturbing that we whenever Trump makes an appointment, we sigh in relief when "not insane" is among their qualifications.

Riddle me this

Q: When is a Nazi Klansman a 'controversial figure'?
A: When he's being described on CNN.

 Q: How do you know that a scandal is being manufactured out of thin air.
 A: When it 'raises questions'.

Compassion's Not In Fashion Anymore

'Spreading' Freedom

In the past, one of the most difficult quandaries the US faced was that it saw it's role as a Protector of Freedom elsewhere in the world. The problem with this is that it's difficult to impose 'self-determination' when the only tool at your disposal is weaponry. Self determination is pretty much the antithesis of the threat of force. As we enter the Trump era, however we con look forward to this problem disappearing. Seeing as his first act will be to ally ourselves with Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad, we can suddenly forget about the idea of self-determination in Syria. The Balkans? Sorry. Having decided that it's now okay to not only prop up dictators, but to not even have to pretend to care about their legitimacy, we can enter into a Brave New World of Peace and Prosperity, where the only meaningful conflicts are WITHIN nations rather than between them.

Left on a thread concerning our current predicament and it's Historical roots.

Clinton's 3rd way was a direct result of Reaganism. Reagan was direct response to the Great society. The Great Society was a direct response to Jim Crow. Jim Crow was a direct response to Emancipation. You CANNOT separate the present form the past in any meaningful way.

Left on a comment thread somewhere: re Trump

Here's the deal. His announced goal is to increase infrastructure and military spending while drastically cutting taxes. He claims he wants to balance the budget but he's relying on magical growth fairies to do that part for him. And with single party control of that House, the Senate and the Supreme court, our whole system of checks and balances is now inoperable. He has plenty of time (at least 2 years) to do lasting damage and that's precisely what we can expect. In other words, the people who are going to be most thoroughly screwed over by his Presidency are the people who voted for him.