To old friend [Asheville City Council member] Cecil Bothwell, I’d like to suggest heeding some lines from the country tune “The Gambler”:
“You never count your money
While you’re sittin’ at the table.
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealin’s done.”
There was never a time when Bernie Sanders wasn’t a long shot to win the presidential primary and, no matter the degree of Democratic National Committee interference, he lost the race.
But the game’s not over. Bernie, bless his heart, has moved the Democratic Party to the left; he’s gotten Hillary to give on important areas and, as a senator with a national constituency, he’ll be able to keep the pressure on for progressive legislation, regulation and appointments. This election won’t be the end for Bernie or his issues, but the beginning of a new effort.
This is consistent with American history. Change comes in bits and pieces. The suffragettes won mainly by getting states one by one to approve their amendment; abolitionists won by hanging in there and agitating through the years until Northern pressure for abolition brought about election of a Republican abolitionist. Past progressive insurgencies have gone down in flames, but this time it should be different; not total victory, but progress.
You can calculate your losses, give up on the Democrats and leave the game. But time and demographics are on our side with or without you.
— Tom Coulson
Marshall
Editor’s note: When contacted by Xpress, Bothwell offered the following statement in response to this letter and another in this issue: “My exit from the Democratic Party was not triggered by the nomination of Clinton. I became fed up with the corruption at the top, the violation of Democratic Party rules by the Democratic National Committee, and the utter subservience of the national party to corporate money. I have always been an advocate for the working class (of which I am one) and the ideal of government transparency. The DNC has violated those ideals. Anyone who supports the DNC today is an advocate for oligarchy.”
Yes, positive change moves by baby steps. According to those with no back bone.
As we know, MLK, Susan B. Anthony, Gandhi, Woodward and Bernstein all asked for positive change ‘when you’re ready- take your time, no hurry, we know you have other stuff to do.’
The word ‘now’ is not a bad word for demanding it.
But in the meantime, how long are we willing to tolerate:
-Yelton style Reconstruction era voting laws?
-McCrory style Jim Crow laws about peeing?
-McCrory style defunding and vilification of education- woo hoo- we’re 47th in the nation for reedn n ritin good!
-failed free market style economics for bending over to out of town developers who take our money and run?
-Rampant unsustainable overdevelopment which turns our town into a halfback playground?
-class warfare as in lack of living wages in the city with the highest cost of living (rent) in WNC?
– and why are you bringing this up on a website that refuses to moderate hate filled far right Rand worshipping (known and identified)
sock puppets that routinely post hate filled, bigoted bile infused posts rife with personal attacks when the TOE are right there in front of posters’ faces?
Thanks, certain editors/mods for only responding with comments like ‘we’ll take your comments into consideration’ for obvious kneeling to the advertising dollar (yet the denials of such are so cute to read).
When writers of said articles aggressively post on the very comments threads to defend their obvious sychophancy, that does not inspire confidence. Never mind that numerous LTEs have addressed this and been brushed off in favor of – drum roll……..
cheese plates.
Yea, if you’re waiting for baby steps to happen, good luck.
You only live once.
Demand both political and journalistic accountability.
Unless of course the here and now does not matter.
Well, I’d say Cecil’s reply blew Tom’s lame and low expectation commentary right out of the water…….
Next, we need someone to step up and lambast the RNC for their pathetic-ness. Who’s it gonna be?
Any GOP problems are self inflicted, much like cleaning a gun with a round in the chamber. They’ll get no sympathy from me.
The only thing the GOP isn’t willing to do is tie the nooses themselves to lynch dissenters (free press, education, fact checkers) –
that’s what their nannies and illegal immigrant lawn care specialists they hate yet hire are for- to do their dirty work.
The DNC, geez, I can’t use the P word enough for not standing up to the party of NO for having the White House for 2 terms. I know it takes a prez and Congress to work together, but what a bunch of P’s. I kinda feel sorry for them.
The DNC could have closed Gitmo, inflicted serious financial arse whuppins on Wall St. for Bush’s $ meltdown, gotten the hell outta Iraq, made 1%ers pay their fair share of taxes as well as churches, but nooooooooo, everybody had to get along. Argh.
I remember election day 2008 hearing a Constitutional lawyer from Chicago had won the POTUS seat.
I was so naive that I thought he could undo all of Reagan’s, both Bush and Clinton’s NAFTA messes.
Oh to be young and foolish again.
Are you happy now, RW? I hate both parties and have applied for political asylum in Antarctica.
That should hopefully be far enough away for Clinton’s ‘Hope’ 2.0 and Trump’s pre-emptive nuclear strikes against all non English speaking nations not to affect me.
Picture ‘Dances with Penguins’. That’s me.
PS I’m voting Libertarian this time- as crazy as some of them seem, the alternatives are much worse.
As long as Libertarian still means no playing the world’s bully ahem cop, individual rights vs neocon Jeebus inspired Sharia law and giving the finger to the Military Industrial Complex, Wall St and the NRA, count me in.
“Are you happy now, RW?” — No, not happy at all (see comment below). I will be voting Libertarian as well. Have read their platform and some of it is totally spot-on while other aspects are unrealistic but, the package is a reasonable start.
I prefer defecting to British Columbia (gorgeous!) and the Japan Current — similar to the Gulf Stream — keep temperatures moderate there.
Bit of perspective — was just flipping between Olympics and PBS program called: American Experience that featured a 4 hour portrayal of LBJ. My Gawd, that an awful era on several levels. (I was very young during Vietnam and the Civil Rights struggles so I only have little kid memories of both.) I guess he tried to do some bold and generous things but he was also a big, fat, repeated LIAR to the American people and it cost tens of thousands of lives and immeasurable suffering. I look forward to PBS also producing a portrayal of Bush, Jr and depicting all the horror he foist on us too.
Because ya know, Bin Laden didn’t like take up arms until Bush was elected LOL. It couldn’t have been way back in Somalia when US troops were being dragged through the streets and the ensuing and humiliating retreat by Clinton that like emboldened him and terrorist? Of course not because that’s like real history and not the made up garbage floating in your head.
Problem is that people like you are weak minded and emotional. Hence why the LTR writer is living in a fairy land. If anyone thinks that allowing illegals in and that basically having slaves is progress, they’re stupid. You globalist are absolutely insane to think China, Russia, Japan , Poland, and many more are going to literally kill themselves off for this one world fantasy crap. Ain’t know one buying into the suicide of the west if they actually want to progress. And thinking taking over the USA is somehow going to further your goals is laughable. Especially when the debt and the interest to service it is controlled by others. Fools.
Lulz – you could have just posed a simple question, like “what horror do you mean?” Instead of thinking that you’re wired inside my head. If you actually comprehended other things I’ve written here you’d understand that I am not a globalist (in the twisted NWO/ Soros sense of the word).
If the Bin Laden/ Afghanistan/WTC situation actually was what we’ve been told — then an incursion into Afghanistan was warranted. But Iraq? We all know the premise for that was bogus.
Let’s just say, I have a few point blank questions for Junior Bush. Starting with, ” sir, what are the probabilities that your brother, Marvin, was on the Board of Directors of the company that had the security contract for the World Trade Center complex?” (he resigned something like 6 months prior to 9/11)
And, “please provide us with some good detail on how WT Building 7 (52 stories tall), which was not struck, collapsed like the two tall towers did?” What was in WT7, sir?”
Another pithy, and spot on comment from boatrocker.
I have a theory that Trump and Clinton have a deal and Trump is going to head a coup of the Republican establishment and then be so outlandish as to turn off all but the most easily deluded followers, thus throwing the election to Hillery, for which he will be rewarded some “trumped” up tokin position in higher echelons of government, where he’ll be constantly in the spotlight he so craves.
Totally doubt Trump would be interested in any Govt position except the top one. Why would he accept a demotion? He wouldn’t.
If there is any merit to my/your theory all I can figure is (since I don’t have the inside track): A) he has finally gotten himself in soooo deep financially, business-wise, that he’s been promised solvency if he’ll engage in the ruse or B) some wonder whether the Clinton Crime Syndicate has been utilizing the trued and true J. Edgar Hoover technique of building files on key people and when you need them to operate a certain way you show them what they’re going to lose if they don’t. Hoover had great “success” with that method. Maybe they’ve got the goods on Donald Duck and he either does this or he gets indicted.
The big problem is, of course, there is so much on Hillary, WHO is she cowering to in order to avoid indictment? Maybe the murdered 27 year old IT guy from the DNC knows that answer.
Then there is my other suspicion….Trump is a Manchurian Candidate. :-)
The RNC gave us Donald Trump.
(mic drop)
True- when we survivors of a Trump presidency are living in caves, the survivors will acknowledge that mic drop, though nobody will remember what a mic is.
Ya, that’s what I mean…………
I truly wish we voters…..from all parties and non-parties…..had THE WILL to coalesce and declare, “hell, no” to these horrible choices and insist they both be dumped. Wouldn’t that be monumental? Then we could have some hope for America again. The future is bleak with either of them.
(Btw, I predict it will be her. Drumpf is going to throw her the election….that she doesn’t remotely deserve. Two terms in Sing Sing is more like it.)
RW wrote; “I truly wish we voters…..from all parties and non-parties…..had THE WILL to coalesce and declare, “hell, no” …..
I have wished this for a very long time, but I don’t see it happening. Seems to be the nature of the political beast that deep seated divides cannot be overcome.
This political season seems like a scene out of a David Lynch movie.
“the nature of the political beast that deep seated divides cannot be overcome.” — I see that as “yes and no”.
Yes, that the process gets managed that way — to achieve that outcome. Divide and conquer! It still works like a charm and so many are still dense enough to fall for it.
No, the divisions are not truly that wide. Several years ago, to find out for myself, when political conversations arose with friends I listened closely then asked them questions about their views and also inquired “how would you feel if this particular aspect was like this, instead of like that, etc.”
The conclusion, across the board, no matter age, gender, political leanings, religious or not — was that those people realized by their own answers that they are more moderate than they thought they were! I could see the realization come over their faces and they would then acknowledge it.
Basically, the last thing the political class wants us to do is…..actually talk to each other. Because we would figure out how much we’ve been played and that we actually CAN work things out, if presented the realities. I’m hoping that the ever-increasing number of unaffiliated voters means we’re moving in that direction though.
So did the DNC. Thinking that that both sides didn’t contribute to trump is short sided.
Ridiculous. The only way Trump has gotten this far is in the xenophobic, racist, homophobic, ‘anti-elitist’, “government-is-the-problem” mindset cultivated by the GOP for the past 35 years. Trying to slough off part of the blame for this Drumpfster-fire onto the left is just sad.
“Anyone who supports the DNC today is an advocate for oligarchy.”
I absolutely agree.
Anyone who supports the DNC is a communist.
Anyone who supports the RNC is a fascist and the Greatest Generation won WWII for it.
“Politics is a strong and slow boring of hard boards”
Max Weber
Max Weber the socialist?
No.
Don’t DARE Vote until you see the new movie ‘Hillary’s America’ which details the history of this evilness from post Civil Wah.
See how Producer Dnesh Dsouza weaves the uber evil Hitlery Clintonista into the story for your education! Fantastic movie now
playing at the Carmike near Target
You mean the 4% Rotten Tomatoes rated piece of crap by the criminal (literally – he’s a criminal) Dinesh D’Souza?
Wow, for as many different threads that you’ve posted this very same message on, this movie sounds like a Citizen Kane like work of art!
Either that or there is an agenda, ahem.
And you’re unmoderated for repeatedly posting the same message over and over and over and over and over why?
LOL, demographics are not on your side fools. The nation will bankrupt and split apart nor can 1/3 of the population be propped up by the rest. And that will increase to 1/2 soon. LOL, the crushing debt alone ensures that the nation is by far in the end. Never mind the stats of negative productivity and a a culture hell bent on suicide. LOL, but you loons make sure to get illegals to vote now ya hear. Because the lack of the Feds complying with laws and suing states who want to impose border control means that they are pretty much setting an example for all of us to follow.
Good Both well grew a pair.The Demoncrats…list to Repukes due to their obliviousness to how their actions affect the poorest among us
Karma
The right would be better if they lived what they preached by Heck. Wasted pedantic semantics and prefabricated promises pry parity from the people.
Demographics may be on the Democrat’s side but growing up mitigates it.
I will be writing myself in for every office unless a candidate endorses me for SWCD. that is except SWCD where I am on the ballot. I will never again go first. I will never again degrade myself into endorsing or voting for anyone who hasn’t endorsed me.
https://www.facebook.com/Elect-Alan-Ditmore-for-Buncombe-SWCD-1562210170759411/