Four more years

Democrats

The Telegraph’s Bob Moran seems to have it nailed.
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Fig. 1. Cartoon by Bob Moran of the Telegraph, March 4, 2020, fair use.

Understand that the Telegraph is a conservative newspaper that had Boris Johnson as a columnist and was generally a Brexit booster.

One would think that they would prefer the more conservative candidate. But then,

A couple of weeks ago, viewing the Nevada caucus results, I wrote,

It’s all a very interesting turn of events. I am deeply cynical about the U.S. electoral system for multiple reasons.[1] But a result like this[2] can only lead me to wonder if, maybe, just maybe, there’s some hope after all. (The voice in my head, the voice that’s seen it all before, is adamant that such hopes will be ruthlessly crushed.)[3]

That voice in my head now stands vindicated as it has become clear that Bernie Sanders stands right where I thought he did, that Democratic Party voters have not generally become more progressive, and those rumblings I’ve been hearing for a while now that Sanders has not been able to draw in a sufficient number of new progressive voters are now at a full roar.[4]

Would it have helped had Elizabeth Warren dropped out prior to Super Tuesday?[5] Probably, and as she has dropped out now, I guess we’ll soon find out, but her support had already cratered,[6] which raises the question of how much there is to gain, assuming—this is very much in doubt[7]—it even goes Sanders’ way.

Would it help if mainstream journalism wasn’t so stridently anti-Bernie?[8] Absolutely, of course. But it is what it is and it’s hard to imagine how we change the views of media elites who are really quite comfortable with the status quo in all its aspects[9] and who mostly see Donald Trump as yet another topic for articles.

Hope that Sanders could overcome all this has always been a long shot. We’re seeing gravity, the same gravity that fed Trump’s black hole,[10] at work.

Sydney Ember and Maggie Astor, “How Huge Voter Turnout Eluded Bernie Sanders on Super Tuesday,” New York Times, March 4, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/us/politics/bernie-sanders-young-voter-turnout.html

Scott Clement and Emily Guskin, “Where will Warren’s supporters swing?” Washington Post, March 5, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/05/where-will-warrens-supporters-swing/

Janet Hook and Noah Bierman, “Elizabeth Warren drops out of presidential race,” Los Angeles Times, March 5, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-03-05/elizabeth-warren-will-drop-out-of-presidential-race


Israel

The almost but not quite final election results are in with Binyamin Netanyahu’s bloc winning 58 seats, three short of a majority.[11] There’s a move to prevent Netanyahu from serving as prime minister while under indictment and another to limit prime ministers two terms—Netanyahu has served four. These moves likely have the votes to pass[12] if they can be voted on before a government can be constituted. That last part is unclear.[13]

Michael Bachner, “Knesset legal adviser hedges on bill to block Netanyahu premiership,” Times of Israel, March 4, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/knesset-legal-adviser-hedges-on-bill-to-block-netanyahu-premiership/

Jacob Magid, “Liberman says his party will back law that would bar Netanyahu from being PM,” Times of Israel, March 5, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-says-his-party-will-back-law-that-would-bar-netanyahu-from-being-pm/

Raoul Wootliff, “Final results show Likud with 36 seats, Netanyahu bloc short of majority with 58,” Times of Israel, March 5, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/final-results-confirm-likud-with-36-seats-right-short-of-majority-with-58/


  1. [1]David Benfell, “Why I do not vote,” Not Housebroken, February 23, 2016, https://disunitedstates.org/2016/02/23/why-i-do-not-vote/
  2. [2]Russell Berman, “Bernie Sanders’s Biggest Win Yet,” Atlantic, February 22, 2020, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/02/bernie-wins-nevada/606937/; Chris Cillizza, “Chris Cillizza’s winners and losers from the Nevada caucuses,” CNN, February 22, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/22/politics/who-won-nevada-caucuses/index.html; John McCormick, “Sen. Bernie Sanders Wins the Nevada Democratic Caucuses, AP Says,” Wall Street Journal, February 22, 2020, https://www.wsj.com/articles/bernie-sanders-looks-to-build-momentum-in-nevada-caucuses-11582380000
  3. [3]David Benfell, “What catches my eye about the Nevada caucuses results,” Irregular Bullshit, February 23, 2020, https://disunitedstates.com/2020/02/23/what-catches-my-eye-about-the-nevada-caucuses-results/
  4. [4]Sydney Ember and Maggie Astor, “How Huge Voter Turnout Eluded Bernie Sanders on Super Tuesday,” New York Times, March 4, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/us/politics/bernie-sanders-young-voter-turnout.html
  5. [5]Sydney Ember and Maggie Astor, “How Huge Voter Turnout Eluded Bernie Sanders on Super Tuesday,” New York Times, March 4, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/us/politics/bernie-sanders-young-voter-turnout.html
  6. [6]Janet Hook and Noah Bierman, “Elizabeth Warren drops out of presidential race,” Los Angeles Times, March 5, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-03-05/elizabeth-warren-will-drop-out-of-presidential-race
  7. [7]Scott Clement and Emily Guskin, “Where will Warren’s supporters swing?” Washington Post, March 5, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/03/05/where-will-warrens-supporters-swing/; Janet Hook and Noah Bierman, “Elizabeth Warren drops out of presidential race,” Los Angeles Times, March 5, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-03-05/elizabeth-warren-will-drop-out-of-presidential-race; Annie Linskey and Sean Sullivan, “Warren, Sanders allies scramble to find her an exit ramp,” Washington Post, March 4, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/warren-to-think-through-her-future-top-aide-says/2020/03/04/bf7d20ca-5e38-11ea-9055-5fa12981bbbf_story.html; Nathan J. Robinson, “Thinking About The Democratic Primary,” Current Affairs, January 15, 2020, https://www.currentaffairs.org/2020/01/thinking-about-the-democratic-primary
  8. [8]Jon Allsop, “Coverage of Bernie Sanders suffers from a lack of imagination,” Columbia Journalism Review, February 11, 2020, https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/bernie_sanders_media_new_hampshire.php; Nellie Bowles, “The Pied Pipers of the Dirtbag Left Want to Lead Everyone to Bernie Sanders,” New York Times, February 29, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/29/us/politics/bernie-sanders-chapo-trap-house.html; Jeremy Diamond, Jake Tapper and Zachary Cohen, “US intelligence briefer appears to have overstated assessment of 2020 Russian interference,” CNN, February 23, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/23/politics/intelligence-briefer-russian-interference-trump-sanders/index.html; Adam Gopnik, “Learning to Love Bernie Sanders, or Trying To,” New Yorker, March 3, 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/learning-to-love-bernie-sanders-or-trying-to; Lisa Lerer and Reid J. Epstein, “Democratic Leaders Willing to Risk Party Damage to Stop Bernie Sanders,” New York Times, February 27, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/us/politics/democratic-superdelegates.html; Alex Shephard, “Bernie Sanders Has an MSNBC Problem,” New Republic, February 12, 2020, https://newrepublic.com/article/156545/bernie-sanders-msnbc-problem; Margaret Sullivan, “The media keep falling in love — with anybody but Bernie Sanders,” Washington Post, February 12, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-media-keep-falling-in-love–with-anybody-but-bernie-sanders/2020/02/12/0f55cc12-4d9c-11ea-bf44-f5043eb3918a_story.html
  9. [9]Herbert Altschull, Agents of Power: The Media and Public Policy, 2nd ed. (White Plains, NY: Longman, 1995
  10. [10]David Benfell, “Democrats must own Donald Trump,” Not Housebroken, November 13, 2016, https://disunitedstates.org/2016/11/13/democrats-must-own-donald-trump/
  11. [11]Raoul Wootliff, “Final results show Likud with 36 seats, Netanyahu bloc short of majority with 58,” Times of Israel, March 5, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/final-results-confirm-likud-with-36-seats-right-short-of-majority-with-58/
  12. [12]Jacob Magid, “Liberman says his party will back law that would bar Netanyahu from being PM,” Times of Israel, March 5, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-says-his-party-will-back-law-that-would-bar-netanyahu-from-being-pm/
  13. [13]Michael Bachner, “Knesset legal adviser hedges on bill to block Netanyahu premiership,” Times of Israel, March 4, 2020, https://www.timesofisrael.com/knesset-legal-adviser-hedges-on-bill-to-block-netanyahu-premiership/

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