2:00PM Water Cooler 6/1/15

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44 comments

1. gene June 1, 2015 at 2:19 pm

   It took me a second to realize the O’M is O’Malley’s logo (I think.) O’M g. Too cute. ommmmmm
   1. Lambert Strether Post authorJune 1, 2015 at 2:50 pm

      O’M mani padme hum…
      1. JoeK June 2, 2015 at 12:04 am

         The chant is slightly different for politicians: Oh Money Padmy Home.
   2. John Merryman June 1, 2015 at 3:54 pm

      O’Malley is Maryland’s version of third way politics, but it’s more lack of imagination, than corruption. Maryland is DC’s backyard, so you just have to stand to the side and let it all happen. The money flows.
      Think ball boy at Wimbledon.
2. optimader June 1, 2015 at 2:42 pm

   RE: “Did Hastert break the law?” [Politico].
   …Hastert surely has some explaining to do…
   I think he needs to come clean on who expropriated the fried chicken recipe.

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Fence_Farm
   Hastert was uncle to and his son, Bob Hastert, Jr., was the first cousin of former Speaker of the House Rep. J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL).[5] Bob Jr., who had converted an industrial-sized hospital autoclave into an outsized pressure cooker for the restaurant’s unique method of cooking the chicken, took over the operation of the restaurant after his father’s death in 1998… The restaurant’s famous fried chicken recipe was added to the menu during the 1950s by Bob Hastert, Sr., who, by his granddaughter’s admission, told the chicken recipe origin story several different ways at different times and may have just as easily borrowed the recipe from someone else as brought it with him from Harmony House.[2]

   http://www.whitefencefarm-il.com/about.php
3. James Levy June 1, 2015 at 3:13 pm

   The article in Jacobin annoyed and irritated me for a couple of reasons (the smug shots at George McGovern among them), but what really bugged me in this latest “four legs good, two legs bad” attack on Sanders from the Left is the last paragraph:

   For those who want to build a stronger left in the US, there is no substitute for the work — however slow and painstaking it might be — of building social movements and struggles at the grassroots and of organizing a political alternative independent of the Democratic Party.

   Sounds great: where’s the money going to come from to feed, clothe, and house these brave cadres in 2015 America? And if, as he says, Bernie can’t win so why waste our time with him, how in hell are we going to grow and sustain a movement well to the Left of Sanders that has any traction? Perhaps I’m nuts, but I think it more likely that we can march Left rather than leap Left. I think the best we can hope for is getting people like Sanders elected so that they can become the new normal that we can then critique from their Left, thus driving the debate in our direction. This Blanqui/Leninist ideal of jumping from the bourgeois here-and-now into the socialist utopia is really just a canard. The process of getting where we want to go will be slow and painstaking, all right, but if it’s going to work it will have to move through the real world of persuading people and winning small victories that convince them that greater victories are possible.
   1. PhilK June 1, 2015 at 5:03 pm

      I agree with what you’re saying, but if they gave up on advocating for a Long Leap to the Left, they’d have to change their name to Girondist, and that doesn’t have quite the same panache.
   2. Eureka Springs June 1, 2015 at 5:22 pm

      I didn’t read it as an attack on Sanders at all, but raising serious questions with glimpses in the fifty year bygone mirror for his supporters to take heed – warning the so-called left cat herding which always defaults to the mainstream Demo party for another beating. As for needing money for a movement I hear ya but I left the demo party for free! Ain’t going back, certainly not for money or because of Sanders. If Sanders refused to become a Democrat and said he could never in good conscious endorse or vote for Clinton I might have taken him seriously for at least a little while on non-MIC issues anyway. He loves MIC way too much to be my kind of left.

      The system is completely broken, criminals are still in charge! Sanders believes in the system, wants to negotiate with/as Dem criminals just like Pres zerO wants to negotiate with Republican criminals. Ask yourself, what’s the definition of insanity again?
      1. CB June 1, 2015 at 7:52 pm

         Concur. I may very well pull the Sanders tab in the primary just to annoy the NJ christicrats, but that’s it. I’m still not convinced hillary is inevitable and, in any case, she lost me back when.

         Does anyone else remember John B Anderson?
      2. jrs June 2, 2015 at 12:21 am

         It’s a good question, what should serve as a warning sign against a candidate (if Israel or MIC issues are too precious). Perhaps some people’s first skepticism of Obama was about economics, I doubt it was for many. For some it was FISA. For me it was in the post primary debates when he said he would draw down the war in Iraq only to ramp it up in Afghanistan. He lost me there.

         I don’t see the presidency as a small victory. It’s aiming for the bleachers. And probably not doable just because of the sheer money involved. Where is the money going to come from for that?
         1. vidimi June 2, 2015 at 2:33 am

            for me it was in the campaigns when he was breaking contribution records from wall street and other mega corps. the writing was clearly on the wall.
            1. steviefinn June 2, 2015 at 5:27 am

               Ah the Left – in the UK they are about as useful as tits on a bull, which is probably just as well as the media might have difficulty coming up with a redness to compare with the red they designated for very very pale pink Milliband. Might have to resort to extremists, political terrorists or whatever. Not to worry though, they are doing good work for the elites by fighting amongst their various labelled groups, while slagging everybody else off.

               The Judean people’s front in ‘ Life of Brian ‘ sums most of them up.
   3. Oregoncharles June 1, 2015 at 11:56 pm

      Where is the money going to come from – or the human time and energy? From the Sanders campaign, of course.

      Crucially, the Democratic Party, famously, is where lefty/liberal/progressive movements go to die. That is its function in the 2-Party: co-optation. People have been trying this for at least 30 years, and they’ve “gone to die” since the McGovern campaign – which was sabotaged by the party functionaries. Keeping control is far more important to them than winning any particular election.

      If the energy and money that have gone into those “outsider” campaigns had instead gone into building a real alternative, we’d have a huge, “viable” new party by now. As it is, we’ve done pretty well, considering. The Green Party is viable in basic technical terms – Jill Stein was on 85% of ballots, more than enough to win the Electoral College.

      Lamber, bless him, has been suggesting that we focus on the issues. That’s what we normally do, of course – here’s the platform: http://www.gp.org/what-we-believe/our-platform. But at this point, after some thought, I think strategy IS the real issue. Something new competes directly with something old. It isn’t until millions of people break loose from the old reflexes, that you exhibit above, that we’ll have any hope of changing direction – and at this point, our very survival depends on it.

      But at this point millions of dollars that could serve ” to feed, clothe, and house these brave cadres in 2015 America?” – are going into a flagrantly, despite the denials, Quixotic attempt to get the Democratic party to nominate a non-Democrat. I don’t know or care whether Sanders MEANS to be a sheepdog, but i think Dixon is absolutely right: that is the inevitable upshot of his efforts.

      In the end, he’ll only drive the Democrats yet further to the right, like all those other efforts.

      And in the meantime, the one real alternative we’ve got debates the use of every damn dime while we’re trying to build a real campaign for next year (Yes, probably Jill Stein – if you have a better suggestion, the party would be glad to hear it.)

      We all know where we stand on the issues, and we know Sanders is just barely adequate, with a track record of caving. At this point, it’s all about strategy. We need a completely new one. The old one, exemplified by Sanders’ run, is a proven disaster.
      1. Carolinian June 2, 2015 at 7:50 am

         I agree with everything you say and have voted Green in the past. But if Nader is willing to give Sanders the benefit of a doubt then perhaps we all should–at least until it becomes clearer what is really going on.

         The truth is there may be very little that the grass roots can do to shift the current political landscape until “extend and pretend” plays itself out and the elites begin to realize the jig is up. So Sanders may shake things up a bit. I do find the “sheepdog” theory to be dubious. People can support Sanders now, switch to the Greens later. Of course if Sanders were later to try to bring his voters over to Hillary that would be a betrayal but as has always been true it is up to the voters themselves to make better choices. Can’t blame it all on the politicians.
         1. Oregoncharles June 2, 2015 at 1:28 pm

            I generally just ask people what they’re going to do when Sanders doesn’t get the nomination. Vote for Hillary?

            But we’d have a stronger party and campaign if those same people had been helping us all along, instead of being suckered into a hopeless contribution to the Democrats.
4. afisher June 1, 2015 at 3:52 pm

   Meanwhile, Bernie was in Minn. after his successful swing through IA. The crowd via RSVP was too large for the original site ( 200-300) so it was moved. Turnout estimated to be 3000. http://www.startribune.com/hundreds-lining-up-in-minneapolis-to-hear-bernie-sanders-this-morning/305607011/
5. Vatch June 1, 2015 at 4:01 pm

   I saw an article by Alan Grayson which lists 18 Democratic Representatives who are leaning towards voting in favor of Trade Promotion Authority (fast track) for TPP, TTIP, and as yet unknown toxic trade deals. Here’s the article, with the list of names and phone numbers:

   http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/01/1389607/-Call-These-People-and-Make-Them-Listen
   1. Kim Kaufman June 1, 2015 at 6:42 pm

      Don’t remember if I posted this here, excuse if I have. Adam Schiff, my congress critter, sent me a form letter on Friday saying he’s voting against fast track. We have hammered him from his district. Keep calling your Critter!
6. EmilianoZ June 1, 2015 at 4:43 pm

   Chris Hedges quotes Marx:

   No social order ever disappears before all the productive forces for which there is room in it have been developed; and new higher relations of production never appear before the material conditions of their existence have matured in the womb of the old society itself. Therefore, mankind always sets itself only such tasks as it can solve; since looking at the matter more closely, we always find that the task itself arises only when the material conditions necessary for its solution already exist, or are at least in the process of formation.

   If that’s true, we’re in trouble. The first condition, that capitalism has exhausted its resources, seems to be fulfilled. But the second, that an alternative already exists, is nowhere in sight. All the means of production are still firmly in the hands of the oligarchy. If we tried to develop an alternative, it would probably be crushed by the 1% using the full powers of the state. By crushing all alternatives, capitalism can probably extend its shelf-life for a very long time. The environment will probably collapse before we even start to develop a political alternative.
   1. sufferin'succotash June 1, 2015 at 4:57 pm

      Don’t worry, the alternative to oligarchical capitalism is already in sight. It’s oligarchical neofeudalism.
   2. Alan Smithee June 1, 2015 at 5:06 pm

      But don’tcha see? That’s why we all have to support the least-worst-evil. So we can have incremental hope for change we can believe in. Remember, anyone who doesn’t support Bernie-mentum is just a dirty greenie Marxist in the pay of Karl Rove!
      1. CB June 2, 2015 at 1:41 am

         If Rove pays well, I’m in.
   3. Carolinian June 1, 2015 at 5:34 pm

      What I was going to say. Reading Hedges peroration it seems Marx was right about just about everything except how to get out of this mess. A bit scary. However I like

      Marx, as Meghnad Desai wrote, was “an astronomer of history, not an astrologer.”

      Here’s for optimism that humanity will once again pull its chestnuts out of the fire (after much disaster no doubt). In that vein the NYT this morning had a look back at Paul Ehrlich who in 1968’s The Population Bomb said that overpopulation could cause world starvation and collapse by the 1970s.

      http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/01/us/the-unrealized-horrors-of-population-explosion.html?_r=0

      Food scientists proved him wrong and his predictions about population were wrong too. Clearly more astrologer than astronomer. Doomers take note.
      1. Brucie McBruce June 2, 2015 at 10:01 am

         Coincidentally, James Kunstler was just talking about Ehrlich: Twenty-Three Geniuses.

         The overpopulation problem wasn’t solved, it was postponed.
   4. horostam June 1, 2015 at 5:36 pm

      But the second, that an alternative already exists, is nowhere in sight

      this is a minor (and possibly BS) technicality… but in Marx (coming from Hegelianism) a thing doesn’t have to be “in sight” for it to “exist.” Social changes happen in ways that we can only be aware of in hindsight, not (necessarily) the result of any plan. Call it subconscious.

      i think of the silicon valley libertarians who, in the name of freedom and capitalism, engage in genuine profit sharing, without a clue…
   5. LifelongLib June 1, 2015 at 6:25 pm

      Large landowners (proto-feudal lords) were a big part of the late Roman Empire, just as merchants (proto-capitalists) were a big part of the late medieval economy. Like you I wonder who their equivalent is now, if there is one (although horostam raises an interesting possibility).
      1. Jack June 1, 2015 at 7:10 pm

         Roman latifundia existed throughout much of the Republican era and through the entirety of the Empire period. I don’t think they can be seen as emblematic of late-stage anything.
         1. LifelongLib June 1, 2015 at 8:27 pm

            I’m not contending they were emblematic, but they were an important part of their economies and took over when the larger structures they were a part of failed. Who is their equivalent today?
            1. CB June 2, 2015 at 1:49 am

               My reading(unlike Shirley MacLaiine, I have no memory of being there) is that yrs after the center crumbled, the provinces held onto a credible semblance of order and peace; and with the violent movements of Western and Eastern peoples pushing and shoving around the Roman provinces, the “empire” looked a haven of tranquility and prosperity.
               1. hunkerdown June 2, 2015 at 9:40 pm

                  Of course it’s more relaxing when the Empire will not only hold your prey down for you but keep the reserve well-stocked for you too. As an Obama spox once said of Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, the provinces should have chosen a better father.
   6. John Merryman June 1, 2015 at 6:59 pm

      The financial system is sucking all possible value out of the very economic structure on which it is based. It’s like fat clogging the arteries and the response, QE, is like high blood pressure to overcome it, but it isn’t getting much more circulation back out to the extremities of the economy, as much as just piling up more fat in the arteries.
      There was a time when government, the central nervous system of society, was private, aka monarchy, but when they lost sight of their larger civil function and became more trouble then they were worth, government got “socialized” and there are not many monarchists left wanting to go back.

      When this all does blow up, we are all going to be Greeks wanting/having to go back the drachma of local voucher systems.

      A monetary system based on public debt has to return rents back to the public, in order to be stable. One where they go to private hands and mostly get lent back to the public, at interest, is not stable.

      The powers that be are quite busy shooting themselves in the foot and we have no other serious option than to let them do it.
      1. hunkerdown June 1, 2015 at 8:42 pm

         There were periods in history where most people never laid eyes on the coin of the realm, let alone fingers. Why does the monetary system have to be stable, if most people won’t be full actors within it? Which seems to be the solution the ruling class is setting up, based on such as the rapidly self-isolating ruling caste, the renunciation of accountability and delegation of risk downward, the war on cash, and the accelerating status and privileges of generalist management.

         Why bargain with the little people about cash when you can rearrange society such that they’re born owing you their very lives and you’ve got an absolute right to collect? If it’s good enough for Foxconn…
         1. John Merryman June 1, 2015 at 11:51 pm

            Their model is falling apart. As my father, an old cattleman put it, you can’t starve a profit.
   7. frosty zoom June 2, 2015 at 10:00 pm

      “prefiero morir de pie que vivir de rodillas.” ~ emiliano zapata
7. Oregoncharles June 1, 2015 at 5:19 pm

   “Bond spreads in peripheral country” – you’re assuming we understand what “bond spreads” are and what they mean.

   I know I’ve seen an explanation, but I don’t understand it. We could use a refresher course.
   1. vidimi June 2, 2015 at 2:48 am

      in lay terms, it’s the difference between bond yields of country a and country b, b usually being german bunds.

      it’s a useful measure for the eurozone where all countries share the same currency, with the spread therefore manifesting mr market’s perception of default likelihoods.
8. Oregoncharles June 1, 2015 at 5:33 pm

   ” 18 Democratic Representatives who are leaning towards voting in favor of Trade Promotion Authority (fast track) for TPP, TTIP, and as yet unknown toxic trade deals.”

   THREE from Oregon. The Pacific Green Party is preparing spoiler campaigns against them, too (as well as Wyden). I think I’ll call them and tell them so.

   Amazing, how neoliberal the Oregon Dems really are. Merkley and DeFazio are the only holdouts – so far.
9. sleepy June 1, 2015 at 5:47 pm

   Kensett, Iowa, is a tiny town of 200 or so just south of the Minnesota border, about 15 miles north of me. I had absolutely no idea Sanders was speaking there. Wish I’d heard about it.

   In 08 everyone thought Iowa was in the bag for Hillary then too at this point. We’ll see what happens.
10. mk June 1, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    Huckabee: “We are criminalizing Christianity in this country. We cannot stand by silently” [Los Angeles Times]. So when has Huckabee ever been silent about anything?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    By Christianity, does he mean the likes of that family on TLC of which one of their family members is an admitted sex offender, (I think the guy’s name is Josh and Huckabee is defending him in public)? How dare we criminalize that kind of Christianity, the kind that forgives the perpetrators and blames the victims. No wonder kids are rejecting religion….
    1. hunkerdown June 1, 2015 at 8:25 pm

       The bulk of apparent insanity in the USA traces back to LARP, not the great American pastime, but apparently the only one.

       Look, do you want Krishna, or was it Shiva, or was it Kali, to wake up and the world to end? No? Then play along, and quietly! ;)

       (Or, just throw octopi on the ice at inopportune moments and watch them struggle to stretch the prescribed narrative to fit…)
11. DJG June 1, 2015 at 6:59 pm

    Tight yellow waders, hubba, hubba.

    Meanwhile, back at the corruption that is eating us alive, I note that the presidential spokesperson is pissy, morally unhinged, melodramatic, and politically inept. Let the pillaging continue, though:
    http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/01/charges-against-edward-snowden-stand-despite-telephone-surveillance-ban

    Indeed, it isn’t just about quid pro quo.
12. JTFaraday June 1, 2015 at 8:56 pm

    re: The S.S. Clinton

    Hillary Clinton’s “Grassroots Campaign” Sets $1,000 Minimum for a “Conversation”
    http://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/06/01/costs-2700-participate-hillary-clintons-grassroots-campaign
    1. CB June 2, 2015 at 1:58 am

       Listen, a couple of yrs ago, I was invited, bless me, to a NJ dem party meet and greet barbecue, $75 a person, somewhere in the middle of the state. Guess I should have thanked my lucky stars NJ is a fairly small state, eh? I was blown away that whoever huckstered the affair thought $75 reasonable until I realized that every party dem in NJ would ante up just to see and be seen, price of the ticket to ride, as it were.

       What price glory, I ask you.
13. Doug June 2, 2015 at 12:25 am

    TPP:

    http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/trans-pacific-partnership-obama-secrecy-by-simon-johnson-2015-05

    Congressman Levin:

    http://levin.house.gov/levin-trade-speech-withhold-fast-track-until-tpp-course

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