When I saw this, for a moment I thought it had something to do with the ability to convince others that your factual assertions are correct, by judicious use of the caps lock key.

Yes, admittedly, my little phrase to encapsulate the Democratic strategy for winning elections needs a bit of work ... or a lot of explanation. :)

I get it now!

Excellent! :)

When I saw this, for a moment I thought it had something to do with the ability to convince others that your factual assertions are correct, by judicious use of the caps lock key.

Glad to hear it Bleyd. Such a shame for the people caught up in this. I'm hearing that some of the reservoirs are spilling over and that due to land use there might be worse flooding than in the past.

Obviously stopping any loss of life is of paramount importance, but the clean up after this will take years, and given the nature of the Gulf there might be more storms yet this year. If my memory serves me we are only in the early stages of hurricane season.

Sorry - I missed that link - can you please repost.

I get it now! Thank you for clearing that up for me! I honestly couldn't believe that was what you were suggesting, because from reading your comments for over a year that isn't the type person I think that you are.

I am sorry for not smiling back at ya. I'll work on that and I thank you for reminding me not to take everything so seriously. ;D

-Russ

"The couple, somewhat famously, seems to skip town at the precise moment a political catastrophe befalls the White House—letting it be known, for instance, that they were on vacation in Vermont when President Trump delivered his deeply troubling statements about the violence in Charlottesville. (One West Wing aide noted to me that it isn’t that they leave when bad things happen; it’s just that bad things are always happening.)"

Hi Don:

I did check "One Demand" with the intent to sign up, but the restrictions basically put me in a position of not voting for anybody except maybe fringe candidates.

Perhaps a graded approach might be more effective: i.e. allow "nose holding" in elections, but show people how to find the candidates that are funded by smaller average donation size during primaries and agree (not commit, they might be nutso after all) to prefer them.

I'm very supportive of your mission.

If the truth doesn't matter to people and they are not open to consistent and persistent fact-based persuasion, then we're up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

What I am saying if capitalization by fact-based persuasion had been used as the overarching strategy in the last presidential election the outcome might have been much different.

Russ,

I was just lamenting the fact that Democrats have the right take on most if not all issues as compared with Republicans and that, despite, they can't seem to win - even against Trump, for God's sake!!!

I wondered why Democrats can't seem to capitalize on their being on the right side of issues and persuade at least 60% of American voters that their stand on the issues is the one that deserves votes.

So, capitalization through fact-based persuasion refers only to how the Democrats should be taking advantage of having the most coherent and intelligent take on the issues by making the best arguments to persuade more voters to vote Democrat.

I hope that clears it up because I'm out of time until much later tonight ...

I don't think the public is getting representative footage from the electronic media, who are not typically "field people" with the equipment vehicles and training to get into and get around in a disaster area. The real story has little to do with the beaches or the cities, it's about the vast inland flood plain, and it's about rain not wind. The overall situation is still probably getting worse, not better. A lot of residents who find themselves in the flood plains are basically marooned and unaccounted for. These are the Magic marker people, the ones who were told to write their Social Security numbers on their arms. Social Media are helpful, but you have to be able charge the devices.

Katrina killed somewhere around 1800 people. I would be surprised if Harvey doesn't meet or exceed this.

Trump is supposed to show up in Texas today, and he faces some serious optics challenges. He isn't particularly self-aware. If his handlers aren't on Xanax, they should be. It's "no country for old men" used to the lap of luxury.

What?

Okay, that was funny.

That is what you get when you read a comment or two or three and, then take a quote, of mine, out of context.

Try again!

Oh, that was really funny.

Q1 and Q2 were anemic at best, and the auto industry is hurting in Q3. My mortgage broker called today for a friendly chat and I asked him how business was going and he told me the next recession is starting - it happens with a weakening housing market first.

As usual, forecasting the economy is a fool's game, however if the Q3 numbers are weak, expect to hear about the "Harvey effect" from the White House.

Fact-based persuasion??? Do you mean by threatening to withhold aid?

How, exactly, can they do that without becoming what they hate?

Capitalization through fact-based persuasion. What is so damned hard about that!?

I'd like to see a journalist ask Secretary Perry if he believes in the disastrous effects of climate change now or is he still in denial.