She wrote a letter to her grand-daughter saying, in part, that she did not want Trump to pick her replacement.

If he wins reelection, Trump should pick her replacement. If he doesn't win reelection, Biden should pick her replacement.

If that happens, then there is no justice in this world of ours.

Oh, I do hope McConnell insists they're going to replace RBG and attempts to do it. I don't believe that is in their best interests in the long run... so please do it, GOP hypocrites. It won't end well for you. :)

My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.

~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I wish I was kidding this time.

And, last time I checked, John and JFC, Democrats alone aren't enough to beat Trump, assuming many of them still won't vote this year. That last bit always astounds me. Maybe Trump has been enough to encourage them to make the effort this time around ...

Because all Republicans and a majority of Independents think that Republicans are better on the economy because they are seen as supporting businesses. Obviously Democrats would disagree. It's the Independents that you need to convince. Unfortunately anything in America that criticizes the Republican pro-wealthy position also is too easily characterized, wrongly, with that big old bad "socialism" label and is therefore automatically anathema to Independents.

Are Independents really that obtuse?

In any event, Democrats could do a much better job at obliterating that kind of thinking. I mean, they only have logic, the truth, and decades worth of evidence on their side. ;)

Talk to me when Bernie wins the nomination.

[19] Elizabeth Miller wrote:

I'm a Bernie Bro and while I'm sure Joe will be a good President Bernie woulda beaten Trump in 2016 and this election too if he won the nomination.

[19] Elizabeth Miller wrote:

MtnCaddy,

I'm a Bernie Bro and while I'm sure Joe will be a good President Bernie woulda beaten Trump in 2016 and this election too if he won the nomination.

Really? How so?

Here's how so: Trump won nomination over all the Establishment Repugs in 2016. Sure, there was The Apprentice and $2 billions in free press but the major reason Trump won both the nomination and thence the Presidency was his promise to take care of the little guy. He wouldn't have won dink without that promise.

Let's say it's Bernie instead of Establishment Hillary. Yeah, the Establishment Hillary who offered more of the same economics as the Establishment Repugs vanquished by Trump.

Bernie addressed the same Populist dissatisfaction with the current state of the American Dream as did Trump in 2016. But Bernie's was for real and had been pushing this for decades. Plus Bernie didn't want to shove his religious beliefs down anybody's throat (read: anti-abortionist) and had been demonstratededly every bit the Pacifist as Trump.

Bernie would have unleashed us Progressives along with all of the other Democrats (like they'd vote for Trump?) and have beaten the idiot like a drum.

That's how.
Next question.

I don’t think you’ve gamed this out properly. If OD has legs (and underpants), then, sure, you’re losing on every transaction, but you’re making it up in volume.

Let’s say 10 million voters sign up and effectively create the I’m Not Voting for Any of You B**tard* Party. In the first election cycle, they execute their pledge by whatever means is legal in their state, resulting in something over 120 million actual active voters deciding the election. OK, but the momentum will be undeniable.

In the next cycle, when 40% of active voters are signed up as B**tard*, just 60% of the active voters will decide an election. Think of it, by the time 80% of active voters, who are, in fact, single-issue voters despite what you may think, remain true to their pledge, then, by golly, the Underpants Gnomes will have collected all the underpants they need and … profit!

I hope that helps.

"Does a thought of something that does not exist actually exist?"

I think you are putting Descartes before d' horse.

By Cartesian logic, If Trump thinks about a "health plan" than Trump knows he exists. The "health plan" can still be an illusion...like Trump University.

The "independent" label also applies to Green Party members and those who truly do not lean one way or the other, but I do agree that a slim majority of them are probably just ashamed to identify as republicons due to culture war insanity.

At the bottom of the comment thread for each of the last three columns.

"OK, just answered a bunch of comments from all of this week. Go check them out..."

Where? Darn if I could find them! Am I missing something?

"Now, I'm confused. So, why is Trump leading on the economy and why do Republicans generally lead on the economy?"

Because all Republicans and a majority of Independents think that Republicans are better on the economy because they are seen as supporting businesses. Obviously Democrats would disagree. It's the Independents that you need to convince. Unfortunately anything in America that criticizes the Republican pro-wealthy position also is too easily characterized, wrongly, with that big old bad "socialism" label and is therefore automatically anathema to Independents.

I'm promoting the great messaging he had on the Republican cult of economic failure and his message on why Democrats are the better stewards of the economy.

Now, I really have to go!

I don't think so. I don't need to be convinced about the GOP. They have no redeeming qualities as far as I'm concerned.

I'd say he really doesn't care because he's OK or he'd get out there whether Biden asked him or not. The cable networks have time to fill.

Here is David Fiderer's seminal piece from back in 2010 and updated in 2017. Just replace Bush with Trump as nothing has changed.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-bush-tax-cuts-and-the_b_781419

Maybe Democrats could just dig up the many remarks he made on this issue from when he was Treasury secretary, especially the events he did at CAP and just use them verbatim, without attribution. Heh.

Don't get me wrong. I have no interest in hearing from him.

If people actually think rich=smart/smart=rich, then that particular obstacle in the effort to obliterate the Republican cult of economic failure can surely be overcome with effective communication and communicators.

But, I guess if you really believe that that kind of thinking is difficult to overcome, then you must believe that Democrats aren't up to that fight. And, sadly, I guess you're probably right. :(

As treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner was the best communicator, by far, when it came to obliterating the Republican cult of economic failure and, frankly on many other critical issues, too. Ironically, though, he is radioactive to most Americans on the rich folks thing and so he can't be the messenger on this. Whatever.

I'm assuming that you're not splitting hairs and pretending that Medicaid is not insurance.

So, no job and no health insurance. Are you independently wealthy? Got a sugar daddy? Sponging off your mom? Homeless and using the computer at the public library? Or what?

I am not telling people to sit out elections.

Yeah, you are. There are virtually no candidates at any level that meet your criteria.

I'd like Marie Yovanovitch as Secretary of State, I love your choice of John Kerry as Secretary of Defense! I was thinking Robert Reich as Treasurer. I'm torn on AG between Preet Bharara and Glenn Kirschner... leaning towards the latter but there's not much in it. Put Elizabeth Warren in charge of the Consumer Affairs and Proection Office. It's her baby so let her build it up. Give HUD back to Julián Castro.

:-)

-CW

Thursday was World Patient Safety Day and its motto was, ' Safe Health Workers, Safe Patients' and it all ties in with what needs to happen to strengthen healthcare systems globally.

Dr. Ryan's remarks:

"There are 3 things that haunt frontline health workers: (1) to stand there and watch people die because you can't help them; (2) to see a worker fall and be infected, your colleague and friend; (3) what really preys on health care workers in most of these situations is the chance that they could take an infectious disease home to their families, their children, their friends.

"So, frontline health workers are working under immense pressure and they are extremely courageous. The best we can do is give them the tools, the training and the environment in which they can do their work at the safest possible level. Because when you feel safe you do better and your performance increases. And, that's what we want - highly performing, highly skilled health workers operating in an environment where they can turn all of their knowledge into solutions for patients. If they are concerned about their safety, they won't perform as well.

"So, if we want to make this a cold, logical argument, a protected health worker is an effective health worker.

"We should truly celebrate frontline community nurses and public health nurses. Often the first medical person a child sees is a public health nurse and the last person is a public health nurse during end of life care.

"We should also, and we do, celebrate sophisticated hospital-based medicine. It's huge, it's cutting edge and it takes us to the next level of care. But, sometimes we forget the lives that are saved in communities by community care workers.

"We see that now in public health. We are doing better at saving lives in ICU's. But, we're not doing a whole lot better at doing public health surveillance and contact tracing and community education and outreach.

"We should always invest in our tertiary healthcare systems and in sophisticated medicine but sometimes we forget to make the small persistent and long-term investments in primary healthcare, in community health, in prevention and supporting our communities.

"When we get through the end of this pandemic, I hope we sit down and have a really tough conversation with ourselves around what is the right balance of investments in health. Because, some of the negative impacts of this pandemic have definitely been driven because we don't invest enough in frontline community health, public health and primary healthcare.

"Dr. Tedros says all the time that primary health care is the bedrock of universal health coverage. And, our public health nurses, doctors and midwives are the bedrock of primary healthcare."

The WHO presser yesterday was a wealth of other information, too!

I couldn't help but think how, if all goes well with your presidential election, the US will be in a great position to do the work of rebalancing where investments in healthcare and public health are made. Most countries need to massively invest in their public health architectures and these are just some of the opportunities that this pandemic could unleash!

Here are the remarks by Dr. Ryan in response ...

"Consistent messaging is very important from all levels, between science and government and across all of the different topics. This is complicated stuff; data, information, evidence, guidance changes and so it isn't easy for everyone to be on message, all the time.

"But what is important is that governments and scientific institutions step back and review the evidence and give the most comprehensive and easy to understand and digest information so people can take appropriate action.

"We also need to take a look at the tools we have right now. We sincerely hope and we are working very hard at WHO, under the leadership of DG Dr. Tedros and with our partners, to drive the development of safe and effective vaccines. But, we don't have those vaccines now. What we do have are well-tested strategies that we know work.

"As Dr. Tedros always says, it's not about doing one thing. It's not just about masks; it's not just about physical distancing and avoiding crowed spaces; it's not just about hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette. DO IT ALL!

"Governments need to get that message across and continue to get that message across to communities and they need to empower communities to take action. There's nothing worse than being told what to do when you cannot do it because you don't have the resources or the education or the knowledge.

"There is a process for transferring knowledge to people and it's not just shouting at them. It's communicating with them; it's engaging them; it's understanding the confusion. It's understanding their concerns and apprehension and not laughing at it or turning it into a political football.

"It's about genuinely communicating with people and genuinely recognizing that this is confusing and upsetting - communication is something that all of us need to strive to be better at - politicians, scientists, doctors, nurses, parents, teachers - everyone needs to become better communicators and take that responsibility seriously."

In the environment envisioned by Dr. Ryan, it is easy to see what a competent response to this pandemic looks like.

By Andy Borowitz

September 17, 2020

Donald J. Trump’s promise to release a long-delayed health-care plan hit a snag when his dog ate the only existing copy of the plan, the President disclosed.

“I left the plan on my desk, and somehow the dog got up there and ate it,” he said. “It’s a bad dog, quite frankly.”

Trump’s explanation met with raised eyebrows from the White House press corps, none of whom had been previously aware that the President had a dog.

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-claims-dog-ate-his-health-care-plan

Isn't that like burning down the village to save it?

Are you afraid that somebody has stolen your plan?

Do you currently have heath insurance? Who pays for it? Don't dodge.

The Lincoln Project is so much more devastating than anything I can ever recall the Democrats coming up

That's what's known as an assertion. What's your evidence that these ads are devastating? The fact that you find them convincing? Ever heard of preaching to the choir?

If only Don Harris was still alive!

Yeah. If only there were more Russian tools like Death Harris out there to discourage people from voting so that the orange swamp thing can hang on!

that is an image nobody needed. now kindly shut yer piehole. preferably with pie.

This.

The Deathocrats are just as naked as the Republikillers.

Said the perpetual parasite who obsesses over them both.

And so are the media that pretends the CMPs are not naked and provides cover for the CMPs by hiding the CMP's genitals in their mouths.

Yet here you are again.

Which is why the media literally sucks.

Said the whining perpetual mooching circle jerk who's been salivating near daily on this blog for multiple years for the media's lip service.

Wake up. Wise up. Rise up.

Pervert.

Your Red Card is long overdue.

Another killer Lincoln Project offering.

The fact that -- day after effing day -- The Lincoln Project is so much more devastating than anything I can ever recall the Democrats coming up with tells me the Democrats have pretended to be ineffective since Saint Ronnie because they're OWNED by Big Money.

Goddamn. If only Don Harris was still alive!

that is an image nobody needed. now kindly shut yer piehole. preferably with pie.

JL