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Starting in the US where the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination continues. Last night, there was a debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. Both were pressed on whether they would have a female running mate. CNN suddenly cares about women? The DNC does? Both like women -- at a distance only. Tulsi Gabbard is still in the race. Tulsi is a woman. The DNC changed the debate rules to keep her off the stage. Stop talking about a woman on a ticket beneath you if you won't put a woman on the stage when she met the qualification rules before they were suddenly changed.
49% of voters say #LetTulsiDebate. But the political elite/corporate media are trying to erase my candidacy. They don’t want a debate on ending regime change wars, the new cold war & nuclear arms race, and instead investing the trillions wasted on such wars into the American ppl.
In other news, Joe revealed himself to be unable to think at all. Despite being a US senator in the 70s, the 80s, the 90s and the 00s and eight years as vice president -- or maybe because of that history -- Joe only knows how to do what was done before.
There is nothing new from Joe, not now, not ever.
Joe Queally (COMMON DREAMS) reports:
As Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders debated Sunday night over the failures of the U.S. healthcare system that have been dramatically exposed by the current coronavirus pandemic rattling the nation, Biden argued against the need for Medicare for All, defended the private insurance industry, and said now was not the time to debate key ideological differences.
"This coronavirus pandemic exposes the incredible weakness and dysfunctionality of our current health care system," Sanders said during an exchange early in the debate as he advocated for his Medicare for All plan in the context of the current crisis.
It is deeply disturbing that amid a pandemic that threatens the lives of millions of people, a Democratic candidate for president spent much of a live television debate slamming the idea of guaranteeing basic medical care to all through a Medicare for All system.
Sunday’s Democratic debate featured urgent questions about how presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden would address the coronavirus pandemic. As the outbreak spreads across the United States at a breakneck pace, officials are faced with two paths of how to respond: hand off public services and assets to further enrich the corporate elite, or expand social programs to protect the working class.
In her influential book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Naomi Klein warned of how free market fundamentalists exploit crises like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina—but at the same time, Klein highlighted the opportunities for positive social change inherent in “communal recovery” to crisis. As disasters make apparent the deep inequities at the heart of our capitalist society, they allow us to rethink and, in Klein’s words, “remake” the world in order to benefit working people.
Sanders has laid out an expansive vision of government intervention to deal with coronavirus, including implementing a Medicare for All system to provide universal testing and treatment for those who contract the virus, as well as free healthcare going forward for all Americans, regardless of income. Sanders also called for guaranteed paid sick leave and a national moratorium on evictions, home foreclosures and utility shutoffs as immediate steps to deal with the crisis.
“What we’ve got to do is move aggressively so that every person in this country understands that they don’t have to worry about money for treatment. I believe in Medicare for All, I will fight for that as president. Do not worry about the cost right now because we are in the midst of a national emergency,” Sanders said during Sunday’s debate, continuing later, “This coronavirus pandemic exposes the incredible weakness and dysfunctionality of our current healthcare system.”
Biden, meanwhile, has endorsed free testing and treatment for coronavirus patients and emergency paid leave, but refused to back Medicare for All, citing concerns about the cost, pragmatism and wisdom of such a universal system.
“You have a single payer system in Italy, it doesn’t work there. It wouldn’t solve the problem at all,” Biden claimed Sunday.
Biden’s critique misses the fact that coronavirus patients in Italy are receiving all of their care free of cost, whereas in the United States, the cost of simply getting tested can reach above $3,000, and the House coronavirus response package recently passed with bipartisan support, which would make testing free, has yet to be signed into law.
As I was saying...
Joe doesn't know what he's talking about -- as usual. And he doesn't know what he's doing. Some states are holding primaries on Tuesday -- not moving them back. If you were Joe Biden, who gets more support from elderly voters, if you were that person and you were smart, you would call for the primaries to be postponed. That's common sense.
It's also true. My ophthalmologist called after I'd mentioned him and my eye issue in last night's entry (he called to say that's a lot worse -- my eye issue -- than how I described it over the phone -- yes, it is, I wasn't going to go over all that over the phone). After we discussed that, we discussed coronavirus. He's an ophthalmologist, not a optometrist. People seeing him are not coming in for glasses or contacts. They've got cataracts, glaucoma, retina issues, etc. It's a medical issue for you to see him.
And I asked how many people were cancelling. He said they started tracking Thursday and on Thursday and Friday, his office got 39 cancellations for appointments in March and April. The people are either not rescheduling or are rescheduling out to the end of May or June. And what's the distribution of the cancellations age wise?
All were over 65. I texted two of my other doctors and they responded their cancellations were also 65 and over.
That doesn't mean those under 65 will be showing up for appointments. It may just mean that the elderly are more polite and cancelling ahead of time or more aware of no show policies and cancelling ahead of time. But it could also mean that the elderly, an at risk population, are aware of the risks and vastly curtailing public activities. That could include voting if they didn't early vote or vote by mail. Again, Joe has their votes. I have no idea why he hasn't called for all primaries to be postponed temporarily -- other than the fact that he can never think of anything himself. He can only mirror what took place before.
While we're talking about what's going on, I saw this Tweet.
Naomi Klein Retweeted
Trader Joe’s (and all grocery store employees) are first responders. They are saving our lives by making sure we can eat during a terrifying crisis.
Take two seconds to email traderjoes.com/contact-us and ask that they get hazard pay NOW. The store is making bank. They can do it
·
Across the country, cities are shutting down. Trader Joe’s needs to provide workers hazard pay starting right now. Crewmembers are terrified, knowing their job is putting them on the frontlines of a global pandemic. It is not enough to receive PTO only after being proven sick.
Show this thread
Saturday, I was talking to a friend who handles advertising for a nation grocery chain. That chain saw a 45% increase in sales from the same week last year. Yes, all the grocery chains can afford to pay hazard pay to their workers.
Back to the debate, Seth McLaughlin and Stephen Dinan (WASHINGTON TIMES) reports of the debate:
Sen. Bernard Sanders said he is happy that Joseph R. Biden has come his way on some issues, but questioned the former vice president’s “courage” and “leadership.”
Mr. Sanders said in a debate Sunday that Mr. Biden is pledging to clean up some of the messes that he helped create by backing bad legislation, including a 2005 bankruptcy bill.
“I voted against it in the House and I was right, and I don’t have to rethink my position because that leadership is about - having the guts to take an unpopular vote,” Mr. Sanders said.
The Vermonter said he took hard voters when it mattered most, and staked out positions that were once unpopular, but have become so in vogue that people that Mr. Biden has finally come around.
“What leadership is about is about going forward when it is not popular,” Mr. Sanders said. “When it is an idea that you get criticized for.”
And that is about leadership. Bernie has taken the hard stands and has led on demanding needs for the people. Saturday, we saw Bernie again lead. Coronvirus means many interactions for candidates and the people are temporarily gone. So late Saturday, he announced that in approximately two hours he would be holding a Fireside Chat.
With only two hours heads up, over 100,000 streams took place while it was live. I say "streams." My house was one stream and we had twelve people watching. Since the video has gone up at YOUTUBE after the event, it has had another 166,000-plus streams.
Now Joe tried something different as well. Not a Fireside Chat but then no one's really sure what he was going for. He was in front of a camera on a stand and speaking towards the camera while he spoke into his phone. At some point, after being unsure whether or nor he might be president in one year or two, he got flustered and started walking to the side -- apparently no longer aware that he was standing in front of a camera.
WATCH this bizarre video from recent Biden live stream. Probably the last we'll see Biden campaign expose him to actual unscripted conversation. The man is not well. Why doesn't anyone around him speak up for the supportive medical intervention he needs?
Click on "Mar 14" above to see video if you haven't already.
·
During Democratic debate Joe Biden denies advocating for social security cuts—here's video showing he did newsweek.com/biden-denies-a
Yes, Joe continued to lie in last night's debate.
He lied throughout the debate. NEWSWEEK at least called him on it. Will anyone else in the corporate press?
Marianne Williamson Tweeted the debate. If Twitter hadn't switched the layout, we'd include it all. Instead, we'll include as much as we can without distorting the snapshot -- huge black gaps appear if you just copy and paste now.
You tell ‘em, Bernie!!! Keep laying it down like it really is. People who create profit centers off human suffering are not legitimate businesspeople - they’re crooks.
We need to do more than deal with symptoms by just providing temporary relief from suffering; we need to address underlying systemic injustices that make such suffering inevitable. We need fundamental change, not just a superficial fix - regardless of whether Big Pharma approves.
Joe just said “People are looking for results, they’re not looking for a revolution.”I think he’s wrong.We need a nonviolent political revolution to challenge the systemic rigging of America’s economic system, or else there will be a continuing pattern of intense human suffering.
Joe thinks we need to handle an emergency created by the coronavirus. Bernie thinks our problem with the coronavirus is the result of a rolling emergency that’s been going on for decades.
This debate is very educational. It’s an embodiment of the contest between corporate and progressive Democrats. Corporates say, “The problem is, you guys can’t do it!” Progressives say, “No, the problem is that you guys WON’T do it!”
Bernie is saying what’s real and what’s true in America today. Regardless what happens, we should listen to this man. He refuses to go along with the political double-speak that has corrupted American politics.
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.” - John F Kennedy
Whether the nominee is Biden or Bernie, universal healthcare, universal access to higher education and deliverance from the burden of those college loans is an absolute must - not only to defeat Trump but to get this country morally back on track.
Joe's dishonesty continued after the debate via his campaign.
Let this sink in. Understand that all of us in the Sanders campaign are seen as nothing but trespassers on their party property and they absolutely cannot wait to call the cops. #DemDebate
·
Surprising post-debate comment from Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn: “It’s safe to say Vice President Biden showed up to a debate tonight and for two hours graciously [dealt] with a kind of protester who often shows up at campaign events, on live television.”
Joe doesn't like protesters. Remember how he used to verbally attack the Iraq War protesters? He pretends he doesn't remember that. He pretends to forget a lot.
Tonight
lied about his record on social security, abortion rights, bankruptcy bill, green new deal, war in Iraq, gay marriage. If lying no longer matters, so be it. But democrats need to prepare to drop their moral high ground against
. #BidenvsSanders
lied about his record on social security, abortion rights, bankruptcy bill, green new deal, war in Iraq, gay marriage. If lying no longer matters, so be it. But democrats need to prepare to drop their moral high ground against
. #BidenvsSanders
Biden is again saying he only voted for the Iraq War because he was misled by Bush, but he publicly stated his openness to using military force against Saddam Hussein in the aftermath of 9/11, and defended his vote until 2005.
cnn.com/2019/09/04/pol by
and me
and me
Feel like Joe Biden might want to come up with a better lie than "I was tricked into being a cheerleader for the invasion of Iraq by brain-genius mastermind George W. Bush."
Joe's Iraq War continues. Yesterday, Courtney Kube (NBC NEWS) reported:
The U.S. military is planning to reposition
hundreds of troops in Iraq, including moving some out of the country,
according to three U.S. defense officials.
The
consolidation of forces will include removing U.S. troops from joint
bases at al-Qaim near the Syrian border, Qayyarah Airfield West near
Mosul and possibly K-1 Air Base in Kirkuk.
Reposition, not remove. Remove is what needs to happen. All US troops need to leave Iraq. Last week saw Gunnery Sgt Diego D. Pongo, Capt Moises A. Navas, Army Specialist Juan Covarrubias and Air Force Staff Sgt. Marshal Roberts. Countless others were wounded last week. It's time to pull all US troops out of Iraq. Instead, some more US troops are going in. ALMASDAR NEWS notes:
The U.S. military has sent one of their primary ground assault forces to Iraq, following an attack on their troops at the Taji Base last week, an Iraqi military source told Sputnik Arabic on Saturday.
According to the source, who requested anonymity from inside a prominent air base in Iraq, the personnel of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division will arrive at the base soon.
The source added that the U.S. Marine Corps are already present at the air base that the 101st Division is deploying to.
Not only are US troops facing increased attacks from actors who may or may not be connected to the Iraqi government or may or may not be connected to the Iranian government, they are being called out by the Iraqi government. Jason Ditz (ANTIWAR.COM) reports:
After multiple US airstrikes in Iraq over the course of the past week, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry says they will submit a formal complaint to the UN Security Council about ongoing US aggression, and violation of Iraqi sovereignty.
Blaming Iraqi Shi’ite militias for rockets fired at US troops, the US attacked at least five bases, The US presents the attacks as retaliation against “Iran-backed” militias, but in practice these militias are part of Iraq’s security forces.
Attacking Iraqi security forces on Iraqi soil is problematic, even if the US sees it as justified. Iraqi officials are warning that the strikes are further destabilizing the situation, and Iraq can’t exactly afford that after months of anti-government protests.
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