Just tell the truth.–Chris Cuomo
Truth will out.–Shakespeare
President Trump, referring to truth, reportedly said: “It doesn’t matter, we won.”
Trump explored this fact with his birther campaign. Repeated claims that Barack Obama wasn’t born a citizen took their toll. That the claim was false, didn’t diminish its effectiveness. Eventually Obama felt it necessary to release his birth certificate which didn’t help much; the damage had been done and the din of false claims continued.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has been dogged with cries of “Pocahontas.” Recently she released DNA evidence of Native American ancestry. Her release of DNA evidence confirms that cries of derision have been effective and will continue.
President Trump repeatedly attacked Hillary Clinton with vague charges of criminality prompting chants of “lock her up.” Facts didn’t matter; had Mrs. Clinton denied she was a criminal, it would have added fuel to the fire. Even though Mrs. Clinton isn’t currently a candidate for any office, the charge still provokes the chant.
The Saudi government’s involvement in murder is plain to see. Will we accept denials and excuses? You may bet on that; there is precedent: Putin’s denial of Russian interference in elections, Trumps inflated claims of agreement with Korea’s Kim.
Tom, like Trump, often smears his opponents with claims that apply as well or better to himself–in NY-23 politics as well as national politics, truth doesn’t matter.
C;mon, “Pocahontas'” DNA report shows that IF her great-great-great- grandmother was Native American, Warren would be 1/32nd BUT SHE COULD POSSIBLY BE just 1/1024th if it extends to the 10th generation.
Many American citizens, including myself, have more American blood in us than Elizabeth Warren does but we don’t run around claiming we are of Native American ancestry on our resume and job applications to enhance our careers.
https://nypost.com/2018/10/15/heres-what-elizabeth-warrens-dna-test-shows/
“The inherent imprecision of the six-page DNA analysis could provide fodder for Warren’s critics. If her great-great-great-grandmother was Native American, that puts her at 1/32nd American Indian. But the report includes the possibility that she’s just 1/1024th Native American if the ancestor is 10 generations back.”
https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2018/10/15/warren-addresses-native-american-issue/YEUaGzsefB0gPBe2AbmSVO/story.html
LikeLike
Even if Elizabeth’s claims of Native American ancestry were completely false, should it matter to voters? President Trump’s thousands of documented lies seem to be no problem for him. Is there one standard for DJT and another for everyone else?
LikeLike
A good read
https://newny23rd.com/2018/10/15/in-todays-politics-truth-doesnt-matter/comment-page-1/#comment-36581
LikeLike
Another Good Read showing real life repercussions
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/10/a-terrible-college-case-shows-the-high-cost-of-believe-women/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=idealmedia&utm_campaign=nationalreview.com&utm_term=68891&utm_content=2300461
LikeLike
Heavens, is that Gary at it again? The truth about Warren’s claims seems to be this: on her college and law school applications, she either identified as “white” or did not answer the question about race; everyone interviewed–dozens of people, including tenure committees, fellow faculty members, and students–at all the of the place she taught have all claimed that her minority status had never come up at all. But as William’s piece points out(and irony really is dead, isn’t it) truth hardly matters. Especially not to Gary and his ongoing adventures with confirmation bias.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The stated mission of this blog is to “Discuss the Politics, Economics, and Events of the New New York 23rd Congressional District.”
With Mitrano deep in the hole in NY23 with only 22 days till the election, what does the moderator choose to discuss today? Trump / Warren / Saudi Arabia / Korea /Truth in politics. There is one measly sentence devoted to NY23.
Which follows the pattern of the past few months in this blog. Attack Trump / Reed / conservatives. Discuss national issues. I am pretty tired of the constant barrage of negatives. Of course Gary jumps in with his juice. He’s responding to provocation. Pity he can’t think or talk for himself.
As noted on this blog, Reed / Republicans / Trump run their machine on a constant diet of outrage and fear. They have to. The Republican Party as it exists today is empty. It’s regrettable that articles appear regularly in this blog that are designed to stoke outrage and fear on the left by attacking the Right. I certainly can find no positive articles promoting Democratic policies or values. Perhaps that is because Democrats today lack a cohesive message. They certainly lack cohesive leadership.
The people I call my neighbors are effected by the climate (they are farmers), by the economy (they are parents), by education, by services (roads, broadband). They couldn’t care less about ideology and/or national politics. And they are pretty much too busy to pay attention to politics.
Finding common cause with these people would go a long, long way to disposing of Reed once and for all. It’s a shame that people of all ideologies, right and left, choose divisiveness.
A good start in changing direction towards inclusiveness would be publication of articles on this blog promoting Democratic ideas and Democratic initiatives effecting me and my neighbors. Locally.
I won’t hold my breath.
LikeLike
Mitrano deep in the hole in NY23? Please explain what you mean by that statement
LikeLike
Sabato’s Crystal Ball NY 23 – Likely Republican
538 NY 23 Solid Republican
CNN NY 23 likely Republican
Mitrano Internal Poll – Reed leads by 15 points.
Politico NY 23 Likely Republican
Cook NY 23 – Solid Republican
NY 23’s coming result is so obvious that Siena refuses to even conduct a poll in NY23.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/09/more-signs-tracy-mitranos-challenge-to-tom-reed-is-going-nowhere-ny23/
“Donating to Mitrano, at this point, seems like throwing cash down the drain.”
LikeLike
How much is the Mitrano campaign receiving from the DCCC?
LikeLike
Also, Arthur, your assertion that your friends & neighbors are affected by climate change, economics, education and infrastructure and yet are somehow not affected by national politics doesn’t make any sense (not to mention that the very designation of this stretch of the state as congressional district makes us a federal entity, with Reed, unluckily, at its helm. For the moment.) The funding and policies for all of the areas you list are set largely at a federal level; assuming you’re also a resident of this district, it is a federal politician we have in common. Let us also keep in mind that Reed is pretty much in lockstep with Trump these days, and none of the news issuing from that quarter is good. What else is there to write about that, besides criticism? I also find your assertion that everyone you know is too busy to pay attention to politics to be astonishing. We’re all busy. We’re some of us very engaged and some of us, not so much. It’s that second group that concerns me the most. However the moderators of this blog are open to taking submissions from the public at large; perhaps you’d like to pen a piece of your own?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Anne,
Thanks for the note. I’ll get back to you.
Pystew…
another metric of the depth of the hole…
https://cornellsun.com/2018/10/09/congressional-candidate-tracy-mitrano-raised-nearly-1-million-in-last-third-quarter-of-elections-cycle-most-ever-in-district-history/
Mitrano has raised 1.1 million dollars for her campaign
Reed has raised over 3 million dollars for his campaign
LikeLike
While I don’t see how it is relevant, contributions to Tracy Mitrano from party committees are reportedly zero. Contributions come mostly from individuals.
https://www.fec.gov/data/candidate/H8NY23183/
LikeLike
Well Anne, I guess that I didn’t make myself clear. Or something.
The residents of NY23 are of course affected by climate change, economics, education and infrastructure difficulties. Property taxes are local (economics), education is local, infrastructure (roads, bridges etc are local). Local issues, local interest. Climate change is global. And needs to be discussed…gingerly. Please reread my piece. I never said people are unaffected by national politics. I said they don’t care about national politics.
Only 26% of the people in this country vote. That is a huge amount of apathy. Many citizens of NY23 have an incomplete understanding of federal vs state vs local funding. They certainly are not at your level. They believe what they are told and what they see. And Reed has it all under control, thank you very much.
As far as Reed and Trump — My reading indicates that the hoi polloi in NY23 pretty much disagree with you. They believe Reed and Trump are delivering. Bigly. Why change? In addition, they’ve been conditioned to distrust democrats.
What else is there to write about that, besides criticism? Aye, there’s the rub. We’d better figure that one out and fast. How would your children turn out if all they heard was criticism? Works pretty much the same way on adults. Hence my suggestion for positive articles.
As far as your criticism of my ‘assertion’ that everyone I know is too busy to pay attention to politics. Thank you for defining your privilege. Not everyone is so fortunate. And they are unbelievably busy. Congratulations that you are able to participate actively.
And lastly, to be frank, in Art’s world, there is only one issue. And that is climate change. To coin a phrase, it is astonishing that more people are not alarmed. But as time goes on and we approach disaster (sooner rather than later) more people will join my club. Meanwhile, these blogs serve as a pleasant diversion from my obsession with the approaching armageddon.
As far as penning a piece or two, that’s pretty much what I am doing.
:))
LikeLike
whungerford,
Party contributions are extremely relevant. There are a finite amount of dollars and so the party committees, Republican and Democrat, are like you and I, extremely particular in how they spend their money.
Specifically, they spend on competitive races.
At this stage in the game, missing party money means that the candidate has been written off.
And it is happening to both Republicans and Democrats as I write this.
Not at all a good omen for Mitrano.
LikeLike
Privilege…not even sure how to begin to respond to that (though I will admit that it’s the first time in my life someone has accused me of that particular circumstance, though not the first time–not even the first time today–I’ve been mansplained at). I suppose in a privileged life I’d be playing a game of bridge with the girls before we went off to paint a few signs for Tracy and raise a few dollars for charity, afterwards retiring for a round of cocktails and a round of self-congratulations–that the kind of thing you mean? Because the reality is I’ve always had to work, had kids to rear (and had to do it as a widow), still have bills to pay and myself to support and no retirement anywhere on the horizon though I turn 60 next month. Being as busy as anyone else and still having to think about politics every single day and having to work to fix the sorry-assed state of affairs we have arrived at (because it’s my planet on the line, and my rights to my body [and my daughter’s, and every other woman’s] and my economic future and whether we can overcome the rising ignorance that is threatening to swamp us, also all on the line) is hardly “privilege.” It’s fucking exhausting. #annesplaining
LikeLiked by 1 person
Anne,
Please allow me to offer my condolences on the death of your husband. I would also like to offer my sympathies for the difficulties in your life that you have had to endure.
Your previous posts on this blog indicated to me that you are a woman who has realized success in her life. Apparently you did it in the face of great adversity. I am very sorry that your life has been so hard.
I would like to wish you great success in the future in everything that you do. And certainly in your efforts to replace Tom Reed.
Best Regards,
Arthur Ahrens
LikeLike
Arthur, You are correct, this Blog was supposed to be about CD-23. But I digress.
Regarding Elizabeth Warren (called Pocahontas by the blog author) and her using this Native American things I refer you to the Wiki page section that discusses it.
Is Wiki or the Boston Globe “Fake news” ?
Three more weeks and all of the political election crap is over…… or is it? We shall see.
LikeLike
Elizabeth Warren,
Too funny
https://keepandbear.com/news/watch-warren-blatantly-lies-about-parents-eloping-because-mom-was-indian/
LikeLike
AMAZING!!!!
The US Government Deficit Grew 17% in fiscal 2018. Tax cuts have restrained revenue gains
— WSJ 10/17/2018
That is on a pace to nearly double the deficit by the end of Trump’s rule!
You’d think people who have railed against the growth of the deficit in the past (the Obama years) would be outraged.
You’d be wrong.
They are more interested in Elizabeth Warren.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amazing indeed. During the Obama Administration, Tom Reed was outspoken on the danger of deficit spending; during the Trump Administration, he is not only silent but an accomplice in exploding the deficit.
However the matter isn’t trivial–during economic hard times, deficits are desirable and unavoidable. That was the wrong time to protest deficits. But when the economy is robust, as it is now, we should not only avoid deficit spending, but reduce dept. If not now, when? Responsible legislation rather than hope in voodoo economics is necessary.
Now would be a good time to defeat members of Congress willing to put political expediency ahead of responsible government.
LikeLike
I too believe that the federal government should be reducing spending, not increasing it. The Congress should also pass a balanced budget Bill.
Federal Government tax revenues have been increasing but we must also decrease federal spending.
Every Department could cut their spending by 2% per year for the next 10 years.
You have to admit that the news media coverage over Elizabeth Warren aka Pocahontas is kind of funny. The media is trying to use the story to attack President Trump but are only giving Elizabeth Warren a black eye.
https://thepoliticalinsider.com/cherokee-nation-denounces-elizabeth-warrens-dna-test-claims/?source=TPIpost
LikeLike
Federal tax revenues are increasing?
Better check Fox News. Even they are aware that that is not the case.
LikeLike
One thing is clear from this episode.
Warren terrifies the Republicans.
With good reason!
LikeLike
Record Federal Income tax revenue
https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AwrJ7FzUP8pbBQ8ANilXNyoA;_ylc=X1MDMjc2NjY3OQRfcgMyBGZyA3lmcC10BGdwcmlkAzNzSFJ0ZnVYUXdlUTZ1T0hOQ2pIeEEEbl9yc2x0AzAEbl9zdWdnAzIEb3JpZ2luA3NlYXJjaC55YWhvby5jb20EcG9zAzAEcHFzdHIDBHBxc3RybAMwBHFzdHJsAzM4BHF1ZXJ5A1JlY29yZWQlMjBmZXJkZXJhbCUyMHRheCUyMHJldmVudWVzJTIwBHRfc3RtcAMxNTM5OTgxNTE5?p=Recored+ferderal+tax+revenues+&fr2=sb-top&fr=yfp-t&fp=1
http://blog.independent.org/2018/07/16/u-s-collects-record-tax-revenue-but-deficits-keep-piling-up/
https://nypost.com/2018/07/18/whats-behind-the-governments-record-income-tax-collection/
LikeLike