Collusion, Not Statecraft

I don’t usually cite to Daily Kos, because I am aware that its articles are reported through a liberal lens and I’m not interested in simply becoming part of an echo chamber.

Despite its clear–and acknowledged–editorial perspective, however, I have found the site to be factually accurate–and often, very persuasive. I was especially convinced by a post analyzing the effects of Trump’s decision to renege on U.S. commitments made in the Iran Agreement (an agreement our inarticulate President likes to call a “deal.”)

A number of foreign policy experts have expressed frustration with the withdrawal because it reduces America’s ability to exert influence in the region and rather dramatically increases the prospects of destabilization, if not war. The recurring critique is that no one  (not even Israel, Bibi notwithstanding) benefits from this decision.

As the post reminds us, however, there is a beneficiary. Putin’s Russia.

Crude oil futures have leapt from $26 at the time of Trump’s election to $77 today. Back in January, Trump actually certified that Iran was in compliance with the nuclear agreement. However, Trump threatened to end the agreement if it wasn’t expanded to include items unrelated to Iran’s nuclear program and “strengthened” in unspecified ways.

Trump increased his warnings that he would end the deal in February, and by March was engaged in talks with European allies—talks at which allies consistently urged Trump to remain in the deal and Trump consistently announced his intention to walk away. As the talks wore on, and Trump’s intransigence became clear, fears of a destabilized Middle East began to shore up oil prices.

Russian oil production hovers around 10 million barrels a day. That means the increase that has already happened in oil prices is providing Putin with an extra $520 million a day. …

Everything else that Trump has or hasn’t done about Russia, any sanctions, any tariffs, any expelled diplomats, absolutely pales in comparison to the huge boost he provided to the Russian economy by backing away from the Iran nuclear deal. In fact, short of actually starting a shooting war in the region, it’s difficult to find anything else that Trump might have done of more benefit to Putin. It’s certainly difficult to think of anything Trump might have done to generate a more certain boost for Russia.

As any political pundit worth her salt will confirm, poor economic performance is a threat to even an autocratic politician, and Russia–which is very dependent on oil prices–has been running up steep deficits and cutting vital programs.

As the post notes, Russia’s economic problems have also hobbled its ability to deploy its military.

In 2014, as oil prices declined again, the value of the ruble tumbled, making it more difficult for Russia to borrow or import goods. At the start of 2015, the purchasing power index for Russia—the actual value of the country’s money when it comes to buying a standard “basket of goods”—was the lowest in the world.

The falling ruble triggered waves of inflation across Russia, putting prices up by double digits across the board, raising the interest rates to near 20 percent, and leading to widespread calls for wage and price controls. In 2016, Russia faced growing debt and declining GDP. Retail sales and personal wealth were both sharply down. Predictions were for a sustained period of oil prices below $20.

Anti-Putin demonstrations during the past few years have addressed a number of grievances, but this economic reality was clearly a major source of popular dissatisfaction. But as long as Iran continued to participate in the world’s oil markets, the oil prices that are so important to Russia’s economy would remain low.

Oil prices could be driven up only if the U.S. re-imposed the sanctions that had prevented Iran–the third largest player in OPEC–from selling its oil on the world market.  Those sanctions had been lifted under the agreement Trump just trashed. Immediately after he reimposed them, Americans faced  additional sticker shock at the gas pump.

Rising pump prices are blunting the positive effects of sweeping tax cuts on Americans’ spending, potentially undercutting a pillar of economic growth this year.

Withdrawing the U.S. from the Iran agreement may have infuriated our European allies, imposed costs on American consumers and made the world less safe. But it was a huge gift to Putin.

For a communist, Putin sure understands return on investment.

37 Comments

  1. The overriding statements from Trump regarding his decision to pull out of the Iran Agreement repeatedly referred to it as poor judgement by President Obama…as everything else he has repealed and overturned from the Obama administration and beyond. Withdrawing from the Iran Agreement was a continuation of Trump’s oft touted praise of Putin’s leadership and all things Russian in general throughout his presidential campaign. He himself brought on the Special Council Mueller ever expanding Russian investigation with his big mouth; his later denials fell on my deaf ears. The film clips of Trump and Putin head-to-head at international meetings and Trump’s private conference with Russian Ambassadors…with Russian press but no U.S. press representation…should have “sealed the deal” for his own government regarding whose side he is on. Now the Trump/Russian investigation has uncovered a second Trump Tower meeting; what is it going to take for the vice president and our own Congress to see where all of this is based and where it is headed?

    “As the post reminds us, however, there is a beneficiary. Putin’s Russia.”

    “Everything else that Trump has or hasn’t done about Russia, any sanctions, any tariffs, any expelled diplomats, absolutely pales in comparison to the huge boost he provided to the Russian economy by backing away from the Iran nuclear deal.”

    That Trump WANTS war is undeniable; his refusal to attend intelligence meetings to understand the presidential “job description” during the campaign, his comments “why can’t we nuke ’em?” and “if we have nuclear weapons why don’t we use them?” seemed to go in one deaf ear of Congress and out the other. He appointed those who stand with him and will benefit from war. As stated below; foreign policy experts have spoken out about the possibility/probability of war but our own government, which will be the CAUSE of any future war, remains silent.

    “A number of foreign policy experts have expressed frustration with the withdrawal because it reduces America’s ability to exert influence in the region and rather dramatically increases the prospects of destabilization, if not war.”

  2. I would say the Daily Kos is partly accurate, but they are still fanning the flames of the Clinton/Podesta excuse for losing the election—“Russia did it.”

    The idiots on MSNBC have spent well over a year trying to convince people that Putin is the devil and wanted to screw over Hillary.

    The question, “Who benefits from higher oil prices?” isn’t as demonic as the Kos explains, but it does serve Russia’s interest as an oil producer.

    However, we are also an oil producer and guess whose profits just shot through the roof by backing away from an OPEC nation?

    Don’t you think Rex Tillerson understood this concept?

    The shale oil found in the USA cost more to produce so higher prices for oil are essential, or the rigs stop producing. Who primarily controls prices for oil?

    The EU body slammed Trump for backing out of the Iran agreement, and now Angela Merkel is dropping her very old resentment against Putin (KGB and East Germany days).

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-17/trump-s-global-disruption-pushes-merkel-closer-to-putin-s-orbit?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=180518&utm_campaign=bop

    If the readers of Sheila’s blog can identify that Trump is an idiot, don’t you think foreign leaders have also figured it out? 😉

  3. Meanwhile, back here at home, his base doesn’t care. Simultaneously, talking heads predict a “blue wave” for November. If I recall correctly, that’s precisely what they were predicting in early October, 2016. Understand that 47 percent of the voters are with him come hell or high water. He could, in fact, shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose a single vote. Meanwhile Democrats don’t seem to be doing anything to keep their base energized and to prevent outrage fatigue.

    The only poll that counts is the one on Tuesday after the first Monday of November.

  4. It’s an interesting argument and quite possibly true. The piece that does not fit the puzzle very well is that so far the Russians remain in the Iran Agreement.

  5. Daily Kos. wants input. Y’all oughta give them some. I mostly read their news on environmental issues. Well, and of course the latest stupidity of Trump. I am so afraid he’ll blow up the world.

  6. Todd; if you believe the Clinton loss of the election due to Russia is what is “fanning the flames”, you aren’t paying attention. It is the Trump group that keeps inserting Clinton’s loss in the media as a distraction from the full reason the Russian influence is being investigated. Putin could not have controlled Hillary overtly or covertly but led Trump throughout the campaign with the accusations and continues to do so with Trump’s full support.

    Those involved in the Trump camp who met and plotted with Russians (directly or indirectly) sought – and bought – the presidency to control and limit the U.S. sanctions. Putin is the puppet master not only of Trump but of our own Congress. His tentacles are many and far reaching and Robert Mueller may never be able to uncover all of them or who all were and are involved. What we know for a certainty is that billions of dollars have changed hands and that continues today. My brother-in-law was a Marine stationed in Viet Nam; they discovered the Viet Namese tunneled throughout the country like moles. It was discovered when tunnels under their military base collapsed; those tunnels led to other tunnels leading to countless other tunnels. This is the way the Russian government has worked its way into United States government and its leadership…underground. How long have they been tunneling? I doubt we will every know; we need to know who and where they are at this time who continues to aid and abet them within our government and beyond.

  7. Todd, I agree with you. >> I would say the Daily Kos is partly accurate, but they are still fanning the flames of the Clinton/Podesta excuse for losing the election—“Russia did it.”<<<

    We have our own oligarchs and the 1%, who regularly and legally donate vast sums of funds to influence political campaigns and politicians once they are elected.

    The DNC has decided to spend it's funds on a lawsuit against a list of defendants that includes: Russia; Wikileaks; Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, etc.

    Good article in Slate: It’s Amazing How Many Countries Appear to Be Trying to Bribe Our President Right Now. In light of the news that entities controlled by the Chinese government will contribute $500 million to an Indonesian development project that includes several Trump-branded properties. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/05/trump-and-foreign-bribery-a-rundown-of-possibilities.html
    ====================================================================
    However, I come back to the point, that no matter how high some people want to push the Russian Hysteria Meter and other countries that are trying to gain an advantage by courting Don Jr., and Kushner, the Establishment-Corporate Democratic Party has no plan to benefit us proles.

    No matter how empty the Establishment-Corporate Democratic Party is, concerning a Progressive Agenda, we are expected to vote for them.

  8. I wonder: it seems most people have forgotten that putin was in a deal with trump to give him 19% in a major oil sourcing company (run by oligarchs that all tie directly to putin) that was brought to our attention over a year ago on Daily KOS. Yeah LIBERALS they are to blame – thanks Shiela! Couldn’t resist a dig. wow.

  9. “No matter how empty the Establishment-Corporate Democratic Party is, concerning a Progressive Agenda, we are expected to vote for them.”

    So, Monotonous, remembering that no vote supports the status quo, who do you suggest we vote for if not the Democratic Party – warts and all. It is fixable and it is worth fixing.

  10. Well, after reading Todd’s usual mindless attack on the DNC and MSNBC, the other comments all made sense. The one omission was any comments on this little bit: “Rising pump prices are blunting the positive effects of sweeping tax cuts on Americans’ spending, potentially undercutting a pillar of economic growth this year.”

    The tax cuts did NOTHING for consumer spending. The tax cuts were spent by the moguls for buying back their stock and giving executive bonuses. THAT, children, is the crux of the issue. We all know Trump is a mindless fool who has a terminal case of Obama Derangement Syndrome, and will do everything to undermine everything the Obama administrations did to help people and keep us out of still more stupid and illegal wars.

    I think people give Trump more credit than he deserves regarding consequences of his actions.

  11. Vernon; about those tax cuts, remember Ryan’s misguided bragging message about that incredible benefit of $7 every week on one lady’s paycheck. She could buy one KFC meal weekly or a McDonald’s meal and dessert. Of course; if she had a family to support maybe it could be put to better use buying two pork chops to share. Hardly considered a benefit today; 30 years ago that $7 would have gone further but still not enough to be beneficial even filling her gas tank. Not having enough income to file with IRS; people in my position saw even less benefit than that $7 because cost of everything has gone up this year since those tax cuts so we are losing…and we haven’t yet been hit with the increases caused by Trump’s imposed tariffs on foreign goods. So consumers ARE spending more but getting much less. Alas, alack and woe is us…woe is the entire U.S.

  12. Once again, as this country did in 2002-2003, our foreign policy has been hijacked by people who have agendas that are contrary to the rational formulation of our foreign policy in regard to the Middle East. Once again, as if once was not enough, we are again on the precipice of setting in motion what we’re trying to prevent – a greater and far less controllable war in that region of the world. I sometimes wonder, although it’s happened so many times I don’t want are hurt my brain in doing so, if we will ever learn any lessons from history and lessons from of the huge mistakes that we have made over the years that if led us to this point. To make it even that much worse we have an under informed, a consciously and deliberately under informed chief executive running the show. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney might have been many things but they were not irrational as the current occupant of the White House clearly is.

    I too read the Daily Kos and for the same reasons as you Sheila shy away from citing it as any sort of definitive source unless it is referencing articles written by credible journalists as was the case in you leading up to post this article. Trump has thrown a huge monkey wrench into our foreign policy formulation that is had agreed just impact in both the Middle East and in North Asia with both areas already being cauldrons for ongoing conflict or potential conflict. As you cited, the price of crude oil has skyrocketed because of the abrogation of the Iranian nuclear arms agreement (JCPOA) and he is further exacerbated the damage he is already done regarding our relations with our Allies in Europe and enhanced the growing influence of both Russia and China in the region.

    Russia does not have the military staying power that the United States does in terms of power projection nor the ability to maintain military operations in the region. Hence what they’ve been doing so far has been limited to the use of air power and also very likely special operations forces on the ground. Its military, in many ways, is a shell of what it was before the fall of the Iron Curtain but for short term operations it is still a very credible force. Vladimir Putin went on the record last year with his desire to make up for the shortfalls in conventional forces by shifting to the reliance on nuclear weapons, both theater oriented and also long-range intercontinental weapons. He spoke of doing this both for the defense of the Russian commonwealth but also to influence and mitigate events beyond their borders as a hedge against NATO and the United States. By having a reduced conventional force, and having a strategic doctrine as Putin has spoken openly about, it makes it more likely that the use of nuclear weapons would occur earlier in any conflict with them at the traditional coffer dam between the use of conventional forces vis-à-vis may not be as clearly defined as it was in the past.
    This was an unspoken risk that occurred when American air units were used to repel an attack on an oil facility occupied by American special operations forces in Syria by Russian mercenary forces particularly when it was not totally clear initially whether or not they were indeed mercenaries or actual Russian army units. To have American and Russian forces in such close proximity even with the deconfliction regimes that are in place is inherently dangerous. So, under the best of circumstances this is a very dangerous gambit that we and the Russians are playing directly and through our various proxies in the region with an occasional bone being thrown by the Israeli Air Force added to the mix.

    Under the best of circumstances we would have a Chief Executive in the White House that would be cool, calm, and collected when it came to dealing with these sorts of issues that have enormous ramifications not only for that region but global stability and safety. Unfortunately for us and everyone else we do not have that person on hand right now. Instead, we have a mentally unstable individual that is preoccupied by the continuing investigations of both his conduct and that of his minions in regard to those same Russians and their ongoing attempt to destabilize both the political system of this country and its social fabric. If this was being done with conventional military type weapons we would be at war right now but instead were in this never-never land place that we find ourselves in but outside of this farce that we’re dealing with here elsewhere in the world we are faced with situations that our grave and unpredictable. So while we act like we have our heads in our hands the rest of the world, particularly Russia and China, is taking advantage of the situation that the ascension of this man to the office of the presidency of the United States has given them. He is wrecking our foreign policy every day he remains in office. He is making, along with his so-called foreign policy and national security advisers, the risk of war that much greater. Neither this country nor its people are prepared for such an eventuality and with our politics and our social fabric in such disarray we could be hell bent toward a very real catastrophe.

    There are many reasons why this man must go but this is the most important one, war and peace.

  13. Both sides in America are brainwashed……. One side to its potency, the other to its impotency. Under those circumstances how in the world could a catastrophe be avoided? It can’t.

  14. Who’s the bigger enemy of the US? Russia (Putin) or the RNC/NRA/KKK (Trump). Of course that’s irrelevant because they are clearly partners in the oligarchy business. They are allied against both we the people and the DNC.

    We hear everyday here that the US/DNC are far from perfect because they are diverse but not progressive enough. That’s true, but they are are so much more so than any available alternative.

    In about six months we will choose between oligarchy and freedom because we can thanks to the founders who were experienced in choosing freedom and ousting oligarchy. We have a history to guide us that reveals both the necessity and the potential cost. What Americans have chosen every time we’ve been faced with that choice is that the cost of aristocracy only goes up and the work of freedom has always been a good investment.

    Seems like a no brainer. Let’s focus.

  15. One side is represented by the likes of the Tea Party, the other by the Southern Poverty Law Center/ADL. It’s turning out to be just ONE BIG JOKE concocted by a couple of super rich Texans 50 years ago.

    con-coct (ken kakt’) vt. [< L com-, together + conquere, to cook] l. to make by combining ingredients 2. to devise; plan—con-coc'tion n.

  16. More DNC and DCCC agitprop. An opinion piece by a former writer of fiction with 7-8 links to previously net-published news articles. It’s not even worth commenting upon. The OMG RUSSIA narrative needs to cease. If not,by this time next year, the mantra of the Democratic Party will be “We Ceased To Exist After 2016,But We Still Need Your Donation.”

  17. It always seemed to me that a consequence of not focusing is that it leads to whining instead of acting. People who I admire as problem solvers typically have a knack for not getting overwhelmed but naturally focusing through the clutter and zeroing in on only what can I do right now that is a step that may or may not solve the problem but will certainly change things in a way that the next step may reveal itself.

    There was a good movie awhile ago about a man who was part of a project to build a habitable lab on Mars. Things went wrong and he was left alone there with no hope for rescue for months. Most of the movie was the story of both he and his rescuers doing exactly what I’m talking about…..acting on first things first relentlessly until the solution was revealed.

  18. “Withdrawing the U.S. from the Iran agreement may have infuriated our European allies, imposed costs on American consumers and made the world less safe. But it was a huge gift to Putin.”

    To those who continue to have only negative views and comments about the Democratic Party; you seem to have forgotten our Democratic President Barack Obama helped negotiate and put the Iran agreement in place. Trump’s removal of the U.S. from the agreement, an agreement to hopefully prevent WWIII, is only one of his gifts to Putin…it may be the icing on the cake which both Trump and Putin have and are eating. Your repeated negativity brings to my mind an old tried and true axiom:

    “LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET OUT OF THE WAY!”

  19. What Tom Lund wrote. Those of us who complain that the DNC is imperfect are right, as is every other human institution, but as I often write, consider the alternative, an alternative composed of a clueless Trump, a never met a war I didn’t like John Bolton, a co-manager of the money laundering Bank of Cyprus with a Russian who was a friend of Putin, one Wilbur Ross, now our Commerce Secretary, who is being dispatched to China to work out the details of a new trade agreement supposedly designed to reduce our trade deficit with that exporting behemoth, all of whom should be in the Big House rather than the White House.

    I think we have lost our sense of proportion when by criticizing our own we give aid and succor to such as those I have above cited and many I have not. The First Amendment gives us the right of free speech, to be sure, but its exercise should be leavened with an eye toward the likely result of its use, to wit: the election and/or reelection of tea partiers, brigands, and others who are involved in the destruction of our democracy and inflation of their Swiss and Cayman bank numbers hidden under layers of trustees. I for one will not assist such criminal enterprises and will not criticize those who criticize such criminal enterprises. I have considered the alternative.

  20. You cannot take on substantive tasks when you and your organization happen to be stuck in OMG RUSSIA 2016 mode.

    Nor, can you tackle those tasks when you’re willing to ignore the real problems that have brought us here. But by all means,continue with the OMG RUSSIA and the continuing insistence of shaking party pom-poms. That has been working out so well. Why do so many not bother to vote? It does absolutely no good in their lives. That’s the truth. Whilst we sit within the comfortable confines of our affluent enclaves acting as if we’re genuine soldiers deflecting grenades on a battle field. It’s all fun,isn’t it? The conspicuous tribal praise,et al. If we focus on Russia and pretend all was well before 2017….we don’t have to admit our own failures as a party and people. Hell,if we come back to this post 5 years from now,what will be different regardless of who wins?

    Meanwhile,as the world has kept turning since 2016…

    [snip]
    Although the U.S. remains the world’s richest country, it has the third-highest poverty rate among the 35 nations in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), behind only Turkey and Israel. Nearly 1 in 5 American children lives in a household that the government classifies as “food insecure,” meaning they are without “access to enough food for active, healthy living.”

    Beyond that, too few basic services seem to work as they should. America’s airports are an embarrassment, and a modern air-traffic control system is more than 25 years behind its original schedule. The power grid, roads and rails are crumbling, pushing the U.S. far down international rankings for infrastructure quality. Despite spending more on health care and K-12 education per capita than most other developed countries, health care outcomes and student achievement also rank in the middle or worse globally. Among the 35 OECD countries, American children rank 30th in math proficiency and 19th in science.[end]]

    http://time.com/5280446/baby-boomer-generation-america-steve-brill/

    For the sake of argument,let’s just say the downward spiral started 45 years ago. How much of the previous 45 years was spent under a Democratic Party majority? Only now,do the Democrats seemingly want to fight a battle that should have been fought decades ago. Decades after they have have genuinely lost. Is this why the party and its apparatchiks have willfully chosen to ignore the above facts? Because it’s better to create boogeymen such as Russia,Putin,Sanders and Todd than admit the failures of previous Democratic Party administrations. After all,what’s the point in everyone supporting a party that is impotent,increasingly irrelevant and unwilling to do the grunt work on behalf of the lower 91%.

  21. William,

    What have you said that’s not true?

    Since Bill Clinton and his TRIANGULATION strategy, the Democratic Party has turned out to be not only a party of losers but also, in many ways, a party of COLLABORATORS. I don’t like losing to a joke of a human being, like Donald Trump. The way things are going, the Democratic Party has nothing constructive to add, even if they should win (maybe the DNC will be ousted by November, miracles do happen). Actually, I can easily imagine that things will even be worse if they do win, just like what followed after the Popular Front victory, in the mid 30’s in France, which quickly led to FASCISM.

  22. It is, in my opinion, way too early to give up on democracy and freedom. Considering all of the people who have given all to pass them on to people like us who they expected to treasure them, we can at the very least fight at the polls to avoid more consequential trauma.

    Not voting or voting R or voting for candidates who can’t win are all cop outs.

  23. “Not voting or voting R or voting for candidates who can’t win are copouts.”
    I’ve been trying to make that point in various places. Sometimes it works.

  24. Pete,

    “Not voting or voting R or voting for candidates who can’t win are all cop outs.”

    Talking about “cop outs.” What have you ever done other than vote?
    As I remember, didn’t you even support the Republican Party up until a few years ago?

  25. “I think we have lost our sense of proportion when by criticizing our own we give aid and succor to such as those I have above cited and many I have not.”

    Gerald; we are not only giving “aid and succor” to those you mentioned and others…they are all having a much deserved laugh at our expense. As wrong, racist, bigoted, neo-Nazi, White Nationalist, KKK following, woman abusing, lying, stealing and treasonous SOB as Trump is…his party is marching in full lockstep with him and his administration. There is a lesson to be learned there; whether loyalty to party or gaining wealth…they are together, proving there is strength in numbers, whatever those numbers represent.

    President Abraham Lincoln said it best, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Neither can our political party.

  26. When did trying to change the strategy of a political party who lost to one of weakest political candidates in the history of man (and women) become a “cop out”? Are we all nuts?

  27. Marv K:”When did trying to change the strategy of a political party who lost to one of weakest political candidates in the history of man (and women) become a “cop out”?

    Because those pointing their finger(s) at those wanting real change within the party, don’t want change within the party. Just like their counterparts within the Republican Party,they do not want change. Change scares them. Plus,getting the bourgeoisie to do the grunt work needed for real change isn’t going to happen,they might get bruised. Or, they might not have an opportunity to enjoy that second home this summer if they’re busy marching/protesting. “Protest? Why? I’m Comfortable.”

    In order for the evolution of the Democratic Party to move forward and in the proper direction,it must die and be abandoned until its infrastructure is cracked and damaged–just like the infrastructure within the country of the organization’s origin. The Republican Party should die as well. Also,until the DNC and the DCCC are no longer vehicles for the donor class,nothing will change. People are tired of voting for SOS,LOTE and DINO’s.

  28. No one is talking about not trying to change the strategy of the Democratic party; it is the repeated negative comments against the party, its foundation and we who still support it. Our opportunities to push for needed changes will be much better the more Democrats we vote into office. Telling a drowning man he should have learned how to swim will not save him.
    Many on this blog have contacted their elected officials of both parties to complain, report problems and make suggestions for improvement. We follow their actions and their voting records as best we can to know who are the weak links. Such as Indiana’s Joe Donnelly who is not trusted by his own party supporters and loved by the Republicans…if we were not doing something other than vote we wouldn’t be aware of his weaknesses and his voting record. We are well aware of the strength of this area’s U.S. Representative Andre Carson who received 73% of the primary vote earlier this month; we are also well aware that he is a Black man and a Muslim and neither has been an issue in his lengthy political career. And I am sure Pete does much more than vote or his comments would not be of the high level of intelligence, knowledge and strength of his character he shows.

  29. The central problem we’re NOW facing is one of ETHICS. We’ve lost our EQUILIBRIUM in America because of the IMPOTENT CONDITION in the supposedly COUNTERVAILING FORCE against the now FASCIST-LIKE Republican Party, specifically the DNC LEADERSHIP of the Democratic Party. Our only chance to “stem the tide” now being ridden by Donald Trump is to successfully challenge the DNC LEADERSHIP before the November elections. We have no other choice. We’re stuck with a TWO-PARTY SYSTEM. TIME is still on our side. We can still WIN.

  30. When an army continues to lose battles, you don’t stop fighting, you dismiss the GENERAL. Abe Lincoln knew that simple fact, acted on it, and SAVED THE REPUBLIC.

  31. First things first:
    Flip the U.S. House of Representatives – VOTE
    Flip the U.S. Senate – VOTE
    Support the Blue Wave – VOTE
    Don’t waste your vote on Tuesday, November 6, 2018

  32. We need more information from JoAnn Green. How does she expect us to know what we’re doing considering her limited input?

  33. Bye-bye ObamaGas; hello TrumpGas.

    The more we blame Trump’s battle plan for every loss the American citizen suffers, the more unjustified credit he can assume belongs to him. It is as if for every Presidential move that ends in calamity, we are willing, through our presumptions and careless words, to credit Trump for masterful strategy and crackerjack tactics that get to the end-game fast and sure. But he is not the evil clockwork genius we think. He is not even evil; he is simply inept. Please, blame his stupidity, his ignorance, not his plan. He is a clownwork dope not a clockwork genius.

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