Democratic Debate #5- Lie Down with Dogs

Do I sound antipathetic on Hillary? Well, it’s not that Bernie doesn’t have his flaws but one thing he has going for him is that Institutional D.C. hates him almost as much as they hate Cruz, and that actually says a lot.

Not that I think Cruz is a great guy. Part of our nightly story meeting is my debate with TMC on whether Trump is actually the most horrible human being on the planet and she has the edge because she’s met him (just as I have met Joe Lieberman and let me tell you that would be quite a fight because Joe is by far the most loathsome individual it’s every been my displeasure to share the same air with) and I haven’t and his policies are not conventionally terrible in the usual Republican way.

Oh sure, he’s a bigot and a racist and panders to them, but he also likes Single Payer and is not quite so Nuke’Em NeoCon as the rest.

Hillary? More of the same.

If you like a D.C. Beltway culture that is completely sold out to 40 people and the companies they own then she’s your champion of incremental change meaning, of course, no change at all. John Edwards may have cheated on his cancer dying wife but it’s no different from what Newt Gingrich did, at least he recognized that there are two United States and unless you’re one of the 40 you’re not from the important part of it even if you won the Billion Dollar Lotto.

And that’s where we’re at. I have dispatched my minions to the snow covered (not so much anymore) mountains of the Granite State (Live Free Or Die!) where they will vote Bernie, BERINIE!, BERNIE!, even the intransigent Rodhams who have been waiting their whole life to vote for an un-chromosome damaged candidate that happens to represent a solid majority of the population that has spent a longer period of oppression than African-Americans.

It’s not because we’re shocked by oral sex (though it’s not a topic I talk with Emily about much), it’s because we believe in small d democracy and don’t think a lot of that’s going on right now.

This is not idealism, if it were I’d be talking about Bernie’s questionable relationship with guns or his interventionist foreign policy (not as bad as Hillary’s, worse than Trump), I’m being totally pragmatic. Bernie is more electable and represents majoritarian policies.

It is as simple as that.

Eric Holder Makes Ads for Hillary Clinton While Making Deals for Corporate Clients
by David Dayen, The Intercept
Feb. 4 2016, 1:48 p.m.

Former Obama administration attorney general Eric Holder is prominently featured in a Hillary Clinton campaign ad running in South Carolina. “If you want to make sure Republicans don’t take us backward, help Hillary move us forward,” Holder says.

Meanwhile, in his post-public service life as a partner with white-collar defense firm Covington & Burling, Holder is upholding his Justice Department’s tradition of negotiating lower fines for corporate offenses, albeit from the other side of the negotiating table.

The Associated Press reports that Holder, whose Justice Department prosecuted no major executive for the fraud that led to the 2008 financial crisis, is representing South African telecommunications conglomerate MTN in a $3.9 billion dispute with the country of Nigeria.

MTN Nigeria did not deactivate 5.2 million unregistered cell phone SIM cards after the Nigerian Communications Commission ordered them to do so by August 2015. Extremist groups operating in Nigeria use the cards for communications in kidnappings and attacks.

Now let’s just stop right there. Eric Holder is representing terrorists. Nice guy, huh. The kind of endorsement you want, just like Cliven Bundy only more mainstream and effective. Way to be Hill. Is there no depth to your depravity in pursuit of victory? None at all?

Holder has an excuse. Everyone, no matter how guilty, is entitled to a defense. What is yours Hillary?

During his Justice Department leadership, Holder specialized in negotiating settlements with corporations. The Justice Department issued a record number of deferred prosecution and non-prosecution agreements, allowing corporations charged with misconduct to buy their way out of trouble without jail time or clawed-back bonuses.

Covington & Burling defends corporate clients all over the world, including telecom, pharmaceutical, and financial interests. They openly promote getting bank clients off the hook in their marketing materials.
…
But Holder bristles at the suggestion that there might be a connection between his current employer and his conduct at Justice.

Lanny Breuer, head of the criminal division at DOJ under Holder, also returned to Covington & Burling after government work. In all, six former Justice Department officials now work at the firm.

You wake up with fleas Hillary. Good luck shills who think Hill is hope and change (or African-Americans who think the Obama administration has helped them in their struggle for justice).