It's Up to You, New York, New York!

People insist on comparing other cities to NY. It’s a fool’s errand, especially around Halloween. pic.twitter.com/GJkG0eZAeM

— Invictus (@TBPInvictus) October 31, 2023

I am not sure what is more epic, the person doing that awsome "Pizza Rat" costume, or the commuter who blithely vaulted the banister.

New York is magical.

Lucky Bastards

Here in the US, we have insurrection, misappropriation of nuclear secrets, the filibuster, voter suppression, and a corrupt supreme court.

In Finland, they have people complaining that their Prime Minister parties too hard, and that a guest at the official residence took a topless photograph.

That seems positively idyllic.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has apologised for a topless photo of guests at her official residence.

It comes days after she deflected accusations of having an excessive party lifestyle, by voluntarily taking a drug test - which came back clean.

The latest photo, of two well-known influencers, was taken inside the prime minister's residence in July and widely shared on social media on Tuesday.

Ms Marin admitted "the picture is not appropriate" and apologised.

In it, two women can be seen kissing each other covering up their bare chests with an official-looking sign reading "Finland".

………

The 36-year-old, who came to power in 2019, was until recently the world's youngest prime minister.

Their political kerfuffles seem so quaint, and I'm jealous.  I want some quaint here in the States.

We all need some quaint here in the States.

Ummmm ……… Isn't This Just Shoe Leather Politics?

So, I just came across a breathless article from Pro Publica, about how the racist terrorist group Oath Keepers is plotting to take over the Republican Party on behalf of Donald Trump.

This raises a couple of questions, the first being, to quote Dorothy Parker on the death of Calvin Coolidge, "How can they tell?" 

Racist terrorist dirt-bag is kind of the Republican brand these days.

On a more substantive note, the actions involving this plot, dubbed the, "Precinct Plan," seem to be fairly anodyne low level politics, though it is clear that the people working this are bat-sh%$ insane, but then again, this has been the case with Republican Party insurgents since (at least) Barry Goldwater's acolytes.

What they are are planning to do is volunteer for low level duties at election precincts and be actively involved in voter canvassing and voter turnout in their neighborhoods.

There is a term for people who do this, "Ward Heeler," and they have been around since the beginning of the Republic:

Former President Donald Trump has officially endorsed a plan, created by a man who has self-identified with the Oath Keeper militia, that aims to have Trump supporters consolidate control of the Republican Party.

The plan, known as the “precinct strategy,” has been repeatedly promoted on Steve Bannon’s popular podcast. As ProPublica detailed last year, it has already inspired thousands of people to fill positions at the lowest rung of the party ladder. Though these positions are low-profile and often vacant, they hold critical powers: They help elect higher-ranking party officers, influence which candidates appear on the ballot, turn out voters on Election Day and even staff the polling precincts where people vote and the election boards that certify the results. 

………

In addition to Bannon and Lindell, the precinct strategy has won support from pro-Trump figures such as former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who urged Trump to impose martial law, and lawyers Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, who led some of the lawsuits seeking to overturn the election results. Right-wing groups such as Turning Point Action, which organized buses to transport rallygoers on Jan. 6, also joined the effort to recruit precinct officers.

Let's be clear:  The people involved in this are dangerous and a threat to the republic, but the tactics described are pretty normal, and if progressives in the Democratic party were willing to do the same thing, they might achieve more success.

Snark of the Day

Conservatives are direct: They just reach into the cookie jar and grab what they want. With Democrats, there’s always a layer of indirection and often a lag: They get their cookies through their foundations, on K Street, or their book deals. Or their Presidential libraries.

—Lambert Strether

(emphasis mine)

This is a truly inspired burn.

Yeah, This is Going to Bring the Party Together

I understand that in US politics party platforms don't count for much.

Still, the fact Clinton and DNC members of the platform committee have voted against a meaningful increase to the minimum wage, and for fracking and the TPP promises to make the Democratic convention a mess:

The battle over the official Democratic Party platform began in earnest this Friday at a nine-hour meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, and already the sparks of tension seem to be outweighing the calls for “unity.”

The Democratic Party’s platform is an official statement of values on a wide range of issues, and while it is officially non-binding, the platform serves as a crucial guidepost for the entire party. The 2016 platform committee comprises fifteen members, with five members chosen by Bernie Sanders, six chosen by Hillary Clinton, and four chosen by Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Bernie Sanders himself had conflicting feelings about the progress and concessions made on Friday, releasing a statement on his website that said he was “pleased” with certain aspects but was “disappointed and dismayed” at other decisions, particularly those regarding trade.

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a Sanders representative on the committee, attempted to insert language into the platform that stated Democrats would not hold a vote on the widely derided Trans-Pacific Partnership deal in order to effectively end the plan’s prospects, but the committee rejected Ellison’s proposal so as to avoid indirectly criticizing President Obama on the issue, despite both Sanders and Clinton being against the deal.

………

The Democrats also voted to include the $15 minimum wage into the platform, even calling the current rate of $7.25 a “starvation wage.” However, there arose some confusion over this particular issue among progressive critics, as two further amendments introduced by Ellison that would have indexed the minimum wage to inflation, making it a truly “livable wage,” were voted down.

………

Bill McKibben, a Sanders appointee to the committee and prominent environmentalist who co-founded 350.org, attempted to insert language on both a carbon tax and a national moratorium on fracking, but both proposals were rejected in perhaps the most disappointing move of the proceedings.

………

The committee also rejected a single-payer Medicare-for-All plan in a decisive blow to one of Sanders’ key domestic policies. Hillary Clinton has stated in this election cycle that single-payer healthcare will “never, ever come to pass” despite supporting universal healthcare for most of her career. According to a Gallup poll conducted in May, 58% of Americans support a federally funded healthcare option. Only 48% of those polled wished to continue the Affordable Care Act.

Progressives and Sanders supporters vocalized their frustrations with what they saw as continued obstinance in the face of wide support for these programs and ideas. “What was passed was a solidly neoliberal platform — 90% of what we wanted is not getting in,” said Caleb-Michael Files, the digital strategist for People for Bernie Sanders.

………

Sanders has repeatedly stressed since the end of the campaign season that his endorsement of Clinton would depend on her platform and how closely her goals aligned with his own campaign’s. Sanders remained defiant in the closing of his statement on the platform, vowing to continue to fight for the issues as the platform continues to be debated in the coming weeks:

“If our pro-worker amendments do not carry in St. Louis we will reintroduce them before the full platform committee in Orlando, Florida. If we do not win in Orlando we can carry them to the floor of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Our job is to pass the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party.”

This is not a surprise.  Neither Clinton nor Wasserman-Schultz feel the slightest need to make nice with the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party.

Their goal is to assert control, and this might very well throw the election to the short fingered vulgarian.