3 thoughts on “Get More Smarter on Monday (April 4)”

1. Promoting wind energy is Bold and Fearless!And all of Colorado must know about this amazing technology.

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2. Establishment Democrats  – should know this popular rebellion will not go away. Yet they are almost by definition locked into the path of least resistance by a formula that is as dead and obsolete – maybe moreso – as that of Republicans' old reliable God/Guns/Gays. 

   The Sanders- and Trump-led (for now) political rebellion is not going to go away. There are only two questions going forward:

   Will it remain a political rebellion, one that expresses itself through the electoral process, or will it abandon the electoral process as useless after 2016? 

   Will it be led by humanitarian populism from the left, or authoritarian populism from the right?

   Why is this rebellion permanent, at least until conditions improve? Because life in the U.S. is getting worse in a way that can be felt by a critical mass of people, by enough people to disrupt the Establishment machine with their anger. And because that worsening is seen to be permanent.

   Both sides have truly had a hand in strangling the Middle Class.

   Whichever anti-Establishment candidate runs, he wins. If both anti-Establishment candidates face off, Sanders wins. The message seems pretty clear. Dear Establishment Democrats, you can lose to Sanders or lose to Trump. Those are your choices, and I'm more than happy to wait until November 9 to find out what you chose and how it turned out. Not pleased to wait, if you choose wrongly, but willing to wait, just so we're both aware of what happened.

   The Rebellion Is Not Going Away

   I won't be happy with you though, Establishment Democrats, if you choose badly. And I won't be alone. Because even if you succeed with Clinton, Establishment Democrats, or succeed in giving us Trump in preference to giving us Sanders, the rebellion is not going away. If you look at the Trump side, it's easy to see why. Are wages rising with profits? No, and Trump supporters have had enough. (They don't quite know who to blame, but they're done with things as they are.) Will they tolerate another bank bailout, the one that's inevitable the way the banks are continuing to operate? They haven't begun to tolerate the last one. They already know they were screwed by NAFTA. What will their reaction be to the next trade deal, or the next, or the next? (Yes, it's not just TPP; there are three queued up and ready to be unleashed.) Trump supporters, the core of them, are dying of drugs and despair, and they're not going to go quietly into that dark night. The Trump phenomenon is proof of that.

   On the Sanders side, the rebellion is even clearer. Sanders has energized a great many voters across the Democratic-independent spectrum with his call for a "political revolution." But it's among the young, the future of America, that the message is especially resonant. For the first time in a long time, the current generation of youth in America sees itself as sinking below the achievements of their parents. 

   Blue Dog Dems have betrayed their base. And that base may not be there again for them to betray.

   Will the Very Very Rich Stand Down?

   The squeeze is on, and unless the rich who run the game for their benefit alone decide to stand down and let the rest of us catch our breath and a break, there will be no letting up on the reaction. What we're watching is just the beginning. Unless the rich and their Establishment enablers stand down, this won't be the end but a start, and just a start. I'll identify the three branches to this crossroad in another piece. It's not that hard to suss out those three paths, so long as you're willing to look a few years ahead, into the "middle distance" as it were. The ways this could play out are limited and kind of staring right at us. But let's just say for now, America faces its future in a way that hasn't happened since the Great Depression, another period in which the Constitution was rewritten in an orderly way (via the political process). Which means that for almost every living American, this is the most consequential electoral year of your life. 

   I don't believe the 1%-ers on either side are satisfied. They won't stand down when the Dow urges them on. There's still money to be made! An estimate to beat! The only thing holding everyone else back is their laziness!

   Yet for all their genius they can't see what a thriving Middle Class did to make this country what it (was). It could be that way again, but it'll probably have to wait for another generation of "self-made" millionaires to prove they are their fathers' equal, who deserve so much more than a stifling equality.

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3. Suck it up, Sonnenberg! Demoratic Freshman Daneya Esgar whooped your obstructive ass with her rain barrel bill!

   Grateful gardeners and rain collectors all over Colorado should give thanks for yet another female legislator who "gets it done!"

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