SNY: Knicks guard Kadeem Allen looking to ‘earn a permanent roster spot’ in training camp

I like Allen but barring a trade, who is he gonna beat out?

Allen and Wooten. And there’s some free agent out there looking for work that’s better than them too. Not leaving 2-3 roster spots open competition was a bad idea by the front office. The Knicks signed 7 average players as free agents. I would have rather seen them sign 4 above average free agents and let kids fight it out for the last 3 roster spots. It was a tactical error, IMO.

I don’t think you necessarily need to strategize around the Wootons and Allens of the world. Those guys are a dime a dozen. Not leaving a roster spot and cap space available for a profitable salary dump is a more legit gripe.

I’d rather have Wooten than Allen, but as long as they are making an effort to take a better look at Wooten, that’s fine by me. I don’t see the point behind Allen. He’s fine as a 3rd string backup, but at his age I’d rather we working with a player in their early 20s even if he’s a bit behind Allen now.

And Allen is still on a two-way, so we can keep him around for a while without having to create a roster spot for him. The circumstances under which he’d need to spend more than 45 (I think it’s 45?) days with the team are so catastrophic that finding room for him would be the least of our problems.

I know zip about Wilkes, our other two-way guy, who was sick throughout summer league and didn’t play. But unless he shows something major in training camp, I’d cut him and give Wilkes our other two-way deal. As with Allen and point guards, we have such a glut of big men that it’s hard to envision a scenario where he’d need more time with the big club, anyway. And if he does, then we just cut one of the role players.

Kadeem Allen is likely stuck on that 2 way deal unless one of Wayne Ellington and Frank Ntilikina piss the bed. I actually think Ntilikina should be the favorite to start at shooting guard as he’s our best perimeter defender and does a lot of the little things coaches like. I don’t actually see where Allen fits on the 15 man, but I guess he has an outside chance.

Damn, that Bernie-Warren tag team last night was beautiful.

There was a fun article in the Athletic trying to predict the rotation/minutes based on each player’s minutes from last season. Using that as a guide, the total of the likely rotation players= 274 minutes, so the writer had to really use his imagination to get down to 240:
Randle 30
Mitch 23
Morris 27
RJ 25
DSJ 24
Payton 18
Knox 20
Trier 14
Ellington 13
Frank 6
Portis 20
Taj 10
Dotson 10

So if the main lineup is: Mitch, Randle, Morris, RJ, Smith… That is a pretty shittay three-point shooting lineup. That is a lineup that will have eFG% problems. I mean, any lineup is a lineup that’s going to have eFG% problems I guess, which is why this team is prolly not gonna be real good.

Mitch .000
Randle .344
Morris .375
Barrett .308 (shorter NCAA line)
DSJ .322

The league average on 3-point attempts last year was .355 for reference.

I think there’s a lot of places on the roster where you can reasonably hope for improved outside shooting (Knox, Trier, Dotson, Bullock with healthy, Frank?), but yeah JK you’re right.

I love good defense as much as all of us (I think) do here, but I think overall improved 3pt shooting will be a huge underlining factor in how well (range: crappy to plucky) we do this season.
We were 24th in total 3ptrs made (823) and 28th in percentage (34%). I wonder how the team would look with median-level shooting (35.25%)… not advanced stats I know, but still a factor.

1) I don’t think we signed Payton to back up Smith Jr. unless the latter emerges as a much-improved player in training camp. I think Payton will start and play starter’s minutes unless and until DSjr outplays him.

2) I think there will be a relatively short leash on both RJ and Knox.

Minutes distribution for first 10 games (obviously some guys will be in and out of rotation):

C: Mitch (26) Portis (16) Randle (6)
PF: Randle (26) Morris (8) Taj (10) Knox (4)
SF: Morris (14) Knox( 14) RJ(10) Dotson (4) Trier (2) Iggy (2) Frank (2)
SG: Ellington (12) Trier (18) RJ (4) Dotson (8) Frank (6)
PG: Payton (26) DSJ (20) RJ (2)

JK I agree and that’s why I think Ellington and Payton start along with Morris, Randle and Mitch. I don’t think that team defends the perimeter well enough to compensate for the lack of 3-pt shooting. Ellington and Morris are decent enough 3-pt shooters and we would have an excellent rebounding team that would make up for a low eFG%. It’s also possible that Dotson and Ellington would be flipped if Dotson looks great in preseason.

Then the first wave off the bench is Portis, Knox, RJ, Trier and DSJ.

Taj, Iggy, and Frank take turns in and out of rotation.

I agree that Duke Ellington should probably start but I really wonder if he is going to get the nod over RJ. I just really get the sense that RJ is going to start and play a heavy load of minutes.

I actually think Ntilikina should be the favorite to start at shooting guard as he’s our best perimeter defender and does a lot of the little things coaches like.

Do any of these little things involve dribbling, shooting, scoring, or drawing fouls?

Last I heard Dotson had two surgeries after last season. Does anyone have an update? Will he 100% for training camp?

Last I heard he should be healthy in time.

Not today, Satan

Do they have more stock in DSJ because he was part of the KP trade or in Payton, who used to play for Perry before and was signed as a free agent. I think statements like “they have more stock” in player X is pure conjecture. I would also argue that the main piece in the KP trade were the Dallas picks and getting rid of Hardaway/Lee without having to give up assets to do so.

I think they want DSJ to succeed but don’t think they’re going to be bull headed about it. Payton is the better PG right now and should start. He’s also better on defense.

@34 Maybe Dennis has a bit of an edge because if he plays well, they have more of a chance to sign him long-term, but I doubt that a) the KP trade factors in and b) the team looks at either of them as the PG of the future…unless Dennis makes a quantum leap. It would be amazing if Keith Smart has fixed Dennis’ badly broken shot and he starts killing it from the perimeter, but the odds of that are pretty remote. My guess is that he continues to clank away and make dumb decisions, but that his TS% might creep above .500 largely on improved FT%. Ultimately, I expect that Payton will start and play more than Dennis unless he gets hurt again.

Last I heard Dotson had two surgeries after last season. Does anyone have an update? Will he 100% for training camp?

He’ll be healthy in time for training camp, but not having the opportunity to work on his game this summer is a major negative in my mind. To me, he’s right on the cusp of being a pretty good two-way player off the bench. He needs a more consistent 3 point shot and has to work on scoring off the dribble a bit. If he comes in the same as he left (or needs time to get back in the grove), he may lose his place. He’s not as young as some of the others. He needs to break out soon.

I like Payton more than DSJ, but they are both young enough and close enough in ability to let them slug it out and see who improves more to win the job.

So the Mets must still think they’re a playoff team. If they win a couple more I might start watching again…

It’s Seth Lugo and a bunch of gas cans.

thanks JK, i needed that…

it’s funny, even with a bad starting pitcher, you still can start a game hoping things will be okay…with runners on base in a close game and a less than normally successful bullpen guy enters the game – that’s a whole other level of grief and terror…

Meanwhile, the Yankees’ refusal to acquire Patrick Corbin and/or Dallas Keuchel for nothing but money came back to bite them when there were no good pitchers still available to them on deadline day, while the Astros got Greinke (who would never want to pitch in NY, and whom the Yankees would never want for that reason). Dammit.

With bullpens, who the fuck knows. The Mets signed guys with track records like Wilson and Familia then traded minor league pieces for Edwin Diaz and we all know how that turned out.

I mean it’s just as likely that any one of the underperforming guys they already have goes wild in the last two months.

#FireGettleman

hell if he ain’t phil all over again, just a different sport…

saw your tweet reference Legion…i know there’s stuff going on behind the scenes with disney, but, kind of glad this will be just be a 3 season series…wanky plot lines aside (it’s a comic – what can you expect), no question it’ll stay as one of my all time favorite series…

hell if he ain’t phil all over again, just a different sport…

Ugh, I’ve been saying almost since he got hired. I think his first press conference he said that the way to win in the NFL is to run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense and I was immediately out on him.

Nah. Things are so bad for the Giants right now, I’m more enthusiastic about this Knicks season. #FireGettleman

you are so wrong about this…..

Hey, at least you guys didn’t trade Khalil Mack for a running back whose equivalent could have been picked in the third round.

In what way? Our general manager is trying to build the best team of 1993

Completely disagree… They fixed the #1 problem …. the OL and now for the first time in 6 years have actual professionals at all 5 positions with the LT and RG as plus players for sure. Once they started blocking it up just a little the last half of last season the offense and eli took off.

They passes on the QBs last year because they drafted a lock HoF player if he doesn’t get injured….. arguably the best offensive player in the league last year.

The got younger and faster all across the defense.

They replaced an inside LB who was playing weak side safety who couldn’t cover anyone in space with a young pro for much less money.

The traded the oft injured yet mercurial OBJr for three young starters…. and lost the non winning drama. If you hadn’t noticed the Pat.s have done pretty well over the past 16 years without brand name wide outs…..

@59

I legitimately believe he’s entering some type of senility.

He called Senator Booker “President.” He couldn’t even recite the proper email address to his own campaign website in the closing statements, saying it’s Joe30330.com when it’s Joe2020.com.

He can’t even defend himself from the amateurs on that stage tonight. Trump would lambaste him.

What kills me is how Biden actually represents the worn down old man which the corporate media tries to paint Bernie as. Are they even trying to address this issue? I know they want to cover it up, but its so blatant that they have to address this or appear even more biased.

On another note, I was reading the P&T article about Trier and looked at his highlight reel posted in the article. I thought to myself that his game really resembled Harden’s early game. Then I looked at this:

http://bkref.com/tiny/zmp2s

The only significant difference in their rookie per 36 stats was that Harden averaged a steal more and a foul less. Harden shot more 3’s and Trier shot more 2’s. And now Trier is being coached to shoot more 3’s.

Just sayin’.

That’s two bad debates in a row for Biden, who should really fare better as he has lots of experience with this sort of thing. He is really coasting on his name recognition and hoping to just skate to the nomination because not enough people are paying attention. I agree that he looks pretty washed up.

Julian Castro had the best night, he fares well in this format and he landed some solid blows.

Besides the obvious part, winning, another huge difference between the front office of the Knicks and Yankees was on display today. Everyone was all riled up today about not trading for a pitcher and what did Cashman do? As soon as the game today was over he had a 20min press conference answering a ton of questions from the media. The Knicks this summer sent out an odd press release during the 1st day of free agency and didn’t even have a press conference introducing their new players. Of course the front office has not spoken at all this summer and even Fiz during Summer League told the beat writers covering the team that he can’t speak because the front office was “holding him hostage”.

I wish I could show you guys the picture I took with my buddy’s horse today. It’s nice and relaxing and funny. Everyone should ride a good gentle horse. It takes the stress out of you.

I used to date a girl who was really into horses. She was like a show jumping champion when she was a kid and when we first started dating she had me come out to this stable where she would ride horses so I could watch her do jumps and dressage and all that hoity toity shit. I was never so sick in my life. It was like somebody shot me in the face with every allergen known to man. Puffy eyes, uncontrollable sneezing, nose running like a faucet. We eventually moved in together for a while and the entire time was an allergy nightmare. I was just perpetually, constantly sick. Allergy meds did almost nothing to help.

Years later I had the allergy blood test done, and it turns out I’m allergic to lots of airborne things, all sorts of grass and animal dander. I’ve always been allergic to cats, that’s something I always knew, and on the test it was like a 3.0 on the scale. Dogs were like a 2.9. Horses though were off the charts, it was like 8.0 or something like that. Like just catastrophically allergic. All that time I was dating the horse girl I had horrific allergies just from horse hair remnants being on her boots and in her car or wherever they happened to be.

So yeah. Fuck horses. Horse hair is my kryptonite.

I’ve been thinking about good landing spots for the corpse of Melo. The best fits seem to be LAL, LAC, TOR, PHI, MIL, and MIA. If he can commit to being a vet’s minimum bench scorer, he can help those teams. Sort of.

The Giants have to hope their terrible enough to land Jake Fromm in the draft this year because ole Danny Jones ain’t it. As a lifelong Jets fan, let me be the first to tell you that you can’t win the NFL without a QB or a pass rush, and as it stands the Giants have neither.

@62

There’s one pretty significant difference between Harden’s and Trier’s rookie years, Harden was only 20 while Trier was 23. Also, Harden’s advanced stats blow Trier’s out of the water.

The Giants have to hope their terrible enough to land Jake Fromm in the draft this year because ole Danny Jones ain’t it.

There is zero chance the Giants take a quarterback in next year’s draft. Zero. Whether Eli plays this whole season, Jones starts half a season, or even 3/4 of it, the front office and coaching staff will insist that Jones needs a full season where he’s taking snaps as QB1 for all of training camp before they can properly evaluate him.

That’s the great danger of taking the wrong quarterback. It’s not just that he’ll suck, but that he’ll prevent you from taking a potentially better one for years to come. What the Cardinals just did with Rosen and Murray is very unusual, and not at all the kind of thing that a deeply conservative organization like the Giants would ever consider.

@74 the age difference is real but Trier was on a much worse team from top to bottom. I don’t get why the advanced stats are disparate unless they are normed to league averages. But the skill sets are very similar as rookies, do you agree?

There’s literally zero chance that the Giants would draft another QB in the 1st next year. Both Gettleman and the Maras are too arrogant to admit they made a mistake.

They made a mistake????? Could the fucking man take a snap from center before all you draftnik morons start chirping in? Ny fans are the absolute worst FFS.

I’ve never seen this guy play a single down but I’m not convinced he sucks and was a bad pick because Steve Serby needs some click bait. Any of you geniuses ever heard of Phil Simms?

And by the way Eli sat the first 9 games of his rookie season and looked worse than awful the last 7 going 1-6 after his mentor was 5-4 to start the season with the same players. His game vs the Ravens was enshrined in a time capsule for suck fever in a starting role.

They made a mistake????? Could the fucking man take a snap from center before all you draftnik morons start chirping in? Ny fans are the absolute worst FFS.

If you take a 2nd round talent with the 6th pick in the draft you made a mistake whether he makes the hall of fame or not.

There’s literally zero chance that the Giants would draft another QB in the 1st next year.

I disagree. If the Giants are in a position to draft Tui or Fromm, Gettelman will probably be fired.

I doubt they will be, though. I agree with bob that he’s put together a decent team. It won’t be a playoff team, but I don’t expect it to be anywhere near bad enough to draft that high. Barkley alone is good enough to take us out of that range.

@77 yes, that’s a ridiculous bet. Unless he turned around and found a casino where he got them not making the playoffs for +6000 or something and bet both sides, guaranteeing a profit.

I hated the Daniel Jones pick, but the David Brown comparison is lazy. I’m willing to give him a shot before I say he’s a bust. He is mobile and tough at least. I recently re-watched last year’s Clemson game, and his receivers dropped about 10 passes as he was getting his ass kicked on every other snap, and he never gave up or showed up any of his teammates.
What I wish was that they would have cut Manning, saved 17 mil of cap space, and let Jones play right away. They’re just kicking the can down the road Knicks style here.

If you really want Daniel Jones, you trade down with that #6 pick, because ain’t nobody else drafting Daniel Jones at #6. It’s not a question of whether or not he’s any good (he’s not) but more about understanding how the draft works. You’re leaving value on the table selecting Jones at 6 no matter how good he turns out, because you almost certainly could have had him at like #50 overall.

The Jon Gruden Raiders are very similar to the Giants. “Throwback” style player valuation, egregious reaches in the draft, trading away of superstars for pennies on the dollar, no idea of how to navigate the draft. It’s not good when you’re similar to the Jon Gruden Oakland Raiders.

because you almost certainly could have had him at like #50 overall.

Sez you….. that makes it official!

What are some examples of egregious draft reaches that turned into HOF players in any sport?

Yeah, I get the draft value thing. I’m just saying it’s way too premature to be calling Jones a bust or saying he can’t play. This isn’t basketball or baseball; in football your teammates/coaching/scheme have a much bigger impact on your play / numbers.

because you almost certainly could have had him at like #50 overall.

I can’t believe I’m defending Daniel Jones or Gettleman today, but that is a ridiculous statement. You need to stick to the NBA.

Most years Jones would have been a day 2 pick. This year it was an incredibly shitty QB class so sure, maybe some other dumb team might have wanted to draft Jones in the first round. That doesn’t mean you draft a day 2 quality QB at 6 overall.

@95

Trump is far and away the easiest incumbent president to beat in my lifetime, but the democrats might actually find a way to lose.

How difficult is it to find a democrat that is generally pro business and free markets, but recognizes the excesses of the times and the needs of the poor and middle class and wants to address them?

How difficult is it to find a democrat that is anti war and regime change, but not naive enough to think that everyone will work with us in good faith if we are just nice to them?

How difficult is it to find a democrat that’s not bat shit crazy?

What the hell happened to this party?

Out of my ass, I’d say 70%-80% of Americans are somewhere in that center left or center right area politically that would gladly vote against Trump if presented with someone that’s bright and has center positions on economic and foreign policy.

Biden?

I mean come on!

His peak was 20-30 years ago and even then he was a role player off the bench on a bad team.

Biden?

I mean come on!

His peak was 20-30 years ago and even then he was a role player off the bench on a bad team.

WORD
ON
THIS

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/255074/Ron-Baker-Signs-One-Year-Deal-With-CSKA

So long, immortal beloved.

On a more serious note, I think the fruits of non-expansion are being borne right now. Seems like there isn’t a team in the league desperate enough for NBA talent to pick up guys like Lin, Lance, Melo, Baker, etc. for anything more than the vet’s minimum, if that. I’m a huge opponent of expansion until virtually every roster has a preponderance of legit NBA rotation players. We seem to be nearing that point.

Yeah, even the Knicks have about 10 legit NBA rotation players. Let’s get 2 new teams for Seattle and Vegas.

Teams are also starting to recognize more the value of undrafted rookies, 2nd rounders and G-League players. Why would I waste a roster slot on a guy on the decline who isn’t good, when you can get two-way G-League guys or very cheap rookies who might turn into better players? Even guys like Lance Stephenson and Nik Stauskas, who are adequate end of bench guys, are having to go to Europe or China, mostly because there’s not room for improvement with players like them.

Eh, not so much. You are right on with the first point. But her stances on Israel, Venezuela, Iran and Trump’s budget increases aren’t anti-regime change.

Somebody is fully armed with the official talking points from Bernie Bro HQ

Got a guest room, Hubert? I love Montauk, haven’t been there in years.

I do. I’m moving out on Aug 12, though. Fucking real world.

Who is the almighty arbiter who comes down from Mount Olympus and declares him a second round pick….

You’re right, he might have been a 3rd round pick if Gettelman didn’t fall in love with him.

He has bad stats, bad arm strength, bad accuracy, and doesn’t win. Do I have to be Zeus to figure out he was a reach as the 6th overall pick?

The reasons they stated for loving him are:

– his performance on the wonderlic
– who his coach was
– one good drive in an exhibition game

These are not strong indicators of success.

Ron Baker was an undrafted free agent, played 1300 minutes of horrible NBA basketball and is now 26 years old.

Agreed, but it seems like there were more of those guys in the NBA fairly recently than now. And guys like Lin and Lance were getting snapped up at substantially more than minimum salaries.

More generally, my guess is that the influx of good players has been greater than the outflow of bad players for some time now, probably due to better international scouting and worldwide expansion high-quality basketball. Not that this particular draft was all that great…

And by the way… can there be a dumber statement that if a guy makes the HOF then he is still a second round pick. I mean you are saying you won’t let the facts ruin your perfect opinion. If you pick a guy 6th and he makes the HOF you made a FABULOUS pick. End of story. Please don’t get that married to an opinion. Its so full of fail.

If the Chicago Bears had taken Tom Brady with the #9 pick in the 2000 draft, it would have been a huge blunder because he was a 6th round pick and they would have only had Tom Brady instead of Tom Brady and Brian Urlacher.

@113

No, but this didn’t stop them in 2016 and it won’t stop many of them in 2020. The alternative is looking to actual expand the electorate to incorporate voters who have been traditionally marginalized from the voting process but that would actually mean fundamental changes many candidates are not willing to make.

I’d still take Ron Baker at the minimum over a few of the players that are on this team now. Baker defends and plays well within a team concept. Being good on one side of the ball and at least trying to play the right way is more than some of these guys can do. I’ll take the zero on offense for 5-10 minutes of high energy high level defense from time to time.

I love the smell of horse poop in the morning, it smells like victory.

yep, i am destined to daydream about the racetrack and montauk all day…not a bad way to spend a part of the day i guess…

oh yeah, took my first yoga class last night…it was really cool…i try to stretch well every day, but, definitely no where near to that extent…it was a beginner’s beginner type class, still though – my body really needed it…looking forward to showing up tonight…

there was another really beneficial effect to the class – i know whining about work is even less sexy than talking about religion or politics; and, i’m sure many of you have (or had) a similar work experience…when things get busy at work it’s like taking a test, all day long…it can stay busy like that for days, weeks, longer…15 or even 10 years ago, it might be annoying, but, it wouldn’t really effect me too much…now, after a couple of days it just wears me out…i have no clue how some folks are able to carry around a whole lot more pressure/weight than what i experience…i’ve purposefully tried to limit my responsibilities at work…it just ain’t worth dying for…

so, when i showed up last night for that class – i absolutely felt like i was screaming inside my head…an hour or so later, things quieted down a lot for me…

You have a riproaring sense of humor, oh tedious one

I don’t understand why you can’t just have a discussion on the merits of the issues.

@127
I live in the south (TN). Sad to say, Trump’s going to sweep the south and midwest no matter who the Dems nominate. About 40% of the country seems to love the guy.

I agree about the economy. Carter and Bush seemed to be nice guys, and Trump is not. But that won’t matter.

so, when i showed up last night for that class – i absolutely felt like i was screaming inside my head…an hour or so later, things quieted down a lot for me…

If you keep going you’ll be amazed at how much it improves.

I dont practice year round but always build in one full season of daily yoga, usually in the spring. It does wonders.

Basic daily mediation is great, too. You should check out the Headspace app if you don’t practice a lot. It’s great for beginners.

Bush Sr would have won if people like me didn’t vote for Perot. Same can be said about Al “No Controlling Legal Authority” Gore and Nader.

Trump is not a typical incumbent, and it’s not useful to view him through the lens of past politicians.

Just because Trump is an enormous asshole, the likes of which we’ve never seen in politics, doesn’t mean he won’t have the usual advantages of an incumbent.

Pretty much every candidate inspires intense hatred in a large group of people. That’s the world we live in. Your saint is someone’s satan.

I hope you are right, but beware of underestimating him. Remember all the polls right up to the election? Some predicted a Hillary Clinton landslide.

People who really knew how to read the polls knew that Trump had a mathematically significant chance of winning. Nate Silver got a lot of criticism for getting it “wrong” but gave Trump a 1 in 3 chance to win and correctly predicted that it would be an Electoral College edge that would allow a Trump victory even with a popular vote loss. And he also correctly pointed out that Trump was within a simple polling error of victory, and that polls might not have caught late movement not reflected in polls as a result of the Comey announcement.

Polls are like advanced stats. They’re useful at predicting the future if you know how to read them.

Is there a player on this roster that Ron Baker could outplay? I’d say there is only one. You know who it is, Strat. Guess.

I think if you put him the court with the right combination of players he’d contribute more to the team on a net basis than half the other players. But he’s so limited on offense, fewer combinations would work. Still, I’d rather have him for spot minutes in certain lineups than some of these other guys that do nothing at a high level and get paid a lot of money.

Out of my ass, I’d say 70%-80% of Americans are somewhere in that center left or center right area politically that would gladly vote against Trump if presented with someone that’s bright and has center positions on economic and foreign policy.

This is DEAD wrong. Like, you couldn’t be more wrong. Only somebody who is severely not paying attention would think that in the most polarized political environment in many years, what would really win people over is a centrist. This is a complete misreading of the situation. 40% of the country would claw their own eyeballs out to cast a vote for Donald Trump, and another 40% would do the same to vote against him. There is no fucking way in the world that 80% of the country is looking for a centrist savior to the current situation. That’s David Brooks-level dumb. Which is to say, extremely dumb.

The 2020 election, and all near future elections, will be decided by which party can get its base to turn out better. Centrism is dead. You know why? Let’s invent the perfect centrist, Johnny Commonsense. You know who’s gonna really HATE Johnny Commonsense? The 40% of the country who wants to build a border wall, kick out every brown skinned person, ban abortion entirely and whatever else comes with the deluxe package of wingnut beliefs. The Republican Party has completely excised this type of politician from its ranks. Johnny Commonsense would also be hated by Democrats, who generally want public health care options, gun control laws, school loan forgiveness and the equivalent package of snowflake beliefs.

Johnny Commonsense would be abhorred by like 80% of the country. Like the Starbucks CEO dude. Who likes that guy? Nobody.

I hope you are right, but beware of underestimating him. Remember all the polls right up to the election? Some predicted a Hillary Clinton landslide.

The aggregate polling had Hillary Clinton beating Trump by around 3.2 points, a percentage that is around the statistical margin of error.

The fact that she lost is more a testament to her arrogance and incompetence as a campaigner in key battleground states than the fallibility of modern polling practices.

an intellectually honest person would just either stay quiet on the subject or amend their position

Yeah you know actually ignoring you is kind of the best thing for all parties involved. I’m gonna get back to that. #MyBad

They shot themselves and their employers in the foot on top of forcing the rest of us to pay more than fair market value for the goods and services they produced. That’s why they are gone.

Do you mean collectively bargaining higher living wages?

Honest question, Strat? What politician in the current landscape is closest to your ideal of Johnny Commonsense? This is an honest question.

I get into similar discussions with a friend of mine on Facebook a lot who bemoans the fact that the parties have gotten so polarized. She just wants a centrist who can appeal to both sides. I ask her to name this centrist. She can’t.

@140

People that agree with you lost to PT Barnum in the last election because they have no idea where the center is and how large it is.

If you would ask why PT Trump got so many votes (and why Perot probably could have become president if he didn’t flake out), you might understand that it’s not racism, Russia, or any of the other dopey excuses democrats come up with for losing.

PT Trump got the hard core republican base, but despite losing a lot of “never Trump” republicans he added a lot of the blue collar workers, union workers, police, firemen, and other municipal workers that usually vote left.

X% is typically kind of locked up on each side.

But there’s this huge underestimated group in the middle. Even though some may lean one way or the other, they can be swayed by the message and candidate to go to the other side. That’s how to win. You are going to get your hard core no matter what and obviously you want them to be enthusiastic and come out in large numbers, but you win in the middle.

You only win primaries on the left or right because you are appealing to the middle of your own party instead of the middle of the nation.

But Strat.

Who is this mythical centrist? Who is the centrist the Democratic Party should nominate?

How about Joe Biden? Centrist or nah? Mitt Romney, is he a centrist? WHO?!?

You’re doing the David Brooks thing, you’re lamenting that the parties don’t nominate candidates that don’t exist.

Who is this mythical centrist? Who is the centrist the Democratic Party should nominate?

I’m searching for him/her. I can’t vote for Trump and I’m tired of wasting votes.

IMHO, it isn’t Warren, Bernie, or Harris. Biden is kind of centrist, but he’s ready for the Big 3 league not the White House.

So a political question. Yeah, sorry. While I love the idea of Medicare for all, my concern, as a voter, is the impact it would have on our economy. 1/2 million people work in the insurance business. Many insurance companies would fold. Jobs would be lost. Those stocks would become worthless, driving down most 401K’s and IRAs. How am I wrong?

You’re not wrong here at all. But you have to weight it against the benefit this reform would have on personal savings on average households and improvements in life expectancy that result from everyone being able to seek medical care on a need to basis vs. an affordability basis. I mean, I am sure that thousands upon thousands of coal miners, drillers and frackers will lose their jobs if something like a Green New Deal economy were ever initiated and many arms manufacturers would be put out of business if we ever curbed our domestic and foreign arms sales too. And stocks in those sectors would precipitously drop. But I’d like to stop climate change and our endless export of warfare run amok as much as I’d like to reverse the trend of lowering life expectancy in this country.

Nope. Wrong. Frequently debunked.

See: 2018 midterms

Whatever they think they did to debunk it was wrong. I see it every single day in conversations with acquaintances. Friends of mine are very reluctant to admit they voted for Trump until they know if they are in hostile company. You should have seen it in the days Pat Buchanan was running. I actually cashed bets on Buchanan doing better than what the polls showed. lol

geo, I’m also a beginner to yoga. I started it for the first time this week. I’m trying out the 30 Days of Yoga challenge from the Yoga with Adriene youtube channel. I like it so far! I think growing in awareness of my body and spending more time focusing on my breathing will serve my mental and physical health well. I also lift weights and the gentleness of yoga is a good counter-balance to the GRAAGH LIFT HEAVY THINGS AND PUT THEM DOWN AGAIN energy I use at the gym.

Whatever they think they did to debunk it was wrong. I see it every single day in conversations with acquaintances.

Anecdotal Strat evidence, the best kind of evidence.

If this was true, polls would routinely undercount Republicans. They don’t.

Anecdotal Strat evidence, the best kind of evidence.

If this was true, polls would routinely undercount Republicans. They don’t.

No. It’s only a factor when there are accusations of racism being thrown around against the candidate. If Mitt Romney was running, the opposition would accuse him of all sorts of terrible things related to his businesses, wealth, attitudes etc.. but no one would be afraid to say they liked Romney. People are afraid to say they like Trump.

Regarding Centrist Democrats, what do you Democrats think of the guy from CO, Bennett? He seems like one of those normal pragmatic type Dems that you’d see 20 or 30 years ago. No shot at winning the nomination these days, but IMO him or Tulsi would clean Trump’s clock.

JK, Strat is talking about the 10-20% of the population that doesn’t vote strict party line. Tulsi would appeal to that group, not the Repubs. 80-90% of voters will vote for the devil if the right letter is next to their name – see Trump v Hillary.
= Which is why I would take the party names off of ballots if I were King for a Day

Fox News would turn Tulsi or Bennett into Mao/Hugo Chavez/Lenin/Satan.

That’s why nominating a centrist doesn’t matter. Anybody to the left of Patrick Buchanan is a socialist to the Republican voter of today. You guys, to your credit, have a more idiosyncratic brand of political preference but the modern Republican Party is very Fox News-addled. They vote for whoever Hannity tells them to vote for, and they do it enthusiastically.

The left is guilty of this as well, I mean look how much we feared Mitt Romney not that long ago. We’d all happily take Mittens right about now if you offered to swap him for Racist Buffoon.

JK, Strat is talking about the 10-20% of the population that doesn’t vote strict party line.

And it’s an enormous mistake to assume these people are simply looking for a candidate with straight down the middle policies on everything. On the contrary, studies of swing voter/independent attitudes have shown that they’re pretty much all over the map (happy to cite later if you would like, difficult to do so on my phone at the moment). They might be for a single-payer healthcare system but against abortion under any circumstances. They might be for much, much higher marginal tax rates on the wealthy but against any kind of immigration reform.

The point I’m trying to make is there’s a reason the Howard Schultzes and John Delaneys of the world are getting laughed off the stage these days. There’s no evidence their brand of politics resonates with anyone besides David Brooks.

The way I view it, no politician is going to be able to fine tune their policy proposals to neatly fit the most recent polling. Outside of exceptional circumstances where a politician might believe something that’s downright underwater public opinion wise, they should advocate for what they believe in and try to bring the public along with them. Public opinion is extremely malleable on most issues anyway.

I don’t find xanax to be addictive at all, and I don’t experience any crashes. I only take it in the morning before I go to work so I don’t smash anybody in the face. Sometimes I go days or weeks without it either by forgetting to take it or by running out and I don’t have any issues other than noticing people get on my nerves more.
It doesn’t give me any feel good vibe – it just dulls the edges a little bit.

thank you soooooo much for sharing that 2-4-18…i know this isn’t “normal” or very popular type stuff to share or discuss…

i’m learning when it’s best, or necessary for myself to utilize this aid…

I only take it in the morning before I go to work so I don’t smash anybody in the face.

oh my god, that is so funny…my “severe” stress manifests itself in either me cussing, breathing or laughing really loudly…i know it’s somewhat bizarre behavior, but, it’s probably better than for me to just start screaming (wasn’t there some self-help shit back in the 70’s called the “primal scream”?) really loudly…

just thinking about it – makes me want to do it so badly…oh, fuck…

Geez, the Mets are breathing again…

re primal scream
I have used it to good affect throughout the years and actually had a tradition of having my students do it in the schoolyard right before high stakes state exams. Very cathartic. Don’t know if research supports the efficacy of it.

@177

Yeah, based on what you’re writing I’d suggest for you to check the movie out. Seems right down your alley.

@179

Depends on what your definition of “centrist” is. If by “centrist” you mean someone who positions himself between establishment Democratic and Republic Party orthodoxy then, yes, he is a “centrist.” But if you instead mean someone who is in the center of public opinion on the political spectrum then, no, Mike Bloomberg is not a centrist politician but to the right on many issues.

@183

John Lennon tried it. Don’t know if it worked for him but it gave us “Well, Well, Well.”

speaking of primal screams, the ending of Midsommar was a mother fuckin’ trip

@186

Damn, I want to see that movie so bad. I never checked out Hereditary but this movie interests me. I heard its the type of movie you don’t want to see with an annoyed girlfriend.

But also on the far left of many others, e.g. gun control, abortion, smoking ban (at the time), entry fee into midtown manhattan, to name a few.

I had to look it up because you raised some interesting points. From what I could find, you’re right about the smoking ban and especially the NYC entry free which Cuomo still can’t get passed.

But most people agree abortion should be legal in almost all/most cases while as of 2017 a slight majority of Americans have finally accepted that gun control rights are more important than gun ownership rights after all of the domestic terrorism we’re experiencing.

I wouldn’t call his stance far left to public opinion here.

I put Bloomberg as someone for whom a plausible argument could be made as a centrist. He did have the “nanny state ” response to the big gulp soda size ban he wanted (and perhaps other things I forgot)

@189

When you say “Downtown Philly” where exactly do you mean? Because I would love to know what your definition of anarchy is.

As a NYC educator, I can tell you that Bloomberg’s education policies were all over the map…mostly on the conservative side but some quite progressive features. As a mostly progressive educator with prior experience in the corporate world, I had very mixed, but on balance positive impressions of his leadership.

Yeah that’s some BS right there…

@156 –

You’re not wrong here at all. But you have to weight it against the benefit this reform would have on personal savings on average households and improvements in life expectancy that result from everyone being able to seek medical care on a need to basis vs. an affordability basis. I mean, I am sure that thousands upon thousands of coal miners, drillers and frackers will lose their jobs if something like a Green New Deal economy were ever initiated and many arms manufacturers would be put out of business if we ever curbed our domestic and foreign arms sales too. And stocks in those sectors would precipitously drop. But I’d like to stop climate change and our endless export of warfare run amok as much as I’d like to reverse the trend of lowering life expectancy in this country.

Thanks for the feedback. I asked a tough question. There’s a difference between the Green New Deal and Medicare for All. The GND will certainly cause some job loss but those jobs will be replaced by new ones. That’s not the case with Medicare. The entire medical industry will be turned upside down. There’ll be less incentive to become a doctor or a nurse – already in short supply. The insurance business will evaporate and be replaced by a single-payer system that’s already in place. The pharmaceutical industry will collapse too.

It’s interesting that the topic of centrist came up. I’m a left-leaning centrist. I argue (fight might be a more accurate term) with both extremes. The other day I stated that I was against programs like affirmative action, which I knew would go over like a lead balloon. This health insurance thing is another area where my centrism comes in. We should look for evolution not revolution. That’s what was smart about Obamacare. It kept the insurance business alive and provided new opportunity while addressing some of the most awful problems of the system that preceded it.

Bloomberg is would have been my ideal candidate.

Griffin certainly did a fantastic job getting maximum value for Davis and subsequent assets. But now that he’s flush with assets he seems to think he’s some Masai-level super GM. I know some posters on this board who could have made the same trades he did this offseason.

Looking for a book recommendation. Can anyone recommend a very good book on the “X’s and O’s” of basketball? How offenses and defenses are set up?

This should do the trick!!!

The Triple Post Offense, by Fred “Tex” Winter

I’m for single payer with a private out-of-pocket option. I think there should always be a market incentive for doctors to choose to not accept insurance as payment in full if they are far better than average. If a doctor is good enough to earn $5 million a year by accepting mostly wealthier patients who can pay out of pocket, it should be legal for them to do so. At most, it could be mandated that a small percentage of their patients are M4All patients.

I would also like to see a continued expansion of PAs and NPs delivering most non-invasive health care. Most of the ones I have seen are great, and they definitely keep costs down.

David Griffin should really just STFU and count his blessings for being the luckiest GM in the history of organized sports.

Q: If we could cure AIDS, would we?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/21/podcasts/the-daily/hiv-aids-cure.html

A: “No thanks.” -Big Pharma

Looking for a book recommendation. Can anyone recommend a very good book on the “X’s and O’s” of basketball? How offenses and defenses are set up?

YouTube has a ton of excellent analysis and primer content. I’ve always found basketball books a static explanation to a never-static game. Seeing it in action is far more useful IMO.

Things I don’t want to watch. JD and the Straight Shot.

Apparently the sentiments are mutual as JD and the Straight Shot definitely don’t want you watching them. Ingress to the venue will not be vouchsafed to any whose critical faculties pertaining to either music or basketball exhibit any signs of a pulse. While displays of fawning adulation of the band’s performance are certainly preferable, they are not a prerequisite for attendance. All whose appreciation for the talent on display remains within the acceptable bounds of silent enthusiasm will be allowed to remain on the premises.

David Griffin should really just STFU and count his blessings for being the luckiest GM in the history of organized sports.

It’s strange that he thought this would play well.

Anyone else wasting their day trying for yeezys?

Check out reub layin’ in the cut

We suck, and we have Alonzo Trier, who is easily better as a sixth man/scorer type than Melo. Trier can give you some chucking with 50 points better TS% than Melo. And has room to improve rather than decline. And Trier might STILL not get minutes on this shitty ass team.

Just for that I’m uninviting you to Trier’s farewell tour in 2035.

A US Federal Court has ruled that WikiLeaks and Julian #Assange lawfully published the Hillary Clinton emails and found "no evidence" of collusion with Russia. The fabrications of the "free media" have dissolved into silence. https://t.co/ZrEb7lnAAt— John Pilger (@johnpilger) August 2, 2019

Ntilikilla, go to Reddit. Just fuckin’ stop.

I know that you’re totally dismissive of anything but anecdotes and gut feeling, strat, but if you think that Melo is still an NBA player — or at least would not be a total waste of a roster slot that could otherwise go to a young unproven player — you are living in a fantasy world. If the stats aren’t enough for you — and haha of course they’re not, because they’re fake news — go watch the Coach Nick videos on how abjectly horrid Melo was on the Rockets. And then remember that for part of the season Harden was carrying a team full of NBDL-level players to a playoff slot.

Morey has made questionable moves and is not infallible, but to believe that Melo would be useful a year after he flamed out of a roster in deep need of shooting, you have to completely reject both rational and empirical evidence to the favor of your instinct. And in this case, your instinct is dead wrong.

Since the Mets didn’t trade Wheeler, they should extend him. Maybe 3/55 or something gets that done?

Thanks for the feedback. I asked a tough question. There’s a difference between the Green New Deal and Medicare for All.

Thank you for the question. It’s a very thoughtful one on a very important subject.

My own response to your counterargument is the Green New Deal is just one example of many where abolishing a problematic American industry represented a major economic trade off.

When Congress abolished slavery after the passage of the 13th amendment the American South, and national economy by extension, stood to lose a major engine of economic growth. The export of raw cotton to the textile factories of Britain, which financiers and shippers in New England and Mid-Atlantic States handled, was a major source of capitalist profit driving U.S. industrialization. Also, the domestic slave trade was booming as slavery expanded westward during the Manifest Destiny period as cotton and tobacco growers looked for fresh uncultivated soil.

Now I understand that one shouldn’t draw too straight a comparison between private healthcare insurance and plantation slavery, but I’d argue that the healthcare crisis in this country, while not on the same level, represents a real crisis for the U.S. today, and the for profit private insurance along with the hospital industry are the big factors driving that crisis.

So are we really going to tell people whose lives are compromised by rationing meds, facing bankrupcy from paying pricey medical bills, or failing to seek medical help at all that they should continue their exploitation because it will cost their exploiters jobs? It’s the same logic that mid-19th century slaveholders, presenting themselves as an antebellum job creators, used to argue that slavery shouldn’t have been abolished because it would result in net economic losses.

The health insurance thing is another area where my centrism comes in. We should look for evolution not revolution. That’s what was smart about Obamacare. It kept the insurance business alive and provided new opportunity while addressing some of the most awful problems of the system that preceded it.

We have to be honest here and admit that Affordable Care Act’s brief history is proof that the incrementalist approach won’t work. It’s an interesting case study of a private healthcare reform law whose core “individual madate” principal was devised by a right-wing think tank, nearly identical to a former Republican governor’s previous plan, which was adopted by a Democratic President, that was immediately attacked as “socialist” by right-wingers, and rolled back by Republicans in the White House, Congress, and the federal courts. This was a plan which was a major boon to the private insurance industry that hasn’t addressed the major problem of rising premiums and is still under attack because the private insurance lobby won’t protect it.

no christmas game this year, the fuck??

We fucking invented that tradition. I don’t care how shitty we are. We should always have a game.

I was livid when there was no matinee at MSG on MLK day a few years back, too. Silver needs to respect the traditions.

lol, snail darters. It’s insane the outsized effect a tiny fish has had on our legal system.

Thing is, regarding Obamacare, incrementalism actually DID work. Pre-existing conditions were eliminated, lifetime caps were eliminated and the percentage of people who were covered went way up. It was obviously not a panacea, and there are still lots of problems with the system, but things DID get incrementally better.

Now let Republicans try to roll those improvements back, let them bring back pre-existing conditions and lifetime caps and see how that works out for them. They can’t do it. It’s a third rail. Those are now things that we no longer accept as a society. Luckily for all of us they have punted on healthcare because they have no answers other than “go back to the old way which was even worse.”

I think a robust public option is a good next step, but even if Saint Bernie wins the White House he’s not going to be able to do much with Moscow Mitch running his various Machiavellian schemes. I’d like to hear what the path to MFA is that doesn’t involve incrementalism. Incrementalism is really the only way forward because of the way our political system is set up.

Now let Republicans try to roll those improvements back, let them bring back pre-existing conditions and lifetime caps and see how that works out for them. They can’t do it. It’s a third rail.

Funny story from yesterday. I was at a sales event with an old Republican veteran colleague of mine, who tried talking American history with me once, which I promptly shut down when he said his favorite series was the Bill O’Reilly “Killing” books. He’s a salesman for another large division of my large American company, and this is how the exchange went. No exaggeration on language or timing.

“My wife retired last year. Well, she’s on permanent disability and Medicaid. [She is morbidly obese and has health complications from it, which I had previously known.] She started collecting social security early, too.”

[LITERALLY 3 MINUTES LATER]

“If the Demo-craps have their way, we’ll have socialized medicine in this country, which will be a total shitshow. I know, since my dad had to go through the VA for his medical.”

like to hear what the path to MFA is that doesn’t involve incrementalism. Incrementalism is really the only way forward because of the way our political system is set up.

The way forward is the same as when in the 1930s, labor unions and left-wing organizers pressured a sympathetic president and Congress in the aftermath of a depression to adopt new legislation to improve their lives. And say what you want about Bernie, but he’s the only one of the candidates who has that base of grassroots support around the country willing to mobilize it.

no christmas game this year, the fuck??

I’m writing a letter to the commissioner.

Sitting round singing songs ’til the night turns into day
Used to sing about the mountains but the mountains washed away
Now I’m singing all my songs to the boy who won my heart
He is only eight years old and it’s a real fine way to start

still stuck behind the desk…hoping someone, somewhere is out there roaming the streets, doing cool shit and having fun…

if you are – let me know please…that way i can imagine being someone else, somewhere’s else for a minute 🙂

after work gonna head out and pickup the godson, figure out what’s for dinner (no mystery there – mcdonalds or panda express seems to be the usual request)…get home, watch spiderman homecoming for about the millionth time (i’m just glad it’s not shark boy and lava girl anymore – although not that terrible a movie once you’ve memorized each scene and line)…and, just wait to see what tomorrow brings…doing laundry and cleaning bathrooms most likely…

There are multiple examples in American history where popular movements have pressured governments to act in accord with popular will.

Such as the temperance movement. Or the Klu Klux Klan. And have you ever heard of Shays’ Rebellion? Or taken a look at public polling on issues like immigration enforcement or abortion restrictions?

For my sake, I pray Bernie gets the Democratic nomination so I can see the entire the American political establishment eat a big bag of salted dicks and be forced to support Donald Trump.

MIke

I do respect you guys commitment to actually trying to discuss party politics, because I’m completely done with that. I just assume the representation model will always fail no matter what, even though it’s obviously the only one we have that is realistically possible, so I tend to bother less than I should I guess.

Do you forsee the Millennials taking a break from Instagramming their matcha toast, and spending a couple of decades in the streets getting their heads cracked in because they’re that passionate about single payer healthcare? Because I really honestly don’t. So maybe the comparison to the Civil Rights Movement is not really all that apt.

And I’m absolutely not buying the “only Bernie can fix this” nonsense. It takes a lot of chops and discipline and team playing and compromise and political skill to get a massive, society-changing piece of legislation passed, and those traits are not things that appear to be in Bernie Sanders’ toolbox.

You’re WAY overestimating the size, scope and intensity of the Bernie Sanders “revolution.” He’s running like second or third in Democratic primary polls despite 100% name recognition. There is not a massive groundswell of support for him, it’s pretty much the same people who supported him last time when he fell short, except this time there are several serious challengers instead of just one.

c’mon now räz, i know you ain’t as old as most folks here think – i bet you up to something good…out with a friend, good meal, catching a show, or, who knows maybe chilling with a drink staring up at the stars somewhere nice…

Just chillin tonight, bruh.

I just assume the representation model will always fail no matter what, even though it’s obviously the only one we have that is realistically possible, so I tend to bother less than I should I guess.

I’m not a particular fan of it myself, but I don’t think we should give up on it either. I’d prefer more direct democracy but like you said, we have to be realistic.

JK I agree but I also think it’s fair to say that Bernie ’16 is the reason why half the Dem crop is supporting some version of universal health care.

I fully agree with this and I’m thankful for it. He deserves credit for it. Some of his supporters have an adolescent fanboi type obsession with him like he’s their favorite member of One Direction or something. Miss me with that shit already.

BTW, the Occupy Movement was Millennial led.

The Occupy Movement, which achieved what exactly before everybody got bored and went home? You’re proving my point for me. That’s supposed to sell me on Millennial commitment to ideals, and their ability to follow through on things? It’s eight years later and the POTUS is Donald Trump. That one kinda didn’t pan out. Wall Street is still doing okay.

I fully agree with this and I’m thankful for it.

Yes, so thankful you’re supporting the his primary opponent who ran against single payer healthcare as late as 2012 and has now (conveniently) found God on the issue now that it’s a popular progressive agenda item. Isn’t it amazing how some politicians have these changes of heart when its politically expedient?

The Occupy Movement, which achieved what exactly before everybody got bored and went home? You’re proving my point for me. That’s supposed to sell me on Millennial commitment to ideals, and their ability to follow through on things? It’s eight years later and the POTUS is Donald Trump. That one kinda didn’t pan out. Wall Street is still doing okay.

Actually, the opposite is the case – the problem wasn’t Millennial commitment – it was a lack of commitment from within institutions of political power, particularly from the Obama White House ( the shill actually asked them not to demonize finance workers) and a Republican dominated Congress, which circumvented its progress. And this actually makes my point: which is the the need for a President who will work with progressive activists to enact change. The abolitionists needed Lincoln. The traded unionists needed FDR and Truman. The civil rights activists needed Kennedy and Johnson. And, conversely, these presidents needed those activists in order to secure coalitions that allowed them to occupy office.

But aside from this point, to answer your question, the Occupy Movement, which happened in 2011-2012 was the precursor to the huge wave of progressivism which took over the 2016 Democratic primary during the Sanders campaign. Every time Bernie rails against the “99%” he’s appropriating the discourse that movement laid down, and it’s still being used to articulate policies which most Americans want like higher taxes on upper income earners, capital gains, and health care reform.

Every time Bernie rails against the “99%” he’s appropriating the discourse that movement laid down,

Every time Bernie rails against the “1%” in favor of the “99%” he’s appropriating the discourse that movement laid down…

Right, that corporate whore Elizabeth Warren, secret Reagan lover and a person who is not Bernie Sanders. Only Bernie can save us! Without Bernie we are doomed! Everybody else sucks! This is not cult-like behavior at all, it’s just the truth, Bernie Sanders is the only one and true savior of America!

You have a mistaken understanding of my critique of Elizabeth Warren every time you raise Bernie Sanders. First off, he’s irrelevant to a critique of her record. If Bernie ceased existing tomorrow I still wouldn’t support her because, unlike you, I took the time to vet her past. You bringing him up to discredit my criticisms of that record are a red herring. If I decide to vote Green Party tomorrow, I still would doubt her intentions for reasons I’ve outlined several times here before. If you want to vote for Elizabeth Joanie Come Lately that’s your business. But I am not going to sit here and pretend she’s something she’s not

Secondly, you can check out everything I’ve wrote about her and see it is all true. She was a registered Republican as late as 1996 meaning she implicitly supported Reaganism until a Third Way neoliberal like Bill Clinton triangulated so hard right that moderate Republicans like her switched Democrat.

Lastly, and most importantly, the issue isn’t that I am such a fan of Bernie’s policies – they’re actually to the right of what I ideally prefer. If we were in a Western European nation like Germany or France, he’d be considered a center-left candidate, not a progressive one. The issue is that I am skeptical of most every other major candidate in the Democratic Primary and I choose him as my compromise candidate because I am convinced of his long-term commitment to instituting some brand of Social Democracy in this country which is as far left as most Americans are willing to go..

Unlike the Ralph Naders of the world, Bernie broke through and was a very serious primary candidate as an independent who usurped the Democratic liberal wing and might have won the nomination if the DNC wasn’t in the tank for Hillary. Elizabeth Warren may have more appeal these days than she did in 2016 and mightbe a more formidable candidate in a general election, but there’s no denying that she benefitted enormously from Bernie laying the groundwork.

Personally, I’m not a supporter of either one, but I like many of their ideas as visions to hope for. In this cycle, pragmatic and incremental is the way to go. Let’s get a couple of supreme court justices under our belt and then we can worry about universal health care.

Hey, my Mom and Dad are Boomers and they’re the coolest people around. Long may they live.

They’re Bernie Sanders supporters, actually, my Mom and Pop. My dad has all sorts of Bernie swag, you should see the bumper stickers on his Nissan Leaf. He lives in South Florida in a very blue county (Broward) but all of his friends who are his age are Trumpers, which annoys him to no end.

They’re not dead-ender sycophants though, and they’ll happily vote D if (when) Sanders is not the nominee.

Where’d my freedom to own a fully-automatic machine gun go? What Demo-crap libterd thought of taking that essential liberty away?

Bring back the days when I could legally beat my children and kick an undesirable out of my town by way of the debt-slavery prison. I miss the Golden Age of Freedom. Make America Free to Execute Mentally Disabled Convicts Again!

Healthcare costs so much here because it’s profit driven.

JK, you are sort of agreeing with me. Since no one promoting single payer is saying anything other than it will just pay the incredibly high prices that already exist, it’s clear that it will be very expensive. And of course, they say we will raise taxes only on the rich because they know that almost no one thinks of themselves as rich. So one expects they will actually be the one to pay the new taxes when a candidate phrases it that way.