Evolving analysis

 

The shock doctrine is the idea that throwing the USA into turmoil will benefit the hyper rich, and make the workers more willing to be exploited. 

The Atlantic has an article about how people try to ideologically justify this turmoil. 

People balk at giving Trump sophisticated ideas, he's a dolt, a dummy. He's a toddler trapped in the genital phase. 

One thing I've noticed, his autocratic style, he doesn't feel like explaining, justifying or even persuading the people, he just wants to do what he wants to do. His anti-social ways are about cutting corners and not following the rules. He's not excited unless he's getting away with something. He's still angry at his father. 

It's really hard for me to read about all the business that are being ruined, lives, and when the economy goes down, aside from ruining things, 

Protests all over the USA are voicing the urge not to just do things for the oligarchy. 

Mayoral race NYC

Working Families endorsed 4 candidates (Gothamist): Adrienne Adams, Brad Lander, Zohran Mamdani and Zellnor Myrie.

Zohran Mamdani (33) was born in Uganda, to Indian parents. Move to Cape Town when he was 5. His mother is a filmmaker (1991 film Mississippi Masala, starring Denzel Washington and 2016 Disney film Queen of Katwe) and his father is an academic at Columbia, who studies colonialism, was expelled from Uganda under the dictator Idi Amin. He's from Queens, he's in the State Assembly. Moved to NYC when he was 7. Went to Bronx Science, then Bowdoin College in Maine with a bachelors in African studies. Mamdani worked as a prevention counselor and cricketer, and attempted a career in hip hop (video). He worked on a few political campaigns and then ran himself. His district includes Astoria and Long Island City. 

Quoting articles:

Mother Jones Article (3/27/25): He's fundraising well so far. Hank Sheinkopf, a veteran political strategist based in New York City, had a simple explanation for Mamdani’s emergence as the leading progressive contender: “He’s not boring! He’s handsome, articulate, and his ideas are very romantic and interesting.” 

The city’s Democratic Socialists of America chapter has added 1,500 members—about a quarter increase—since last October, when it endorsed Mamdani. “We’re not only winning elections with downwardly mobile college-educated people,” said Grace Mausser, co-chair of the local chapter. “We’re becoming more diverse.” 

His theory is that the saliency of universal services will win over working-class voters, particularly those who have become disillusioned by the Democratic party. Whether or not he succeeds, Mamdani’s candidacy is a test of the widespread appeal of a left-wing economic populist platform, at a time when Democrats desperately need to find a better message. 

He has steadfastly condemned Israel’s war on Gaza, even as pro-Israel PACs have spent millions to sink progressive candidates nationwide. Mamdani likes to joke that, as a Muslim and a socialist, he is “no stranger to bad PR.”

Mamdani brought that penchant for showmanship to the state Assembly after being elected in 2020, ousting a popular incumbent. As a legislator, Mamdani was skilled at winning over powerful allies. In 2021, he helped the taxi drivers’ union win debt relief, with the backing of New York Sen. Chuck Schumer. When union members went on a hunger strike to try to force a deal, Mamdani fasted alongside them all 15 days.

...a recent poll shows Mamdani 10 points ahead of the next progressive candidate, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.

Politico (3/22/25): ...some recent polling even has him in second place in the crowded field of 11-plus candidates — behind only former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a dynastic politician who is the prohibitive favorite to win the Democratic primary in June.

Bernie Sanders playbook: Pick a handful of straightforward economic proposals that would impact the daily lives of regular people and repeat, repeat, repeat. Attendees of a Bernie rally are primed to chant Medicare for All before they even get there. Now, thanks to his social-media savvy outreach, Mamdani draws crowds ready to sing along to his own greatest hits.

Thoughts: The idea that he can't win is based in a kind of assumption about how left a candidate can win. I don't actually know, and nobody really knows, how left a candidate can win. When he doesn't win, they'll say I told you so, but is it really true that there's a too left candidate that can't win, or they just don't communicate well in the campaign, or money overwhelms them from the other side, which has a moneyed interest in them not winning. I'm not convinced in the too left to win argument. Obviously I'm too left myself.

Regarding Cuomo who is leading: He wouldn't make my top 5. The reason he resigned is the reason he shouldn't run again. People can change, but they don't have the right to run for government. His name recognition gives him a huge advantage. I basically don't think he deserves to win because of name recognition, but it's a real factor in reality, but not why I would vote for him. (NPR article on resignation.)

Same with Eric Adams. He's running as an independent because the Democratic party doesn't want him to run under their ticket. I guess he doesn't have enough power in the party to over-ride them. I like that. I would never vote for him. He didn't make my top 5 last time. He's too corrupt, should be in jail, it's only sucking up to Trump that got him off the hook--another element of his corruption. 

Probably it will be a fight between Adams and Cuomo and the Republican, maybe Curtis Sliwa. Adams wasn't on my top 5 and he won, so thinking my opposite instincts will be right. 

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Adrienne Adams is a 64 year old Speaker of the New York City Council. Her district includes the Queens borough neighborhoods of Jamaica, Rochdale Village, Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park. I'm sure she would be fine. She seems like the uninteresting type of person we need to just get things done. I'll probably include her in my 5 for the democratic primary. 

My 9 year old daughter wants to vote for Jessica Ramos based on looks and gender. She also liked Adrienne Adams. She favors women. Ramos is a 38 year old state senator who represents Corona, Elmhurst, East Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights. She was born at Elmhurst Hospital and grew up in Astoria. She has Colombian heritage. She quit Hofstra to work for New York City Council Member Hiram Monserrate. I'm not sure why she didn't get the Working Families endorsement. She's had high level communications jobs, and is journalists go to hispanic politician. 

Brad Lander is the 55 year old Comptroller for NYC.  He grew up in St. Louis in a Jewish family. He got a masters degree in anthropology in London, and urban planning from Pratt. He is described as a progressive. He's been on the city council. Seems like a competent government worker, he's probably going to make my top 5 for the democratic primary.

Zellnor Myrie is a 38 year old state senator representing Brooklyn. He was born in Brooklyn to parents who were born in Costa Rica. He went to Fordham and got a masters in urban studies. He went to Cornell Law School. Myrie proposed to increase housing supply in New York City by 700,000 homes by allowing more housing in neighborhoods with stringent zoning rules, in order to alleviate the housing shortage in the city. He's another candidate to consider for top 5. 

My 5: Zohran Mamdani, Adrienne Adams, Jessica Ramos, Brad Lander, Zellnor Myrie

So I wrote this above summary on 4/3/25, and thought I would follow these people in the news to see how things go and add in information. The election is on November 4, 2025, but the primary is more interesting to me on June 24, 2025, that's less than 3 months to pay attention.

Wednesday

The principle Trump doesn’t understand is that fascism isn’t good for business. Enough people understand that and are educating others.

Crashing the economy through layoffs, tariffs wars, tourism is crashing, Tesla is crashing, education is suffering because of Trump’s attacks. 

The people who voted for Trump because they wanted to wreck things up, don’t hold life dear can watch the kakocracy as RFK does the opposite of what would be helpful and good information. The greed of lying that pays. RFK gets kickbacks from a lawfirm that sues based on the misinformation he peddles. And on and on.

Gross incompetence isn't quite as bad as disappearing people off the streets and sending them out of the country, without due process because if there was a process, they wouldn't be sent out of the country. Trump is punishing people for protesting against Israel. He likes strongmen doing horrible things like him, he's using it as a pretext to be a bully, sew fear in the air. His multi-pronged attacks on the economy, freedoms of the citizens and guests, and threats to overstay his constitutional welcome with another term, are egregious. Ignoring the court, the cowardly legislature is dominated by republicans, and are complicit in his crimes. 

Lying fucks say there’s no difference from Obama. That’s the most offensive rancid lie. You can not like government but it’s murderous. So killing others through deny, depose and defend is insurance murder. Cacking up government kills people.

Cory Booker stepped forward to do something to resist. He stood up and put on the record the big bowl of wrong that is happening.

This Saturday there are protests nationwide.

Tuesday's thoughts

Past republican criticism isn’t sincere, mostly just hate for progressive ideas and government redressing the excesses of capitalism, they like the hard realities of no interventions, the death that ensues, and while they can be quite nice individuals in person, kind and caring to people they meet face to face, they don't trust the government. They have been disappointed, there are examples where they wanted action and none was done, or not the way they wanted it done, and so better not to have any government, throw the baby out with the bathwater. For the life of me I can't understand the perspective, but I am selfish, even though I'm trying to curb that, so I do act in ways that are ancillary to the conservative vision. Ways of drawing out the conservative vision is that people need to be maximally selfish and not taxed, every grubbing cent to the person who has it. OK, maybe roads, but nothing else. Oh well, they do currency and defense. Well, nothing else. Well it turns out that when the conservative whoop up alternatives to the liberal vision, the progressive vision, the leftist vision, democratic vision, they spend money. They preach fiscal responsibility but driving up the debt means democrats can't ramp up entitlements right away. They have ruthlessly gamed the situation, with voter suppression, killing education which leads to greater votes for the left, and outside influence--Russia and China want conservative government because they can then do more grimmey stuff in general and to America. Recently the tech bros have bought the government that is for sale, shitting if you don't give us money. 

So when people say, "I guess the emails didn't matter," referring to Hillary's emails, what they're pointing to is the lack of consistency from the conservatives based on the progressive bias, and that's just not something they're concerned about and most left criticism don't impact the psyche of conservatives, because they want what they want the way they want it, and it doesn't have to make sense to a different political perspective. 

They really didn't care about national security, the alcoholic accidentally text military plans to a journalist. Not a big deal. Progressives notice they would have howled if a democrat did that. 

They didn't care about law and order, that was just a tactic. They didn't really hate Russia, they're just projecting their totalitarian fantasies onto the opposition, and Russia was communist for a time, but more importantly they're totalitarian, which is fine with them, because that's what they want. 

Trump has filled his cabinet with incompetent hucksters like himself, with the intention of wrecking up the place, not governing. Lefties shout, having grown up with republicans obsessed with security their whole lives, suddenly blase about the kakocracy that is acceptable because they hate government anyway. That progressives are upset is a bonus. 

Things just keep getting curiouser and curiouser except the banality of evil isn't fun or interesting, it's just evil wrecking up the place. Not patriotic, and not good.

Trump's vision is that everything is for sale, and he shucks cars when the seig heiling businessman's company starts to fail because he gave him a lot of money, bought him essentially. Both drunk on power and money, with no internal integrity or virtue. 

Due process is only for those who chooses, the constitution is for sale too, what do you want in it, and how much will you pay? 

Heather Cox Richardson's account

Naked

The grift is creating chaos, like a toddler knocking over the sand castle after adults have meticulously created it. Give me what I want or I'm going to wreck up the place. Chaos is the threat, and Trump is following through on his rage filled revenge tour, which 4 million voters withdrew their votes for a black woman instead of a white man. It's insane making to try and rhyme out the reason for such a colossal mistake. The American voters identify with the toddler more than the architects of order and justice. 

The toddler anger is conservative. They hate the progressive imagination. They hate power to destroy being curbed. The toddler prevented from smashing the sand castle wriggles in anger, fights against it. There’s no adult stopping this toddler.

From the economy to history to public health to foreign relations. From science to tourism. From veterans to truth. The Kennedy Center. Maximum jerk, every nook and cranny. Due process, freedom of speech, the constitution. The richest man takes food from the mouth of the poorest and his empire crumbles, people are disgusted, stop using his businesses. His angry messages and true followers are not enough. They can’t destroy education fast enough. 

No David! The pigeon can’t drive the bus. He thinks he’s Don Corleone at a wedding but he looks in the mirror and he has no clothes. It’s those two weird middle aged people holding guns awkwardly, as the mob passes them by. It’s bad plastic surgery gone wrong. It’s seeing Darth Vader’s true face. 

It’s the morality police wrestling, trying to make the head covering just right, and ending with a woman naked except underwear standing in protest:

It’s Texas mortality rates moving in Afghanistan’s direction.

I think it’s tempting to blame democrats, and I've seen a lot of it. They failed to win and now we have this. The money and conservatives were behind Trump, and maybe some cheating. Four million people voted for Biden and somehow couldn't transfer that to a black woman. 

I want to get out of this chaos, then steady democrats pattern, I want the democrats to shake up things from the left. 

Should democrats lie? Express more hate?

People vote for democrats out of vision, kindness, a critique of capitalism, a sense of justice.

People vote for Republicans out of the hope for lower taxes (false), smaller government (false, just different) and the sense that those lies are the right vision. They are highly sensitive to Democrat lies, which as someone with a left bias, I don’t see.

Two people said to me they don’t see a difference between how Obama was enriched than the way Trump was enriched, between the grifts of Biden and the grifts of Trump. The immigrants who play soccer in the park like Trump. The AA people in one of the meetings I went to thought Trump followed through on, don’t see his promises to build a wall or lower egg prices as tricks and lies. The Polish-American mother in the park said to ignore the sieg heils. The Albanian born mother, to justify wearing no masks, said that we are allowed to have guns in America. A Ukrainian born mother says that most immigrants just don't know what's going on in America. She's not persuaded by democratic rhetoric, doesn't seem to be outraged by what's going on. Another Polish born mother canceled her trip to Poland because of the problem with air safety going on.

My Afghan born friend monitors Muslim topics, feels for the Palestinians, showed me a video about how it's just about erasing Gaza. I agreed. Israel would rather look bad to the world, than be bombed within their own country. He thinks this will last forever, but I told him things died down in Ireland. It's possible to mature past constant waring. 

Most people are non-political. Most people don’t lean do more or do less, the just want what is obviously right, though articulation is wanting. A Venezuelan born mother feels they wrecked her country, but that health insurance is a basic right, and that wouldn't wreck up the country. 

The will of the people is inchoate. But mistakes and problems and waste are obviously not good. Of course when you do things, there are always mistakes. A democrat accepts mistakes, and a republican says, "see, there, you shouldn't do anything." It's the classic it do something or don't do something. 

The republicans are men of action, and it's weird they're so allergic to governmental action. They prefer the law of the jungle. 

I don’t think Democrats should lie, because their vision is integrity and justice. Democrats should include conservatives in their administration like Lincoln had a team of rivals. 

Many democrats are howling at the betrayal of the working class. It's true, I think Clinton could have been a republican, and Schumer seems to have turned to the dark side. Both New York senators voted for the corrupt slush fund, so Trump can steal more, and not be bound by past legislative mandates. AOC is the best voice, Sanders is great too, but he's old and Jewish and AOC is a hispanic woman, so neither are going to sweep the nation. Mark Kelly is heroic, white and male. There are others. This may be cynical, but I'd prefer a centrist man to a far right wing man. Vance has no popularity and Trump is a rare phenomenon, and his popularity doesn't transfer to his children or anyone else.

Criticizing democrats from the left is useless. Most political commentary is useless, except where it creates understanding, and not just wish statements. I wish all day things were different, hasn't done me much good, mostly makes me upset. I'm not going to turn off, I'm going to keep hanging in there.

My biggest question is why, since a conservative doesn't like the federal level, that they are tolerating a bully at the federal level?

Ides of March 2025

It's taken me a while to figure out how Trump is conservative. Sending the autistically bold and ketamine addicted Musk to cut everything, and see what screams the most to be hired back, is a technique to see what is really important. 

The judge has said all the firings were illegal. Of course the US government isn't a corporation you can just buy and then ruin the way he did Twitter or Tesla. The legislature allocates money. This current spending bill, and the traitorous voting for it of Schumer allows for things to be more of a slush fund, but previously those things were voted for, and paid for by the legislature. 

The irony is the national parks make a lot of money, in business terms, they have incredible profit. To cut their budget is the height of folly, but they're just wrecking up the place, they aren't businessmen. 

Trump has 6 bankruptcies. He paid $85 million to E. Jean Carroll because he couldn't stop talk shit about her, after he had to pay $5 million for talking shit about her. He is a felon, but grab him by the money, and he'll just keep talking and paying out like some amazing slot machine. He's not a good businessman. 

What it does do is create doubt, and wrestles the security in the minds of people that the government is there to support citizens in our society. To try to enforce justice, and curb some of the downfalls of poverty and a million other things we're learning. The lessons learned by this destruction will depend on your political bias, and your epistemic character. 

I've been thinking about the Thatcher revolution of privativing thing. Fire all the air traffic controllers and hire a subcontractor, one Musk happens to own. Reagan fired the air traffic controllers. They get too bold it seems. It's a quite stressful job. The whole operation is basic pillaging and graft. Musk bought Trump and now he gets to deliver his paybacks. Musk is the biggest welfare queen in the world and he's trying to get more, because there's never enough. 

I've searched for a historical figure who might lend articulation to fascism times. I thought maybe Rafael Alberti might be able to articulate it, he had to leave Spain, and then later Argentina because of fascism. I struggle to find it articulate in his wonderful poetry, but I need to read some more. Mayakovsky was an articulate voice during the Russian revolution, that I want to learn more about. I wonder who will emerge as the articulate voice in America for this time. Paul Beatty has an amazing voice, but it doesn't actually capture this moment yet, he's better at lambasting the role of African Americans in America over the past years. Kendrick Lamar had a shot at breaking through, but most people didn't understand him. Jasmine Crockett can speak truth to power but she's a black woman, and we already voted Harris down. 

There's a upending revolution attempt going on in America. Wall Street has turned against Trump and Musk, and Musk's fortune is being ruined by his insistence that Hitler didn't actually kill all those people, he's doubling down on his sieg heil gesture with more Nazism. The Polish-American woman in the park who said ignore the sieg heil part, I just can't sorry. That's sort of the Polish attitude depicted in Ida (2013) but time has a way of reflecting back on past occurrences, that mean you can't just ignore the sieg heils. 

Even if you don't like some of the situations, the direction and essence, who doesn't want smaller government and less taxes? Trump and Musk are jerks enough to try and push it as far as it will go, no matter how many people die. It takes a rapist narcissist and an autistic narcissist to do this sort of thing to America. Musk's repudiation of empathy is the opposite mirror of his autistic twin Greta Thunberg, who insists on empathy and the not ignoring what is going on, in its fullness. 

What is cover for what grift? The shifting sands of the gish gallop, the rope a dope, is cover for the government for sale, which goes counter the constitution and the founders intentions. The bringing it into the daylight and saying it's not bad, is quite amazing. The level of outrage they produce in reasonable aware people, outrage turns out not to change much, it's just private suffering in the end. 

There's a building storm coming. The guillotine memes are prevalent. Luigi Mangione started it, who's going to keep it going? The way John Brown stood up to slavery, and the millions of people who died in the Civil War. I saw a movie about a Civil War in America last year, and it felt really far fetched, but also horrifying. That scene with Jesse Plemons and his red sunglasses. 

Trump doesn't care because public opinion doesn't matter to him any more. There's no more elections. He's won his last election. He can go on his private yet government funded revenge tour, and be whatever kind of monster he wants to be. 

It's up to the courts and legislature and the press to contain him, and he's not one to be contained by a no, he grabs the pussy, even if they're married. It turns out the press has shown it's true colors, and the legislature and supreme court are right wing, so the checks are really only small little rebukes so far, or not at all. 

I've always seen Trump as the emperor with no clothes, he struts about thinking he's looking good when he really doesn't, he's naked and obese, revolting. There are varying degrees of approval. Wall Street has turned. That's always going to be a percentage thing, rarely is life black and white. Not sure who's voice Trump will actually listen to be a reasonable check. They want destruction and strife, and people begging to work 120 hours a week.

America has traditionally aligned along the attempts by government to fix things verses don't fix anything axis. The right has been good at cultivating resentment for taxes even among the poor, who benefit from taxation. The betrayal of the working class towards itself is a modern feat of pretzel logic. All the programs that cushion the blows of capitalism and try to right the wrongs of gross systematic inequality, not the natural inequality, and not the natural rising and lowering, which is lost in all this going on now. Doesn't seem natural to me. It's natural to curb some of the unnatural excesses of unchecked capitalism.

So many horrible things for sensitive left wing folk to see. Fire the black and woman generals in the military so it's all white men. That's not repudiating DEI with a natural meritocracy, that's white supremacy, reinstating the glass ceiling. 

What little gains that have been brought to over qualified minorities are stripped again, and the fragile flowers of justice have been smashed under foot by the inchoate rage of white supremacy. 

Right wing people who are tired of always being called racists, to the point of it being meaningless, hopefully can turn their awareness back on and see it now, right?

I have a hope that the Bernie Sanders of the world will rise up. He's drawing huge crowds, but more than likely there's a glass ceiling to American leftism. Bernie is too old, and Jewish, and AOC is too woman and ethnic to go very far. 

People are calling for Tim Wahl and Mark Kelly. Decent white men centrists. The groundbreaking women and minority politicians are going to be right wing and centrist, not left wing. The farthest left we're going to go in this racist and misogynistic country will be with a white man. There's a real undertow towards left ideas, America would like to just get away from this far left. 

Reagan was pretty far right, but Trump beats him with this term, with this budgetary violence.

Gavin Newsom ruined things by entertaining Steve Bannon. When Harris entertained Cheney, many were upset, but I think playing in the center is an important things for democrats. If Trump has taught us anything, is you have to give people a shred to believe in, if they want to go that way, even if you want to ultimately dupe them. 

The woman who he promised free IVF treatments feels betrayed. I'm not into the shaddenfreud of all his voters being fired and deported, too much death and murder for me to find any solace.

The murder by "cost cutting" is highlighted by Luigi Mangione's bullets saying deny, defend, depose, and the murder by Musk and Trump and his enablers, including Schumer who's going to be hearing it on his ill planned book tour. I'm sure he's going to avoid the public and take a loss. The coward won't appear in public now even to shill his book, after his profit ruining vote. Musk's fortunes can collapse, and he's still got enough money even with all the leins on his property by baby's mommas for child support. Bill Burr pointed out if Musk came to his neighborhood in Boston, he wouldn't be so bold.

When I told a friend I was thinking of taking a spray can to the Teslas in my neighborhood owned by Jewish people, and writing "sieg heil" on them, he said make sure you wear a mask. 

I can't even spit on them, I can only spit towards them. I respect property and propriety too much, but it's definitely been eroded lately.