FRANKEN AND HARRIS

In a previous entry, I suggested Kamala Harris for president in 2020. I would also like to suggest Al Franken, one of them for president and the other for vice-president. Maybe Franken should be the one for president in 2020 because he is older and then Harris in 2028, but the reverse would be OK. I think they would make a great team.

There are 2 considerations. Who would be the best at doing the job of being president and who would have the best chance of getting elected? Hillary Clinton would have done an infinitely better job of being president than Donald Trump, but she did not win the election. Had she been a better campaigner she might have overcome the effects of the Putin hacking and the gerrymandered electoral college. Competence and winning the popular vote did not make her president.

As for doing the job, both Franken and Harris seem to be pragmatic liberals. Ideals are necessary, but one has to get them done. Some examples of necessary ideals are universal affordable health care, protection and encouragement of immigrants, gun control, a balanced well run long term economy (as opposed to a Far Right free for all economy that favors quick buck artists and predators at the expense of everyone else). Those are a few examples, but the list goes on. I believe both of them are left of center moderates who are willing to work with corporate America if those corporations are willing to share a fair part of their success with the rest of us whose labor fuels that success. Both are senators who know and can work with Congress.

As for getting elected, both of them are interesting people. Harris is a former state attorney general, a woman, and of a racially diverse ancestry. Franken is a former comedian who has shown an ability to seriously conduct the work of a senator. His satirical ability and sense of humor would serve him well in the White House as well as on the campaign trail. Also together they represent both the coasts and the center of America, Harris from Coastal California and Franken from Midwestern Minnesota (and for you East Coasters Franken spent time in New York when he worked at Saturday Night Live.

After the chaotic, stifling, and destructive team of Trump and Pence, Franken and Harris would be the breath of fresh air needed to clean up the mess that will be left behind by the present team.

TRUMP IS WRONG IN DEFENDING THE WHITE SUPREMACISTS WHO INVADED CHARLOTTESVILLE

Trump defended the Alt-Right Neo-Nazi White Supremacists who marched in Charlottesville. As usual, his claims were typical Trump BS.
1. Trump claimed they were there to preserve monuments that represented part of American heritage. Actually, the removal of those monuments was being considered because that was the will of the local elected government representing the will of the majority of the local Americans living in that community. Those monuments were placed to honor leaders of the Confederacy which fought to preserve slavery, and as such are offensive to the majority living in the community.
2. Trump claimed that both sides were equally guilty. The White Supremacists came heavily armed wearing combat style gear, shouting Nazi slogans. The counter protesters were not armed and were dressed in regular street clothes. The Nazis were the invaders, not the locals.
3. The murderer who drove a car into a crowd of people was one of the Nazis, not one of the locals.
4. The Nazis came not to preserve some statues, but to intimidate and show their toughness. Their stated goal is to start a revolution to take over America. They fear progress, truth, and diversity.
5. Incidentally, Robert E Lee opposed Confederate monuments. He said they would keep open wounds created by the Civil War. Also, descendants of Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis support the removal of the Confederate monuments.

WHY KAMALA HARRIS SHOULD BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT

At this moment, if my reading of Senator Kamala Harris is correct, I think she might be the best candidate for the Democratic party to nominate to run for president in 2020.
I am a slightly left of center person. I favor a pragmatic national policy that promotes progressive ideals but does not alienate the business community in the process. After all, the business community brings in the tax $ to pay for progressive projects. I favor an economy that is regulated to run as smoothly as possible over the long haul and which brings benefits to everyone rather than a free for all unregulated economy that favors the quick buck artists (like Trump) or a kleptocracy that tips the scales unfairly for the few at the top.
I believe we need to unite the Democratic party but also include moderate Republicans who are turned off by the craziness of the Radical Right and the antics of Trump. When some on the far left label Senator Harris, President Obama, and other Democratic pragmatists a neoliberal, I consider that a plus. If neoliberalism means pragmatic liberalism, then I am a neoliberal. Senator Harris is high on my list of favorites to run for the next president because I think she has the substance to appeal to the Center and is interesting enough to bring along the Left. I think Senator Harris might be the best candidate to bring back the Obama coalition.