If I Had a Magic Wand I Would Create an Environment of Democratic Clarity in the 2016 Election Cycle

If I could wave a magic wand I would create an election cycle where all Democrats clearly understood all Republicans want to return to a pre U.s. Constitution ratification era and re-write said Constitution based on their belief that a federal government, i.e., THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, is wrong and a 50-sovereign-state-land, yet to be named, is right. And that is just the appetizer...

Personally, I don’t need to know any more than I already know to know that my primary goal is to win and to banish Republicans from power and my principle tactics are:

One ~ Make an effort to educate as many Democrats as I can;

 Two ~ Make an effort to persuade as many Democrats as I can that the “issues” are secondary to winning (at the moment!) and;

Three ~ Make an effort to vote a straight Democratic ticket (unless it appears a Democrat will do more harm than good and I’m not seeing that happening).

There’s a lot of noise out there as Election 2016 is kicking off but I am of the mind that Democrats have got to stay focused on the taking back of the Senate; the beginning of the  taking back of the House and; the keeping of the White House! 

If we lose, we will be less relevant than we are today ~  end of story...

I am not going to get into all of the Democratic issues, nor am I going to get into the rank and file process of the Democratic Party, you-all can Google that, what I am going to get into is this ~

I am of the mind that questions of candidates have to begin with a bit of a civics literacy test before proceeding to the issues at hand to:

One ~ Put them on notice that the electorate is knowledgeable enough to know that if candidates do not know how the system works they cannot adequately represent us and

Two ~ Put them on notice that if they do not know how the system works they’d better learn, otherwise they cannot recognize the real danger Republicans present and worse than not being able to adequately represent us they will be rendered impotent.

A simple example from a simpler time, prior to a black man winning the office of the U.S. Presidency and a Republican Party reacting with Obama Derangement, thousands of questions were asked of all of the candidates seeking the White House in 2008 and all of the candidates declared their intentions but only one candidate prefaced the answer to a question that now escapes me with this and I paraphrase:

~ Well, I will have a Congress but … and then candidate Hillary Clinton went on to share with the audience what her intention around her particular thinking would be ~

That was a critical response for me as it reaffirmed my support for her over candidate Barack Obama throughout the nomination process because it demonstrated she was not going to stand there and make promises to the electorate without acknowledging that the United States system does not allow for Kings and/or Queens and we have checks and balance and she was not afraid to say so.

But I digress, for today I am losing my patience with Democrats who are stuck in the day of politics as a noble profession based on compromise and good manners ~ that is NOT who Republicans are and if we want to:

One ~ Keep our decades old Democratic Republic intact and

Two ~ Stand a chance of returning to the good old days of predominantly Statespeople on the Hill in D.C. we’d better wake up and smell the coffee.

Here’s a list of the top 10 questions I am planning on asking all candidates BEFORE I get to my Issues agenda, reserving the right to flex them dependent on the situation!

(You should feel free to borrow and or to adapt. Also, I strongly encourage you to do this is writing to cut down on political pontification and to have a copy available to you for fact checking purposes.)

One ~

What are the top three changes you would like to see made to the Constitution? Why?

Two ~

What are the top three departments of the federal government you would like to see eliminated and what are the top three you would like to keep. Why?

Three ~

Do you support Federal Supremacy? Why?

Four ~

Do you support Separation of Church and State? Why?

Five ~

Do you support the General Welfare? Why?

Six ~

Do you support the concept that corporations are people? Why?

Seven ~

 Do you support public school system? Why?

Eight ~

Do you support ratification of ERA? Why?

Nine  ~

Do you support the privatization of America? Why?

Ten ~

Do you support the Electoral College process? Why?

And, now, just for fun, a very simple key to my questions for me:

G., aka Partisan Democrat

(You can follow me at GKMTNblogs

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(* Credit for the magic wand goes to: Darren's Chalk ) 

Hillary Clinton: “When Families Flourish Communities and Nations Do as Well” ~ Bejing, China 1995

For the record, the process of the Democratic Party in a presidential election is to write a Democratic Platform that all Democrats will support over the following four years. Juxtaposed with the constraints of Congress, anyone who thinks any Democratic candidate is going to be radically different from any other Democratic candidate is mistaken. Democrats would be wise to accept that and back a candidate with a high probability of winning. As a result, I support Hillary -- if she's a go!

Having said that, I am not going to advocate for her here, really ~

I am just going to ask Democrats giver her the courtesy of doing their homework and I am going to add to that ask that she and all she has done and does be considered through the lens of what I believe I have learned about her over the years ~ 

She is a supporter of an American Value and Principle called: The Common Good, constitutionally codified as the General Welfare, who understands the personal is political in the context of the health and welfare of the nation which, of course, is us.

Then using your own informed judgment -- decide…

First, Hillary snip of her at the Fourth Women's Conference in Bejing, China, 1995:

Provided by the Clinton Presidential Library, the video is approximately 20 minutes, linked here .

Second, Hillary snip of her at an It Takes A Village interview on C-SPAN, 1966:

Provided by C-SPAN's Booknotes, the video is approximately 60 minutes,
 linked here.

Third,  fast forward to Hillary as United States Secretary of State, 2009:

 There has been some discussion as to just what Hillary did or did not accomplish as Secretary of State and there will be more of that so I am going to give you a copy of the text of the The 2010 Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR): Leading Through Civilian Power document created under her leadership as an example of the foundation of her work in implementing President Obama's foreign policy here, followed by a more easy to digest video of  Dr. Anne Marie Slaughter, Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State, presenting key points of it.  

Dr. Slaughter snip of her discussing Hillary's QDDR, 2011:


Provided by Chatham House, the video is approximately 60 minutes, 
linked here.

And, last but not least fast forward to today and the new and updated epilogue to her latest book "Hard Choices":



As I read the epilogue, I was reminded of something I think about often -- how dedicated our public servants are and how badly they are treated by so many ... It's quite shameful. No matter what Hillary decides about the 2016 race, it is my hope that all Democrats will treat her with the respect all of our public servants deserve because, more often than not, it is love of country and/or love of her people that motivates them and not the bottom line and they deserve that.

We may not all agree with her and that's fine but the GOP will bring enough hate to the table and we shouldn't help them with that....

"Hillary Clinton

 'Hard Choices'; Former U.S. Secretary of State

A New Chapter

Posted: 04/10/2015 8:17 am EDT Updated: 04/10/2015 8:59 am EDT"

... I have always believed that every child should have the chance to live up to his or her God-given potential. That principle has animated my entire career, from my earliest days as a young attorney with the Children's Defense Fund straight through to my service in the Senate and as Secretary of State. Now that I'm a grandmother, I believe it even more passionately. Unfortunately, too few of the children born in the United States and around the world today will grow up with the same opportunities as Charlotte. You shouldn't have to be the granddaughter of a President or a Secretary of State to receive excellent health care, education, enrichment, and all the support and advantages that will one day lead to a good job and a successful life. That's what we want for all our kids. And this isn't just idealism. It's a recipe for broadly-shared prosperity and a healthy democracy. The notion of equal opportunity has been at the heart of the American experiment since the very beginning. It's part of what made the United States exceptional and it attracted generations of immigrants determined to work hard and provide their families with that same chance at success. I'm more convinced than ever that our future in the 21st century depends on our ability to ensure that a child born in the hills of Appalachia or the Mississippi Delta or the Rio Grande Valley grows up with the same shot at success that Charlotte will.

Becoming a grandmother has made me think deeply about the responsibility we all share as stewards of the world we inherit and will one day pass on. Rather than make me want to slow down, it has spurred me to speed up. As Margaret Mead said, children keep our imaginations fresh and our hearts young, and they drive us to work for a better future. I've also returned again and again to this question of universality - how much we all have in common even if the circumstances of our lives may be different. As you've seen throughout this book, one of the defining themes of my time as Secretary of State was our increasing global interdependence. Despite all the division and discord in the world, which sometimes can seem overwhelming, the basic fact of the 21st century is that we're more connected than ever. If the United States continues to lead the world in the years ahead, as I believe it can and must, it will be because we have learned how to define the terms of our interdependence to promote more cooperation and shared prosperity and less conflict and inequality. As we've seen since the first edition of this book was published in June 2014, the negative side of interdependence remains potent -- whether it was the spread of virulent new strands of extremism in the Middle East or old-style nationalism in Europe or a deadly epidemic in Africa. Our job is to build up the positive side. The United States and the other great democracies have to redouble our efforts to empower moderates and marginalize extremists everywhere, and to stand firmly and united in pursuit of a more just, free, and peaceful world. That's the world I want for Charlotte and for all our kids. ...  (Linked above.)

Or course there is much,much more material to be found on Hillary but it is my hope these snippets into her work will encourage you to pay very close attention as you are deciding if you think she should be the next President of the United States ~ or not ...



G., aka Partisan Democrat

First of Month FAV Posts ~ Shareable, Informational and/or Actionable (Timely: #NoMoreGOPWar!)

Democrats always need to work at messaging Democratic Truths. You do know the GOP is always messaging Democratic Lies, right?! Please feel free to share my favorite posts and/or to take action where appropriate. Take the Best; Leave the Rest. But push back!

 I know it can be annoying to have to take several steps ~ click, save and then post ~ but it will be a lot more annoying if we have a GOP Congress AND a GOP President in 2016.

 My personal habit is to save each meme on my Desktop; I create a Memes Today folder and drop each meme into the folder and; when I have a block of about 15 minutes of time ~ I share them all directly from that folder to my favorite social medium platforms. I am of the mind that the more space Democrats take up on cyberspace the less space the GOP will have!

( * I am providing direct Facebook links on which you can click and share with your friends. To share on Twitter and Google + you’ll have to do the annoying thing, as noted above, but hey, it’s for a good cause...

When sharing, whether on Facebook, Twitter or Google+, please use the UniteBlue hashtag #NoMoreGOPWar to add your voice to the voices of others who are supporting peaceful negotiations with Iran! We can't let up until the negotiations with Iran are completed and successful!!! Thank you! )

You-all probably know that President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry and all of the public servants you work under their direction have agreed to a framework with Iran to  monitor a peaceful relationship with nuclear power in that country.

Unfortunately, many in Congress are not on board for reasons that I, personally, find to range from despicable to appalling, such as that old might is right thinking, that hateful Obama derangement, ignorance, pique, just to name a few, juxtaposed with a whole lot of 20^th Century thinking.

It is a situation that calls for the millions of Americans who voted for President Obama to stand up for him. He has been demonstrably delivering on a campaign promise that said war would only a last resort. Yes, he is delivering. But, will we?

First: If you have not heard from President Obama directly hit the link below the meme.



You can listen and share here. 

Second: If you have not had the time to do a lot of reading hit the next link for one of the best pieces out there from a community I would characterize as being in the topic loop ~ brief, concise and comprehensible. 

You can read here and you can share on Facebook here.   

Now, for a few shareable memes that speak for themselves!:

You can share it on Facebook here. 

Courtesy Americans Against The Republican Party

You can share it on Facebook here. 

Courtesy Americans Against The Republican Party

You can share it on Facebook here. 

Courtesy of Americans Against The Republican Party

You can share it on Facebook here.

Courtesy of Occupy Democrats

You can share it on Facebook here. 

Courtesy of Occupy Democrats

You can share it on Facebook here.

Courtesy of Occupy Democrats 

^^^ That one is courtesy of me. If you do not know what the Obama Doctrine is please start connecting the dots now  ~  briefly summarized simply and inadequately in my own words: President Obama seeks peace and prosperity for as many peoples of as many nations who want to work with him via building strong economies and not war based on the best of America's values and principles and two of the best Secretaries of State in my lifetime have been working day and night to implement that Doctrine on our behalf. The least we can do is get their backs on this!

G., aka Partisan Democrat

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