Breaking on a Friday afternoon:
In a reversal, former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg said Friday he will permit his company to release women who have accused him of sexual harassment from three non-disclosure agreements, after increasing pressure from his fellow presidential candidates.
Bloomberg also said that, after “a lot of reflecting,” he would not offer confidential agreements to resolve sexual misconduct claims going forward.
“I recognize that NDAs, particularly when they are used in the context of sexual harassment and sexual assault, promote a culture of silence in the workplace and contribute to a culture of women not feeling safe or supported,” Bloomberg said in a statement.
Bloomberg said the company has identified three non-disclosure agreements this would pertain to, and that if they’d like to speak about their allegations they may ask for a release.
Perhaps I’m cynical, but I’m doubting that there were only three. I mean, we all know that there were “a very few,” but I’m thinking two digits, minimum.
He has the best consultants money can buy. I was listening to Pod Save America’s debate review today, and they were pointing out that Bloomberg’s performance reflected a stubborn candidate who didn’t listen to the best consultants money can buy. To quote a song Betty might like, “Quizás, Quizás, Quizás” (Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps). My alternate theory is that, just maybe, the “best consultants money can buy” aren’t that good. This little gambit sure doesn’t seem like a genius move, but I guess even the best can’t make chicken salad out of chicken shit.
Patricia Kayden
karen marie
“They may ask for a release.”
And when they “ask,” they’ll be told that if they speak, they’ll have their character and reputations trashed.
Delightful.
Why is Bloomberg running as a Democrat?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@karen marie:
Cause he can’t run as a Republican and knows a 3rd party bid would just re-elect Trump.
Mary G
And they aren’t including claims by women harassed by other men at his companies who felt free to be assholes because Bloomy had their backs.
It’s unmitigated good that he won’t require NDAs going forward, if he does. Somehow I doubt he will.
Mai naem mobile
Shock surprise. Russia is helping useful idiot Bernie. Ofcourse it won’t make a difference with BernieBros and Nina Turner.
debbie
The President should follow Bloomberg’s lead and do the same. Something tells me there will be an ad about this.
Martin
That Bloomberg backed off at all is both hopeful and a sign that he didn’t think this through. He should have done this before the debate but not announced it until it was raised. That would have immediately defused Warren in a very public way. To release some but not all risks another embarrassing round of this.
germy
@Patricia Kayden:
“God created the universe in six days, and was arrested on the seventh”
– Ambrose Bierce
laura
I can smell that sop to a few of the ladies all the way across the country. Curious about the three lucky contestants who may come forward and ask for consideration. Should they bring their checkbooks to pay their way out of silence (because Bloomberg; like trump; is transaction personified)? More curious about ladies 4, 5, 6…..and the untold number of men who may have been bound to an NDA. I’d prefer to see NDA’s being outlawed altogether.
download my app in the app store mistermix
@Martin: Warren’s “drip drip drip” comment seems even more prophetic now because this is clearly the first drip. Nobody will be satisfied with a modified limited hangout like this.
Also, the “after a lot of reflection” stuff is funny. The retroactive wokeness of it all. The only reflection he’s done is to notice that there’s no way in hell he’s gonna win the Democratic primary with this turd floating around.
germy
Betty Cracker
I do like that song! (Gaby Moreno!) And yeah, this release seems unlikely to tamp down the furor to me too.
Baud
@germy:
So in 2016, maybe the Russians help Bernie solely to harm Hillary.
Why would they choose to help him in 2020?
Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)
Yeah, this won’t help. He’s only drawing attention to the ones he won’t release.
i wonder if he’ll drop out at any point, or if he’ll stay in the race out of sheer entitlement.
Mnemosyne
Who the fuck came up with this stupid Bernie can lock down the nomination in the next 11 days just like Trump did! bullshit? Democrats award delegates proportionally. Republicans award delegates by winner-take-all. There is literally NO POSSIBILITY of Bernie replicating Trump’s feat unless his vote totals are so high in every state that no other candidate gets a single delegate, which is a fucking bonkers thing to believe.
These uninformed morons are driving me up the fucking wall.
Baud
@Patricia Kayden:
Can the fine journalists at the NYT maybe actually determine what the truth is?
Archon
@germy:
Can we go back to the good ole days where we have a President who Russia doesn’t look at as a patsy or asset?
germy
http://notesironbound.blogspot.com/2020/02/how-to-talk-to-your-socially-liberal.html
How to Talk to Your “Socially Liberal But Fiscally Conservative” Friends About Bloomberg
germy
@Archon: Someday soon.
Baud
@Mnemosyne:
I think it’s the same idea as when Hillary became effectively unbeatable after Super Tuesday, although in that case everyone had to pretend Bernie could win until the bitter end.
germy
@Mnemosyne: You’ve been on fire lately! It’s a good thing.
sukabi
Yeah, there’s gonna be more than 3….for a guy whose assistant put out a “joke booklet” of really offensive Bloomberg quotes as a gag gift for Bloomberg…there will be 30 women lined up saying “what about my NDA”?
download my app in the app store mistermix
@Betty Cracker: She’s great!
Kylroy
@Baud: Two possiblities:
trollhattan
@Patricia Kayden:
Was the cop named Corn Pop?
Asking for a friend.
Eric U.
As relieved as I was when Bloomsberg left office, I’m somewhat surprised that more democrats don’t feel the same way about him. Although I’m also surprised that a lot of Democrats are supporting Bernie. I pretty much thought Biden was going to do as well as he has, but I thought Bernie would be right there with him
Hoodie
I guess it’s conceivable that there might be only three that directly involve Bloomberg, but you know there have to be a lot more in an organization the size of his and knowing Wall St. bro culture. I could see how releasing those involving other perpetrators could be problematic if the company entered separate separation agreements that might prevent release of those NDAs.
J R in WV
I have a question… did I hear correctly that Trump sent a personal message to the whole government warning US employees to be on the watch for fellow employees who aren’t faithful followers of Herr Trump?
Anyone else hear that?
What the Fuck?!?!!
sukabi
@Mnemosyne: they are likely a combo of Bernie supporters / operatives and Never Trumper republicans…. Neither group has any interest in Democratic party rules.
Martin
On policy issues he’s not far off of mainstream Democrats. Yes, he’s trying to represent the neoliberal wing of the party who has no savior right now, but he’s in pretty decent alignment with the rest.
I don’t find his stop and frisk position terribly more troubling than Biden’s Anita Hill treatment, or candidates various votes on the Iraq war, gun control, etc. It started as a Rudes/Kerik policy, Bloomberg defended it (wrongly), improved things, and has denounced it. That’s an arc all of our candidates have walked.
Bloomberg is a rich NY asshole whose personal behavior is definitely not what Democrats hold as ideal, to say the least. That’s what he needs to own up to, and so far he’s been failing pretty hard.
And voters generally don’t hold wealth against a person, but they do hold how they defend that wealth and how they use that wealth against them, and given how much money he has and how he’s using it in this race, he needs to be WAY better at casting himself as a force for good than he has been.
Mnemosyne
@Baud:
Vice President Tulsi Gabbard is why. Or merely the opportunity to keep Trump in office to complete his task of destroying the US domestically and internationally.
WaterGirl
Cherry picking the NDAs. Either you release all the women or it’s meaningless.
Redshift
Three, huh? I can’t remember where I heard it first (maybe Charlie Pierce), but the line about evidence of inappropriate relationships/ contact was “If there’s one, there’s one. If there’s more than one, there’s lots.”
Admitting to three is not a good sign.
Mnemosyne
@Baud:
Hillary only had one real opponent — Bernie. We still have 6 candidates who all have at least a few delegates. I want to see the goddamned math that somehow makes Bernie invincible once the delegates have been split up 6 ways.
@germy:
I’m probably going to take a social media break this weekend because the fuckers are starting to get to me. Feh
Cacti
Seriously?
Bernie going to the convention with a plurality of pledged delegates is a dream scenario for them.
If he’s not chosen, his bros will probably start flinging furniture and setting things on fire on the convention floor. If he is chosen, it will have been against the will of the majority of voters. It’s a lose/lose proposition for the DNC.
Baud
@J R in WV:
I didn’t hear about that. I assume it was couched in warnings about complying with the Hatch Act.
sanjeevs
Really hope Clinton calls out Sanders directly line she did Gabbard.
Brachiator
No reason to be cynical or make up numbers. If there are more, then his candidacy will still be hurt.
Is this the new normal? Democrats release tax returns, complete medical histories, and unbind NDAs. Republicans say “fuck you.”
Baud
@Mnemosyne:
Maybe he’ll issue a statement that all candidates need to stop being supported by the Russians.
Redshift
@Baud:
Because his primary goal (including in 2016) is not to elect leaders friendly to him, it’s to weaken Western democracies and alliances by causing chaos, exploiting divisions, and trying to make the old Soviet propaganda about democracies being no better than communism come true.
Jim Parish
@J R in WV: There’s a Caroline Orr (@RVAWonk) tweet which mentions it, linking to a WaPo article about the hiring of Grenell as DNI. Let’s see if I can link this: https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/1230707098243096578
Cacti
Now can EW go after Bernie with the same vigor, for concealing his post infarction medical records?
My magic 8 ball says “signs point to no”.
germy
@sanjeevs: But she never said Gabbard’s name. That’s the funny thing! Gabbard knew exactly who she was talking about.
debbie
@Baud:
Oh, there is no question they would help BS get the nomination solely to ensure Trump wins. I don’t know how this could be seen as anything else.
Gravenstone
@Baud:
Because they’ve identified him as the weakest opponent to Trump
SATSQ
debbie
@Mnemosyne:
Bernie, of course!
Ella in New Mexico
@Baud:
Hands down it’s because they’re hacking inside polling info that with all the right nudges from The Internet Research Agency he loses easily against Trump in the General.
This is the same reason South Carolina’s Republican Party is pushing their voters to go out and vote for Sanders in the upcoming open Primary.
trollhattan
@Mnemosyne:
IIRC (but it’s been a loooooong four years) Wilmer had a mathematical chance up to California’s June ’16 primary and while Hillary won the day easily, there were a crapton of uncounted mail-in ballots that took a month to talley. The mail-ins were about evenly split between them so the margin remained static while Wilmer’s % looked better at the end. But he was Wilmer toast without some kind of weird mail-in miracle.
Superdelegate/schmooper delegate.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne:
jonas
*applies only to those who don’t support the president. If you’re a Republican government worker, go nuts.
Gin & Tonic
@Brachiator:
Yes.
NotMax
Uh huh. Must pay homage first.
Sheesh.
Kent
To harm all the other more electable candidates he is running against? Same reason why Dems helped the Mr. “Legitimate Rape” Akins become the opponent against which Claire McCaskell ran against in 2012.
trnc
And just go ahead and grant it. Don’t make them file a request.
NotMax
@Baud
Get the impression, also too, they hold a lot of chits accumulated over the years which they can threaten to cash in.
trnc
I think Sanders could beat DT, but I think Putin would see an advantage over a Sanders presidency vs any of the other dems who might win.
Martin
@trollhattan: Just so everyone is clear, it’s going to take a month to get California’s results. You know that thing where mail-in ballots lacking a signature, or in person ballots that are unclear are rejected and then maybe with a recount get counted? We do that during the count – they’ll contact the voter and confirm who they voted for, and then count it, and that takes a while. We sort out all of the provisional ballots, etc. As a result there’s basically no recount provision. So it takes a while, but it always gets done right.
2016 was still under the previous, faster process. 2018 was the first under the new process. And a funny thing happened in every race where we pushed to count every vote – democrats did better as we sorted out results – even here in OC where our Registrar of Voters is a Republican (but is an excellent Registrar of voters, btw).
ByRookorbyCrook
@Baud:
The goal is to weaken and discredit the United States at home and abroad. Bernie keeps qualified candidates from advancing in the primaries, weakens the eventual Democratic candidate by stealing momentum from the Convention, or by being elected a terrible executive with a number of vengeful and inept underlings. And all for the low investment of a few thousand $27 donations and an easy script for the Troll farms in St. Petersburg and Macedonia.
Bloomberg is going to use the NDA release in his next ad barrage. He will spin it as him learning the value of an open book candidate. ‘Why won’t that millionaire socialist release his medical records? What is he hiding?’ And hit Trump too.
Another Scott
@Kylroy: 3) If Putin can’t get the sanctions lifted (and he can’t), the next best thing is watching the West slowly disintegrate. Brexit, Turkey, Strains in NATO, Afghanistan, Iraq/Syria/Iran, Israel, Libya, Tariffs, Fracking, etc., etc.
Fighting over M4A, Taxes, Green New Deal, etc., etc.
Chaos is Vlad’s bestest buddy.
Nobody would bring more chaos than Bernie and the Sanderettes.
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
piratedan
@Cacti: you’re right, I was at the edge of the water, when the Lady of the Lake crested the waters and bespoke PSEW with this task and impressed upon her, that THIS was her task, not that of other potential candidates or the Media, but hers, and hers alone….. and then gave her the sword of making everything all right for all time and sank beneath the calm moonlit waters….
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
Bernie Sanders also says “fuck you” to all of the above and then mines his opponents’ releases for things he can use against them (“Wall Street speeches!”), so it looks like non-disclosure is the wave of the future for both parties. Yay. ?
Jeffro
I’m good with a brokered convention that only considers the candidates that have already dropped out.
Also good with drafting Michelle.
sdhays
@trnc: Bernie is a very weak candidate who has benefited from a similar situation that benefitted Dump: he has a lot of very vocal and committed supporters who his opponents are wary of alienating, which let’s him get by being treated with kid gloves. Mike Bloomberg showed, I think, that if Bernie goes up directly against Dump, he’ll devolve into his thin skinned self, and it won’t be a good look.
sdhays
@Jeffro: Ah, so President Unicorn it is! :-)
J R in WV
@Baud:
Nope, the take I got listening to the news report in the next room was an enemies report requirement. If you are working with anyone who isn’t a loyal Trump supporter, turn them in so we can prosecute them was the take I got!!
But like I say, it was in the next room, which is why I asked about it. Nothing is past that guy, nothing!!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@J R in WV: via CNN:
Jinchi
“They may ask for a release?” Why would they have to ask? Has he released them or not? Or are there others he won’t release?
I imagine the question would begin ‘Am I one of the three?’’
J R in WV
Here’s the tweet mentioned above by @Jim Parish regarding Trump and his political enemies within the Federal Government:
This sounds like what I heard on the news wife was watching in the next room. One more Impeachable offense Trump has committed through total ignorance of Federal law, which doesn’t apply to him anyway, just ask him!
I will admit I don’t know who Ms Orr is…
TS (the original)
@Baud:
Because they know he won’t defeat Trump
cckids
@Mnemosyne:
The Pod Save America guys are big on this theme, because of the proportional delegate awarding. Their logic goes: because only the top 3 winners of the vote get any delegates at all (in most states), if Bernie is consistently 1 or 2, and the non-Bernies keep rotating through the 4-5 people out there, Bernie is the only one who will pile up delegates. Not enough to get the amount needed to win outright, but will win enough to be impossible to catch.
trollhattan
@Martin:
Yes, CA’s still sorting out the newest vote procedures and the counties that have gone to 100% mail ballots (with extended and expanded early drop-off) have a different process yet.
IIRC the SoS has a 28-day(?) statutory deadline to certify the vote. And it always takes that long.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@J R in WV: From what the CNN piece was saying, this is for political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the President, not civil service folk(though I don’t think Trump knows or cares about the difference).
JustRuss
So he just now realized that the whole purpose of NDAs is to protect the harassers so they can continue harassing? Go away Mike.
Martin
@Brachiator: I’d say that applies to the wealthy as well.
Bloomberg can immediately release these women from the corporate NDA and then pay them off personally. We’ll know soon enough if he’s making a genuine effort toward transparency or not.
So far this seems pretty guarded. I have a feeling we’ll have another round of this. If nothing else, the media now have a story to chase in Ronan Farrows back yard.
Martin
@?BillinGlendaleCA: He hasn’t cared thus far.
Chris Johnson
The reason Putin would accept Sanders as President is (a) Sanders would be more isolationist and anti-globalist, compared to many others, (b) Trump is such a loose cannon that Putin has to be gaming out possibilities for Trump imploding, losing, or simply dying, (c) in the event of a Sanders presidency Putin can make sure both the Republicans and clued-in Democrats are against Sanders, producing a useless Presidency and a big pile of chaos.
Trump is NOT necessarily Putin’s best option anymore. The guy cannot stick to a plan, and is on the verge of blurting everything out in a demented rage, and covering for him is killing American institutions TOO fast: fast enough to cause problems.
Sanders taking over buys Putin valuable time during which relatively minor trolling and sabotage can prevent America from getting back up again.
Putin would probably also be pretty happy with Bloomberg, simply because they both value money over anything else, therefore they kinda see eye to eye. Putin wouldn’t like Bloomberg moving to reassert the USA as economically dominant, even though it’s a kind of economic dominance that destroys American citizens, but he would like the opportunities for sowing more discord and despair, very much. He doesn’t necessarily agree with leftist views (or any views) but he and his people are capable of understanding them well enough to seed dissent accurately and effectively.
Cacti
@piratedan: If she pulls out the flamethrower for everyone but Wilmer, it tends to give the impression that she’s in the tank for Wilmer.
Cheryl Rofer
@J R in WV: @?BillinGlendaleCA: From what I’ve seen, Trump seems to believe that anyone who served in an Obama administration (and maybe Bush) is disloyal and must be purged. That, of course, covers most of the civil service.
Trump, of course, has no idea that the reason we have a civil service is to avoid situations like what he proposes.
I’m also reminded of Stalin’s behavior in his purges. Once a person gives in to this kind of paranoia, it just gets worse. If that one is disloyal, what about this other one? And that other one? Trump hasn’t had any of them shot in the basement of the White House yet, so I guess we can be thankful for that
debbie
@trnc:
Disagree. Mr. Socialism will not play well with Mr. and Mrs. Flyover.
debbie
@sdhays:
I know Trump will refuse to debate, but I’m picturing two podia facing each other, with two shouty old white men yelling and shaking fists at each other.
hells littlest angel
I thought it meant each woman had to sign three NDAs. Because of legal stuff. But I’m probably an idiot.
Brachiator
@Martin:
There is transparency and then there is intrusiveness.
I don’t know the specifics behind this Bloomberg stuff, and I am certainly not defending any of Bloomberg’s past actions, but simply removing NDAs does not necessarily reveal any truths.
debbie
@Cheryl Rofer:
A strenuous “Seconded!” for your final paragraph. I’ve been thinking of Trump as a cross between Stalin and the Queen of Hearts. “Off with their heads!”
Mnemosyne
@cckids:
That is a WHOLE lot of “what if’s” for the level of panic I’m seeing. People really need to calm the fuck down.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Martin: I agree, Trump has always thought running the Federal Government is just like running his business where he can hire and fire at will. He also thinks his business is a huge company(it’s a pretty small family run company) where the Federal Government really is huge.
joel hanes
@laura:
Silicon Valley would be utterly unworkable without NDAs for technical stuff; they are essential between companies, and between employers and employees.
I hate them, but I bet I signed a couple hundred, and I understand why they were needed.
NDAs for things like sexual harassment, I agree, should be illegal. So should forced arbitration.
And non-compete agreements are the Devil’s harmonium.
Hob
@Martin:
What you find troubling is up to you, but that’s a very misleading account of events.
Stop and frisk expanded massively under Bloomberg, far beyond anything Rudy did, and he defended it tooth and nail all the way through his terms of office in the face of continuous public outcry. I have no idea what you mean by “improved things”; the numbers only went down slightly in 2012, and things didn’t really change until a court order forced the issue in 2013. Bloomberg continued to defend the policy unambiguously right up until he started running for president.
It’s a defining feature of his governance in a major executive role, and he made a sustained effort over many years to keep doubling down on it, while lots of New Yorkers were telling him every day how much damage it was doing. There’s really no comparison to the other actions you mentioned.
J R in WV
Well, looks like this totally competent personnel guy, John McEntee, isn’t aware of the legal requirements to manage his new job. The CNN story includes these tidbits:
and this near the end,
So, financial problems kept him from getting a needed security clearance, but that won’t matter as head of personnel? Did he lie about his finances? CNN doesn’t say, but what they did say seems like enough to me. This guy will walk all over Civil Service laws and regulations, without caring because Trump may just pardon him if he gets in too deep, right? Right? right! maybe nope….
JoeyJoeJoe
@J R in WV: I’m in the federal government and I haven’t heard anything like that. I wouldn’t be surprised if I did, though. After the end of the senate “trial “, I’ve been expecting to hear something along those lines, though probably something less direct than that
J R in WV
@cckids:
If Bernie doesn’t win outright, I would hope that the “super-delegates” and regular delegates pick a real actual Democratic candidate to run against the Russian Republican Trump.
I will work my ass off for real Democratic candidates. Not for Russian stooges. Not for Bernie, not for Tulsi, not for Trump. UnAmerican stooges, all of them!
piratedan
@Cacti: conversely, if you strike the same note about the same candidate in every thread, you tend to portray yourself as some kind purity pony by insisting that by meeting this criteria and this criteria alone, this candidate is now unworthy. Overlooking the fact that she holds almost all of the same positions as him on policy, only better, with ideas on how to achieve them and a background on building consensus to do so. Also without apparently noticing that while they share positions on “policy” the only way to attack him is on character, and doing so invites the entirety of the misogynistic support system that is currently supporting him to come crashing down on her. The fact that the only other candidate to bring this to bear was Ms. Harris (who I also liked) who was then cut off at the knees in both media and social media coverage.
Why you think that this has to be done NOW, is beyond me. I believe Ms. Warren is attempting to coalesce support behind her to fight that battle against Sanders on her terms, which obviously doesn’t satisfy you or placate fears that you have regarding Sanders candidacy. Whereas I see his candidacy as essentially a one trick pony, the same “one size fits all” solution set that has never stood up to scrutiny .
Maybe I’m wrong, perhaps you’re right… and if she’s a secret stealth Bernie in disguise, then why the fuck is she even running for President? To make Sanders more appealing after gathering additional supports to their similar positions? For all we know, she’s playing the Pelosi game, waiting for Bernie to implode or have the Op research that is out there against him finally come to light if he manages to separate himself as being something than Putin’s hedge bet….
trollhattan
Because it’s Friday and I love you: That time rookie Kevin Garnett trash-talked Michael Jordan. (And recall that Garnett went to the NBA straight from high school.)
frosty
@karen marie: “Why is Bloomberg running as a Democrat?“
Too sleazy for the Republicans?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@frosty: Not likely, they have Trump.
Bill Arnold
@Another Scott:
Chaos is more potential for change, for good and/or ill. Putin can’t ride the chaos tiger. (He may believe he can; he cannot.)
Mnemosyne
@frosty:
Also, he’s anti-gun, anti-global warming, and pro-choice, none of which would fly in the current Republican Party. He pretty much has no other choice right now.
Fair Economist
@Patricia Kayden: Too bad the NYT wasn’t interested in reporting Trump’s innumerable lies back in 2016.
Amir Khalid
@germy:
Was Bernie, like, “Yeah!!” ?
JGabriel
mistermix@top:
If there are more, they’ll be able to speak out too:
1. They have a defense in thinking they were released too;
2. They have another defense in asking why others and not them; and,
3. Having released some women from their NDA’s, will Bloomberg really take any others to court if they speak out during the election? That would be a really bad look for a campaign that already has enough optics problems to deal with.
Most importantly though, this gives Warren a win during the election cycle. If Warren can still accomplish wins while merely running for the presidency, how much more effective will she be when she has the power of the presidency itself?
(Hint: Warren campaign – that’s should be a talking point for your spokespeople, campaign reps., and stand-ins.)
JGabriel
Bloomberg is almost 80, and (I suspect) hardly active in the day-to-day operations anymore. So I’m thinking he probably won’t be requiring those kind of NDA’s going forward, if only because he’s not there enough to need them anymore.
Bill Arnold
@Mnemosyne:
Increase the cost of non-disclosure by making the norm persistent relentless questioning about non-disclosure and relentless insinuations about hiding damaging information.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Fair Economist: The New York Times is garbage.
cckids
@Mnemosyne: I agree! I’ve cut how much of their shows I listen to because they are freaking me out; they keep saying “this is how Obama beat Hillary”, and it’s making me nuts.
joel hanes
@Fair Economist:
Too bad the NYT wasn’t interested in reporting Trump’s innumerable lies back in 2016.
Nor his fraud.
Nor his history of stiffing contractors and “partners”.
Feathers
My fear is that the same pattern is setting up as in 2016. Folks in the early states vote for Bernie because they like his ideas. That causes a lot of stories about what an asshole he is and how he’s never actually achieved anything. This causes the later voters to say “Holy shit, we don’t actually want Bernie! Vote for anybody else.” This causes the Bernie supporters to go into into a tailspin of conspiracy theories, rather than facing the fact that they’ve got a popular set of ideas and a terrible person spouting them.
But it leads to why I see Bernie as the Trump of the left. He’s someone who never gets shit done and never has any idea of how to get his ideas enacted other than claiming the other side will fold when he makes them see how wrong they are. Which is awful, but does allow one to push really wonderful ideas with supreme confidence. It’s just that if you end up in power, we’ll end up with a mess.
My deep fear is Bernie gets the nomination, with the indictment for Jane Sander’s fraudulent Burlington College mess following shortly behind. The Trump DOJ closed the matter in 2017/8, however, unlike the whole Hunter Biden garbage mess, there were misdeeds there. She misstated the facts in a loan application, plus other irregularities. It really is strange how the very real problems with Bernie just vanish from the discussion. If he gets the nomination, they all come roaring back.
Brachiator
@Bill Arnold:
The Internet is already the main place for relentless insinuation, without regard to truth or falsehood. I’m not sure that I like NDAs, but I hate rumor mongering.
senyordave
At this point every Democratic candidate should be making an issue out of Sanders’ medical records. He and his people have played hardball in the past, I don’t see why his opponents don’t. I know they are all terrified about losing some BS supporters if they are the nominee, but newsflash – some of them are lost already. Unless St. Bernard strokes out or something like that some of his supporters will never vote for anyone but him.
Sanders is Trump, he has one stump speech, no plans other than trust me, and has some serious skeletons in the closet. If he is the nominee Fidel Castro and the Soviet Union will figure prominently in ads against him. He will lose all the Cuban vote (say goodbye to any chance of winning FL).
If he is the nominee and loses, he should rot in hell.
JGabriel
Not a surprise. I’ve literally been expecting an announcement like this for months. It’s one of the reasons Sanders is near the bottom of my choices this cycle.
Bernie was pretty friendly with the Soviet Union back in the day. I don’t know whether Putin would actually be okay with a President Sanders, or just wants Sanders as the Dem nominee because he has kompromat on Bernie stored away in the old Soviet archives that he plans to unload if Sanders gets the nomination.
Or maybe Putin just likes the idea of a US president who could have another heart attack any moment.
Whatever the case, I don’t want a nominee who has even a glimmer of support from Putin. I want a nominee who will make Putin suffer for his electoral and cyber attacks on the US.
JPL
@Feathers: I definitely agree. Those running against trump were afraid to upset his base in 2016 and look what happened. Barr is salivating thinking about it.
Baud
Looks like the Bernie people are turning against Warren because she won’t back the plurality winner rule.
hitchhiker
@JustRuss:
To be fair, there’s a moment in the Twohey/Kantor narrative (published in 2017) about Harvey Weinstein when that fact dawns on them for the first time. And people like Gloria Allred herself are still out there saying that often an NDA + settlement is the best option for a woman and should stay in the toolkit.
B-berg might be an asshole, but I don’t think this comment is an example of it.
My own opinion is that the restriction clauses in NDAs should become legally void if the offense is repeated.
Bill Arnold
@J R in WV:
On Soviet Union commissars:
So You Want to Be a Soviet Navy Political Officer (September 8, 2017, Robert Beckhusen)
Edited lightly for the DJT regime. This felt over-the-top while editing, and OK maybe it is but it’s a mood:
senyordave
@Baud: what s the plurality rule?
JPL
@Baud: I had heard that Bernie people wanted her commitment to give them her delegates. His supporters aren’t worth it.
Baud
@senyordave:
Candidate with the most votes (or delegates) should automatically win even if below 50%.
Eljai
@Baud: It’s just silly on their part because it’s not her call. There are rules for what happens if nobody breaks 50% by the convention. All the people who ran as Democrats agreed to abide by the rules. And all of the candidates currently running have agreed to follow the process, except for one. You know who.
JPL
@senyordave: plurality vs majority of the total.. At least that’s my understanding. When he ran against Clinton he preached she had to have a majority of the total delegates which she did easily.
PsiFighter37
@senyordave: His supporters, as well as St. Wilmer himself, would probably blame the Democratic ‘establishment’ if he gets run over in the general election. Far leftism / socialism can never fail; it can only be failed.
Bill Arnold
@debbie:
I noted yesterday (don’t have the clip handy) that D.J. Trump still cannot make a proper fist.[1][2] I wonder if Bernie Sanders can.
[1] Or, to be fair, he has a very very short thumbs.
[2] The thumb should be touching the ring finger in a typical male, depending on hand size and shape of course. :-)
Baud
@PsiFighter37: No question.
Eljai
@JPL: If my understanding is correct, she can’t give Sanders her delegates. My hope is she gets the nom, but if she doesn’t, she can free her delegates. However, those delegates can vote for whoever they want.
PsiFighter37
@Baud: Never, ever will happen. Unless Bernie + Warren have a majority, I think the play is for the other candidates to nominate a unity candidate who amongst themselves. I originally going to say ‘who was not in the primary’, but 3+ months is simply not enough runway to go from zero to full-on presidential campaigning.
Baud
@PsiFighter37:
Hard to predict what will happen.
I figured Warren must be doing better after the debate if they are going after her.*
*The 0.1% who are bad actors.
cckids
@Baud:
Looks like the Bernie people are turning against Warren because she won’t back the plurality winner rule.
Actually, she & the other candidates are the ones who want to follow the rules; Bernie wants to shunt aside the rule that a candidate has to have (don’t remember the #) of delegates; he now wants “winner takes all” . Not ironically, this is exactly counter to the position he had when Hillary had the most delegates.
JPL
@PsiFighter37: Hillary. I’d prefer Michelle Obama but I guess that would be a no on her part.
Baud
@cckids:
Yeah, I should have put “rule” in quotes.
Cacti
@piratedan: tl;dr
sukabi
@cckids: think it’s 1991 delegates.
Someone who doesn’t want to follow the long established rules probably should find or found a party of his liking.
Baud
@JPL:
That would excite me but it would also excite the wingnuts and the Bros.
senyordave
@sukabi: He found a perfect party, the Democratic party. He doesn’t have to belong, can easily manipulate them, and they are spineless.
PJ
@Bill Arnold: I’ve never heard that piece of advice regarding fist formation. If my thumb were touching my ring finger when I punched, I’d end up hurting my hand ( because my thumb would have to pass under the first knuckle of my index and middle fingers).
Baud
I remember when progressives were opposed to the first past the post system.
Bill Arnold
@PJ:
On the outside, just barely to the ring finger in this picture:
proper fist
My thump is apparently a little longer; the point is that it be very tight, or parts of it will break or be sprained if something is hit with it. DJT’s “fist” has the thumb touching or barely resting on the index finger. I’m mainly amused that a self-declared manly man in his 70s who went to a military high school doesn’t make a proper fist.
senyordave
So the Berniebros are already setting things up to take their toys and go home if he isn’t the candidate. I he is the candidate i pray one of his supporters knocks on my door so I can tell him/her that I won’t vote for him. Obviously I will vote for him, I would vote for almost any sentient being over Trump but BS is partially responsible for Trump. His lack of support for HRC should be a campaign issue itself.
smintheus
Bloomberg’s statement is very carefully worded:
“I’ve had the company go back over its record and they’ve identified 3 NDAs that we signed over the past 30-plus years with women to address complaints about comments they said I had made. If any of them want to be released from their NDA so that they can talk about those allegations, they should contact the company and they’ll be given a release.”
“complaints about comments” not about actions he took or abuses he condoned. And responsibility for selecting only 3 NDAs lies with his company, not with him. Plus no indication that he contacted the 3 individuals to tell them they’re the lucky duckies who get to apply for the right to tell their stories.
laura
@Cheryl Rofer: I keep thinking it’s more akin to Saadam Hussien’s 1979 Baath purge. I’ve no doubt that trump would do it on TV if he thought he could get away with it because ratings!
I cant remember where I saw the article, but he believes that the emergency powers of the DOD are sufficient to undo the collective bargaining rights of the civilian staff – some 750,000 employees.
Martin
Worth noting, NDAs to protect sexual harassment settlements are illegal in CA. I think some other states as well. This would be an outstanding time for someone to add that as a national policy to their platform.
Duane
@PsiFighter37: Cue Hillary Clinton appearing from the curtains to accept the 2020 Democratic nomination. The crowd roars with shock and jubilation as the band plays “Happy Days are Here Again.”
Eta: JPL well out in front.
Baud
@senyordave:
I’d like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Jeffro
This is not hard to understand:
It would be nice if a certain former recent US president would consider weighing in and helping the non-Putin candidates realize that they must bring the party together, and quickly. Several of them have fatal flaws that will prevent the Dem base from coalescing well, if ever. A couple of them have bright futures ahead of them in a hopefully stabilized future America. But it’s almost March…and the attack by Russia is already underway.
Let’s go, Tom. Let’s go, Pete. Let’s see if you really meant it, Mike. Time to get the circular firing squad facing outward for once.
NotMax
Oy vey, such a shining example of Republicanhood.
She’s Running: Ilhan Omar’s GOP Challenger Is On The Lam Amid Shoplifting Charges
Baud
@NotMax:
Omar is in a safe seat, right?
senyordave
I wonder at what point, if any, Obama will get involved. If Sanders is nominated I can’t see any realistic chance that Trump doesn’t win and he may get the House, plus the hardcore berniebros are probably a lost cause anyway. If Trump wins again the country will truly be in peril.
BBA
Get the difference right, people: Trump is a Russian asset. Sanders is a Russian agent.
Chris Johnson
@BBA: I don’t believe that and it makes me more suspicious of you, for coming around making the exact argument that Russian trolls would be feeding THIS merry band of miscreants for maximum divisiveness.
I worked for him. He got infiltrated by a bunch of Russians. He is too self-absorbed to notice and is not inherently a Russia hawk, if he was an agent he’d be doing a better job of it especially right now. Instead he is stumbling and having problems responding appropriately to the trouble he’s in. Hell, even Twitter is turning on him.
Just because he is a wildly inappropriate person to be leading the Dem race doesn’t make him a Russian agent. And that’s from someone who’s seeing Reds under the bed all the time these days. It’s bad enough that he got co-opted and used as a stalking horse.
debbie
@senyordave:
A canvasser for an AOC-type running against my established (and very good) AA U.S. Rep knocked on my door a couple of weeks ago. I scolded her candidate for cannibalizing the Dems by trying to unseat a perfectly good Democrat rather than trying to defeat a Republican and broadening the Democratic Party. She’s never even run for office before, for chrissakes!
NotMax
@Baud
Me no know. However having an opponent who is subject to arrest on a bench warrant if she shows up to vote for herself would seem to make it safer.
sukabi
@senyordave: more than likely right…
Doesn’t bode well for the return of “norms” or tradition does it?
Bill Arnold
@Bill Arnold:
Answering my own question, it appears that Bernie Sanders can make a proper fist, at least with his left hand His index finger is a little high, but he could hit something(one) with that fist and it might not break, assuming his bones are not fragile. Win: BS.