Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

jal wrote:Bill was oddly uninspiring. The Democratic convention as a whole is pretty lame.

But again this has very little to do with Hillary, this election for me is only about stopping Trump. A racist, conniving, self aggrandizing, buffoonish demagogue who should not be close to the White House.

And Jim, I hear you, I see where you're coming from but to me it is a no brainer; stop Trump is what I'm voting for.

This is good enough for me. Anything good from Hillary as President is bonus on top of stopping the worst American running for President since Wallace.

I think Clinton will do a ton of good for the country, regardless of the rest of the (IMO overblown) disgust and lack of trust. Throw in the threat of Trump and what Patrick says comes into play. Anything short of unmitigated disaster is a plus.

I must say I am puzzled by Jim's posts. He is an educated man with some intelligence, yet his posts about Hillary seem to be totally driven by emotions and what could be interpretated as uncontrolled hate towards "that Lady".
While I can understand Sanders' supporters disappointment (as for all other candidates) that he did not get selected, I have more difficulty to understand a certain inability to overcome frustration and make a rationale decision (aligned with own values ideas).
I am not well informed but would have guessed Sanders and Trump don't share the same values and ideas for America (?).
After all it is a (forced) choice between Donald and Hillary and one of the two is going to be President. Like it or not. They carry a different message (not yours, theirs) and the choice is yours.
Mind you, while the Brits have now a habit to put a woman in power, this has neither happened in France or the US...

Ha ha I'm sorry Antoine, I don't mean to offend anyone, I'll tone down my rhetoric.
I'm just using hyperbole to make my points.
But I don't want to create bad will either.
Those who know me personally know that it's just me saying this stuff.
It's just a form of political literature, no harm meant.
I'll at least cut out the swear words.
I was flipping through the channels after Bill's speech last night, predictably, CNN loved it, and Fox hated it.

Joe Scarborough seems pretty positive about dnc day two.

I thought it was more about party unification than anything else, and it was largely successful with that.
We'll see if that works its way down to the populace.

I've always been a cautious optimist and I find the republican party in general to be antithetical to my basic outlook on life.

No offense taken at all, Jim.
We are living interesting times...

DavidG wrote:I think Clinton will do a ton of good for the country, regardless of the rest of the (IMO overblown) disgust and lack of trust. Throw in the threat of Trump and what Patrick says comes into play. Anything short of unmitigated disaster is a plus.

So what do I want from the next president in order to call them successful?

For my part and not in any particular order:

* Any improvement in closing the inequality gap and tackling poverty
* Help in college costs (up to $60,000 tuition at a college with billions in an endowment is obscene, student loans repayment schedules are obscene)
* Fix all the cracks in the ACA, I'd love to see a single payer health care system.
* Increase the employment participation rate. Sure unemployment is low but so is the number of people in the work force.
* Any gun control initiative, at least abolish assault weapons.
* Some sort of immigration reform, imo, immigrants usually come to a country and provide a huge positive contribution, let's ensure it at least continues that way.
* Invest in repairing an infrastructure that is apparently crumbling (roads, railroads, bridges, airports, etc...)
* Reform the tax code. (My biggest beef with Obama - making $250k a year does not make you a fat cat millionaire or billionaire. In NYC, a family of 4 with two working parents making this salary in total barely breaks even. OTOH, CEOs, Hedge Fund managers and others making millions or even billions in salary and bonuses pay very little tax and get a lot of goodwill by donating 5-10% of their income to a charity bearing their name. Sorry about that particular rant)

And this is just domestically. Foreign policy is another list altogether; Trade, NATO, the Middle East, Climate Change, ensuring crazies stay in check (Iran, North Korea, terrorist groups) I'll have to create a whole wish list for that.

So now, who do you think has a chance to at least get some of these items on the agenda? Who is even focusing on them?

Again, for me the choice is clear.

Looking from the other side of the border I find the discussions and passion shown leading up to the election fascinating. Much better than reading any newspaper articles. No idea which way this will turn out but the vote is not just for America but the world is sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for the outcome of the election although I can't for the life of me decide who is the lesser of evils. If I had a vote I'd probably hold my nose and cast a vote for Hillary only because Trump reminds me of the movie Dr Strangelove! I just don't trust him with the BUTTON. When his friends come out and say that he cheets on the golf course that does it. In my opinion ones true colours are shown in those 4-5 hrs on the links and anyone who cheats on the course usually can't be trusted in life/business! Looking forward to the outcome but anxious to say the least.

Ha! Love the "gentleman's game" litmus test. "Improve your lie there, Mr. President. Give yourself a chance."

Racer Chris wrote:Joe Scarborough seems pretty positive about dnc day two.

I thought it was more about party unification than anything else, and it was largely successful with that.
We'll see if that works its way down to the populace.

I've always been a cautious optimist and I find the republican party in general to be antithetical to my basic outlook on life.

I think as Jim pointed out earlier, the mainstream media is a different animal altogether. Gotta be careful.

All the mainstream media is showing the kumbaya moment. But I was watching the c-span channel, and I get a slightly different picture. They were showing live with people taped their mouths, face paintings and placards denouncing DNC and what not. I mean the party will unite more or less, but the process is not where the mainstream media have you believe it. DNC and Clinton campaign have uphill battles and work cutout for them.

My wife started recording on cspan around 5pm. Starting a couple hours later we watched the whole thing on time delay.
I find the reading of delegate votes quite boring, but she had to see the whole thing.
When Vermont took a pass, my wife thought there was trouble brewing, but I figured it was done so Bernie could be the last speaker in that segment. Sure enough.
Many of the speakers after that were uninteresting to us so we fast forwarded quite a bit.

I think I fell asleep toward the end of Bill's speech.
He did do a good job of creating a positive narrative about Hillary's career in public service, but doubtful it will fully offset the narrative being spread from the other side.

There seemed to be very little vocal dissension during the various speakers, and only cheers (no boos) during the delegate counting.
I wasn't watching the crowd too closely but I'm not surprised there were still plenty of protestors.
I saw quite a few Bernie signs.

MSM showed the disenchanted Sanders supporters plenty... both CNN and MSNBC. But I was watching yesterday afternoon, not prime time. What I saw seemed out of proportion to their numbers. But I guess it all depends on one's perspective. No question that there are a lot of angry, disenchanted voters. A dangerous mix.

Antoine, for the true source of Jim's frustration with Clinton, you'll need to go back several pages where he posts about her secretly rubbing his thigh during some policy meeting. I think she must have given him a permanent case of blue balls. (If Jim and Hillary were Republicans, would that be red balls?)

Jacques, I like your list.

Ah, yes, that magical 45 minutes spent alone with Hillary Clinton back in the early 1990s….
Her rubbing my knee and inching up into my inner thigh… Me admiring her head band….
Let's see, I should be able to figure this out, our ages….
It would have been sometime in the school year, the fall or winter of 1991.
So I would have been 33 years old… She would have been 44.
When we went out into the school auditorium, sitting in the folding chairs up on the stage, her left thigh pressed up against my right thigh (you think I'm making this up), she leaned over and whispered to me in my right ear: "So, do you enjoy being mayor?"

Memories.

And we move on to the EIGHTH greatest president in U.S. history:

A recap:

The Jim How Top ten Greatest Presidents, and their Bordeaux wine counterparts…..

#10. Dwight Eisenhower. It was tough, there are about 5 or 6 others who could easily be included in the top 10, I'll mention them in honorable mention at the end. But if I have to pick, I have to include Ike in my top ten. He gets in, of course, at least as much if not more for his leadership in WWII, managing the competing personalities involved. As president he presided over post-war growth and prosperity, the interstate highway system, appointed Earl Warren, provided moderation at a time the country welcomed it, warned against the military-industrial complex. He was strong and solid, nothing fancy, but great backbone, like a great St. Estephe, a Cos d'estournel of the 1980s or even a Montrose of the 2000s. B+.

#9: Woodrow Wilson: Despite his faults, he ushered in a new era. In his 8 years there was a paradigm shift in world power, as the United States emerged at the top. He was celebrated mightily in Europe at the end of World War I, enhancing American power and strength (for better and worse). Despite its ultimate failures, the League of Nations set a template and created a mechanism for the solution of world problems that was quite revolutionary at the time and that set in motion for the next century a new way of thinking about global relations that had never existed before in the history of the world. The population and immigration influx grew enormously during his administration. His racism will knock him down from a higher standing but, hey, there will be others higher on this list who owned hundreds of slaves. Presiding over victory in World War I tends to score high with most historians. He was an incredibly lusty, pornographic lover, writing literally thousands of unapologetically pornographic letters to his two wives. He suffered a serious stroke and the fruit did not survive the tannins. He was an intellectual, stern, with a surprising sultriness… like the 2002 left bank Bordeaux vintage. B+.

#8: Barack Obama: 1989-Lynch-Bages-like. As we have sunk to crazy depths in American politics in the past 20-30 years, Obama has shown class, steadiness, quiet strength. He can be infuriating at times when he "plays the game" of Democratic Party politics. I almost took him off the list this week for his continuing support of Debbie Wasserman alone. (James Polk sadly goes out of the top ten, I really wanted to get him in there.) But I think that, regardless of the outcome this November, the world is going to miss this guy. He scores very big points in my book for his class, intelligence, calm. He and his administration have been scandal free, no small task in this day and age. He has a beautiful family. Obamacare may not be everything people hoped for, but it is at least a beginning. And it is a FDR-like "big idea" that will go down in history as a success. He stalked and got Bin Laden. He has been steadfast for women's rights, which to me is one of the top three most important issues. He is witty. He has a lot of Hillary in him in that he is slow to come around on certain issues until the polls say it is okay, but for some reason it doesn't offend me as much. He has a charming geekiness about him. His life story is compelling, his election historic. Certain economic indicators like the stock market, unemployment, inflation, interest rates, etc., may seem strong but belie fundamental, structural weaknesses in the economy that he has not had much impact upon in his 8 years, keeping him from a higher grade. I guess, in the end, I just think he's a good man, a basically decent person. He inherited some awful messes. I guess we'll have to see how his foreign policies end up playing out, but in general I think if you answer the Reagan question: Politics aside, "are we better off today than we were 8 years ago?" I say, the answer is "Yes." B+.

Can't argue with that assessment Jim. I'm with you on all three of these.

Bloomberg is hitting it out of the park

Ha I was just gonna say the same thing!
Now this is a guy I could have voted for.

JimHow wrote:Ha I was just gonna say the same thing!
Now this is a guy I could have voted for.

Great minds!! I would have voted for him with no hesitations at all

jal wrote:

DavidG wrote:I think Clinton will do a ton of good for the country, regardless of the rest of the (IMO overblown) disgust and lack of trust. Throw in the threat of Trump and what Patrick says comes into play. Anything short of unmitigated disaster is a plus.

So what do I want from the next president in order to call them successful?

For my part and not in any particular order:

* Any improvement in closing the inequality gap and tackling poverty
* Help in college costs (up to $60,000 tuition at a college with billions in an endowment is obscene, student loans repayment schedules are obscene)
* Fix all the cracks in the ACA, I'd love to see a single payer health care system.
* Increase the employment participation rate. Sure unemployment is low but so is the number of people in the work force.
* Any gun control initiative, at least abolish assault weapons.
* Some sort of immigration reform, imo, immigrants usually come to a country and provide a huge positive contribution, let's ensure it at least continues that way.
* Invest in repairing an infrastructure that is apparently crumbling (roads, railroads, bridges, airports, etc...)
* Reform the tax code. (My biggest beef with Obama - making $250k a year does not make you a fat cat millionaire or billionaire. In NYC, a family of 4 with two working parents making this salary in total barely breaks even. OTOH, CEOs, Hedge Fund managers and others making millions or even billions in salary and bonuses pay very little tax and get a lot of goodwill by donating 5-10% of their income to a charity bearing their name. Sorry about that particular rant)

And this is just domestically. Foreign policy is another list altogether; Trade, NATO, the Middle East, Climate Change, ensuring crazies stay in check (Iran, North Korea, terrorist groups) I'll have to create a whole wish list for that.

So now, who do you think has a chance to at least get some of these items on the agenda? Who is even focusing on them?

Again, for me the choice is clear.

Jacques, will you please run for office? I'd vote for that platform!

That said, the chances of getting any of it enacted would be vanishingly small without an accompanying majority in the House, a supermajority in the Senate, and (at least) a neutral Supreme Court.

Additional planks in the Levy/Howaniec platform… (I'll be your dirt dog Spiro Agnew any day.)

*Significantly increase the maximum taxable earnings for Social Security.

*Create an Apollo-level-program to cure dementia/Alzheimers.

*Establishment of the "Thomas Jefferson Wine Cellar" in the White House.

Tim Kaine is putting me to sleep.

I second the "Thomas Jefferson Wine Cellar"

He's pretty vanilla but seems solid.

Sorry, I had to mute him, he's taking away all the oomph that Bloomberg created. Bernie looks very grumpy tonight btw, even more than usual.

Oh man he is really getting annoying now. He should have stopped about 15 minutes ago.

Blanquito wrote: That said, the chances of getting any of it enacted would be vanishingly small without an accompanying majority in the House, a supermajority in the Senate, and (at least) a neutral Supreme Court.

Patrick, possibly, but it's a negotiation. I just know Trump will focus on very little of that. With Hillary there's a chance for some steps forward.

JimHow wrote:Oh man he is really getting annoying now. He should have stopped about 15 minutes ago.

I agree, every time I unmute him, I get annoyed again. Zzzzzzz

Sigh, I really wanted to take a step back, maybe I've been too tough on the party of which I am a member.
But no.
Tim Kaine…. Yuck.
More of the same old crap.
This Spanish speaking is so phony.

The best speech of the night was Bloomberg in my book, followed by Joe.
How can anybody not like Joe? He's such a dork. But lovable.
The Obama video was good and it was exciting to see him come out on the stage, but his speech was eh, okay. He's given better speeches. It was okay.
That extra spark is lacking from the Democratic convention this year that we saw in '08 and '12.
This is going to be a dog fight.
Let's see if the Chelsea-Hillary act can save the show tomorrow night….

wow I think he just called Trump a fascist.

i think Wolf has achieved nirvana…

Obama was incredible, once again.

Wolf calls it "extremely powerful."

I wonder if Sean looks at it the same way.

Blanquito wrote:Obama was incredible, once again.

We disagree Patrick, I'm with Jim on that. It looked like he was returning the (Bill) favor, just another speech.

I'm sorry, it was good, not great.
The CNN "panelists" are like freaking out…
I mean, I'm a liberal, but I really get it when people complain about the biases of the "mainstream media."

Look, it was a good speech. But if you are listening to this panel, it was Churchill/Kennedy/FDR with a touch of MLK.
Good grief.

Hey, I'm a sucker for Obama, I get chills listening to him. Obama is my 1989 Lynch Bages, yes.

Drinking an 86 Meyney to celebrate...

Which has been your favorite speech so far? One from each convention?

Hey, he's #8 on the JimHow Greatest Presidents list. But now Hillary/Chelsea need to perform big tomorrow night to kick this campaign off. We shall see.

My favorite speeches from this convention have been Bloomberg, Joe, Michelle, Barack.
I really can't think of any great speeches from the Republican convention.

I thought Kaine sucked.

The greatest convention speech in my lifetime was Cuomo '84.