Have We Told Dean Phillips Lately To Get Fucked?
He won't rule out being the No Labels candidate. In case you thought he was anything but a spoiler.
If there was any possibility left that Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips might just be a misguided soul who means well — who’s just too bless his fucking heart stupid to understand that you don’t primary incumbents if you want your party to win — he’s officially eliminated it. (Trust us, after he suggested he might be cool with having Elon Musk in his cabinet, we already knew.)
Phillips said this weekend that if this summer it looks like the 2024 election will be between Donald Trump and Joe Biden — and it will — then he wouldn’t mind maybe running for president on the No Labels ticket. Remember, he’s doing this because he thinks Joe Biden is too old, and he, Dean Phillips, who you had never heard of before last year, must swoop in to save us all.
That’s right, if Dean Phillips doesn’t come from out of nowhere to beat Joe Biden in the Democratic primary, he might like to skullfuck Biden from outside the party. Compare that to the No Labels website, which is full of flowery euphemisms about a “unity ticket” because “Americans don’t want a Trump-Biden rematch in 2024” and “think we can do better,” LOL kiss my fucking ass.
Phillips told the New York Times on Saturday that he speaks regularly with the head of No Labels, Nancy Jacobson. (Who is married to Mark Penn, who swears he has nothing to do with his wife’s work.) Have some direct quotes:
“People are criticizing them because they believe whomever they offer on their ticket will hurt Joe Biden,” Mr. Phillips said after a town-hall event at a senior center in Nashua, N.H. “That’s false. If they put someone at the top of the ticket who could actually drive votes from Donald Trump, every Democrat in the United States of America should be celebrating it. They haven’t made that determination.”
As we said, this should foreclose the possibility that Dean Phillips is just too too bless his fucking heart stupid to understand that you don’t primary incumbents if you want your party to win. (It’s really gone well for the incumbent party every time it’s happened in recent history.) Unless he wants us to keep allowing for the possibility he’s that stupid. We could keep allowing for that possibility. It just seems cruel, though.
There is zero reason to be overconfident that some milquetoast conservative Democrat fucking nerd talking about common sense solutions would siphon votes from Donald Trump, and do no damage to Joe Biden. It’s an embarrassing misunderstanding of what the MAGA movement is and why they vote, and the idea that a miracle third party candidate could actually come in and win out of nowhere is shut the fuck up, Presidents Ross Perot and Ralph Nader.
No Labels is, of course, the piece of shit “movement” that’s poised to pop into the 2024 race and hand it to Donald Trump, unless somehow they are correct that what America is really just fucking dying for is a moderate third party that smells of Joe Lieberman. (It is a RICO conspiracy to make fun of No Labels, says No Labels. We really should stop.)
The Times explains that Phillips has known Jacobson for a long time. It says he doesn’t want to talk about being the Lieberman Ex Machina for No Labels “at this time.”
“It would have to be a Joe Biden-Donald Trump rematch that shows Joe Biden is almost certain to lose,” Mr. Phillips said. “That is the only condition in which I would even entertain a conversation with any alternative.”
Golly, when have polls ever misread the American electorate or failed to understand that we don’t vote for things anymore, we vote against people and parties, at least at this particular moment in American history? When have polls underestimated Democratic performance besides every special election last year and pretty much every special election since 2017 and also the red wave 2022 midterms and and and …
It’s a contest between who hates the other side more and has the numbers who want to show up for that reason. That’s the 2024 election. And while Joe Biden may have beat the living shit out of Trump in 2020 in the popular vote, his margins in Wisconsin, Georgia And Arizona were small enough that if a few votes had been siphoned away — perhaps by a middle-of-the-road common-senser! — it could have handed the Electoral College to two-time popular vote loser Donald Trump again. Indeed, it’s worth remembering that Biden’s margins in those three states were smaller than Trump’s cumulative margins in 2020 in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin i.e. the three states that handed Russia the election.
So when Dean Phillips says shit like this:
“Everybody should keep their head and heart and mind open, because why would we shut off possibilities to defeat this horrific danger to democracy?”
… the only thing we can think of to say is get fucked, Dean Phillips.
Oh, we’ve said that before? SAYING IT AGAIN.
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The whole Dean Phillips/No Labels thing exists only because some billionaires think many Americans believe there's some kind of very populous "middle ground" between Republicans and Democrats.
This is a favored delusion of the corporate ownership class. They want Republican anti-labor, anti-consumer policies that totally deregulate finance and capital; but they also want the government to subsidize their low-wage employees so they don't have to pay them.
They do want:
- Public schools (in their terms, taxpayer-paid daycare for low-wage employees).
- Taxpayer subsidized private health insurance (so they don't have to pay themselves for that).
- Social Security (so they don't have to fund even IRA's and 401ks, as they already mostly eliminated pensions).
- Healthcare that includes abortion and whatever else is important to their low-wage employees. They don't care; mind you; they can pay for whatever they want, wherever they want; but it riles up the workers.
- The US military, especially the Navy, to be their private security force worldwide.
- Domestic US law enforcement to be their private security force within the US.
- The ability to manage the regulatory powers of the Federal Government to disable their competitors; or if they can't have that, to prevent the Fed from any regulation of capital and corporate activities.
That's it. That's all they want. There's no deeper ideology at work. They don't care about anything else, because they think their inherited wealth gives them supranational status and buys them exemption from anything that bothers them, with the swipe of a card. That's true, as long as our current system works as it has.
It has occurred to them that our current system is struggling under the burden of glaring and diverging internal contradictions, and if it collapses then violence will be the measure of power. It has not occurred to them that they might not have a monopoly on that violence, and that their money might become worthless.
As I've said until I've become tiresome, the votes Democrats need in order to win are not in the "middle." There aren't nearly enough squishy fastidious Republicans who would vote for Fascists but just can't because of their atrocious manners. That's an ownership class fantasy.
The votes Democrats need in order to win are to their Left. When Democrats make coalition with Socialists (who are not Democrats), POC, da Yutes; people who usually don't vote; they win the Presidency. When they scramble to the Right; they lose. The only exception to this since Reagan was Bill Clinton, and that was only because of Ross Perot.
President Biden needs to ignore Dean Phillips, and the old-line Democratic Party advisors buzzing in his ear. He was part of ignoring them in 2008 and 2012. He ignored them in 2020. He really ought to tar and feather them and ride them out of town on a rail. The campaign advisors for certain, and his entire Foreign Policy team. He does that; he wins in a landslide.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden is busy getting shit done:
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝟓𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬. 𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐧𝐨-𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞𝐬. 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐧𝐨-𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐰, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐜𝐭, 𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐌𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐀, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟏 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐝.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/01/22/biden-abortion-contraception/