Vee

Oh, Bernie connected but IMO he could never have won. The opposition file on him is deep and was never used. But yes, his passion does need to be harnessed.

I think Carl is right on about a lot of the problems with Democrats. My problem is that, just as you say, there has to be a middle ground between reaching out and reconnecting to the white working-class (however distasteful I presently find reaching out to that segment of apathetic Trump voters or non-voters) versus catering to them and largely abandoning our progressive social values. I say 'social' because I think the far left and a lot of the Sanders contingent are all too eager to re-focus entirely on the white working class and economic issues, and call social issues, racial issues, diversity issues merely a 'distraction' just as Sanders did during the primaries. I think it makes the predominantly white, often-aging far left far more comfortable to be in the driver's seat on those issues and simply name-dropping Bernie, Howard Dean, etc. (not that I have anything against Dean, but he is in the mold: white and loud) vs. engaging with a more racially and sexually diverse progressive movement in the age of Obama and post-Obama, which is part of why many of them never trusted him and resented him IMO - because he usurped their power base, their message, their easy throne. It's the same meltdown we've seen with many progressive vanguard commentators from the Bush years, from Glenn Greenwald on down, when the angry white leftist on the Internet reigned supreme. Their attitude towards Obama, since 2008, has too often been 'who does he think he is?' IMO, Barack Obama was as much an agent of racial panic and resentment for the far left as he was for the right and the undecideds. There is a battle for the soul of the Democratic Party but it's not just about bridging the working class gap, it's about reconciling our ideology with the predominantly white, straight, male elements of the party who do not want to let go of being not only morally 'right' but in full control. And that begins with the Sanders diehards, and there is a racial and otherwise discriminatory element. It was the same in my mother's day when she was an activist - in the '60s the men always took the megaphone.

I think Trump and Christie had done enough to humiliate Rubio in the primaries to bury him. The Latino vote would also not have come out for him, IMO. If it had been Rubio Trump would have already finished him in the eyes of the public. And he definitely could not have handled a real debate - the Republican farces proved that.

I think Hillary could've taken down almost any other Republican that was on the board last year, especially Ted Cruz, who IMO most people not in the evangelical ranks view as a religious creep. Trump has the star power and apolitical 'charisma' which drew a lot of an apathetic and disaffected, increasingly disenfranchised and anxious white (and at the very least quietly racist) middle of the country, especially people who only know him as the guy from TV and who think his politics are pretty open-minded (which they actually are, in a bizarre way). That X-factor, the mood of the country, and intense generational hatred of Hillary from the Republican base and the far left, from the media and from elements of our government collided to make an unlikely mix. This could not have happened with Ted Cruz.

Oh, my God.

Whatever happened to Shane Richie?

Doctor What?

From Sofia Coppola's A Very Murray Christmas, c/o Netflix. Featuring David Johansen (a.k.a. Buster Poindexter), Bill Murray and the great Jenny Lewis among others covering The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl.

The Rockettes don't want to do Trump's inauguration. Meanwhile:

And now, something that will really rattle Trump. Panic ensues! And yes, this will shake him up. Trump is not like other GOPers; he lusts for fame and adoration from the mainstream.

Did I comment on this? Why was I mentioned?

A preview clip from the show's February premiere:

This is more of a "Where Were They Then" - back in 1998, B&B's Adrienne Frantz teamed with a young Brad Renfro to do legendary Night of the Living Dead director George Romero's famed commercial for the video game franchise Resident Evil (titled Biohazard in its native Japan). The commercial temporarily landed Romero a job directing the Resident Evil film, which ultimately landed in the hands of hack Paul W.S. Anderson and his wife Milla Jovovich instead. So if you ever wanted to see Amber fighting zombies - voila:

Sophie Turner on Season 7.

Something is happening, Margaret: Showtime is airing a marathon of Season 1 on 1/14. Season 2 is likely to follow quickly - it looks like Candy Clark's recent suggestion of the show premiering somewhere between April-May might be on point.

Ignacio Serrichio is playing Don West on Netflix's Lost in Space revival.

I think Viki is both those things.

The finale's ending scenes with Rick and Michonne, and Daryl breaking down in Rick's arms in front of everyone, almost made some of the tiresome slog of so many of these Negan episodes worthwhile. I think stuff like the Tara ep, etc. (and Alanna Masterson's much more prominent presence this year) are underrated, and the big optimistic team exit at the end to get prepared to do battle was nice if a little amusing. That's what the show does well, as opposed to Kirkman's nihilism. The second half of the season looks infinitely more interesting based on the preview - straight-up war with the Saviors, with the Kingdom and the others allying together. Ezekiel, Carol and the Kingdom are so much more intriguing than Negan, though the exploration of Negan's crew has been interesting. There's nowhere to go but up, and they deserve the unexpected ratings drop for this. From what I'm hearing the hardcore comics fans and Kirkman are still super-bullish on Negan, but the rest of the world isn't and the network cares about numbers. I have no problem with JDM being around, but Negan's role cannot consist of speechifying and terrorizing everyone for years.

I think they were both that to the end, because of their families. Viki especially remained central.

Viki and Dorian disagree.