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Kid Berwyn

(24,897 posts)
Sat May 2, 2026, 09:32 AM Saturday

Platner: 'Shut This White House Down!'

I agree with Graham. Win a Democratic majority. Formulate a Theory of Power: Define Democratic goals, policies and the organization to build and direct the political will to reach the Party’s defined goals. In the meantime, tie up Trump and the pedo protectors with subpoenas and investigate their myriad treasons, crimes and perversions — even if it takes 30 years to get them all.



Really happy we have someone with vision, guts and the vocab to state why the nation should stand with and for the Democratic Party.

39 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Platner: 'Shut This White House Down!' (Original Post) Kid Berwyn Saturday OP
Let's just hope Platner doesn't suffer a cerebrovascular accident (CVA), also known as a stroke. sop Saturday #1
The Way of Capitalism's Invisible Army Kid Berwyn Saturday #2
Did Fetterman ever visit Russia? sop Saturday #3
GRU makes house calls. Kid Berwyn Saturday #5
Knowing what Putin has been shown to be capable of, harumph Saturday #9
Putin was selected as Yeltsin's replacement by America's oligarchs. Kid Berwyn Saturday #13
Would you please post this important information as its own OP, niyad Saturday #25
Will do. Helps explain the Barr-Epstein connections. Kid Berwyn Sunday #34
There is just no end to the perfidy, evil, criminality, interconnections of all niyad Sunday #38
It goes back to first Gilded Age Kid Berwyn Sunday #39
Must read malaise Sunday #28
Well he has never weighed over 400 lbs. so there's that BeyondGeography Saturday #4
"Nothing brings people together like wanting to beat Susan Collins!" ShazzieB Saturday #6
Truth. Kid Berwyn Saturday #7
Yes. mr715 Saturday #18
she does bring about a special kind of resistance Skittles Saturday #26
I haven't paid much attention to him, but I kinda like what he's saying. tinrobot Saturday #8
Elizabeth Warren will have a wingman. Kid Berwyn Saturday #10
I'll believe it when I see it. infullview Saturday #11
Agree wholeheartedly. Kid Berwyn Saturday #14
Many of us will believe it when we see it. In the meantime, we can only hope and vote for those who at least say what KPN Saturday #24
Democratic party establishment or you listening? Are you going to get on board and help us save this country? Or are Fil1957 Saturday #12
The failure of leadership to stop MAGA's fascist and unconstitutional agenda is stunning. Kid Berwyn Saturday #15
Four years and we couldn't get him to trial on anything. lees1975 Sunday #31
Warrior Spirit thought crime Saturday #16
Warrior Spirit does not mean Warmonger Kid Berwyn Saturday #19
Once again I'm persuaded that Platner . . . peggysue2 Saturday #17
Platner is impressing a lot of people. calimary Sunday #27
So did Fetterman krawhitham Sunday #36
Me, too. Kid Berwyn Sunday #30
We have LOTS of Dems Fighting For Us Cha Saturday #20
If we do not win in Maine, we are not going to win the Senate. mr715 Saturday #21
Of Course. But all Dems have to Win.. . Not Cha Saturday #22
Yup. mr715 Saturday #23
We know what our Democratic Party stands for. Kid Berwyn Sunday #32
We now have more boots on the ground in Maine. Akakoji Sunday #29
The guy knows how to voice his message. Kid Berwyn Sunday #33
i'm not in maine but i'm impressed orleans Sunday #35
DURec leftstreet Sunday #37

sop

(19,121 posts)
1. Let's just hope Platner doesn't suffer a cerebrovascular accident (CVA), also known as a stroke.
Sat May 2, 2026, 09:46 AM
Saturday

harumph

(3,360 posts)
9. Knowing what Putin has been shown to be capable of,
Sat May 2, 2026, 10:51 AM
Saturday

I would argue, and as you appear to allude, that defenders of the status quo in the US will also try targeted remedies should they fear their power is in any real danger. Really, nothing is beyond the pale for these monsters. That is the biggest lesson to come out of this miserable 20 or so year period of history. My wife for more benign reasons, warns my kids to open their own canned drink at parties and never lose sight of it. If I were an effective opposition pol, I'd practice the same "hygiene" and then some. I might even carry some atropine for good measure. I know your post was more than black humor - and I'm with you.

Kid Berwyn

(24,897 posts)
13. Putin was selected as Yeltsin's replacement by America's oligarchs.
Sat May 2, 2026, 11:32 AM
Saturday


A: The Carlyle Group and Friends.

Who’s Enabling Putin’s Enablers?


BY SAM PIZZIGATI
CounterPunch, March 29, 2022

Where would Vladimir Putin be without the Russian oligarchy? Without Russia’s oligarchs, political leaders of the Western world have concluded, Putin would be tottering. Western leaders have made squeezing Russia’s richest a central piece of their strategy to end Putin’s Ukraine cross-border assault.

These same Western leaders, unfortunately, have failed to take seriously what ought to be an equally pressing question: Where would Russia’s oligarchs be without the West, without the Wall Streeters, wealth managers, and assorted other high-finance riff-raff “paid millions,” as Institute for Policy Studies analyst Chuck Collins puts it, “to help billionaires sequester trillions”?

Western leaders have essentially been ignoring this question almost ever since the old Soviet Union collapsed. And now we’re paying the price. Those Ukraine sanctions against Russia’s oligarchs? They come with a huge loophole. The Western world’s opaque web of tax havens and anonymous corporations is essentially rendering much of those sanctions ineffective.

Snippe…

The U.S. wealth defense industry, we need to remember, hasn’t just been helping Russian oligarchs hide their fortunes. America’s money-handlers have for years been helping them pile up ever grander fortunes. They’ve steered the illicit funds of Russian oligarchs into U.S. real estate, investment funds, and “even factories,” says Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jake Bernstein, a senior reporter on the 2016 bombshell “Panama Papers” tax avoidance exposé.

The Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has used “a network of banks, law firms and advisers in multiple countries,” the New York Times just reported, to invest “billions in American hedge funds.” Along the way, he tapped the expertise and contacts of U.S. high-finance giants ranging from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to BlackRock and the Carlyle Group.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/03/29/whos-enabling-putins-enablers/







How Billionaires Picked Putin as "Russia’s Pinochet"

By Greg Palast
BuzzFlash, March 16, 2022

Vladimir Putin did not arrive from outer space on an abalone shell.

Putin went from the virtually unknown Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg to Russia’s President and potentate by winning a weird competition organized by Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky who sought a "Russian Pinochet" to succeed Boris Yeltsin as President.

The competition, dubbed "Operation Successor," went so far as to send Russia’s "Larry King," Mikhail Leontyev, to interview General Pinochet for Russian TV while Pinochet was under indictment in Chile on murder charges. Russians were treated to the old dictator’s advice on choosing a leader who could imitate Pinochet’s "strong hand," a police state, while promoting a hyper-capitalist economy.

And Putin fit the Pinochet profile.

Continues…

https://www.gregpalast.com/how-billionaires-picked-putin-as-russias-pinochet/



Putin is so paranoid, during a TV interview, he refused to accept a document from Chris Wallace.

And Putin is paranoid for good reason. He knows there’s no place on the planet he can run.

Thank you and Mrs. harumph for grokking.

niyad

(133,641 posts)
25. Would you please post this important information as its own OP,
Sat May 2, 2026, 11:39 PM
Saturday

for wider visibility?

Thanks in advance.

Kid Berwyn

(24,897 posts)
34. Will do. Helps explain the Barr-Epstein connections.
Sun May 3, 2026, 11:21 AM
Sunday

From 2020:

Treasonous: Barr's letting the 13 Russian nationals & 3 Russian entities Mueller charged just WALK!

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=13449374

Money money money!

niyad

(133,641 posts)
38. There is just no end to the perfidy, evil, criminality, interconnections of all
Sun May 3, 2026, 12:40 PM
Sunday

this scum.

Kid Berwyn

(24,897 posts)
39. It goes back to first Gilded Age
Sun May 3, 2026, 12:57 PM
Sunday

The Robber Barons don't like to share the loot their cartels, corporations, trusts and offshored accounts make possible. They did all they could to destroy FDR, even plotting an overthrow of the USG in order to avoid paying taxes to finance the "socialist" New Deal. They tried to enlist Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler, USMC (Ret.) to lead the coup.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/coup-jan6-fdr-new-deal-business-plot-1276709/

The BFEE line runs through to the present day and the Epstein Investigation. For example: DoJ bigwig Jay Clayton was tapped by Pam Bondi in November 2025 to lead an investigation into the Epstein files for the Southern District of New York (SDNY). Before that office, Clayton was a partner in Sullivan & Cromwell, the NYC white shoes law firm that once hired Allen Dulles to serve Averell Harriman and his partners and associates, including Herbert Walker and Prescott Bush at Brown Brothers Harriman (who the same Gen. Butler named as an organization that had captured the US Government in service of looting other countries in "War is a Racket." ). Small world, one where the rich keep getting richer and the rest of us slave away work for their benefit.

https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/warracket.html

Kid Berwyn

(24,897 posts)
7. Truth.
Sat May 2, 2026, 10:41 AM
Saturday

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz , I thought, were doing an excellent job of bringing the country together in opposition to the return of one orange shitheel. And then the team welcomed the pro pol consultants who brought in caution and OG warmonger Dick Cheney. Out went, “They’re weird!” And POOF! came the political scumback of Lardo the Traitorclown and Couchhumper.

mr715

(3,996 posts)
18. Yes.
Sat May 2, 2026, 01:14 PM
Saturday

Few seem to complain that our former nominee resurrected Dick Cheney and campaigned with war criminal Liz Cheney while sidelining Tim Walz because he was too much a of a "loose cannon".

tinrobot

(12,104 posts)
8. I haven't paid much attention to him, but I kinda like what he's saying.
Sat May 2, 2026, 10:43 AM
Saturday

I've just skimmed headlines about him up until now, so I've heard all the attacks.

But now that I hear him speak, I get why he's doing so well in Maine. He's definitely saying things that need to be said. Could be a very good addition to the Senate.

Kid Berwyn

(24,897 posts)
10. Elizabeth Warren will have a wingman.
Sat May 2, 2026, 10:52 AM
Saturday

Both are leaders who define goals and spell out plans of action. What concepts…

Thank you for the kind reply, tinrobot. We absolutely need to hear and share the things that need to be said in order to unite and do what needs to be done — from a New New Deal to Nuremberg Trials for the traitors, murderers and grifters.

infullview

(1,140 posts)
11. I'll believe it when I see it.
Sat May 2, 2026, 11:18 AM
Saturday

Tough talk, but what we need is scorched earth investigation of ALL the wrongdoing and real punitive sentencing for all the criminals. I would also add that if we retake the senate the nuclear option should be invoked and all the bad seeds on the Roberts court impeached. If all this happens I’ll once again have faith in our political system. Oh and one more thing, we need to kill Citizens United forever.

Kid Berwyn

(24,897 posts)
14. Agree wholeheartedly.
Sat May 2, 2026, 12:10 PM
Saturday

Rhetoric is important. Intelligent planning is essential. However, action is what counts.

KPN

(17,487 posts)
24. Many of us will believe it when we see it. In the meantime, we can only hope and vote for those who at least say what
Sat May 2, 2026, 05:10 PM
Saturday

needs saying. The proof is always in the pudding. In the absence of that proof, I'm going with the candidates who say what needs saying. It's that simple. Workers over billionaires!

Fil1957

(817 posts)
12. Democratic party establishment or you listening? Are you going to get on board and help us save this country? Or are
Sat May 2, 2026, 11:24 AM
Saturday

you going to reach across the aisle and compromise with your "friends"?

Kid Berwyn

(24,897 posts)
15. The failure of leadership to stop MAGA's fascist and unconstitutional agenda is stunning.
Sat May 2, 2026, 12:14 PM
Saturday

We had four years to ensure he would not return, but for some reason we missed that opportunity.



Trump warns of ‘big trouble’ as Supreme Court agrees to hear Colorado ballot case

by Nick Robertson
The Hill, January 6, 2024

Former President Trump warned Friday that there will be “big trouble” if the Supreme Court does not rule in his favor on his eligibility for the 2024 presidential ballot.

The Supreme Court is set to hear the Colorado case after the state’s Supreme Court determined last month that Trump should not be on the primary ballot due to his involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“Because if we don’t, our country’s in big, big trouble. Does everybody understand what I’m saying?”

SNIP...

“They’re saying, ‘Oh, Trump owns the Supreme Court, he owns it. He owns it. If they make a decision for him, it will be terrible. It’ll ruin their reputations,” he said. “‘He owns the Supreme Court. He put on three judges. He owns the Supreme Court. If they rule in his favor, it will be horrible for them. And we’ll protest at their houses.’”

Continues...

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4392902-trump-warns-big-trouble-as-scotus-agrees-hear-colorado-case/

SCROTUS tossed Colorado and then came silence.

lees1975

(7,160 posts)
31. Four years and we couldn't get him to trial on anything.
Sun May 3, 2026, 11:02 AM
Sunday

Monumental failure.

This is the kind of new leadership the Democratic party needs.

thought crime

(1,755 posts)
16. Warrior Spirit
Sat May 2, 2026, 12:35 PM
Saturday

Yeah, I know that's not exactly a popular term among Democrats but in the coming years we're going to need some legislators who are a bit younger, more aggressive, and somewhat less risk-averse. This kind of leader may rustle some feathers and make some mistakes, but if they have good intentions and are effective we're going to need to keep calm and carry on. Politics has become a contact-sport.

Kid Berwyn

(24,897 posts)
19. Warrior Spirit does not mean Warmonger
Sat May 2, 2026, 01:14 PM
Saturday

Thank you for putting it into words, thought crime.

Warriors serve to defend their nation, communities, families and future. Warriors do not like or want war, but are willing to do what is needed to defend the Constitution and country, even at the greatest of personal sacrifice.

OTOH, there are plenty of armchair war lubbers and warmongers. Many hold academic and political credentials. Take Tyler Cowen:



The Pitfalls of Peace

The Lack of Major Wars May Be Hurting Economic Growth


By Tyler Cowen
The New York Times, June 13, 2014

The continuing slowness of economic growth in high-income economies has prompted soul-searching among economists. They have looked to weak demand, rising inequality, Chinese competition, over-regulation, inadequate infrastructure and an exhaustion of new technological ideas as possible culprits.

An additional explanation of slow growth is now receiving attention, however. It is the persistence and expectation of peace.

The world just hasn’t had that much warfare lately, at least not by historical standards. Some of the recent headlines about Iraq or South Sudan make our world sound like a very bloody place, but today’s casualties pale in light of the tens of millions of people killed in the two world wars in the first half of the 20th century. Even the Vietnam War had many more deaths than any recent war involving an affluent country.

Counterintuitive though it may sound, the greater peacefulness of the world may make the attainment of higher rates of economic growth less urgent and thus less likely. This view does not claim that fighting wars improves economies, as of course the actual conflict brings death and destruction. The claim is also distinct from the Keynesian argument that preparing for war lifts government spending and puts people to work. Rather, the very possibility of war focuses the attention of governments on getting some basic decisions right — whether investing in science or simply liberalizing the economy. Such focus ends up improving a nation’s longer-run prospects.

Continues…

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/14/upshot/the-lack-of-major-wars-may-be-hurting-economic-growth.html



On Iran -- 2007 heh heh heh:





“Money trumps peace.” — Pretzeldent George W Bush, Conqueror of Baghdad, February 14, 2007

Q A lot of our allies in Europe do a lot of business with Iran, so I wonder what your thoughts are about how you further tighten the financial pressure on Iran, in particular, if it also means economic pain for a lot of our allies?

THE PRESIDENT: It's an interesting question. One of the problems -- not specifically on this issue, just in general -- let's put it this way, money trumps peace, sometimes. In other words, commercial interests are very powerful interests throughout the world. And part of the issue in convincing people to put sanctions on a specific country is to convince them that it's in the world's interest that they forgo their own financial interest.

Source: WH Press Conference, February 14, 2007

https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/02/20070214-2.html



For reasons in and out of its control, the Democratic Party has allowed itself to be mischaracterized, falsely defined and generally misperceived as allies of undeserving immigrants, minorities, and the poor -- people we, of course, must defend, respect and represent. However, it's up to us to make certain the message is loud and clear in the coming months. We need young people, working people, patriotic people and all who can stand up to fascists, foreign and domestic.

calimary

(90,553 posts)
27. Platner is impressing a lot of people.
Sun May 3, 2026, 04:59 AM
Sunday

He’s really starting to make a difference. His appeal is growing. He may be bringing hope back.

Kid Berwyn

(24,897 posts)
30. Me, too.
Sun May 3, 2026, 10:55 AM
Sunday

There are people who know they can change for the better and do. Don’t know why, but Fetterman seems to be confused by MAGAGAGANAZI propaganda or something personal, like greed. Hope he wakes up, real soon.

PS: I thank Goodness, the university and my wonderful Wife that the guy I was 50 years ago is not who I am today.

Cha

(320,208 posts)
20. We have LOTS of Dems Fighting For Us
Sat May 2, 2026, 03:07 PM
Saturday

WE NEED TO WIN THE MIDTERMS.

ONE PERSON CAN'T DO IT ALONE.

Thank You.

mr715

(3,996 posts)
23. Yup.
Sat May 2, 2026, 04:57 PM
Saturday

Wouldn't it be wonderful if your words could be taken literally and we win... every... race in the Senate? Like not just Texas, Ohio, and Alaska, but Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, and South Carolina too?

Oh that'd be fun.

Kid Berwyn

(24,897 posts)
32. We know what our Democratic Party stands for.
Sun May 3, 2026, 11:04 AM
Sunday

FDR put it in words:

The Four Freedoms:

Of Speech
Of Worship
From Want
From Fear.


We need to reach those who have not heard what we’re about to hear why they need to vote for the Democratic Party.

Like President Biden said, “We the People, United, can do anything!”

Kid Berwyn

(24,897 posts)
33. The guy knows how to voice his message.
Sun May 3, 2026, 11:09 AM
Sunday

And he is reaching the ears of those who need to hear it. That is the power of rhetoric, the art of persuasive speech, to move people from the opposing side of the bridge and across to your side of the divide.

Hope the Democratic leadership listens, too. They might be surprised how many Americans consider it, “News.”

orleans

(37,130 posts)
35. i'm not in maine but i'm impressed
Sun May 3, 2026, 11:27 AM
Sunday

and of course i'd vote for him before voting for collins (lol, full disclosure -- i've NEVER voted for a republican)

anyway, a google search showed this:



Shortly after noon Thursday, the prediction market Polymarket had the odds of a Democrat winning the Senate seat at 72%, with Republican victory pegged at 28%. The Republican odds ticked up from after Mills dropped out compared to the day before. In all, users had wagered just over $61,000.

Kalshi, another platform, had the odds at 68% to 32% in favor of a Democratic victory Thursday afternoon. The odds of a Democratic victory had peaked at nearly 73% earlier in the week. That pool is larger, with more than $315,000 wagered in total.



https://www.pressherald.com/2026/04/30/an-early-look-at-susan-collins-versus-graham-platner-by-the-numbers/

of course it's a full article and this excerpt is only a slice, but it made me happy anyway.
Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Platner: 'Shut This White...