ComradeKayAdams

It is not up to mortals to adjudicate what is or is not mentally healthy behavior, Dan. The Pro Football Gods of Buffalo have resolutely spoken to me in my sleep last night. They are angry. You could even sense their rage in the WNY winds over the weekend. You could see their fury in the Lake Erie waves that crashed onto the city’s shoreline. They demand sacrifices to be made in their name to atone for the sins that were committed yesterday afternoon. Those referees besmirched the Queen City, and so henceforth they must be confronted with their acts of treason. With myself as their vessel of vengeance, the Pro Football Gods of Buffalo have ordained that these referees be doxed online, kidnapped, tied up, and forced to watch footage of each egregious call from the Bucs game. They must confront The Truth. Afterward, I shall take off my clothes, turn around, and reveal to them my full body tattoo of Carlton Davis molesting Stefon Diggs on that receiver route, and cry out, “Do you see?! DO YOU SEE??!!” I will then pull out a large feather and proceed to tickle the feet of each referee. I will continue to tickle them until they cannot take any more tickling. It is at that very breaking point when I will then break out an even larger feather. More tickling will ensue. This is what the Pro Football Gods of Buffalo have decreed. The 1921 Staley Swindle. The 1949 AAFC Bills franchise rejection. The 1967 New Year’s Day AFL Championship loss. Wide Right. OJ’s bad day. Homerun Throwback. The 17-year playoff drought. Last Monday’s game against Belichick’s Patriots. And now this 33rd defeat to Brady. “Enough is enough!” the Pro Football Gods of Buffalo have exclaimed. Romania had Vlad the Impaler. Buffalo has Kay the Featherer. Dox away, I say! Find these referees and let’s give ‘em a tickling hell! Welcome to Buffalo. City of Good Neighbors? No more. City of Vengeful Ticklers? Yes, please. P.S. I have no earthly idea what got into me this morning…writing is my trauma coping mechanism…

LOVE this idea! Tre’Davious White is the quintessential Buffalo Bill and my favorite football player. This is also way classier than my idea of donating $94 to the American Heart Association following Vernon Butler’s performance against the Colts.

Ugh…et tu, ALFe?! I assume this remark is due to progressives’ support for the Build Back Better (BBB) bill and for the renewable energy market, within the context of inflation? Okay, I’ll address it all… But first things first: Steven Rattner, Larry Summers, and their ilk are hot garbage just like this Fox New propaganda article. They say there is too much focus on demand-side stimulus and not enough on investment?! OMG did they not pay attention to the Kay-shaped COVID-19 economic recovery effect?! The PMC (professional/managerial class) already accumulated plenty of money for renewed investing. And if they’re advocating for government raising taxes to cool off inflation, wouldn’t that only reduce precious investment capital as well as hurt the Democrats in the 2022+2024 elections with the PMC demographic, thereby undermining their entire flimsy argument? BBB did have tax-raising provisions on the rich, by the way, but these had long ago been gutted in typical bipartisan neoliberal fashion. To be clear, this “news” article was written with the sole intention of denigrating BBB (which has a lot of social welfare goodies in it that poll with overwhelming majority popularity numbers and that nearly everyone else in Europe and East Asia already has) by inappropriately linking it to a largely unrelated and diversionary problem: inflation. Now let’s discuss the root causes of our inflation predicament. A proper explanation is surely multifaceted, but supply shock inflation is far and away the best explanation for the VERY SPECIFIC market inflationary effects and macroeconomic patterns we observe around the world, not just in the United States. We can talk about shipping containers at ports, the Great Resignation propelled by retiring Boomers, too many world economies dependent on Chinese imports, price-gouging oligopolies like in the American meat industry, not enough Americans returning to their sh!tty underpaid service jobs in any of the horribly exploited industries such as is the case with truckers, etc… the point is that the economic emergence from the pandemic shutdown created a lot of unprecedented logistical chaos. The most significant cost-push inflationary effect, of course, comes from the international fossil fuel market. But not having enough fossil fuel to meet demand isn’t the problem. The full LOGISTICS of moving the supply is the problem. Extraction and shipping operations for this industry were drastically downsized in 2020 in response to the global demand collapse. Returning operations to meet the pre-pandemic market demand is a highly unstable process and cannot happen in an instant. Supposed Biden policies of cancelling new oil drilling permits on American soil and territorial waters, along with the Keystone XL pipeline extension cancellation, is practically irrelevant to the present inflationary dilemma because these actions would have a negligible effect on the overall supply potential. Furthermore, this additional supply could not have ever been extracted and shipped out in time to meet current demands. There are also demand-pull inflationary effects at play, but monetarism zealots ALWAYS overemphasize that aspect because they fundamentally hate all forms of government spending and all perceived expansions of government power. They are dishonest actors in the realm of international macroeconomics and are not interested in objectively monitoring reality. Remember that 2020 presented a massive DEFLATIONARY cycle due to the worldwide collapse in demand. Aggressive monetary supply expansion was 100% the most reasonable and most ethical countervailing policy to take: $2 trillion 2020 CARES + $0.5 trillion 2020 PPP-HEA + $0.9 trillion 2021 CAA + $1.9 trillion 2021 ARP…including all the stimulus checks. Plenty of other Western countries routinely spend proportionately more during NORMAL (non-pandemic) times and don’t experience inflation like this. I know it’s popular these days and especially within this right-wing subforum cesspool to sh!t on progressives for everything wrong in the world, but keep in mind that progressives weren’t the ones who wanted Biden/Harris during the 2020 Dem primaries. Democrats will lose the House and Senate in 2022 partly because that’s what typically happens to incumbent parties in mid-term elections. However, Biden/Harris are also just really terrible and ineffective politicians on their own merit. Biden could be doing a lot more to mitigate inflationary effects in preparation for the holiday and winter season. He has the executive power to regulate (i.e. severely limit) our nation’s fossil fuel exports, open up our Strategic Petroleum Reserve, grease the wheels of the national and international supply chains like at shipping ports, etc… He doesn’t even need to (nor should he) genuflect to OPEC and Russian fossil fuel oligarchs. Final reminder to everyone: far-leftists comprise the only American political faction that takes anthropogenic climate change seriously, i.e. in a manner that is commensurate with our Paris Agreement obligation. If TRUE progressives ever had actual post-LBJ era power in this libertarian crony capitalistic hellhole of a country, they would have initiated serious investments into renewable energy (I include nuclear here) way back during the 1970’s…or at the very least immediately after that famous June 1988 global warming Senate hearing. So whenever the green energy transition process becomes economically turbulent (and I’m sure it will), more people should try redirecting their vitriol away from present-day Squad members and toward the neoliberal a-hole politicians from the previous five decades who took all those corporate fossil fuel bribes. Final final reminder: Joe Biden is NOT a progressive. He accepts corporate campaign donations and rejects universal health care, thus failing the two most basic requirements for being considered a “progressive.” He fails plenty of other far-left litmus tests I could enumerate, but I’ve already typed 8 paragraphs and need to get ready for work. Over and out, - Commie Kay

Um…well in terms of policy, Tulsi isn’t anywhere remotely close to the GOP. She’s basically a Glenn Greenwald progressive, minus her terrible takes on several aspects of the war on Islamic terror.

Seems like a lot of wasted time and effort checking vaccination papers. Just focus on playing the run and the pass, Tremaine.

Cryptkeeper Nancy undermining progressives yet again. Spineless Jayapal caving to Coal Miner Manchin and Effie Trinket Sinema. Squad actresses winning Oscars on the House floor. Demented Biden pooping in his underpants while Rome burns. What a dress!

Us vegans don’t consume honey, Leh-nerd. Thank you for the compliments, but I do think you’re making this a bigger deal than it needs to be. I believe the Governor and I reached a point of mutual understanding over his contentious remarks, and I believe that we would have never reached that point had I not demurred politely. For the past five years, I have been among the most vociferous critics toward the “Trump voter = racist” accusations because they lack nuance and a basic willingness to understand conservative, libertarian, and populist nationalist values. I have done so even as it has been enormously unpopular and alienating within left-leaning social circles in my personal life. So I don’t feel any special added obligation to do the same on a right-wing internet forum read by two or three dozen other right-wing people. You guys are normally pretty good and quick at taking on that responsibility! Is it the “white female” component that has you especially annoyed with me? You are disappointed that I did not exhibit any special solidarity with “my people?” Sure, I suppose the Governor’s sweeping generalization could be construed as offensive to our delicate sensibilities. In the broader spectrum of life’s tribulations, however, it does not pose an existential crisis to our rights and to our dignities as Americans. Us twenty-first century white chicks are going to be okay! We’re gonna make it after all! And perhaps challenges to be a little more self-reflective on how our political choices impact the world around us should be encouraged, no? But if we are now in the business of confronting every instance of condescending commentary and bigotry in this absolute hellhole of a subforum, I have a VERY long list for you guys. Oh wherever shall I begin?? For starters, how about all the verbal abuse here that routinely gets directed at the transgendered community?? Actually…you know what? It’s been a rough few days for all of Bills Mafia. Let us reserve the therapeutic vituperation for Daboll, Bobby Johnson, Sugar High Josh, Cody Ford, etc… Do you need a hug, Leh-nerd? I know I could sure use one. Here, Leh-ny, let me give you a hug…. Narrator (to be read using a Brian “Baldy” Baldinger voice-over…I find his voice very calming): “ComradeKayAdams leans toward her laptop, wraps her arms around the screen, and gives a gentle squeeze. She closes her eyes and smiles, knowing the Jets are next up on the schedule. Kay reasons that a healthy Knox and a greater commitment to the run game out of spread formations should fix a lot of the offense’s problems. Furthermore, Kay knows that Frazier’s cover 3 zone defense has remained sensational all season, aside from that one Derrick Henry run. Kay often tells lies to herself in order to get through the week.” On point #2: No doubt, but prioritizing personal finances over affordable housing issues that disproportionately affect minorities is what I mean by “racial insensitivity.” In various situations, yes, this may instead manifest itself as “socioeconomic class insensitivity” or “elderly insensitivity.” It would be preferable if these suburban Trump-supporting “keeping-up-with-the-Joneses” white women supported candidates who also offered viable alternative housing policies for others less fortunate than them. But alas, the binary American political system normally only offers non-ideal choices. So I understand that people’s motivations behind their voting decisions are complex. I therefore try to temper my judgment a little. EDIT: spelling mistake.

Thank you for the article, Mr. Governor. Yes, I’m familiar with the content and you are correct that it’s not earth-shatteringly breaking news. As a Bernie 2016 and Bernie 2020 canvasser in the NYC area, I rarely ventured out to the suburbs so I rarely interacted with the white women demographic that voted for Trump (though the five boroughs certainly have their fair share of gentrified neighborhoods, of course, which is partly the subject of the article). But I still don’t think the article is in opposition to my original stance, which is basically the following: 1. The overall white women demographic is choosing to prioritize personal economics over social justice issues. 2. Accusing them of “racial insensitivity” is fair game, especially regarding the issue of affordable housing options in suburbs. 3. Accusing them of outright “racism” is much more dubious and politically suicidal. Maybe we’re more or less in agreement here? This topic is beginning to feel more tautological than substantive, so I shall retire to another thread on this lovely pre-Bills game afternoon…

Good article, B-Man! I highlighted the question that I want to address because I suspect it’s going to be a hot topic of debate among my fellow comrades this week. I suspect the answers are going to fall into 3 approximate camps: 1. The Marxist-Leninist revolutionary types who insist it was all political theater and that the Squad would have bowed down to their corporate Democratic Party overlords if their 6 votes had been needed. 2. The social democrat reformer types who believe the Squad would have still held the progressive line because they are sincere political agents who want to remain accountable to their constituents. 3. The sh!tlib fauxgressives who don’t care about the question and want to blame the Squad for holding up Democratic Party progress and not helping to deliver infrastructure aid to their respective districts. Let’s quickly review the situation: 1. Nancy Pelosi is one smart Machiavellian cookie and has a reputation for never allowing a bill proposal to be voted on without already knowing she has the required votes to pass it. 2. 218 House votes were needed to pass this bill, 215 Democrats voted in favor, 200 Republicans voted against it, 13 GOP’ers “betrayed” their party, and 6 Squad members (AOC, Omar, Pressley, Tlaib, Bush, Bowman) “betrayed” theirs. 3. 88 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus voted in line with Pelosi. This included Jayapal, Khanna, Porter, Newman, and Pocan. 4. I’m familiar with a few of the 13 GOP betrayers: Andrew Garbarino, Chris Smith, and Nicole Malliotakis. They represent districts that would not have looked favorably upon a vote against infrastructure aid. Nicole in particular is from Staten Island and is absolutely a real headache to us progressives, as the article suggests. So I think Pelosi and the Squad probably already knew how at least some of these 13 people were going to vote. 5. There’s a “rotating villain” theory in democratic politics that is worth mentioning. It suggests that corporate politicians choose scapegoats to kill populist legislation. Their choices are based on who is most likely to handle the political blowback at the time. Regarding the budget reconciliation bill, for example, Manchin and Sinema have been selected to be the Democratic Party villains du jour. Commie Kay’s Conclusion: Hmmm…yes, sadly this reeks of political theater. The 6 Squad members reside in possibly the 6 most far-left districts in the country and had the most to lose from not holding the progressive line that Bernie Sanders implored. However, I’m not so sure about some of those Left Coasters like Jayapal, Khanna, and Porter. Will they get primaried from the left? Will they survive them? Perhaps they were the ones instructed to play the “rotating villain” roles that the 6 Squad members could not afford to play? Hmmm…don’t know. Don’t really care anymore, either. I’m going third-party in the generals if I don’t get my way in the Dem primaries. It’s actually way smaller than it should be, but the political environment in the post-Reagan era United States doesn’t allow for government to solve large-scale problems (unless it’s related to “national defense,” i.e. American imperialism). If you travel to countries in East Asia or Europe, you’ll see firsthand that government gridlock toward civil infrastructure projects isn’t globally ubiquitous. Other societies are able to collaborate like mature adults to solve problems. Most countries in the West, for example, are already way ahead of us with implementing the panoply of cutting-edge twenty-first century “green” infrastructure. Speaking of “green” infrastructure, all of the major infrastructure legislation written to combat anthropogenic climate change is in the budget reconciliation bill that Manchin, Sinema, and the GOP will kill this month. Even if it were to pass, the climate provisions currently in it are a full order of magnitude in cost below our country’s responsibility to the Paris Agreement. Corporatist politicians of both parties who accept campaign donations (a.k.a. legal bribes) from fossil fuel industries moved in to whittle down the climate change components of the bill. This will be Joe Biden’s “green” legacy for future historians to detail: a repeated failure to mediate and lead.

Why are you disappointed in me?? I was just being polite and open-minded and was giving Mr. Governor an opportunity to defend a very bold statement. His supporting evidence for the claim that white women are becoming more racist appears to be that more voted for Trump in 2020 than in 2016. Suffice to say, I remain unconvinced… And even if the claim is true, liberals should know by now that calling everyone a racist isn’t a productive political strategy (see: 2016 presidential election, Hillary campaign, “deplorables” comment). While politicians alone won’t “solve” racism (empathic dialogue and social desegregation are essential components too), my contention is that they can still do a lot to alleviate the problem by delivering on domestic economic policies which have overwhelming support from the electorate (such as most of the stuff that is being gutted from the BBB bill…). Why? Because American history is loaded with examples indicating a strong causal relationship between economic anxiety and racial tension.

I look at lots of numbers. What numbers are you looking at which show white women becoming more racist over the past 10 years? How can such a thing even be proven conclusively? And are white women becoming more racist or are we simply placing greater emphasis on other issues, i.e. perhaps becoming “racially insensitive” at worst (yes, I believe there’s a distinction between “racist” and “racially insensitive”). Maybe white women are simply prioritizing concrete domestic economic issues over seemingly abstract culture war ones? Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and what not…placing the needs of their children and other close loved ones ahead of important social causes. The post-Great Recession economic anxieties of white women are not mutually exclusive from those of the rest of the electorate. The analysis in my previous post was apropos and AWESOME. Please re-read it, print it out, highlight the salient sentences, and pin it on the wall above your computer desk. I’ll be here if you have further questions and concerns, Mr. Governor.

I’m not so sure about this racism angle, Mr. Governor. The numbers I look at are various single-issue poll results. They strongly indicate the country shifting left on economic issues and right on culture war issues, yet the Democratic Party continues to run counter to this trend with woke corporatists for candidates who are fixated on Trump and critical race theory at the exclusion of demand-side macroeconomics. It’s a recipe for disaster next November and in 2024 if anyone not named Trump runs for the GOP. Republicans could easily own both chambers of Congress, the executive branch, and of course a 6-3 Supreme Court in a few years… All these worker strikes emerging across the nation should be serving as political canaries in Democratic Party coal mines. The electorate appears to be screaming their unhappiness with the deadly combination of neoliberal policies and authoritarian COVD measures. But the Democrats as a whole do not listen to the people because we know they are there to serve their corporate donors first and foremost. Even the progressive voting bloc now appears to be caving to the centrist corporatists, as they’re expected to vote for that garbage bipartisan infrastructure bill well before the budget reconciliation bill, the latter of which has already been heavily gutted of legislation overwhelmingly popular with Americans (l actually lost track of what remains but any of the following is probably gone at this time: free community college, universal pre-k, child tax credit extension, paid family leave, paid medical leave, Medicare expansion including dental and eye care, prescription drug price controls, etc… plus the corporate and billionaire tax hikes to help pay for these programs). No $15 federal minimum wage or student debt relief, either. A more active and less demented president would be mediating the internal disagreements among the Democratic Party congressmen or implementing executive orders for much of the popular legislation pieces that were stripped from the BBB bill. Actions, or the lack thereof, have consequences. Expect a lot of successful and perhaps unexpected Dem primary challenges against incumbents…challenges from both the economic progressive left and culturally centrist right, depending on the U.S. district. Here in the unofficial far-left capital that is NYC, I’m aware of movements already being organized to replace Ritchie Torres, Jamaal Bowman, and Mondaire Jones from the left in anticipation of their Benedict Arnold-ing the progressive movement with their BIB+BBB bill votes. Even the Progressive Chosen One a.k.a. Socialist Barbie a.k.a. AOC could be targeted (though I seriously doubt that movement would be successful). As for the rest of the country? I’m 99% sure Jayapal is in trouble. Khanna, Porter, Pressley, Tlaib, Omar, Cori Bush, Newman, and Pocan could be in trouble too. I’m less familiar with moderate Dems, but I’m sure they’re sweating profusely as well. On the plus side, I suppose the incompetency and corruption of the current Democrats is making it that much easier for us far-lefties to take over the Democratic Party at the national level! Woohoo! Commie Kay likey!

You can’t have a productive debate with people who are unwilling and/or unable to differentiate between social democracy and democratic socialism. Congratulations to Byron Brown last night, I guess. Childhood poverty in Buffalo rose to 45% during his four terms in office, as he continued funneling most of the city’s financial resources into downtown development. Hurrah for trickle-down economics! But whatever. In time, progressives will have our revenge. The 2022 Democratic Party primaries are going to be an absolute bloodbath. Here in NYC, I know it’s going to be like the opening scene of Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York.” Hell-Cat Maggie? Meet Hell-Cat Kay.

A special message on behalf of NYC’s progressive community: Good luck today, India Walton!!! And best wishes to everyone on her campaign team, including the wonderful volunteers who I know have been working tirelessly to help get her elected! Remember to focus on saturating the East Side neighborhoods. As you already know, a strong gameday ground game is the difference maker in elections like these (hey, just as it often is the case for late-season Bills games…). A friendly reminder to Buffalo voters: Mayor Brown is a corrupt neoliberal f$#@face scumbag and a traitor to the working class. His relationships with local real estate developers are completely analogous to Kyrsten Sinema’s connections with the pharmaceutical industry or to Joe Manchin’s ties with fossil fuel barons. It is well past time to systematically identify and remove such proven sociopaths from positions of power. All of progressive America is looking to the Queen City today for inspiration! To paraphrase Marv Levy: “Where else [should our country’s pro-labor revolution begin] than RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW?!” My prediction: 1. INDIA WALTON (Democratic Party): 30% 2. Byron Brown (Independent): 25% 3. Biron Broun (Independent): 20% 4. Byrun Browne (Independent): 15% 5. Biran Braun (Independent): 7% 6. Biden Brawn (Independent): 2% 7. Marty Biron (The Instigators): 1%

Oh my God…Mr. Darragh…thank the Lord that I am here to save you from the embarrassment of “OK Boomering” yourself out in public. No one refers to the MIDDLE MIDDLE positions anymore as the “Mike,” “Sam,” or “Will” lol. Back in the days of rotary phone communication and horse-drawn carriage transportation? Sure, maybe. I suppose a few stray Buffalonians might still use those terms to honor those middling Buffalo Bills MIDDLE MIDDLES who once roamed the middle of the field like mighty middling bison: Mike McCaffrey (your teammate!), Sam Rogers, and Will Cokeley. Today, however, we refer to Edmunds as the MIDDLE MIDDLE MIDDLE. Milano is the COOKIE MIDDLE MIDDLE because the COOKIE MIDDLE MIDDLE often gets more “delicious” opportunities for big plays than the MIDDLE MIDDLE MIDDLE. It’s worth mentioning that in the modern NFL, a traditional “Sam” as you call it (such as A.J. Klein here in Buffalo) is often replaced with an AWFUL ROCK BAND like Taron Johnson or Siran Neal. Oh and don’t you dare get sassy with me, Dan. There is obviously no such thing as a LONG HIKE or MEDIUM HIKE position in football. On special teams, Ferguson is the LUTJANIDAE, which is also the scientific name for the marine species better known as the “snapper.” Bass is the BASS for Buffalo, while Haack plays HAKE. Please note that these fish-themed positional names happen to have no particular relationship to Buffalo’s current special teams players. They are homages to the great Walter Camp, a.k.a. the “father of American football,” who I believe was an amateur ichthyologist and avid fisherman as much as he was a football enthusiast. The Buffalo Jills haven’t been around since renowned men’s rights activist, Terry Pegula, purchased the team in 2014. They were one of the last remaining relics of an oppressive matriarchy. In the year 2021, the responsibility of leading cheers has now been outsourced to ALL of Bills Mafia, women AND men alike. Yes, Mr. Darragh…even YOU! So go apply that concealer and lipstick (blush and fake eyelashes optional), put on that tennis skirt, pull up that sheer pantyhose, and shake your cute little buttocks among the Highmark Stadium bleacher seat denizens this afternoon like your very life depends on it! Lead the battle cries as we squish the proverbial fish…and by “fish” of course I mean their whole team, not just their three special teamers.

Hi, Mr. Darragh! I know you haven’t played pro football in five decades, so I’ll try to help you become better acquainted with the modern game. All of the positions nowadays are much more self-explanatory. Let’s review the nomenclature, shall we? On defense, I will use our Buffalo Bills as examples. Rousseau and Hughes each play the EDGE position. Oliver and Lotulelei play CLOSE MIDDLE. Milano and Edmunds play MIDDLE MIDDLE. White and Wallace are our SIDES. Poyer and Hyde both play FAR AWAY. Taron Johnson is the AWFUL ROCK BAND. On offense, the position labels tend to be more action-oriented rather than physical location-based. Josh Allen is the THROW. Singletary plays RUN. Diggs and Sanders are the CATCH. Knox is the HEAVY CATCH. Beasley is our TINY WHITE. Sometimes Gilliam comes on the field to play BLOCK. Dawkins, Feliciano, Morse, Williams, and Brown comprise the FAT BLOCKS. Per common football vernacular, Dawkins and Brown each play “FAR FATTY,” Feliciano and Williams are the “CLOSER FATS,” and Morse plays “HIKE.”

Hehehe... "...the underdog (Washington) has the better quarterback (Heinicke)..." - Nick Wrong

Allow me to play Nancy Drew for a minute. What if that WASN’T a tattoo mistake?! What if “Hart” is a reference to Jim Hart, longtime Cardinals QB from 1966-1983? And what if “Vinny” is an homage to Vinny Testaverde, the first overall pick from the 1987 NFL draft who threw for over 46,000 career yards?? “Ivy” is a bit tricky, but perhaps that is a reference to Sid Luckman, a COLUMBIA grad and Hall of Famer who revolutionized pro football offenses as Chicago’s T-formation QB??? Maybe this boorish grandma-trampling fella who rushed to get Jim Kelly’s autograph isn’t named “Vinny,” after all. And maybe “Ivy” is not the love/lust of his early life. Perhaps he is just a random aficionado of good NFL QB play? If my hunch is correct, you may not want to restrict your searches to Bills Mafia gatherings around Josh Allen. “Vinny” could be found anywhere where a quality NFL QB roams. Hope this helps, BringBackFergy! We can’t ever bring back Gram Gram (or Fergy), but wouldn’t it be lovely if you can bring back the battered corpse of Vinny (and those of the other two hooligans who were with him) so that we can drag their defiled carcasses alongside the February 2022 Bills Super Bowl parade into Niagara Square? I bet you that is what Gram Gram would have wanted. R.I.P., dearest Gram Gram. You deserved a far better Cheektowaga airport experience than what life gave you. EDIT: Yay! I did some more sleuthing. Hart finished #3 in career passing yards at the point of his retirement, Testaverde finished #6, Luckman finished #2, and Kelly finished #10. Hmmm…notice a pattern? I suspect that “Vinny” and his two autograph-seeking henchmen will turn up this season at a Bucs game (Brady), Steelers game (Big Ben), Packers game (Rodgers), Falcons game (Ryan), Rams game (Stafford), Seahawks game (Wilson), Chiefs game (Mahomes), and/or a Bills game (Allen). Go get ‘em, BringBackFergy!!! You find “Vinny” + crew and you finish the job.

I dunno, Mr. Skin-erd, but this is a subforum comprised of ~96% male Gen X’ers/Boomers. The other ~4% is a menstruating Gen Z/Millenial tweener named Commie Kay. For this reason, I almost feel morally obligated to contribute in a thread on abortion? I’ll use my typical numerical outline format to make everything slightly easier to read. Expect a very long post: 1. Kay’s Personal Stance on Abortion: I’m pro-life beyond about 8 weeks, which is the approximate point where both electrical brain activity and a heartbeat can be recorded. This is my own arbitrary definition of when an embryo gains “human” status. However, I don’t think I’m psychologically capable of having ANY type of abortion outside the typical extenuating circumstances (*****, rape, my life in danger, very significant deformities/genetic defects of baby, dilation/curettage after miscarriage). 2. Kay’s Public Policy Stance on Abortion: I am in favor of safe, legal, and RARE abortions for all three trimesters (something like ~90% happen during the first trimester, ~9% during the second, ~1% during the third). For me, this entire debate simplifies down to acknowledging and weighing the interests of two sides: the life of the embryo/fetus/baby and the health/safety of the mother. Pro-lifers tend to fixate on determining when life begins and, thereby, frequently overlook the consequences of their abortion public policies on the lives of the mothers at all three trimesters. People are going to end up having sex. Women are going to end up seeking abortions. Is it sensible to reintroduce an industry of back-alley abortions because we have collectively decided to prioritize the life of, say, a 7-week old embryo as in the case of Texas SB 8? These mothers aren’t succubi, by the way! These are your daughters, sisters, and female friends! Almost all are innocent victims in this, too, who have been trapped by life’s circumstances into making emotionally traumatic decisions. Don’t think they are victims? Fine, then pray for them. Talk to them. Advise them. Persuade them. But don’t use the government to criminalize them. 3. Right-Wing Hypocrisy, Part 1: What is the percentage of pro-lifers who have ever had sex with partners outside the confines of a strongly committed relationship? Or for that matter, what is the percentage of pro-lifers who would be WILLING to have sex with partners outside the confines of a strongly committed relationship? Now of these percentages, how many would still be willing to support a “bastard child” (ew…hate that term) for 18+ years if the birth control or condom fails? And among those who wouldn’t, how many of the men would be willing to equally share the criminal penalty with the involved female? 4. Right-Wing Hypocrisy, Part 2: “Congratulations on your birth, little baby! Now go pick yourself up by your tiny bootstraps, get off that pacifier, and get a job!” says a typical right winger (more or less). What more needs to be said here about the crowd who thinks health care isn’t a basic human right? You’re also probably familiar with my social democracy stances on issues like preschool/college/trade school funding, living wages, affordable public housing, etc… The cognitive dissonance among American pro-lifers is stunning to anyone from more sensible countries with much better upward socioeconomic mobility stats. American pro-lifers insist you be born, but thereafter couldn’t care less if your parents are completely unprepared to give you a fighting chance in life. Sanctity of life? Please. 5. Primal Explanations: There is a very dark undercurrent of female agency-directed misogyny in the abortion debate that is rooted in evolutionary psychology and anthropology. I shall say no more because it will distract heavily from the rest of my post, but any woman reading this knows exactly what I’m talking about, unfortunately. 6. Why Texas SB 8 is So Despicable: 6-1. The unreasonably short “heartbeat window” of about 6 weeks. For one thing, you can’t even test for pregnancy during the first 3 weeks. And for a variety of reasons, it is not uncommon for women to have irregular menstrual cycles. Exercise, diet, and stress can play major roles in that regard. Women may also delay having an abortion because of financial/transportation limitations, poor education/misinformation, shame, fear, trauma, or sudden changes to the relationship status with significant others. There can even be significant and unexpected time delays between the initiation of an abortion consultation and the point at which the medical procedure is performed. A woman, for example, could sign up for an abortion appointment well within the first trimester but not have the procedure completed until the second trimester. 6-2. No exceptions for rape, *****, health of mother, etc. Ugh. So gross. 6-3. The infamously egregious $10k vigilantism component…the fact that all 9 Supreme Court justices didn’t immediately shoot the bill down for this component alone means we may be facing constitutional crises in the very near future. Abject legal stupidity. 7. Political Strategy: You asked what all this is REEEEEEEAAAALLLY about, Leh-nerd, but I prefer you speak more directly with me. We’re good PPP friends, after all, no? You believe the Democrats are using this issue to drum up female support in a difficult upcoming midterm election. You also think the far-lefties want to use this issue to pack the court so that they can push their Green New Deal. You would be correct with both accusations lol!! But but BUT…it can also be because they genuinely care about protecting Roe v. Wade, on principle and for the preservation of the nation. It can be all of these things. 8. Kay’s Political Threat to Leh-nerd and Crew: The GOP has won the popular vote in a presidential election only once since 1988. They’re barely holding on for 2024, even with the assumed 40 electoral college votes from Texas and the 30 from Florida. But we know that Texas is trending purple. If the Democrats can somehow flip Texas and hold it, the GOP would be rendered all but mathematically eliminated from presidential election competition for a generation…even WITH support from Georgia, Arizona, and those big 3 Midwest states. So if I were you guys, I would be more careful with how you wield those sub-33% approval issues… 9. Kay’s Miscellaneous Policy Positions: I am for Supreme Court term limits and for codifying Roe v. Wade with a federal law. I used to be firmly against court packing, but now I see it as potentially necessary to invalidate the judicial branch in case the GOP attempts to govern the entire nation with 5 out-of-touch individuals upholding highly unpopular (i.e. sub-33% approval) policy positions. It’s an affront to democracy. Same goes for the left, too, by the way! I disapprove of the left pushing any policy that has much less than 50% support, with very few exceptions. If one wants to govern the country a certain way, one must first exercise one’s first amendment rights and persuade. You also mentioned gun rights and border control and CRT, Leh-nerd. I’m actually center-right on the first two and completely against CRT, so you would find me vociferously fighting alongside the right wingers if my far-left friends try to subvert the will of the majority on these issues. Maybe there is no overarching, top-down GOP strategy on display here? Maybe we’re seeing nothing more than rogue clusters of single-issue grassroots movements starting trouble? Nevertheless, I suppose it’s a good nation-wide political stress test for the GOP to see how far they can push their unpopular (i.e. sub-33% approval) ideas under the guise of the tenth amendment. But are they insane enough to take it too far? Yeah, probably…hehehe. Aren’t our conservative friends so cute in their craziness?! It’s such a shame that I will eventually have to send them to my gulag to finish out their lives. EDIT: ***** = i n c e s t

1. Oh, American imperialism was very much an ever-present force during the Pink Tide! We can do a full country-by-country breakdown if you’d like lol. Here at PPP, I’ve already done it for Cuba and Venezuela. It may have receded relative to the second half of the twentieth century, but the LEGACY of American imperialism in Latin America persisted too and is what catalyzed all the internal revolutions against neoliberalism. Plus, Chinese mercantilism came in to fill whatever imperialist void the United States left. The theme of Latin American politics is that corruption, violence, and authoritarianism exist on both the socialist left and the U.S.-sponsored neoliberal right. Why do Latin American socialists tend to get violent? Maybe for the reasons you cite. Maybe also because violence is the only remaining power that the poor have when they have no other resources and are up against U.S.-backed corporate oligarchs funded to undermine their democratic elections. There are no good actors in this political play. You can’t extract honest lessons on socialism governance from the rest of the mess that is Latin American politics. Sorry, but you just can’t (in my opinion). 2. All I’m saying is that India Walton’s public housing policies aren’t DISTINCTLY socialist. American liberalism routinely allows for government interventions into free market forces that guide landlord-tenant relationships. Now is that a good thing? Sort of…I apologize for not wanting to jump into what would be a long economics debate right now lol, that’s all. If you’re specifically referring to the extended COVID-19 “cancel rent” policy, then yes we agree that it is a bad one because it’s one-sided. A good policy would incorporate equal protections to both prevent mass homelessness and protect the landlords who are victims too. Without any such government interventions, landlords can kick out all the freeloading squatters but then what is the market demand status of their replacements?? Basically, I just disagree that a generalized, non-pandemic-related “cancel rent” policy whereby landlords are ordinarily forced to allow tenants to live in their houses for free is a part of democratic socialism. DSA types believe in options for housing co-ops, more aggressive rent controls, strengthened tenant rights, things of that nature…which often have a lot of overlap with what more establishment Democrats espouse. 3. It’s a difference of scale, spotlight, and circumstances. Do I think Judge Sinatra was compromised? I don’t know. I have no proof and I don’t even necessarily disagree with his ruling. I’m mostly just pointing out an appearance of impropriety that would have generated much more of a media uproar if the roles were reversed. An awful lot of highly coordinated corruption would have had to occur in order to take down Trump last November. Maybe it did, but significant claims require significant evidence. 4. Yes, it is indeed quite lovely, isn’t it? 5. This ties in with point #1 above. You seem very confident that democratic socialism eventually leads to far-left authoritarianism, based heavily on Latin American politics. I’m MUCH less confident on that point, but you can have the “argument win” if you’d like! My main problem is with the people who argue that European-style social democracy eventually leads to far-left authoritarianism…people who argue that universal health care is a slippery slope to the gulags. PLEASE tell me you aren’t one of those types. I’m already so triggered thinking about you typing “yes, Kay, in fact I am.” I’m supposed to be working on a report at work today, and now I can’t focus because of all the emotional turbulence you have induced in me hehehe… EDIT: Corrected a couple spelling mistakes.

Yes, not being connected, which also ties directly into her political philosophy. 1. This is getting silly. Fidel Castro, like authoritarian leaders from all political orientations throughout recorded history, demonstrated serious anti-social behavior and a propensity for criminal violence years before obtaining power. India Walton has no such background. Furthermore, Castro had the power of the military to enforce his policies. A Buffalo mayor will not. Any attempt to prove that democratic socialism inevitably leads to far-left authoritarianism falls apart when Latin American politics are invoked. You simply CANNOT decouple their politics from the influence of American imperialism or from a whole list of other cultural, geographic, and economic factors (including Chinese mercantilism!). The common themes of violence and corruption in Latin American government transcend the left-right paradigm. For every Evo Morales mentioned, I can counter with a Pinochet. A lot of the pink tide politicians did great things, too, along with some less than great things. I think I’ll take a Lula any day over the social democrat lineup we have in American politics… 2. The argument in favor of public housing options is as much the position of a typical American liberal as it is that of a socialist. That has been my point. The unique “cancel rent” movement is in the context of COVID-19, where the government forced people to not be able to work. Consequently, the government should have been fully responsible for financially compensating the people for not working. Landlords and homeowners definitely SHOULD have the same pandemic protections as tenants. Otherwise, banks and super wealthy people can just come in and buy up all the financially delinquent properties. And of course that was the desired outcome all along, but I digress… Also, I have no problem with rent control measures in certain scenarios, but that’s yet another topic that I don’t want to get into right now… 3. I’m not a January 6 conspiracist. Trump’s argument was blown out in the courts. For the time being, that is good enough evidence for me. 4. Yes, we do. 5. You’re talking about communes now, while I’m focused specifically on worker cooperatives i.e. different ways individual businesses can organize their leadership and ownership structures. Otherwise, we’re not really in disagreement here. In the unlikely event India Walton wins, I agree that she wouldn’t have a mandate for massive socialism impositions. You are engaging in McCarthyite fearmongering here, however, because the office of the mayor is quite limited in the extent that business systems can be imposed whereby “workers own the means of production.” Sure, of course. But a more interesting question: is it better to win with an asterisk** or lose with grace? To me, that answer depends heavily on India Walton’s (currently unknown) level of professional competence. **- insert Bill Belichick joke here.

LOVE the bolded…Thomas Frank’s “Listen, Liberal” is my political Bible! Your point that “all politics is local” has merit, of course, but every district in every state consists of a mix of red people and blue people. When a political party aggressively pushes back on a hot-button policy stance that has 70%+ approval, that can enflame enough of the electorate to change the colors of purple, light red, and light blue localities. In light of recent current events and the gleeful reactions from right wingers in support of this vile bill, I simply can’t agree with your last sentence. We have to take their threats to undermine Roe v. Wade at the state level very seriously. Current Democrats need to nip this in the bud, or dangerously progressive females like myself will find our own candidates in the primaries who can. For starters, I want a renewed dialogue on court packing, Supreme Court term limits, and codifying Roe v. Wade with a federal law. The priority of Texas SB 8 is to financially destroy the state’s abortion clinic services, not to criminalize abortions after 6 weeks. I’m supposed to be here for the 2021 Buffalo Bills talk. But if the PPP boys want a serious and open-minded discussion on abortion, then I will participate. Just say the word. As a forewarning, it may get uncomfortable:

Thank you, snafu, for being the only one to directly address my questions in full. 1. Ms. Walton is a democratic socialist. Castro was a dictator who ruled as head of a command economy. The political and economic differences between the two systems are comically enormous. 2. You didn’t quite answer my question here. I acknowledge Ms. Walton’s socialist identity. But what are her specific public policies that distinguish her as a socialist and not as a typical liberal? I can only count two: neighborhood-owned grocery stores and support for a public bank. But as a city mayor, she has zero power to ever implement a New York state-owned bank. So is this what the McCarthyite fearmongering is reduced to…fear of better produce options for East Side denizens?? 3. Sinatra’s brother is a major campaign donor to Byron Brown. We are not our siblings, but it still reeks of corruption. Also, the Buffalo Common Council consists entirely of establishment Democrats. Ms. Walton’s allies aren’t the ones suggesting that the mayor’s office be abolished! And I have never denied that the Democratic Party is horribly corrupt, though political corruption isn’t unique to a particular party or political philosophy. 4. In my opinion, this mayoral race will probably have a negligible impact on the national stage. American politics and the progressive movement, however, are so charged and unstable right now that Buffalo could be the origins of a political “butterfly effect,” regardless of the mayoral race outcome. A lot could depend on how the media (both corporate mainstream + independent leftist) chooses to cover (or ignore) it. 5. We’ve seen worker cooperatives have success in a variety of limited situations around the world and throughout history. I’m most familiar with ones currently existing in Spain, Italy, and France. The question is whether they can be scaled up to the national level and across all industries? I’m not a socialist, so my best guess would be “no” for probably the same reasons you have. However…I consider myself an open-minded person and so have yet to completely give up on market socialism models, either. I’d like to see one attempted without it being sabotaged from American imperialistic forces who want to exploit the foreign labor and foreign natural resources. Also, we’ve seen more than enough from variations of laissez-faire capitalism to know that it doesn’t work for the working class (or for the environment) and inevitably devolves into crony capitalism models (see: American history: Gilded Age, Great Depression, 1980-now). Because he missed the state’s ballot petition deadline. On electoral substance alone, I don’t even mind the judge’s ruling. What’s galling is that we all know Ms. Walton would have not been granted the same exception if the roles of her and Brown had been reversed.

Looking for the following from the PPP community: 1. The specific model of socialism that you think best characterizes India Walton’s political philosophy (a technical label or a matching country/time period is fine). 2. Public policies pulled from Ms. Walton’s campaign website that you think qualify her as a socialist. 3. A candid appraisal of the fairness of Judge John Sinatra’s ruling, with reference to his brother’s political ties. 4. A simple “yes” or “no” answer here will suffice: Do you think Byron Brown winning in November will hurt the far-left movement, from a national perspective and not a local one? 5. Any personal opinions on the efficacy of worker cooperative implementations.