This is the permanent political class that moves from government to industry to think tanks and back again. They never face election but have enormous power and indeed control or manage the actual elected officials.
T Bone
2 months ago
Cuenco is conflating “Romantic” with “Idealist.” Romanticism is but one strand of Idealism. Every functioning society is Idealist. There has to be a grand idea that “centers” your Constitution and everything outside of that Idealism is to be “marginalized.” What we’re dealing with now is a Democrat party that’s Ideal is to center the marginalized by marginalizing the center. Racial and gender equity are just a redistribution of “opportunity.” But that redistribution has to be administered by “administrative experts.”
Regardless of whether “Equity” is a noble goal, it can’t be administered in an unbiased manner because Administrators are required to discriminate simply to administer. It’s built into the system. Until Democrats accept that Equity is an objectively divisive, unfair premise they will bleed working class people.
Jim Veenbaas
2 months ago
Excellent essay. Thanks for shining a light on the dark corners where rats like Podesta scurry around.
Jim Veenbaas
2 months ago
I read an interesting essay the other day about legislation in Congress and the Senate. Apparently, elected politicians and their staff do not write any legislation – period. And they haven’t for decades. It’s all written by think tanks and lobbyists. They don’t even see it most of the time until the very end. I feel like a chump for not knowing this. I can’t find the link though.
Yes. The politicians claiming they’ll fight for you not only don’t know you, they likely hate you. They are bought and paid for creatures owned by the donor class.
As Pelosi said about another egregious piece of anonymous legislation, “”We have to pass the bill so you can know what’s in it.” Obviously, she meant we, not you.
Yes, the ‘Administrative State’ – something Trump would like to strangle.
Howard S.
2 months ago
What a terrific and accurate breakdown of present day America. Right on the money. And the Moneyed Class is running this whole show. Not the people. Which is why, try as they might, the Moneyed Class, its sock puppet news media and its wholly-owned political class cannot shake Donald Trump’s popularity with the American people.
It’s baffling that Americans persist in believing that they live in a democracy when it’s quite clearly a plutocracy – and one where everything is for sale to the highest bidder, including the White House, which is currently occupied by tenants of George Soros.
When you realize that tens of millions not only stand ready to vote for Biden again, but also believe he’s doing a good job, it becomes something worse than baffling.
Wouldn’t you vote for Joe if he paid your student loans – to the tune of BILLIONS? Even though the Supreme Court prevented a total write-off, Joe and his minions have worked overtime finding loopholes. And what about the $8 BILLION he’s given to ‘historical black colleges’ in a very ‘racist’ fashion, hardly an ‘equitable handout’. And these gestures are just the tip of the iceberg. Don’t forget changing the first Democrat primary to South Carolina to please its black constituency; He insists he won in a landslide even though only 4% of Dems voted. Joe has been pandering to various other Dem favored groups at record speed, forsaking better, saner government policies, pandering for votes. And it works. That ‘Joe is not a principled person’ is an understatement.
The problem goes beyond Biden simply being not-Trump. Matt Taibbi put it in context: “If American Politics made any sense at all, we wouldn’t have two giant political parties of roughly equal size perpetually fighting over the same 5-10 percent swatch of undecided voters, blues versus reds. Instead the parties should be broken down into haves and have-nots – a couple of obnoxious bankers on the Upper East Side running for office against 280 million pissed-off credit card and mortgage customers.” And economic self-interest apart, why the enthusiasm among large numbers, and of equal size, for one candidate who wants to make NATO a pay-for-play protection racket, and for another candidate who brags he will make appointments in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act?
They only need to feel that he is marginally better than Trump! Trump of course by his behaviour and speech – it’s totally impossible for him to present any kind of different face – ensures that the margin is as wide as possible!
….popular among SOME Americans, not the majority. This is where the usual RW pro Trump argument predictably and drearily misses the mark.Trump lost 3 elections out of 4 for the Republicans.
Alex Carnegie
2 months ago
An interesting take but it misses an important dimension: Podesta as a symbol of the “Revolving Door” that has contributed to policy makers being more concerned with the priorities of those who fund political campaigns than the welfare of the voters.
Podesta set up one of the leading US lobbying firms with his brother, became Bill Clinton’s Chief of Staff, founded the Center for American Progress, a highly influential liberal think tank, ran Hilary Clinton’s campaign, was co-chairman of the Obama transition team – with its control of useful appointments – and is currently in charge of distributing the $370+ bn Biden package of climate programs. He has also served on various corporate boards. Although he resigned from the lobbying group to join the government, his brother continued to run it until 2017.
I am sure Podesta is far more rational than the flawed Navarro, as claimed, but the latter’s abrasive opposition to China may have been more public spirited than Podesta’s courtier like and multifarious activities.
Alex Lekas
2 months ago
It is almost a tacit admission that Podesta helped to create a series of problems in one administration, and has returned to fix them in another.
Almost. For the one thing that no elected official or bureaucrat will ever admit is fault. Ever. Covid should have confirmed that to any doubters, along with the runaway immigration, funding wars without clear goals, and massive debt. Being one of the important people means seeing yourself as a virtual god immune to the ordinary pressures of accountability that the proles face. Is it the result of ruthless political opportunism, or an agile and creative pragmatism — or both? — It’s neither. This is all about the quest for power and never being held responsible for the results of one’s ideas, which comes from never having to live by those results. It’s like the people who were all for sanctuary cities, until they found themselves living in one and saw what a mess it is.
Marion Dodd
2 months ago
‘ Beneath the courtiers’ impressive veneer of technical excellence lies a callous indifference to the social and human dimensions of any great enterprise’
So many of this type around and we all suffer the consequences.
Such an interesting article.
This essay was fascinating. And don’t forget all the often ‘sick’ machinations that were revealed about Podesta’s correspondence with Hillary Clinton and her campaign when his account was hacked and revealed by Wikileaks…..for one, revealing that pundit Donna Brazile had given Hillary Clinton debate questions prior to the CNN debate; that Catholics could be a ‘problem for the Democrats’ etc. Refer to the summary on Wiki re” Podesta emails’. Podesta seemingly continues to stir the ‘dirty tricks’ pot to this day.
Christopher Barclay
2 months ago
Missing from this analysis is a discussion of how characters such as the Clintons and Biden were bought by foreign money and Obama bought by Wall Street.
We have another name of the courtiers in the US.
We call them the swamp creatures.
This is the permanent political class that moves from government to industry to think tanks and back again. They never face election but have enormous power and indeed control or manage the actual elected officials.
Cuenco is conflating “Romantic” with “Idealist.” Romanticism is but one strand of Idealism. Every functioning society is Idealist. There has to be a grand idea that “centers” your Constitution and everything outside of that Idealism is to be “marginalized.” What we’re dealing with now is a Democrat party that’s Ideal is to center the marginalized by marginalizing the center. Racial and gender equity are just a redistribution of “opportunity.” But that redistribution has to be administered by “administrative experts.”
Regardless of whether “Equity” is a noble goal, it can’t be administered in an unbiased manner because Administrators are required to discriminate simply to administer. It’s built into the system. Until Democrats accept that Equity is an objectively divisive, unfair premise they will bleed working class people.
Excellent essay. Thanks for shining a light on the dark corners where rats like Podesta scurry around.
I read an interesting essay the other day about legislation in Congress and the Senate. Apparently, elected politicians and their staff do not write any legislation – period. And they haven’t for decades. It’s all written by think tanks and lobbyists. They don’t even see it most of the time until the very end. I feel like a chump for not knowing this. I can’t find the link though.
Yes. The politicians claiming they’ll fight for you not only don’t know you, they likely hate you. They are bought and paid for creatures owned by the donor class.
As Pelosi said about another egregious piece of anonymous legislation, “”We have to pass the bill so you can know what’s in it.” Obviously, she meant we, not you.
https://publicintegrity.org/politics/state-politics/copy-paste-legislate/you-elected-them-to-write-new-laws-theyre-letting-corporations-do-it-instead/ may be the link you were looking for, though that report is from 2019.
Yes, the ‘Administrative State’ – something Trump would like to strangle.
What a terrific and accurate breakdown of present day America. Right on the money. And the Moneyed Class is running this whole show. Not the people. Which is why, try as they might, the Moneyed Class, its sock puppet news media and its wholly-owned political class cannot shake Donald Trump’s popularity with the American people.
It’s baffling that Americans persist in believing that they live in a democracy when it’s quite clearly a plutocracy – and one where everything is for sale to the highest bidder, including the White House, which is currently occupied by tenants of George Soros.
When you realize that tens of millions not only stand ready to vote for Biden again, but also believe he’s doing a good job, it becomes something worse than baffling.
Wouldn’t you vote for Joe if he paid your student loans – to the tune of BILLIONS? Even though the Supreme Court prevented a total write-off, Joe and his minions have worked overtime finding loopholes. And what about the $8 BILLION he’s given to ‘historical black colleges’ in a very ‘racist’ fashion, hardly an ‘equitable handout’. And these gestures are just the tip of the iceberg. Don’t forget changing the first Democrat primary to South Carolina to please its black constituency; He insists he won in a landslide even though only 4% of Dems voted. Joe has been pandering to various other Dem favored groups at record speed, forsaking better, saner government policies, pandering for votes. And it works. That ‘Joe is not a principled person’ is an understatement.
The problem goes beyond Biden simply being not-Trump. Matt Taibbi put it in context: “If American Politics made any sense at all, we wouldn’t have two giant political parties of roughly equal size perpetually fighting over the same 5-10 percent swatch of undecided voters, blues versus reds. Instead the parties should be broken down into haves and have-nots – a couple of obnoxious bankers on the Upper East Side running for office against 280 million pissed-off credit card and mortgage customers.” And economic self-interest apart, why the enthusiasm among large numbers, and of equal size, for one candidate who wants to make NATO a pay-for-play protection racket, and for another candidate who brags he will make appointments in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act?
They only need to feel that he is marginally better than Trump! Trump of course by his behaviour and speech – it’s totally impossible for him to present any kind of different face – ensures that the margin is as wide as possible!
….popular among SOME Americans, not the majority. This is where the usual RW pro Trump argument predictably and drearily misses the mark.Trump lost 3 elections out of 4 for the Republicans.
An interesting take but it misses an important dimension: Podesta as a symbol of the “Revolving Door” that has contributed to policy makers being more concerned with the priorities of those who fund political campaigns than the welfare of the voters.
Podesta set up one of the leading US lobbying firms with his brother, became Bill Clinton’s Chief of Staff, founded the Center for American Progress, a highly influential liberal think tank, ran Hilary Clinton’s campaign, was co-chairman of the Obama transition team – with its control of useful appointments – and is currently in charge of distributing the $370+ bn Biden package of climate programs. He has also served on various corporate boards. Although he resigned from the lobbying group to join the government, his brother continued to run it until 2017.
I am sure Podesta is far more rational than the flawed Navarro, as claimed, but the latter’s abrasive opposition to China may have been more public spirited than Podesta’s courtier like and multifarious activities.
It is almost a tacit admission that Podesta helped to create a series of problems in one administration, and has returned to fix them in another.
Almost. For the one thing that no elected official or bureaucrat will ever admit is fault. Ever. Covid should have confirmed that to any doubters, along with the runaway immigration, funding wars without clear goals, and massive debt. Being one of the important people means seeing yourself as a virtual god immune to the ordinary pressures of accountability that the proles face.
Is it the result of ruthless political opportunism, or an agile and creative pragmatism — or both? — It’s neither. This is all about the quest for power and never being held responsible for the results of one’s ideas, which comes from never having to live by those results. It’s like the people who were all for sanctuary cities, until they found themselves living in one and saw what a mess it is.
‘ Beneath the courtiers’ impressive veneer of technical excellence lies a callous indifference to the social and human dimensions of any great enterprise’
So many of this type around and we all suffer the consequences.
Such an interesting article.
‘veneer’ a most appropriate word in this context.
This essay was fascinating. And don’t forget all the often ‘sick’ machinations that were revealed about Podesta’s correspondence with Hillary Clinton and her campaign when his account was hacked and revealed by Wikileaks…..for one, revealing that pundit Donna Brazile had given Hillary Clinton debate questions prior to the CNN debate; that Catholics could be a ‘problem for the Democrats’ etc. Refer to the summary on Wiki re” Podesta emails’. Podesta seemingly continues to stir the ‘dirty tricks’ pot to this day.
Missing from this analysis is a discussion of how characters such as the Clintons and Biden were bought by foreign money and Obama bought by Wall Street.