Some of the coolest things have been said in comments. And the whole thread has to hang in one piece to be meaningful. I haven't figured out how to extract those which mean the most to me.

if you don't click on anything on the Front Page or anything to do with politics. There was a good piece (which of course sank like a stone on the Recent List) about chemists working on a test to determine percentages of cannabis in baked goods so that proper portions could be determined, important for both medical and recreational cannabis use. With the number of states legalizing either or both medical or recreational cannabis, there's definitely a need for scientific evaluations of products to avoid the Maureen Dowd scare tactics (where she ate a whole candy bar that contained multiple "servings").

It was almost too easy to leave once I learned that it represented an agenda that I wanted nothing to do with.

This is now true of TOP. Although I still go there, I see it differently now.

I like this place, hope we can all help it thrive.

Everyone starts small -- even DK didn't emerge fully developed like Aphrodite out of the half-shell. I signed up in the relatively early days of Scoop -- 4 digit UID, January 2004. Not saying that C99% is going to become the Big Blue Behemoth of the progressive Internets, but it's a good place to stay informed and motivated.

I've been doing a lot more reading of non-blog sites, sites with actual news. Alternet, Jacobin, a few others. Been keeping tabs on the LGBT blogs, especially with the rise in "bathroom bills" and "religious freedom" (which only applies if you're of the fundie Christian variety apparently). And dealing with Real Life issues as well.

DNC rigged and gamed the caucuses and primaries. Kos could tell effin' elfing to change the poll numbers to fit his narrative. So I wouldn't put too much trust in anything you see a dKos now -- except for known progressive's diaries.

the stinky attitudes of the site owner were kept out of sight.

Now that Markos has tried to tip the scales against Sanders, turned his back on the political revolution, and given the tacit endorsement to rule by money over popular rule, the true uselessness of Daily Kos has come into full view.

Let's drag his better readers over here and quit the place entirely.

In fact, that is how it is working.

As Bernie continues the Primaries in every state, (regardless of what happens in New York, et al.) Americans, nationwide, are being exposed to his message about the austerity that is crushing them. Bernie's entire aim is to empower the people by showing them how they are being harmed and their society diminished, and sharing his vision of how they can turn that around, take control, and create a better life for all Americans. Not incrementally — but starting right now!

The primary votes and delegates don't really mean anything. Getting the message to all Americans, does.

Both Parties intend to ignore the primary winners if they don't like them. Trump will not be running GOP nominee if he wins the primaries, and neither will Bernie. Hillary will be running against someone like Jeb, who will represent the GOP.

Sanders powerful message across the country is the real threat to the corrupt establishment Parties. The continuation of Sanders' primary campaign is also systematically destroying Hillary. It is collapsing the waves of probability between her and a future world where she becomes the President of the United States.

In the end, even Hillary is irrelevant.

Bernie Sanders is locked in a struggle with the back-stabbing Golem that the Democratic Party has become. That level of change can only come from the outside (or an outsider) because the two Party system is too corrupt to reform itself from within.

Steve J, Pluto, et. al.,

I think you're right. The wave is getting bigger but probably won't crest until society becomes even worse, but it will crest. It really seems like now is the time to educate while trying to win so that people can feel some excitement while they learn. I hope I'm wrong and that Bernie pulls it off, but, if not, we are further along than before. Unlike so many times before, we have a right wing populace upset about many of the same issues we are upset about. Probably not much help, but you never know. I just hope our corporate masters are having to pour milk on their ulcers many times a day.

This election is just the start of the process of withdrawing consent.

After this, Presidential elections will never be the same The Parties should go public, IPO, and sell shares on the NYSE. People are going to wander off.

As for "withdrawing consent", I've been thinking about that. In fact, I asked folks who would know: "Is there a minimum number of people that must vote in a Presidential Election to make it legitimate? "No minimum," I was told. In the end, we came up with the number 211. That's how many people in the nation would have to vote to elect a President.

Frankly, I suspect the only reason the Government lets people vote in Federal elections is that it is a massive money pump for the commercial sectors they invest in. The Presidential election alone will cost $4 billion dollars in 2016, mostly lavished on their close personal corporations and advisors.

Awesome, in fact. I have a feeling many of us know a real troll when we see one, and--well, at least for me, I can say--so far the few obvioustroll irritants I've seen here are posters I never seem to see more than once. That means one of two things: they got bored or they got banned! Either way, the rest of us win, so thank you JtC and staff/admins, for whatever you're doing and however you're doing it

Thomas Frank admonishes, 'Listen, Liberal!' How the Democratic Party failed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38JNg210L24

15 minutes in, Frank says Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich had secret meetings about how to privatize Social Security, Clinton phrased it "save Social Security" in the 1998 SOTU.

Altho the news about Lewinsky broke a day or two before that SOTU, the day after the media took off and ran with it, so Bill & Newt never got to talk the nation into privatizing Social Security. That became Dumbya's "thing" - and he certainly had no success with senior citizens when he tried to talk to them directly at an assisted living facility. They weren't budging on their opinions that it was a bad idea. I don't know if anyone saw the same interview on the news, but Dumbya was stymied when he couldn't talk them into giving up what little money they had.

Obama has used the phrase "privatize Social Security" a couple of times through the years, as well as mentions of "fixing Social Security" or "fixing entitlement programs," but that has fallen on deaf ears. So far, so good. We've been saved from George Carlin's prediction that they're coming for our Social Security, that they will get all of it sooner or later.

Why must we get truthful, real news from our comedic geniuses, or from foreign presses?!?!? [Yes, that's a rhetorical question. I know the answer, but think it's a crying shame we can't have honest media sources tell us the truth.]

You have to watch the Thomas Frank video before you watch the 1998 SOTU so you get the relevance and know what to listen for.

The 1998 State of the Union (Address to a Joint Session of the Congress), January 27, 1998
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-YIP45s1R4

13 minutes in, Clinton says "Save Social Security first" and proceeds to say meetings will be held for community input. HOW saving Social Security will be accomplished is not detailed, nor is the phrase "privatize Social Security" uttered.
28:+ Clinton says he will renew his "request for fast track negotiating authority necessary to open more new markets & create more new jobs." Sound familiar?!?!?

While I've saved a bajillion Bernie links and other political links, I never save Hillary links. What are her EXACT words when she mentions "protecting" Social Security? Anything close to what her hubby said (presumably without any detailed plans, like privatizing Social Security or turning the Social Security's Trust Fund with two Trillion+++ in it over to Wall Street).

Still, it was unnerving to hear that the people who thought of that disastrous idea to "privatize Social Security" came from meetings with a Democratic president who had such favorable ratings at the time and the hypocritical, lying Rethuglican Speaker of the House. Now Bill's favor is clearly compromised and lacking while promoting his wife who will almost certainly follow in her husband's footsteps in many/most respects - and the close relationship between Hillary and Wall Street makes sense if they are anticipating getting their felonious greedy fingers of over two trillion of our dollars to mysteriously "lose" to offshore accounts.

the BNR?