You got what you deserve, Republican Party...

[Dark Jaguar]

I read all those fluff pieces about Warren's (true and verified) claim to ancestry.  Let me add something.  In Oklahoma, just about everyone you can talk to here has someone or another connected to native ancestry.  Supposedly I have a Cherokee "princess" in my line.  (Never mind that such a creature doesn't exist.  "Princess" was a title inappropriately shoved onto Pocahontas to make her a more valuable trophy wife for John Smith when he abducted that child back to England to parade her around, since the daughter of a chieftain does not inherit the role, it's determined democratically.)  Point is, while it was dumb to claim herself a minority on her college application, it's trivial compared to all the baggage literally any republican candidate brings just by being a member of that fascist party.  I'm not in a position to say exactly what the cutoff range for native ancestry should be, that's up to the tribes, and she's in no position to say she's a citizen of any such tribe, also up to them.  At least she got that out of the way early.

And yes, Trump WILL mock her for it, repeatedly, regardless of the fact that he himself swore to donate money if she took the test, HE asked for it.  And so what?  Literally any other candidate, Trump will do the same thing.  ABF, learn this one lesson.  Don't shy away from a candidate just because Trump can make fun of them for something.  That is always going to happen.  Pick the candidate that best represents the values you want the nation to be led with.  Promote them.  The only true way to know if a candidate has a chance, after all, is to TRY, not just give up before it even starts, and frankly she's still the best candidate on offer right now.  When a large amount of the party simply declares "no one will vote for them", it becomes self fulfilling.  Don't do that.  Stop doing that.

On policy she's one of the best, sure, but how good of a speaker is she?  How well will her responses to Trump's constant stream of "Pocahontas" insults be?  And anyway, while Trump will certainly use mocking nicknames and such for whichever Dem runs, she's one he's already attacking; it's probably easier to land attacks when the issue is already in voters' minds.  And it's not only Trump, she's been getting criticism from our side for the native-heritage thing too, and her responses continue to not exactly resolve the issue.  "I have a tiny bit of native heritage way back" is, as you say, many people in this country (though surely fewer here in New England than in Oklahoma), and most then don't claim native ancestry as she kind of has.

Voting just for values is fine though, and she is good on the issues, yes.  I'm not sure who'd be best on that, it is still early in the cycle.  We have a lot of good candidates, and she is a good candidate.

In other news, the OPM just gave advice to federal workers: Take maintenance jobs to pay your rent.  How tone deaf.  As though most of them even have the skills needed for such a job.  Do most people really not see things like car repair, electrical work, and IT as actual skillsets that take years to learn and decades to master, often involving years at school to specifically train for those skills?

What's the problem?  Can't they just ask their fathers for a few million dollars to get past the bad times, like Trump did?

Seriously though this shutdown is pretty high stakes, and I don't know how it will end.  The Dems show no signs of caving so far, thankfully, but with Trump being so adamant that he gets his wall (since he must know this is one of his last chances to get it built) despite congress refusing to give him the money for it, will Republicans in Congress eventually abandon him and open government again?  So far McConnell refuses to do that, as he clearly thinks that it helps him politically to continue to obey Trump, but they have to be getting closer to a breaking point the longer this drags on, and the more people get hurt by it...

There's a problem in your logic, you're using it.  Do you think Warren's native ancestry talk is really going to make her any MORE a target than literally any other canidate the Dems could pick?  You're trying to pick the "least likely to have an issue with the right", but screw that.  Trump's followers are so enamored with him that all he need do is slap the word "crazy" or "baby eating" on someone and they'll believe it.  Do you think for a moment the people making fun of Warren by calling her Pocahontas care even the slightest bit about natives?  They don't, but because Trump said it, NOW they care.  And it will be that way no matter what.

Well, in any case, check out this old public service video from the US archives.  It's pretty good.