54 Comments
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Dallas's avatar

As one of your loyal reply guys, thank you for talking about this uncomfortable stuff. It is wonderful that you call it as you see it and as it appears to exist.

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Terence Mahoney's avatar

That kid from the school shooting needs to be in charge of the DNC. They need to nominate better candidates

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Joe's avatar

That would be why they are kicking him (David Hogg) out.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/us/politics/david-hogg-dnc-democrats.html

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Terence Mahoney's avatar

I saw that. That alone makes me think he should be in charge

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Karie Taylor's avatar

Your focus on the gerontocracy is appreciated. Thank you.

That you called out the bichon? That got me to upgrade to paid. 😂 love those little white dogs! (RIP Charlie Bartlet 🐾)

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Ken Klippenstein's avatar

I have one too :) thanks for your support

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Ken Klippenstein's avatar

Here she is now, napping

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JennyStokes's avatar

What I would like to see is a US/Senator with a mixed/race dog not a breed!

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Karie Taylor's avatar

At least it was a rescue bichon frise but I hear ya.

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May's avatar

Thank you, Ken, for your reporting. It is much more important to be honest than polite. Our elders deserve to spend their last days with their families. I appreciate that you don't play the access game and am glad to have your back as a little people subscriber.

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Ken Klippenstein's avatar

Thank you May :)

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Michael Bartanen's avatar

Keep up the good work. Time for a new generation of Democrats, and hopefully ones who do not slavishly worship the corporate sector.

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JennyStokes's avatar

Ha!

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Tom's avatar

LOL Good one.

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Joe's avatar

Ken, your piece on Connolly stands in stark contrast to the piece in The Washington "Democracy Dies in Darkness" Post, which relegates the issues around Connolly's cancer diagnoses to an aside in a parenthesis:

"(He announced in April that his cancer had returned, and he planned to step back from his role as the committee’s ranking Democrat.)"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2025/05/21/gerry-connolly-virginia-congressman-dead-obituary/

Your piece shows that you can be both compassionate about the person you are covering without dodging the real issues of governance caused by situations like this one. And to be clear, Connolly bears responsibility for deciding to seek reelection knowing he had this cancer diagnosis which was hidden from the public during the election.

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Ken Klippenstein's avatar

Thank you, Joe.

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X K's avatar
11hEdited

"...reminding me that nobody is all good or all bad."

Then again, there is Netanyayu... and Smotrich... and Gvir... and Gallant...

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Laura H's avatar

I never paid attention to politics until Trump entered the scene (always voted but busy living my life). My thinking has evolved over time - we got Trump because of the Dems "you get this because of your service" mentality. Which is insane. I so appreciate your journalism and that you are not beholden to the main media games. As much as I dislike Trump and fear the consequences of having a totally unfit man as president, the Dems handed him the job!

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Joy in HK fiFP's avatar

It's the Uniparty. Two names, but underneath they work together to bring us to where we are at every step of the way. Good Cop-Bad Cop routine seems to work every time.

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Tom's avatar

And the "good cop" is the "bad cop's" bulwark against the left, labor and progress. It's baked into the two party system.

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Cécile Stelzer-Johnson's avatar

Well, Susan Swecker's comment didn't age well, did it?

Whether they like it or not, the Democratic leadership is showing its age, and it is high time for them to think about the future of their Party, not their own or how much longer they can hang on with limited effectiveness.

They should look at who is actually "cutting the mustard", and give them a chance.

Certainly, even the youngest fries can't be as inept as the "very best people" that trump has in his cabinet right now!

There's a lot of great talent coming up. They should help them instead of pushing them down!

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Carolyn Bakula (Madison, WI)'s avatar

We 100% have your back, Ken. Keep reporting on the difficult issues facing democrats and all the other shit that is going on. Thank you!

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lee levin's avatar

Young democrats took over Congress on 1974 challenged the seniority system. I remember the fight was successful. I don't know when it changed back

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StanleyTwoBrix's avatar

Seems like those people never left office.

Of course, they wouldn't remain in office if people weren't stupid enough to keep voting against their own best interests while wondering why the other side keeps voting against their own best interests.

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lee levin's avatar

Sure does!

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J. Rock's avatar

Please keep speaking truth to hubris.

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Chris's avatar

Klip - keep on keepin’ on!

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Randy Paulson's avatar

Great reporting, Ken. I appreciated how you noted the personal, human side to Connelly in this piece. It really drove home how the gerontocracy harms not only us the public but also politicians involved.

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Andrew A's avatar

Ken, thank you so much for writing this. I am a high school teacher and graduate student in NC and these issues get almost no attention over here. The gerontocracy is a serious issue that nobody is brave enough to breach. Keep fighting the good fight!

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Gary Milligan's avatar

Gerontocracy indeed. Thank you for not only the reminder of how the D party has historically operated, but the negative impact of that on representing we the people. We end up with an out of touch party.

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JennyStokes's avatar

Why do you have only 2 party's?

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Joy in HK fiFP's avatar

We don't. We have only the Uniparty.

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