Weekend at Bernie Sanders

Gray Matter
Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Democratic candidate for president Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) while admitting it was poorly written defended his recently surfaced 1972 rape fantasy essay as akin to the controversial book about female sexual submission, “Fifty Shades of Grey.” (Breitbart.com, 5/31/2015)

When a Republican says something stupid about rape, their professional life ends. Let's see what happens to Bernie. (Why look, he's gaining in the polls!)


Off the Clift
During this week’s version of the syndicated public affairs show “The McLaughlin Group,” The Daily Beast’s Eleanor Clift debated that Hillary Clinton’s wealth could actually be beneficial for her.
....
“If she’s elected, she would probably be the richest president ever, But is this a liability? I look back at FDR, I mean, he was very wealthy. He did a lot of great things for the little people.” (Breitbart.com, 5/31/2015)

If this line of reasoning sounds familiar, then you are remembering that it is exactly what Democrats said about Mitt Romney's wealth....how beneficial it would be for "the little people."

Ah, RedStateVT is just pulling your leg. What Democrats actually said was that Mitt Romney was a rapacious capitalist who had put millions of people out of work, killed others and whose wealth was a stain on America. 


By George
On his Sunday morning news show George Stephanopolous took time out from reporting on the scandal in which newsman George Stephanopolous made undisclosed contributions to the Clinton Crime family Foundation. Instead, Stephanopolous turned his attention to a scandal in which a formerly prominent Republican politician who left office eight years ago was indicted. (RedStateVT, 5/31/2015)

Hillary: I can do lots of different accents!

Needy
“We need paid sick leave and guaranteed vacation time for all,” said Mr. Sanders, an independent who is challenging Hillary Rodham Clinton the Democratic nomination.

For Mr. Sanders, the proposal fits into his socialist-style platform of making tuition at public universities free and increasing the minimum wage.

Mr. Sanders has long applauded the European system where people in countries such as Denmark and Finland receive at least a month of paid vacation.

“People are under stress, they’re exhausted,”Mr. Sanders said during a recent interview with Bill Maher on HBO. “We should begin to look at other countries in Europe where people get by law five or six weeks vacation.” (New York Times, 5/28/2015)

Sometimes it is just best to let Bernie speak.

OK, we can't resist. Here is who Bernie appeals to: In addition to naive and foolish young people, anyone who is lazy and disaffected, who harbors inchoate grievances and believes that their situation in life is due to someone somewhere who screwed them.


Removal
The Obama administration Friday removed Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, a crucial step in normalizing ties between Washington and Havana and the latest progress in President Obama’s push to thaw relations between the United States and the island nation. (New York Times, 5/29/2015)

Obama is NOT coddling repressive regimes.
Obama is NOT coddling repressive regimes.
Obama is NOT coddling repressive regimes.
Obama is NOT coddling repressive regimes.
Obama is NOT coddling repressive regimes.
Obama is NOT coddling repressive regimes.
Obama is coddling repressive regimes.

Farm Fresh

Democrat candidates reveal campaign slogans:

Hillary Clinton: It's my turn (let's get it over with)

                 also: Vote for me. I'm a grandmother. 

Bernie Sanders: Everything free

Martin O'Malley: Have you seen your other choices?

                   also: I'm not a nut


Assumptions
Among liberals, it’s almost universally assumed that of the two major parties, it’s the Republicans who have become more extreme over the years. That’s a self-flattering but false narrative. (Peter Wehner, New York Times, 5/27/2015)

Good article that our Liberal friends should read. They rail endlessly about the Tea Party, but the Tea Party started as nothing more than a bunch of people who were frightened about the fiscal imprudence of our politicians. Liberals promptly labeled them "extreme."


Headline You Won't See
'JV Team' ISIS Captures Ramadi and Palmyra


Grade = F
America’s most powerful former law professor is getting a re-education in the Constitution, and on present course President Obama might flunk out. Witness Tuesday’s federal appeals-court rebuke of his 2014 immigration order, including language that suggests the Administration will also lose on the legal and policy merits. (Wall Street Journal, 5/27/2015)

We can only hope. Meanwhile we quote the following:

"...the 'problem' that Obama is purporting to fix is the absence of a law granting amnesty to millions of illegal aliens. Rather than executing a law, Obama is making one up - arrogating to himself a function that the Constitution explicitly allocates to Congress....the absence of a congressional law granting amnesty is not evidence of political failure that must somehow be corrected by unilateral executive action; it is evidence of the lack of popular consensus regarding illegal immigration." (Heather MacDonald, Manhattan Institute, Practical Thoughts on Immigration, quoted from Imprimis, February 2015)

Bernie's Campaign Strategy Leaked: Will Run as Grumpy Old White Guy

10 Questions for Bernie Sanders

1)  You are a socialist. Name a country where socialism works.

2)  You have complained endlessly about "millionaires and billionaires" not paying their fair share. Does this include George Soros, Tom Steyer and Jeffrey Katzenberg?

3)  What legislation have you sponsored and passed in your term in the Senate?

4)  You had Senate oversight of the Veterans Affairs Department. Are you to blame for the scandals that were uncovered there during your term?

5)  You have said that you will not criticize Hillary Clinton. Presumably your Republican opponents will not get the same treatment. Why does Hillary get a free pass?

6)  Grade President Obama's performance as president on a scale of 1 to 10.

7)  Your wife received a six figure severance from Burlington College when she was replaced. Did you refuse the money? If not, why not?

8)  Will your campaign end with a bang or a whisper?

9)  Will you continue your campaign as a third party candidate if RedStateVT is able to round up funding?

10) Is anyone responsible for their own situation in life according to your worldview or is everyone a victim?

Bonus question: Have you received any advice from Howard Dean, the last screwball presidential candidate from Vermont?

Smelly
He doesn’t flinch over returning to the 90 percent personal income tax rates of the 1950s for top earners. And if reducing income inequality reduces economic growth, he says, that’s fine. “You don’t necessarily need a choice of 23 underarm spray deodorants,” he said, “when children are hungry in this country.” (New York Times, 5/26/2015)

As RedStateVT gleefully predicted, the presidential run of Colonel Bernie Sanders gives the whole country the opportunity to learn firsthand about his nutjob ideas. Here we learn that he wants to confiscate the wealth of those who are successful and that too much deodorant causes poverty. 

Thank you Colonel! We eagerly look forward to hearing more of your ideas on how to fix America. 

Thank You Veterans!

Liberal Logic
Liberals want restrictions on guns, but not on abortion.


Skirt Chasers
Republican Rivals Skirt Specifics on Plans to Fight ISIS, Read Down to Paragraph Twenty to Find Out What Hillary Clinton Would Do (New York Times headline, 5/24/2015)

OK, we added that last part.


What Did Hillary Know and When Did She Know It?
Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received emails from her top aides warning about dangerous security conditions in Benghazi, Libya, in the run-up to the terrorist attack that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans there in 2012, documents disclosed on Friday show. (Wall Street Journal, 5/24/2015)

A Liberal friend recently said that George Bush could have prevented 9/11 because he received national security briefings that said: Bin Laden determined to attack U.S. Apparently Bush did not make the obvious connection that this meant that nineteen Islamic fascists would hijack planes and fly them into buildings and kill over three thousand Americans. 

Anyway, here we have news that Hillary Clinton received warnings from her own people at the State Department about a very specific danger at a very specific place. She did nothing. And so when the Benghazi attack happened - the date was again 9/11 - she immediately blamed a video. 

Anyone listening?


The Dangler
But this “opportunity” didn’t just emerge organically — which is actually where “opportunities” are supposed to come from. It did not result from changing conditions that opened a new possibility of finding common ground. Iran’s behavior didn’t change, and its pursuit of nuclear weapons didn’t change. Obama manufactured what (deputy national security adviser Ben) Rhodes called an opportunity by pursuing a deal with Iran and dangling all kinds of carrots in front of the mullahs. And why? Because he wants a foreign-policy legacy to match the size and scope of his key legacy in domestic policy. (John Podhoretz, New York Post, 5/25/2015)

The single greatest threat to U.S. national security is.....Barack Obama.


Wrongly
“They’ve got the wrong guy,” said Robin Ficker, a lawyer who has represented Mr. Wint in the past and said he may again in this case. “It’s not in his nature. The police were under pressure to make an arrest, and they’re really straining here, overreaching.”
...
Mr. Wint has a record of criminal and violent behavior going back at least a decade. He was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend and pleaded guilty to malicious destruction of property. A woman who lived with Mr. Wint, as well as his father, each obtained a protective order against him, claiming he had threatened them with violence. (New York Times, 5/23/2015)

We officially nominate Robin Ficker as Lawyer of the Year!

What We Learned From Our Liberal Friends

Yes, we at RedStateVT have dear friends who are Liberals. In a recent free-wheeling conversation we learned the following:

--The problem with politics is money in politics. The Koch brothers' money.

--Ted Cruz is evil. He wants to do away with government.

--Business is under-regulated.

--The 170 bikers in Texas who were recently arrested after a shoot-out were treated more leniently than black suspects.

--There is no substance to the (various) Hillary Clinton scandals.

--Republicans were responsible for the financial meltdown.

--There was civility in politics until the Tea Party came along.

--Our friends were actually Republicans until the party became too extreme.

Meanwhile, all we can say to our Liberal friends is: you are winning. The worst president in American history is not held accountable. Hillary Clinton will survive the corruption that surrounds her and become the next president. George Stephanopolous keeps his job. The Boy Scouts are going gay and now so is Ireland. And on and on. 


Gram-ma-ma
This week, as she campaigned in Iowa, in Chicago and, starting Friday, in New Hampshire — a relative flurry of activity — she generally filled each day with one event open to the news media, a smaller one with a pool reporter, and then some unexpected stops where she ordered coffee or bought toys for her grandchild. Always the grandchild. (New York Times, 5/22/2015)

And make no mistake about it, Hillary's granddaughter will be the secret weapon in the campaign. When times get tough, when the e-mail scandal heats up again, when new facts emerge about Benghazi, when more sordid details are learned about the Clinton Crime Family Foundation, the granddaughter will make her appearance. The narrative will then become: how can those heartless Republicans attack....a kindly grandmother. 

You read it here first.


The Circulator
The emails also show that Mrs. Clinton was circulating information about the attacks in Benghazi that contradicted the Obama administration’s initial narrative of what occurred, and that she was concerned about how Republicans could use the incidents to undermine President Obama. (New York Times, 5/21/2015)

Good thing we read down to paragraph 9 in this article, otherwise we would not have learned this 'factoid.' We might have thought that this little bombshell would have been in the headline, or maybe the first paragraph. But we would have been wrong....

Emotional Poison

Collapse
The last Iraqi security forces fled Ramadi on Sunday, as the city fell completely to the militants of the Islamic State, who ransacked the provincial military headquarters, seizing a large store of weapons, and killed people loyal to the government, according to security officials and tribal leaders. (New York Times, 5/18/2015)

Not mentioned in this article - not even once - was the name "President Obama." The same Obama who called ISIS the JV team. The same Obama whose policies in Iraq have led to the squandering of hard fought military gains, turning them into losses. 

Meanwhile, the Liberal Media will never stop writing stories about George Bush and "Mission Accomplished." And people like "John" writing in the Comments section of the New York Times will tell us that the fall of Ramadi was Bush's fault...somehow. Why Bush has been out of office for, what is it now, at least a year.

As the Wall Street Journal reminds us (5/19/2015):
("The Democratic left" is) now trying to change the subject back to Iraq circa 2003 and away from the current, rampant disorder there that reflects poorly on the current President and implicates his former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. For the record, none of the individuals running for the Republican presidential nomination cast a vote on the Iraq war. Hillary Clinton, then Senator from New York, did—in favor of the war....


New York Times Political News Coverage Today, May 19, 2015
Name Recognition Is Not the Problem for Clinton
5 Things You Might Not Know About Hillary Clinton
Clinton Says Citizens United Would Guide Her Supreme Court Picks
Hillary Clinton May Not Need a Second Chance to Make a First Impression
State Department Proposes January Release of Hillary Clinton 

And then this:

Road to 2016: Can Republicans Avoid the Romney Tax Trap?

What Liberal Media bias? What Liberal Media bias!

Stephanopoulos: "I did it...for the children"

Richly
Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband made at least $30 million over the last 16 months, mainly from giving paid speeches to corporations, banks and other organizations, according to financial disclosure forms filed with federal elections officials on Friday. (New York Times, 5/16/2015)

This will pose absolutely no problem for Hillary Clinton. Rich Democrats are just fine. John Kerry can run for president and the Liberal Media will never discuss his wealth - not even the fact that he married into it. But Mitt Romney's wealth was THE story of the last election. By the way, we note that Romney's former employer, Bain Capital, hired former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, President Obama's bestest buddy. Now why didn't we hear more about that?


Bagged
Across the country, law enforcement agencies long accustomed to seizures of bagged, smokable marijuana are now wrestling with a surge in marijuana-infused snacks and confections transported illegally across state lines for resale.

Pot edibles, as they are called, can be much easier to smuggle than marijuana buds: They may resemble candy or home-baked goodies, and often have no telltale smell. And few police officers are trained to think of gummy bears, mints or neon-colored drinks as potential dope.

Some experts worry that smuggled pot edibles will appeal to many consumers, particularly adolescents, who are ill prepared for the deceptively slow high. Impatient novices can easily eat too much too fast, suffering anxiety attacks and symptoms resembling psychosis. Already, young children have eaten laced sweets left within reach. (New York Times, 5/17/2015)

Coming soon to Vermont!

Progressives here are now thinking to themselves: just think of the revenue we can raise via taxes on edible marijuana!


Person of the Day
Peggy Fahey, a lifelong Bostonian who was sipping coffee on a park bench in South Boston early Saturday, said she believed that Mr. Tsarnaev had been treated too gently since his arrest and that death was what he irrefutably deserved.

“Oh, please, let him die. Enough is enough,” said Ms. Fahey, 78, her blue eyes blazing. “Why send him to a fancy prison out there in Colorado and let him be coddled again and let him be interviewed by Diane Sawyer — you know what I mean? Just be done with it.” (New York Times, 5/17/2015)

Peggy Fahey is our Person of the Day. She receives a free one year subscription to RedStateVT!


Great Moments in Liberal Journalism
In 2007, in public, he ( George Stephanopoulos)  asked Clinton if he might someday be remembered as “a philanthropist who happened to be president. You OK with that?”

Well, I suppose it’s better than being remembered as an accused rapist who happened to be president. (Howie Carr, Bostonherald.com, 517/2015)

Heartfelt thanks to the wonderful Howie Carr for reminding us of this moment of pure obsequiousness from ABC's unbiased and impartial newsman. 

Clinton Crime Family Foundation Claims Another Victim!

George Stephanopoulos’s Gifts to Clinton Foundation Reinforce G.O.P. Doubts 
Even after more than a decade as an analyst, anchor and public face for ABC News, George Stephanopoulos has never been able to shake the image that many Republicans have of him: Clinton hatchet man. (New York Times, 5/15/2015)

Only Liberals and the New York Times can turn a story about blatant journalistic bias into a story about Republicans. Stephanopoulos admits his error in giving $25,000 a year for three years to the Clinton Crime Family Foundation.*

That sounds like three mistakes to us not one!

ABC News and the Mainstream Liberal Media are standing by Georgie. 

Why? 

Well Brian Williams has already been disgraced and sent out to pasture. If objectivity were the rule of law, Georgie would have to go also; his crime is worse. But Liberals simply cannot have another Liberal journalist fall. It would lend truth to what conservatives have been saying for years about the media. Can't have that. 

Georgie stays. 

* credit to Rush Limbaugh


School Daze
A federal jury on Friday condemned Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a failed college student, to death for setting off bombs at the 2013 Boston Marathon that killed three people and injured hundreds more in the worst terrorist attack on American soil since Sept. 11, 2001. (New York Times, 5/15/2015)

"A failed college student?"

Are we the only ones scratching our head over this characterization? What is the New York Socialist Times trying to convey to us? Probably something like...."Tsarnaev is a product of our dysfunctional education system. If only Republicans would agree to increase education spending." 

This is beyond ludicrous. The New York Times has lost its marbles. 


Risky Business
The Department of Veterans Affairs has been spending at least $6 billion a year in violation of federal contracting rules to pay for medical care and supplies, wasting taxpayer money and putting veterans at risk, according to an internal memo written by the agency’s senior official for procurement. (Washington Post, 5/14/2015)

And who was in charge of Senate oversight of the VA until just recently? Why it was Colonel Bernie Sanders, the Left's socialist hero and now presidential candidate. Maybe George Stephanopoulos will ask him about that. 

Just kidding! 

George Stephanopoulos will not ask him about it. George Stephanopolous will, however, ask Ted Cruz about his position on contraceptives. 

Source: Hillary Clinton will not take any questions until AFTER the election

When Liberals Turn
On Tuesday the American Civil Liberties Union will ask state and federal agencies to investigate the hiring practices of Hollywood’s major studios, networks and talent agencies, and possibly bring charges against them, for what the organization described as rampant and intentional gender discrimination in recruiting and hiring female directors. (New York Times, 5/12/2015)

Of course nothing gives us more pleasure than when Liberals are caught in their own nonsense. The ACLU vs. Hollywood? It doesn't get any better than that!


Oddly
The decision by King Salman of Saudi Arabia to skip a summit meeting called by President Obama reflects a new reality for two nations that for generations shared goals in the Middle East but that are now at odds in fundamental ways. (New York Times, 5/12/2015)

We have no great love for Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of 9/11, but Obama's pivot away from the Sauds and toward Iran is incomprehensible. Unless, of course, you have followed Obama's foreign policy where friends become enemies and enemies become friends.


Stinger
Senate Democrats handed President Obama a stinging rebuke on Tuesday, blocking consideration of legislation granting their own president “fast track” power to complete a major trade accord with 11 nations in the Pacific Rim. (New York Times, 5/12/2015)

There is one conclusion and only one conclusion that we can draw from the actions of Senate Democrats:

They are racists! 

Quick...someone call MSNBC.

Untitled

Jibber Jabber
In comments subtly directed at NATO, Mr. Putin said that military alliances were gaining strength and warned against a unipolar world—shorthand in Moscow for the global influence of the U.S. In another apparent jab at Washington, he said that the principles of international cooperation were being ignored. (Wall Street Journal, 5/9/2015)

Please answer a simple question. How in God's green earth is Hillary Clinton going to run for president and talk about her foreign policy expertise? Like her boss, everything that she touched has turned into a complete mess including the vaunted "Russian reset." Vlad ('the impaler') Putin is holding his breath hoping that he gets Barack Obama's third term with a Clinton win. No doubt he is looking with longing at Poland....


Impressed
In giving Conservatives a new majority, voters rewarded an impressive economic record. Five years of Tory policies, such as a reduction in the corporate tax rate to 20% from 28% and a welfare reform that shifted more people into work have produced record employment participation rates and by far the fastest growth of any large European economy. Keynesian critics in the U.S. and U.K. derided this as “austerity,” but tax cuts and limits on government spending have been vindicated. (Wall Street Journal, 5/8/2015)

Over at the New York Times, Paul Krugman calls this success "The Triumph of the Unthinking." 


The Chronic
It’s sometimes unpopular to point out that people who behave responsibly and are willing to work generally do not end up chronically poor in America. (Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. Wall Street Journal, 5/8/2015)

Tell that to a Liberal. Their explanation for chronic poverty? Republicans.


Endurance
As shocking as they are, these facts make perfect sense in the context of the century-long assault that Baltimore’s blacks have endured at the hands of local, state and federal policy makers, all of whom worked to quarantine black residents in ghettos, making it difficult even for people of means to move into integrated areas that offered better jobs, schools and lives for their children. (New York Times editorial, 5/10/2015)

So given the decades-long Liberal monopolies in cities such as Baltimore, Chicago and Detroit we are guessing that the editors at the New York Times are pointing their fingers at the policies of Democrat political leaders. Or are we being naive?


Dog in the Fight
By 2004, Mr. Braman and his wife had donated $1,000 to Mr. Rubio’s State House campaign, the first of many contributions. Mr. Rubio quickly emerged as a dogged champion of Mr. Braman’s most cherished cause: state funding for a Miami cancer institute that bears the Braman family name. (New York Times, 5/10/2015)

The Times breaks the story that Marco Rubio has a benefactor who is - God forbid - a billionaire! Not only that, but Rubio may have acted on said billionaire's behalf. The apparent crime? Funding for a cancer center!

Now wasn't there something in the news just a couple of days ago about Hillary Clinton possibly trading favors with a Russian billionaire over uranium....

Hillary Clinton Campaign's Biggest Challenge: Keeping Bill Away from the Interns

Clintonian
...the Clintons are unique in the annals of American politics: They are protected from charges of corruption by their reputation for corruption. (Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, 5/8/2015)

That is a good line from Noonan!

We also like Rush Limbaugh's reference to Bill and Hill's charity as "the Clinton Crime Family Foundation."


Unbecoming
On an April night in 1960, Guy Carawan stood before a group of black students in Raleigh, N.C., and sang a little-known folk song. With that single stroke, he created an anthem that would echo into history, sung at the Selma-to-Montgomery marches of 1965, in apartheid-era South Africa, in international demonstrations in support of the Tiananmen Square protesters, at the dismantled Berlin Wall and beyond.

The song was “We Shall Overcome.”
...
On March 15, 1965, in a televised address seen by 70 million Americans, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced his intention to submit a voting rights bill to Congress.

Describing the legislation — which he would sign into law that August as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — President Johnson said: “Even if we pass this bill, the battle will not be over. What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and state of America. It is the effort of American Negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life.” He continued:

“Their cause must be our cause, too. Because it is not just Negroes, but really it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice.”

President Johnson added: “And we shall overcome.” (New York Times, 5/8/2015)

The New York Times reports on the death of folk singer Guy Carawan, the song "We Shall Overcome" and Democrat President Lyndon Johnson. Democrats are overwhelmed with pride at their own virtuousness. Of course, what the New York Times does not tell you - because it is a dishonest newspaper - is what President Johnson reportedly had said previously. Read on (with sincere apologies for the offensive language that Liberal icon Johnson used)....

Lyndon Johnson said the word “nigger” a lot. In Senate cloakrooms and staff meetings, Johnson was practically a connoisseur of the word. According to Johnson biographer Robert Caro, Johnson would calibrate his pronunciations by region, using “nigra” with some southern legislators and “negra” with others. Discussing civil rights legislation with men like Mississippi Democrat James Eastland, who committed most of his life to defending white supremacy, he’d simply call it “the nigger bill.” (MSNBC.com, 4/11/2014)

Yes, this comes from MSNBC!

We Begin the Process of Vetting Colonel Bernie Sanders

Burnie
(Bernie Sanders) thinks Social Security should increase benefits, no matter that it is heading toward insolvency. Higher taxes can make up the difference. He’d shrink the defense budget so foreign military operations would be all but impossible. He wants single-payer health care, though his own state gave up the experiment as too expensive. He thinks foreign trade impoverishes the middle class. (Wall Street Journal, 5/2/2015)

The phrases that you will hear (endlessly) from Colonel Bernie Sanders include:

Millionaires and billionaires - (Bernie's definition): The people responsible for the evil in the world

Bush and Cheney - (Bernie's definition): The people responsible for the evil in the world


Question for Bernie:

If elected president will you immediately bring charges against hedge funders George Soros, Tom Steyer and (Clinton son-in-law) Marc Mezvinsky? If not, why not?


New York Times, May 3, 2015:
Christie’s Camp Mobilizes to Salvage White House Hopes

With Bridge Case Charges, a Cloud Descends on Christie’s White House Hopes

2 Indicted in George Washington Bridge Case; Ally of Christie Pleads Guilty

Document: Indictment Against Baroni and Kelly

Coverage of the Bridge Scandal

George Washington Bridge Scandal: What You Need to Know

Graphic: Chris Christie and the Lane Closings: A Spectator’s Guide

First Draft: Hogan Fund-Raiser for Christie Comes at a Bad Time

Question: What story has the New York Times identified as the most important of the decade?


Weathered
Hillary Rodham Clinton appears to have initially weathered a barrage of news about her use of a private email account when she was secretary of state and the practices of her family’s foundation, an indication that she is starting her second presidential bid with an unusual durability among Democratic voters. (New York Times, 5/5/2015)

In a poll of Democrat voters taken on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, support for Hillary remains strong. To have their preferences included respondents had to answer the following pre-qualification question in the affirmative: Have you given money to Hillary for President in the past 48 hours?


Super Duper
Hillary Rodham Clinton will begin personally courting donors for a super PAC supporting her candidacy, the first time a Democratic presidential candidate has fully embraced the independent groups that can accept unlimited checks from big donors and are already playing a major role in the 2016 race.

Her decision is another escalation in what is expected to be the most expensive presidential campaign in history. Mrs. Clinton’s allies hope that with her support, Priorities USA Action, the top Democratic super PAC, will be able to raise as much as $200 million to $300 million, on par with what the largest Republican organizations, such as the Karl Rove-founded American Crossroads super PAC and its nonprofit affiliate, spent in 2012.

Running for re-election that year, President Obama reluctantly endorsed fund-raising by the same super PAC now supporting Mrs. Clinton because of fears that he would be outspent by Republicans who were more aggressive in using what was then a new vehicle for raising large amounts of money that could be used in support of a campaign but not go directly to it. But he never appeared at any of its fund-raisers. (New York Times, 5/6/2015)

So noble Democrats only get down in the dirt and go the Super PAC route...because of the evil Republicans!

Thug Life

Stemmed
A former Port Authority official and ally of Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey is expected to plead guilty on Friday to the first charges stemming from the 16-month federal investigation into the George Washington Bridge lane closings scandal. (New York Times, 5/1/2015)

The New York Times interrupts its ongoing investigation into the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal to report on Chris Christie and Bridgegate. Just kidding!  The New York Times has moved on from the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal. Better to circle back to an (even older) Republican scandal. And so the Times provides readers with a useful color graphic showing all the Bridgegate players. Also included is a helpful Q&A for readers who want even more information. No doubt the Times is thinking Pulitzer Prize....


It's Never the Perp's Fault
The problem is not black culture. It is policy and politics, the very things that bind together the history of Ferguson and Baltimore and, for that matter, the rest of America.

...the financial enrichment of landlords, corner store merchants and other vendors selling second-rate goods.

...The problem originates in a political culture that has long bound black bodies to questions of property. Yes, I’m referring to slavery.
...
The conditions in West Baltimore today are the direct consequence of speculative real estate practices that have long targeted people with few to no options.
...
Cities that are starved for income have found ways to raise revenues by way of fines and fees exacted from poor, underemployed African-Americans and migrants of color. These include property taxes and court costs. (N. D. B. Connolly is an assistant professor of history at Johns Hopkins University, New York Times, 5/1/2015)

You might have thought the root causes of the rioting in Baltimore were illegitimacy, the breakdown of the black family, the glorification of violent rap culture and decades of misguided government policies toward poverty. 

You would be wrong. 

Luckily we have Professor Connolly to set us straight.

Professor Connolly helpfully informs us as to the REAL issues which include: the merchants who provide goods and services to impoverished communities, landlords who provide housing to the poor and the local governments who collect taxes.

Oh, and slavery. (If only America would outlaw slavery....)

Time to take Johns Hopkins off the list of potential schools for Junior.