National

Steve Benen says Bernie and Hillary offer Dems a choice: revolution or evolution.

More so than at any point in recent memory, Hillary Clinton presented herself last night as the inheritor of President Obama’s mantle. [In press releases during the debate last night, the Clinton campaign said] “Hillary Clinton believes we must build on the progress achieved under President Obama and that, no matter what, we can’t go backwards,” the press release said. “Despite 70 consecutive months of private sector job growth and landmark legislation for universal health care and Wall Street reform, Senator Sanders has a troubling history of questioning President Obama and his achievements.” [...] Clinton wants to build on Obama’s legacy, while Sanders supports a far-more progressive and ambitious platform that would replace some of what Obama has done. If you’re a Democrat who believes the Obama era has been filled with important accomplishments, Clinton wants you to know she’ll fight to protect those policies from Republicans who would tear them down. If you’re a Democrat who believes Obama’s successes have been too moderate and incremental, Sanders offers a more revolutionary alternative. In other words, Clinton wants the Democratic primary to be a referendum on the Obama presidency – and in her vision, pro-Obama Democrats should side with her. That’s actually not a bad plan. As Politico’s Michael Grunwald explained this morning, “The politics of this warm embrace aren’t hard to understand. Obama’s approval rating has climbed to nearly 50 percent, and nearly 90 percent among Democrats; he’s especially popular among African-Americans, a big part of South Carolina’s primary electorate. With unemployment down by half on Obama’s watch, the deficit down three fourths, gas at $2, and the uninsured rate at historic lows, what’s harder to understand is why the Democratic candidates have taken this long to embrace him. They’re going to be accused of running for Obama’s third term no matter what they say; it can only help them to make a case for the first two.”

What's it like to be a non-white person at a Trump Fascism Rally?

“So a person came up to me and said, ‘Aren’t you the wrong color to be here?’”

I'm white, so I never really had the experience of what it must be like to be a minority, any minority, let alone grow up with that experience as an everyday experience. Reading this article gives you an insight into how horrible that experience can be, and how evil it is reinforce that feeling through statements like that above. I really hate white people sometimes.

In honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of our best Americans, I present his last speech to the world. You might not have ever heard it. It is a long speech. And you've never heard it. Listen to the first five minutes and the last two. You owe it to yourself to listen to it, at least those 7 minutes. These are his last words to the world. The morning after this speech he is killed.

Bernie Sanders took on the role of front runner tonight, fielding attacks from Hillary Clinton all night. It is the role that she is most comfortable in. Clinton destroyed Sanders on gun control and finally found an argument to counter Sanders on single payer healthcare: the embrace of the most popular Democrat alive, President Obama, and his signature policy achievement, Obamacare. Clinton spent the entire night trying to convince Democrats she was the heir to President Obama’s legacy. She made clear she is running for Obama’s third term. It’s a smart strategy because it serves the double-purpose of implying that Sanders is less friendly to Obama. Clinton was effective, presidential and the clear winner of the debate. Sanders had his moments, especially railing against Wall Street and he did ding Hillary on speaking fees she had received from Goldman Sachs. But in order to help himself in the primary, he needs to take his trademark anger and shouting and direct it towards Republicans rather than Hillary. Aside from some Progressives who hate Hillary more than they hate Republicans (and thus already support Sanders), Democrats are not angry with Hillary. They like her a lot, actually. No, they, we, are angry with Republicans, for a whole host of reasons. To win the primary, Bernie needs to win the votes of Democrats who like Hillary. So he cannot really attack her and should not direct his anger towards her. Which is why he was smart to back away from his comments on Bill Clinton. No, what Bernie needs to do is convince Democrats that he is the one to take on Republicans.

First Read: “Turning to the Democratic race, Sunday night brings us the final Dem debate before the Iowa caucuses… and it promises to be a doozy. Not only do we have a neck-and-neck race in Iowa, but we have a true fight over the heart and soul of the Democratic Party.” “Do Democrats go with the candidate essentially running on continuity with President Obama (Hillary Clinton), or do they back the candidate promising revolution (Bernie Sanders)? Should their nominee be another Clinton? Or should it be a self-avowed democratic socialist who hasn’t been a member of the party until now? We’ve spent so much time looking at the establishment-vs.-insurgent divide inside the Republican Party, but don’t dismiss the equally compelling fight within the Democratic Party over where it should be entering Year 8 of the Obama presidency.”

This NYT article feels like the left jab. The uppercut that sends us to the canvas is going to be finding out that taxpayers must urgently subsidize Exxon and underwrite their profits, or risk economic CALAMITY!