She rightly points out that while we pay a lot of attention to presidential election years, we pay far too little attention to mid-term elections and local and state elections, although these can have very significant consequences. The low voter turnout at such elections tends to result in horrible people getting elected to office.
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One of the zombie memes of this election cycle is that while Sanders is the better candidate on the issues and has been a consistent supporter of progressive values all his life, we should vote for the warmongering, oligarchy-supporting Hillary Clinton because despite her dubious past policy positions and doubtful integrity, she is the more ‘electable’ candidate.
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Hillary Clinton has refused to release the transcripts of her speeches to Goldman Sachs, speeches for which she received a whopping $675,000 for just three speeches. It is unlikely that she had anything to say that was of practical use to the audience of investment bankers, so naturally one wonders why they were willing to pay her so much and why she is so reluctant to reveal their contents.
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Yesterday a federal judge ruled against the FBI in its efforts to get Apple to unlock the phone of a suspected drug dealer. This ruling has an impact on the other case in which the FBI has demanded that Apple unlock the phone of the San Bernadino shooter. The government is using a 227-year old law known as the All Writs Act as the basis for its claim. (Neil Richards and Woodrow Hartzog explain the origins and purpose of this law.)
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The Daily Show compares the records of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders on civil rights issues.
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What should be a concern is that while turnout has been at record high levels for the Republican primary contests, it has been at low levels for the Democrats.
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The US Supreme Court decision outlawing bans on same-sex marriages has resulted in some state legislatures passing statutes that allow people to discriminate against the members of the LGBT community under the guise of advancing ‘religious freedom’. Indiana was one such state but faced condemnations from business and calls for boycotts of conventions and tourism that prompted it to reverse course.
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Tomorrow is Super Tuesday that sees a whole slew of primary and caucuses and is the day when the political and media establishment see whether their last ditch campaign to dethrone Donald Trump works. They have decided to throw everything at him in the hopes of blunting his progress. But the confusion into which he has thrown the establishment can be seen even here since it is not clear what they are hoping for as their best outcome.
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This film by British director Ken Loach will be welcomed by those who would like a change from the films and TV shows from the UK that portray upper class life. Based on a true story, it deals with life in an impoverished Irish village in the depression-era 1930’s when a young rebel Jimmy Gralton returns from a self-imposed exile in the US and reopens a hall for the local community where they conduct classes but also have fun such as dances.
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Professional athletes, once the leaders in trash talking opponents, may have to take notes from the new kids in the game. While I said before Thursday’s debate that the fight between Donald Trump and Marco Rubio would get ugly, I did not expect that it would sink so deep into the mud so soon, starting with Rubio’s aggressive performance at the debate itself where he tried to out-Trump Trump. It looks like Rubio’s technicians have reprogrammed him and flipped the switch into Attack mode.
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