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Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton during the Dec. 19, 2015 debate. (Photo: Disney | ABC Television Group/flickr/cc)
As usual, the mainstream media is confused by the results from Super Tuesday. To hear them tell it, Hillary has all but sewed up the nomination. In reality, Sanders had a good day, and Tuesday's results suggest he's set to surprise the pundits yet again.
More importantly, he's still the best candidate the Democrats can field to defeat Trump.
Here's why:
As usual, the mainstream media is confused by the results from Super Tuesday. To hear them tell it, Hillary has all but sewed up the nomination. In reality, Sanders had a good day, and Tuesday's results suggest he's set to surprise the pundits yet again.
More importantly, he's still the best candidate the Democrats can field to defeat Trump.
Here's why:
First, the States Clinton won are irrelevant when it comes to Democratic Presidential victories. The States Clinton won decisively -- Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Virginia - have not played prominently in electing a Democratic President since Carter's victory in 1976. Bill Clinton won Arkansas and Tennessee in his races; and Obama won Virginia twice, but that's about it for Democrats in the South. Both would have won without winning these states.
Which makes a Democratic primary victory in the South about as useful as a trap door in a lifeboat when it comes to the general election.
Conversely, in States like Minnesota, Colorado, Oklahoma, Vermont and Massachusetts, which have played prominently in presidential races for Democrats, Sanders won, or in the case of Massachusetts, nearly won.
Second, her huge margin in the African American Community may not persist and won't matter as much in the remaining states if it does. Clinton won in the south by trouncing Sanders among African American voters. But Clinton's record on issues that are important to Black America is atrocious, and may yet catch up to her. As Michelle Alexander points in an article in The Nation, the policies she's backed "decimated" Black America.
As Black leaders examine Hillary's past positions on crime, Black Lives Matter, welfare reform, and privatizing prisons and compare them to Sanders' there's been a steady shift from her to Bernie. Mainstream Black America may yet follow them. If that happens, Clinton would struggle in remaining states in which the African American voters are decisive.
But even if that doesn't happen, when you look at the remaining states, the demographics more closely resemble the States Sanders won, than the ones that went for Clinton, suggesting that future races will be far more competitive.
Which Brings us to Electability: Perhaps the most dangerous myth the Clinton Campaign has spread is that she is the more electable candidate.
Sanders beats all Republicans by more than Hillary does. In fact, in the latest poll, Sanders crushes both Cruz and Rubio by 17% and 8% respectively, but Clinton loses to both. Against Trump, Sanders annihilates him by 12 points while Hillary only beats him by 8.
And the thing is, Hillary has little hope of closing that gap. Beyond her current supporters, most voters distrust and dislike her. These factors make it extraordinarily difficult for her to increase support among independents - an essential group to appeal to if one is to win a national election. But more importantly, together with her record of patently untrue statements, they make it easy to undermine what support she has. Finally, these kinds of issues lead to a low turnout, something which favors Republicans.
Bottom Line: If Democrats want to win, they need to run Sanders. But the Establishment - including the moneyed interests, the media, the think tanks, many of the unions, and the Party rank and file -- are lining up behind Hillary like lemmings in front of a cliff.
If the nightmare of Trump - or Cruz or Rubio - is to be avoided, it's up to the young, the alienated and the disaffected to get out and vote for Sanders.
The alternative is a reign of hate, divisiveness, greed, jingoism, and fear.
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
As usual, the mainstream media is confused by the results from Super Tuesday. To hear them tell it, Hillary has all but sewed up the nomination. In reality, Sanders had a good day, and Tuesday's results suggest he's set to surprise the pundits yet again.
More importantly, he's still the best candidate the Democrats can field to defeat Trump.
Here's why:
First, the States Clinton won are irrelevant when it comes to Democratic Presidential victories. The States Clinton won decisively -- Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Virginia - have not played prominently in electing a Democratic President since Carter's victory in 1976. Bill Clinton won Arkansas and Tennessee in his races; and Obama won Virginia twice, but that's about it for Democrats in the South. Both would have won without winning these states.
Which makes a Democratic primary victory in the South about as useful as a trap door in a lifeboat when it comes to the general election.
Conversely, in States like Minnesota, Colorado, Oklahoma, Vermont and Massachusetts, which have played prominently in presidential races for Democrats, Sanders won, or in the case of Massachusetts, nearly won.
Second, her huge margin in the African American Community may not persist and won't matter as much in the remaining states if it does. Clinton won in the south by trouncing Sanders among African American voters. But Clinton's record on issues that are important to Black America is atrocious, and may yet catch up to her. As Michelle Alexander points in an article in The Nation, the policies she's backed "decimated" Black America.
As Black leaders examine Hillary's past positions on crime, Black Lives Matter, welfare reform, and privatizing prisons and compare them to Sanders' there's been a steady shift from her to Bernie. Mainstream Black America may yet follow them. If that happens, Clinton would struggle in remaining states in which the African American voters are decisive.
But even if that doesn't happen, when you look at the remaining states, the demographics more closely resemble the States Sanders won, than the ones that went for Clinton, suggesting that future races will be far more competitive.
Which Brings us to Electability: Perhaps the most dangerous myth the Clinton Campaign has spread is that she is the more electable candidate.
Sanders beats all Republicans by more than Hillary does. In fact, in the latest poll, Sanders crushes both Cruz and Rubio by 17% and 8% respectively, but Clinton loses to both. Against Trump, Sanders annihilates him by 12 points while Hillary only beats him by 8.
And the thing is, Hillary has little hope of closing that gap. Beyond her current supporters, most voters distrust and dislike her. These factors make it extraordinarily difficult for her to increase support among independents - an essential group to appeal to if one is to win a national election. But more importantly, together with her record of patently untrue statements, they make it easy to undermine what support she has. Finally, these kinds of issues lead to a low turnout, something which favors Republicans.
Bottom Line: If Democrats want to win, they need to run Sanders. But the Establishment - including the moneyed interests, the media, the think tanks, many of the unions, and the Party rank and file -- are lining up behind Hillary like lemmings in front of a cliff.
If the nightmare of Trump - or Cruz or Rubio - is to be avoided, it's up to the young, the alienated and the disaffected to get out and vote for Sanders.
The alternative is a reign of hate, divisiveness, greed, jingoism, and fear.
As usual, the mainstream media is confused by the results from Super Tuesday. To hear them tell it, Hillary has all but sewed up the nomination. In reality, Sanders had a good day, and Tuesday's results suggest he's set to surprise the pundits yet again.
More importantly, he's still the best candidate the Democrats can field to defeat Trump.
Here's why:
First, the States Clinton won are irrelevant when it comes to Democratic Presidential victories. The States Clinton won decisively -- Alabama, Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Virginia - have not played prominently in electing a Democratic President since Carter's victory in 1976. Bill Clinton won Arkansas and Tennessee in his races; and Obama won Virginia twice, but that's about it for Democrats in the South. Both would have won without winning these states.
Which makes a Democratic primary victory in the South about as useful as a trap door in a lifeboat when it comes to the general election.
Conversely, in States like Minnesota, Colorado, Oklahoma, Vermont and Massachusetts, which have played prominently in presidential races for Democrats, Sanders won, or in the case of Massachusetts, nearly won.
Second, her huge margin in the African American Community may not persist and won't matter as much in the remaining states if it does. Clinton won in the south by trouncing Sanders among African American voters. But Clinton's record on issues that are important to Black America is atrocious, and may yet catch up to her. As Michelle Alexander points in an article in The Nation, the policies she's backed "decimated" Black America.
As Black leaders examine Hillary's past positions on crime, Black Lives Matter, welfare reform, and privatizing prisons and compare them to Sanders' there's been a steady shift from her to Bernie. Mainstream Black America may yet follow them. If that happens, Clinton would struggle in remaining states in which the African American voters are decisive.
But even if that doesn't happen, when you look at the remaining states, the demographics more closely resemble the States Sanders won, than the ones that went for Clinton, suggesting that future races will be far more competitive.
Which Brings us to Electability: Perhaps the most dangerous myth the Clinton Campaign has spread is that she is the more electable candidate.
Sanders beats all Republicans by more than Hillary does. In fact, in the latest poll, Sanders crushes both Cruz and Rubio by 17% and 8% respectively, but Clinton loses to both. Against Trump, Sanders annihilates him by 12 points while Hillary only beats him by 8.
And the thing is, Hillary has little hope of closing that gap. Beyond her current supporters, most voters distrust and dislike her. These factors make it extraordinarily difficult for her to increase support among independents - an essential group to appeal to if one is to win a national election. But more importantly, together with her record of patently untrue statements, they make it easy to undermine what support she has. Finally, these kinds of issues lead to a low turnout, something which favors Republicans.
Bottom Line: If Democrats want to win, they need to run Sanders. But the Establishment - including the moneyed interests, the media, the think tanks, many of the unions, and the Party rank and file -- are lining up behind Hillary like lemmings in front of a cliff.
If the nightmare of Trump - or Cruz or Rubio - is to be avoided, it's up to the young, the alienated and the disaffected to get out and vote for Sanders.
The alternative is a reign of hate, divisiveness, greed, jingoism, and fear.
"The First Amendment does not come with a 'Palestine Exception,'" said the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which filed the suit.
A lawsuit filed Saturday on behalf of two Cornell University graduates students and one professor at the Ivy League school in Upstate New York is challenging what plaintiffs are calling "the Trump administration's unconstitutional campaign against free speech—particularly as it targets international students and scholars who protest or express support for Palestinian rights."
"The lawsuit seeks a nationwide injunction of executive orders used by the administration to target and deport international students advocating for Palestinian freedom, rights, and liberation under the guise of protecting national security," explained the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), which sued on behalf of Ph.D. students Momodou Taal and Sriram Parasurama and professor Mukoma Wa Ngũgĩ.
Taal, a British-Gambian national, is facing possible deportation for his pro-Palestine activism on campus. Parasurama was arrested last October for protesting Israel's annihilation of Gaza at a career fair and was subsequently de-enrolled from Cornell and banned from the university's campus in Ithaca, New York for three years. Wa Ngũgĩ is a professor of literature who works with Taal. Parasurama and Wa Ngũgĩ are U.S. citizens.
"Defendants' attempt to bar non-citizens from criticizing the U.S. government, its institutions, American culture, or the government of Israel—and to prohibit citizens from hearing those views—serves no legitimate government interest in preventing terrorism or enforcing immigration laws," the lawsuit states. "The justifications offered are pretextual and dangerous. Criticism of the U.S. government does not constitute terrorism, and criticism of the Israeli government is not antisemitism."
Taal said in a statement that "the U.S. government claims to be zealous about free speech—except when it comes to Palestine."
"We've been here before: McCarthyism to civil rights to Vietnam, times when this country has deviated from its stated commitments to free speech," he continued. "This is another generational moment, another hour of reckoning. Why is there a Palestine exception?"
"Only in a dictatorship can the leader jail and banish political opponents for criticizing his administration" Taal added. "A nationwide injunction is therefore necessary while the court considers the merits."
Parasurama said: "These draconian executive orders aim to crack down on those willing to protest against our country's active role in the genocide of the Palestinian people. They are part of a broader moral crisis our nation is grappling with. This lawsuit allows us to recover our basic rights and protect international students like Momodou Taal."
Wa Ngũgĩ said that "I was born in the U.S. but grew up under the [Daniel arap] Moi dictatorship in Kenya in the 1980s. Students and people of conscience in Kenya were being detained, tortured, exiled or killed. My own family experienced the full brunt of this oppressive society. When I moved back to the U.S. in the early 1990s I could not foresee this attempt to chill free speech and directly attack our universities."
The Trump administration has invoked the president's January executive order authorizing the arrest, detention, and deportation of noncitizen students and others who took part in protests against Israel's assault on Gaza, which has left more than 170,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing and around 2 million others forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened, according to local and international agencies. Israel's conduct in the war is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case brought by South Africa.
Last week, immigration authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent who helped Gaza protests at Columbia University while he was a graduate student there. Trump called Khalil's detention "the first arrest of many to come."
Pro-Israel activists played a role in Khalil's arrest. Shai Davidai, an assistant professor at Columbia who was temporarily banned from campus last year after harassing university employees, and Columbia student David Lederer have waged what Khalil called "a vicious, coordinated, and dehumanizing doxxing campaign" against him and other activists. The group Canary Mission last week released a video naming five other international students it says are "linked to campus extremism at Columbia."
The Department of Justice announced Friday that it is investigating whether pro-Palestinian demonstrators at over 60 colleges and universities including Columbia and Cornell violated federal anti-terrorism laws.
On Monday, ADC legal director and case co-counsel Chris Godshall-Bennett said that "this is one of those times people will look back on and ask what we did."
"We will not stand idly by while the government disappears its political opponents," he continued. "My family fled European antisemitism and came to the United States where our Constitution protects us from tyranny. My Jewish identity won't be used as an excuse to persecute the Palestinian people and its allies without a fight."
"This is one of those times people will look back on and ask what we did."
"Through this litigation, we seek both immediate and long-term relief to protect non-citizens from deportation and citizens from prosecution based on their constitutionally protected speech," Godshall-Bennett added.
Lead plaintiffs' counsel Eric Lee said that "this lawsuit aims to vindicate the rights of all non-citizens and citizens in the U.S., but the courthouse is only one arena in this fight."
"We appeal to the population: Stand up and exercise your First Amendment rights by actively and vigorously opposing the danger of dictatorship," Lee added. "As we prepare to mark the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution next year, recall the words from the Declaration of Independence: 'That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.'"
Pro-Palestine demonstrations continue at Cornell and on campuses across the nation and around the world. Last week, 17 activists led by the group Students for Justice in Palestine were
detained by police after interrupting a Cornell panel on the history of the so-called Israel-Palestine "conflict," whose members included former Israeli foreign minister and alleged war criminal Tzipi Livni.
"Our nation's public schools, colleges, and universities are preparing the next generation of America's leaders—we must take steps to strengthen education in this country, not take a wrecking ball to the agency that exists to do so."
In a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders led more than three dozen of his Democratic colleagues in dismissing the Trump administration's "false claims of financial savings" from slashing more than 1,000 jobs at the Education Department, emphasizing that the wealthy people leading federal policy "will not be harmed by these egregious attacks" on public schools.
"Wealthy families sending their children to elite, private schools will still be able to get a quality education even if every public school disappears in this country," reads the letter spearheaded by Sanders (I-Vt.), the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. "But for working-class families, high-quality public education is an opportunity they rely on for their children to have a path to do well in life."
The decision by President Donald Trump and his unelected billionaire ally, Elon Musk of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency( DOGE), to slash the Department of Education (DOE) workforce by 50%—or 1,300 people—and take steps to illegally close the agency has already had an impact on students, noted the senators, pointing to a glitch in the Free Application for Federal Financial Aid (FAFSA) that preventing families from accessing the applications "not even 24 hours after the staff reductions were announced."
"The staff normally responsible for fixing those errors had reportedly been cut," reads the letter, which was also signed by lawmakers including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
"Without the Department of Education, there is no guarantee that states would uphold students' civil and educational rights."
The letter was sent as The Associated Press reported that cuts within the DOE's Office of Civil Rights have placed new barriers in front of families with children who have disabilities. Families who can't afford to take legal action against schools or districts that are not providing accommodations or services for students with disabilities have long been able to rely on on the office to open an investigation into their cases, but the AP reported that "more than 20,000 pending cases—including those related to kids with disabilities, historically the largest share of the office's work—largely sat idle for weeks after Trump took office."
"A freeze on processing the cases was lifted early this month, but advocates question whether the department can make progress on them with a smaller staff," reported the outlet.
The reduction in force has been compounded by the fact that the remaining staff has been directed to prioritize antisemitism cases, as the Trump administration places significant attention on allegations that pro-Palestinian organizers, particularly on college campuses, have endangered Jewish students by speaking out in favor of Palestinian rights and against Israel's U.S.-backed assault on Gaza and the West Bank.
An analysis of more than 550 campus protests found that 97% of the demonstrations last year remained non-violent, contrary to repeated claims by both Republican and Democratic lawmakers that they placed Jewish students in danger. Meanwhile, the Trump administration, pro-Israel advocates, and Republicans have dismissed outcry over Musk's display of a Nazi salute at an inaugural event in January.
"Special needs kids [are] now suffering because of a manufactured hysteria aimed [at] silencing dissent against genocide," said writer and political analyst Yousef Munayyer. "Utter depravity."
In their letter, Sanders and his Democratic colleagues noted that "several regional offices responsible for investigating potential violations of students' civil rights in local schools" have also been shuttered, expressing alarm that many cases will likely "go uninvestigated and that students will be left in unsafe learning environments as a result."
They noted that at a time of "massive income and wealth inequality, when 60% of people live paycheck to paycheck," the federal government's defunding of public education "would result in either higher property taxes or decreased funding for public schools, including in rural areas."
"It is a national disgrace that the Trump administration is attempting to illegally abolish the Department of Education and thus, undermine a high-quality education for our students," wrote the lawmakers. "These reductions will have devastating impacts on our nation's students and we are deeply concerned that without staff, the department will be unable to fulfill critical functions, such as ensuring students can access federal financial aid, upholding students' civil rights, and guaranteeing that federal funding reaches communities promptly and is well-spent."
Trump, they noted, has expressed a desire "to return education back to the states" despite the fact that state governments and local school boards already make education policy, with just 11% of public education funding coming from the DOE.
However, "the Department of Education has a necessary and irreplaceable responsibility to implement federal laws that ensure equal opportunity for all children in this country," they wrote. "These laws guarantee fundamental protections, such as ensuring that children with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, that students from low-income backgrounds and students of color will not be disproportionately taught by less experienced and qualified teachers, and that parents will receive information about their child's academic achievement."
"Without the Department of Education, there is no guarantee that states would uphold students' civil and educational rights," said the lawmakers. "We will not stand by as you attempt to turn back the clock on education in this country through gutting the Department of Education. Our nation's public schools, colleges, and universities are preparing the next generation of America's leaders—we must take steps to strengthen education in this country, not take a wrecking ball to the agency that exists to do so."
"Any potential deal that would give Elon Musk and his DOGE associates unilateral authority to manipulate the most critical, expansive national mail network on the planet is deeply troubling," wrote a group of House Democrats.
A group of House Democrats is demanding that the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform conduct a public hearing on the Trump administration and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency's plans for the U.S. Postal Service, in light of recent reporting that U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy says he signed an agreement with DOGE to assist the nation's mail service "in identifying and achieving further efficiencies."
The news follows Washington Post coverage from February, when the outlet reported that U.S. President Donald Trump is considering putting the Postal Service under the control of the Commerce Department. In December, the Post also reported that Trump was eyeing privatizing the Postal Service. Elon Musk, a GOP megadonor who is playing a core role in Trump's efforts to slash federal spending and personnel, has also said the Postal Service should be privatized.
Postal workers unions are fiercely opposed to any effort to privatize the Postal Service.
"The Trump administration... is now subjecting the USPS, America's most trusted federal institution, to the chainsaw approach of Elon Musk and DOGE. This broad assault on the independence of the USPS demands congressional oversight, especially from the committee with jurisdiction over the USPS," according to the letter, which was signed by 20 House Democrats.
In a March 13 letter to congressional leaders, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told Congress he signed an agreement with representatives from Elon Musk's DOGE and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) so that DOGE could help the U.S. Postal Service, which has experienced billions in financial losses in recent years, work to address "big problems."
The Postal Service plans to cut 10,000 employees in the next 30 days through a voluntary early retirement program, according to DeJoy's letter.
DeJoy cited challenges facing the Postal Service, such as "mismanagement of our self-funded retirement assets," "burdensome regulatory requirements restricting normal business practice," and "unfunded mandates imposed on us by legislation."
The letter demanding a public hearing, which was addressed to House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), was spearheaded by Oversight Committee Ranking Member Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), and Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.)
"This backroom agreement between the billionaire-led DOGE and Postmaster DeJoy sets off alarm bells about this administration's plans for the Postal Service's role as a cornerstone public institution," according to the letter. "The Postal Service facilitates the delivery of more than 115 billion pieces of mail each year, a significant portion of which is delivered to rural, low-income, and hard-to-reach areas that would not otherwise receive service if not for the universal service obligation, which has received bipartisan support in Congress and is integral to the mission of Postal Service."
"We agree that there are steps Congress could take to strengthen the financial sustainability of the Postal Service, but any potential deal that would give Elon Musk and his DOGE associates unilateral authority to manipulate the most critical, expansive national mail network on the planet is deeply troubling," they continued.
The group is urging that the committee hold a hearing and wrote that they have prepared a letter to send to DeJoy asking that he furnish any signed agreements he made with the GSA and DOGE. The group is urging that Comer also sign on to that letter.