Bernie Sanders

Who Won the Dem Debate? Hillary Clinton!

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Democratic Party debate.
Democratic Party debate.

I’m a progressive, but I’m a progressive who likes to get things done. I know how to find common ground, but I know how to stand my ground.
— Hillary Clinton, October 13, 2015

The Democratic Party had its first presidential debate on Tuesday night. If you have to ask who won, you didn’t watch it. In my opinion, there was no contest. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won, hands down. She was poised under fire and smart in her answers. Obviously, the most prepared candidate– which comes with having more experience than anyone else on stage– Clinton took a bashing from CNN moderator Anderson Cooper and pot shots from a few others, but she came out on top.

Yesterday, the “who won?” buzz was all over social media. Senator Bernie Sanders raised a pile of money overnight after the debate, and a few focus groups and unscientific online polls said Sanders won the debate. In my opinion, Sanders stuck to his talking points (which I agree with), but the debate was a good chance to go bold. The only time he went bold, in my opinion, was when he said he would “vote for” legalization of marijuana if it were on the ballot. On legalization, Clinton said, let’s watch the states that have legalized marijuana, like Colorado, and learn from them. (I’m for legalization, but I’m OK with her statement. Thomas Jefferson said the states would be the incubators for democracy– trying out new ideas. I don’t want federal interference in state marijuana laws– as Governor Chris Christie has vowed to do if elected.) Clinton did go bold on gun control and said, it’s time we stood up to the NRA. Hallelujah! I have never heard such a strong gun control statement from any politician. (Unfortunately none of the mainstream media picked up on these other debate tidbits, since they are still focused on “your damn emails”.)

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Bernie in Tucson

Bernie Sanders Is Coming to Tucson, Oct 9!

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Progressive Presidential Candidate Senator Bernie Sanders is coming to Tucson for a speech and rally at the Reid Park band shell on October 9, 2015– next Friday. I think this is very exciting news. For years, I have contended that Hillary Clinton won the Arizona primary in 2008 because she came to Tucson– where the … Read more

Bernie Sanders on Austerity: From Greece to Puerto Rico to Arizona? (video)

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On Democracy Now today, Amy Goodman reported on an economic panel assembled by Vermont Senator and Democratic Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders. Goodman excerpted a section of Sanders’ speech on the failure of austerity policies in Greece and around the world. He said that although his comments focused primarily on Greece (and Puerto Rico), “Governments around … Read more

Ending Structural Racism in the US (video)

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blacklivesmatterHow would you as president “dismantle structural racism in the United States”?

When they disrupted the Netroots Nation (NN15) Presidential Town Hall, Black Lives Matter protesters had one primary question for the candidates. If you watch the videos, you can see that neither Martin O’Malley nor Bernie Sanders answered that question. (None of the other 15+ presidential candidates, including Hillary Clinton, attended the event.)

Three weeks later, Black Lives Matter protesters are still waiting for an answer. In Seattle, they disrupted another Sanders’ rally, prompting him to walk out.

Clinton said Black Lives Matter in a Facebook chat a few days after the fracas at NN15 and in an April 29 speech she covered many of the Black Lives Matter issues such as body camera on all law enforcement officers, systemic discrimination, the murder of innocent, unarmed black people at the hands of police, ending mass incarceration, and much more. She’s also denounced voter suppression laws as reviving “the old demons of discrimination.” Since his public display of frustration with Black Lives Matter protesters at NN15, Sanders has mentioned the names of a few wrongfully murdered blacks in his stump speeches and has condemned the arrest and death of Sandra Bland. (Clinton, Sanders and O’Malley have also reacted to Bland’s death here.)

OK… it’s been three weeks since the NN15 protest and a year since Michael Brown was shot in Ferguson. And I’m still waiting for an answer to the original question: How would you as president “dismantle structural racism in the United States”? The protesters made it clear that they wanted an answer– not a history lesson or a stump speech— from every presidential candidate. It’s clear from social media that I’m not the only person waiting for an answer.

In the meantime, I have been pondering that question and how I would answer…

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#BlackLivesMatter Protest: Watch the Videos!

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Gov. Martin O'Malley listening to Tia Oso talk about Black Lives Matter and ask what he would do as president.
Gov. Martin O’Malley listening to Tia Oso talk about Black Lives Matter and ask what he would do as president.

I posted the Bernie Sanders segment of the Netroots Nation Presidential Town Hall on Saturday, just hours after Black Lives Matter protesters turned a boring, milktoast political event into a rousing demonstration. The protesters said they didn’t want speeches or a history lesson. They wanted to force the two presidential hopefuls off of their stump speeches and into the reality of black lives by answering the question: As leader of this country, how would you “dismantle structural racism”?

Social media has a way of twisting history. Consequently,  I decided to upload the Martin O’Malley segment of the town hall, which preceded the Sanders segment. Both the O’Malley segment and the Sanders segment appear after the jump. You’ll note that in the O’Malley segment, the protesters clearly ask their question (above) and state that they expect an answer from Sanders also. Jose Antonio Vargas also reiterates that all presidential candidates should be prepared to answer questions on systemic racism and how to stop it.

Sanders had at least 10 minutes to come up with an answer to the protesters’ questions, unlike O’Malley. When Sanders comes out (at the beginning of the second video), Vargas motions to the Black Lives Matter protesters who are still right in front of the stage and suggests that Sanders answer their question first. Sanders dismisses Vargas and the protesters saying, “I’m going to say what I came to say first.” And goes into his stump speech.

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