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Friday, April 15, 2016

The Democratic Debate

I think Clinton won the Brooklyn debate and was generally clearer and more practical and still. Her many variations on the point that, "It's easy to diagnose the problem, but it's a lot harder to do something about it" is of course close to the heart of why I prefer her over Sanders. Well, that and the fact that she wants to take up and extend Obama's legacy -- which Sanders disdains for his purity cabaret -- and she explicitly appeals to the Obama coalition, not only a winning move but a righteous one inasmuch as the Obama coalition is now and ever more the REAL real America -- while Sanders disdains the most vital constituency of Democratic voters, people of color and especially black women, including those in the South, to appeal to white working class voters and the white resentments that drive them (mostly to Trump). Sanders supporters howling like audiences for the Jerry Springer Show did nobody any favors, and with each day I worry about the divisiveness and ugliness unleashed by this primary contest, especially given the racial and generational cleavages expressed through and consolidated by it. But all that said, I want to conclude these brief and pedestrian observations by stating Sanders' stand on Israel/Palestine was righteous and inspiring -- all the more so since it did Sanders no favors in New York and he knew it when he said it.

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