Preview of BEST OF ENEMIES, Which Opens Tomorrow

In the heat of the most tumultuous year in American history, the flagship of each wing of the bald eagle met in the eye of the storm and, before the eyes of the nation, actualized the quintessence of the clash that was nearly tearing this Union apart.

Already Desperate, Hillary Surrogates Dishonestly Bash Bernie

Two members of Congress who have endorsed the presidential candidacy of former senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) were not ready to wait for a truthful basis on which to attack her main rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), as polls showed the lead held in early February by the former secretary of State over the ex-representative shrinking in Iowa by nearly seven-tenths and in New Hampshire by six-sevenths.  Those states will, as is traditional, be the first two in each major party's contest for its presidential nomination.

Clinton (Michael Gross / Dept. of
State), Sanders (berniesanders.com)

On the June 11 edition of Ora's PoliticKING with Larry King, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) said of the ex-mayor of Burlington, "I don't know if he likes immigrants, because he doesn't seem to talk about immigrants."

Gutierrez offered no substantive criticism of Sanders, who voted against the fence along the US-Mexico border, who often mentions that his father was an immigrant, and who does discuss immigration.  Clinton, however, voted in favor of that fence and falsely claimed each of her grandparents was an immigrant.  Merely one of them was.

Yet, the congressman confirmed King's remark, "You support Hillary Clinton, who was against driver's licenses for [undocumented immigrants] and now is for it."  (Clinton's blatant waffling on that issue in a debate was arguably the start of the downfall of her first bid to be chief executive of this country.)

Moreover, in the runoff campaign that was held this year for mayor of Chicago, Sanders endorsed populist challenger Jesús García, who is an immigrant.  In contrast, Gutierrez backed corporatist incumbent Rahm Emanuel, who is neither an immigrant nor the son of any immigrant.

On the June 25 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) stated, "I think the media is giving Bernie a pass right now.  I very rarely read in any coverage of Bernie that he's a socialist...  [T]hey are not really giving the same scrutiny to Bernie Sanders that they're giving to, certainly, Hillary Clinton."

Apparently, McCaskill very rarely reads coverage of Sanders or even listens to any.

She continued, "Any other candidate [who were to have] the numbers Hillary Clinton ha[s]... would be talked about as absolutely untouchable."

Given that the margin between Clinton and Sanders in the Granite State has dwindled to eight percentage points, McCaskill should be asked to name a previous candidate the media considered invincible when his lead with regard to the first presidential primary was as slim.

Gutierrez, McCaskill
(Congressional Pictorial Directory)

"I think Bernie is too liberal to... become president."

A poll conducted by Gallup last month found that 47% of adults in the US (including 26% of Republicans!) are already willing to put a socialist in this nation's highest office -- a percentage that is likely to expand as Sanders continues to explain what socialism means to him.  But due to the following factors, support for him might already be sufficient.

• Said willingness could be higher among registered voters and/or likely voters than among all adults.
• The measurement of that willingness is likely weighed down by the states the Democratic ticket will not try to win.
• The national popular vote is irrelevant to the selection of the president.

The 19 states (DC included) the Democratic ticket carried in each of the last six presidential elections total 242 votes in the Electoral College.  To assert Sanders cannot both hold those and garner the 28 Electoral votes he would need from elsewhere is silly.  Here are some reasons why.

• Florida has 29 Electoral votes.
• The Republican Party will probably be in a weak position when its 15 (or more) presidential candidates have finished their battle against each other, during which they will expose their foolishness.
• The existence of all those candidacies creates a serious possibility of a scenario in which nobody secures a majority of delegates to the Republican National Convention before it is held.  In that case, the intra-party fight would stretch into the summer of 2016.

When granted the opportunity to scrutinize Sanders by citing three elements of what she had just called his "extreme message," McCaskill made several attempts to avoid specification of such examples but eventually gave the following responses.

"He would like to see Medicare-for-All."

So would a plurality of Americans.

"He would like to see expansion of entitlement."

So would McCaskill.  So, by her logic, she is extreme.  By the way, "entitlement" is used as a misnomer for earned benefits.

"He is not worried about a debt at all."

Maybe Sanders should have mentioned the national debt more than the literally 87 times he did during his eight-hour filibuster of the 2010 extension of George W. Bush's tax cuts for the highest incomes.

"He... is, frankly, against trade."

Opposition by Sanders to the Trans-Pacific Partnership does not mean he opposes trade in general.

Gutierrez and McCaskill gave publicity to the former first lady's much lesser-known opponent only to show us that her team feels vulnerable to his campaign, has no facts to use against him, and is willing to lie.  Smooth.

Today is the Real Independence Day

Although the break by the United States from the United Kingdom was declared on July 4, 1776, the vote by the delegates to the Second Continental Congress to officially adopt independence occurred two days prior.

Abigail Adams, John Adams
(Benjamin Blyth)

Delegate John Adams (MA), who was the leading proponent of that separation and would be the first vice president of and second president of this country, believed the date of the adoption rather than of the declaration should be when the American Revolution is annually honored, as he wrote to his wife Abigail:

The Second Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable Epocha in the History of America.  I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding Generations as the great anniversary Festival.  It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty.  It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Sh[o]ws, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

Acclaim to Louisiana for Its Legalization of Medical Marijuana

Laws in 24 states and in three territories now reflect an awareness, a sensibility and a compassion the federal government continues to resist for reasons it does not make clear, although they may include fealty to the pharmaceutical industry and to the private prison industry.

 

At least spring brought the resignation of Drug Enforcement administrator Michele Leonhart, who was nominated by George W. Bush, was renominated by President Obama and is perhaps best known for her spectacularly disastrous attempts in front of Congress to defend the racist, dishonest, wasteful, destructive and cruel war on marijuana -- including on medicinal cannabis.

Leonhart also impeded research of the substance.  But the pressure that caused her exit was actually due to the revelation of use of public money by some agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration to hire prostitutes at parties held by drug cartels abroad.

Mourning a Diligent, Intrepid Champion of Truth & Justice

Vincent Bugliosi, who died Saturday, was known mostly as the lawyer who carried out the successful prosecution of Charles Manson for his notorious murders and who chronicled that prosecution in Helter Skelter, the best-selling true crime book ever.

Bugliosi
("Democracy Now!")

I learned of Bugliosi as he promoted his book The Betrayal of America: How the Supreme Court Undermined the Constitution and Chose Our President, which is an expansion of his piece "None Dare Call It Treason: Five Supreme Court Justices Are Criminals in the Truest Sense of the Word," which generated more feedback than did anything else The Nation had ever published.

Bugliosi had already lambasted the High Court upon penning No Island of Sanity: Paula Jones v. Bill Clinton: The Supreme Court on Trial, which analyzes the decision that allows for a civil lawsuit against an incumbent president of the United States to be heard and therefore distract him from his exceptionally important duties.

In the book The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, which is the subject of two documentaries, Bugliosi spells out a case according to which Bush is guilty of having unlawfully killed thousands of US troops by ordering them into Iraq under pretenses he knew to be false.  For as long as Bush lives without a pardon for the misconduct at issue, that case can be brought against him, with regard to any said victim, in a criminal court whose jurisdiction covers the final residence of the victim.

Bugliosi's magnum opus is Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which proves beyond all doubt the murder of the 35th chief executive of this country was committed by Lee Harvey Oswald and which proves beyond a reasonable doubt the crime did not result from any conspiracy.

Bugliosi, with his apt frankness and his passionate devotion to logic and to the rule of law, set a shining example of citizenship, including by waging two campaigns for district attorney of the County of Los Angeles.  Neither ended in victory but he attained a record of 105-1 in felony jury trials as a deputy DA and managed to produce the album Greatest Latin Love Songs of the Century.

Bernie Punctures the Myth of Conservatism as Mainstream

The major news-outlets' coverage of the candidacy of Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for the Democratic presidential nomination, while quite unfair, is vast enough to surprise some of us when we consider that the ex-representative has spent his career fighting abuse by corporations and that corporations own an overwhelming majority of the US media and would be satisfied by the election of frontrunner and ex-sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), whose campaign logo fittingly includes an arrow that points rightward.

Sanders ("Democracy Now!"),
Clinton (Minh Ngo / Dept. of State)

The former secretary of State, not yet validating her campaign staff's remarks that say she understands the need to "work for and earn" votes, has been so elusive as to allow the traction Sanders has attained via an abundance of interviews and of crowded town-hall-style meetings.  Reason would lead us to expect that the appeal of his openness will only grow as Clinton waits another week to hold her kickoff rally, holds it in one of the few least accessible locations in the Big Apple, and waits until weeks from now before she holds events at which she will engage voters who will not be preselected.

With so much of the national spotlight on Sanders, he is skillfully utilizing his opportunity to do something that is of great importance not only for his candidacy but for future left-wing candidacies across this land and that has been done by others but not, in recent years, by anyone with as prominent a platform: boldly advocate liberal stances, concisely explain their wisdom, sharply defend them, and mention that a strong majority of them are popular.

The propaganda according to which liberalism (despite its responsibility for the foundation of this country and for every progression in its history) is generally opposed by the public has persuaded most liberals to drop -- or never develop --  the confidence required to maintain this nation's course toward the ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution.  The example the former mayor of Burlington now sets is likely to encourage many liberals to (re)gain such confidence.

The widespread support for leftist ideas is evident in statistics such as the following.

Praise to Nebraska for Its Abolition of the Death Penalty

Facts about the racist, classist, cruel, erroneous, ineffective, costly and otherwise objectionable aspects of capital punishment in the United States are available here.

Courage Celebrated & Demonstrated at the Academy Awards

Here are previews of three of my favorite Oscar-winning films that inspire us to be courageous.  After the titles are the years of release, the categories of the Oscars these productions won, and the winners' names, which link to video of their acceptances.

ERIN BROCKOVICH (2000)

Actress in a Leading Role: Julia Roberts

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH (2006)

Documentary Feature: director Davis Guggenheim
Original Song: Melissa Etheridge

MILK (2008)

Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn
Original Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black

 

The following are brave statements delivered at Academy Award ceremonies.  These remarks drew reactions that indicate Hollywood is not as liberal as it is often said to be.  Again, years cited are of release.

Declining the award for Actor in a Leading Role for Marlon Brando's

performance in THE GODFATHER (1972), Sacheen Littlefeather refers to

a deadly confrontation between American Indians and the US government.

Accepting the award for Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance

in JULIA (1977), Vanessa Redgrave refers to death threats from people who

sought the termination of her career because of her defense of the Palestinians.

Accepting the award for Documentary Feature for BOWLING FOR

COLUMBINE (2002), director Michael Moore refers to the invasion of Iraq

and to tactics the Bush-Cheney administration employed to scare the public.

Why I Would Support Stein over Sanders

Jill Stein MD announced Friday she has formed a committee to explore the option of pursuing the Green presidential nomination after winning it in 2012 and subsequently receiving the highest percentage of the popular vote of any female contender for president of the United States ever -- a percentage triple the one garnered by the previous standard-bearer of her party.  Those who accepted that nomination in 2000, 2004 and 2008 declined to go for it again.  Now, all who share Stein's basic vision should stand by to take advantage of her consistent and respectable leadership.

Stein (Stein '12 campaign), Sanders
(US Senate Historical Office)

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has values similar to those of Stein and also might seek the highest office in this land but has not used his stature as an independent official to help build a third party, which the public needs and wants*.  The ex-mayor of Burlington apparently remains unwilling to do so.

Additionally, the longest-serving independent member of Congress in history says if he were to wage a campaign outside the major parties, he would suspend it if in fear of being "a spoiler."  Assuming the Democratic nominee in that case would be a corporatist such as former secretary of State Hillary Clinton, though, I assert the adage, "One cannot spoil what is already rotten."

Nonetheless, Sanders seems inclined to run as a Democrat if at all even though the Democratic Party has -- despite continual polls showing most in that party and in this country at large are liberal on most issues -- followed the Republicans rightward for decades and would therefore be unlikely to welcome him, a socialist.  Furthermore, I thought the highlight of a Democratic bid by Sanders could be his performance in the primary debates, yet we read Clinton is thinking of simply ducking such confrontations.

As this nation endures an unemployment rate of 23.2%, the largest gap in wealth since before the Great Depression, and other urgent problems, we should not want the entry of a presidential candidate who might, in effect, pull a bait-and-switch by setting forth a leftist platform that will draw people into the political process and then, upon losing the primary race, encouraging them to vote for the status-quo in the general election.

If Sanders were to somehow clinch the nomination, his coattails would -- barring a deep revolution in the party -- be rolled out for, mainly, the same type of Democratic politicians who have resisted the overwhelming majority of his ideas thus far.  The Green standard-bearer, however, surely will head a slate that is devoted to populism and lead a party that will keep fighting for it beyond the next administration.

UPDATE: Great thanks to Mayor David Doonan (G - Greenwich, NY) for publishing this entry at Green Papers and sharing it on the website, Facebook page and Twitter page of the Green Party.

*Gallup's description of the Democratic Party as center-left is false.  Both major parties are center-right.

At Hearing That Features Kissinger, CodePink Demands His Arrest

Amy Goodman delivered the following report this morning as host of Democracy Now!