Kevin Drum, Mother Jones

With the Democratic primary basically over, I want to step back a bit and explain the big-picture reason that I never warmed up to Bernie Sanders. It's not so much that he's all that far to my left, nor that he's been pretty skimpy on details about all the programs he proposes. That's hardly uncommon in presidential campaigns. Rather, it's the fact that I think he's basically running a con, and one with the potential to cause distinct damage to the progressive cause.

<snip>

Bernie's explanation for everything he wants to do—his theory of change, or theory of governing, take your pick—is that we need a revolution in this country. The rich own everything. Income inequality is skyrocketing. The middle class is stagnating. The finance industry is out of control. Washington DC is paralyzed.

But as Bill Scher points out, the revolution that Bernie called for didn't show up. In fact, it's worse than that: we were never going to get a revolution, and Bernie knew it all along. Think about it: has there ever been an economic revolution in the United States? Stretching things a bit, I can think of two:
◾The destruction of the Southern slave economy following the Civil War.
◾The New Deal.

The first of these was 50+ years in the making and, in the end, required a bloody, four-year war to bring to a conclusion. The second happened only after an utter collapse of the economy, with banks closing, businesses failing, wages plummeting, and unemployment at 25 percent. That's what it takes to bring about a revolution, or even something close to it.

We're light years away from that right now. Unemployment? Yes, two or three percent of the working-age population has dropped out of the labor force, but the headline unemployment rate is 5 percent. Wages? They've been stagnant since the turn of the century, but the average family still makes close to $70,000, more than nearly any other country in the world. Health care? Our system is a mess, but 90 percent of the country has insurance coverage. Dissatisfaction with the system? According to Gallup, even among those with incomes under $30,000, only 27 percent are dissatisfied with their personal lives.

Like it or not, you don't build a revolution on top of an economy like this. Period. If you want to get anything done, you're going to have to do it the old-fashioned way: through the slow boring of hard wood.

Much, Much more at link: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/04/heres-why-i-never-warmed-bernie-sanders

If there ever was a day to plant your seed, it’s May 7.

That’s because it’s World Naked Gardening Day, an annual event where people are supposed to drop their drawers and get down and dirty.

Now in its 10th year, World Naked Gardening Day is traditionally celebrated the first Saturday in May.

http://www.trendingmail.com/2016/04/annual-holiday-celebrating-world-naked.html

Obama ask the republicans one simple question in a sit down at the White House...


Even though nothing ended up being accomplished by having the face to face chat in Obama’s office, the president tried his best to get Republicans to “do their job” of helping him pick Justice Scalia’s replacement when he asked the GOP’s top brass if they had any recommendations. By asking them this one simple question: “Who do you have in mind?” the Republicans went speechless. They didn’t have any. They couldn’t produce one single name. And – it’s sad.


The truth is, they don’t want to produce a name. Their entire focus up to this point has been to obstruct, dodge, obstruct, and then do some more dodging. Mcconnell has already driven the point home publicly that he won’t even consider a nominee in Obama’s final year in office. A face to face meeting surely wasn’t going to change that, even if the president bended over backwards for them – which he did.

This is leaving President Obama with very little options since he’s getting no help from Republicans. He was even forced to highlight the relevant part of the U.S. constitution on Tuesday and show it to Republicans, reminding them that it’s their job to help.


How hard is that? Just do your damn job. If the president is willing to let you have a say in who he will nominate, take advantage of it. Show your base that you’re at least fighting to get who you want on the court. Don’t tell America you’re not reasonable, which is really the only point they’re driving home.


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.http://news.groopspeak.com/obama-asks-republicans-one-simple-question-during-oval-meeting-leaves-them-speechless/

The announcement by the Friends of Abe fueled speculation that infighting over Donald Trump’s candidacy had drained commitment


The Friends of Abe has acted as a clandestine club for Hollywood conservatives for more than a decade, hosting secret events where they could vent rightwing views and hear speeches from visiting Tea Party luminaries.

But on Thursday the organisation – which counts Jon Voight, Jerry Bruckheimer and Kelsey Grammer among its 1,500 members – made an abrupt announcement: it was dissolving.

“Effective immediately, we are going to begin to wind down the 501 c3 organization, bring the Sustaining Membership dues to an end, and do away with the costly infrastructure and the abespal.com website,” the executive director, Jeremy Boreing, told members in an email, a copy of which the Guardian has seen.


http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/21/secretive-hollywood-conservative-group-dissolves-trump

Two developers who brought foreign investment to an impoverished part of Vermont are now accused of misusing hundreds of millions of dollars. The money came from more than 700 foreign investors hoping to get a special visa through the federal EB-5 program.

Now everything's come to a crashing halt. Locals are angry and Vermont state officials who backed the project are feeling betrayed.

To appreciate how a dramatic a turn things have taken, go back in time to 2008. The Great Recession had descended across northern Vermont. Back then, two American businessmen behind the project, Bill Stenger and Ariel Quiros made big promises to bring a huge infusion of investment, paid for by foreign investors.

“The vision was originally for about $800 million worth of projects that would have completely changed a very small town up on the Canadian border,” says Anne Galloway, a reporter for Vermont Digger, an online news site about state politics in Vermont. “It was designed to re-develop two ski resorts in the Northeast Kingdom, which is this region of northern Vermont. They also wanted to build a biotech center and the idea was to create thousands of jobs, as many as 11,000 altogether, and they were going to infuse cash in the region through investments from foreigners who want green cards.”

http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-04-21/massive-financial-scandal-unfolding-vermonts-northeast-kingdom

Trump on Clinton: 'Now I'm going to say she's not qualified'

Donald Trump on Thursday picked up a recent spat between the Democratic candidates and said he thinks Hillary Clinton is not qualified for the presidency.

At a rally in Harrisburg, Pa., Trump said he would like Bernie Sanders to continue his battle with Clinton over the Democratic presidential nomination.

“He’s been tough on her,” he said. "In fact, I’d like him to keep going. The longer he goes the more I’m going to like it.”

Trump then rehashed a recent clash between the two Democrats over qualifications, first saying that he thinks Clinton is qualified for the job and then switching posiitons. "[Sanders] said she suffers from bad judgement and she said – now I don’t know, I think she’s qualified, I guess. But that doesn’t mean she’s good," Trump said. "He said she’s not qualified to be president. Now what he meant is because her judgement is so bad– so Bernie Sanders, not me, said she’s not qualified. So now I’m going to say: She’s not qualified, OK?"

“We have all of the mistakes Hillary made as secretary of State," Trump continued. "We have a mess. The war in Iraq has been devastating. We have probably spent $4 trillion in the Middle East.”

But Trump said he would prefer facing Clinton in a general election because of her past political subterfuge.

http://www.thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/277213-trump-on-sanders-id-like-him-to-keep-going


Trump is going to pick up where BS left off with the BS.

https://www.facebook.com/ajplusenglish/

Someone didn't register as a Democrat and couldn't vote.

Trump: 9/11 Way Worse Than Pearl Harbor Cuz ‘Great People’ Were Killed, Not Just Soldier

On Monday, Donald Trump made a quick stop in Buffalo to get one last dig in at veterans before the New York primary. In a speech meant to pander to what he referred to as “New York values,” Trump declared that 9/11 was the worst attack in our nations history (and he remembered not to call it 7/11 this time).

Still, it wouldn’t be a Donald Trump speech without him finding the most callous and horrible way to say something. So he was quick to clarify that 9/11 was worse than Pearl Harbor because civilians died, not just military.

“This was the worst hit that our country has ever taken, worse than Pearl Harbor, because when they attacked Pearl Harbor at least it was military. This was civilians. These were great people. Everybody in this room practically knew somebody that died or somebody that was horribly injured during that terrible day.”


http://www.liberalamerica.org/2016/04/20/trump-911-way-worse-than-pearl-harbor-cuz-great-people-were-killed-not-just-soldiers/

http://nyti.ms/20VUbSt