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[B-Dubs]

It's a horrible poll, with poor methodology. And it's a national poll, which poses it's own sets of problems. The few NH polls that have come out have been pretty steady.


I hope Trump senpai notices me.

He will, he noticed me so he'll notice you.

 

[User 406]

It's so cool to me that Judas Priest was such a successful metal band when half of their songs were basically gay BDSM.

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/judaspriest/evilfantasies.html

I don't know how obvious it was back when these albums came out though.

I grew up on a diet of heavy metal in the 80's, and it wasn't really obvious to me, although in hindsight it is obvious how their sexually charged songs never referenced gender when lots of other rock bands made it clear they were talking about women. Either way, Priest fucking rocks and Halford is one of the best metal vocalists ever. BREAKIN THE LAW, THE SODOMY LAAAAAAAW

That's Bill Press, who has a new book out about how Obama let progressives down

Progressives continually let progressives down by not voting in the god damn midterms. >:|

 

[NeoXChaos]

I grew up on a diet of heavy metal in the 80's, and it wasn't really obvious to me, although in hindsight it is obvious how their sexually charged songs never referenced gender when lots of other rock bands made it clear they were talking about women. Either way, Priest fucking rocks and Halford is one of the best metal vocalists ever. BREAKIN THE LAW, THE SODOMY LAAAAAAAW




Progressives continually let progressives down by not voting in the god damn midterms. >:|

that should be titled how Progressives let Obama down.

 

[B-Dubs]

that should be titled how Progressives let Obama down.

That'd be a pretty short book. Literally one sentence.

 

[Rafa=FedKilla]

He will, he noticed me so he'll notice you.

I hope so, I could really use it. I also tweeted him: Ted's deceit has been instilled since childhood when he refused to go by his birth name, Rafael. What else is he hiding?

 

[RustyNails]

Going after Teddy is futile. He's harmless. Rubio should be the target. He's dangerous.

 

[Holmes]

Bakari Sellers is looking finnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne.

I need some of that in my life.

Now that O'Malley is out, you've already moved on? I guess it's true what they say, once you go black...

 

[Wilsongt]

Bakari Sellers is looking finnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne.

I need some of that in my life.

Gurl, you a 'ho.

 

[And_Gignac]

But all of those people aren't real candidates and will probably lose in races they shouldn't be focusing on. It's good for someone to run in Nevada's 4th who is a proven progressive, but Lucy Flores is already kind of a political loser after running statewide in 2014 in what was never going to be a race she could win.

The only person in this article who's actually positioned themselves well and in an ability to actually be competitive is Zephyr Teachout, because she's campaigning the smart way, and isn't trying to run for Senate or trying to run for a seat that already is bottlenecked with a million Democrats running.

The smart way to run for office for these people would be to attack themselves to light or regular Blue seats where there's someone who is retiring, and try to get on board with the local Democratic party or influential party leaders to position themselves as a viable candidate. That's how you take the party to the left. You don't jump to Senator.

You certainly hold a superior knowledge of House Politics than I could only aspire to understand but what I rescued from this article is that Sanders (helped a lot lot by the precedent of Warren) will foster a renaissance of unapologetic liberals not afraid anymore of a ever more irrelevant silent majority.


OMG I got junior´d for being a mess.

 

[Officerrob]

You certainly hold a superior knowledge of House Politics than I could only aspire to understand but what I rescued from this article is that Sanders (helped a lot lot by the precedent of Warren) will foster a renaissance of unapologetic liberals not afraid anymore of a ever more irrelevant silent majority.


OMG I got junior´d for being a mess.

Gotta tread EXTRA carefully now...

 

[Spoiled Milk]

Sanders ... will foster a renaissance of unapologetic liberals not afraid anymore of a ever more irrelevant silent majority.

Just like how unapologetic American conservatism will finally take back the country from Obama? This is how the Right thinks, too.

 

[B-Dubs]

You certainly hold a superior knowledge of House Politics than I could only aspire to understand but what I rescued from this article is that Sanders (helped a lot lot by the precedent of Warren) will foster a renaissance of unapologetic liberals not afraid anymore of a ever more irrelevant silent majority.


OMG I got junior´d for being a mess.

Zephyr Teachout was around long before Bernie even thought about running. She was going to be running with or without him in the picture.

 

[And_Gignac]

Just like how unapologetic American conservatism will finally take back the country from Obama? This is how the Right thinks, too.

Difference: The RIght is doing it out of total desperation due to changing demographics and social dynamics (they had their time already beginning with Nixon). The Left will do it out of new gained self-confidence.

 

[ivysaur12]

You certainly hold a superior knowledge of House Politics than I could only aspire to understand but what I rescued from this article is that Sanders (helped a lot lot by the precedent of Warren) will foster a renaissance of unapologetic liberals not afraid anymore of a ever more irrelevant silent majority.


OMG I got junior´d for being a mess.

Definitely! But most of these people are going at it the wrong way, because in general, conservative organizations don't know how to actually help their candidates win elections.

It's one of the reasons I'm curious to see Working Families expand their impact outside of the few states they're in.

 

[User 463088]

Now that O'Malley is out, you've already moved on? I guess it's true what they say, once you go black...

Why not both.gif

Gurl, you a 'ho.

I'm a slut, not a ho. A ho charges. I give it away.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

Just like how unapologetic American conservatism will finally take back the country from Obama? This is how the Right thinks, too.

"The only reason we lose is because we're not pure enough"-Every hardcore member of every political party of all time.

 

[dabig2]

Just like how unapologetic American conservatism will finally take back the country from Obama? This is how the Right thinks, too.

The difference is that the Left absolutely has an advantage in potential voters if they can get them enthused and believing that the system can work for them. It's why the GOP, for decades, has tried everything to depress voter turnout.

 

[Holmes]

Thanks, you can PM since I don't want to derail this thread

Edit: I think I found the right answer. Thanks anyway

What's the answer?

 

[Ogrekiller]

Difference: The Right is doing it out of total desperation due to changing demographics and social dynamics. The Left will do it out of total desperation due to changing demographics and social dynamics

Fixed.

 

[JesseEwiak]

The difference is that the Left absolutely has an advantage in potential voters if they can get them enthused and believing that the system can work for them. It's why the GOP, for decades, has tried everything to depress voter turnout.

...and if all the true conservative white voters in Real America turned out if they were inspired by a real conservative candidate...

Note I'm not making this up. It's a trendy argumetn among right-leaning pundits that Romney lost because 5 million white voters didn't show up in 2012.

 

[Futurematic]

Theoretical question- What would have happened to the republican party is Watergate never happened? Outside of some obvious things like contelpro and weird stuff like burying the pot research Nixon at least still funded social programs what if he had continued?

I'd suggest a different forum for counterfactuals (PM me, but it is not like a simple search won't find it). But broadly?

Nixon and LBJ both went for guns and butter, and the oil shocks still obviously happen—so crazy inflation and little understanding of stagflation—so Nixon (your point of departure is presumably "Nixon slightly more in control of his personal demons") is still facing everything that happened in our timeline.

The first key difference is Vietnam. Nixon in control means South Vietnam gets more cash and guns and what not, and so destroys the 1975 offensive with American air power. It took several years for North Vietnam to build up enough supplies to invade, if Nixon helped crush that one the reckoning for S. Vietnam is delayed to 1977-79, with plentiful stories about how gross the S.V. Gov is screwing their own populace (though post-76 so who cares if you're Ford and can't be re-elected anyway). Yes the US could have "won" Vietnam (terrible horrific idea but plausible), but given the conditions on the ground this is at best a short-term fix.

Second is that without Watergate Ford cruises to election, the American public was fine with bombing the shit out of foreigners as long as they could declare victory. The 1976 primaries are drastically altered, regardless who wins on the Dem side I suspect they lose 1988 style (unless Reagan beats Ford as of course he'd run, in which case he may—may—win, but more likely ensures Carter/Church/Scoop/etc winning).

Third is that theAmerican economy is still going to hell, Nixon surviving and Ford winning is a brief respite as inflation comes home to roost. Personally I think the Fed did a fantastic job in stopping inflation, by crushing unions and wage growth (Volcker called Reagan fucking air traffic controllers the most important thing to stop inflation), so in this alternate timeline the Fed remains Nixon's bitch and Ford uses a quick easy money surge to win (Nixon '72 strategy). Sure destroying wage growth is a bad idea across a few decades, but we are talking about Republicans after all.

Ford and Kissinger also means the US will commit troops to Iran, even if they somehow save it Saudi Arabia will enact revenge re: oil prices.

So by 1980 the economy is in the gutter, American troops are in Iran, the commies have probably taken out S. Vietnam, and (no, not Kennedy lol) the Dems are about to sweep the Presidency and keep their super-majority in the House and 60-65 Senators. Also we're on the edge of Rockefeller Republicans (aka the New Democrats) taking over the party but—unlike post Mondale '84—they haven't done so yet.

With inflation similar to what happened in reality if Ford actually fights it farmers and construction (40%! unemployment, and marching on Reagan's Washington) means the Dems will sweep like second rate FDR.

In that scenario it hugely depends on the President. A New Dem like Hart or whoever (yes his Senate seat was up, but he was ambitious as hell) would lead us down the same neoliberal path but gentler. An old school Democrat—Udall, Church, etc—would try and bring FDR style policy.

After that? Shrug, we are far out from the POD. Any President will benefit if they can get inflation under control, only liberals could possibly change things in a good direction, New Democrats would be gentler Reagan, etc… Still far better than this universe of course.

Or hey heck whatever Ford or Reagan loses '76 in this scenario, random Dem is fucked like Carter, and Reagan wins in 1980 and we are back on track lol

 

[dabig2]

...and if all the true conservative white voters in Real America turned out if they were inspired by a real conservative candidate...

Note I'm not making this up. It's a trendy argumetn among right-leaning pundits that Romney lost because 5 million white voters didn't show up in 2012.

I'm aware of the argument. But Republicans haven't operated in any kind of reality since the advent of Fox News.

Like that's all legit, real bad news for Democrats specifically. Republicans are insane, but they're also smart in that they know that stalling progress is the way to depress turnout and that == Republican gains every day and twice on Sunday.

 

[thepotatoman]

To be fair, a person's vote doesn't really matter if they're in a very red or blue district in a very red or blue state.

Primaries might matter, but it's extremely rare to have a contested primary.

 

[TheLaughingStock]

Just like how unapologetic American conservatism will finally take back the country from Obama? This is how the Right thinks, too.

Are you saying conservatives are ineffective at taking the country where they want it to go? They're doing a good job from my perspective under Obama in terms of shifting the electorate or overruling people who don't agree with their ideas.

 

[JesseEwiak]

Are you saying conservatives are ineffective at taking the country where they want it to go? They're doing a good job from my perspective under Obama in terms of shifting the electorate or overruling people who don't agree with their ideas.

What's really happened is frankly, in many states, the Republican Congressmen and Senator's were to the left of their constituency. I mean, I didn't mind for example Kay Bailey Hutchinson, but to be frank, if I don't mind the Senator from Texas, that mean that person probably actually isn't representing the views of the average Texan all that well.

There was always plenty of right wing crazies - the GOP just didn't have to listen to them so much before the rise of talk radio, FOX News, and the Internet. You could complain about the gay and welfare loving Democrats at a town hall, then make a deal with them in 1985. You can't anymore.

 

[Officerrob]

I really wish quite a few young Bernie supporters who love to post in OT threads would do a little research about just how much of a juggernaut Obama was in 2008. There is far too much understating the enthusiasm he brought going on over there. Obama was a generational candidate, neither Hillary or Bernie are, and there is nothing wrong with that

 

[NeoXChaos]

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/trump-resists-staff-calls-to-change-course-218711

What is Trump doing?

 

[Officerrob]

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/trump-resists-staff-calls-to-change-course-218711

What is Trump doing?

Proving that outside of being an entertainer, he has no idea what he's doing.

 

[JesseEwiak]

I really wish quite a few young Bernie supporters who love to post in OT threads would do a little research about just how much of a juggernaut Obama was in 2008. There is far too much understating the enthusiasm he brought going on over there. Obama was a generational candidate, neither Hillary or Bernie are, and there is nothing wrong with that

It's hard to remember what was going on while you were getting ready to enter graduate 6th grade. (OK, I'm being sarcastic...mostly.)

 

[User 463088]

I really wish quite a few young Bernie supporters who love to post in OT threads would do a little research about just how much of a juggernaut Obama was in 2008. There is far too much understating the enthusiasm he brought going on over there. Obama was a generational candidate, neither Hillary or Bernie are, and there is nothing wrong with that

I think a lot on the left, especially among Bernie's most fervent supporters, believe that Obama winning was a big ol nothing. It was natural. A 20 year old was 12 when Obama won. To them, politics has always been Obama beating the old white men. It's just normal. So, I can understand why they don't get that we're never going to push hard left things through like Bernie wants.

 

[OrangeGrayBlue]

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/trump-resists-staff-calls-to-change-course-218711

What is Trump doing?

To quote myself on page one:

I still think the story at the end of this primary season will be that Trump turned out to be a loud idiot that attracted other idiots and ultimately lost, not that he pretended to be a loud idiot and was actually a political genius.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I really wish quite a few young Bernie supporters who love to post in OT threads would do a little research about just how much of a juggernaut Obama was in 2008. There is far too much understating the enthusiasm he brought going on over there. Obama was a generational candidate, neither Hillary or Bernie are, and there is nothing wrong with that

To be fair, you are talking about potentially the first woman President ever, which is a pretty big milestone. But I agree, the excitement around Obama was at a level that neither Bernie nor Hillary have remotely approached. I mean, hell, I was driving around Portland, Oregon on election night in 2008 and people were going apeshit in the streets in a way I have never seen before in my life. Everywhere you went, people dancing and screaming and honking and flashing (because nothing says "political success" like whipping out a boob); it was a scene. And this is Portland, so pretty much all those people were white. Obama fever was unbelievable. I get that Bernie's supporters are fervent, but it's just not on the same level (yet), and given the long odds on him earning the nomination, I don't expect we'll see that in this election cycle (I like Hillary, but she doesn't have the charisma or charm of Barack in 2008; might explain why he got the nod over her).

Hey, as long as one of them is the next President, I don't give half a shit about their ability to inspire the youth to expose themselves to total strangers. "Anyone but the Republican" might not be the most inspiring message, but it's accurate in this absurd political climate.

 

[User 463088]

Did anyone else read that article on Kos about Mass's Primary? Bernie opened his first office on January 9th there, supposedly. Registration deadline is the 19th of February. I would have thought he'd want more people on the ground doing registration to try and get more young people registered a bit earlier. Hillary's people have been there for a while, so far as I know. I think this is where we may see his support start to run into problems. He doesn't seem to have the organization in place. He has the money, though. I wonder if he was counting on the ad spill over from NH to help him out?

 

[neurosisxeno]

Proving that outside of being an entertainer, he has no idea what he's doing.

Does he really need to go full tilt and stack up in NH? He's still ahead by a very large margin, and I think a primary does him more favors than a caucus.

Did anyone else read that article on Kos about Mass's Primary? Bernie opened his first office on January 9th there, supposedly. Registration deadline is the 19th of February. I would have thought he'd want more people on the ground doing registration to try and get more young people registered a bit earlier.

Mass is Bernie Country. He doesn't need a huge effort--spend a weekend on college campuses getting kids registered and he's set. They know who he is, they want him, they just need a bit of guidance.

 

[shinra-bansho]

I'm mildly curious, does anyone actually think that the sizable donations made to Obama's 2008 campaign made by [employees of] various financial institutions [about $17M from the industries typically identified as "Wall St"] actually negatively impacted his approach to financial services regulatory reform?

This is probably more a question for people who take issue with Clinton's campaign contributions.

 

[User 463088]

D
Mass is Bernie Country. He doesn't need a huge effort--spend a weekend on college campuses getting kids registered and he's set. They know who he is, they want him, they just need a bit of guidance.

Uh, I disagree completely.

Actually, Mass is heavily establishment. Hillary won there convincingly in 2008. She has nearly every endorsement in the state, with the exception of Warren. Kennedy is working on her campaign in NH, I believe. Mass is one of his better chances on Super Tuesday, but it's definitely not a foregone conclusion.

I was wrong, the deadline to register is Feb 10th.

 

[tmarg]

Does he really need to go full tilt and stack up in NH? He's still ahead by a very large margin, and I think a primary does him more favors than a caucus.

I'd say he should. Not necessarily because he needs to by any real metric, but because of the media driven narrative that not finishing first in Iowa makes him a loser. It's not a standard that anyone else would be held to, but it seems to be working in terms of coloring voters' perceptions.

Absolutely crushing NH, which polls indicate he should be able to do, would render that line of attack inert, and thus far it seems to be the only thing that has worked against him.

 

[JesseEwiak]

I'm mildly curious, does anyone actually think that the sizable donations made to Obama's 2008 campaign made by [employees of] various financial institutions [about $17M from the industries typically identified as "Wall St"] actually negatively impacted his approach to financial services regulatory reform?

This is probably more a question for people who take issue with Clinton's campaign contributions.

Like with most things, I think it did factor into decisions made by the Obama Treasury Department, but at the heart of the lack of real reform is two things -

1.) Most of the things Wall Street did up to the Crash was completely legal and even the illegal things would be terribly difficult to prove in court

and

2.) In order to pass something as relatively weak as Dodd-Frank, you have to either assuage the concerns of people who live in states with large financial sectors or weaken it in other ways to assuage the concerns of conservatives who don't believe in regulation. There wasn't and isn't 50 votes for heavy duty financial reform and probably wouldn't be even in a world with publicly financed elections.

 

[OrangeGrayBlue]

I'm mildly curious, does anyone actually think that the sizable donations made to Obama's 2008 campaign made by [employees of] various financial institutions [about $17M from the industries typically identified as "Wall St"] actually negatively impacted his approach to financial services regulatory reform?

This is probably more a question for people who take issue with Clinton's campaign contributions.

I can't say with any sort of certainty that it negatively impacted his approach, but I can say that I'm underwhelmed with the regulation we have in place right now. I understand that republican obstructionism is a factor, but I also don't think Obama was ever as hard on the financial sector as I'd have liked him to have been.

 

[ivysaur12]

@realDonaldTrump
Thank you @billoreilly & @KarlRove. Ted Cruz should be immediately disqualified in Iowa, with each candidate moving up one notch.

This fucking guy

 

[JesseEwiak]

I can't say with any sort of certainty that it negatively impacted his approach, but I can say that I'm underwhelmed with the regulation we have in place right now. I understand that republican obstructionism is a factor, but I also don't think Obama was ever as hard on the financial sector as I'd have liked him to have been.

Like I said, the problem is, most of Wall Street did was perfectly legal. There were not really any "hey, let's sell shitty mortgages to people on purpose" smoking guns out there.

 

[B-Dubs]

Like I said, the problem is, most of Wall Street did was perfectly legal. There were not really any "hey, let's sell shitty mortgages to people on purpose" smoking guns out there.

Even NY, with the insane powers of the Martin Act, which is basically the Master Sword to Wall Street's Gannondorf, couldn't go after them and that says a lot.

 

[ErasureAcer]

I said damn. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-electability-spin-machine-20160202?page=4

Article about the spin machine in particular against Sanders.

 

[User1608]

Even NY, with the insane powers of the Martin Act, which is basically the Master Sword to Wall Street's Gannondorf, couldn't go after them and that says a lot.

Oh shit, gotta look that up.o_0

 

[danm999]

This fucking guy

Christ what a baby.

For some reason I figured he'd have the sense not to go on about it.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

I said damn. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-electability-spin-machine-20160202?page=4

Jeb Lund declares that BernieBros don't exist as his friends on Twitter continue to get banned for harassing feminists that say one kind word about Hillary Clinton.

Jeb Lund is weird for having a feud with Jeet Heer of The New Republic while Jeet Heer isn't even aware of it. Lund just writes nasty things about Heer in his articles for reasons no one understands and has never directly communicated with Heer.

 

[WaffleTaco]

I think a lot on the left, especially among Bernie's most fervent supporters, believe that Obama winning was a big ol nothing. It was natural. A 20 year old was 12 when Obama won. To them, politics has always been Obama beating the old white men. It's just normal. So, I can understand why they don't get that we're never going to push hard left things through like Bernie wants.

The 20 year olds that are for Sanders, are in my opinion as a 20 year old, very naive and not entirely sure how the political process works or realising how important is to get Justices on the court instead of risking Bernie's ideas.

 

[B-Dubs]

Oh shit, gotta look that up.o_0

It's basically the ultimate weapon against financial fraud. Eliot Spitzer used it to fight corruption and then used that rep to become governor, Cuomo did the same and now Schneiderman is doing it as well. The SEC wishes they had a weapon against Wall Street this good. It's like a tactical nuke.

The purpose of the Martin Act is to arm the New York attorney general to combat financial fraud. It empowers him to subpoena any document he wants from anyone doing business in the state; to keep an investigation totally secret or to make it totally public; and to choose between filing civil or criminal charges whenever he wants. People called in for questioning during Martin Act investigations do not have a right to counsel or a right against self-incrimination. Combined, the act's powers exceed those given any regulator in any other state.

Now for the scary part: To win a case, the AG doesn't have to prove that the defendant intended to defraud anyone, that a transaction took place, or that anyone actually was defrauded. Plus, when the prosecution is over, trial lawyers can gain access to the hoards of documents that the act has churned up and use them as the basis for civil suits. "It's the legal equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction," said a lawyer at a major New York firm who represents defendants in Martin Act cases (and who didn't want his name used because he feared retribution by Spitzer). "The damage that can be done under the statute is unlimited."

http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/May-June-2004/feature_thompson_mayjun04.msp

There also this small piece on it:

Scienter and Intent to Defraud Are Not Required for Civil or Criminal Violations of the Martin Act.

https://www.dechert.com/files/Publication/a4def5dd-77bf-48ae-bead-491bfcb9142c/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/dbeb2852-2e00-49d6-971f-4c2db9674658/FS_2004-04.pdf

It's also what eventually took Spitzer down:

The stock market may be battered, the dollar may be plunging, and the economy may be tanking, but there's a bull market in schadenfreude on Wall Street this afternoon. Even as the Dow was on its way to notching another triple-digit loss, whoops of joy erupted from the dispirited trading floors today on news of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's disgrace. Spitzer, who rose to prominence as a scourge of Wall Street, uprooting corrupt practices, coming down hard on bad actors, and establishing a new moral order, was laid low by reports that he had been involved in a prostitution ring.

http://primary.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2008/03/spitzer_gets_spitzered.html

Basically you do not want to commit financial fraud in NY. If the AG even sniffs fraud you are assfucked by a giant spiked dildo with no hope for lube.

 

[shinra-bansho]

Interesting; I had thought that Dodd-Frank, while it was obviously never going to be perfect given the nature legislating, was largely viewed as a relatively meaningful positive step.

I skimmed a Brookings presentation from a bit over a year ago that highlighted some clear wins, losses and trade-offs made that suggested a reasonably positive assessment.

 

[Daniel B·]

Although Hillary's campaign is perhaps not yet feeling its awesome power, on Sunday January 17th, 2016, at 13:16 CST (o.k., I made up the time ), Bernie detonated a thermo-nucleur bomb, in the form of possibly the greatest presidential campaign video of all time, which is of such great magnitude, that no matter what her campaign throws at Bernie, from this point, going forward, nor how much spin the establishment media tries to apply, Hillary should liberally apply sunblock factor 1M, now, although ultimately, a futile attempt to delay the inevitable, as, along with the people of this great nation, she will simply be powerless to not #FeelTheBern .

NOTE: there was a thread on this video, and I think I even posted on it, but, it was only when I revisited the video, today, that I fully appreciated its significance. Any Bernie fans reading this should re-distribute the video, far and wide, as it easily merits at least one million views (currently around 125k).

Let me tell you what, kind of blew me away, when you think about Dr. King's life; obviously, it took an enormous amount of courage, to stand up to the segregationists, the racists, to get jailed, to get beaten up, an incredible amount of courage, but what impressed me even more, I think Mike made this point, he could have rested on his laurels, right, the establishment would have said "You are a great black leader, look what you did, you got the Voting Rites Act, 'wow!', you broke down segregation in the south, 'incredible!'".

But you know what, this is what courage is about, he said "It ain't enough", he's got to be consistent with his own inner soul, he has to ask other questions, and the questions he asks, "I'm a man of non-violence, but we're living in the time of the Vietnam war". People said, "don't talk about that", "don't talk about that; you're going to get into trouble". He talked about it, and you know what happened? A lot of the funding for the Southern Christian Leadership disappeared.

And then he said, of couse we want to break down segregation, you have the right to go to any school wou want to go to. But, then he asked, "What does that matter, if you don't have the money to go to that school?", and that takes him then to the whole issue of income and wealth inequality, and he sais "How can it be, in a country of so much wealth, that so many people, have so little?". And as Senator Turner said, and people forget this; what was he doing in the last month of his life? He was organising the Poor Peoples March, of African Americans, of poor whites, of Latinos, of Native Americans. He was marching on Washington to say, "You can't forget about us!".

So, what is courageous about him, he never stopped, he understood the interconnectedness of everything, and he kept going forward. As Senator Turner said, lets never forget where he was, when he assassinated. He was standing up in a union effort, trying to defend workers, who were being exploited, low payed, terrible working conditions, That's where he was killed, and I think that's the message the corporate media, doesn't want us to hear too much about.

That's exactly right. But, I think part of what the challenge is, how do we resist the deodorising of our dear brother Martin, the Santaclausification of Martin Luther King Jnr., so that he appears harmless, he appears as if he's not a threat. The FBI said that he was the most dangerous man in America. So, to Edger Hoover, "Why would you say that?", well he said that because he was willing to tell the truth about America, and then reach out and organise, white, black, red, yellow, working people, poor people, that constitutes a threat to Wall St., and big corporations, big banks.

Any time you have a voice, that can bring the masses together, in that way, you constitute a major, major threat, and I think what is magnificent about the Sanders campaign, is now within the context of electoral politics, we haven't had this since 84 and 88, with Jesse Jackson, in a massive way, and yet here we actually did have brother Bernie Sanders, who's coming from the vanilla side of the country, who's sensitive to the chocolate folk, in the country, and then, still willing to confront Wall St., after having spent time, in Congress, as Representative and Senator, and of course Mayor, as well. So, it's a very unique moment, and there's a real sense, in which, it could be America's last chance for the legacy of King, to be addressed in a serious way. It's a fascinating thing, that, to be a brother from Brooklyn, is leading.

I have been educated in the proper thoughts and philosophy of Dr. King, and I know truth, and I know truth when I see it.

No other politician, is on the other side of that camera, telling you, that you deserve healthcare as a right, no one is telling you that you deserve economic opportunity, in this country, as a right, no one is telling telling you to require more of the Republic, that is the greatest republic, on the face of the Earth, except this candidate. So, I'm saying, I don't care what color he is, I don't care what part of the country he's from, I know that they killed a man called Martin King, but they did not kill a philosophy. I am about principles and philosophies, and who ever lines up with those, that's who I'm in line with. You could be blue, you could be red, you could be any shade of black, but it matters to me more, that you stand in solidarity with this philosophy, because you're white, because the most dangerous part is that he fears, the white radical in the south is not the problem, but the white moderate, who is about order, over justice.

I remember growing up, there were programs, to make sure youth, who's parents were struggling, could work every summer, and that's the kind of stuff you're talking about, Senator, and you co-sponsored with Congressman John Conyers. I think brother Frederick Douglas said it best, and I'm not quoting directly, but he said, something like "It's better to invest in children, than to try to rebuild broken men". And, so, we have to begin to do that. A 51% unemployment rate among, High School graduate, African Americans, is unacceptable, it is a crisis in this country. If it was anyone else's babies, folks would be saying something about it, but it's African Americans.

And then when you talk about African American adults, who are unemployed, or under employed, yes, that unemployment rate is going down, and I give President Obama lots of credit, because the great recession destroyed folks livelihoods. You talk about wealth killer, Mike; most middle class folks wealth is in their homes, but, you lose your home, you lose your investment, where your wealth is. We have not rebounded from that, and I think when I hear Senator Sanders talk about these kinds of things, I hear him saying, "I'm going to build on what president Obama started, and take it further".

You know I was a track star, in my [youth], and I still run a little something, something, that these young jacks know it, that I've still got it. But I was the first leg of 440. But the 440 relay itself, is about teamwork, and so this is my point; the first leg got to give it to the second leg, who has to give it to the third leg, who has to give it to the fourth leg, that is what I really see in Senator Sanders.