Many of us won’t even look at Salon as we check out the usual websites offering opinion on politics in addition to Daily Kos: Daily Beast, Politco, Slate, Think Progress, Buzzfeed, and Vox for example. I still do since I like Digby and Marcotte. So that’s why I read their lead story by D. Watkins. He is “an Editor at Large for Salon, professor at the University of Baltimore, founder of the BMORE Writers Project, author of "The Beast Side: Living (and Dying) While Black in America" and "The Cook Up: A Crack Rock Memoir."
He writes about Hillary:
As a black millennial myself and a person who was personally affected by that 1994 crime bill, I’m not excited about Hillary Clinton. I know she wasn’t the president back then, but she touted the bill as if it were her own. She was aware of the gross number of African-Americans who were unfairly targeted and incarcerated, and she still called it a success until it became politically unpopular. I can’t vote for Donald Trump, because he’s substance-less, even on top of the fact that black people weren’t allowed to enter many of his earlier rallies – one was even punched in the head by some white geezer for showing up — and just like Hillary, he pivots whenever necessary. The rapper Nas had a great line to sum up a previous presidential election, that actually fits this one better: “Who you gonna elect — Satan or Satan?” From Salon
Here’s the comment I wrote (one thing I like about Salon is that you can put a photo in your comment):
When I saw this live I wondered about Bernie’s ability to handle an unanticipated interruption with grace, not to mention, political savvy.
I think your brain has been burned by feeling so much of the Berne. Satan vs. Satan? You are stretching for a meme and it is false hyperbole. What’s more, you know it. Shame on you, Prof. Watkins. I know what I saw when the women from BLM came onstage with Bernie the first time and he wasn’t exactly welcoming.
The notion that Bernie is representative of the progressive future and Hillary of the past ignores that facts that she served as Obama’s secretary of state and at the worst she represents a continuation of the Obama administration. Hilary or Bernie, how different would they be on Supreme Court appointments? Really, on going after Wall Street and corporate excesses? On jobs, on education… but this just isn’t a more or less equal vs. equal between liberals because Hillary has far more foreign policy knowledge and experience. Most of us shudder at the thought of Trump sitting across from foreign leaders, friends or foes. But I just don’t see Bernie as someone I’d choose over Hillary to sit in that chair.
I was pleased to see I wasn’t alone among the first people to comment:
Basho36 minutes ago
Best lines of the day:
“Who you gonna elect — Satan or Satan?”
"when he was approached and challenged by Black Lives Matter, [Bernie] was intellectually curious enough to listen"
"Millennials . . . can spot the phoniness from a block away"
Our political system is in critical condition: Republicans suck. Democrats don't suck quite so bad, but they suck, too.
You millennials are the future, just about my only hope. Don't blow it. Don't lose your idealism as you grow older.
And welcome to Salon. I want to hear your voice.
towpath291 hour ago
I'm not the biggest fan of hillary but I do know she's much better than you make her out to be. Just to make your point doesn't mean you get to downplay her accomplishments.
Splint Chesthair1 hour ago
"Millennials have access to too much technology — they’ll fact-check on the spot in 0.8 seconds and they don’t have the patience to be sold the same dream over and over again. "
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Splint Chesthair1 hour ago
"Bernie spoke to people, not at them. When he didn’t understand an issue, like when he was approached and challenged by Black Lives Matter, he was intellectually curious enough to listen, in an effort to solve the issue at hand."
You sure about that? Because I seem to recall him not bothering to return calls to black constituents in Vermont, a state with one of the highest black incarceration rates. Sounds to me like he was entirely uninterested in the BLM phenomenon until they forced it on him. If you don't believe that, here is his "intellectual curiosity" on display in April 2015:
socialistworker.org/...
This is a man who clearly knew that BLM existed but couldn't be assed to do any research. Until BLM showed up at his doorstep.
And when you say ...
"Hillary’s good with black talking points, but not good with black people."
... I have to ask, in all seriousness, whether you have looked at the evidence. Because not only did blacks support Hillary in crushing overwhelming numbers, there are countless stories of her actually listening to blacks -- listening tours and the like -- and the mothers of BLM victims have been campaigning for Hillary precisely because she made the time for them.
Basho34 minutes ago
@Splint Chesthair
Do you get paid by Correct-the-Record or do you just do this for free? Maybe you didn't get the last memo: The Clinton campaign wants you to quit insulting Sanders voters and millennials.
Yahzi1 hour ago
If you think Hillary Clinton is uninspiring, you are an idiot.
If you watched Hillary put up with the most disrespectful raving lunacy ever played out on a Presidential debate stage, and yet keep her cool and focus on doing the people's work, and are not inspired, you are a f******* idiot.
Take your tired Crooked Hillary memes and shove them where the sun don't shine. That s*** won't play in 2017.
