Man, I love Al Franken. Here are his comments on YouTube.

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) sat through all of the statements made by all of the Republicans in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s “debate” Thursday, and he had a lot to say to set the record straight.He started out responding to Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) who railed about “activist judges” and making sure that the court kept its ideological balance and that President Obama wouldn’t nominate another justice who would “legislate from the bench.” That definitely set the good senator from Minnesota off:

“This idea of nine unelected justices making law from the bench, that is what we have seen with the Roberts court. […] We had 100 votes in the Voting Rights Act. Unanimous vote by the United States senate. And what did Justice Scalia say? He said that, well, the senators voting for it because it was named to the Voting Rights Act. Remember that? […] I mean, this is insulting. To hear that. It is just insulting.”

Source: Al Franken to GOP, ‘Scientists tell us there are 10 and a half months left in this president’s term’

Bob Geary on Bernie Sanders. I wholeheartedly agree.

Decimated. I’m watching Bernie Sanders following the South Carolina primary, and he’s not putting any gloss on the rout he suffered. Decimated is the word he uses.

So here’s where we are, Bernie fans. We had a tie and a close loss in the first two caucus states. We won big in the New Hampshire primary. We lost twice as big in South Carolina. This is all-too-familiar territory for those of us in Wolfpack Nation. Some early-season successes. Blown out by our first tough opponent. What did legendary N.C. State basketball coach Jimmy Valvano advise in such circumstances? “Too bad,” I think he said. “We’re hosed. We can’t win. We should drop out and root for Carolina.

”No! He didn’t say that! He said never give up! Never, ever give up! You know, like Hillary Clinton said this country will never, ever figure out how to ditch the insurance companies and save everybody money with Medicare for All—Bernie’s plan.

Well, Hillary has her never, ever, and Bernie supporters should have ours. We should vote for our guy if we want to, knowing he’s unlikely to win, but so was the ’83 Wolfpack—until they reeled off nine upsets in a row to take the national championship.

Notice, I am not trying to persuade Hillary’s fans to vote for Bernie. That would be like asking people in light blue shirts to put their thumb and middle fingers together while holding up the other two. Can’t happen.

Hillary’s voters have a right to their belief that the way the country’s going is the best we can hope for—and so what if we’re moving steadily to the right, ceding more and more power to corporations and the wealthy few? Because if the Republicans take the White House, we’d be worse off, and besides, Hillary has experience.

But for those not sold on Hillary, I offer these five reasons to vote for Bernie in the March 15 Democratic presidential primary.

Source: The Case for Bernie: 5 Reasons the Vermont Socialist Deserves Your Vote | News | Indy Week

Devoted liberal that I was—I now refer to myself as “progressive,” by the way—I defended you in subway stations, in billiard halls, in mall food courts, in tobacco shops. When others accused you of playing politics with Operation Infinite Reach and Operation Desert Fox, I came to your defense. You were my President, and I your devoted voter. (Meanwhile, of course, our military was slaying innocent lives. I am now ashamed I ever supported a person’s political existence at the expense of innocent lives.)

But what the heck, those were the gay 90s. We had a balanced budget. Everywhere we looked there was growth, growth, growth. Glass-Steagall-Schteagall. No matter how one defines “is,” after the Reagan and Bush years, it was good to support a Democratic President. I even once came to your defense in Kramerbooks, of all places.

Yet, despite my years of ardent support, this past week and with a toss of the wrist, you threw me and millions of others, Slick Willie willy-nilly-style, under the Tea Party bus.

Source: An Open Letter to Bill Clinton, from a Former Neighbor and Bernie Sanders Supporter

This clip is from the “Young Turks” Internet TV channel, showing Hillary Clinton speaking in Keane, NH in the 1990s about gangs (and, presumably, African-American kids). Some people are disagreeing in the YouTube comments, but I think it’s fair to explore the views held by Hillary during her husband Bill Clinton’s presidency. I think there’s some truth to the claim that the Clinton years were not necessarily good ones for African-Americans.