Checking out “Convention-al” Wisdom

Coming, up, national political conventions, Cleveland (Republican), Philadelphia (Democrat.)

This post is not about candidates, platforms, or horse race predictions. I’m thinking about convention security.

I’m no expert, but in 2012, I got a pretty good outsider’s glimpse of external convention security measures while spending several days in the neighborhood near the Democrats’ gathering in Charlotte NC. And I took some photos with my trusty Blackberry. I’m thinking that much of what I saw will likely apply, in spades, at the conventions this year, and so it’s worth passing them on.  Continue reading Checking out “Convention-al” Wisdom →

Why I Can’t Hate On Bill Clinton — Even Now

Considering my somewhat maverick bent, maybe it’s not surprising that I didn’t share all the horror and outrage about Bill Clinton’s face-off with some protesters about the 1994 crime bill a week or so ago.

I mean, yeah– that law was packed with many awful provisions that have hurt hundreds of thousands of people, especially folks of color. I get that part, and agree. There are dues to pay for all that — plus welfare “reform” and bank deregulation and more –and plenty of legislative and programmatic rollback that’s overdue.
But as I watched the video and listened to him, those facts didn’t leave me wanting to throw rotten fruit at him or add him to the long, long list of public figures now deemed “hopeless racists.”

Why not? Continue reading Why I Can’t Hate On Bill Clinton — Even Now →

Big Bernie Rally In Raleigh; Big Trump Rumble In Chicago**

[**This title has been revised in light of later information; the outbreak was not really a “riot”; but it came close, and the events were very revealing.]

Where did Friday’s Trump chaos & violence in Chicago come from?

[NOTE: This is the third in an unplanned series of three posts on campaign rallies in North Carolina this week, plus one. The first, on Donald Trump’s rally in Fayetteville NC is here. The second, about Hillary Clinton’s rally in Durham, is here.]

Continue reading Big Bernie Rally In Raleigh; Big Trump Rumble In Chicago →

Hillary In Durham: The Return To Reason

On the way home from the Trump rally last night, I listened to most of the Democratic debate on the radio; much of it was translated from Spanish. 

I couldn’t pick a “winner”; they both seemed to give as good as they got.  That was both a relief and a bit of a letdown:

Continue reading Hillary In Durham: The Return To Reason →

Trump Is Crowned In Fayetteville NC — March 9

First surprise: at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville NC, which was nearly full, I didn’t see a single Confederate flag the whole time.

And this in a town that General Sherman marched & burned his way through in early 1865. (A state park marks the spot where he blew up an armory; nobody goes there much.) Continue reading Trump Is Crowned In Fayetteville NC — March 9 →