Marc Ash | The Very Dishonest Viability Argument
Marc Ash, Reader Supported News
Ash writes: "Every pro-Clinton nomination argument contains or is built around the viability argument. Expressed by an inner-child, it goes something like this: 'Bernie Sanders should stop causing trouble ... Hillary Clinton is more electable ... If Bernie Sanders doesn't stop it, he will open the door for the Republican nominee.'"
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Marc Ash, Reader Supported News
Ash writes: "Every pro-Clinton nomination argument contains or is built around the viability argument. Expressed by an inner-child, it goes something like this: 'Bernie Sanders should stop causing trouble ... Hillary Clinton is more electable ... If Bernie Sanders doesn't stop it, he will open the door for the Republican nominee.'"
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very pro-Clinton nomination argument contains or is built around the viability argument. Expressed by an inner-child, it goes something like this: “Bernie Sanders should stop causing trouble … Hillary Clinton is more electable … If Bernie Sanders doesn’t stop it, he will open the door for the Republican nominee.”
Or, to quote Clinton digital media strategist Peter Daou, “With Bernie Sanders As Their Nominee, Democrats Can Kiss the Presidency Goodbye.”
That is fundamentally dishonest, and patently anti-democratic.
But that’s not the most insidious thing about the viability argument. What really makes the viability argument so toxic is that it undermines the all-important ideological debate.
What the viability promulgators are saying, in essence, is you can’t afford an ideological debate, you have to hide your political perspective away, because if you don’t the Republicans will gain control of the country.
That, folks, is fearmongering at its finest. What a theft, what a denial of the democratic process. The fact of the matter is that both candidates, Clinton and Sanders, are quite viable – as their polling numbers and the results in Iowa clearly demonstrate.
Now is absolutely the time for a contest of ideas. This is it: this is the moment when the candidates’ viability must be put to the crucial and essential test. If one of these two candidates is more viable than the other, let them prove that now. The nominating process is designed, at its core, to be a forum for testing and proving the viability of the candidates and the veracity of their ideas.
If your voice matters, it matters now. If you believe your candidate’s ideas are stronger, carry that belief onto the playing field of ideas and accept the outcome with courage. Whatever you do, never allow the democratic process to be subverted.
The Specter of Ralph Nader and 2000
To truly drive the stake of fear into the heart of every Democrat you have only to wheel out the specter of Ralph Nader’s 2000 presidential run. Again, as it applies here, a categorically false and dishonest argument.
The truth is that Ralph Nader played a critical role in opening the door for George W. Bush in 2000. Certainly there were other major factors, but Nader absolutely had an impact. That, however, has nothing whatsoever to do with the 2016 Democratic nominating process, and the people dragging Nader out now know it.
Sanders is not running – and will not run – a third party campaign. He has been clear, consistent, and direct on that point from the beginning. So the entire Nader campaign comparison dies right there.
If you are looking for a 2016 spoiler, look no further than Wall Street magnate and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Bloomberg’s threat, which is what it really amounts to, is that he will only run if Hillary Clinton does not win the nomination. Again, fear and intimidation as primary instruments of control. Further, Bloomberg’s apparent comfort with Clinton reinforces the notion that Clinton is influenced and accepted by Wall Street’s financial elite. It’s interesting to note that Clinton even went so far as to reassure her “good friend” that it would not be necessary for him to enter the race, because she would beat Sanders herself.
The Safe Bet Is the Democratic Process
Right now, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are engaged in a good, old-fashioned ideological duke-out. That is actually evidence of a pulse in American democracy. Say no to the fearmongers, no to the process manipulators, and let the candidates settle this on the playing field. The clear winners will be the democratic process and the voters.
Marc Ash is the founder and former Executive Director of Truthout, and is now founder and Editor of Reader Supported News.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
Chicago Officer Sues Estate of Teen He Shot, Claiming Trauma
Michael Tarm and Jason Keyser, Associated Press
Excerpt: "'That's a new low even for the Chicago Police Department,' he said. 'First you shoot them, then you sue them.'"
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Michael Tarm and Jason Keyser, Associated Press
Excerpt: "'That's a new low even for the Chicago Police Department,' he said. 'First you shoot them, then you sue them.'"
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Officer Robert Rialmo states what becoming an officer means to him during a interview with a
Tribune reporter March 26, 2013, at the Chicago Police Academy graduation ceremony.
(photo: Rachael Levy/Chicago Tribune)
white Chicago police officer who fatally shot a black 19-year-old college student and accidentally killed a neighbor has filed a lawsuit against the teenager's estate, arguing the shooting left him traumatized.
The highly unusual suit was filed Friday in the middle of the city's effort to grapple with serious questions about the future of its police force. Those questions include the adequacy of its system for investigating police shootings and how to win back public trust after several cases of alleged misconduct. The U.S. Justice Department is conducting a wide-ranging civil rights investigation, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel has promised a major overhaul of the Police Department and steps to heal its fraught relationship with black residents.
The timing and unusual nature of the suit by officer Robert Rialmo, who is seeking $10 million in damages, could complicate the department's efforts to demonstrate more sensitivity toward the community in how police shootings are handled. His attorney, Joel Brodsky, said it was important in the charged atmosphere to send a message that police are "not targets for assaults" and "suffer damage like anybody else."
The teen's father, Antonio LeGrier, filed a wrongful death lawsuit days after the Dec. 26 shooting, saying his son, Quintonio, was not armed with a weapon and was not a threat. His attorney, Basileios Foutris, was incredulous at what he called the officer's "temerity" in suing the grieving family of the person he shot.
"That's a new low even for the Chicago Police Department," he said. "First you shoot them, then you sue them."
The lawsuit provides the officer's first public account of how he says the shooting happened, offering details that differ with the family's version. It says Rialmo, who was responding to a domestic disturbance call with another officer, opened fire after Quintonio LeGrier swung a bat at the officer's head at close range. A downstairs neighbor, 55-year-old Bettie Jones, was standing nearby and was shot and killed by accident. She was not part of the domestic dispute.
"The fact that LeGrier's actions had forced Officer Rialmo to end LeGrier's life and to accidentally take the innocent life of Bettie Jones has caused, and will continue to cause, Officer Rialmo to suffer extreme emotional trauma," the filing says.
When arriving at the scene around 4:30 a.m. on Dec. 26, Rialmo rang the doorbell of the two-story apartment building. Jones answered and directed them to the upstairs apartment. As Rialmo stepped through the doorway, he heard someone "charging down the stairway," the suit says.
It describes the teen coming down the stairs with a baseball bat in hand and says LeGrier "cocked" the bat "and took a full swing at Officer Rialmo's head, missing it by inches" when the two were around 4 feet apart.
The officer then backed away with his weapon still holstered, according to the suit, while repeatedly shouting at LeGrier to drop the bat.
But the suit says LeGrier kept advancing and swung the bat again. Only when LeGrier cocked the bat again from 3 or 4 feet away, did the officer pull out his 9 mm handgun and open fire, the filing says.
As he began firing, Rialmo did not see or hear Jones behind LeGrier, the suit says. It says one of the bullets went through LeGrier's body and struck Jones, killing her.
An autopsy determined that LeGrier suffered six bullet wounds.
Lawyers for Antonio LeGrier and for Jones have provided accounts that differ from Rialmo's. They say the evidence indicates the officer was 20 or 30 feet away when he fired, calling into question Rialmo's contention that he feared for his life.
Foutris also questions why the teen would attack the officer since he was the one who called 911. The father of the Northern Illinois University student also made a 911 call.
"If you're calling multiple times for help are you going to charge a police officer and try to hit him with a bat? That's ridiculous," Foutris said.
County prosecutors have asked the FBI to investigate the shooting.
A Police Department spokesman refused to comment on the officer's lawsuit.
Such a lawsuit by an officer is extraordinarily unusual, said Phil Turner, a former federal prosecutor and current defense attorney who is not connected to the case.
He questioned whether a judge would give it any merit and said it appeared intended to intimidate LeGrier's family. He said he had never heard of an officer blaming his shooting victim for causing trauma.
"That is a known part of the job," Turner said of policing's emotional toll.
The Darkness in Burns, Oregon
Donnell Alexander, Rolling Stone
Alexander writes: "Even in Portland, I stand out. And now I'm more than 100 miles beyond cell phone range, and I feel like a sitting black duck. It's not just the occupiers I'm worried about; even before the Bundys showed up, there were more guns than households in Second-Amendment-loving Eastern Oregon. Guns are everywhere."
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Donnell Alexander, Rolling Stone
Alexander writes: "Even in Portland, I stand out. And now I'm more than 100 miles beyond cell phone range, and I feel like a sitting black duck. It's not just the occupiers I'm worried about; even before the Bundys showed up, there were more guns than households in Second-Amendment-loving Eastern Oregon. Guns are everywhere."
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Critic of Vatican Refuses to Step Down From Sex Abuse Commission
Philip Pullella, Reuters
Pullella writes: "Saunders, who as a child was abused by two priests, told a hastily called news conference: 'I have not left and I am not leaving my position ... the only person who can remove me is the person who appointed me, the pope.'"
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Philip Pullella, Reuters
Pullella writes: "Saunders, who as a child was abused by two priests, told a hastily called news conference: 'I have not left and I am not leaving my position ... the only person who can remove me is the person who appointed me, the pope.'"
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States Taking Action to Keep Guns out of Abusers' Hands
Ryan J. Foley, Associated Press
Foley writes: "More than a dozen states have strengthened laws over the past two years to keep firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers, a rare area of consensus in the nation's highly polarized debate over guns."
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Ryan J. Foley, Associated Press
Foley writes: "More than a dozen states have strengthened laws over the past two years to keep firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers, a rare area of consensus in the nation's highly polarized debate over guns."
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Cuba After the Thaw
Michelle Chase, NACLA
Chase writes: "Our official recognition of the Cuban government after fifty-five years of isolation, open aggression, and clandestine destabilization is extremely important and must continue. Yet what already seems clear is that the renewal of U.S. relations will not automatically bring widespread prosperity, much less social equality, to Cuba."
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Michelle Chase, NACLA
Chase writes: "Our official recognition of the Cuban government after fifty-five years of isolation, open aggression, and clandestine destabilization is extremely important and must continue. Yet what already seems clear is that the renewal of U.S. relations will not automatically bring widespread prosperity, much less social equality, to Cuba."
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Feds Halt Fracking off California Coast, for Now
Katie Herzog, Grist
Herzog writes: "Great news in the fight to halt the planet's de-evolution into a fiery pit of human-made earthquakes and flaming tap water: Fracking is out! Or at least, offshore fracking in California is out. For now."
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Katie Herzog, Grist
Herzog writes: "Great news in the fight to halt the planet's de-evolution into a fiery pit of human-made earthquakes and flaming tap water: Fracking is out! Or at least, offshore fracking in California is out. For now."
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