First I would like to apologize for my absence over the last couple weeks. I had a work trip I had to attend. I would also say I am very proud of my fellow people of Minnesota for going out and supporting Bernie Sanders and lead him to a big victory in a crucial state like our own. I was happy to see that even though I was unable to participate that others I have contact to were willing and able to go and be active members in the political system. We owe it to ourselves and each other, let alone the future generations to follow. We must stand up for our beliefs and help guide our country to be one that we are proud to be a part of.
Now on to the most recent debate. Last night Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders squared off in another big state. In Flint, Michigan they stood toe to toe and debated real issues, and real policies. They gave actual answers, and strangely enough, no one had to brag about their "genitalia size" (yes that is a jab at you Trump). This is a critical time because Michigan has their decision on Tuesday. That will set up what might be the make or break day for Bernie next week on March 15th. Michigan may make some real momentum or slow him down. March 15th may be the most important because of the states doing their Primary selections on that day. There are a LOT of delegates up for grabs and in states that are crucial in the swing of the next election. They include, with their delegate count in (). Florida (246), Illinois (182), Missouri (84), North Carolina (121), Ohio (159). These are large states and most would be considered up in the air.
With all of this in mind we move to the actual debate. The big take away to my viewing was that Bernie came on very strong from the beginning. He was obviously told to be aggressive and attack how Hilary has not been strong against the corruption in the political system. He did a great job for the first section of the debate. They were strong and accurate attacks. The problem came in the second and third sections of the debate where he decided to go back to a more reserved stance towards their differences. He was PERFECTLY set up to attack her on the "super-predators" speech from the 90's. CNN actually called her out on it, and to her defense she gave a decent dismissive answer of, I didn't understand the term and never use it again. For those of you who may not know about what they were referring to, let me explain. In the defense of the 1994 Bill Clinton's Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which added things such as the "three-strike" rule, dis-proportionally put astronomical amounts of African-Americans verse their white counterparts. In her defense of the Act though she made a speech in which she explained we needed to "bring super-predators to heel!" The problem with that phrasing and the speech was that the term "super-predator" was exclusively used to describe young Black males in inner-cities. She and everyone who was an adult understand the context of the term. This was a major issue that she was going to need to respond to. I wish Bernie would have brought it up as a reminder, that Hilary has not always been fighting for equal rights for all races. He did remind the crowd that HE was one of the people marching with MLK Jr and HE was arrested while in College supporting the desegregation of schools. But I also wish he would have driven home more that he did these things BEFORE his political career showing he truly believes in it, not just trying to please voters. I also think Bernie suffered a lot in the gun control section. He showed he is not willing to attack gun manufacturers in a direct manner. I am not convinced Hilary would, but she is at least saying the right things in attacking guns and trying to show strength against them.
Another take away I will say is the fact there is NO doubt Hilary is a MASTERFUL debater. She was very calculated in her attacks on Bernie and had a lot of practiced one-liners that hit strong. I will also note she was in my opinion sadly hiding anytime she didn't like a question. She did it numerous times to say "but Obama...". She hid behind his accomplishments, and once again hid behind him with some of his own bad decisions. But she did it to try to bait Bernie in attacking Obama, which I think he wants to, and I would want, but we all know strong Democratic voters in the Primary REALLY don't want Obama bashing. This is something she has mastered in the debate season. The question may just be if people will look through the hiding and see it for what it is, avoidance of tough questions. She still has no real answer for her corporate money, and will not release her transcripts of speeches until all politicians do. Now I will possibly show my bias again, but I LOVED Bernie's response, "you want to see my transcripts to Wall Street, here you go" showing empty hands. He slams her because he has never been willing to do such things.
I also did get a little annoyed and upset with a section that asked both about how Religion affects them. Sadly they both gave the political answer and said, yes God guides us and we must do as we are taught under Religion. I wish it was not so crazy to leave Religion completely out. I may go on a small rant that I personally believe that with the constant connection between Religion and politics help encourage some of the bad behaviors in this country. We essentially associate any morals and good acts as something only driven by Religion. I think we as a country could be MILES ahead of where we are if we stepped back and recognized that morals are not just Religion based but should be supported as a FUNDAMENTAL part of being human. That we all have a responsibility above our individual Religions to treat people with respect. Because the message constantly put out there is that those types of positive morals are based on faith and Religion, which allows those Religions to manipulate, or even for just individuals within to manipulate the doctrine and rules to ignore these fundamental human rights to decency and respect.
In the end I would say the winner of this Debate was Hilary. It makes me sad, when in the end Hilary never really defended her flaws she has had, just avoids or hides behind being just like Obama and will not be any different. I will say best line with probably Bernie with his response to the Fracking question. Hilary gave a long Political answer of, no I don't support it except I am not really putting myself in a corner to say I will not allow it. Bernie on the other hand responds as follows, verbatim "My answer is a lot shorter. No, I do not support Fracking." He also then responded to the followup about how Democratic Governors and politicians say that it can be done safely and whether Bernie thinks they are wrong. Answer? "Yes." Hilary in the same section about Climate change avoided the question right away about her meeting and fundraising event with Oil company lobbyists... I just want it to be known, she is not even close to as tough on climate change as Bernie Sanders.
Then of course we will see a large amount of classifying Bernie as sexist, because he stopped Hilary from being RUDE and interrupting him and told her "I am talking still." I REALLY hope that people will understand how Ridiculous that is, he was clearly trying to stop her from just walking over him. How else should he handle a situation without being called sexist? I understand that there is a lot of demeaning actions and words used against women. I also acknowledge that just because of those things we cannot get to a point where we can't criticize or make any comments to people just because the past has been discriminated on. So please take his comment the same you would by two of the same sex, because in the end he does not see gender as anything that would separate them.
Bernie missed a lot of opportunities to attack and remind people that she has only recently changed her policies, and in the end she has been purchased throughout her career. She owes a lot of people and corporations for her career, and to her defense, almost all politicians have the same issues. That is the reason that I believe the ONLY chance of any REAL change is Bernie Sanders. Anyone else means nothing will change, and in the end we all will continue paying taxes so that the rich get richer, and the rest of us just sit around and try to get by. Change should be the factor, but in the end most people are sheep. They will decide something that can change our entire future. Knowledge is the only way to have any power. Without it we just sit around in ignorance.
With all of this in mind we move to the actual debate. The big take away to my viewing was that Bernie came on very strong from the beginning. He was obviously told to be aggressive and attack how Hilary has not been strong against the corruption in the political system. He did a great job for the first section of the debate. They were strong and accurate attacks. The problem came in the second and third sections of the debate where he decided to go back to a more reserved stance towards their differences. He was PERFECTLY set up to attack her on the "super-predators" speech from the 90's. CNN actually called her out on it, and to her defense she gave a decent dismissive answer of, I didn't understand the term and never use it again. For those of you who may not know about what they were referring to, let me explain. In the defense of the 1994 Bill Clinton's Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which added things such as the "three-strike" rule, dis-proportionally put astronomical amounts of African-Americans verse their white counterparts. In her defense of the Act though she made a speech in which she explained we needed to "bring super-predators to heel!" The problem with that phrasing and the speech was that the term "super-predator" was exclusively used to describe young Black males in inner-cities. She and everyone who was an adult understand the context of the term. This was a major issue that she was going to need to respond to. I wish Bernie would have brought it up as a reminder, that Hilary has not always been fighting for equal rights for all races. He did remind the crowd that HE was one of the people marching with MLK Jr and HE was arrested while in College supporting the desegregation of schools. But I also wish he would have driven home more that he did these things BEFORE his political career showing he truly believes in it, not just trying to please voters. I also think Bernie suffered a lot in the gun control section. He showed he is not willing to attack gun manufacturers in a direct manner. I am not convinced Hilary would, but she is at least saying the right things in attacking guns and trying to show strength against them.
Another take away I will say is the fact there is NO doubt Hilary is a MASTERFUL debater. She was very calculated in her attacks on Bernie and had a lot of practiced one-liners that hit strong. I will also note she was in my opinion sadly hiding anytime she didn't like a question. She did it numerous times to say "but Obama...". She hid behind his accomplishments, and once again hid behind him with some of his own bad decisions. But she did it to try to bait Bernie in attacking Obama, which I think he wants to, and I would want, but we all know strong Democratic voters in the Primary REALLY don't want Obama bashing. This is something she has mastered in the debate season. The question may just be if people will look through the hiding and see it for what it is, avoidance of tough questions. She still has no real answer for her corporate money, and will not release her transcripts of speeches until all politicians do. Now I will possibly show my bias again, but I LOVED Bernie's response, "you want to see my transcripts to Wall Street, here you go" showing empty hands. He slams her because he has never been willing to do such things.
I also did get a little annoyed and upset with a section that asked both about how Religion affects them. Sadly they both gave the political answer and said, yes God guides us and we must do as we are taught under Religion. I wish it was not so crazy to leave Religion completely out. I may go on a small rant that I personally believe that with the constant connection between Religion and politics help encourage some of the bad behaviors in this country. We essentially associate any morals and good acts as something only driven by Religion. I think we as a country could be MILES ahead of where we are if we stepped back and recognized that morals are not just Religion based but should be supported as a FUNDAMENTAL part of being human. That we all have a responsibility above our individual Religions to treat people with respect. Because the message constantly put out there is that those types of positive morals are based on faith and Religion, which allows those Religions to manipulate, or even for just individuals within to manipulate the doctrine and rules to ignore these fundamental human rights to decency and respect.
In the end I would say the winner of this Debate was Hilary. It makes me sad, when in the end Hilary never really defended her flaws she has had, just avoids or hides behind being just like Obama and will not be any different. I will say best line with probably Bernie with his response to the Fracking question. Hilary gave a long Political answer of, no I don't support it except I am not really putting myself in a corner to say I will not allow it. Bernie on the other hand responds as follows, verbatim "My answer is a lot shorter. No, I do not support Fracking." He also then responded to the followup about how Democratic Governors and politicians say that it can be done safely and whether Bernie thinks they are wrong. Answer? "Yes." Hilary in the same section about Climate change avoided the question right away about her meeting and fundraising event with Oil company lobbyists... I just want it to be known, she is not even close to as tough on climate change as Bernie Sanders.
Then of course we will see a large amount of classifying Bernie as sexist, because he stopped Hilary from being RUDE and interrupting him and told her "I am talking still." I REALLY hope that people will understand how Ridiculous that is, he was clearly trying to stop her from just walking over him. How else should he handle a situation without being called sexist? I understand that there is a lot of demeaning actions and words used against women. I also acknowledge that just because of those things we cannot get to a point where we can't criticize or make any comments to people just because the past has been discriminated on. So please take his comment the same you would by two of the same sex, because in the end he does not see gender as anything that would separate them.
Bernie missed a lot of opportunities to attack and remind people that she has only recently changed her policies, and in the end she has been purchased throughout her career. She owes a lot of people and corporations for her career, and to her defense, almost all politicians have the same issues. That is the reason that I believe the ONLY chance of any REAL change is Bernie Sanders. Anyone else means nothing will change, and in the end we all will continue paying taxes so that the rich get richer, and the rest of us just sit around and try to get by. Change should be the factor, but in the end most people are sheep. They will decide something that can change our entire future. Knowledge is the only way to have any power. Without it we just sit around in ignorance.