Democratic Convention

Graphic showing global warming from 1850–2016. Notice the rapid outward spiral near the end (source).by Gaius PubliusA climate note, to add some perspective to the "very encouraging" or "just in the margins" changes to the Democratic platform, as you prefer to see them.

John Laesch our old friend-- a union carpenter and the former Illinois congressional candidate who began the process of ending Denny Hastert's disgraceful career-- is still very much a Democratic Party activist in Illinois. When the House voted to grant President Obama fast track authority to ram the TPP through Congress with minimal fuss and bother, Illinois House delegation was split-- 9 for and 9 against... but then a few days before the vote one of the crooks in the delegation, pro-TPP Aaron Schock, was forced to resign in a corruption scandal that's still unfolding.

This is a real thingThere was a little brouhaha on Friday over Bernie supposedly telling CNN's Chris Cuomo that he wants a position in Hillary's administration. He doesn't. He's pushing for his policy positions-- not a position for himself. I don't want to see Donald Trump as president.

There's a battle raging inside the Democratic Party in regard to prescription drug prices, which Big Pharma insists be kept high and which progressives very much want to keep affordable (so the U.S.

Writer and radio host Benjamin Dixonby Gaius PubliusThe news is that the negotiation ahead of the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia around the rules by which the Party will conduct future primaries has hit another bump, this time over the number and role of superdelegates. Sanders would like far fewer, either zero or a number not sufficient to predetermine the outcome of an election.

Bernie Sanders in March — What we will ask for if we lose. This is apparently still true.by Gaius PubliusNow that all the primary voting is complete, the Democratic Party has the task of uniting itself. In particular, that means uniting the Sanders voters and the Clinton voters into a force to repel the Republican candidate, presumably Donald Trump. How's that going?Depends on who you ask (I know, whom).Here's a good write-up by John Queally at Common Dreams.

Tonight Hillary and her media allies are trying to claim she already won; it's a lie. Tomorrow's a big day here in California. Ignore the Clinton-press-- like Maddow-- and keep in mind that as Californians vote for the 470 delegates they pick tomorrow, Hillary and Bernie are just 270 delegates apart. And he's leading in the polls-- with momentum.

The White House delivers another message via Carl Bernsteinby Gaius PubliusThe last time I featured former Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein on these pages, it was to showcase his delivery of messages he received from the White House, to the effect that the "White House" thought Clinton was blowing it with her Wall Street speeches stance, and because of that, the "White House" was freaking out (to put it colloquially) — at least as Bernstein tells it.Here's part of what Bernstein — a Clinton s

Hillary Clinton, claiming to know nothing about the big news in Nevadaby Gaius PubliusUPDATE: There's an excellent, close, play-by-play description here. It comports with everything below, plus adds some of the intermediate events. It's also clear and readable.

The Democratic Party is forcing Sanders voters to look at its real face and choose. Not the best move with November just months away (source; click to enlarge). by Gaius PubliusShort and simple. It looks like the Democratic Party is on the verge of creating the disaster it's trying to avoid — its own destruction.