Tom Hanson - The First Thing (VIDEO)

Indiana Is Weird - Or, why Abe Lincoln’s dad would be a Trump voter.

Thomas Lincoln — Southern, working-class, anti-intellectual, religiously devout — made a more honest representative Hoosier than his son ever did. The prevalence of people like Thomas is also what made Indiana unusual. In 1850, census canvassers started asking Americans where they’d been born, and by looking at state residents who were born in the U.S. (but not in their current state), we can see just how much Indiana stood apart from its neighbors in the Old Northwest. Let’s start with people born in New England, the “Yankees” widely considered to be better educated and more ambitious than their peers. In 1850, only 3 percent of Indiana’s U.S.-born residents hailed from New England. (The Old Northwest average was 10 percent.) Only 20 percent of Indiana’s U.S.-born residents hailed from Mid-Atlantic states such as Pennsylvania and New York. (The Old Northwest average was 42 percent.) But a whopping 44 percent of Indiana’s U.S.-born residents hailed from the South — easily the highest percentage in the Old Northwest, where the average was 28 percent.1

Just as important as their numerical advantage, the Southerners got to Indiana first and thus dominated its early politics. (At the state’s constitutional convention, 34 of the 43 delegates hailed from below the Mason-Dixon Line.) They created its local culture, shaping everything from what Hoosiers ate to how they worshipped. (Southerners imported their Baptist and Methodist beliefs, and in the 1850 census 60 percent of Indiana churches belonged to those denominations.) More than any other Midwestern state, Indiana ended up with a certain kind of citizenry: white, working-class Protestants with Southern roots.

And the thing is, it never really changed. Consider the wave of immigration that defined America starting in the 1880s. Indiana had always been the least diverse state in the Old Northwest. And yet, even after millions of Europeans arrived by steamship, were processed at Ellis Island, and scattered across the country, Indiana still featured a foreign-born population of just 3 percent. (The Old Northwest average was approaching 20 percent.) Or consider the rise of the modern city. In 1920, Chicago’s population was 2.7 million; Cleveland’s was 800,000. Indianapolis’s, by contrast, was only 314,194. But Indianapolis wasn’t just smaller — it was more provincial, less vibrant, a city with a population that was only 3 percent African-American and 70 percent native-born and white. (In Chicago and Cleveland, the share of native-born whites was about 25 percent.) Writer Kurt Vonnegut, born in 1922, summed up his Indianapolis childhood this way: “It was the 500-mile Speedway Race, and then 364 days of miniature golf, and then the 500-mile Speedway Race again.”

In the 21st century, Indiana has started to shift in some small ways. It now boasts more residents who were born outside of the state than Ohio or Michigan does. (Indiana also scores better than them on some measures of racism.) More striking, though, are the ways in which Indiana has stayed the same. Among its Old Northwestern peers, Indiana ranks last in median family income. It ranks last in the percentage of residents who’ve completed a bachelor’s degree. It ranks first in the share of the population that is white Evangelical Protestant and in the share of residents who identify as conservative. On these and a host of other measures — percentage of homes without broadband internet, rate of teen pregnancy, rate of divorce — you’ll often see Indiana finishing closer to Kentucky or Tennessee than to Ohio or Wisconsin. In other words, you’ll see 200 years of history making its presence known.

A lot of those factors correlate with support for Trump. (Another way to say this is that Thomas Lincoln would have probably voted for The Donald.) The Hoosier State has lots of manufacturing — the most in the country, by some measures — and that seems good for Trump, too. Yet the Evangelical presence could be promising for Cruz (with the caveat that Indiana scores lower on church attendance). And then there’s Cruz’s deal with Kasich, though it’s somewhat muddled by the preferences of the state’s delegates (and by Kasich’s own statements).

For all of these reasons, Indiana remains a tough primary to call. But the toughest factor is the state’s own essential strangeness. What do I think, as a native son? I think Trump will do better here than most pundits predict. But I also think those pundits should spend less time talking about Trump and more time trying to understand our complicated, diverse, historically messy (and yet ultimately endearing) 50 states.


http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/indiana-is-weird/

Marvel's Jessica Jones Wins Peabody Award

WHEN “Jessica Jones” debuted in November, The Post wrote that “for gritty thrills, it surpasses” Netflix’s other dramatic content.

On Friday, the Peabody Awards judges revealed that they hold the neo-noir detective show in quite high esteem as well.

“Jessica Jones,” based on the mature Marvel Max comic-book series, is one of three Netflix honorees announced Friday morning by the 75th annual Peabody Awards, which are bestowed by the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The Peabodys also recognized two other Netflix shows: the Aziz Ansari comedy “Master of None” and the African civil-war drama “Beasts of No Nation.”

The win by “Jessica Jones” is especially notable, though, because it is uncommon Peabody recognition of comics-adapted material — the win necessarily reflects on the inspired source material. The series is part of Netflix and Marvel’s five-show collaboration that kicked off with “Daredevil.”

“Jessica Jones” has shown an audience appeal beyond some “superhero shows” — in part, of course, because the title character, uncannily portrayed by Krysten Ritter, is a failed superhero turned superpowered noir detective. (“One episode in, you’ll begin to get it: ‘Jessica Jones’ is that Big Bang moment that sparked a meaner, edgier and more seductive Marvel universe,” The Post’s Comic Riffs wrote in its review.)

In praising “Jessica Jones,” the Peabody judges said the show “asks unpopular questions about power and consent, while constructing vivid and compelling characters.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/04/22/todays-peabody-award-for-netflixmarvels-jessica-jones-is-a-win-for-adapted-comic-book-fare/

Clinton shifting staff to general election swing states

Hillary Clinton’s campaign is redeploying its army of primary election staff to traditional general election battleground states in preparation for a campaign against Republican Donald Trump, according to a senior campaign official.

The initial deployment is likely to hit states that have swung between Republicans and Democrats in recent cycles, according to the official, such as Ohio and Florida.

Additionally, with the billionaire businessman looking increasingly likely to be the GOP nominee, the Clinton campaign sees an opportunity to expand beyond this map, said the official, who wasn't authorized to discuss internal plans and wouldn't specify which new battleground states the campaign might initially target.



http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/04/29/hillary-clinton-general-election-swing-states/83706128/

Marco Rubio warming up to Donald Trump

Marco Rubio appears to be warming up to Donald Trump, saying Friday his “performance has improved significantly." Rubio has also continued to withold an endorsement of Ted Cruz, even though he previously praised him as the conservative in the race.

Last Sunday on Univision, Rubio said it appeared Trump will lock down the nomination.

"If he keeps winning delegates like he did the other night in New York, I think he's going to reach that number," Rubio said on Al Punto Florida. "But let's see. There are still other states to go."

Rubio, who continues to hold onto more than 100 delegates, has said he disagreed with Trump about the delegate system being "rigged." But Rubio did echo the argument that if Trump is close to 1,237 delegates, he should get the nod.



http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/marco-rubio-warming-up-to-donald-trump/2275308

Netflix Confirms 'The Punisher' Series

After starring in "Daredevil" season 2, Jon Bernthal's The Punisher will get his own Netflix series.

Not only did the streaming service share a chilling Instagram video of skull, with the caption, "@ThePunisher is back. Locked and loaded," Netflix also changed its main photo to The Punisher symbol. Yep, they are all in, and so are fans.

Bernthal shined in season 2 of "Daredevil" as the man taking out (yep, killing) bad guys, compared to Daredevil's more laid-back style of just putting them in jail. He called "Red," aka Daredevil, a coward for not finishing the job, but the two later became allies ... kind of.

As EW pointed out, "The Punisher" will join fellow hits such as "Jessica Jones" and "Daredevil," and new series yet to come such as "Luke Cage," Iron Fist" and "The Defenders," as part of the network's collaboration with Marvel. So basically, Netflix is going to have your fill of comic series.


http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/netflix-confirms-punisher-series/story?id=38768317

Insiders: Clinton would crush Trump in November

In the swing states that matter most in the presidential race, Donald Trump doesn’t have a prayer against Hillary Clinton in the general election.

That’s according to top operatives, strategists and activists in 10 battleground states who participated in this week’s POLITICO Caucus. Nearly 90 percent of them said Clinton would defeat Trump in their home states in a November match-up.

Republicans are only slightly more bullish on Trump’s prospects than Democrats: More than three-quarters of GOP insiders expect Clinton to best the Republican front-runner in a general-election contest in their respective states. Among Democrats, the belief is nearly universal: 99 percent of surveyed said will Clinton will beat Trump.

In three of the biggest swing states—Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida—Republicans were particularly downbeat about the prospect of a Trump-Clinton contest.


http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-november-insiders-222598#ixzz47Dvdooic

This is my final post on General Discussion: Primaries.

With the nomination pretty much wrapped up, I'm going to start focusing on the Fall Election, namely the battle for the Electoral College, the Senate, Governor and key races in California. Thus, I am signing off from here. Ciao.

Hillary Clinton Is Turning to the Fall

n coming weeks, Mrs. Clinton will campaign in states with looming primaries, but she will also recharge and spend time in New York plotting a general-election strategy with advisers.

“She needs to be smart and calculated and prepare herself for a tough general election, and knowing her, she will be,” said Thomas R. Nides, a friend and adviser who worked for Mrs. Clinton at the State Department.

After months of focus on the 2,383 delegates needed for the Democratic Party nomination, her campaign has begun to analyze the Electoral College, working out potential races against Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz. And the campaign will begin polling in traditional battleground states like Ohio and Florida.

But it will also pore over data in traditionally Republican states like Arizona, North Carolina and Georgia that could be in play, particularly if Mr. Trump is the nominee, and focus on demographics beyond the Democratic primary electorate.


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/27/us/politics/democratic-race-sanders-clinton.html?_r=0

Don’t worry; Sanders will bow out gracefully

Recalling this serene end to the bitter and extended 2008 Democratic primary battle, I’m not inclined to join in all the hand-wringing about the damage Bernie Sanders is doing to Clinton’s chances in November by remaining in the race.

Tempers flared this week after a Sanders supporter, actress Rosario Dawson, mentioned Monica Lewinsky at a campaign rally. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., a Clinton supporter, demanded Sanders tell his supporters “to stop providing aid and comfort to Donald Trump and the Republican Party.”

This, in turn, caused Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver to accuse the Clinton campaign and her supporters of using “language reserved for traitors to our country.”

Why the hysteria? It doesn’t matter if Sanders continues his candidacy until the last votes are cast in June. What matters is that he quits gracefully, and there should be every expectation that he will, for a simple reason: Sanders is not a fool.

Sanders showed no sign of retreat Tuesday night, even as Clinton extended her lead by winning the night’s biggest prize, Pennsylvania, as well as Maryland, Delaware and Connecticut; Sanders won only Rhode Island. He gave a defiant, hour-long speech in which he said he was “taking on the most powerful political organization in America.” The reference to Clinton drew boos.

Sanders sounded like an extortionist Monday night when he said Clinton, if she won the nomination, would have to earn his supporters’ votes by embracing single-payer health care, free college tuition and a carbon tax — all things Clinton rejected in her (successful) campaign against Sanders.

But seconds later, Sanders, prodded by the moderator, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, added a qualifier: “I will do everything in my power to make sure that no Republican gets into the White House in this election cycle.”

That’s the crucial part. Sanders wants to exert maximum leverage to move Clinton toward his populist policies. But he is a practical man, and he certainly doesn’t wish to see a President Trump or President Cruz. This is why there’s no cause for all the fuss over him remaining in the race until he is mathematically eliminated.

Elimination is coming. Even before Clinton padded her lead with Tuesday night’s wins, Sanders needed to win 59 percent of remaining delegates, or 71 percent if you include superdelegates. That isn’t going to happen.


http://registerguard.com/rg/opinion/34313850-78/dont-worry-sanders-will-bow-out-gracefully.html.csp