Recently, Black poverty has become the “Bernie bludgeon” du jour and it is absolutely absurd. Ever since Senator Bernie Sanders was first interrupted by BlackLivesMatter activists, he has been catching pure hell. In contrast, Secretary Hillary Clinton has largely been getting a pass. In reality, Black poverty is in fact very unique in this country. Urban (or “ghetto”) poverty is most assuredly a Black experience. This type of poverty is distinctive in its level of concentration and isolation. To say otherwise dismisses the plight of poor people. Playing political games in service of the Clinton Campaign adds a level of cruel irony. (emphasis mine) The economy is where racial inequality manifests itself. Black poverty is the manifestation of American policy & practice.

I’m going to keep this one relatively short. Most of these points are elementary in nature for people who live in poverty or anyone paying attention to American life.

* Black people in America are twice as likely to be unemployed than White people.
* African Americans suffer from household food insecurity at nearly twice the rate of Whites.
* Median income in Black households is a little over half that of non-Hispanic Whites.
* Blacks are more than twice as likely to live in poverty.

All of this is just the tip of the iceberg. You can research the impacts of concentrated urban poverty on education, household violence, crime, police brutality and mass incarceration. These issues have been studied for decades. However, the laws of logic (and Google) do not apply to hack journalism and twitter punditry. Do your own research. Then ask the social media brain trust to provide you some hard data from an unbiased source. If they can’t or won’t, you may want to take a long look at that relationship.

An additional problem is that these people are undermining the White Privilege argument. The issue is finally being taken seriously along with Reparations (an economic solution). Then here come the “White folks is broke too” brigade. What is worse is that many of these same people have been telling Bernie to speak more about race. To be clear; White, Brown & other poverty is a very serious concern. Do not misunderstand my position. Black poverty is the issue here and I make no claim of being unbiased.

When Senator Sander says anything about the plight of Black people, the usual suspects step out from under the Clinton umbrella to write think pieces on how wrong he is. Without fail, they reveal themselves to be unserious about anything other that their twitter popularity or sucking up to power. The irony is that Bernie’s policies would go much further to help the urban poor. The naysayers are doing the Black community a disservice.

(Progressive Army)If you are a sports fan who feels obliged to support a team regardless of the quality of the product they provide, you may find yourself a long suffering fan of the New York Knicks, or Chicago Cubs. Similarly it is the perceived obligation to unconditionally ‘unite blue’ which has led to the neoliberal, corrupt, vote-suppressing, faux-GOP reality of the Democratic Party today. It is ironic that so much of the Hillary Clinton campaign itself has been about obligation; the obligation of women to avoid a “special place in hell”, the obligation of African-Americans to support Hillary because her husband played saxophone on the Arsenio Hall Show 25 years ago, and of course Hillary’s own obligations and whether they are to the millions of corporate dollars funding her or the millions of votes she intends to receive. I am not here to tell you how to use your vote, dear reader. But if Hillary Clinton leaves you worried about getting burned, perhaps it is simply time to irrevocably #FeelTheBern.

(AlterNet) It’s not over. Far from it. The economic and political establishment, which includes the Democratic National Committee, its Wall Street and corporate backers and the major media—most of it now owned by a half dozen big corporations—have worked feverishly to turn the Democratic primary process into a coronation for Hillary Clinton.

Bottom line: they wanted to declare it over before actual voters could vote, but their carefully crafted strategy began to #FeelTheBern.

Here are 10 ways the establishment has sought to orchestrate the results, and why the race has a long ways to go.

Don't believe the hype. The status quo favors the privileged

Do people really want to keep things the way they are? This is not going to help anyone that makes less than 200k per year (or so).

Don't believe the latest narrative they are peddling. The status quo is not as secure as they think it is.

Say anything and change nothing. There's a reason this statement resonated then and there's a reason it won't resonate now.

That is all.

WE NEED GOVERNMENT BY AND FOR THE PEOPLE – AND WE NEED IT NOW!

There is widespread agreement among voters that our government, corrupted by money, is now promoting the interests of Wall Street, mega banks, and corporations, instead of promoting the general welfare.

The greatest blessing that we have as citizens of the United States of America is the power to change our government by exercising our right to vote. We the people need to make 2016 a transformative election. We need to support and elect candidates who will represent the common interest instead of special interests.

The serious and immediate nature of the threat posed by the climate crisis infuses a sense of urgency into the need to replace corporatists with populists in elective offices at all levels of government. We must vote climate champions into office and climate obstructionists out of office sooner, rather than later.

WINSTON’S PLATFORM:

Make our government more democratic. We need to level the playing field for our elections by providing a public financing option for candidates for office.

A green New Deal for Missouri. We need to move to clean, renewable energy as rapidly as possible. A proper response to the climate crisis will move people off of welfare and put them to work on New Deal type jobs programs that pay a living wage.

Make health care more affordable. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as “Obamacare”) has made health insurance available to millions of people who were previously uninsured, but it has not made health care any more affordable overall. The cost of health insurance continues to rise. A market-oriented public option for health insurance would reduce the cost of health care by getting both government and private insurance companies out of the way and facilitating direct interactions between patients and health care providers in most cases.

DIRECT DEMOCRACY IS AN OPTION IN MISSOURI

Most candidates for public office talk a lot about what they will do if elected. In many cases, they will not be able to follow through, even if their intentions are good, because they need the support of other elected officials in order to actually pass legislation.

Winston has taken advantage of the fact that Missouri is among the 24 states that offer citizens the option of proposing and passing legislation, without going through state legislatures, by the use of initiative petitions. He has drafted and filed a number of initiative petitions that would allow voters in Missouri to vote directly on proposals that would address our most immediate problems.

Winston is leading a petition drive to put one of his ballot initiative (a public financing option for candidates) on the ballot in Missouri on November 8, 2016. (More information regarding this initiative petition is available on this web site.) This is not politics-as-usual.

CHANGE WILL COME

As the election of 2016 approaches, change is in the air. It is clear that a large number of voters are tired of politics as usual and ready to turn to new leaders with fresh ideas. A populist uprising is clearly underway, seeking to put in place a government by and for the people by electing populists to replace the corporatists that currently dominate our government.

A political campaign is a team effort. With the active participation of enough voters, we can win elections. We can put Winston’s initiative proposal on the ballot and pass them into law. We can get Winston elected as Missouri’s Lieutenant Governor. We can get like-minded candidates elected up and down the ballot.

All that is necessary for the forces of good to triumph in this world is for enough good people to do something.

WE NEED GOVERNMENT BY AND FOR THE PEOPLE – AND WE NEED IT NOW!

There is widespread agreement among voters that our government, corrupted by money, is now promoting the interests of Wall Street, mega banks, and corporations, instead of promoting the general welfare.

The greatest blessing that we have as citizens of the United States of America is the power to change our government by exercising our right to vote. We the people need to make 2016 a transformative election. We need to support and elect candidates who will represent the common interest instead of special interests.

The serious and immediate nature of the threat posed by the climate crisis infuses a sense of urgency into the need to replace corporatists with populists in elective offices at all levels of government. We must vote climate champions into office and climate obstructionists out of office sooner, rather than later.

WINSTON’S PLATFORM:

Make our government more democratic. We need to level the playing field for our elections by providing a public financing option for candidates for office.

A green New Deal for Missouri. We need to move to clean, renewable energy as rapidly as possible. A proper response to the climate crisis will move people off of welfare and put them to work on New Deal type jobs programs that pay a living wage.

Make health care more affordable. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as “Obamacare”) has made health insurance available to millions of people who were previously uninsured, but it has not made health care any more affordable overall. The cost of health insurance continues to rise. A market-oriented public option for health insurance would reduce the cost of health care by getting both government and private insurance companies out of the way and facilitating direct interactions between patients and health care providers in most cases.

DIRECT DEMOCRACY IS AN OPTION IN MISSOURI

Most candidates for public office talk a lot about what they will do if elected. In many cases, they will not be able to follow through, even if their intentions are good, because they need the support of other elected officials in order to actually pass legislation.

Winston has taken advantage of the fact that Missouri is among the 24 states that offer citizens the option of proposing and passing legislation, without going through state legislatures, by the use of initiative petitions. He has drafted and filed a number of initiative petitions that would allow voters in Missouri to vote directly on proposals that would address our most immediate problems.

Winston is leading a petition drive to put one of his ballot initiative (a public financing option for candidates) on the ballot in Missouri on November 8, 2016. (More information regarding this initiative petition is available on this web site.) This is not politics-as-usual.

CHANGE WILL COME

As the election of 2016 approaches, change is in the air. It is clear that a large number of voters are tired of politics as usual and ready to turn to new leaders with fresh ideas. A populist uprising is clearly underway, seeking to put in place a government by and for the people by electing populists to replace the corporatists that currently dominate our government.

A political campaign is a team effort. With the active participation of enough voters, we can win elections. We can put Winston’s initiative proposal on the ballot and pass them into law. We can get Winston elected as Missouri’s Lieutenant Governor. We can get like-minded candidates elected up and down the ballot.

All that is necessary for the forces of good to triumph in this world is for enough good people to do something.

WE NEED GOVERNMENT BY AND FOR THE PEOPLE – AND WE NEED IT NOW!

There is widespread agreement among voters that our government, corrupted by money, is now promoting the interests of Wall Street, mega banks, and corporations, instead of promoting the general welfare.

The greatest blessing that we have as citizens of the United States of America is the power to change our government by exercising our right to vote. We the people need to make 2016 a transformative election. We need to support and elect candidates who will represent the common interest instead of special interests.

The serious and immediate nature of the threat posed by the climate crisis infuses a sense of urgency into the need to replace corporatists with populists in elective offices at all levels of government. We must vote climate champions into office and climate obstructionists out of office sooner, rather than later.

WINSTON’S PLATFORM:

Make our government more democratic. We need to level the playing field for our elections by providing a public financing option for candidates for office.

A green New Deal for Missouri. We need to move to clean, renewable energy as rapidly as possible. A proper response to the climate crisis will move people off of welfare and put them to work on New Deal type jobs programs that pay a living wage.

Make health care more affordable. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as “Obamacare”) has made health insurance available to millions of people who were previously uninsured, but it has not made health care any more affordable overall. The cost of health insurance continues to rise. A market-oriented public option for health insurance would reduce the cost of health care by getting both government and private insurance companies out of the way and facilitating direct interactions between patients and health care providers in most cases.

DIRECT DEMOCRACY IS AN OPTION IN MISSOURI

Most candidates for public office talk a lot about what they will do if elected. In many cases, they will not be able to follow through, even if their intentions are good, because they need the support of other elected officials in order to actually pass legislation.

Winston has taken advantage of the fact that Missouri is among the 24 states that offer citizens the option of proposing and passing legislation, without going through state legislatures, by the use of initiative petitions. He has drafted and filed a number of initiative petitions that would allow voters in Missouri to vote directly on proposals that would address our most immediate problems.

Winston is leading a petition drive to put one of his ballot initiative (a public financing option for candidates) on the ballot in Missouri on November 8, 2016. (More information regarding this initiative petition is available on this web site.) This is not politics-as-usual.

CHANGE WILL COME

As the election of 2016 approaches, change is in the air. It is clear that a large number of voters are tired of politics as usual and ready to turn to new leaders with fresh ideas. A populist uprising is clearly underway, seeking to put in place a government by and for the people by electing populists to replace the corporatists that currently dominate our government.

A political campaign is a team effort. With the active participation of enough voters, we can win elections. We can put Winston’s initiative proposal on the ballot and pass them into law. We can get Winston elected as Missouri’s Lieutenant Governor. We can get like-minded candidates elected up and down the ballot.

All that is necessary for the forces of good to triumph in this world is for enough good people to do something.

WE NEED GOVERNMENT BY AND FOR THE PEOPLE – AND WE NEED IT NOW!

There is widespread agreement among voters that our government, corrupted by money, is now promoting the interests of Wall Street, mega banks, and corporations, instead of promoting the general welfare.

The greatest blessing that we have as citizens of the United States of America is the power to change our government by exercising our right to vote. We the people need to make 2016 a transformative election. We need to support and elect candidates who will represent the common interest instead of special interests.

The serious and immediate nature of the threat posed by the climate crisis infuses a sense of urgency into the need to replace corporatists with populists in elective offices at all levels of government. We must vote climate champions into office and climate obstructionists out of office sooner, rather than later.

WINSTON’S PLATFORM:

Make our government more democratic. We need to level the playing field for our elections by providing a public financing option for candidates for office.

A green New Deal for Missouri. We need to move to clean, renewable energy as rapidly as possible. A proper response to the climate crisis will move people off of welfare and put them to work on New Deal type jobs programs that pay a living wage.

Make health care more affordable. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as “Obamacare”) has made health insurance available to millions of people who were previously uninsured, but it has not made health care any more affordable overall. The cost of health insurance continues to rise. A market-oriented public option for health insurance would reduce the cost of health care by getting both government and private insurance companies out of the way and facilitating direct interactions between patients and health care providers in most cases.

DIRECT DEMOCRACY IS AN OPTION IN MISSOURI

Most candidates for public office talk a lot about what they will do if elected. In many cases, they will not be able to follow through, even if their intentions are good, because they need the support of other elected officials in order to actually pass legislation.

Winston has taken advantage of the fact that Missouri is among the 24 states that offer citizens the option of proposing and passing legislation, without going through state legislatures, by the use of initiative petitions. He has drafted and filed a number of initiative petitions that would allow voters in Missouri to vote directly on proposals that would address our most immediate problems.

Winston is leading a petition drive to put one of his ballot initiative (a public financing option for candidates) on the ballot in Missouri on November 8, 2016. (More information regarding this initiative petition is available on this web site.) This is not politics-as-usual.

CHANGE WILL COME

As the election of 2016 approaches, change is in the air. It is clear that a large number of voters are tired of politics as usual and ready to turn to new leaders with fresh ideas. A populist uprising is clearly underway, seeking to put in place a government by and for the people by electing populists to replace the corporatists that currently dominate our government.

A political campaign is a team effort. With the active participation of enough voters, we can win elections. We can put Winston’s initiative proposal on the ballot and pass them into law. We can get Winston elected as Missouri’s Lieutenant Governor. We can get like-minded candidates elected up and down the ballot.

All that is necessary for the forces of good to triumph in this world is for enough good people to do something.

WE NEED GOVERNMENT BY AND FOR THE PEOPLE – AND WE NEED IT NOW!

There is widespread agreement among voters that our government, corrupted by money, is now promoting the interests of Wall Street, mega banks, and corporations, instead of promoting the general welfare.

The greatest blessing that we have as citizens of the United States of America is the power to change our government by exercising our right to vote. We the people need to make 2016 a transformative election. We need to support and elect candidates who will represent the common interest instead of special interests.

The serious and immediate nature of the threat posed by the climate crisis infuses a sense of urgency into the need to replace corporatists with populists in elective offices at all levels of government. We must vote climate champions into office and climate obstructionists out of office sooner, rather than later.

WINSTON’S PLATFORM:

Make our government more democratic. We need to level the playing field for our elections by providing a public financing option for candidates for office.

A green New Deal for Missouri. We need to move to clean, renewable energy as rapidly as possible. A proper response to the climate crisis will move people off of welfare and put them to work on New Deal type jobs programs that pay a living wage.

Make health care more affordable. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly referred to as “Obamacare”) has made health insurance available to millions of people who were previously uninsured, but it has not made health care any more affordable overall. The cost of health insurance continues to rise. A market-oriented public option for health insurance would reduce the cost of health care by getting both government and private insurance companies out of the way and facilitating direct interactions between patients and health care providers in most cases.

DIRECT DEMOCRACY IS AN OPTION IN MISSOURI

Most candidates for public office talk a lot about what they will do if elected. In many cases, they will not be able to follow through, even if their intentions are good, because they need the support of other elected officials in order to actually pass legislation.

Winston has taken advantage of the fact that Missouri is among the 24 states that offer citizens the option of proposing and passing legislation, without going through state legislatures, by the use of initiative petitions. He has drafted and filed a number of initiative petitions that would allow voters in Missouri to vote directly on proposals that would address our most immediate problems.

Winston is leading a petition drive to put one of his ballot initiative (a public financing option for candidates) on the ballot in Missouri on November 8, 2016. (More information regarding this initiative petition is available on this web site.) This is not politics-as-usual.

CHANGE WILL COME

As the election of 2016 approaches, change is in the air. It is clear that a large number of voters are tired of politics as usual and ready to turn to new leaders with fresh ideas. A populist uprising is clearly underway, seeking to put in place a government by and for the people by electing populists to replace the corporatists that currently dominate our government.

A political campaign is a team effort. With the active participation of enough voters, we can win elections. We can put Winston’s initiative proposal on the ballot and pass them into law. We can get Winston elected as Missouri’s Lieutenant Governor. We can get like-minded candidates elected up and down the ballot.

All that is necessary for the forces of good to triumph in this world is for enough good people to do something.