A Clouded Crystal Ball

I base the two sets of predictions below on nothing more reliable than my instincts and gut feelings.  But I think these rankings will be borne out to an appreciable degree.  In each context - South Carolina and Super Tuesday - the rankings run from top-of-the-heap/winner to last place, in reverse order of success.

South Carolina

1. Biden
2. Sanders
3. Bloomberg
4. Warren
5. Buttigieg
6. Klobuchar
7. Styer

Super Tuesday

1. Sanders
2. Biden
3. Bloomberg
4. Warren
5. Buttigieg
6. Styer
7. Klobuchar

Keep in mind that in some of the Super Tuesday contests delegates will be awarded not only by winner-of-the-state, but also, in part, by winner-in-specific districts.  So in the case of Texas, for instance, keep an eye on who wins state Senate districts.

Living in Lockdown

Dr. Tony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, talked to NPR last week about the spread of the Corona virus.   Today, the White House directed all government officials, including health care professionals, to refrain from speaking directly to members of the media.

Dr. Fauci and his colleagues have been instructed by the government to funnel all inquiries about the virus, and the Administration's efforts to deal with it, through Vice President Mike Pence.  Mr. Pence must approve all media appearances by any government health care professional.

Not everyone is pleased with Mr. Pence in this role.

Anti-Lynching Legislation?

You read that right.  Hard as it might be to believe, currently we have no effective Federal anti-lynching law.

In 2020, the House of Representatives passed such a bill.  The law is named for Emmet Till, a 14-year-old African American boy who was kidnapped, beaten and lynched in 1955 after he was accused of whistling at a white woman.

The sponsors of the bill hoped to have it signed in time for Black History Month.  Given that among those who voted against the legislation are Republican Reps. Louie Gohmert, Thomas Massie and Ted Yoho, one can't hep but wonder whether Mitch McConnell followed suit.

Two More Strikes, But They're Still Not Out

The Trump Administration keeps on hitting foul balls.  Today, they racked up two more.

Strike 1

The mind-bending, hard-fought efforts of Afghan women to achieve social and political justice are being abandoned.  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged yesterday that the U. S. will make no effort to convince the Taliban to maintain the freedoms Afghan women have already secured.  Perhaps Mr. Pompeo should view Osama, the first film made in Afghanistan after the ouster of the Taliban from that country's government.

Strike 2

Ken Cuccinelli, Deputy Director of our Department of Homeland Security, had to ask on Twitter for help on the Corona virus.  Keep in mind that The Cooch (his long-time nickname) is one of the people leading our efforts to contain this potential pandemic.  As such, his almost-conspiracy-theory about the origin of the virus shouldn't surprise us, since blaming almost everything on adversaries like Russia and China is de rigueur in TrumpWorld.

Strike 3

Hopefully we can deliver it on Tuesday, November 3, 2020.

Obama on the Sidelines

Speculation is rife among Democratic talking heads and Party insiders that former President Barack Obama may be the only individual capable of stopping what some fear - Bernie Sanders' barreling to the Democratic nomination.

Analysis of Mr. Obama's statements on the matter indicate otherwise.

Green Cards Aren't for Everyone

A policy of the Trump administration has the effect of weaving an America First thread into the fabric of life in the United States.

I've told the story countless times - growing up in a working-class neighborhood in western Pennsylvania, populated by folks whose origins covered most of Europe and even some of other continents, of regularly hearing, in one block in that neighborhood, five languages other than English, of my bub never learning more than a few words of it ...

Had she been subject to the immigration restrictions recently introduced by Ken Cuccinelli and the Department of Homeland Security,  she might not have been allowed off the boat.  It's in that vein in particular that I agree with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayo when she said:

Claiming one emergency after another, the Government has recently sought stays  [on issuing what are known as green cards]  in an unprecedented number of cases.  It is hard to say what is more troubling - that the Government would seek this extraordinary relief seemingly as a matter of course, or that the Court would grant it.

Under what's called the public charge rule, involved in SCOTUS' decision on this matter, I cannot imagine any of my family being granted admission to, or the ability to remain in, the United States..