9:06 PM: Sanders weaves prison and criminal justice reform into the lead in which has heretofore been pretty tightly focused on his economic critique. But again, nothing but coherence.
9:11 PM: This debate has an altogether different feel to it than all the debates this year. Much more old-school and civics-y, sort of the like the ones the League of Women Voters used to put on in the old days.
9:13 PM: I’m sort of curious that Sanders wasn’t willing to answer that question – the percentage size of government question. OTOH, the health care program would expand the government by 40%? That sounds too high.
9:17 PM: Admittedly not the most important issue in this campaign, by why have ‘akrit’ and ‘inakrit’ not become a thing yet?
9:19 PM: Clinton’s getting the better of Sanders here on the health care exchange – in part because he’s falling back on generalities and she’s hitting points that I think are basically accurate.
9:21 PM: “Secretary Clinton, you’re not in the White House yet.”
9:25 PM: I have to confess I find the continued pressing of Clinton over losing the women’s vote a bit gross. I mean, if she wins the male vote, is Bernie unmanned somehow? I mean, he had a big big win. A huge victory. When you win by 22 points you win basically every demographic. It’s almost like shaming at this point.
9:29 PM: Shorter Sanders: If a seventy-something Jewish socialist wins the presidency, it’ll be a breakthrough too. And how.
Marco Rubio announces he cracked a molar on a Twix Bar.
Despite the death of militant leader LaVoy Finicum, it is well worth stepping back to take stock of what the FBI managed to accomplish here, especially after what was often or often seemed to be a very drawn out process of seeing a clique of violent and entitled yahoos thumbing their noses at the law with impunity. The FBI video showed pretty clearly that Finicum essentially forced Oregon State Police to shoot him. At all the other key points, the FBI and local law enforcement managed to de-escalate confrontations and end the entire siege not only with no loss of life but not even any violence.
Gotta love America. While the Oregon standoff was finally coming to a relatively peaceful end, scientists were announcing the first ever direct detection of gravitational waves. So from wannabe 18th century revolutionaries to the leading edge of 21st century physics. Want to understand gravitational waves? A physicist friend posted this comics explainer on Facebook. Feel free to geek out.
One of the Oregon occupiers is resisting surrendering to authorities and could be heard on a live audio feed saying, “I am actually feeling suicidal right now.” We profiled him here.
We can by no means take this as a disinterested claim. And no specific names are mentioned. But a high-ranking Iranian government official, who is an appointee of reformist President Hassan Rouhani, says that Republicans asked the Iranians to delay last months prisoner exchange deal until after the Presidential election.
Final four militants fail to surrender at appointed time, now demanding right-wing Nevada legislator and Franklin Graham come to escort them out.
This got lost a bit in the rush of debates and results out of New Hampshire. But this is really critical information. It turns out that Voter ID laws – now in force in most US states – are even more effective than we thought at reducing minority turnout. A lot more effective.
Now wingnut Patriarch Cliven Bundy has a mugshot and here it is.
He was heading up to Oregon to get in on the fun. But the FBI was there at the airport to arrest him on conspiracy charges tied to the original stand off back in 2014.