The results from yesterday’s primary elections in Wisconsin for both parties are clear, but their ramifications not so much. Ted Cruz won the Republican contest, coming just shy of a majority of the vote. The Wisconsin conservative movement mustered a nearly unified front against Donald Trump on behalf of Cruz, and it worked. New Yorkers vote inContinue reading “Wisconsin Primaries Recap”
Author Archives: dsfjr
This Supreme Court Case Was a Big Deal
The Supreme Court decided to not destroy public sector unions in a 4-4 decision yesterday. A split decision affirms the lower court’s ruling, which in this case was the Ninth Circuit’s decision to affirm a yet lower court’s ruling that compelling public sector workers to pay fees used to support their union’s negotiation and legal representation shops doesn’tContinue reading “This Supreme Court Case Was a Big Deal”
Weekend Links
With the weather so nice here during spring, though it gets very windy in the afternoons, we’ve decided to hold at least one outdoor event for the students at our school this semester. A Chinese couple has been kind enough to offer us the use of their space, and it’s about as good as we’reContinue reading “Weekend Links”
Election Numbers Crunching: Democratic Edition
Yesterday we saw that Donald Trump is the only Republican candidate left with a realistic chance of achieving a majority of delegates before the convention. As complicated as figuring that out was, the Democratic Party’s nomination contest is even more of a mess. Let’s deal with the most confusing aspect right at the top: superdelegates.Continue reading “Election Numbers Crunching: Democratic Edition”
Election Numbers Crunching: Republican Edition
The process through which we Americans nominate candidates for president is extraordinarily complicated, as 2016’s election is making excruciatingly clear. Comprehensive, readable results can be found at Real Clear Politics‘ “Election Central: 2016” page. I’ve put their delegate tables into an Excel spreadsheet in order to analyze the current state of both parties’ contests. Following are the results, which include Tuesday’sContinue reading “Election Numbers Crunching: Republican Edition”
Is Moderate John Kasich a Moderate if His Proposals are Indistinguishable from Those of Trump and Cruz? An Investigation
Let’s hear from the man himself. Speaking last month at my alma mater, the University of Virginia, and as noted by The New Yorker‘s Benjamin Wallace-Wells, Ohio Governor John Kasich and candidate for the Republican Party’s nomination for president had this to say: “…of course I’m not a moderate, I’ve been a conservative all my life…” Surely aContinue reading “Is Moderate John Kasich a Moderate if His Proposals are Indistinguishable from Those of Trump and Cruz? An Investigation”
An Open Letter to Sanders Supporters
Dear Bernie Sanders Supporters, There are many good reasons to prefer Sanders to Hillary Clinton. He critiques the current system in a way that proves he understands the economic security issues that so frustrate many Americans. A system in which a person can work a forty-hour week and not get paid anywhere near enough to pay rentContinue reading “An Open Letter to Sanders Supporters”
Requiem for a Rubiobot
Give Jeb Bush credit for something. He saw the writing on the wall and got the hell out before his home state of Florida could make a fool of him. Another Florida man, Marco Rubio, was not so wise. He and his media enablers blundered on in the vain hope that Rubio’s “accomplishments” and “moderation”Continue reading “Requiem for a Rubiobot”
Weekend Links
Today was the first day of classes at our English training school here in Dali, Yunnan Province. This semester I have three classes, each two hours. I am exhausted tonight. It usually takes me two weeks to get back into teaching shape. Teaching English as a foreign language to kids, you’re on your feet prettyContinue reading “Weekend Links”
Sanders Makes Things Interesting; Broken Record Stays Stuck on “In the General Election, Vote the Party Not the Specific Candidate”
As if the 2016 presidential nominating contests weren’t already interesting enough, candidate for the Democratic Party’s nomination Bernie Sanders went out and pulled off an extremely surprising victory in Michigan on Tuesday. For some perspective, Josh Marshall at TPM compares it with the early contests of the Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton battle in 2008. Harry EntenContinue reading “Sanders Makes Things Interesting; Broken Record Stays Stuck on “In the General Election, Vote the Party Not the Specific Candidate””
Nonsense Consensus 