Last Call For Putin On The Blitz

Cold, hard realpolitik in the Obama era is giving me a headache, and no migraine is larger than Syria right now. I'm not surprised at all that the new plan to cooperate with Russia over Syria to fight ISIS is on terms that are apparently very, very good for the existing Assad regime and for our good friend Vlad. Josh Rogin at WaPo:

The Obama administration’s new proposal to Russia on Syria is more extensive than previously known. It would open the way for deep cooperation between U.S. and Russian military and intelligence agencies and coordinated air attacks by American and Russian planes on Syrian rebels deemed to be terrorists,according to the text of the proposal I obtained. 

Secretary of State John F. Kerry plans to discuss the plan with top Russian officials in a visit to Moscow on Thursday. As I first reported last month, the administration is proposing joining with Russia in a ramped-up bombing campaign against Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s Syria branch, which is also known as the Nusrah Front. What hasn’t been previously reported is that the United States is suggesting a new military command-and-control headquarters to coordinate the air campaign that would house U.S. and Russian military officers, intelligence officials and subject-matter experts. 

Overall, the proposal would dramatically shift the United States’ Syria policy by directing more American military power against Jabhat al-Nusra, which unlike the Islamic State is focused on fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. While this would expand the U.S. counterterrorism mission in Syria, it would also be a boon for the Assad regime, which could see the forces it is fighting dramatically weakened. The plan also represents a big change in U.S.-Russia policy. It would give Russian President Vladi­mir Putin something he has long wanted: closer military relations with the United States and a thawing of his international isolation. That’s why the Pentagon was initially opposed to the plan. 

Yet for all this, it’s not at all clear that the plan will be accepted by Putin — or that Russia will fulfill its terms if he does. Administration officials caution that no final decisions have been made and that no formal agreement has been reached between the two countries. Negotiations over the text are ongoing ahead of Kerry’s arrival in Russia.

So what we'd really be doing is attacking the largest thorn in Assad's side and helping Russia with their favorite dictator in the Middle East, in exchange for...what, exactly?

In exchange for U.S. assistance against Jabhat al-Nusra, the Russian side would be required to limit airstrikes to targets both sides agreed on and also to ensure that the Syrian air force would stand down and not bomb targets in agreed-upon “designated areas.” 

The proposal provides some large exceptions for the constraints on the Russians and the Assad regime, however. The Russian air force would still be permitted to strike Jabhat al-Nusra unilaterally if there were an “imminent threat” to their personnel. The Syrian regime would be allowed to bomb Jabhat al-Nusra if the group tried to advance beyond “designated areas” in which they already operate. Also, if Jabhat al-Nusra attacked the regime, even from the “designated areas,” the Russians could come to the aid of the regime, according to the proposal. The details of the “designated areas” are not spelled out in the document. 

“All actions should be consistent with the terms of the cessation of hostilities,” the document states, referring the cease-fire. The State Department admits neither Russia nor the Assad regime are adhering to the cease-fire now.

In the second part of the proposal, called the “Approach for Practical Russian-American Cooperation against Daesh and Jabhat al Nusra and Strengthening the Cessation of Hostilities,” the administration spells out details about how it wants the United States and Russia to work together on the ground. 

Within five days of establishment of the JIG, the two sides are to come up with a common map of all Jabhat al-Nusra locations and begin sharing intelligence on leadership targets, training camps, logistical depots, supply lines and headquarters. They will then set about developing targets for strikes in the “designated areas.”

Right, so Assad would totally, seriously, super promise not to keep bombing the crap out of the smoking rubble of what's left in Syria, with six million people already displaced and hundreds of thousands more fleeing each month.   Except for you know the part where the exceptions to that promise allow him to do just that and gleefully continue to destroy one of the oldest civilizations on Earth because people made him feel bad about his dead father.

Sure, this seems like a great deal for the folks that are left in Syria, and something that totally isn't going to blow up and turn into an even worse problem in 2017 and beyond.

Good job, Obama foreign policy team.  I feel confident that this won't be a collosal garbage fire, because we can totally trust Assad and Putin completely.

I'm going to take some Aleve for this migraine, in the meantime.

Gotta Catch Em, Law!

I understand that legislation keeping up with technology is always a challenge in America, and lord knows Pokemon Go is causing me headaches at work as our company's mobility device administrator, but boy, this didn't take long, did it?

Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, a Brooklyn Democrat and established nanny-stater, said he is "concerned” that people playing Pokemon Go, the viral augmented reality game, pose a risk to public safety.

"Like any new technology, it has its advantages and disadvantages, and like any new technology, it has to be looked at very, very carefully. Everything comes down to people’s responsibility as well as corporate responsibility,” Ortiz said Tuesday. "Every single one of us who might want to play this game have to be very cautious. Who’s sending what, and what is the follow up? Everyone should be cautious to make sure that no intruders will be able to tap into this and have people think they’re going to the park when in reality they’re going to a be targeted by some rapist. People could think they’re going to the bank, but in reality, someone is waiting to take their money.” 

Already, people in Baltimore and elsewhere have been mugged while glued to their phones, which display balls and digital avatars on videos of people's actual surroundings.
Ortiz said he was concerned people would play in busy streets, or while driving cars. The latter fear is shared by the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, whose leader, Terri Egan, warned that it could have “tragic real-world consequences.” 

"Catching virtual creatures to get to the next level is not worth risking your life or the lives of others,” she stated. 

Ortiz has a reputation at the Capitol for being a noodge: he has proposed banning the use of salt in restaurants, taxes on alcohol and sugary drinks as well as admission to strip clubs. 

He said he’s not prepared to introduce legislation relating to Pokemon Go or other games, at least not yet, but hopes game companies recognize potential risks in their products and react accordingly. He pointed to a recall announced this week of hoverboards — which, yes, Ortiz also carries a bill to regulate. 

"My big call is to the company, to watch what is happening. They should be vigilant before they become liable,” he said. "If it’s an issue they can pull out and fix, they won’t be liable. Otherwise, I will introduce legislation.”

So my immediate question comes back to this topic: not only do I worry about police harassing people of color who are safely playing the game in their own neighborhoods and homes, but how long before actually playing Pokemon Go becomes yet another violation of the law that police selectively enforce against people of color?

Here's an idea, if you're worried about regulating people's safety, DO SOMETHING ABOUT GUN CONTROL AND UNIVERSAL BACKGROUND CHECKS RATHER THAN POKEMON GO.

Idiots.

This is going to be another long, brutal summer I think.

Going To Town With President Obama

President Obama will host a nationally televised town hall meeting on race in America tonight at 8 PM, and the Disney networks will cover it in its entirety.

In an unprecedented move, all of the networks owned by Walt Disney Co. will air a town hall with President Obama on race relations in prime time on Thursday.

The town hall event, to begin at 8 p.m., will be commercial free.

ABC-TV, ESPN, ABC News Digital, Freeform Digital, the WATCH ABC app, the WatchESPN app, Yahoo, and ABC Radio will all air the town hall, titled "The President and The People: A National Conversation.” 

It will air live from Washington, D.C., and will be produced by ABC News.

World News Tonight anchor David Muir will co-moderate the event. His co-moderator will be ESPN commentator Jemele Hill, who normally hosts a sports banter program called "His & Hers," with Michael Smith, on ESPN 2.

The president is scheduled to discuss race relations, policing and gun violence.

The town hall comes on the heels of a series of separate highly publicized shootings of African-American men by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, and the sniper ambush killings of five police officers during a protest in Dallas last week.

I'm 110% for this and will definitely be watching this evening.  Pay attention, folks.  This is the president using his bully pulpit to an unprecedented degree at a time when it is most sorely needed.

No doubt Republicans will go insane over this and will demand investigations of the FCC for allowing this "abuse of ececutive power" to happen.

Not even kidding about that.  Watch.

StupidiNews!

• Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump will take the unusual step of announcing his running mate before the party's convention on Friday morning.
• The case of which bathroom a Virginia transgender high school student can use goes to the Supreme Court as lawyers are seeking an emergency stay from a lower court ruling.
• Hungary has shut down a reactor at its Paks nuclear plant due to an equipment malfunction, officials say the reactor's automated systems kicked in preventing any safety issues.
• Japan's population continues to shrink as people are having fewer children, even as the number of foreigners in the country grew to 2.17 million in 2015. 
• Democratic Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota wants answers to the virtual world/real world privacy questions raised by the popularity of the Pokemon Go smartphone app.

Last Call For The Full Ginsburg

The NY Times is quite upset that Justice Ruth Bader Ginburg would voice an opinion about Donald Trump being less than optimal for America if he were elected president.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg needs to drop the political punditry and the name-calling.

Three times in the past week, Justice Ginsburg has publicly discussed her view of the presidential race, in the sharpest terms. In an interview with The Times published Sunday, Justice Ginsburg said, “I can’t imagine what the country would be — with Donald Trump as our president,” joking that if her husband were alive, he might have said, “It’s time for us to move to New Zealand.”

Earlier, in an interview with The Associated Press that appeared on Friday, when asked to consider a Trump victory, Justice Ginsburg replied, “I don’t want to think about that possibility, but if it should be, then everything is up for grabs.”

On Monday Justice Ginsburg doubled down, calling Mr. Trump “a faker,” who “has no consistency about him.” In that interview, with CNN, she added: “He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego.”

The basic argument is that stooping to the level of the late Justice Antonin Scalia and uttering political proclamations about the executive branch is beneath Notorious RBG, particularly when they involve an upcoming election.  I can see that point of view, but then Donald Trump exploded on Twitter today and basically proved Justice Ginsburg was correct.

Trump on Tuesday fired back.

“I think it’s a disgrace to the court, and I think she should apologize to the court,” he told the newspaper. “And I would hope that she would get off the court as soon as possible.”

He added, “I think it’s highly inappropriate that a United States Supreme Court judge gets involved in a political campaign, frankly.”

Now, can you imagine what thin-skinned Trump would dare to do if the Supreme Court ever ruled against his administration?

Pretty sure Justice Ginsburg made us all consider that this week.

A Whiter Shade Of Beyond The Pale

The narrative that Democrats have abandoned "working-class Midwest whites" who are now rallying around Trump because of "class issues" is the chosen narrative of the Village to explain away all of Trump's unfortunate support from the white supremacist movement in the US, but Nick Confessore over at the NY Times is at least acknowledging that this handwaving is, you know, a real problem for America right now.

Outside a former aircraft factory in Bethpage, N.Y., not far from a strip of halal butchers and Indian restaurants now known as Little India, a Long Island housewife who gave her name as Kathy Reb finished a cigarette on a spring evening. Nervously, she explained how she had watched the complexion of her suburb outside New York City change. “Everyone’s sticking together in their groups,” she said, “so white people have to, too.” 

The resentment among whites feels both old and distinctly of this moment. It is shaped by the reality of demographic change, by a decade and a half of war in the Middle East, and by unease with the newly confident and confrontational activism of young blacks furious over police violence. It is mingled with patriotism, pride, fear and a sense that an America without them at its center is not really America anymore. 

In the months since Mr. Trump began his campaign, the percentage of Americans who say race relations are worsening has increased, reaching nearly half in an April poll by CBS News. The sharpest rise was among Republicans: Sixty percent said race relations were getting worse. 

And Mr. Trump’s rise is shifting the country’s racial discourse just as the millennial generation comes fully of age, more and more distant from the horrors of the Holocaust, or the government-sanctioned racism of Jim Crow. 

Some are elated by the turn. In making the explicit assertion of white identity and grievance more widespread, Mr. Trump has galvanized the otherwise marginal world of avowed white nationalists and self-described “race realists.” They hail him as a fellow traveler who has driven millions of white Americans toward an intuitive embrace of their ideals: that race should matter as much to white people as it does to everyone else. He has freed Americans, those activists say, to say what they really believe. 

“The discussion that white Americans never want to have is this question of identity — who are we?” said Richard Spencer, 38, a writer and activist whose Montana-based nonprofit is dedicated to “the heritage, identity and future of people of European descent” in the United States. “He is bringing identity politics for white people into the public sphere in a way no one has.”

White folks as a whole are definitely not ready for an America where white people are no longer the cultural, social, historical, and legal default, so the goal is to square the circle and get them back on top again.  Here's the rub though, they always have been on top and still are in many way, just not as in many way as they were in say, 1956, 1976 or even 1996.

The country is still adjusting, and will be for some time.  But let's be real here, Donald Trump is empowering the forces that want to take us back to to 1956 in one fell swoop, and that can't be allowed to happen, and there are plenty of folks on the left who will be willing to help Trump do just that come November.

We'll see what comes from it.

Our Poll Arised Nation, Con't

Two polls out today showing the race for the White House going off in completely different directions.  First, Reuters is out with a new national poll showing Hillary Clinton with a major lead:

Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton extended her lead over Republican rival Donald Trump to 13 percentage points in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday, up from 10 points at the end of last week. 

The July 8-12 poll showed 46 percent of likely voters supported Clinton, the former secretary of state, while 33 percent supported Trump, a celebrity real estate developer. Another 21 percent did not support either candidate. 

That compared with 45 percent who supported Clinton and 35 percent who supported Trump in the five days to July 8. 

Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has mostly led in the national online poll this year. The last time Trump came close to Clinton's popularity was in early May, when his last two rivals for the Republican nomination dropped out of the race and party leaders started to line up behind his campaign.

Trump, who is expected to become the official Republican nominee at the party's convention next week, has since lost ground in the poll as he struggled to refocus his campaign from the Republican nominating contests to the Nov. 8 general election.

The poll also shows Clinton breaking even on popularity, where Trump is mired in the upper 30's. That however is a far cry from the latest Quinnipiac swing state poll of Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, showing Trump leading or tied with Clinton and Trump winning all three states when third party candidates Jill Stein and Gary Johnson are factored in.

With a drop in grades on honesty and moral standards, Democrat Hillary Clinton loses an 8-point lead over Republican Donald Trump in Florida, and finds herself in too-close-to-call races in the three critical swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to a Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll released today.

Clinton loses ground on almost every measure from a June 21 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. The Swing State Poll focuses on Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania because since 1960 no candidate has won the presidential race without taking at least two of these three states.

The presidential matchups show: 

• Florida - Trump at 42 percent to Clinton's 39, compared to a 47 - 39 percent Clinton lead June 21;
• Ohio - Clinton and Trump tied 41 - 41 percent, compared to a 40 - 40 percent tie June 21;
• Pennsylvania - Trump at 43 percent to Clinton's 41 percent, compared to June 21, when Clinton had 42 percent to Trump's 41 percent. With third party candidates in the race, results are:
• Florida - Trump leads Clinton 41 - 36 percent, with 7 percent for Libertarian Gary Johnson and 4 percent for Green Party candidate Jill Stein;
• Ohio - Trump at 37 percent to Clinton's 36 percent, with Johnson at 7 percent and Stein at 6 percent;
• Pennsylvania - Trump over Clinton 40 - 34 percent with 9 percent for Johnson and 3 percent for Stein.

"Donald Trump enters the Republican Convention on a small roll in the three most important swing states in the country. He has wiped out Hillary Clinton's lead in Florida; is on the upside of too-close to call races in Florida and Pennsylvania and is locked in a dead heat in Ohio," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

Needless to say, at least one of these polls is badly, badly wrong.  If Reuters is correct, Hillary Clinton is on her way to an historic landslide victory, where a 13 point lead would end up giving her possible wins in previously safe, deep red states like Texas, Tennessee, Alaska, and even Kentucky, setting up a complete Republican wipeout in November that would totally reverse the last six years of GOP gains in Congress.

But if Quinnipiac is right, it's entirely possible that both national third party candidates may end up in double digits and give Trump the wins across the Rust Belt that he has to have in order to win in November and possibly putting other Rust Belt blue states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and even Illinois and Minnesota into serious contention for Trump and the GOP.  That in turn could relegate the Democrats to a regional coastal minority for the next decade.

The truth, dear reader, is somewhere in between, I suspect.  There's no way I believe that Clinton is ahead by 13 nationally, but there's no way I believe that Trump is ahead in Florida by five and PA by six points right now, either.  The Reuters poll is probably closer to the truth, but it's not nor will it ever be a double digit lead unless Trump completely crashes.

On the gripping hand, the new McClatchy poll showing Clinton ahead 42-39 while only getting 81% of the black vote, only 57% of Sanders supporters, and only 52% of the Latino vote is complete nonsense.

I suspect we'll have a clearer picture come August once the conventions are over.

StupidiNews!

• China now says it will strongly consider establishing a military air defense zone over the South China Sea in reaction to losing an international territorial ruling to a court in the Hague.
• A new study finds black drivers living in predominately African-American zip codes pay on average 70% more in auto insurance costs nationwide.
• The solar-powered Solar Impulse 2 plane has landed safely in Cairo, Egypt as it continues to circle the globe and will tackle the trip's final leg to Abu Dhabi later this month.
• Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg faces sharp criticism from conservatives after she voiced her opinion this week calling Trump a "faker" unfit for the presidency.
• Criticism over where it's appropriate to play Pokemon Go is igniting a national debate over the digital rights of public and private places in America.

Last Call For The Speech In Dallas

President Obama must hate giving these speeches in the wake of mass shooting tragedies, yet he keeps on going even as he is visibly aware that his time in the White House is running out.  His speech today in Dallas was both no exception, and exceptional. The Dallas Morning News editorial board covered it:

Dallas' response in the days since five of our police officers were murdered demonstrates that our city can help show America how to heal its divisions over race and ease tensions over police violence.

That was the message President Barack Obama delivered Tuesday, and we couldn't agree more.

The shooter, Obama noted, was motivated by racial hatred, but the white officers he killed had been motivated by love and service. Dallas has responded with more love and unity in the days since.

That's a recipe for hope, the president said.

"We are not as divided as we seem," he said. "And I know that because I know America. I know how far we've come against impossible odds. ... And I know it because of what we've seen here in Dallas."

We weren't waiting for the President to tell us we've done what is right. We feel it in our bones, and see it in our neighbors' faces. But the words are welcome anyway.

The truth is, even before any of Tuesday's speeches, the service at the Meyerson Symphony Hall was poignant and pitch-perfect. It was an appropriate capstone for five painful days that, despite our tears, have showed Dallas at its best.

Barack Obama truly believes America is better than the deaths of black people, the deaths of police protecting a protest of police,  the blazing hatred that has shown its ugly head nearly every day of this man's presidency.  He believes we are better.

Even when we do not.

"I've seen how inadequate words can be in bringing about lasting change. I've seen how inadequate my own words have been," he said.

He went beyond words, however, when he urged us to confront the racism we too often ignore. It is real, and the protesters like the ones in our streets last Thursday speak from places of pain and desperation. We must hear them even as we honor our police.

That's what Dallas can do, and the good news is we've already begun.

As Obama said: "Weeping may endure for a night but I'm convinced joy comes in the morning."

I'm weary of waiting for that joy.  I'm tired of shouting into the night and expecting the sun to come up.  I'm tired of an entire political party dedicated to making everyone but themselves miserable. I'm tired of being considered a dangerous, mindless brute and hearing from people I trust and even love that my experiences aren't happening, can't be happening in this America in 2016.  I'm tired of the psychic damage delivered offhand by someone who never has truly wanted for anything.

Barack Obama has been through that times a million.  And yet he keeps going.

That does give me hope.

Where Bernie Went Wrong

Fusion author Terrell Starr gives us a very good postmortem for the Sanders campaign on why they lost to Hillary Clinton, and it's because while both campaigns absolutely took black voters like myself for granted, Clinton at least made an effort to listen to that criticism and tried to correct it, while Sanders continued to assume that black voters would magically just go to him over his message.

It didn’t have to be that way. But his campaign never explained how black people fit into his vision of a radically changed America. And, according to a series of Fusion interviews with former staff members, campaign leadership didn’t really see the point in trying.

Those former staffers described a campaign that failed to give its black outreach teams the resources they needed, that never figured out how to connect to black audiences, and that marginalized black media.

In the process, the campaign missed a chance to capitalize on a revolutionary message that otherwise might have appealed to black voters frustrated with the current political order.

Instead, Sanders was clobbered by Hillary Clinton among black voters in state after state after state, including some where Sanders either won white voters or lost them narrowly. The gap made it all but impossible for him to win the nomination.

Sanders himself was “sincere to the core,” said Roy Tatem, the campaign’s former deputy director for African-American outreach. But he said he felt that neither campaign manager Jeff Weaver nor other high-ranking figures thought Sanders could overcome Hillary Clinton’s appeal to black voters.
“I think they felt that the relationship with Hillary was so strong that they didn’t have confidence in doing much of anything to change it,” Tatem said. “Some people felt he had a better chance at winning the Latino vote and the millennial vote than the black vote.”

In other words, as Elon James White has been saying for the last 12 months, "Earn this damn vote or lose."  Bernie made no effort to do so, none at all.  Hillary has made some effort to do that at least, but still has some ways to go.  The difference?  She realized that no Democrat can win nationally without the black vote.  Bernie did not. He blew chance after chance to do so.

As such, Bernie lost.  There is a lesson here for those who wish to learn it.

The NeverEnding Boring

Understand that as long as Republicans remain in charge of the House of Representatives, that they will never, never, never stop going after Hillary Clinton.

Two House Committees on Monday asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Hillary Clinton perjured herself on the email controversy while testifying before Benghazi Committee investigators in October.

Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) sent the referral to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, asking him to probe claims Clinton made during the hearing last fall that have proved false.

Clinton testified, for example, that she neither sent nor received emails marked classified, and that she turned over all her work-related emails to the State Department. FBI Director James Comey said those statements were wrong during a hearing last week. She did receive some emails with classified markings, he said; his agents found them during their investigation. And they also discovered thousands of work-related messages her lawyers failed to turn over, he said.

“The evidence collected by the FBI during its investigation of Secretary Clinton’s use of a personal email system appears to directly contradict several aspects of her sworn testimony,” the committee chairmen wrote. “In light of those contradictions, the Department should investigate and determine whether to prosecute Secretary Clinton for violating statutes that prohibit perjury and false statements to Congress, or any other relevant statutes.”

The Justice Department, run by the Obama administration, is unlikely to act on the referral. But the missive suggests Republicans have no intention of dialing back their protest of the FBI's refusal to prosecute Clinton, or their criticism of the presumed Democratic nominee for her email set-up.

And when the Justice Department tells these little gremlins to go to hell, they will demand a special prosecutor. When that doesn't happen, they will threaten to impeach.  When that doesn't happen, well, who knows?  They'll go after Clinton's aides, convince Senate Republicans to block any and all cabinet appointments, filibuster everything, it won't end.

It won't end until the voters choose to throw them out of the House.

StupidiNews!

• An international tribunal in The Hague has ruled in favor of Philippines versus China over territorial claims in South China Sea, a ruling Beijing already says it will ignore completely.
• A gunman opened fire on a peaceful vigil in Baltimore for a 24-year-old shot and killed Sunday, five people were injured, no arrests have been made.
• Tory lawmaker Theresa May will become Britain's next Prime Minister, replacing David Cameron, who will step down Wednesday in the wake of the UK's Brexit vote.
• President Obama will be joined by Vice President Biden and former President George W. Bush in Dallas today as they attend the memorial for five slain police officers killed last weekend.
• Security experts are cautioning Pokemon Go players on iOS that signing into the game gives it access to a person's entire Google account, documents, information and more.

Last Call For The Big Bern Out

With the scrapping over the DNC platform ahead of the convention all but over, and Bernie Sanders gaining a number of language concessions in the party planks, it's looking more and more like the senator from Vermont is going to endorse Hillary Clinton and move on.

Bernie Sanders will join Hillary Clinton on Tuesday for a rally in New Hampshire, Clinton's campaign announced Monday. 

Sanders will campaign with Clinton at a high school in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, at 11 a.m. Tuesday, less than two weeks before the party's convention begins in Philadelphia.

The Vermont senator's campaign announced his participation minutes after the Clinton team's email hit inboxes, with both announcements sharing the same language that the two former primary rivals will "discuss their commitment to building an America that is stronger together and an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top." 

The joint appearance comes after the Vermont senator scored several victories on the Democratic platform over the weekend in Orlando, Florida, including on climate change, health care and a minimum wage increase to $15. Sanders and his allies, however, lost out on language related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Don't get much more unity than a joint campaign appearance in New Hampshire, folks.  It's long past time for Sanders to throw in the towel and back Hillary, and it looks like he's been given a final chance to do just that.

On to Philly.

Trump's Pence-sive Decision

Several news outlets are reporting that Donald Trump has decided on Indiana GOP Governor Mike Pence as his running mate.

A Donald Trump campaign stop in Indiana scheduled for Tuesday is raising speculation that the presumptive Republican nominee will announce Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate.

The Washington Times reported Sunday evening that Pence has a “95 percent probability” of being Trump's choice, according to sources close to the campaign and to the governor. The first-term Indiana governor’s name has surfaced in recent weeks as a contender for the position. Pence tepidly endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas before the state's May primary, but later backed Trump, praising the chance to "take a new direction" in Washington.

"The kind of leadership that I truly do believe, to borrow a phrase, will make America great again," Pence said during a Thursday campaign stop, according to The Associated Press.

Others said to be under consideration for vice president are former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama.

Considering the convention is coming up next week for the Republicans, Trump certainly doesn't have a lot of time to make a decision.  But Mike Pence wouldn't have a whole lot of time to decide to accept, either.

The coming days could see a major shake-up in Indiana politics as Donald Trump considers Indiana Gov. Mike Pence among others as his Republican vice presidential choice.

Pence is set to attend a campaign fundraising event with the New York billionaire in Indianapolis on Tuesday - just six days before the Republican national convention in Cleveland. The Trump campaign also has scheduled a rally for Tuesday evening in suburban Indianapolis.

If Trump picks Pence as his running mate, it would scramble the Indiana governor's race as Pence could not run for both offices under state law and would have to drop his re-election campaign by noon Friday.

A number of other Republicans are already expressing interest, including House Speaker Brian Bosma and U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita. Lt. Gov. Eric Holcomb, Pence's current running mate, and U.S. Rep. Susan Brooks also are viewed as potential replacements.

It would also definitively link Trump to Indiana, and I'm not sure how that will be received by Republicans in the state.  It's certainly not going to help Trump in November.  The question is will Pence gamble his political career on arguably the worst job in the GOP right now?

We'll see, possibly as soon as tomorrow.

[UPDATE]: Now we're hearing that Indiana has gone completely insane and that former Dem Sen. Evan Bayh could be getting into the state's Senate race to reclaim his old seat.

Evan Bayh is mounting a return bid to the U.S. Senate, giving national Democrats a boost as they aim to retake the chamber in November. 

An announcement about Bayh's candidacy for the Indiana Senate seat is expected later Monday morning, said a source familiar with the plans. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they will not be released publicly until later Monday. 

National Democratic leaders have encouraged Bayh to run for more than a year, ever since incumbent GOP Sen. Dan Coats announced he would not run again. Bayh was dismissive at first, insistent he was done with public life, but Monday's announcement will mark a significant victory for Senate Democratic recruiters. 

Rep. Todd Young won the hotly contested Indiana Republican primary, beating out Rep. Marlin Stutzman for the nomination. Young has been heavily favored to beat Hill in November, but Bayh's entry into the race easily changes that dynamic. 

Bayh stunned Democrats in 2010 when he left the Indiana Senate race after being named the nominee. Indiana Democrats picked then-U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth to fill the Senate slot on the ballot, but he lost to Coats in the 2010 tea party wave. 

In an interesting reversal, Indiana Democrats will now have to formally place Bayh's name on the ballot after nominee Baron Hill announces he is stepping out of the race. That announcement is expected at the same time as Bayh's, according to the source.

Holy crap.  I get to break out my favorite retired StupidiTag!

Black Lives Still Matter In Cincy

While there were hundreds of arrests across the country over the weekend as police broke up Black Lives Matter protests in dozens of cities, thousands marched peacefully in Cincinnati's demonstrations which went on without incident.

Black Lives Matter protesters and a diverse group of supporters took to the streets for two hours, memorializing black men killed by law-enforcement and calling for just punishment of the police officers responsible for their deaths.

The “Enough is Enough” rally remembered black men who died in the past week at the hands of police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and suburban St. Paul, Minnesota. Several signs bore the names of the two victims, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, respectively.

The mother of Samuel DuBose, the unarmed black driver shot and killed a year ago by a University of Cincinnati police officer, spoke to the large crowd in front of Cincinnati police headquarters about the loss she suffered. The officer, Ray Tensing, faces a murder trial in the fall.

“When it happens to you, you got a job to do. You are called out," Audrey DuBose said. "Let’s keep fighting. Don’t wait until it happens to your son.”

Local organizers were undeterred by the sniper ambush that killed five police officers and wounded seven more Thursday night during a Black Lives Matter march in Dallas. They took exception to any suggestion the attack was linked with the Black Lives Matter movement.

"They are sniffing for a connection," Brian Taylor, one of three Black Lives Matter Cincinnati steering committee co-chairs, told the large crowd that assembled in front of District 1 police headquarters in the West End. "We are fed up with police brutality. We are fed up with police not being found guilty."

Organizers took several precautions, primarily against what they perceived as potential police harassment. They formed a legal observation team, designated marshals to guide marchers, gave out two phone numbers for on-call lawyers before marching and collected $3,800 on YouCaring.com for bail money.

Some of the speakers said the deaths of Dallas police officers were “sad and unfair to their families” but also noted such sympathy is not always shown to the families to African-Americans who died in encounters with police.

“Never let it minimize the scope of your own suffering. We are being hunted," Taylor said. "Oppressed people have the greatest capacity for empathy in history."

Cincinnati is often held up as a model of community policing nationally,  but the fact remains that Sam DuBose was still murdered last summer by a UC campus cop, and that Cincinnati and America have a long, long way to go.

Meanwhile, cops are thinking using bomb disposal drones to deliver a breaching charge to deliberately kill suspects is a good idea, so if you thought police reform was going to happen nationally, you're kidding yourself.  San Bernardino, Orlando, and now Dallas have put that idea to rest as police now want more, not less military equipment despite President Obama scaling that back last year.

And this is gear that will be used against people of color, most likely black and Latino people first. I guarantee it.