Now this is an endorsement. I hope the Hillary team read this, as they ought to use some of the analysis themselves as this primary runs down, and the general against Trump beings.
"Before I get into the reasons I support Clinton, let me first explain why this election really is so important. On Aug. 8, 1945 — two days after the bombing of Hiroshima — Albert Camus wrote an essay warning future generations about the choices before them: “This is no longer a prayer but a demand to be made by all peoples to their governments — a demand to choose definitively between hell and reason.” That is what the stakes of this election are: We are choosing between hell and reason."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kareem-abdul-jabbar-in-this-crucial-election-im-endorsing-hillary-clinton/2016/04/15/305bd5fc-0244-11e6-9203-7b8670959b88_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-e%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
A choice between hell and reason. I love it. And think about it, when you listen to most of the candidates this primary-in both parties, we've heard little reason. I'd argue that Hillary has been the only exception.
"America was founded on the principles emanating from the Age of Reason, also known as the Age of Enlightenment. But today, with the rise of Republican candidates such as Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, we are witnessing a rejection of these foundational ideals in favor of a hellish chaos of lies, misdirection, attacks on the Constitution and, most harmful to the country, a rejection of reason. This last item is especially evident in Trump’s continued dominance despite the fact that so many high-profile people in his own party have vigorously rejected his inflammatory rhetoric, empty promises and lack of knowledge."
How many endorsements invoke the Age of Enlightenment? As DailyNewsBin puts it, Abdul-Jabbar's endorsement is a 'brilliant think piece.'
http://www.dailynewsbin.com/news/kareem-abdul-jabbar/24494/
"I’m frustrated and angry at hearing about frustration and anger toward Washington gridlock as an excuse for embracing candidates who will only add to the problem. But that’s what is happening with Trump and Cruz supporters. These voters share a distrust of experts, preferring “the wisdom of ordinary people.” Really? I prefer the wisdom of a trained physician when I have pain in my chest. One of the problems in Washington is that some legislators ignore the experts, such as the international community of scientists who have studied and confirmed global warming, so as to bury their heads and do nothing. When did we start devaluing intelligence and knowledge?"
Abdul-Jabbar doesn't want to throw shade at the Berners in his endorsement but some of this applies to Bernie as well, of course.
But I agree-the idea that experience and knowledge are a bad thing, is part of an absurd American sentiment that has developed in recent years. Probably Nixon was a big cause of this. But this goes to something Hillary always warned against as Secretary of State: the danger of overcorrection. We are always overcorrecting for the last problem.
If your pilot announces from the cock pit that unlike those other pilots he is not an insider and who needs pilot school-it's just for elitist insiders-you'd head for the exit.
Back to Abdul-Jabbar: his praise of Hillary Clinton's pragmatism is pure poetry.
"I like Bernie Sanders, both for his straight-talking populism and the dedication to the welfare of all Americans in his heart. He’s a decent man with the courage of his convictions. He will make a strong ally for Clinton."
"But Clinton possesses that rare but crucial combination of idealism and pragmatism. She can both envision a better world and take the necessary steps to make that vision a reality. She embodies the principles of the Age of Reason and isn’t afraid to fight against the confederacy of dunces who would undermine the principles of inclusion and diversity that America stands for."
Just these wonderful turns of phrases: 'crucial combination of idealism and pragmatism.' The one candidate to fight against the 'confederacy of dunces.'
Again, he doesn't want to throw shade at the Berners-that's my job!-but Bernie in a way is part of this confederacy of dunces. He is more about angry populism than he is reason.
Jon Favreau also had a great endorsement of the Secretary.
"Every election is a competition between two stories about America. And Trump already knows his by heart: He is a celebrity strongman who will single-handedly save the country from an establishment that is too weak, stupid, corrupt, and politically correct to let us blame the real source of our problems—Muslims and Mexicans and Black Lives Matter protesters; the media, business, and political elites from both parties."
"Trump’s eventual opponent will need to tell a story about America that offers a powerful rebuke to the demagogue’s dark vision for the future. I like Bernie Sanders. I like a lot of what he has to say, I love his idealism, and I believe deeply in his emphasis on grassroots change. My problem is not that his message is unrealistic—it’s that a campaign which is largely about Main St. vs. Wall St. economics is too narrow and divisive for the story we need to tell right now."
"In her campaign against Sanders, Hillary has begun to tell that broader, more inclusive story about the future. There she is, comforting a crying child in Nevada who worries that her parents might be deported. There she is in South Carolina, with five mothers of African-American children who died of gun violence, who told Mother Jones, “She listened and followed through for us. You can’t fake that…She cares. Not only does she care about victims of gun violence but she cares about women, she cares about African Americans. She cares!”
"She cares."
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/26/why-electing-hillary-in-16-is-more-important-than-electing-obama-in-08.html
That's the big difference between her and Bernie. She is the only candidate-he included-that is not about a divisive story of us vs. them.
Women have so often in history been the mediators of their families, of society. For this reason, it's fitting that our first female President will be a mediator. Mediation is what her job as Secretary of Obama's State Department was all about.
For now, the country needs to heal some divisions. In the future we can worry more about who is right. For now, it's more important that we come together as a nation.
"Before I get into the reasons I support Clinton, let me first explain why this election really is so important. On Aug. 8, 1945 — two days after the bombing of Hiroshima — Albert Camus wrote an essay warning future generations about the choices before them: “This is no longer a prayer but a demand to be made by all peoples to their governments — a demand to choose definitively between hell and reason.” That is what the stakes of this election are: We are choosing between hell and reason."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kareem-abdul-jabbar-in-this-crucial-election-im-endorsing-hillary-clinton/2016/04/15/305bd5fc-0244-11e6-9203-7b8670959b88_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-e%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
A choice between hell and reason. I love it. And think about it, when you listen to most of the candidates this primary-in both parties, we've heard little reason. I'd argue that Hillary has been the only exception.
"America was founded on the principles emanating from the Age of Reason, also known as the Age of Enlightenment. But today, with the rise of Republican candidates such as Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, we are witnessing a rejection of these foundational ideals in favor of a hellish chaos of lies, misdirection, attacks on the Constitution and, most harmful to the country, a rejection of reason. This last item is especially evident in Trump’s continued dominance despite the fact that so many high-profile people in his own party have vigorously rejected his inflammatory rhetoric, empty promises and lack of knowledge."
How many endorsements invoke the Age of Enlightenment? As DailyNewsBin puts it, Abdul-Jabbar's endorsement is a 'brilliant think piece.'
http://www.dailynewsbin.com/news/kareem-abdul-jabbar/24494/
"I’m frustrated and angry at hearing about frustration and anger toward Washington gridlock as an excuse for embracing candidates who will only add to the problem. But that’s what is happening with Trump and Cruz supporters. These voters share a distrust of experts, preferring “the wisdom of ordinary people.” Really? I prefer the wisdom of a trained physician when I have pain in my chest. One of the problems in Washington is that some legislators ignore the experts, such as the international community of scientists who have studied and confirmed global warming, so as to bury their heads and do nothing. When did we start devaluing intelligence and knowledge?"
Abdul-Jabbar doesn't want to throw shade at the Berners in his endorsement but some of this applies to Bernie as well, of course.
But I agree-the idea that experience and knowledge are a bad thing, is part of an absurd American sentiment that has developed in recent years. Probably Nixon was a big cause of this. But this goes to something Hillary always warned against as Secretary of State: the danger of overcorrection. We are always overcorrecting for the last problem.
If your pilot announces from the cock pit that unlike those other pilots he is not an insider and who needs pilot school-it's just for elitist insiders-you'd head for the exit.
Back to Abdul-Jabbar: his praise of Hillary Clinton's pragmatism is pure poetry.
"I like Bernie Sanders, both for his straight-talking populism and the dedication to the welfare of all Americans in his heart. He’s a decent man with the courage of his convictions. He will make a strong ally for Clinton."
"But Clinton possesses that rare but crucial combination of idealism and pragmatism. She can both envision a better world and take the necessary steps to make that vision a reality. She embodies the principles of the Age of Reason and isn’t afraid to fight against the confederacy of dunces who would undermine the principles of inclusion and diversity that America stands for."
Just these wonderful turns of phrases: 'crucial combination of idealism and pragmatism.' The one candidate to fight against the 'confederacy of dunces.'
Again, he doesn't want to throw shade at the Berners-that's my job!-but Bernie in a way is part of this confederacy of dunces. He is more about angry populism than he is reason.
Jon Favreau also had a great endorsement of the Secretary.
"Every election is a competition between two stories about America. And Trump already knows his by heart: He is a celebrity strongman who will single-handedly save the country from an establishment that is too weak, stupid, corrupt, and politically correct to let us blame the real source of our problems—Muslims and Mexicans and Black Lives Matter protesters; the media, business, and political elites from both parties."
"Trump’s eventual opponent will need to tell a story about America that offers a powerful rebuke to the demagogue’s dark vision for the future. I like Bernie Sanders. I like a lot of what he has to say, I love his idealism, and I believe deeply in his emphasis on grassroots change. My problem is not that his message is unrealistic—it’s that a campaign which is largely about Main St. vs. Wall St. economics is too narrow and divisive for the story we need to tell right now."
"In her campaign against Sanders, Hillary has begun to tell that broader, more inclusive story about the future. There she is, comforting a crying child in Nevada who worries that her parents might be deported. There she is in South Carolina, with five mothers of African-American children who died of gun violence, who told Mother Jones, “She listened and followed through for us. You can’t fake that…She cares. Not only does she care about victims of gun violence but she cares about women, she cares about African Americans. She cares!”
"She cares."
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/26/why-electing-hillary-in-16-is-more-important-than-electing-obama-in-08.html
That's the big difference between her and Bernie. She is the only candidate-he included-that is not about a divisive story of us vs. them.
Women have so often in history been the mediators of their families, of society. For this reason, it's fitting that our first female President will be a mediator. Mediation is what her job as Secretary of Obama's State Department was all about.
Mediation is a special role. It's not necessarily about who's right. What mediators are is less just assessing who's right but resolving conflict. That even if we don't agree we must try to come together. To try at least.
For now, the country needs to heal some divisions. In the future we can worry more about who is right. For now, it's more important that we come together as a nation.
She is what this country, torn apart by race, ethnicity, and ideology needs so badly at this time.
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