Leid Stories – Mass Murder, Mass Media and Race Politics (Part 3); D.C. Primary Proves A Major Point – 06.15.16

As more is learned about Omar Mateen, the alleged lone gunman responsible for the June 12 massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., and about other related developments, we see a shift in how the story is being reported and how officials are continuing to manage the mass killing as “an act of terrorism.” Leid Stories continues the discussion of the previous two days.
Yesterday’s Democratic primary in Washington, D.C., the last hurrah of the primary season, predictably handed an easy victory to Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders—78.7 percent of the vote and 16 additional delegates to supercharge her nomination. The D.C. primary, however, was not just a ceremonious end to the faceoffs between the two candidates, says Leid Stories; it pointedly brought home the necessity to part ways with the established political order and the failure of third parties and political movements to make inroads with constituencies that are looking for alternatives.

Leid Stories – The Democratic Party’s Utterly Undemocratic Convention in Nevada; How Progressives Conspire to Thwart Progress – 05.16.16

The Nevada Democratic Convention ended in chaos Saturday, after 16 hours of backroom dealing by party hacks to produce the desired result: Nevada is Hillary country. In one of the most flagrant examples of vote fixing in this election cycle, state bosses scuttled the party’s own rules and ran roughshod over any semblance of fairness in the Clinton-Sanders battle for delegates. It was a patently fraudulent process that yielded a fraudulent result, but it appears to sit well with the Democratic Party leadership, which is decidedly pro-Clinton.

Dr. James Petras, Bartle professor emeritus of sociology at Binghamton University and author of more than 62 books and 600 scholarly papers on imperialism and global oppression, notes that “progressives” have a sordid history of offering themselves as alternatives to the system when in fact they are political acolytes working with the system to thwart progress.

Leid Stories – Election 2016: Turning Political ‘Inevitabilities’ Around – 05.11.16

The results of yesterday’s primaries in West Virginia and Nebraska—with Donald Trump capturing both states and Bernie Sanders besting Hillary Clinton in West Virginia—have only moved political outcomes even closer to “inevitability.” Trump has no major impediments to clinching the Republican nomination, and Sanders’ win did little to blunt Clinton’s lead in delegates. The duopoly continues to take care of party business in the leadup to the general election in November, when, inevitably, there’ll be a new president in the White House.

Meanwhile, Leid Stories’ listeners ponder new approaches to politics and how best to prepare to cope with what soon will be our collective reality. We continue the discussion for the third day.

Leid Stories – Election 2016: So, What Does It All Mean? – 04.07.16

The frenzied fight over delegates continues as the 2016 presidential primaries reaches its apex this month. But Democrats and Republicans already are fixing their focus on their June conventions (Philadelphia for the Democrats; Cleveland for the Republicans), where epic battles are expected over the delegate-driven nomination process.

As we have been doing since the political season began, Leid Stories “polls” listeners on their current attitudes about the presidential race and what choices they are likely to make in the general election.

Leid Stories – Election 2016’s Most Outstanding Feature: The Rise of the Kakistocrats – 03.30.16

No matter how things turn out, Election 2016 will be remembered as a defining moment in U.S. history. For, this is the year of The Kakistocrats. Leid Stories discusses the imminent reality of government by the worst. Watch the clip Utrice played on air today inside the link.

Leid Stories – 02.24.16

Follies 2016: The Duopoly Is Taking Care of Business. What’s Our Plan?

As Democrats and Republicans rev up their pitched battle for the White House, candidates are looking for even greater momentum in their individual campaigns with Super Tuesday’s (March 1) contests in 12 states. Half the number of delegates needed for both parties’ nominations will be won that day—632 for Republicans; 1,007 for Democrats. The duopoly is taking care of business and proceeding according to plan. But Leid Stories asks: “What’s our plan?”