In 1962, a 19-year old Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., in an effort to get to know more about the minorities who occupied the mean streets of Wilmington, Delaware took a job as a lifeguard at a local public pool. It was at that very pool when Joe ran afoul of a member of the Romans gang by the name of Corn Pop. Soon, straight razors, chain, and Esther Williams became involved.
Here's Joe, back at the scene of the crime in 2017 when the pool was renamed in his honor. I'll let him tell you the story.
Joe and Corn Pop's misadventures are getting renewed attention after The Root's Michael Harriot called bullshit on Twitter.
You can read the rest of the 19-tweet thread here.
So, because it's silly season, I'm sure someone will be offering a reward for information on Corn Pop's whereabouts. Only 141 more days until the Iowa caucuses. Stay strong.
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Bernie Sanders has released A Thurgood Marshall Plan for Public Education, a detailed and bold suite of public education reforms reminiscent of the kinds of policy planks being laid down regularly by rival candidate Elizabeth Warren (I'm a donor to both Sanders' and Warren's campaigns).
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Senator Elizabeth Warren didn't accept an invitation to a Fox News town hall because she says the company is “a hate-for-profit racket that gives a megaphone to racists and conspiracists.”
From The Washington Post:
“I’ve done 57 media avails and 131 interviews, taking over 1,100 questions from press just since January,” she wrote. “Fox News is welcome to come to my events just like any other outlet. But a Fox News town hall adds money to the hate-for-profit machine. To which I say: hard pass.”
Image: Faux News T-shirt on Amazon. Read the rest
One thing that immediately struck me in Lauren Gambino's excellent analysis of the Democratic nomination campaigns in The Guardian: a quote from GOP never-Trump political consultant Rick Wilson, who counseled Democrats not to select Bernie Sanders and make the election about actual policies, "Democrats have two choices: make this a referendum on Donald Trump or lose. That’s it. There are no other options."
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A Morning Consult poll of Hispanic voters shows 33% for Bernie Sanders, more than any other candidate from any party -- Joe Biden is polling at 24% and Beto O'Rourke is at 13%, with other Democrats trailing far behind. Three early primary states have large concentrations of Hispanic voters: California, Texas and Florida (California and Texas are also "delegate rich," with a significant impact on candidate selection within the national Democratic party). The majority of Sanders' campaign staffers are women, and 40% of the staff are people of color. Sanders outraised every other candidate, and I am a Sanders donor (I also donated to Elizabeth Warren's campaign).
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A new bill from Senator Elizabeth Warren proposes personal, criminal liability for top executives of companies turning over more than $1B/year when those companies experience data breaches and scams due to negligence (many of the recent high-profile breaches would qualify, including the Equifax giga-breach, as well as many of Wells Fargo's string of scams and scandals).
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