Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: March 20th through March 26th

March 20, 2016 JanF Community 170

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings posts give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

Welcomings will be posted at the start of each week (every Sunday morning). To find the posts, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).

The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.

So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?

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NOTE: The comments page will now split off after 20 or so left margin comments with the most recent comments on the current page. To see the older comments, scroll to the bottom of the page and use the link.

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49 Comments

  1. Good morning, Motley Meese! The week begins …

    It is 32 degrees in Madison WI, on its way up to 45. Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  2. Blessed Ostara to my meese peeps!!

    Lisa Thiel – Ostara (Spring Song) – from Wheel of the Year

    Praise to the Spring, Praise to all living things
    Praise to the Maiden and the joy that she brings
    Praise to the Earth let all her creatures now sing
    Hope is renewed with the coming of the Spring

    We turn from the darkness and the wise Crone within
    We turn to the Maiden and creation begins
    It’s a time for things growing and time now for flowing
    A time now for sowing the seeds of your dreams.

    (Chorus)
    The heart fires are stirring with the new life returning
    Its time now for learning what rebirth truly means
    We honor ourselves and all the faeries and elves
    May we dance and ring bells for the coming of the Spring!

    (Chorus)
    So open your heart to natures wondrous art.
    Its time now to start the Healing of the Green.
    Young rabbits abound and there’s flowers all around
    The air is filled with the Sound of the Coming of the Spring!

    Join in for a bit of kidding around: Springing into Spring … No kidding!

    • Thank you Jan…..I’ve been looking forward to hearing Lisa’s ode to spring.

  3. It looks like the second eaglet has pipped!!
    DC Eagle Cam

    In 2014, a pair of mated Bald Eagles chose the most idyllic of nest sites within the United States’ National Capital (Washington, DC), nestled high in a Tulip Poplar tree amongst the Azalea Collection at the U.S. National Arboretum, which is operated by the United States Department of Agriculture. This is the first Bald Eagle pair to nest in this location since 1947. The two Eagles have been iconically named “Mr. President” and “The First Lady.” Join us in viewing the most patriotic nest cam in the United States, 24 hours a day.

    DC2 hatched at 8:27 a.m. March 18, 2016 Eastern Daylight Time. Pipping is underway for the 2nd egg. When hatched, it will be called DC3.

  4. Good Sunday morning, Moosekind! It’s gray here in NoVa, 37 F. now, going up to 41 F. later today. We are also promised another bout of rain mixed with gloppy snow, as happened yesterday evening. All in all, a good day to stay inside and do quiet chores while the pork chop, cabbage, and apple dish simmers in the slow cooker.

    Jan, thanks for the spring song! I’ll come back later to listen to it. Time to cook breakfast now and then watch Formula I. Was fascinated yesterday to see the anti-Trump protesters in Arizona blocking the road to the rally with their cars. Have a feeling there will be many more such incidents. Wishing a good day to all!

    • I am somewhat conflicted about the protests. Certainly Trump is a despicable character but demonstrations like the ones in Arizona simply add to his cachet among the racists and xenophobes. I would prefer that folks spend their time registering voters and helping people get id cards. Arizona may actually be in play in November according to some analysts. Not all Republicans are pro-Trump and, if you add that to those who are decidedly anti-Trump, there may be some strange bedfellows this year. John McCain is tied with his Democratic opponent in Arizona’s Senate race and his being anti-Trump may cause the pro-Trumpers to vote against him and elect the Democrat. Yikes!

      This might be a chance for a two-fer: defeating Trump and dealing a blow to the GOP’s lock on Congress. No one, absolutely no one, knows what will happen to the Congressional races if Republicans stay home in droves. But we need candidates and voters.

  5. There was a followup yesterday on the story about Hillary Clinton being told to smile by Joe Scarborough. A reminder of why it ticked so many people off:

    … even women who don’t happen to be running for the highest office in the land are all too familiar with men telling them — not asking them, telling them — to smile.

    Maybe it starts with well-intentioned grandparents when you’re a kid. And then graduates to not-so well-intentioned, unsolicited sidewalk advice when you’re older.

    Here is a Storify with some #SmileForJoe Tweets. Some made me smile! :)

    The Best #SmileForJoe reactions
    “MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough admonished Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton for not smiling enough. That did not go over well. Here are some of the best reactions on social media”.

    The winner!

  6. Brrrrr! I forgot to turn the heat on last night & it’s 66 in my apartment. I need to make next week’s lunch — probably something simple like quinoa with broccoli & kale. Not sure what else. Still can’t get into my Facebook account. Why would they do this identity thing late Friday afternoon? I’m really annoyed.

    • Oh noes! Is there no one who can help you on a weekend? That seems rather rude.

      • I got an e-mail yesterday, the 1st time I sent them a picture of my driver’s license, I covered up all but my last initial. Because that’s what I use on FB. But that wasn’t good enough for them. I sent it again. Haven’t heard back. Really annoyed.

          • I don’t know what triggered this, but they want my to use my full first & last name. I sent a picture of my DK profile page, showing that I AM known as “anotherdemocrat”

    • That was a fantastic diary! Made me so happy. As I said in my comment on it, I loved Ann.

    • Love the diary and of course love Ann Richards. She’s the reason my sister was able to get an engineering job with TXDOT 20–odd years back from which she retired just a few years ago.

  8. Good morning, 49 and raining in Bellingham today. I tried to stay awake to welcome spring at 9:30 pm last night (thanks Jan!) but I didn’t make it. Ron and I had some time together outside yesterday and we visited several garden shops, looking for plants the deer might chose not to eat. So it’s nice to wake up on this damp spring morning and have my thoughts full of garden plans.

    Danny Westneat, at the Seattle Times writes a Bernie article I can support. The use of personal religious beliefs as a wedge issue and a political power base has always annoyed and alarmed me.

    Sanders’ success may mean religious faith is no longer a political weapon

    It wasn’t just mentions of God or nods to a higher power. Candidates began describing their campaigns as active instruments of God’s will. It was done to attract voters, but also to attack enemies and solidify power.

    Beyond all that, Christian belief has just been an unquestioned requirement for the job. The winner of the last two elections, Barack Obama, went out of his way (with mixed success) to try to prove he was a real Christian. The notion that church and state might be separate was slipping.

    Now just a short time later, we not only have a non-Christian winning some primaries. But his non-Christian-ness is, to date, a complete nonissue. That’s a huge, and to me, very welcome shift.

    Sanders is Jewish (with the emphasis on the “ish,” as he says). He talks about his belief in God, so he’s no atheist. But his candidacy means it’s no longer impossible to imagine other non-Christian candidates. Perhaps even someone from the least-represented minority group in America, the nonbelievers.

    • It is wrong to require a religious litmus test in a country that was, in theory, built on the concept of religious tolerance. I noticed that the “Nones” are on the rise in our country:

      [Joe Stone, a voter from Virginia] is part of a massive group of Americans who reject any label or affiliation to describe their faith. At 23 percent of the U.S. population, this left-leaning group called “Nones” are the Democratic parallel to the GOP’s white evangelicals — except without organization, PACs, leadership and a clear agenda. They do, however, have one big expectation of political candidates: Be ethical, and go light on the God talk.

      I think that probably “none of the above” is another way to put it as many of us are not in the categories provided by pollsters.

      Here they are, in electoral clout:

      I think this is what binds us together as a group:

      Don’t get your religion on my secular government!!!

    • Princesspat, I saw your gallery of beautiful tulips in Washington yesterday. Lovely! The photos reminded me of Keukenhof in the Netherlands.

  10. Started the day at 27 – I hope it didn’t damage the fruit crop, especially since we’re supposed to do it again in the wee hours tomorrow – and heading for 48, partly (right now mostly) cloudy. Not precisely what I’d hoped Ostara would be – but it’s still my grandson’s birthday (he’s 7) so that’s a good thing.

    Peanut butter and strawberry jam muffins for the week – Spring Break so it should be quiet in the office – and baked chicken breasts first marinaded in apple jack (not just apple jack, but that’s what the marinade is called) which I’ve never tried before so we shall see what we shall see. I may have to cook all the potatoes (about 3 lb left in the bag) as they seem to be sprouting – oh well, there are lots, possibly hundreds, of recipes that start with cold boiled potatoes.

    I think Tricia is messing with the cloud cover – this has been a relatively cloudy month with a full third of the days generating at or under 5 KWHs for the day, but on the 5th (when she died) the total was 18.74 KWHs and yesterday (her memorial) it was 19.7 KWHs, while today looks to be another 5 or under sort of day. Taking a minute to wave from Across the Rainbow Bridge I guess.

    Well, blessed day, blessed week. Spring is indeed here no matter what the weather is – the hours of daylight say so! {{{HUGS}}}

  12. Good morning, meese! Monday …

    It is 29 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 49. Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast.

    President Obama is in Cuba. I am going to build a post with video and Tweets because it is such a BHD it deserves more than a mere mention.

    For those keeping score, the ever moving reason for not giving a hearing to Judge Garland has now landed on the real reason. On the Sunday talk shows, Mitch McConnell said that they will never have a hearing for a nominee who does not meet the approval of the NRA. It’s in the constitution, embedded into the 2nd Amendment, I’m sure.

    By the way, that 2014 election is the one that Orrin Hatch says “trumps” the election of 2012 so it all makes sense – the NRA owns the Senate and calls the shots(!).

    Today Trump speaks at AIPAC and meets with Tom Cotton. Here’s a scary thought for you: Trump-Cotton 2016.

    See all y’all later!

  13. Good morning, Moosekind, and happy Moon Day! It’s 37 F. here in NoVa on a partly cloudy morning, going up to 52 F. today.

    Lots of things are happening in our family: Political Granddaughter drove 40 hours, skirting the snowstorm in Kansas-Colorado, from Austin to Seattle, arriving last night. She will work on a political campaign there for 5 or 6 months. Daughter-from-Austin is flying in on Wednesday because her father-in-law died Friday night. Her husband flew in on Friday and was able to be with him at the hospital before his father passed away. And Miss Pink Cheeks will be here in about an hour, so I have to hurry through breakfast and dressing.

    Today I have to get on the phone with the publisher, who has put my book project on hold. Not looking forward to that at all.

    Wonder if the Cruz Missal will win Arizona tomorrow? I understand there will be another Rethug debate some time soon. Not going to watch it. I’m sick of debates.

    Wishing everyone a good day!

    • I think Donald Drumpf said “no more debates” and the other two guys realized that debating each other would not do them much good.

      The Republicans latest gambit, vote for Cruz to stop Trump, is very odd. Cruz will be no more attractive to general election voters than Trump will – he will simply be less vulgar. The folks showing a tighter race between Cruz and Clinton are making the same mistake that the folks saying that Bernie has a bigger lead over Trump than Hillary’s: those numbers will change drastically when Sanders and Cruz are vetted. When “don’t know much about him” becomes “holy mackeral, are you kidding me?” the polling will shift.

      From The Onion, summed up pretty well:

      In what many political observers are calling a new low in an election season that has already seen its share of negative campaigning, a scathing anti–Ted Cruz attack ad airing this week reportedly shows nothing more than a still photograph of the Texas senator’s face for 30 seconds, unaccompanied by any text, voiceover, or music.”

      “It’s absolutely revolting, and I can’t believe they would run something like that on television,” said Dorothy Chalmers, a Dillsboro, NC mother who saw the ad with her three small children. “I immediately turned it off, of course, but I had to talk with my kids about what we had just seen. It was so nasty and unpleasant, my youngest one started to cry. Is this the kind of low-blow campaigning we can expect to endure through November?”

      • OMG, that is hilarious! Over on GOS, someone put up a diary saying that Anonymous is going to reveal Cruz’s cavorting with prostitutes. Surely this is a fabricated story: I can’t imagine any woman’s being paid enough to cavort with that guy.

  14. Brrrrrr!! It’s 38 this morning. I know that to lots of y’all that doesn’t sound cold. But last Monday, I was wearing sandals & white capris because our high was in the upper 90s. So, hat & gloves for me.

    Still fighting with Facebook. Anyone who is on FB or Twitter (because there’s an @Facebook twitter account), please message them that you do know me as Becky anotherdemocrat. Maybe lobbying will help?

    I was listening to Lips Like Sugar on the way in, because I needed the energy & I’m an ’80s music girl. But when I went to youtube to get the link, there was Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses, and the guitar in the chorus of that is so pretty – it’s kind of an overlay… Anyway, you get 2 music links today.

    • Facebook does not care what you are “known as”, they want your real name. It is actually kind of irritating because initially many people were encouraged to sign up for an account and they used their screen names rather than their real names because that is how they were known online. Then, after FB sucked people in, they added the rule that you must be a real person because that keeps Facebook “safe”. Maybe in their minds, but it doesn’t keep people safe who want to interact online but who can’t use their real names because they will lose their jobs or expose their families to harassment. If someone is being a jerk and has an obvious pseudonym, that’s one thing but an ordinary person who simply wants to visit with online friends, maybe even in a private group where their opinions can’t possibly harm anyone, I am not sure what it gains. But … the owner of a “blog” can set the rules, something I learned the hard way over the years.

      Good luck!

  15. Twitter tells me that today is World Poetry Day. Here’s a link to one of my favorites, Seamus Heaney’s translation of the Cure At Troy

    So hope for a great sea-change
    On the far side of revenge.
    Believe that further shore
    Is reachable from here.
    Believe in miracle
    And cures and healing wells.

    Call miracle self-healing:
    The utter, self-revealing
    Double-take of feeling.
    If there’s fire on the mountain
    Or lightning and storm
    And a god speaks from the sky

    That means someone is hearing
    The outcry and the birth-cry
    Of new life at its term.

  16. 27 at dawn heading for 60 and sunny. The blossoms on my cherry tree are sort of translucent brownish rather than creamy white so I don’t think I’m getting any cherries this year. I only hope the Market vendors were able to save their fruit. David’s got high-tunnels over some of his strawberries and those should be OK, but Marlon’s blueberries and John’s peaches and apples are very vulnerable. Sigh.

    The memorial diary on Saturday started at the same time as the one in Raleigh, but the one in Raleigh was over in about an hour – people were still posting comments on the memorial diary yesterday afternoon. (Unfortunately a few seem to be thinking of testing the “safe space” rule – just tentatively thank goddess since it was the memorial diary – but Marti is collecting some rather expressive graphics and is prepared to come down just as firmly as Tricia ever did about that. We will continue her “safe space” legacy. There will be no “shit-stirring” in the pootie diaries even if we first have to fight that war all over again.)

    Spring Break here, which mostly means quiet. No classes so no students and few professors. I might even be able to get the piles of paper off my desk by the time our Friday day off gets here. :) Enjoy the sunshine, if it’s shining where you are, and the rain/snow if you don’t have sunshine. {{{HUGS}}}

    • I hope that you can keep it a safe space. From time to time, people have dragged fights into the P&W diaries and Tricia’s warning had to get more stern. I remember one time, one of the regulars posted something political, not realizing where she was. She begged us all to hide her comment … we complied but it was quite hilarious because people who frequented the P&W diaries generally had so much mojo that “hiding” a comment had no effect, really. :)

      • We will keep it a safe space. Too many people need it. One of the new diarists (Zen Trainer I think) starts her diaries with something like “don’t think there are no rules because Mom’s not here – she left them taped to the fridge” – all the diaries start with Tricia’s rules (except the memorial ones – we didn’t think they’d be needed in those). And several veterans of the Pootie Wars posted some “response pics” in the memorial diaries which Marti has nabbed just in case. She/we are hoping that a more-or-less humorous reminder of the rules will be all it takes.

        I remember that. It was hilarious – but the fact that the poster realized the mistake, was upset about it, and tried to do the only thing she could since you can’t delete a comment is what made it hilarious – if she’d done anything else that would have been bad. But yeah, with all us TUs in there, we could all see it.

      • Gods, I’ll never figure out how that stuff works—mojo and hiding and so on.

        Denise did tell me how to find the list of who’s banned. I looked for the name of one particularly virulent adherent of St. Bernard, but she seems to be still in good standing although she hasn’t posted since February. Perhaps she’s being held prisoner in a McDonald’s somewhere with no Internet access.

        • Maybe she “self-deported” under the threat of the ban hammer. Apparently several folks did who came back for Tricia’s memorial. And said they’d be lurking from henceforth, but they had to have their pootie diaries.

  17. Morning all! Cool and sunny here today – I have to go to the dentist this afternoon to get …well, fitted, I guess, for the permanent crown to go over my tooth implant. Hope it won’t take too long or be too awful.

    My hopes, faint as they were, that GOS would be a safer place for Hillary supporters to post after March 15th, have been dashed. I know a lot of people have been banned or given timeouts, but many of them are Hillary supporters, and a lot of the most virulent anti- Hillary folks like Tom P are still merrily posting away, seemingly no limits on their vitriol, at least that I can see. Sigh. At least Lysis and others are keeping up the “safe” Hillary diaries, which I guess will be necessary at least until Sanders drops out, whenever that may be.

    I love seeing the pictures of the First Family in Cuba! Although the few I’ve seen of Sasha seem to show a very bored young lady, which I can’t really blame her for – at 14 or 15, history making journeys likely take a distant second to talking to your friends on the phone and maybe going to the beach for spring break lol.

    Have a great day everyone.

    • This is not unexpected: “I know a lot of people have been banned or given timeouts, but many of them are Hillary supporters”. As one who witnessed The Purge of 2011, those banned were often those who pushed back or who were pointed out by folks who had an email pipeline to the site owner. Like in the NFL, the penalty is often not given to the guy who started the fight but the guy who retaliated. Such is life! If you want fairness, don’t blog on a privately owned blog where the owner is disinterested in the nuances of moderation.

    • Part of the problem is the worst offenders wait until the weekends when the Help desk isn’t staffed. They can get their nastiness up and on the wreck list with impunity until Monday morning. Part of the problem is Kos still can’t get it through his head that while most people follow rules – some because they see the value of the rules and some just because they are the rules – there must be consistent enforcement of those rules because some people do not follow rules and that category gets larger when the folks who only follow rules because they are rules see the rules not being enforced. And unfortunately part of the problem this time around is that some of those who should be doing the moderating are partisan in favor of the rule-breakers. The last is going to be the real issue as to whether or not Kos can put his site back together after the primaries are over. (And yes, thank heavens for Lysis and scan.)

      • The inconsistency was my main grievance and why I simply refused to cede that much power to someone who did not care to understand that both sides don’t do it and that there is a historical context to many of the arguments. Life is too short to worry about a banhammer or a time-out or an NR just because I locked horns with one of the site’s sacred cows or bulls … or someone under the protection of one of those sacred cows or bulls.

        I have no idea how they will manage moderation after the convention and some of the site’s paid writers have to walk back their “Hillary is a corrupt oligarch who will send all of our children to war plus liar” positions. But as they say, not my concern – it is only interesting to me as an observer of social media dynamics and political communication. I am vested in no single online presence and that suits my crusty old self well.

        • I don’t know how they’ll do it either, just hope they do. I am very seriously one of the “stayed for the community” people and I don’t want to lose that community. I didn’t really come for the politics in the first place although I enjoyed that part of it in between primary wars. I looked up DK because Markos was coming to U of A as a speaker in the Fall of ’07. Our department had point on that so I was the one making the travel arrangements, paying the speaker invoice (which I wish I could find – I don’t remember what we paid him and I’d love to compare what a rising star in the blogging world got for speaking with what the only former first lady who is also a former U.S. senator who is also a former U.S. secretary of state was getting 7 years later), etc. I checked out the site just because I was curious as to what the heck a blog was. So really my entire investment in DK is community.

  18. Good morning, 49 and partly cloudy in Bellingham. The air smelled like spring yesterday, but I’m still feeling chilled from the cold rain. The warm water at the pool will be most welcome this morning.

    Bernie was in Seattle yesterday….

    Bernie Sanders rallies thousands at Seattle’s KeyArena

    Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders brought his message of a “political revolution” to a boisterous rally at Seattle’s KeyArena on Sunday, avoiding mention of Hillary Clinton — his rival in this week’s Democratic caucuses — while trashing Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

    HRC has solid support from the Democratic party, but Sander’s supporters are very motivated to caucus for him. We have pre registered and will make sure our ballots count but I have little patience for endless discussion with more enthusiastic caucus attendees.

    Washington takes its turn at selecting a Democrat in Saturday’s caucuses

    Clinton has the backing of most top elected Democrats in Washington state, including Gov. Jay Inslee, U.S. Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, and all six Democrats in the state’s U.S. House delegation. They are among the 17 automatic “superdelegates” to the Democratic convention this summer, and are not bound by Saturday’s caucus vote.

    Last week, 40 Democratic state legislators and King County Executive Dow Constantine announced their own endorsements of Clinton over Sanders, who has long identified as an independent and a democratic socialist.

    Citing the wild presidential election year, Constantine praised Clinton as someone who could bring “clarity in the midst of chaos.” Her experience as secretary of state, first lady and U.S. senator “have prepared her, uniquely among the candidates, to succeed as president,” Constantine said.

    The steady-hand argument is unlikely to sway enthusiastic Sanders supporters expected to flock to the caucuses. The neighborhood-level meetings, which generally require voters to show up in person as opposed to mailing a primary ballot, can improve the odds for candidates with the most energized supporters.

    “Typically, caucuses are designed to give a leg up to an insurgent candidate,” said former state Democratic Party chair Paul Berendt.

    • The scorned Superdelegates are what allows our party to keep the passions of the moment from overriding the long term interests of the entire party – state and national interests. The Republican establishment is probably wishing that they had a structure like that in place this year because, like it or not, their nominee will be the standard bearer for their party and the Republican brand and can drive it off a cliff or crash it into a tree and there is nothing they can do about it.

      I read an interview with the Republican speaker of our state assembly and the majority leader and they wished they had superdelegate veto power over Trump and Cruz. Sucks to be them. I think the Superdelegate idea makes perfect sense as a feature of a party that prides itself on being the party of responsible adults.

      • Americans are not just ignorant of history, they scorn it. There’s a reason we have super delegates and that reason is a response to a historical event. Brokered conventions mean broken party and large losses in the general election.

  19. good afternoon – sorry to have missed the morning greet – I had to do a few additional writing assignments for Orange – so got caught up in that, and dealing with family health crisis too – plus have to head out to see my own doctor. spring break isn’t as relaxing as I thought it would be.

    Spent much of yesterday late afternoon evening glued to news of POTUS Cuba trip – thanks Jan for the diary!!

    • And two very good diaries at teh Orange, too. {{{HUGS}}} and healing energy regarding the family health crisis and your own doctor visit.

  20. Good morning, meese! Tuesday …

    It is 40 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 58. Cloudy skies are in the forecast. Tomorrow into Thursday a winter storm is expected to dump 4-6 inches of snow here with 10-12 just north of us. The kids are sad because they are off school – no snow days!!

    Today there are primaries and caucuses in Idaho, Utah, and Arizona. At the end of the day, Sanders is expected to gain about 18 delegates. Hillary is up in the polls in Arizona and the 75 delegates there will be proportionally assigned based on margin of victory. There is really no hope for white states Idaho and Utah. I recommend reading Joan Walsh in The Nation for her story of regret and reconciliation over the 2008 Hillary campaign’s chase of the “white male non-college vote” and how tone deaf it was. She recommends that Bernie Sanders think about the damage he is doing to the party (as if he cares!) by dissing the Obama coalition: “What’s Wrong With Bernie Sanders’s Strategy”. A snippet:

    One thing should already be clear: No multiracial, left-wing coalition can be successfully built out from a white base. Let’s stop trying. […]

    [Following the 2008 loss, Hillary] listened to African-American friends and onetime supporters, who explained why her appeals to “hardworking Americans, white Americans” sounded like, and may actually have been, racist dog whistles. … Once she decided to run, she put aside thoughts of reassembling the (Bill) Clinton coalition, with its emphasis on winning back working-class whites by offering “toughness” on issues like welfare and crime. Her first speeches as a candidate dealt with voting rights, mass incarceration, and immigration reform, a sign that she knew she had to consolidate the Obama coalition before thinking about a new (Hillary) Clinton coalition. […]

    [After 2008 and 2012], I understood that the Democratic Party owes its occupancy of the White House to the Obama coalition: African Americans, Latinos, Asians, LGBT folks, and single women. Unfortunately, chasing white, working-class voters too often involves appeals that either passively neglect that coalition, or actively drive much of it away. Somehow Sanders doesn’t seem to see that. But that may well be because he is not, at heart, a Democrat.

    There’s more.

    Today the president will address the Cuban people live on state television, meet with some Cubans, including dissidents, go to a spring training exhibition baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban National Team and then later today fly to Venezuela for a planned visit. You can check medium for updates including photos and videos: An Historic Trip to Cuba .

    See all y’all later!

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