According to an Intercept article titled Private Prison Lobbyists Are Raising Cash for Hillary Clinton, "As immigration and incarceration issues become central to the 2016 presidential campaign, lobbyists for two major prison companies are serving as top fundraisers for Hillary Clinton."
Yes, private prisons have funded the same candidate who expects to get the majority of the non-white Democrat vote.
Only in America's coin flip democracy.
In contrast, USA Today writes "Sen. Bernie Sanders said he hopes to end the 'private, for-profit prison racket' with the introduction Thursday of bills to ban private prisons, reinstate the federal parole system and eliminate quotas for the number of immigrants held in detention."
Two politicians. Only one accepts prison lobbyist money. Just in terms of that topic alone, there's a huge disparity, but America's democracy revolves around a bizarre form of moral relativism, cloaked in the fabric of luck.
One headline after the Iowa Caucus read "Coin toss broke 6 Clinton-Sanders deadlocks in Iowa -- and Hillary won each time."
Therefore, is there really a difference between Sanders and Clinton?
Or is it simply a matter of calling heads or tails?
Tim Black is only voting for Bernie Sanders, and explains why in this segment on Tim Black TV. I explain why I'm only voting for Bernie Sanders in this YouTube segment. Millions of other voters will only vote for Bernie Sanders in 2016, making the issue of electability an internal conflict among Democrats; whether or not cable news or people like Chris Matthews acknowledge this fact.
To many voters, however, the mentality is this: "Gosh, they both sound like great candidates, let's just...flip a coin."
This coin flip mentality isn't relegated to precincts in Iowa. It's a national epidemic, especially among Democrats who don't see the enormous difference between Sanders and Clinton. To many, the primal fear of a Ted Cruz presidency (as if he could make it passed one term if indeed he were as destructive as many believe), and the palpable dread of a Republican in the White House morphs Sanders and Clinton into one candidate.
This belief, forged out of group think and a uniquely American form of tribalism, says that a mental coin flip between two Democrats is better than anyone in the GOP's clown car; even if one Democrat (Clinton) is funded by prison lobbyists.
In America's coin flip democracy, let's just emulate the NFL and flip a coin to decide the future of the Democratic Party.
Heads, and we elect the candidate whose experience as Secretary of State resulted in the FBI investigating 22 "Top Secret" emails stored on an unsecured private server. NPR stated last week that "Controversy grew on Friday over emails from Hillary Clinton's private server she used while at the State Department, with the agency announcing several documents would be withheld because they had been deemed top secret."
Since nothing spells compromise, reaching across the aisle, and getting things done like an FBI investigation, let's continue playing dice with America's destiny. If our lucky quarter flips heads, then you get Hillary Clinton, a hawkish Democrat who voted for the Iraq War. One leading historian in The New York Times says Hillary Clinton will have a "neocon" foreign policy as president, but many Democrats today have short-term memories. If the neocon isn't named Bush, then America's coin flip democracy is just fine.
Be pragmatic and vote for the candidate linked to an ongoing FBI investigation, urge the responsible adults leading the Democratic establishment.
Of course, luck could give you an alternate future.
If you flip tails, then you get Bernie Sanders, a man who voted against the Iraq War, while his challenger calls her vote as simply a "mistake." One flip of the coin with tails, and you get a person who has the only positive favorability ratings of any leading candidate in 2016. Tails, and you get Bernie Sanders, a candidate who "destroys" Trump in a general election by a wider margin than Clinton, without any FBI investigations or questions about honesty.
Remember, James Comey could easily ensure a Ted Cruz presidency if you don't flip correctly.
Furthermore, flipping tails would get you political momentum. Bernie's Iowa performance was a giant win in terms of delegate count and shattering Clinton's inevitability myth. Already, he's achieved the impossible.
According to HuffPost Pollster 2016 National Democratic Primary, on January 12, 2015, Hillary Clinton was at 60.8% while Vermont's Senator was stuck at a mere 4%.
Who polls at 4% and goes on to virtually tie Hillary Clinton for delegates in Iowa?
Again, about one year ago, Bernie Sanders was at 4%. Clinton stood at a commanding 60.8% nationally, 56 points ahead of a Senator from Vermont with funny hair. This Senator also yells and shouts; offending the sensitive ears and pristine sensibilities of Rob Lowe.
Well, this candidate, once mired at 4%, eventually broke Barack Obama's fundraising record, without media attention or help from the DNC. Simply with an energized electorate, Sanders went from virtually unknown to a serious contender.
Today, Bernie Sanders is less than 14 points nationally behind Clinton, without the benefit of a massive political machine.
See the difference?
To some, life is just flip a coin, there's no difference. To others, historical record matters.
One candidate voted against Iraq, says "I'll be damned" to perpetual war and won the Congressional Award from the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The other candidate just flip flopped on sending U.S ground troops back to the Middle East. Yes, Hillary Clinton recently evolved on U.S. ground troops to fight ISIS and advocated sending more Americans to fight ISIS, shortly after the Paris attacks. This makes sense, since Clinton might have neoconservative advisers as president.
The reality, within our coin flip democracy, is there really does exists an enormous difference between Sanders and Clinton. Remember the 2008 Democratic race?
During South Carolina in 2008, The New York Times wrote "Mr. Clyburn added that there appeared to be an almost unanimous view among African-Americans that Mr. and Mrs. Clinton were committed to doing everything they possibly could to damage Mr. Obama to a point that he could never win in the general election."
South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn stated "black people are incensed over all of this," pertaining to the manner in which the Clinton campaign treated Barack Obama.
In contrast, Bernie Sanders endorsed Jesse Jackson in 1984 and 1988; historical campaigns that paved the way for Barack Obama.
As for the main difference between Sanders and Clinton, only one candidate vividly remembered a recollection that never happened. A POLITIFACT article titled Video shows tarmac welcome, no snipers highlights why 72% of Independents find Clinton "not honest and trustworthy":
During an introduction to a foreign policy speech on Iraq on March 17, 2008, Sen. Hillary Clinton reminisced about her days as first lady and a trip to Tuzla, Bosnia, she made in March 1996.
"I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."
But that's not what happened, as demonstrated by CBS News video that shows Clinton arriving on the tarmac under no visible duress, and greeting a child who offers her a copy of a poem.
The Washington Post Factchecker also turned a skeptical eye on Clinton's comments, reporting that a review of more than 100 news stories from the time documented no security threats to the First Lady.
Yes, Clinton later acknowledged that she was mistaken, but it's hard to understand how she could err on something so significant as whether she did or didn't dodge sniper bullets.
Quite simply, this kind of hyperbole deserves our harshest assessment. We rule Pants on Fire.
In our coin flip democracy, Brian Williams almost loses his job for similar comments, but people believe Clinton is ready on the first day to lead.
Bernie Sanders will save America from becoming a coin flip democracy because his value system is the antithesis of Clinton's coin flip evolution on almost every major topic. In terms of fundraising after Iowa, and delegates, he won the first contest. Now, we're on to New Hampshire, where Bernie Sanders will again show Clinton that political machines lose to the will of the American people. Walker Bragman, another voter who will only be voting Bernie Sanders, illustrates America's choice in this political cartoon in The Huffington Post. If you can look at Bragman's illustration, and say that one candidate isn't simply a Republican with a Democratic name, then you're not following the money. Only one candidate wants to break up the Too Big to Fail banks, and his name is Bernie Sanders. Finally, remember that only one candidate is Rocky Balboa in 2016, and Irami Osei-Frimpong explains why in this YouTube segment.