Are you sick of Hillary Clinton? The media finally is. All of today’s papers highlight Senator Clinton’s pledge yesterday to “keep fighting” for the Democratic nomination despite the fact that it is almost statistically impossible for her to win the nomination at this point (Slate gives her a 2.5% chance). Clinton campaigned across West Virginia Wednesday, taking her case to the citizens there (where she is expected to win overwhelmingly) while at the same time ignoring calls from Democratic Party officials for her to drop out. Time will tell how much longer Clinton stays in the race.
The death toll in Burma (which we mentioned yesterday) has continued to mount and is beginning to approach the horrific level necessary to get Worldwide attention. The death toll from the cyclone has reached 15,000 and another 3,000 are still unaccounted for. In addition, the infrastructure in the country has been completely decimated so survivors are having a hard time getting food, water or medical care. US response to the crisis so far has been a condemnation of the Burmese government from Laura Bush and $250,000. *vomits*
Who cares about all that downer news, it is PRIMARY DAY! *vomits, weeps* All across the “great” states of Indiana and North Carolina, democratic voters are flocking to the polls to decide who they want to be the Democratic nominee for President. The New York Times has a great story detailing the various scenarios that could play out today based on who wins what. If you only read one story about the primary, read this one. The Washington Post has a similar kind of article that details eight questions that the primary will answer. The Post also wins the award for article that most depresses me about the state of politics in America.
Finally, David Brooks is back in love with Obama, and all’s right with the world. I will say I laughed at his use of the phrase “vast elitist conspiracy” – well done Brooks.
Reports are starting to come in from Myanmar, where 3000 were killed and 4000 are still missing after a cyclone this past weekend. Cyclone = hurricane, sorta.
The New York Times has a longish piece on the fates of immigrants who have died in while US custody. 66 people have died while in immigration custody from January 2004 to November 2007 – nearly a million people in total have passed through the system. The list was only compiled after congress demanded it and only published when the Times made a Freedom of Information Act request. The absurdity in this one is not so much that people die in US custody (the numbers are low even though some of the stories are chilling), it is the degree to which families have no way to get information. They often don’t fiend out for weeks that a loved one has died and even then they don’t find out the full picture of what happened. Flag this one to read during your coffee break.
The Democratic Primaries, The Kentucky Derby, Iron Man, and Australians after the jump
