blogorrhea: Friday Water Cooler

Hillary Clinton’s Support Among Nonwhite Voters Has Collapsed (HufPo). "On February 27th, Hillary Clinton led Bernie Sanders among African-American voters by 52 points. By March 26th, she led Sanders among African-Americans by just nine points." Now if the Bernie-only-gets-white-votes meme would just die, once and for all . . .

In Pennsylvania, Hillary's lead over Sanders has shrunk to single digits (latest.com). She was up 22 points; now it's 6 points, and falling.

Shaking Hands with the Hilldebeest (lrb.co.uk). Ever wonder what it's like to shake Hillary's hand at a cozy Palo Alto fund-raiser? Terry Castle has the suitably weird inside scoop.

Bill Clinton defends decision not to recuse himself of superdelegate vote (nydailynews.com). Disgusting.

Roger Stone

What’s Really Going On Inside Trump’s Political Operation? (GQ). This interview with Trump advisor @RogerJStoneJr (coauthor of The Clintons' War on Women) is well worth reading for clues as to how the Republican Convention will play out in July. After reading it, I had an Aha! moment: Kasich is actually running for President 2020. He knows the best way to get there is to be VP first. And guess what? By the time he gets to Cleveland, in July, his delegate count (currently 143) will be large enough to offset whatever deficit Trump is experiencing. All Trump has to do is make "a deal" (namely: Kasich as running mate in return for Kasich freeing his delegates and urging them to vote Trump+Kasich). Cruz-for-VP is out (that bridge has been burned!) and Palin-for-VP would be a ridiculously feeble way to address Trump's popularity problems among women.

Trump bills himself as a deal-maker. Let's see what kind of deal he can do in Cleveland, where bullshit and bluster aren't going to work; it'll be time for some major-league deal-making, or else pack up and go home.

Pennsylvania voters switching parties at what may be record pace ahead of April 26 primary (mcall.com). The numbers show a small net gain for the Republicans.

America’s infrastructure is so bad, self-driving cars can’t even find the lanes on the road (rawstory.com). Bumps ahead.

Former Defense Secretary Says US on “Precipice of New Arms Race” as Obama Plans $1 Trillion in “Small, Flexible” Nukes (mishtalk.com).

France: Exodus of 10,000 millionaires amid rising Muslim tensions (ibtimes.co.uk). This would've been impressive in 1970, when $1 million was really worth something. Also:

Australia is top destination for the super-wealthy (ibtimes.co.uk). But again, millionaires are called out as "super-wealthy," which is silly. A million dollars is not super-wealth. Not any more.

The Gig Economy Is Growing, and It Is Terrifying (gawker.com). A future with no benefits.

The Lies of Neoliberal Economics, or How America Became a Nation of Sharecroppers (counterpunch.org). "Rather than the rising tide of debt raising all boats, it raises the yachts, but the rest of the economy is underwater."

Total Inequality (theatlantic.com). Future generations will be sicker, less educated, and live shorter lives. Unless you're wealthy.

The ink in 2000-year-old scrolls contains metal (dailymail.co.uk). Apparently, the metal in the ink is lead, not iron.

Thanks for visiting. Be sure to check out prior weeks' Water Coolers (see links at right).

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