Keeping the blues alive

Every Sunday, my friend Denise Oliver Velez publishes a post at Daily Kos celebrating Black music. This week's edition is dedicated to Taj Mahal on his 84th birthday. She included a video of his recording of "Statesboro Blues," so I was inspired to take a look at the history of that song.

It was written and recorded by Blind Willie McTell back in 1928.

Forty years later, it was recorded by Taj Mahal. Pay close attention to the slide guitar, which was played by Native American Jesse Ed Davis.

When Duane Allman first heard that recording he decided to learn how to play slide guitar and became one of the best in history. "Statesborro Blues" was the opening number for the Allman Brothers' famous live recording at Fillmore East in 1971. 

Here is Taj Mahal performing this number in 2014 at a concert honoring Gregg Allman. It features Jack Pearson on slide guitar and Chuck Leavell on keys. 

As a member of the Allman Brothers Band from 1999-2014, Derek Trucks played this tune countless times. It is also part of the repertoire of the Tedeschi Trucks Band (ie, it was the first number Trucks played a few months ago on Jerry Garcia's "Tiger" guitar that had just sold for $11.5 million). I'll post this video, even though it isn't the best quality, because joining them on stage is a young guitarist known as "Taz," (Brandon Niederauer), who was 13 years old at the time. 

Brandon NiederauerBrandon Niederauer

Taz is now 23 years old and doing his part to keep this 98 year-old blues tune alive.

As Trump's DOJ tries to prove discrimination against white people, they resort to ignorance and hypocrisy.

As I wrote a few months ago, this country is still working on eliminating systemic racism from health care. So I was intrigued by an op-ed from the editorial board at the right-wing site Washington Examiner titled: "Racism has no place in medicine."

To be honest, I wasn't surprised to find that the article focused on a finding by the Trump Justice Department that the UCLA medical school had discriminated against white and Asian applicants. A similar finding against Yale medical school was released on Thursday. So what we have are two more examples of how this administration is using the concept of "civil rights" to enforce white supremacy.

The intriguing thing about all of this is that now the shoe is on the other foot. Trump's DOJ must prove that these medical schools are discriminating against white applicants (let's be honest, Asians are merely thrown in as the so-called "good minority"). So in the midst of attempts by the Supreme Court to eliminate a results-based standard (disparate impact) and replace it with the need to prove intent, let's take a look at their arguments.

The word intent shows up all over DOJ's documents, demonstrating that they are very cognizant of this controversy. But how are they attempting to prove intent? In the case against UCLA, they point to a document circulated by the Director of Admissions that "outlines workarounds to achieve medical school 'diversity goals.'" Later in the document, they refer to these workarounds as "proxies" for race. 

It's important to keep in mind that the Supreme Court has never said that seeking the educational benefits of racial diversity is illegal. As a matter of fact, they called it a laudable goal. When it comes to "proxies," the Supreme Court has said that it is OK to use "race neutral" things like neighborhood, socioeconomics and other factors.

We can also compare that argument to the one used in Louisiana v. Callais where partisan gerrymandering was validated as "race neutral." Conservatives on the Supreme Court were fine with using partisanship as a proxy for race.

The data used by Trump's DOJ to prove discrimination is where things get really interesting. They looked at median grade-point averages and the standardized test scores of admitted students broken down by race. 

The median entrance exam score for admitted Black students at Yale’s medical school last year was 518 and for 517 for Hispanic students, according to the Justice Department. The median score was 524 for both White and Asian students. The highest possible score is 528.

The median grade point average in 2025 for admitted Black students was 3.88 and 3.91 for Hispanic students. For White students, it was 3.97 and for Asians 3.98.

First of all, the differences are minuscule. Secondly, these items were considered for admission along with all of the other "race neutral" factors, so it is impossible to prove that the differences demonstrate an intended racial preference. 

But most importantly, the scores of admitted students is a perfect example of a results-based (rather than intent-based) standard for proving discrimination. If we eliminate the use of disparate impact, Trump's DOJ has no case.

In the midst of all of this, there are some things we need to keep in mind. 

While one in five people in the U.S. population was Hispanic, they accounted for just 7% of the physician workforce. Similarly, 12% of the population was Black compared to 6% of the physician workforce.

Beyond equality of opportunity, there are serious health outcomes at stake.

Research suggests that patient and provider racial concordance [when providers and patients share the same racial or ethnic background] may be linked to increased visits for preventative care, greater treatment adherence, and lower emergency department use. One study found that greater representation of Black primary care physicians was associated with increased life expectancy and lower mortality among Black people.

When it comes to these findings by the DOJ, what we have is an administration wallowing in ignorance and hypocrisy in furtherance of white supremacy. You can color me "not shocked" on that one. 

Which Jim Crow voter suppression efforts have conservatives on the Supreme Court validated?

After passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968, our court system needed a definition of what constituted discrimination. With the success of the Civil Rights Movement, polite society rejected open statements of white supremacy. It was no longer acceptable to do things like call someone the n-word (thus, the invention of "dog whistles"). But racism/sexism were still rampant in our culture. So how do you go about proving discrimination?

That question was eventually answered by something that came to be known as "disparate impact," which "occurs when a seemingly neutral policy or action causes a disproportionate and unjustified negative harm to a group, regardless of intent." That shift was monumental. No longer did someone need to prove that a defendant intended to discriminate. That occurred if the outcome of an action/policy disproportionately affected a protected class.

A friend of mine once gave me a perfect analogy for the importance of disparate impact: If you drop an anvil on my foot, your claim that you didn't intend to hurt me doesn't make the pain any less severe.

Conservatives like Chief Justice John Roberts have wanted to get rid of the disparate impact standard for decades. A little over a year ago, Donald Trump signed an executive order attempting to eliminate the federal government's use of disparate impact. Jeff Bezos's editorial board at the Washington Post published an opinion piece last December praising former Attorney General Pam Bondi for rescinding the use of disparate impact - calling the standard "woke."

The latest blow to disparate impact came from the recent Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which basically gutted the Voting Rights Act. Here's what Edward Foley wrote about the attempt to eliminate a "results" test and return to an "intent" test:

Callais purports to interpret VRA’s Section 2, but it destroys the central meaning of the section, converting it into the exact opposite of what Congress meant for it to do. The one thing that is unambiguous about Section 2 is that the 1982 amendment to the section’s text creates a “results” test for determining whether there is liability under the section, replacing the “intent” test that the Supreme Court had previously adopted for Section 2 claims. As the text states, no “standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed … which results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race.” Yet Callais defiantly converts Section 2 back to an intent inquiry rather than a results analysis.

To demonstrate how dangerous this is, let's look at some of the Jim Crow voter suppression laws that these six conservatives on the Supreme Court would validate with this ruling. One could make a claim that in order to vote (or register to vote), citizens must pass literary tests,  pay a poll tax, and/or not be a former prisoner. Voter rolls could be purged with no ability to re-register until after the election. 

It is possible to make a case for all of those measures without suggesting that they are meant to discriminate. As a matter of fact, those arguments are already being made by some MAGA influencers. Applying them to everyone removes the appearance that they are intended to discriminate. But the result has always been to limit the voting power of black and poor citizens. 

When people suggest that these decisions by the six conservative members of the Supreme Court take us back to the Jim Crow era, it is NOT an exaggeration. That's exactly where we're headed.

We need to get honest about what money does (and doesn't) accomplish in elections

During an appearance on the Shawn Ryan Show, Cenk Uygur said something monumentally stupid. And of course, the right wing site RealClearPolitics immediately picked up on it. 

"By the time you get to the general election, it’s robot A versus robot B, and they’ve robbed you of all your choices," he said. "It’s actually the same way it works in China and Iran."

"The Chinese have a Politburo like the Soviets used to, and they vote within themselves — this very small group — and give you two options that both serve the Politburo, and then they have fake elections," he explained. "Iran does the same thing. The mullahs vote internally, give you two fake options that both serve the ayatollah and the mullahs, and then people have a fake election."

"Here in America, the donors select who is going to win the primaries by giving them all the money. Once you’ve got $5 million in a primary, good night, Irene."

"In fact, in America, the person with more money wins the election 95% of the time," he said.

There you have it. A guy who claims to be a liberal just compared U.S. elections to those in China and Iran. Holy cow!!!! Way to undermine our democracy Cenk. 

The issue of money in political campaigns is something that extreme leftists have been exploiting for years now. So let me take a moment to unpack it once again. 

According to current law, corporations cannot donate directly to a political campaign and individuals are limited to no more than $3,500. Where the big money comes into play is with donations to SuperPacs, because there are no limits. But campaign finance law also says that SuperPacs are not allowed to coordinate with campaigns (although that line in the sand is being muddied quite a bit). 

With that said, Uygur is mostly correct in suggesting that "the person with more money wins the election 95% of the time."  But in order to draw any conclusions about that it is important to know the source of the funds. 

As an example, we could look at the recent election of Zohran Mamdani. Due to the mayor's ability to raise small dollar donations, which are matched by the city's public campaign finance system, the Mamdani campaign was able raise significantly more money than Andrew Cuomo's campaign. 

Where big money donors came into play is that billionaires contributed $40 million to SuperPacs supporting Cuomo - giving him a big edge in the total amount raised. Nevertheless, Cuomo lost. 

I am reminded of the fact that Elon Musk gave over $20 million to his SuperPac in order to buy a seat on Wisconsin's Supreme Court. It didn't work. The effectiveness of that kind of money is a risk...one that a lot of billionaires seem willing to take.

It's also important to keep in mind that money donated directly to a campaign is not only WAY more effective, it is an important signal that the candidate on the receiving end has broad grassroots support. As Wesley Lowery put it: "A candidate who is compelling enough to get you to open your wallet should, in theory, also be able to get you to head to the ballot box for him or her." So a candidate who raises more money from those donors signals that they are likely to win. 

All of that is playing out in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary between Mallory McMorrow, Abdul El-Sayed, and Haley Stevens. According to the most recent FEC report, McMorrow is outraising her opponents. But even more importantly, over half of the donations to her campaign came from people who gave less than $200. For El-Sayed and Stevens it was 26% and 14% respectively. In other words, grassroots donors are breaking heavily for McMorrow. If that trend continues, she will likely win the primary. 

I'll say it once again: those who are suggesting that Democratic primaries are rigged, or that they resemble elections in China/Iran, are lying to you. In doing to, they are undermining our democracy every bit as much as Donald Trump. 

So get out and vote in the upcoming primaries - and donate when/where you can. 

I'll leave you with a piece of advice from Molly Ivins that has always guided my vote: "In the primaries vote with your heart. In the general, go with your head."

Democrats have a chance to demonstrate what democracy should look like

It's primary season for the 2024 midterm elections. Here's a helpful list of when those elections will take place over the coming months.

In almost every state, there are races (local, state, and/or national) where Democrats are running against Democrats. That presents an opportunity for the party to engage in what former President Obama called, "a better politics."

Imagine if we broke out of these tired old patterns. Imagine if we did something different. Understand, a better politics isn’t one where Democrats progressives abandon their agenda or Republicans centrists simply embrace mine. A better politics is one where we appeal to each other’s basic decency instead of our basest fears. A better politics is one where we debate without demonizing each other; where we talk issues and values, and principles and facts, rather than “gotcha” moments, or trivial gaffes, or fake controversies that have nothing to do with people’s daily lives...

If we’re going to have arguments, let’s have arguments, but let’s make them debates worthy... of this country.

In these days when our democratic republic is at risk, Democrats have an opportunity to show the country what our politics could look like. Candidates could "debate their ideas without demonizing each other; talk issues and values and principles and facts." I suspect that, with the constant demonization and dehumanization coming from the right, most voters would welcome a refreshing change. 

I've been thinking about that a lot after I decided that it was time to educate myself about a social media influencer named Hasan Piker. While I'd seen his name occasionally, I hadn't paid much attention and, like most Democrats didn't really know who he was.

Then a few weeks ago, a clip of Piker being interviewed by Jon Favreau showed up on my Facebook timeline. So I watched it. Favreau was questioning Piker's statement that he wouldn't vote for Gavin Newsom in a 2028 presidential race against J.D. Vance. As if that wasn't bad enough, Piker went on to suggest that the "Democratic Party" needs to find a "good candidate" that can appeal to him. 

What I would have asked Piker at that point is "who is the Democratic Party?" In the comments, I wrote, "If Gavin Newsom were the 2028 nominee, it would be because Democratic voters chose him in the primary." A lot of the responses claimed that the Democratic Party rigged primaries. Current candidate Graham Platner recently affirmed that idea in this conversation with a former Trump supporter (at the 2:50 minute mark).

I sat down with a Republican who voted for Trump three times.

We had a lot more in common than you would think. pic.twitter.com/ZUVtqk2CQQ

— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) May 4, 2026

Former Trump voter: "Bernie [Sanders] had the nomination and just got replaced."

Platner: "Agreed. Yep, the powers that be wouldn't let him have it so they did what they do."

Need I point out that there is no difference between that statement and Trump's big lie about the 2020 election being rigged? Both of them are not only lies. They are designed to undermine our confidence in elections - the basis of a democratic republic. 

One of the ways that productive debate is silenced is when a candidate is accused to taking a position simply because of corporate and/or PAC contributions. As an example, in the comment section of the Facebook post I referred to up above, I mentioned that I had contributed to Peggy Flanagan's campaign for Senate. I was told that she was simply a "corporate shill." Nevermind that she has been endorsed by Senators Tina Smith, Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, Bernie Sanders, etc. because of her record as an independent and progressive politician. These folks simply throw around terms like that to shut down conversations/debates about issues. 

As an example of the way that is playing out in the 2026 primaries, Hasan Piker and the candidate he supports - Chris Rabb - in Pennsylvania's 3rd Congressional District primary, are accusing his opponents of being secretly funded by AIPAC and therefore in support of Israel's genocide in Gaza. Here's a good summary of why that is not true. 

As Democrats, candidates should have vigorous debates on the issues where they agree and disagree. Then we all go to the polls and vote for the person we think will do the best job of representing us. As we watch that process come under assault by Republicans, we have a chance to demonstrate what real democracy should look like. Let's not blow it! 

What the anti-Zionists miss about the war with Iran

Due to a report from April 7th in the New York Times, conventional wisdom has focused on the fact that Bibi Netanyahu is the one who talked Trump into attacking Iran. Anti-Zionists from both the extreme left and right have zeroed in on that reporting to make the case that Israel is to blame for the current state of affairs in the Middle East. Of course, they're not completely wrong about that. As former Secretary of State John Kerry recently said, Netanyahu made the same pitch to President's Bush, Obama, and Biden. However, the only one who ever bought it was Trump. 

But a month before that New York Times article was published, a headline in the Washington Post read: "Push from Saudis, Israel helped move Trump to attack Iran."

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made multiple private phone calls to Trump over the past month advocating a U.S. attack...In his discussions with U.S. officials...the Saudi leader warned that Iran would come away stronger and more dangerous if the United States did not strike now...

Then in March, the New York Times published an article stating that "Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has been pushing President Trump to continue the war against Iran, arguing that the U.S.-Israeli military campaign presents a “historic opportunity” to remake the Middle East."

So Netanyahu isn't the only leader in the Middle East who's pushing this war against Iran. The reason that is important is because Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is one of the lead negotiators with Iran. He obviously has a vested interest in what Saudi Arabia wants out of this conflict as he seeks billions of additional dollars from that government. 

One of the only people talking about that is Senator John Ossoff.

Referring to the "Mar-a-Lago Mafia," Ossoff said that "Never before have we seen so little effort to hide so much corruption." And yet, an obsession with Israel has blinded a lot of people to the Kushner/Saudi Arabia side of this conflict. 

Global affairs are often a mixture of complex factors. This one is no different. Forces that led to the war with Iran include Netanyahu and Christian nationalists who want to bring on Armageddon. But a corrupt son-in-law seeking billions of dollars from Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman has to be included in the mix.  

Not-Breaking News: Trump Threatens Obama

Donald Trump went on a bit of a bender on social media last night - as is the case more often these days. This is one of the themes that emerged: 

President Donald Trump shared and reposted a series of messages via Truth Social after midnight on Friday (April 24), accusing former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton of treason, while appearing to once again suggest Obama should be arrested.

As an example, Trump reposted someone who wrote: "Hillary Clinton funded, approved, and created the Steele Dossier, Barack Obama called the shots, and Brennan's CIA did the dirty work. The evidence is clear, TREASON was committed, and now they must pay or they will do it again. Americans demand it."

It's been nine months since Trump threatened to arrest Obama. So it's worth asking what sparked this renewed interest in the former president. There are two possibilities - which aren't mutually exclusive.

First of all, the video of Obama and Mamdani visiting a child care center went viral. It reminded a lot of people what it was like to have a president who enjoyed the presence of children while lifting them up. We've all seen how Obama lives rent-free in Trump's head as the biggest irritant to his narcissistic ego. The more people remember how much they admire the former president, the more the current occupant of the White House is likely to lash out in anger.

Recent events in the Justice Department have also riled up the president and his MAGA base. Prosecutors in Miami have been attempting to pull together a case charging people in the Obama administration over their involvement in the so-called "Russia hoax." Last week, the lead federal prosecutor, Maria Medetis Long, who was overseeing the criminal investigation of John Brennan, was pulled off the case. Sources familiar with the matter said it was because she informed her superiors that there was not enough evidence to make the case.

The next day it was announced that Joe DiGenova would be in charge of leading the investigation. In case you've forgotten, DiGenova and his wife Victoria Toensing were deeply involved in Rudolph Giuliani's extortion racket that led to Trump's first impeachment. Part of their work involved feeding lies to John Solomon, who was then working as a "reporter" for The Hill. It shouldn't come as surprise that Solomon immediately jumped on the bandwagon by forecasting a "grand conspiracy case" against Obama administration officials. 

None of these conmen/women have ever had anything but lies - which they use to juice up a delusional president and his MAGA enablers. When they fail, they'll do what they've always done: blame the "deep state," corrupt judges, and/or the "radical left." 

The facts remain: Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 election to help Trump and the lot of them tried to extort Zelensky to fabricate dirt against Biden in the 2020 election. In the end, as Nancy Pelosi once said, "With Trump, all roads lead to Putin."

- The US leaving NATO
- Zelenskyy being humiliated in the Oval Office
- The US turning on Europe

Is it Donald Trump’s foreign policy or Vladimir Putin’s 'Christmas wishlist'? James O’Brien can’t tell. pic.twitter.com/anW8AYupSc

— LBC (@LBC) April 24, 2026