Lord knows, anyone who has come within range of social media has seen his or her share of reflections on the death of Prince. They run the gamut from heartfelt and poignant to nauseatingly narcissistic.  Here then is my first effort at the genre.

In 1981, I was a junior in high school.  I used to bring to school and carry around a portable cassette player to listen to music on the bus and in the woods smoking cigarettes and engaging in other prohibited activities.  I wasn't alone in this.  During breaks we'd run down to the smoking room (hard to imagine that now in HS!) or athletic fields and compete for selections.  We surely weren’t aware of it then, but our choices were about more than simply having a good time. It was a way of defining ourselves relative to our peers. The music you chose was a way of saying something about yourself, a statement of identity.  This is who I am because I listen to _____. 

Goliath has won.  Barring something truly extraordinary or tragedy, the Democratic presidential nominee will not be Bernie Sanders.  Not only does Hillary Clinton have a nearly unassailable advantage in pledged delegates and the support of the vast majority of super delegates, she is ahead in the few states which still haven't held primaries and which she needn't win in any event.  Under these circumstances, it does not behoove progressives to engage in magical thinking.

Ever since I heard Dirty Minds and Controversy, I've been a big fan. "Annie Christian, Antichrist...."

He combined Hendrix and funk, managed the cross-over, a bit clean, a bit dirty, get your big on butt over here - gotta get up, get down.... oh shit. Way too young. And then that duet with Beyoncé.... and the Revolution.

See ya, dude - and thanks

In the April 18th Financial Times, Edward Luce (Hillary Clinton's Missing Theme) lamented the fact that Hillary seems diffuse: Either in that same oped  or in one a few days earlier he essentially said  ask anyone, and they can tell you in 30 seconds what Trump or Cruz or Bernie intends to do. But Hillary, she just kind of suggests she'd do a better job of what Bill or Barak were doing..

Not slamming her, lamenting, because he mostly agrees with her positions. Was he listening tonight I wonder?

As Bernie wins over 50 of New York's 62 counties, it becomes obvious that Bernie Sanders has charmed a good portion of the electorate yet again, and there remain fierce concerns and problems to be resolved for Democrats, not just Independents who couldn't vote, and Americans as a whole. 

I was 29 years of age.

I had a wife and a tiny baby boy and a girl of three years of age.

I was fat and I drank a lot of beer.

While Senator Grassley appears to be the big dog on the front porch stiffing the President's pick for Supreme Court Justice, he may come out on the short end of the stick before this nomination runs its course. Blocking a moderate, well qualified nominee may turn out to be the wrong strategy in that when Republicans realize that Merrick Garland might be the best option compared to all the other scenarios, Grassley is going to look like a limp corn dog for his initial subservient blanket obstruction. He surrendered his authority without the remotest of factual arguments. Has he even tangentially referred to what might be the desires of the citizens of Iowa?

The water crisis in Flint, Michigan has been going on a lot longer than people have been hearing about it. The residents of Flint had been drinking contaminated water for well over a year before any one even bothered to hear them out, let alone try and fix the problem.

Bill Clinton let loose on some rather rude protesters, and perhaps rightly a number of people came to his defense, even noting that it's a shame the Sista Souljah moments have passed.

But it's still a huge shame we have haven't passed our police brutality moments. It's still a shame we haven't risen past either economic injustice or entrenched racial divisions. Bill, ever wily, seemed to realize you don't win by skipping over the next generation without becoming irrelevant, even if you're right.

Bernie Sanders is my favorite politician. Among U.S. Senators, it's likely my views align a little more closely with those of Elizabeth Warren and possibly Sherrod Brown (more on this in a moment). But Bernie's the one with the guts to take on the corrupt Clinton cabal and the neo-liberal Democratic establishment. For this, he deserves ever-lasting credit.