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Part One:
We speak with Walter Shapiro, fellow at the Brennan Center, about the contentious debate between Kamala Harris and Joe Biden over school “busing.” Shapiro lost a Michigan election in 1972 in part because of his support for a court-ordered desegregation plan that used busing as one tool to desegregate the schools.
Busing has always been a political “third rail” for politicians. But Harris spoke about how her life had been improved immensely by a busing plan that had been *voluntarily* adopted by her Berkeley, CA school district. Since the debate on June 27, many Democrats have argued about the issue itself and also how it might affect the upcoming presidential election.
We touched upon the difficult dilemma we all face in a democracy. Candidates for office are cautious about taking any position that might alienate large numbers of voters, even if that position is “the right thing to do.” The U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, however, exists precisely to protect members of discrete minority groups from the “tyranny of the majority.” How does anyone strike the right balance either when one runs for office (or governs after winning office) or when one is deciding which candidate to actively support? Are we discouraging candidates from “doing the right thing”?
Part Two:
We check in with “Dr. Politics,” Steffen Schmidt, professor of political science at Iowa State University. We discuss adult men’s outrageous idea that very young women are “fair game.” Donald Trump is not alone in normalizing the sexual abuse of young women. Former U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta’s “slap on the wrist” to Jeffrey Epstein was condoned by none other than Cyrus Vance, Jr. And of course, Bill Clinton was a frequent companion of Epstein and his “friends.”
The vehement public outrage over this news — in the wake of the #MeToo movement — should not be surprising. Who’d’a thunk it? Women today not only want equal pay, but they want respect too!
We also discuss the public spat between Nancy Pelosi and four progressive Congresswomen of color (AOC, Tlaib, Omar, Pressley). Democratic centrists are afraid that these freshmen’s voices will alienate “the moderates” and Republicans, and that this might jeopardize Democratic candidates (for Pres and for Congress) who will be running in the 2020 election. But if the Wall Street Democrats succeed in isolating these progressives, many Democratic candidates risk losing elections if large numbers of progressive Dems decide not to come out (or not to get active) in the election.
We wonder why Democratic leaders are so afraid of 4 women who talk about health care, climate change, and similar revolutionary issues. One answer may lie in racism (on the right) and the fear of a racist backlash (on the left). One Republican lashed out at the 4 progressives as “foreign women” who “don’t understand this country.” Of course, these Congresswomen are all Americans, not foreigners, and the issue is not that they “don’t understand” but rather that they disagree with the radical right and its Republican supporters.
