“Pondering the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.
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New York Times Editorial Board: What Needs to Come After the New York Primary
Barring another Michigan-style upset, Hillary Clinton is likely to win the New York presidential primary on Tuesday. But watching her and Bernie Sanders wage the Battle of Brooklyn on the debate stage on Thursday was to hear two candidates recycling familiar themes, albeit at a higher pitch, and to see the toll that these fractious months of combat have exacted on them and their party. Democrats are now so divided and dug-in that no matter who wins the nomination, it will take a considerable effort to heal and reunite them. [..]
The breadth of experience that Mrs. Clinton — former first lady, senator from New York and secretary of state — would bring to the presidency is impressive and rare. But as tough as this long fight with Mr. Sanders has been, a tougher challenge could lie ahead: appealing to younger Democrats and resolving doubts about her forthrightness and her policies. She will need to do both if she is to stake a clear claim to the White House.
Anna Sauerbrey: Erdogan and Merkel’s Comic Comeuppance
THOUGH it’s a fact often overlooked by the rest of the world, Germany is a funny place — seriously. Long before Jon Stewart and Samantha Bee redefined topical American humor, comedians here perfected the art of sharp political satire.
For the most part, German politicians get the joke. But now politics and humor are colliding in a new way — a collision that exposes the tragicomedy of modern Europe. [..]
But what the Böhmermann affair shows most impressively is that the deal was struck for the wrong reasons at the wrong time. It was a panic reaction. Ms. Merkel was under immense political pressure; her party, the Christian Democrats, had just suffered setbacks in three state elections. Other European leaders are facing similar problems.
Europe came to the table quarreling and desperate — not as a partner, but as a beggar. Now Mr. Erdogan continues to treat Europe as such. Political realists love to cite game theory to justify their decisions; had they cracked open their textbooks for a refresher, they could have easily predicted this outcome.
Angelina Chapin: No, John Kasich, women are not to blame for rape
Today Ohio Republican governor John Kasich presented a “solution” to sexual violence that is more flawed than his losing presidential campaign. At a town hall in Watertown, New York, he told a female college student that to avoid “sexual violence, harassment and rape” she should not “go to parties where there’s a lot of alcohol”.
His flawed logic should not be surprising. After all, Kasich’s comments are only the latest in a long tradition of Republican victim-blaming, which includes Todd Akin’s idea of “legitimate rape” and more recently, Ben Carson’s opposition to abortion for sex assault survivors. Yet the fact that so many influential men still fail to grasp the basics of rape culture is both intellectually baffling and incredibly dangerous for women. To decrease the rates of sexual assault, we need men to fight misogyny.
Jeb Lund: Corey Lewandowski may be off the hook. But he didn’t win
Well, he didn’t lose. The Palm Beach state attorney has declined to prosecute Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, who manhandled Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields on 8 March, allegedly bruising her in the process, after she tried to ask Donald Trump a question about affirmative action.
There are no winners here. Not Trump, nor his people, nor the conservative press.
Trump didn’t win. The Lewandowski incident was a sideshow, the first that didn’t work on any level. Until this point, outrages have merely focused the 24-hour media’s free-advertising on the candidate and made him appear like some relatable low-level maverick.
But Trump and his people played this one wrong. Lewandowski and Trump both denied that the alleged assault happened, in spite of video footage and a cluster of journalists around the incident. You can’t gaslight a videotape.
Matt Laslo: If Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders just want to squabble, who’ll listen?
The media circus the New York primary has become began to resemble a zoo on Thursday night, as the Democratic candidates used their ninth debate to tear one another apart.
“If you’re both screaming at each other, the viewers can’t hear either of you,” moderator Wolf Blitzer was forced to interject at one point. It seems the two have momentarily lost sight of the White House, and instead are only seeing flashes of red. [..]
Who cares. I don’t. I lost track of what they were bickering about. The exchange resembled a schoolyard tiff.
Donald Trump’s kids have taught us all that changing your party registration is a tedious process in New York, but Democratic voters were left few other options if their preferred candidate loses the party’s primary.
If what we witnessed tonight in Brooklyn is indicative of what’s in their hearts, maybe Ted Cruz has a point about New York values. The good news for Sanders is he’s traveling to Rome this weekend and will be near the pope. Maybe he can use that time to reflect on the sins of a vicious Democratic debate.
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