Nation's Oldest Black Newspaper Comes Down Against The Corrupt Establishment-- Endorses Bernie And Joe Sestak

The Philadelphia Tribune started publishing in 1884 and today it's the oldest continually publishing African-American newspaper in the country. The paper is and has always been a steady and reasonable voice for black equality in southeastern Pennsylvania. It reaches over 620,000 black readers weekly. And they're calling on their Pennsylvania readers to vote for Bernie on Tuesday. Although the editors acknowledge that Hillary would also be better than Trump or Cruz, they came down on the Bernie side, writing that he "offers an inspiring message and bold vision for America without the excessive baggage of Clinton, which is why Sanders is our choice for president in the Democratic primary."

Clinton has on many occasions exercised bad judgment on critical issues including her avid support for her husband’s draconian 1994 crime bill which led to a major increase in mass incarceration of African Americans. She may not be responsible for signing the crime bill but she strongly supported it. She has since apologized for her support including her use of the race-coded term “super predator” to describe Black males involved in crime. But her previous stance raises serious questions.

She also exercised bad judgment in giving highly paid speeches to Wall Street, whose reckless speculation help lead the country to the worst recession since the Great Depression. In foreign affairs, she supported the invasion of Iraq and has publicly advocated a far more aggressive approach toward Syria than President Barack Obama. Obama and Sanders opposed the war in Iraq. Sanders is also a strong advocate of Palestinian statehood, which requires considerable courage. The New York Times describes Clinton as more hawkish on military matters than Obama and most Democrats in Congress.

Since his days as a student at the University of Chicago protesting against segregation in public schools in Chicago and throughout his political career, Sanders has supported policies and programs that would be in the best interest of all Americans and African Americans, specifically. He has been a consistent fighter for a more just and equitable society.

The killing of unarmed Black men by police officers in Ferguson, New York, Baltimore and elsewhere have finally brought the important issue of police brutality and mass incarceration to the national dialogue.

Sanders takes a strong stance against police abuse and misconduct without demonizing good police officers. He has called for demilitarizing local police departments and holding police officers accountable for misconduct and abuse.

His support for free tuition at public colleges and universities would disproportionally help African Americans and would have a major positive affect of alleviating poverty.

His critics say Sanders proposals are too ambitious, costly and would never get through Congress. They are right that most of his proposals would not pass the current Republican-controlled Congress. His proposals will not happen overnight. But Social Security was also once seen as impossible.

But most of Sanders’ proposals including free tuition at public colleges and universal health care are not new and are already well established government programs in European countries with far less wealth than the United States.

The paper doesn't publish Mondays. Let's hope the circulation over the weekend is strong and that the impression lasts through Tuesday. The editorial board also came down in favor of Joe Sestak for Senate insteda of for the boss-backed Schumercrat, Katie McGinty. "Regardless of who wins the presidency," they asserted, "there will be need for a new Congress to get anything done. Senator Pat Toomey joined with some of his more conservative Republican colleagues in the senate in opposing Loretta Lynch for U.S. Attorney General. He opposes holding a confirmation hearing for Merrick Garland, Obama’s pick to replace Justice Antonin Scalia who died in February. Lynch, who overcame Toomey’s opposition, and Garland, are highly qualified. There are several Democrats seeking to replace Toomey in the Senate. We endorse Joe Sestak, former Navy admiral and former congressman, to be the Democratic nominee. Sestak lost to Toomey in a close election in 2010, despite having many Democratic Party leaders opposed to him because of his independence. Sestak did well in an election year where Republicans rode tea party anger against Obama to take control of Congress. On the issues, Sestak and his closest rival, Katie McGinty, are not far apart, but Sestak has the experience and proven record in Congress."