In voting for Bernie Sanders in the Nevada caucuses over the weekend, significant numbers of people registered their disenchantment with establishment politics and economics. Though it wasn’t enough to put him over the top as it did in New Hampshire, with slightly over 47 percent of the vote, Bernie did better than many expected.  If anyone thought he would leave for South Carolina with his tail between his legs, they were mistaken.

Linda Ronstadt with the recently deceased Glen Frey and the Eagles

A reader commenting on my recent post – http://samwebb.org/bernies-victory-a-jump-start-to-recast-the-future/ – had this to say, “I have the impression that Sanders was not taken very seriously, in your quarter, until now. Welcome to the Bernie Club.”

What follows is part of my reply: I welcomed the campaign at the outset, but wondered about its ability to reach beyond the left and progressive community. Seems like it has and that’s very positive. At same time, I remain convinced – even more now with Scalia’s unexpected death – that the main strategic task is to defeat the efforts of the right to gain full control of the federal government. Which means, among other things, situating the Democratic Party and its presidential candidates within that context. To wit: I haven’t turned bashing Hillary into my favorite pastime, nor do I subscribe to “Bernie or Bust.”

I find that slogan to be another instance of the longstanding ailment of the left – narrowly constructed strategic and tactical thinking. And don’t think that I let the Communist Party off the hook in this regard. In fact, I said on more than one occasion when I was National Chair that such ideas were a considerable problem for us as well.

Linda Greenhouse, the former New York Times reporter who covered with great acuity the Supreme Court for many years until her recent retirement, shows that acuity once again in an oped in the Times. With precision, subtlety, and seeming detachment, she describes the destructive role of Antonin Scalia and the conservative majority on the court of which he was the most outspoken member.

On the website of The Nation today, Ari Berman makes a persuasive argument that the unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia has turned the makeup of the Supreme Court into the preeminent issue in this election. “It’s become a cliché every presidential cycle,” Berman writes, “to say that the Court should be one of the most important issues in the election but this year, following the death of Antonin Scalia, it’s never been truer. The next president will almost certainly appoint one or more Justices, especially if Republicans zealously oppose whomever President Obama nominates, which will shape the direction of the court for decades.” And he mentions that at the heart of the deliberations and decisions of the Supreme Court will be such issues as healthcare, gay marriage, voting rights, affirmative action, reproductive rights, labor rights, immigration, and climate change.