It's about time. Bernie is losing his halo among progressives.

A few days ago I wrote a post "Bitter Bernie" and it's still in my editing pile. I don't have time to edit it now, so I'll just post it. I named him "Bitter Bernie" because that's what I see when I watch him, and I can just imagine Trump using it.

Bernie Sanders grows more tiresome to me every day. His primary emotions are anger and bitterness. (See Kevin Drum on this.) He seems like a very unhappy, unfulfilled man. He's also tone-deaf to the best interests of Democrats, the very party whose nomination he wants and isn't going to get.

It may be over soon -- all except the street protests at the convention which will turn out to be a mess since his sore-loser supporters preach hate and intolerance. Sanders doesn't support hate and intolerance, but no one will know that since he refuses to criticize even the most unbecoming behavior of his supporters.

The reason it will be over soon: He's running out of cash, having spent his millions like a drunken sailor (or Jeb Bush, take your pick.) He's run through $40 million a month. Hillary has millions more than him. [More...]

The only thing I have to say about Trump's meaningless list of persons he might consider for the Supreme Court is that it's instructive as to the quality of the advice he's getting: Poor to worthless to absurd. The list really isn't worth any more keystrokes than that.

The most ridiculous name on the list: 11th Circuit Judge William Pryor. I wrote about him extensively when he was nominated in 2003. GW Bush couldn't get him confirmed and had to use a recess appointment to get him through. (He was finally confirmed in 2005.)The Washington Post, in an editorial, called him Unfit to Judge. You can read all my posts here. [More...]

It's primary day in Kentucky and Oregon. Bernie won't win, says Vox. It's not just the super-delegates. It's the overall numbers.

From the New York Times: Trump is borrowing from the Sanders playbook.

Hillary airs her first anti-Trump ad.

Looks to me like Bernie Sanders' supporters caused the chaos at the Nevada Democratic convention.

At the point where Sanders' personal goals interfere with those of the Democratic Party (on whose ticket he is seeking a place), it's time for him to go. That time has come, in my view.

Goodnight Bernie, please come back in 2020, on some other party's ticket.

Update: Hillary ended up with 20 pledged delegates to Sanders' 15. Of the 8 superdelegates, Hillary got 4, Sanders 1 and 3 haven't said who they will support:

7 days ago, I tweeted:

Seriously I know all the why nots regarding Warren as VP, but man there are a lot of whys she should be. it's something to think about.

— Armando (@armandodkos) May 7, 2016

Clinton camp might agree:

A longtime Clinton veteran said the campaign definitely noticed Warren’s attacks. “You want a running mate who can take the fight to the other side with relish,” the veteran said. “Geography does not matter, but attitude and talent and energy and bringing excitement to the campaign, Senator Warren does all that.”

I'm persuaded. Warren for VP.

Joe Biden told Good Morning America he thinks he would have made the best President (over Hillary and Bernie.) He says he wasn't ready to commit his full heart to the endeavor.

Thank goodness for small favors. Had he run, it would have been the first time I didn't vote in the Presidential race my entire adult life.

Crime warriors like Biden should not be President. Only Rudy Giuliani would be worse than him in my view. (In the end, over the course of a career, Biden effected far more damage, so he may be worse than Giuliani.)

A now familiar (and tired) scenario repeats itself in West Virginia: Sanders wins the primary but gains next to nothing.

Sanders has won 19 states to Clinton's 23, but she is 94 percent of the way to winning the nomination — just 145 delegates short of the 2,383 required.

Clinton needs to win just 14 percent of the delegates and uncommitted superdelegates at stake in the remaining contests, and she remains on track to capture the nomination in early June.

I'm really starting to dislike Sanders now. Every day he seems older, more stooped and more out of touch to me. He's far outlived his usefulness as a promoter of progressive values. He is now being divisive and harmful to Democrats. Democrats need to focus their energy on beating Republicans in November. Sanders isn't letting them.

Trump didn't have a national infrastructure to compete in November. He's just started to create one. Hillary and the Democrats should be focused on increasing her lead over Trump, and expanding and energizing their voter base, not responding to Bernie Sanders.

Sanders is not a Democrat. He should come back in 2024 and run as a third party candidate. He'll only be 83.

I forgot about this very long Vanity Fair profile of Donald and Ivana Trump by Marie Brenner in 1990. It's frightening how little he's changed, and how the media knew he was full of it but kept writing about him anyway.

I forgot about the wall he tried to build on the West Side of Manhattan to keep out the homeless:

On the Saturday of Donald Trump’s forty-fourth-birthday celebration, I tried to take a walk on the West Side yards above Lincoln Center in Manhattan. The railroad tracks were rusty, the land was overgrown. The property stretched on, block after block. .... The only sign of Trump was a high storm fence topped with elaborate curls of barbed wire to keep out the homeless people who live nearby. It was on this land, at the height of his megalomania, that Trump said he would erect “the tallest building in the world,” a plan which was successfully thwarted by neighborhood activists who were resistant to having parts of the West Side obscured in shadow.

“They have no power,” Trump said at the time, baffled that anyone would resist his grandiose schemes.

House Speaker Paul Ryan won't support Donald Trump right now. He said Trump doesn't advance the principles of the Republican party. He doesn't think Trump is running a campaign Republicans can be proud of. He is unhappy with Trump's belittlement and bullying.

Is it Trump's crassness or his values Ryan objects to? Sounds like the former. Ryan sounds like he's trying to dictate how Trump runs his campaign. Memo to Ryan: It's not going to happen.

I've always disliked Paul Ryan's values. You can read his position on issues here.

Watching Republicans fall all over themselves and castigate their fellow Republicans is mildly entertaining. But in the end their views are all the same -- unacceptable.

The Rolling Stones have sent a cease and desist letter to Donald Trump, telling him to stop using their music. They released a statement to the media saying they never gave him permission.

I suggested such a letter two weeks ago when I heard the notes of "Start Me Up" at the end of Trump's victory speech in South Carolina.

I doubt the Stones would let him use their music. They should send a "cease and desist order" telling him they have no sympathy for the devil.

Time Magazine explains why this issue seems to be happening more frequently. [More...]

John Kasich is back in Ohio where he will announce his withdrawal from the race for the Republican presidential nomination at 5:00 pm (ET.)

Trump will be the Republican nominee. Now come the expressions of shock, awe, and more importantly, the jokes.

My view: Hillary will win in November. The longer she can concentrate on Trump instead of Bernie Sanders, the greater her chances. [More...]

Here's a thread for Indiana results. Indiana is in two time zones, so some polls close at 6 pm and others at 7pm.

CBS early exit polling for Republicans:

Early exit polling data finds a majority of Indiana GOP primary voters are angry or dissatisfied with the federal government: 34 percent said they were "angry" and 50 percent said they were "dissatisfied." (Only 14 percent said they were "satisfied" with their government.)

And outsider status is important to Indiana's voters: 59 percent said they want the next president to "be outside politics," compared with 36 percent said it was more important to "have political experience." More than half of GOP voters, 53 percent, said they felt "betrayed" by the Republican Party.

[More...]