As politicians and groups across the political spectrum join forces to address the U.S.’ mass incarceration and police violence crises, former President Bill Clinton and other officials who implemented ‘tough on crime’ policies in the 1990s now say they regret their actions.

But former Maryland Governor and Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley, who promoted a regime of ‘zero tolerance’ policing in the late 90s and early 2000s, told ThinkProgress this weekend that he has no regrets from his time leading what he called “the most addicted and most violent city in America.”

“We had a horrible problem in our city with the proliferation of open air drug markets,” O’Malley said. “People wanted them shut down, so that’s what we did. Yes, enforcement levels spiked. But we saved about 1,000 lives, probably.”

O’Malley spoke to ThinkProgress just after addressing the Democratic Party Convention of New Hampshire, where he is vying for the nomination against Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Lincoln Chafee, and Lawrence Lessig.

Since he was elected mayor of Baltimore in 1999, O’Malley’s criminal justice record included denying elderly prisoners parole and conducting mass arrests for low-level offenses, like loitering. The city ended up paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in a settlement for wrongful detentions.
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Published on Sep 28, 2015
In the surreal world of Hillary Clinton, past incorrect judgements on war, gay marriage, and Keystone pipeline do not reflect on her assessment abilities. In an interview with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press, Hillary Clinton squirmed and equivocated on her now admitted 'mistakes' and tried to frame herself as learning from her past. Yet, in the here and now, Hillary Clinton continues to advocate for the same type of hawkish positions that led to the current disasters in the Middle East and runs away from her CURRENT record on the Transpacific Partnership.. In the light of these facts, Hillary Clinton's rationalizations fall flat and ring utterly hollow.

Interviw with Chuck Todd, Meet the Press:
http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/full-interview--hillary-clinton-on-meet-the-press-533201475511

Hillary Clinton's Brookings Institute Speech:
https://theintercept.com/2015/09/09/hillary-clinton-goes-militaristic-hawkish-think-tank-gives-militaristic-hawkish-speech/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-iran-foreign-policy_55f05c2ae4b002d5c07786b2

Hillary Clinton's Record on Transpacific Partnership:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=2eF5iuPhLaw

Sadly, this isn’t the first time that Clinton has tried to buy the appearance of likeability. In 2013, the Clinton State Department spent $630,000 to boost their Facebook page to more than 400,000 followers — the vast majority of which were located in a “click farm” in Cairo.

More recently, an audit done by Status People showed that only 44 percent of her Twitter followers are real people who actively use Twitter, and more than a half-million of her followers are completely fake. Additionally, her Facebook page has been padded with more than 46,000 followers located in Baghdad — more than in any U.S. city.

By comparison, Bernie Sanders’ Facebook and Twitter accounts tally more than 1 million followers each. More importantly, Sanders’s followers are 600% more active in sharing his message. This level of supporter engagement keeps Sanders trending in a continuous loop across social media platforms while Clinton only appears in bursts.

So how does this translate into actual support from people who will come out to vote?

Last month at a campaign stop in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton drew 600 people to hear her speak at the University of New Hampshire. Two days later, Sanders drew more than 3,000 people at the same location.
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Dave Matthews Band recently wrapped up their 24th consecutive U.S. summer tour, but as Matthews told Rolling Stone backstage at Farm Aid 30 earlier this month — before he performed with longtime friend and collaborator, Tim Reynolds — his mind has often been elsewhere. The singer has been following the Presidential race and also working through new material he's written for his band's next album. In a passionate conversation with Rolling Stone, Matthews explained why Bernie Sanders gives him hope and offered an update on the forthcoming DMB LP.
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You've long been outspoken politically. After seeing the most recent Republican debate, how do you feel about where our country is headed?

When I listen to the bold-faced, impossible and nonsensical, disconnected claims at the last debate, I'm like, "What the fuck are you all talking about? None of you are remotely connected. None of you have an actual plan!" I can stand up and say, "If I was President, I would make everybody's boobs bigger, and I would make men stronger, and everybody would be happy, and everybody would be fed, and the oceans would be clean, and everyone would have jobs. And that's what I'll do if I'm President." Wait, do you shit money? What are you fucking talking about? There's no way you can do anything but damage our children's future by claiming you can spend more money to make us stronger, make us better, make us happier, make the whole world a better, more peaceful place, and cut taxes and have less government. 'Cause you're just talking about something that's fucking impossible.

Do you support any particular candidate for President in the 2016 election?

When I hear someone speaking in terms of the workers rising up and the working people feeling like they have a voice, when I hear someone like Bernie Sanders talking, I think there's a hope. And I have no party affiliation [laughs]. I'm not saying with his half-a-million donators and supporters that have committed 30 bucks on average to his campaign, he can win without a Super PAC. But that's a guy who is talking about something real and that isn't insulted by being called a liberal. Someone could call me a liberal, and I'd say, "Thank you." Someone could call me a socialist, and I'd say, "I wish I was a socialist." I should get a shirt that says, "Tax me! Tax the fuck out of me!" At least we're hearing more of a voice from him by having him out there and speaking in complete sentences rather than a bunch of slogans that don't mean anything. So I feel like there's hope as long as some people are speaking to the real problem in this country.

We shouldn't look down on homeless people in this country or the mentally ill or the people who don't have work or migrant workers who want to come here and work hard for their futures, and they're trying to make something. That in the richest and the most powerful country in the world we can't house our own people and we can't take care of people who have fallen through the cracks and that we don't have a safety net to look after each other is fucking astounding.

Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to celebrate our ever-so important growing demographic in the United States for our worldwide achievements and contributions to American culture. Given the recent wave of anti-immigrant and anti-Latino sentiment that this election cycle has reignited, this year's list focuses on Latinos who are rising fast and showing what we can do. Selection for this list was done by a committee of peers -- some partisans; some not. Without further ado...here are 40 Latinos under 40 years old to watch in this upcoming election cycle. This new generation of political talent is listed here in alphabetical order by first name.
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18. Hector Sigala (Bernie Sanders): As the Digital Media Director for Bernie Sanders' Presidential Campaign, Hector has helped Bernie's online presence claim the top democratic page on Facebook and has gained recognition from national media outlets as the best social media of any candidate. Before becoming the Sander's campaign social media guru, Hector worked in Sanders' Senate office since 2012 where he concurrently served as the Congressional Hispanic Staff Association's Communications Director in 2013. Hector has been blazing a trail for his family and community since immigrating from Mexico at a young age and working his way through college before earning his Bachelors from George Washington University. He says that having experienced poverty and the immigrant struggle firsthand serves as his motivation for the work he does for Bernie Sanders.

A sus 74 años, Bernie Sanders es el candidato de más edad de la campaña 2016, pero eso no le ha impedido convertirse en una estrella de las redes sociales.

Su hashtag de campaña #FeelTheBern y sus dos páginas oficiales en Facebook han contribuido a su capacidad para arrastrar multitudes en eventos de campaña por todo el país. Sanders es el candidato demócrata con más seguidores en Facebook, con 3,6 millones, por delante de Hillary Clinton, con 1,4 millones.

Detrás de este éxito del senador por Vermont se encuentra un joven latino de 26 años, el director de redes sociales de su campaña, Héctor Sigala.

¿Cuál es el secreto? Según él, el mérito es del candidato.

"No te puedo decir el secreto porque no lo hay", dice en conversación telefónica desde Washington, DC. "Hay una gran cantidad de entusiasmo alrededor del mensaje del senador", asegura y pasa a enumerar los principales temas de campaña de Sanders: acabar con la desigualdad de ingresos, expulsar los intereses económicos de la política, luchar contra el cambio climático, acabar con la discriminación...