Lowdown, Immoral, Stupid

Readers continue to be outraged that we would support the “lackluster” Hillary Clinton over “lifelong progressive” Bernie Sanders. “I usually depend on INDY to help me decide how to cast my vote,” wrote Albert Studdard. “Your weak-kneed dismissal of Bernie Sanders makes me wonder if I should bother again.”

A reader named Rick took umbrage at oursquare quotes “endorsement” of Donald Trump as well. “You have changed a class operation to trash. Hillary is bad enough, but intellectually defendable. Trump’s endorsement reduces you to lowdown, immoral, and, well, stupid (as that bozo so often fumes). You are pathetic.” Rob Napier writes that our endorsements are too important to squander: “Your political reporting and endorsements are a huge benefit … . But your clearly bad-faith endorsement of Donald Trump is a stain on that.”

But most of the fire was aimed at the Democratic front-runner. “Hillary Clinton failed to see the folly of Iraq/Libya/Syria,” adds John R. Wilson of Raleigh. “Sanders was right; she was wrong. … Also, she is a political chameleon, not tried and true as portrayed.”

That sentiment isn’t universal: “The divide among your editorial board sounds like a mirror image of my own conflicted inner debate,” INDYweek.com commenter Anderson D. Orr writes. “I’m quite surprised with myself, as I keep coming to the same conclusion as did y’all.”

Finally, a few writers blast last week’s Backtalk: “As poorly reasoned and shoddily researched your endorsement of Hillary was, your response to your readers reactions reached an even-lower depth,” Marty Rosenbluth posts on our website. “‘Nah, we’re good, thanks’? ‘Bernie Brigade’? Seriously? Are we in middle school?”

Correction and clarification: last week’s story on the Akiel Denkins shooting understated the number of police agencies that use body cameras. While Raleigh’s presentation listed eleven, the state ACLU says there are at least twenty-eight. In addition, while community members complained about council member Corey Branch’s absence from the protests, Branch says he did in fact attend a vigil and meet with neighborhood pastors. Though his presence wasn’t high profile, he says, “I’ve been fully engaged.”