Bernie's New Book & What it Says About the Dem Primary
From POLIITCO
The Democratic primary according to Bernie Sanders
“This was on the surface, an absurd and undemocratic process,” he writes of New York’s early deadline to register for the closed primary, which limited the ability of independents to vote for Sanders or new voters to register closer to the primary date, a hurdle that many of Sanders backers were unable to clear.
In Arizona, where the Justice Department later investigated claims of voter suppression and the lack of polling places in predominately Latino neighborhoods, he describes a voting process that was “an absolute disaster and an embarrassment to the American democracy.”
Then there’s California, where the revolution finally expired on June 7. Sanders continues to lambaste the Associated Press for its story declaring that Clinton had enough delegates to claim the Democratic nomination — one day before the nation’s biggest state and a handful of others held their primaries. Such a move was, he wrote, “one of the more outrageous moments of the entire campaign.”
“It’s not clear to me why they did that, but I believe strongly that their action had a negative impact on voter turnout and hurt us,” he writes.
The article suggests he pulls his punches. Here's the bit they post on what he said about Clinton:
“Hillary Clinton was a key player in the centrist Democratic establishment, which had, over the years, been forged by her husband Bill Clinton,” Sanders writes. “The Clinton approach was to try to merge the interests of Wall Street and corporate America with the needs of the middle class — an impossible task.”
So, um, I guess it's not quite a 'tell all' piece.
Link to Macmillion Publishers info on the book:
OUR REVOLUTION
A Future to Believe In
Comments
Why does Bernie kiss their ass?
I don't get it. Calling Schumer highly qualified? How about highly corporate?
Then taking outreach director as a crumb of a leadership position. Go out and get us some voters and be good Bernie...
I don't think it's going to fly. I think the democrats dug their own grave when they cheated Bernie, and I'm sorry he can't say it plainly in his book and on the stump.
Then they make a big deal of Ellison (the war monger) as head of the DNC. Having a sitting rep as head of the party is crazy - there is no way you could be fair to a challenger. If there was hope for the democrats they would reach out to RFK, or Cornell West, or Bill McKibbin, or Nina Turner...to head the party and clean house.
Thanks MsGrin for the heads up on Bernie's book. I wonder what he hopes to accomplish with it's publication?
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Becuz that's how the
game is played.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
The game pollutes the players.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
And the Voters
Not saying you didn't include the voters. Just clarifying the context.
I didn't include the voters.
All the voters that I know, that vowed to take the fight all the way to the convention, did so. Some of them kept hanging on, even after the convention, just knowing that Bernie had some trick up his sleeve...magic words not said at the convention, not releasing delegates...a lot of false hopes.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
If a Distinction Between Bernie and Other Politicans Can Be Made
then so can a distinction between voters. I have no doubt some of the voters took it to the limit.
I voted Obama twice. And I feel polluted. When I say it, I feel like I have to apologize. That's the game. Hopefully, I've learned something.
I misunderstood you at first, BH, and took it wrong.
But now I understand what you meant. Thanks for clearing it up.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
It is not a game to me.
If Bernie was engaged in some gamesmanship to stir up the waters, but have a safe retreat, I would have appreciated him saying so.
He said he would support the winner.
I assumed he meant the winner of a fair contest, played by the rules.
He went out there, outraged at how the middle class has been demolished.
Now, he backs Schumer.
Well, he is ok, but I am still outraged. And demolished.
I have respect for the life he has lived, the positive differences he has made.
Nevertheless, because he is a player in a game where I am merely a pawn, I will never spend a cent on a candidate for any office, anywhere, ever again.
Call me Berned.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I agree with you, on the cusp
When Bernie saw that the election had been rigged against him then his promise to support the winner should have been voided.
This is why people ar upset with him, that and not taking it all the way to the convention.
He knows damned well that Schumer is in the pockets of the banks as well as many others in the DP.
How long have we been trying to change the direction of the DP?
Look at how many emails, phone calls and petitions we signed during the health care debate and other issues.
He has to realize that the DP has been captured by the banks and the corporations.
If he and Warren can get more people behind them to fight the republicans then I support what he is trying to do.
But look at how many democrats are saying that they will work with Trump even after his heinous cabinet picks
That shows the direction that Trump wants to take the country.
How in the hell can they want to work with his agenda?
And if they don't fight as hard as the republicans fought Obama, then I'm sticking with tptb wanted Trump to win in order to divide this country and while we are fighting each other they are passing legislation that will hurt us.
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
That was my short
snippy answer telling her to Just. Shut. Up, you don't know what you're talking about. We've Berniesplained what Bernie is doing. You either buy it or don't.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
" telling her to Just. Shut. Up,"
Well, thanks for being honest.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
Hey, Wink. You are sounding
more and more like a smug insider, privy to Bernie's long game plan for deliverance of in-the-dark, clueless progressives. "Just have patience and all will be revealed, because that's how the game is played." Eh? Who are you - Bernie's rabbi or shrink? I know how the game is played, and Bernie, at this point, has a very short shelf life.
Yeah, I agree.
It's time to make a move. Will be interesting to see if Dems have put the brakes on the Bern. He needs to be back on the road and it needs to be soon.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Wink, let me adminsplain this for you...
we don't tell folks to Just. Shut. Up. around here. You either buy that or you don't.
Yeah, was a bit
over the top. Even for me. Just tired of losing to wingers.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
I don't buy it
And now that I know talking about it gets on your nerves, I'll be doing more of it.
*Wink*
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
And that's why it's time to ditch him
You can't fix a rigged game by playing by its rules. You need to get out of they system to have any chance of fixing it. He chose not to do that, and screwed us all as a result. Instead of building an actual opposition party to start dragging everything back into alignment, he chose to be a cog, leaving us to do the work ourselves, and because of his actions, we have way more work to do. Time to move on from the Sanders fantasies and do the work he couldn't be bothered to do.
He made a deal with Senate Democrats and also with the
Vermont Democratic Party
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/21/bernie-out-of-the-closet-sanders-..., quoting Vermont's Will Miller http://www.libertyunionparty.org/?page_id=363
Fits with what we see today.
Bernie, I hardly knew ye.
The deal with Senate Democrats was in his wiki all along.
I knew about it before he announced he was running. The Vermont deal I learned about during the primary, though not from the source I linked. I don't remember where I learned about it.
I excused it because, as an Indie, he could not raise the money he needed to defeat both Democrats (his real competition in Vermont--though a Republican won the Governor's seat in Vermont) and Republicans.
However, I have learned other things since the primary that I haven't excused, though perhaps I should. He's a politician, but some of us made him a demi-god.
Takes two to tango.
Dem leadership could have told him to go $h!t in his hat. I suspect the Dem party gets something in return. Like another blue seat that might not otherwise be there. As I see it no harm, no foul, just politics as usual. As for demigod, well... Bernie did something no other Dem dared do - take on Her Highness. He did something else, too. something no Dem has done since JFK, except Obama. He got people off their dead ass and out to the arena. We'll soon see that magic again.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Sources in my post say what he supposedly promised in return.
Your reply about Sanders and demigods this point can lead only to debating about why Sanders ran against Hillary. Been there, done that, have less than zero interesting in continuing. So, I'll say only that some conjectures about his reasons for running might make him seem like a demigod, while others would not. And, ultimately, conjecture is only conjecture, anyway.
Turning politicians into demigods harms both us and the politicians on whom we inflict our idolatory. At best, it tends only to delusion and/or disappointment. I did that to Obama in 2008 and thought I had learned a hard lesson then, but I did even worse the very next chance I got, with Sanders. I hope I have finally learned better. Being in reality is almost always preferable to being in unreality, which sooner or later, is harmful in one way or another. I like facts. I especially like knowing the difference between facts and my own opinions and beliefs, even my very strongly held opinions and beliefs. However, speculating or rationalizing about politicians for whom we can no longer vote also does not seem like a productive use of time or adrenaline.
Accepting that people on this board are always going to have various views about Sanders, some good, some bad, some almost neutral, seems to be a good thing for me. The alternative seems to be continuously re-tilling the same quarter inch of topsoil about Sanders for many months or more, which will not improve a single, real-life situation, even the tiniest bit. I prefer the first option.
From a recent post of mine, in response to someone else's post about Sanders' alleged motives:
Totally agree with your
Totally agree with your comment. This 'demi-god' expectation imposed by some on Bernie and others kinda makes me think about various complaints voiced regarding Occupy, which was a grass-roots movement having no official leadership and generally/overall demanding a government working for the people, unlike the more typical group making limited and specific demands regarding specific and limited policy goals, this forming the substance of the complaint I heard most frequently aimed at them, because the general movement apparently wasn't what people expected or were told in the media was 'right' and, in my opinion, was therefore often misunderstood. (Likely by myself, as well, lol.)
But patriotically risking arrest, police brutality - citizens literally placing on the line their lives, limbs and sacred honour - in standing up to demand democracy, members of Occupy, in raising public awareness and in standing their ground in peaceful protest, chopped out from their side of the sunken pit-trap a giant step toward daylight for those coming after and made the Greeds very nervous indeed, having shown that the American people, like others, once informed and roused, have not yet had the guts entirely ground or propagandized out of them, despite all efforts over the decades by TPRB.
Pardon the cliche, but Occupy members did it their way and as an organic people's movement, and it helped us all, even if it may not have been the way in which all others might have done it - these others, after all, being free to form their own protest groups and in turn to protest in their own ways. It would be silly, though, to reject the beneficial advances made in any non-violent manner or to discourage such efforts because made in a manner not being one's own preferred method.
Similarly, Bernie's insistence on his campaign being about 'not me, us' and explanations that change had to come from pressure applied by The People, not from the top, (although a Presidential ally would have made things ever so much better) seemingly wasn't really absorbed by those hoping for a one-man saviour.
And the effect is reflected in various people's remarks about tossing away their most valuable and trustworthy ally on the political inside because he remains true to his character in doing what he's done all of his life, as shown in his record, and had strategically and - at great personal cost - lived to fight another day and in another way to most effectively continue fighting for democracy and the people from the inside, his Dem Presidential nomination run having caused one of the corporate parties to blatantly and arrogantly publicly expose their own massive corruption and pathology in cheating the people of choice and incidentally ruin the effectiveness of the whole long-running two-party trade-off scam forever. And with rather a lot of Clinton-related bodies falling dead along the way, as seems to have been the case throughout their careers. (Can no one rid me of these turbulent whistleblowers? Why can't we just drone him?)
Maybe other people believe that, had they been in Bernie's position, they might have done better to spit defiance at the Dem coronation and lock themselves out of the political process and any corporate media coverage enabling them to continue to publicly promote what could and should be done for the people by any government actually of, by and for them - but if Bernie had done so, would any of this democracy stuff still be an issue outside sites like this, the way this whole selection debacle was run?
Does anyone seriously believe that appeals to Obama's Justice Department regarding long-officially-accepted voter suppression and other electoral cheating would have resulted in an electoral investigation involving actual Justice being done, had Bernie run Indie anyway, following the rigged Dem nomination, as some have suggested?
That the corporate media would have done anything except use this defiance-spitting to more successfully discredit not only Bernie but - most importantly - the freaking survival issues Bernie had long recognized and publicly introduced during the nomination process as essential, which otherwise would have, as usual, gone officially unmentioned, especially in terms of needing to be immediately and productively addressed, and which the corporate Dems denigrated as undo-able fairy dust and unicorn poop?
That this defiance-spitting and the resulting ensured political freeze-out would not have destroyed Bernie's previously demonstrated and amazing effectiveness at working even with members of a particularly recalcitrant Republican Congress to achieve some public good for at least some of America's most vulnerable?
Diplomacy is essential to civilization and good governance; Rambo-style macho bluster might work in the movies but actually would not build the most suitable political atmosphere either at home or abroad. Especially when dealing with a powerful, international Mafia-style government organization while playing for the chances of life on the planet.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Because that's how the senate works...
Or at least pre-tea party.
The place is notoriously "decorous" to the point of people on the floor referring to their "good friend" , who is actually their bitter enemy. That's been true for a very more than a century, going back to very early on. In fact, there are of points of pride in being sincerely sarcastic in being saccharinely nice to people you hate.
It's a form of local diplomacy. If you call your opponents out, as Ted Cruz does, no one will ever work with you again. The senate does not tolerate bomb throwers, they prize a false sense of collegiality to keep tempers in check. Ted Cruz is a bomb thrower and he's angered all of the other senators by saying what he thinks.
Sanders understands that he has to work with these people, contemptible as many may be. If he publicly says the things we might want him to say, particularly outside of a campaign, no one will ever work with him to get anything done.
We can gnash our teeth at this, but it is how politics works. Manipulating other politicians to get what you want is a skill, he's been very good at it in terms of his amendments. In order to manipulate them much more, he needs very visible public support. At this moment, he doesn't have it.
However, if he can drive mid-term turn out and make it clear that it is progressive populism that turns out progressive voters to take back the senate, he will have much more power and a better position from which to negotiate in the next congress.
Unfortunately, the momentum he had was lost when he was "defeated" (cheated) by HRC and her toadies. But it's hovering in the background, people are now having second thoughts about HRC and he's going to work to persuade them that his was the necessary path, not that of Clinton.
However, if he starts throwing too many bombs, the collateral damage will ostracize him and cause people that might be persuadable to become enemies, or to tune him out.
____________________________________________________________________________
"I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it. "
-Niccolo Machiavelli
"Sorry Hillary"
-TheJerry
He doesn't have to throw bombs
nor does he have to be vocal about his support, feigned or not.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
Finally, a rational
comment about Bernie and the conditions in which he is forced to work - thank you.
People calling for his head, accusing him of 'betraying' his ideals or supporters, speculating about why, why, why is Bernie doing what he is doing simply refuse to comprehend that he is forced to work with the hand he got. Congress is dominated by repubs and dinos; if Bernie wants to get some of his policies worked into the legislation, then he is doing what he can to do so, and that does include interacting in a decent manner with others.
I could understand being disappointed if Bernie was not a senator and simply said 'ta ta, see ya later,' but he continues on as usual.
dfarrah
Exactly. And amen.
Sorry to inform many here that "the process" isn't always clean and neat. Or pure. Bernie doing what he's doing to live to fihjt another day. If some find that "selling out... " oh, well...
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Working within "the process"
*snort*
Yeah, we've REALLY come a long way with that strategy for the last 40 years. Maybe the next time we are all in the voting booth, we can sprinkle some fairy dust around and recite "I believe, I believe, I believe".
Should be about as effective as what we have been doing.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
TheJerry, do you really believe that in private they hate each
other?
Sorry, but I don't believe that's true.
Remember on day one of Obama taking office the republicans said that they are going to do everything that they could to make him a one term president and then they blocked every decent bill he tried to get passed.
I would think that Obama would be upset with members of the opposing party that did that to him. I know I would.
Instead we see pictures of Obama and Boehner playing golf numerous times.
And they all party together at many congressional functions.
Both parties are friends with each other.
It's all kabuki theater.
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
Isn't part of the kabuki theater
The fact that most Americans know diddley squat about what a person who occupies the Oval Office can actually do? The power inherent in the job escapes them. For one thing, when are Americans taught what the President does? For glory's sake, there aren't even 7th or 8th grade civic classes any more.
I heard from friends over the last eight years how their standards of living was going down. But mention "Obama" to them, and this sorry look would sweep across their faces.
"So with all the racist slurs thrown his way, the poor guy can't do a thing." And while tens of millions of people thought that way, Obama was appointing Citibank'as choices to his Cabinet, getting Tim Geithner the top spot at Treasury, and helping the transfer (more or less in secret) of 23 trillions of dollars from Main Street to Wall Street. The narrative that Republicans and those personally insulting Obama stopped "the poor man" from accomplishing every single thing on his agenda:
**Handing the Ag Dept and positions in the FDA over to pro genetic engineering shills.
**Ignoring his pledge as a young Senator to bring about "Single Payer Universal Health Care" in favor of a mandate that citizens must hand over their discretionary income each month to big insurers. And if that was not bad enough, small business folks face penalties if they can't guesstimate their income 12 mos in advance. Meanwhile Big Insurers face no penalties, few added restrictions. So in exchange for no longer having disposable income, the public comes to find that being insured does not mean treatments will be approved or that unreasonable rate hikes, higher deductibles etc will not be the shit sandwich they are forced to eat.
**Going along with Hillary Clinton in establishing a war in Syria, so Hillary could fulfil her Clinton Foundation contracts with Qatar and Saudi officials. (Since she took these monies from these foreign officials and then utilized her Secretary of State powers to do their bidding, she is a "foreign agent" and traitor. But "our media" has determined this is merely "pay for play."
And if her actions cost Ambassador Stevens his life, "what difference does it make at this point?"
But much of this escapes the notice of many low income Democrats.
Believing in the improbable can make your life a miracle.
Well that, and he made deals with the Democrats.
http://caucus99percent.com/comment/214525#comment-214525
Too bad his book isn't a "tell all".
I think having Bernie in the outreach chair of the dem party is the nuttiest shit in politics at the moment.
The party can't even get him to join it, for heaven's sake! And he is their point man to get out the votes for the party?
He is the experienced politician, not me, so I figure he knows what he is doing.
I just think it shows how completely inept the party is, and gives the appearance that he is willing to be punked.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Bernie won't "tell all"
until he leaves the senate or dies and a post-mortem memoir is published. There is no percentage for him to disclose anything while he still hopes to be an effective senator. We are not in his shoes.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
If being an effective senator
involves withholding information from the public at large, which the public is entitled to, then I have no use for him or his shoes.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
The only shoes we're in are our own. However, we criticize
and question politicians anyway.
As far as a posthumous book release, anything is possible, but I would not bet on it.
I resent him for hiding the truth.
Maybe he is afraid.
If he is compromised, how effective will he be?
Is his continued silence doing any good for the country?
Are we, the people, too unimportant to be fully informed about the crooked machinations of our government?
I loved to hear him tell the truth. That was his most important character trait.
The notion that he will wait until he is retired or dead to speak the truth is repugnant.
If you are picking a time to report a crime, the time is as soon as you can reach for a phone. Reporting it opportunistically is actually a crime in my state.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Hiding what truth?
Are we all now to assume that he is 'hiding' information because the diarist apparently didn't get the desired dirt from the book?
The quotes provided above demonstrate how critical Bernie was (is) of the process. Bernie really doesn't go off half cocked. As more evidence is gathered, I'm sure we will hear a lot more about the primaries, including
dfarrah
“It’s not clear to me why they did that,
It is absurdly clear. They did it to hurt us.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
So what exactly is being hidden there? n/t
dfarrah
They did it. It hurt us. I can't figure out why they did it.
Perfectly understandable. After all, no one has been able to figure out the sum of one plus one, either. Has anyone asked PriceRip? His mind seems to work differently from mine (mostly in that his actually works and mine doesn't). If he can't get it, does anyone know how to submit problems to the robot that won Jeopardy? If not, I got nothing.
/snark
When good men don't divulge the evil other's do...
Sanders can keep his book.
At one time, we needed him.
We don't now.
Now is not the time for old men who are too afraid to speak the truth.
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
What do you think that
Sanders knew that he didn't divulge?
dfarrah
The Bernie of the Primary
(sounds like an opera or Catholic saint) doesn't exist. According to DWS and other DNC officials, he was an "outlier" a "socialist" "an Independent, not a Democrat". That argument was used by establishment Dems to demonize him: "What does Bernie expect? He's not even a Democrat." I suspect there was an elaborate script thought up by Bill Clinton - "Let's get Bernie to run against Her and get the Millennials excited about the Dem party. Then, have Bernie lose and drop out and the newbies will be ours. Where else can they go?" Similar to: "Let's get Donald Trump to be a sort of Pied Piper with lots of free media coverage, he'll be the nominee, but so deplorable, we'll swoop in and steal the moderate Republicans as well."
Has anybody here ever asked themselves: "Why Bernie, why now? Why did he wait so long to run?" My guess is that he was recruited to run as a "Dem" because, between an old, wild-eyed socialist and an oldish, butt-crazy reality show host, Hill would look like the sensible, indeed the only choice sane people would make. Then Bernie got traction, and became a phenomenon, outshining Hill, the anointed one. He had to be stopped, and he was. To me, Bernie's complete capitulation looked like it was scripted. Only somebody who was playing a part from the beginning would throw it all away with such finality.
Bernie ran now because
the time was right for his message. Just look at what has happened in Europe's recent elections. There is a bigger cultural revolution happening than just our election and our country.
The anti-establishment candidates have been discredited by their respective party, but the voters didn't buy it with Bernie and they didn't buy it with Trump.
The fact that Bernie happened to run at the same time as the most corrupt politician of our lifetime was why he lost, not because of his message.
Bernie thought Obama should have a primary challenge in 2012
Bernie Sanders was not happy with the direction of the Democratic party under Obama. It was a given that Hillary Clinton was going to run in 2016 and Bernie challenged her because he knew it would be more of the same or worse with the Clinton's running the party. Below is an article from The Nation in 2012. Here's one quote:
"Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders continues to argue that a Democratic primary challenge to President Obama would be 'good for democracy and for the Democratic Party'."
https://www.thenation.com/article/bernie-sanders-talks-primary-challenge...
If Bernie really thought Obama should have a primary
challenge in 2012, what did Bernie do about it? He didn't run then. I know of no efforts he made to recruit anyone to run.
I quote this, not because I have any faith in politifact but because of Sanders' own words.
Some of the examples that politifact dug up particularly interesting:
It seems to bolster the NYT story that said Bernie ran in 2016 to get his message heard and not with the idea that he had any chance of winning. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/04/us/politics/bernie-sanders-hillary-cli...
By the time he realized he might have been able to win, if he had started running hard out of the gate, he tried harder, but it was too late. Or so the story claims. I tend to believe it because it answered so many questions I had when I began volunteering for Sanders.
http://caucus99percent.com/content/my-inner-journey-sanders-date#new
http://caucus99percent.com/content/my-inner-journey-sanders-date-phase-2
However, post primary, Sanders supporters seem to have divided into four main camps. Group one is in with his revolution, Group Two does not believe in his revolution, but will brook no criticism of him, even mild or implied. Group Two itself divides into two groups, one of which believes he was threatened with physical harm to himself and/or his loved ones and the other of which does not; and the Fourth Group has come to see him as a somewhat better than most member of the establishment.
Just a thought
Bernie is still trying to restore the Democratic Party, and when he fails he will have a contact list (everyone who signed up after Nov. 2016) of people we can use to form our new party
On to Biden since 1973
You think Bernie will share that contact list? BTW, he already
has the contact list we could use. It's the list of everyone who volunteered for him via his website and who donated to him. Those are the ideal people to use to start a new party, but some of them are working with Bernie; some of them were so disappointed by Bernie, they've dropped out entirely, some of them for the second and third time; and so on.
Bernie speaking live on C-SPAN2 now
This is a very well-timed book tour. He's speaking before a large crowd at Miami Dade College. Was on Colbert the other night.
"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."
The question is:
Are these "book" (when did he have the time to write it?) sales going into DNC coffers, like our Bernie campaign contributions did, or will he use the money for the common good? My belief is that his intentions are highly suspicious, since he became a full-throttled defender of neoliberals and corruption, which he pretends doesn't exist. Please, spare me your Monday morning quarterback twelfth-dimensional chess excuses. I go by actions, not speeches.
Last time he donated...
Bernie donated his proceeds from a book to charity in 2011/2012. Why wouldn't he do the same here?
Just curious, why are you so negative about Bernie?
Caucus 99ers need to accept that some of Bernie's
supporters still support him and some don't. And we all pretty much know the reasons why in both cases.
Don't you find it interesting
that someone is simply making up stuff about Bernie, putting something negative out there that is completely baseless, and then uses that as a springboard to express a very negative opinion?
Kind of like the people who accused Bernie supporters of throwing chairs, being racist, starting fights, etc....
dfarrah
Exactly!
I thought we were beyond that nonsense now that the election was over.
It is one thing to have a genuine opinion, quite another to be propagandizing us here at c99.
Why are folks still trying to discredit Bernie? Or to talk down to Progressives? Is someone trying to splinter our spark of political energy before it becomes a flame?
No one is making up the
Reality that somebody who promised a brokered convention ended up siding with and promoting an arrogant and corrupt woman who would right now being fitted for an orange jumpsuit if she and her serial sexual predator hubby didn't know the exact locations where all the officials and top people in the DOJ, FBI and other agencies have buried the bodies.
I feel that we who supported him deserve an explanation. Apparently he is too busy helping with "Our Revolution" and getting back to the Senate to provide us with one.
Believing in the improbable can make your life a miracle.
He threatened a brokered
convention; he didn't 'promise' a brokered convention. He used the magnitude of his support as a bargaining tool to influence the platform.
dfarrah
Making up stuff about Bernie?
Srsly wish you'd go back to whatever rock you, Wink, and others came from. Correct the Record perhaps? I posit that you are making up stuff about Bernie. I only deal in his actions and the total 360-degree turnaround after California that crushed believers and supporters. If he wasn't conning us, we at the very least would have gotten an explanation. Still waiting. I don't take lightly to being manipulated, by Saint Bernie or others.
Writerinres...
stop the insulting accusations:
Folks are free to have their own opinions around here, even when they disagree with you.
Posit all you wish about me. You are wrong.
And you are engaging in the very making up stuff that I've argued against by positing. Did you read the comment to which I responded, where the commenter expressed outrage fed merely by musings and not facts?
It's unfortunate that people are so deeply hurt. I believe Bernie faced two choices - go third party, or go the road he took. As much as I wanted him to go third party, his choice seems reasonable to me - he is, after all, a sitting senator who is in the position of influencing legislation and policy.
Do you honestly believe he did a 360? Bernie supporters were adamant that HRC did not change her spots just because she started to back down from certain positions, like TPP. Why are former Bernie supporters so convinced that Bernie suddenly changed his lifelong spots?
If you are so desperate for an explanation of some sort, contact him yourself.
dfarrah
Oh please, Bernie
became a defender of someone (HRC) who would be more likely than not (Trump) to support Bernie's efforts in the Senate.
Nothing more and nothing less.
I guess you're completely unaware that Bernie raised quite a bit of money in support of progressive candidates. Progressive candidates usually get knee-capped by the dems. And I guess you're completely unaware of the fact that Bernie supporters managed to win seats in the DNC. I dislike the DNC as much as anyone, but this is little foothold may produce results.
dfarrah
Bernie's Breathing Fire Again
Remember that Bernie completed this book before the election so that it could be published the day after. I suspect he thought it would be released after the election of Queen Hillary. It's actually pretty hard-hitting in terms of the election corruption that he wouldn't name while it was happening.
Heard his speech at the Miami-Dade book fair last night & I think he's being quite forthright in his critique of the Hillary campaign without ever using her name. He also explained some of how he and Jane personally met with @75% of Iowa voters, but just didn't have the guns to compete in Super Tuesday. Clearly he knew at the beginning that the massive votes that Hillary won in the red states of the South would be formidable. And he noted that "it sure seems to take California a long time to count its votes. Not sure why that is."
He also talked about how he doesn't appreciate comments like "basket of deplorables" which 'could only be make over cocktails with the wealthy.' In the absence of any legitimate journalism, his incisive analysis is the best message going out to audiences broader than those of us who frequent this blog.
Most importantly he said that the Democratic Party can't serve 2 masters -- it can't represent the majority of Americans and Wall Street at the same time. And he repeatedly asked, "Which Side Are You On?"
Bernie is breathing some fire and drawing large crowds who are hooting and hollering their support.
As many of us wonder whether to take over the DNC, to revolutionize the Greens or to build a new party, Bernie's back on the trail giving voice to the 99% -- and proving how the rage can be transformed to progressive activism. (One reason we are pondering is because we know that there is a question of viable leadership aside from Bernie.)
I don't think we'll ever know for sure what happened to Bernie in June. There is a clue in the Wikileaks about a prior agreement -- and then also the picture of his face blackened in his first appearance with HRC after the primaries. In any case, I've stormed and railed as much as anyone at my sense of betrayal from how he ended the primary season.
I must say though that I can't be a purist -- as long as Bernie is willing to hit the trail and to effectively critique the need for a class-driven analysis and a re-unification of us all, including the deplorables, then I'm clapping too. He has the visibility and the voice that we need and he hasn't left behind the lens of clarity that he brings on key issues.
It seems that Bernie feels that the best possible track is to take over the Dem Party. Not at all sure that I agree with that as a strategy. But I sure am grateful to hear him hollering again -- and to see the absolute support from masses of diverse audiences. He's saying that we can't give up and offering no peace to those who would wallow in defeat and blubber about fear and sadness. Would that we all that this same level of stamina and commitment.
Bernie discussed some extremely important truths
during the primary. Those truths, I believe, are what motivates a lot of us here. Bernie can choose how relevant he himself wants to be in terms of those truths, but the truths stand on their own. They are ours. Bernie's the best we got in the national government right now.
#NotMeUs
Beware the bullshit factories.
I can certainly agree with that.
All of your post, and especially the last sentence.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
yep. n/t
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.