Bernie in Mesquite Texas 2/14/2020
Submitted by mhagle on Sat, 02/15/2020 - 1:29pm
It was beautiful. I was sitting in the geriatric section but my two kids (ages 18 and 20) were just 15 feet from Bernie. The crowd was gigantic - they just kept arriving for hours. The first video shows the size of the crowd. A bunch of folks with total solidarity. And the organizers running around were fantastic. Looking very positive for Texas.
[video:https://youtu.be/oXAYk6uvoAs]
[video:https://youtu.be/1zCflB2wzAw]
[video:https://youtu.be/4WKFHvjnHNk]
Comments
Cool beans, Marilyn!
Was thinking of you a few minutes ago in conversation with Rand. Thanks so much for this.
Big crowd in Nevada today, too, just saw a clip on the cable. Was AOC there as well?
Onward, my friend, onward ...
No . . . I think the opening speakers were mainly local folks .
But they were great. One dude was from Nevada.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Here he is in Vegas today.
He is everywhere.
Bernie supporting the Open Borders Crowd
Man, that's a crowd pleaser. Such virtue signaling some, such as myself, would call pandering to less than 5% of the population.
As long as Bernie is also
advocating for job creation, wage raises, free tuition, M4A, and decent climate change policy, and if he at least gives a nod toward opposing reckless BS wars, I don't think his immigration policy is going to alienate everybody else. I guess you mean that some of the Republicans who might vote for him will stick with Trump? I could see that happening, but it's way less of a threat than the obvious threat of Bloomberg.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
No, I do not believe Open Borders is going to attract Repugnants
only. Your idealism is laudable. I share many of the same goals.
But the messenger is flawed. Severely flawed. Many centrist Dems will jump to Trump if they are already fence-sitting. Open borders? Where is Bernie's economic plan for generating income? He has plans for redistributing income. But where are his stated policies going to imo-rove the American economy? $15 sounds good but when the number of jobs to which that pay raise will apply shrinks because of the built-in Dem redistribution of wealth to the elites (yes, including the intelligence state and the MIC), this is a pyrrhic victory.
I'm sure Bernie wants to counter that structural crap
probably has some plans to do it. For my part, I believe the same thing I believed in 2004, though at that time the media and politicians weren't calling it a Green New Deal. Back when I thought capitalism could be salvaged and made into something other than a weapon of mass destruction. Keynes is not exactly wrong about the government functioning as a buyer of last resort, and though globalization makes application of his philosophies more complicated, it certainly doesn't make it impossible. I actually even thought we were going to re-localize our economy and re-industrialize our country. Build factories. Restore factories that have been left to rot. Make our building stock energy efficient (without sealing people into a germ trap). Give real training to people like coal miners and oil pipeline layers and people who work on offshore platforms, training in the fifty thousand kinds of work that need to be done. Just bringing our electrical grid and water systems up to snuff would employ god knows how many people. Building the hospitals and schools we need, the same. Then we have to employ people to work there--more jobs. We have the work, we have the hands to do it--we don't have the financing. Why? Because the financiers are crap and the politicians are on their knees before them. So somebody else (in my mind, a government run by a Democratic party run by someone other than fascists) would have to finance it. Even without raising taxes on the rich or closing their benighted loopholes, we could easily re-allocate money from the fucking MIC. Or the government could, I dunno, actually issue its own currency.
The funny thing about all these ideas is that none of them is impossible, and in fact, none of them is particularly radical, except that last one about the government ceasing to borrow money from
gamblersthievesbloodstained griftersprivate banks.As for Bernie being an imperfect messenger, you're damned skippy he is. I see his faults. However, I also believe that he is sincere in the good things he does say. He's been saying them since way before saying them would gain him any political advantage.
Bottom line: there's four options
he's sincere, but a weakling
his goal is not really the presidency but changing the nature of American politics through building a lasting movement
he has a plan for gaining political power which I haven't figured out yet
he's just another sheepdog.
I could believe any of the first three. I don't believe the fourth, if for no other reason than the frantic convulsions of the media and political establishment every time he starts to succeed. Sort of like I knew Ed Snowden was for real when I saw western Europe close its airspace to Evo Morales' plane because they thought Snowden might be on it.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Sorry, I have a feeling I went off into a major ramble there
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
So what is your plan . . .
. . . for our salvation?
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
duplicate
slow internet
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Bernie has explained that numerous times
Both in the last election and in this one. Go to his website if you're really interested.
I want to add one caveat.
I am seriously disturbed by Bernie doing unity videos with Bloomberg. If he's just doing that as a campaign tactic, to the confusion of his enemies, then fine. I don't like it, but fine, if he feels he needs to do that for a campaign reason, an image reason. The same goes for him saying he will support Bloomberg if he "wins" the nomination. I'm actually OK with him lying about that as a campaign tactic, given the egregiously corrupt political/media system he has to deal with. I know exactly what would happen if Bernie said he would draw the line at ANY Democratic candidate. It would certainly be the end of discussing anything else for the rest of the primary season. It would move Bernie on to the defensive permanently, and give great benefits to the media and politicians who want to end his movement. Every discussion would be on their terms.
So I wouldn't mind Bernie lying about supporting Bloomberg. And, since this is surely the last time Bernie will run for President, the shrieks of outrage from the press and the politicians about how terrible it is that Bernie isn't supporting Michael Bloomberg won't matter. The only reputation damaged by that would be Bernie's and how can that hurt him, as a 78-year-old senator who isn't going to run for President a third time? It's not like his reputation is positive or even neutral in the eyes of the slobs who run our politics and press, anyway.
But if Bernie comes back after a Democratic convention in which he was done out of the nomination (again!) by ratfuckery and tells me to get behind Michael Bloomberg because Trump is bad, I will retract everything I've said about him and admit to everybody on here (including those who have been telling me Bernie's no good) that yeah, he was a sheepdog all along.
At some point, you have to hold your leaders to a standard, otherwise there's no point in having them. If Bernie runs two campaigns on the fact that the millionaires and billionaires, particularly those on Wall St, have corrupted our system to the detriment of our people, this nation, and the planet, he cannot then throw his support behind Michael Bloomberg who is, as Bernie has stated, trying to buy the Presidency. And there is no excuse this time: Bloomberg is as racist and sexist as Trump is. In fact, it's probable that Bloomberg has done more damage to more black people than Donald Trump ever has. I have no way to gauge whether he's done more damage to women than Trump, but having 40 sexual harassment lawsuits in your past has got to mean something, doesn't it?
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
You would.
WE GET IT.
Bernie bad, Tulsi good.
You are not helpful in our endeavor to just get educated about candidates and their positions.
Please, Doctor.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
A Few Personal Thoughts About Seeing Bernie Recently in NH
I was in New Hampshire for several days trudging through snow, ice, and rain daily to spread Bernie's message and win over famously independent-minded NH voters. It was a satisfying experience that culminated in attending the big victory celebration this past Tuesday night at Southern New Hampshire University near Manchester. There were a lot of young people at the event, but also a healthy amount of folks in the 50-75 years old group. I enjoyed talking to several labor union members from all over New England, the overwhelming number of whom were very knowledgeable about politics.
Bernie has a lot more charisma in person than when you see him on television. He oozes integrity and was really connecting well with his supporters that night. I saw several of his surrogates, including Jeff Weaver, Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Zephyr Teachout. In fact, I talked to Zephyr for a few minutes. She is an excellent Bernie surrogate, passionate supporter, and has a very positive and upbeat attitude. All in all, the mood at the event was electric, and most people felt that they were ready to make a difference in the country's future.
Bernie kept stressing the "Us" part in his speech. I noticed no sense of arrogance in his tone. He was very clear that if he succeeded, it would be our triumph.
A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma
I love his videos too, but in person is completely different .
A rally in 2015 and then this one. So amazing. Really amazing.
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
So Zephyr Teachout is still around
. . . seems to contradict what Bernie bashers concluded/predicted when she wrote that op-ed in The Guardian.
If Bernie doesn't get cheated so bad that he can't win the nomination, I'm sure Zephyr will wind up with a good job in Bernie's administration. Maybe head of a new agency fighting political corruption.
AG?
She was/is a Fordham law professor, specializing in antitrust IIRC.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
Slightly off topic . . .
But, you're just the person I thought of last night during a conversation with my brother. We ended up laughing, quite hysterically actually, at the prospect of being able to see the debate between Bernie and Trump.
They both have a whackadoo hair thing going, except that Bernie messes with his by touching it and often making it worse, as well as distinctly colorful faces (Bernie's turns red when he's wound up, and god love him for it; while Trump is, of course, The Orange Man). Both point their fingers while at the podium. But best of all, Trump would be thinking he was "winning" and "the best evah" without even realizing he'd just been Berned -- aka whoosh.
The debate scenario of the two, in cartoon form, would be delicious!
Any chance of you doing something like that? Pretty please?
As We Get Closer to the November Elections
... and provided Bernie is the nominee (I expect him to be), I'll be happy to post editorial cartoons about the Bernie-Trump Presidential Debates.
If I had enough artistic talent, I'd myself draw the cartoons!
A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma
Bernie should hit Fort Worth, 'Cowtown' while he is in
the area, it is a helluva lot more of a working class City than Dallas and a lot bigger than Mesquite which is a small suburban City just east of Dallas.
I'm glad for the people living there that Bernie went. I just hope he doesn't ignore the western half of the Metroplex because it includes a lot of mid Cities, to name just a few like Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Arlington (where the the Dallas Cowboys and the Texas Rangers' baseball teams play) and then Fort Worth itself. The 13th largest City in the US, population just under 900,000.
Maybe he will do that, I hope so for my friends that still live in Fort Worth and surrounding areas.
Wendell Potter shoots a hole in the culinary union's attack on
M4All. Joy Reid haz a sad.
Not quite sure but I think that this is a positive development.
At least he is not putting his thumb on the scale for any candidate.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz says nyet on Bernie
This puts paid to any vote blue no matter who in my book.
Can someone explain to me
why having Sanders on the top of the ticket costs downticket centrists their seats?
The only cases I can think of are:
EDIT:
Primary case: New voters who like Sanders also vote in the primary for progressives down ticket, perhaps costing an incumbent centrist candidate their ballot line. In a competitive race the progressive fails to get crossover votes from Republicans because they are just too radical. The Republican takes the seat. Is that what they're talking about? Because without new voters the progressive won't win the primary, and with the new voters they'll win the general as well. Also, only a handful of progressives challenging centrists in primaries this cycle. Maybe more in the future.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
I think that is just a made up DP talking point
I bet Bernie would get more coattails then Warren or Bloomberg. The reason democrats lost so many seats during Obama's stinky tenure was a direct FU to his betraying people. Of course the centrists blame the voters not Obama because it's our responsibility to vote no matter what. But if Bernie gets some of his agendas passed I think more people would come out to vote to get the dinosaurs out. Pelosi and Schumer have to go.
Thanks Marilyn
Can’t get enough that guy. Heh. What a movement we have.
Stop Climate Change Silence - Start the Conversation
Hot Air Website, Twitter, Facebook
I’m jealous!
It’s so great you got to be there !!
"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
I, too, have felt the Power and the Glory of a Sanders rally
Yes, in ancient times, 2016, I was a rabid Berniecrat (mind you, cold-blooded critters such as myself cannot contract rabies). Since then, Sobek has enlightened me (blessed be his/her/its name).
And then the Bern proclaimed, with the moral righteousness, that we not consider H. Rodent's emails as something to discuss in public. Afterwards, at the DNC Convention, where after receiving a right malar laceration bit of friendly persuasion, his hamstring muscles relaxed and he genuflected at the knee of Her, the Great Rodent.
Since then, his stellar achievements in pandering have matured.
Those enamored of the Bern, you revere the man he used to be. So the Culinary Union issues a faux argument against M4A--and what does the Bern do to combat these lies? Personally the Bern, too gentlemanly to strike back, assigns Wendell Potter to correct the record--which indeed is the truth. But where is the Bern in affirming Potter's explanation? Crickets.
Note, like other "billionaires" (s/), I contributed the maximum $2700 to the Bern in 2016--how many of you can say the same?
Time for real politik. Tulsi and Andy Yang are the two strong voices for a credible foreign policy / economic stance (although Tulsi FP stance is the better of the two).
Trump will not lose.
Bernie will not win.
Power and the Glory
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNr9y-Yb5dw]
Bernie could certainly beat Trump.
If he were ever able to face him. In fact, those two men might have the closest thing to a genuine contest for the Presidency this nation is going to get at this point. But it won't be allowed to happen. I'm actually kinda stunned that the Democrats are flailing about so much and looking so panicked, given that they've said (in court, no less) that they can just walk with their cigars into a back room and pick their nominee by drawing straws, or something.
Instead, they have all the gravitas of somebody in a panic throwing every bit of shit they can at the wall in hopes something will stick.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Wanna bet Bernie wins?
Here's the Vegas odds:
Bernie 1
DNC 1,999,999.
Be a sport. Put up your buck. I'll pay off the bet when Bernie gets the nomination.
Don't forget your promise to me if Bernie wins
I have the screenshot.
You may have misunderstood my comment.
I don't mean that Bernie is going to become President.
I mean, it is not an inability to beat Trump that will keep him from becoming President. As you point out, it's the DNC and their little shits.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
Great comment.
I look at Bernie as our last chance in a lot of ways. If we can at least have the conversation about M4A and basic fairness, maybe there's a shot that people will start to question just where the taxes we already pay are being spent. Wars. Wall Street bailouts, with another already beginning. Tax cuts galore for the sickening already filthy rich. There's always money for that.
Just maybe there's an outside chance, and I too doubt Bernie will ever get near the nomination, that the narrative he's started can keep going. The Democrats will lose a lot of the young when they screw Bernie again, and perhaps their momentum will help push the fight, after all, they're screwed with the status quo and most know it even if they can't yet admit it. Maybe that will get people to look at the wars and just what this country is doing. Maybe enough people in this country will wake up and fight back. And it will be one hell of a fight. I am not naïve here, I fully get what a longshot that is. But as stupid as it sounds, that meme that said Bernie is our last offramp before the apocalypse resonated with me, and I do not particularly care for memes. At least maybe I could look at my niece and nephew and tell them I tried the only way I knew how to at least stave off the worst. And yeah, that's worth a shot. So I donate my $2.70 weekly and hope.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
Where/How Our Taxes are Being Spent
My boss was reading something from his Facebook feed to me, across the hall, like he does every day, and it had something to do with Bernie and "socialism", so I clarified that Bernie is a Democratic Socialist, and that we already have a melding of democratic socialism in action, in our road system as well as emergency services (he loves cops too). I told him that I'm not disgruntled about paying for those services, and asked how much of a toll fee he'd be willing to pay to back out of his driveway or to be allowed to call 911.
He's a Trump supporter and a vet that's actually pro military (because he did his time without seeing combat due to the timing, imho), and has actually said he doesn't agree with how our taxes are spent -- and I wholeheartedly agree.
Of course, just Friday, he read something to me from Facebook and his buddy called Bernie a communist this time, and based it on having guarded the embassy or some such when it was the USSR. I said the guy was a dumbass. He retorted with "the guy should know". I added, "If he really was there, then he knows damn well Bernie isn't a communist, so he's a dumbass."
M4A will never win him over. He has VA benefits and his wife's insurance which is better than what our job provides. Also, doesn't give two shits about fairness; says "snowflake" often after Facebook fun. He does have student loans, however. And for some reason (cough), he's not a fan of DeVoss and her reneging on loan forgiveness -- we work at a community college.
Sorry for rambling, but the tax thing reminded me of my boss across the hall and the pulse of others watching the show who definitely won't be voting D, ever, but who also care about some of the same things.
You must have missed the many times Bernie
has said exactly what Potter does. I've heard him talking about how no one should be tied to a job they don't like just to stay on their health insurance. And that having single payer would be better for people in unions because they wouldn't have to constantly give up increased wages when dickering for health insurance.
And what smiley said.
An astuture political move --
More than three years on, you still can't see that.
iirc correctly, he said, "Enough with the emails" and what you call his "moral righteousness" was directed to the moderators for their inane debate questions instead of important policy issues that voters need to hear about. Sanders doesn't get many opportunities to chastised the MSM, and he's not into being a bully like Trump. But that's only one aspect of why it was an astute political move.
No, the astute way to not talk about it
is to not talk about it.
It's not astute to say, at a time of maximum media exposure, that the American people are sick of hearing about Hillary's emails. Think about what that means for the Americans who are talking about her emails, and who are not sick of hearing about them. What does that make us? Not Americans? Hard-right Republicans? Stupid? And what does that make her emails? Something not worthy of notice?
Not talking about it is one thing. Using your position to help suppress talk about it is quite another.
That was a bad move, which moved the Overton window in a bad direction--a direction which only served Hillary and her crazy PNAC allies. And since Bernie is a master of Overton window politics, I expect better. Unless he really does support Hillary and her reckless authoritarian crap, which I have a hard time believing.
"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha
"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver
A pure political analysis
including all the relevant factors and setting it at that point in time, October 13, 2015, says to me that it was a very astute move. Instantaneous and superficial interpretations often get things completely wrong. i.e. The overwhelming response to Trump attacking McCain (July 2015) was that it would put an end to his campaign. While I couldn't articulate why in real time, I disagreed, but couldn't take it further than it wouldn't hurt him but not likely to help him either. Now easier to see that it did help him establish his style.
I'll respond to you in an essay because there's too much material that can't be overlooked in assessing "enough with the emails" to cover in a response comment.
HUH? WTF
You unsympathetic old fool; many, maybe the majority of our members just squeak by financially. g-damit.
Thanks for the reminder. smiley ~
sometimes sensitivity training is in order. We come from a multitude of backgrounds. I gave a bit here and there in 2016, because we were not in good financial stead.
We are doing better now, but I'm holding on to my money for a while longer. He's got a good cadre of donors. I don't know that I'll jump on the donation bandwagon until the general. I can't vote in the primary anyway, but if for some crazy reason he needs my individual donation before the primaries end, I'll consider it.
You know that whatever support you can give, even just expressing it here, is a voice that will carry far and wide. It will influence some. This is not for one, it is for all.
"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
Shame, shame
Reverting to ad hominem arguments is a sure sign that the facts are on your side.
You know nothing about my private life, my age. As a reminder to you, smiley, erstwhile poet laureate of c99, that I never have said anything derogatory about those who support Sanders except that they are incorrect in their assessment. Thank you for demonstrating your Nancy Pelosi-type respect to a fellow communitarian. Your pejorative comment is unbecoming.
We all love here . . .
Love love love . . . .
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
You have to go for hope . . . .
IMO . . . . Bernie is our last hope. If he doesn't make it, Russia and China will be our hope, but not in an easy way. Shit will get messed up.
So why not just go for the hope?
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
I was there in spirit!
Thanks for attending!
C99, my refuge from an insane world. #ForceTheVote
I was looking for you . . .
just on the off chance you might make it!
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Another photo
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Here are a couple of pick me ups.
Nice headline.
The Lancet is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal. It is among the world's oldest, most prestigious, and best known general medical journals.
Quite the interesting comparison.
Short and sweet
Fits on an index card that can be handed to anyone leaning towards Bloomie.
Golly! It appears that Texas is Feeling the Bern.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q2kFtOisC4]
Looks like a good crowd.
Thanks for the report and for going to the rally Marilyn. Hope he makes it closer to my area before Super Tuesday.