Bernie's In

While Hillary was pushing Barry Goldwater -

Edgar... did you do anything 40+ years ago that you wouldn't do today?

I think I would do more.

This is an excellent article by Laura Clawson in The Daily Kos:

Like the Michelle Goldberg article I linked to somewhere else, without slamming anyone or deifying anyone it gives a thoughtful and measured explanation of how this person decided Hillary was the best choice.

Excerpts:
"...I simultaneously want a more serious and nuanced class analysis—something deeper than the talking points, more flexibly targeted to specific questions rather than broad strokes—and more willingness to depart from the talking points, to acknowledge that sometimes you really can’t turn a question to your subject of choice. When the time is right to talk about inequality, try to fit the statistics to the moment. When the time is wrong, at least pretend to notice. Clearly Sanders’ talking points are working for lots of people, and I don’t doubt his commitment on these issues, but the repetition has failed to give me anything new or interesting to hang onto. And beyond inequality, the repetition is a problem with how he talks about—or avoids talking about—other major issues, which he so often dismisses. A president has to be willing to take on issues they don’t necessarily care the most about, able to become an expert on anything, able to pivot and start to care. I need more than “trust me,” and I don’t see Sanders failing to give me that, I see him refusing to do so. That’s not confidence-inspiring...."

"...How will Sanders win not just the presidency but the ability to get a big agenda through Congress? The people will rise up. Except Bernie Sanders is not organizing the people to rise up. He’s running a fairly conventional presidential campaign. Sanders is a long-time member of Congress who has yet to create the kind of movement he’s now suggesting will simply rise up despite the absence of the kind of organizing effort that would take. This will be difficult, and he’s not fully owning that or explaining how we’ll get through the challenges, especially given below-2008 Democratic turnout in Iowa and New Hampshire. It’s a set of promises resting on a fundamental misdiagnosis of how movements and organizing work, and I don’t know whether Sanders believes his line or is selling a line, let alone which would be more damning...."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/02/14/1483010/-How-Bernie-Sanders-lost-me-and-Hillary-Clinton-won-me-over

I marched against the war and with Jesse Jackson for civil rights. I wrote to Nixon demanding an end to the war. I have done a few things back then that I would do differently. Mainly because I should have put myself out there, even more than I did.

Well, let me ask another way then...
Don't you think that it's pretty natural for someone to be completely different emotionally, intellectually, politically than they were 40 years ago?

If they aren't, they haven't kept up with politics.

Since you are doing this in defense of Hillary, I will just say, she made lots of her mistakes much more recently than that. Some last year, even. And she is still making some that I just will not abide.

Robert Reich
1 hr ·
Anther major story in the New York Times today blasting Bernie’s economics, claiming that “liberal-leaning economists” share his goals but “question his numbers and political realism.” Put to one side whether economists have anything valuable to say about political realism. The article quotes “some economists” as suggesting his agenda would increase the size of the federal government by 50 percent, and quotes Austan Goolsbee, formerly chairman of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, as saying Bernie’s number are “flying puppies with winning Lotto ticket tied to their collars.”
P-l-e-a-s-e. Bernie’s single-payer plan accounts for most of his proposed tax increases. And under his healthcare plan most Americans would pay so much less for health insurance (including soaring co-pays and deductibles) that they’d come out way ahead. That’s the lesson from other advanced nations, almost all of which have single-payer plans.
So why is Austan Goolsbee badmouthing Bernie? Why is the New York Times writing the same story over and over, attacking Bernie’s plan? Do they really believe that our current system – based on private for-profit insurance companies, whose market power continues to rise as they merge, whose executive pay continues to soar, and whose advertising and marketing and billing expenses continue to go through the roof – is better than a single payer? Do they honestly think Medicare-for-all – essentially, a public option of the sort that Obama couldn’t or wouldn’t try for – would threaten the Affordable Care Act? Are they really convinced we can’t do better than we’re now doing?

Of course she has. But your response didn't at all address what I was saying about someone being completely different after 40 years.

What am I supposed to say? She changes when the polls change and when her donors speak. Then as now.

I know you despise Hillary. I was trying to comment on the narrower ppoint that just because someone campaigned for someone in the 1960's doesn't mean they would have the same views today. Let's just drop it, because you can't stop slamming her, and I defend her not because I'm so enamored, but just because I think the slamming is pointless and destructive to the whole discussion. Especially among Democrats.

http://usuncut.com/politics/thousands-line-up-to-see-bernie-sanders-in-michigan/

This is Sanders in Michigan today. You don't see crowds like this for anybody else.

Despise is the wrong word. I despise dishonest politics, but not her.

today in michigan

His campaign is a pretty unique phenomenon, that's undeniable.

WOW, I'm impressed.

If you're trying to be sarcastic about my observation about Bernie's campaign, you can save it. I've never had or expressed anything less than admiration for Bernie - just not adulation.

Not sarcasm. Was talking about the long line.

ok sorry