Progressives (Liberals)

Those rose-colored glasses make things and people so much more attractive.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5ddd31a1e4b00149f724793b/amp

Excerpt:
Former President Barack Obama, who has so far taken a neutral position publicly on the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, privately indicated he would speak up to stop Bernie Sanders from becoming the party’s nominee should the Vermont senator make significant gains, Politico reported Tuesday.

Politico’s Ryan Lizza, who spoke to several of Obama’s advisers, wrote that the former president sees his role in the Democratic primary process as “providing guardrails” to make sure it doesn’t get “too ugly” and “to unite the party when the nominee is clear.”

But there’s one exception, Lizza wrote, and that’s Sanders.

“Back when Sanders seemed like more of a threat than he does now, Obama said privately that if Bernie were running away with the nomination, Obama would speak up to stop him,” according to Lizza’s report. It’s unclear exactly what period of time the Politico reporter was referring to.

Sanders, who lost the Democratic primary race to Hillary Clinton in 2016, has remained among the front-runners since announcing his second presidential bid in February. A Quinnipiac University poll conducted nationally last month of likely Democratic voters showed Sanders at 15%, trailing behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at 28% and former Vice President Joe Biden at 21%.

Asked whether Obama would really step in to prevent a Sanders nomination, one adviser told Lizza that he “can’t really confirm that.”

“He hasn’t said that directly to me,” said the adviser, who was not identified. “The only reason I’m hesitating at all is because, yeah, if Bernie were running away with it, I think maybe we would all have to say something. But I don’t think that’s likely. It’s not happening.”

"privately said" "can't confirm that" kind of says it all about this speculation of Obama turning nasty. Preferring a more balanced democrat would not be making slurs. I bet you anything you want he won't be casting slurs. I sort of doubt he steps in to prevent a Bernie win, although I wouldn't put it past certain folks to claim it is so if Bernie starts to slip again after this period of the Warren/Bernie thing has died down of which Bernie did manage to benefit from. I wouldn't thought it, I don't think he deserves it as he did start all the ruckus in the first place and didn't stop there and then started in on Biden. Oh, I forget, his staff and nameless volunteers did that.

Rev simply said Obama wouldn’t resort to nasty slurs.
You say that’s “rose-colored”, then cut and paste a bunch of words that in no way support that Obama would resort to that.

Rev’s point is correct. You are just so Berned out that you can’t imagine that there’s any other decent politician human besides Bernie.

Obama is a good man and he has never allowed name calling or cheap shots from himself or people that speak for him.

That you try to deny and subvert that simple fact speaks only about you, and says nothing about Obama.

Amen, amen, amen.

One more.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/17/barack-obama-old-white-men


Obama accused old white men in politics of ‘not getting out of the way’. The comments seem pointed at one old man in particular: Bernie Sanders
Tue 17 Dec 2019 06.16 EST
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While you won’t see former president Barack Obama appearing at any town halls or any public events as the Democrats seek to oust Donald Trump from the White House, you can, if you can afford it, see him in a series of rooms – ballrooms, conference rooms, small theaters – talking to donors about what he thinks everyone else is doing wrong. His exasperation has found several targets at these private events, from the young activists he accused of just being mad online to the old white men running for office he accused of “not getting out of the way”.
At this latest event in Singapore, Obama announced that women were “indisputably” better leaders than men. If the whole world was run by women, Obama speculated, “you would see a significant improvement across the board on … living standards and outcomes”.
Thanks Obama, but these patronising lectures are getting old | Arwa Mahdawi
While potentially opening himself up to a million hate tweets by Hillary Clinton supporters still upset about 2008 and 2016, the comments seem pointed at one old white man in particular: Bernie Sanders.

There are two old white men in running for the nomination: Sanders and his good ole pal best bud forever, Joe Biden. The billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer don’t count here because I’m not convinced they’re not both Spider-Man villains. And while Obama’s withholding of an official endorsement for his former vice-president does seem pointed, the more likely target of his continued frustration is Sanders.

Just last month, it was reported by Politico that Obama had privately spoken about the Vermont senator seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, saying that while he is mostly taking a hands off approach to the primary, if Sanders started to win he would “speak up to stop him”.

It’s not clear what Obama’s interference could do that the media’s strange silence about Sanders’s campaign hasn’t already done. The mass media has been avoiding using Sanders’s name like they’re trying to avoid summoning Beetlejuice. But Obama’s hostility is understandable, given that Sanders is the candidate most outspoken about putting a stop to the great neoliberal experiment that privatized all services, hollowed out the middle class and removed most social welfare safety nets, an experiment Obama was an enthusiastic facilitator of. This isn’t the first verbal subtweet the former president has made, insisting earlier this year that the electorate didn’t want revolution – which is I guess how someone like him sees a project like nationalized health insurance – only “improvement”.
What makes this latest statement even odder is that there is no clear candidate he could be supporting with his championing of women leaders. Elizabeth Warren is the highest woman in the polls, but his administration was excessively antagonistic toward her back when she was pushing for them to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It’s unlikely a lovefest will develop between the two now

They reported it. Obama didn’t disown it.

His words characterize him.

Show me a quote with Obama himself saying those words “Old white men need to get out of the way.”

You can’t. The reports you post have Obama encouraging fresh leadership. The reporters added the “old white men”.

This **** is pathetic. I’d say you should stop, but I know from years of experience that you just can’t help yourself.

You’re partially right. I thought he’d said white, but he definitely said ‘old’. You must not have watched the last debate. Obama’s quote was a question for Bernie. “Obama says ‘old men should get out of the way...’”

That’s a pretty disgusting age-ist comment.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsweek.com/barack-obama-old-men-not-getting-out-way-1477426%3famp=1

“[Obama] added that: "If you look at the world and look at the problems it's usually old people, usually old men, not getting out of the way.”

Admit it, now, or more denial? I don’t see truth as pathetic. Odd that you do.

His statement was after someone asked him if was going to return to politics. Here is his answer in context. It was not pointed at Bernie, if it was pointed at anyone in particular at all, it could have just as well have been pointed Biden. He seems to feel, women would be better leaders than men. One can dispute that opinion, but to point to this as a slur against Bernie is just typical Bernie arrogance thinking everything is about him or against him.


https://www.businessinsider.com/obama-blames-old-people-not-getting-out-of-the-way-for-world-problems-2019-12

He could have very well been thinking of all political leaders not just those running for democrat president. Here he is with Stacey Abrams.

Interesting. There are reports surfacing in the last 20 minutes that Obama will make a statement trying to convince voters not to choose Bernie.

...because the inside the beltway echo chamber should make the decision. To hell with the people of this country.

Those politicians don’t want that money train stopped.

We’ll see what he says.

At the debate, when the biased pseudo-journalists asked Bernie if Obama had been talking about him with his age-ist quote, he laughed it off and said, “I’m white, too!” Bernie jokingly turned to Biden and said something like, did he mean you, and Biden said, “We know he didn’t mean me.”

You guys need to keep up with what’s actually happening if you want your opinions to be credible.

At least admit facts.

———————
But beyond what’s already happened, we’ll see what, if anything Obama says either directly or through proxies again.

"Reports" by whom, where can we see them?

Nah. I’m not your handmaiden. Use google.

I've no need to google such since I get the latest news and reports via RSS feed readers nearly the same minute they are published.

I’m impressed.

I didn't even watch much of the debate, I just find it boring this time with so many there and so little time for any kind of meaningful answers. Regardless of what Biden did or didn't say, he can't speak for Obama. As for proxies, please.

You could take anything anybody says, contribute it to Obama and twist it and then claim since Obama didn't dispute it must be true. Obama don't get into every single squabble about him from the internet or various news articles.

You know Michelle's "they go low, we go high" motto.

CNN quoted the former president in one of their most notable questions. Obama did not deny it.

You lose all credibility in this conversation to try to deny it.

It wouldn’t be going low to say, guys, I didn’t say that.

It was low to say it.

Have to say also, your attempt to dismiss widespread use of proxies and Obama’s use of it this time in a leak reminds of Joe Biden’s stock answer when he has no defense: “Hey. C’mon!”

Lots of substance.

I didn't deny it, what I denied was that it was pointed at Bernie when that has been far from proven. Obama don't have deny it for you or anybody else.

It’s very clear to most people exactly who he was talking about.