Where's Bernie?

[StarfishSaver]

Serious question.

Link to tweet

[underpants]

1. He was on Jimmy Fallon's show Thursday night

Other than that not sure

[ecstatic]

2. I was going to say something snarky about him

but, in fairness, he just had a heart attack. He's probably social distancing or something, which might be smart for someone with his preexisting conditions.

[LisaM]

8. I agree.

He is high risk, needs to be careful.

[StarfishSaver]

20. Being careful doesn't mean being invisible

[marlakay]

61. He is trying his hardest this time

To support Joe, could be he is stepping out of limelight to help Joe be more in it.

[StarfishSaver]

62. Supporting a cause isn't competing with Biden

He'd have to have a pretty massive ego to think that it would.

[PatSeg]

27. I was thinking the same thing

Sometimes we can be too quick to judge.

[JonLP24]

3. He lost

No need to be sore winners especially if the Biden camp needs unity for this November.

[Budi]

4. That unity threat again? And what does that prove. More Trump?

Sore winners? C'mon. OP just asked a reasonable question.
No need for this anymore..
Thank you

[StarfishSaver]

7. How is asking where a Senator who holds himself out as a leading voice on social equality

and whose participation in a protest 50 years ago still treated as a major bona fide hasn't been seen participating in the largest social protest of our time a sign of being a "poor winner"?

[JonLP24]

12. There are multiple people saying he's in a high risk group

I'm not showing up to protests personally because I'm social distancing and trying to not to catch or spread this virus which is very contagious.

What I mean is continuing a negative campaign even after he lost. I should be able to support one of the most liberal members of the Senate on a Democratic message board. (I know he is technically not a Democrat but he caucuses with Democrats, runs in Democratic primaries, and votes consistently on liberal/progressive causes).

You also won't find Bernie Sanders on CNN or MSNBC. You have to go to Youtube to find Bernie's speech on the matter.

[StarfishSaver]

15. Asking where he is isn't "continuing a negative campaign"

Bernie Sanders isn't a sacred cow never to be questioned.

[JonLP24]

21. I never said he was a sacred cow

He was constantly criticized here for 5 straight years. People say the most ridiculous things when they attack Sanders so most of it is over-the-top. I would never post a Bernie topic because there will be critics but Romney is praised widely here. Sorry I was so frustrated.

[Blue_true]

48. To be fair Jon, Sanders spent the last five years attacking the Democratic Party.

So, there is a justifiable bit of resentment towards him from rank and file democrats and a lot of elected democrats.

If he had started his speeches complimenting what democrats have accomplished and then discussed where we can look to be better, that would have been acceptable. But it seems he always started attacking every thing that we have accomplished as having not been enough, even when we accomplish progress that had never happened before. I believe that his behavior toward the party and rank and file democrats is what has bred hostility toward him, and some people are having a really hard time of letting that go.

[Demsrule86]

33. So is Biden.

[betsuni]

39. +1

[PTWB]

44. It seem odd to ask where Bernie is and not ask where Biden is...

I haven’t seen coverage of him attending the protests but I have seen Harris and Warren out there.

Edit: I see Biden attended a small protest in Delaware 8 days ago, which is definitely a good thing.

I do think we need to be focused on our candidate and not trying to fall into Russia’s trap of dividing our base between Joe and Bernie. I find this OP to be quite suspect.

[StarfishSaver]

52. There's no need to ask where Biden is

He's been out and about, engaged, meeting with people, visiting communities, etc. Today he made a private visit to George Floyd's family.

But we've seen neither hide nor hair of Bernie Sanders.

[PTWB]

64. Do you think we should even be talking negatively about Bernie at this point?

It seems like there is nothing to gain and an election to lose. I think the only folks really ragging on Bernie any more now that Joe has secured the nomination are Russian trolls hellbent on dividing our base.

[Dorian Gray]

102. Biden

went to protest site in Delaware.

He's met with the Floyd family multiple times.

He's been very present.

[Hortensis]

5. He's old enough that he needs to be careful, and there are

ways to contribute without showing up in person. He's been addressing protesters in Tel Aviv against the Israeli RW's annexation of West Bank properties. They were reportedly glad to get the encouragement from the U.S., remotely of course.

Notably, the Democratic leadership isn't exactly under-represented at the #BLM game-change activies, but Romey's colleagues certainly are.

[StarfishSaver]

9. John Lewis, who's older than Bernie and battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, showed up

as have countless other people Bernie's age and older.

I'm sure if he really wanted to be there, it could be arranged for him, a US Senator, to keep a careful social distance.

But there other ways for him to be supportive. But he hasn't been visible.

[lagomorph777]

14. Sure - a bit of teargas would do the trick.

But that's not a great look.

How old are you and how many street protests have you been in lately?

[StarfishSaver]

16. He doesn't have to go to a protest

Has he gone to any black communities?
Met with BLM? Visited any families with? Sat down with any civil rights leaders or activists?

Where is he?

[lagomorph777]

18. Those are all good suggestions - and he should coordinate with the Biden campaign

to produce maximum benefit to the national cause.

[StarfishSaver]

22. That would be great

Although they may cover more ground and have broader impact if they do it separately

[Tipperary]

90. Did you ever get an answer to your question?

Ah well.

[Hortensis]

23. Oh, of course. Absolutely. This is a magnificently huge and

powerful national event that still needs to actually be made the turning point it currently only promises to be.

But, Sanders has spoken in support remotely. He's not a current candidate or member of the civil rights community in congress who's really expected to be there, though, certainly not like Rep. Lewis, Biden, or those at this morning's press conference; and I doubt his actual physical appearance would make much more difference than...checking off a box for someone?

[StarfishSaver]

25. Only "current candidates or members of the civil rights community in congress"

need to show up, either at a protest or otherwise?

Do you know what an "ally" is??

[Hortensis]

29. One might wish all would, but you may have noticed that

Senator Sanders virtually never joins groups of Democrats in public appearances, preferring to bypass those to stage his own event, or perhaps to take over one staged by others to appear as the lone star on camera. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he subsequently made a strong appearance in support in just that manner.

Another, less frequent pattern is joining with a Republican in some action, such as introducing a bill or to make a joint "bipartisan" public statement, rather than joining a similar action already taken by Democrats.

All of this would be the action you presumably want from him, just in Senator Sanders' long established style. He prides himself on being "independent" after all and needs people to know it.

[StarfishSaver]

30. Ok. So where is he?

[Hortensis]

36. Beats me. Wouldn't it be nice, though, if he were planning a joint

endorsement of #BLM or condemnation of Republican racism with a Republican senator? I won't hold my breath, but how about Senator Mike Lee again? That would be a coup.

[whistler162]

42. Yup those 7 years between Mitt and Bernie

really make a difference.

[StarfishSaver]

51. They're both in their 70s.

John Lewis is older than Bernie AND is fighting stage 4 pancreatic cancer, so ...

I haven't heard anyone say that Bernie must show up at a crowded protest. There are many ways he can be visible to show support, but he hasn't been seen at all.

I can't help being amused by the fact that some people took great offense at any suggestion that Bernie's age might be an impediment to holding one of the most stressful jobs on earth ("Don't be AGEIST!".)but now people are saying he can't go out in public to show his support for an important movement because he's too old and vulnerable.

[lagomorph777]

6. Obviously, in a risk group.

He's old but not stupid; you should be more sage, liz.

[StarfishSaver]

10. Lots of old people in risk groups, including John Lewis, have been there

[lagomorph777]

13. OK - but as Patton said,

"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making some other poor dumb bastard die for his country."

There's more than one way to effect change.

[StarfishSaver]

19. He doesn't have show up at a protest

But where is he? What IS he doing?

[mcar]

11. I've been wondering that, too.

[sunonmars]

17. Mittens made it to the protest before Bernie did, thats just hilarious.

[msongs]

24. when the chips are down bernie is not around nt

[StarfishSaver]

26. It is strange

[uponit7771]

28. I haven't seen Sanders in over a month

[StarfishSaver]

31. I hope he's ok

[uponit7771]

32. +1

[SMC22307]

45. LOL (n/t)

[StarfishSaver]

35. There's turning up and there's turning up

No one is at greater risk than John Lewis, but he showed up at the Washington protest. Elizabeth Warren and Mitt Romney are close in age to Bernie and are in the high-risk group and they showed up.

But even if Bernie is concerned about being in a large crowd, that shouldn't stop him from doing any number of other things to visibly show his support for the movement. But he's nowhere to be found.

[Grins]

37. He may be in Israel...

Saw something recently he was in Tel Aviv and told the Likud to stop taking Palestinian land and building homes for Israelis. Said it with his outdoor voice, too.

[StarfishSaver]

38. So, the "He's too old and vulnerable" may not really be a thing...

[betsuni]

40. The revolution seems to have started without him.

[Yeehah]

41. OK, so everyone who has not been to a BLM protest is a bad person?

Let's start a list.

[TheFarseer]

43. Serious question

Would Liz Sage really be happy if he was speaking up and being a leader or would she be bitching that he needs to shut up. No one voted for him. He's going to turn middle America against us with his Communism. He needs to let Joe Biden lead etc etc. It boggles my mind how people can be such sore winners.

[StarfishSaver]

55. He doesn't need to be a leader right now. But it would be nice if he would be an ally

and show for the movement by being present. That's with Biden's doing, as are many, many others.

[Hav]

46. Maybe he's on working on another book? (n/t)

[MyNameGoesHere]

49. The ISFV is isolated

Back home with the like minded folks from Vermont.

[Beringia]

50. Maybe he doesn't want to interfere with Biden

It would look like he is trying to get back into the limelight. But he does seem to focus on economic disparities and not racial issues. I haven't followed Sanders for long, so I don't know his whole history.


Cornel West, Killer Mike, Bernie Sanders and Nina Turner discuss Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy 2016.

[StarfishSaver]

56. This is a big country. There are plenty of places he can go without interfering with Biden

Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, and Amy Klobuchar all managed to get involved in various ways without stepping on Biden

[Beringia]

53. Talked with Jimmy Fallon 4 days ago

With Jimmy Fallon June 4, 2020

From Bernie's youtube

[Mariana]

83. *crickets*

LOL .

[Tipperary]

88. Funny, that. nt

[Captain Stern]

54. I don't know. Does it matter?

When Biden had the nomination locked up, and Sanders kept speaking up, and refusing to endorse, he (rightfully) got shit for that.

Now, it's a done deal, and Sanders (rightfully) is staying out of the spotlight, and he's catching shit for that.

What do you want the guy to do? What does he, specifically, have to do to make everybody happy?

[StarfishSaver]

57. There's a difference between refusing to endorse Biden

and being completely out of sight as this movement progresses

[Captain Stern]

59. Ok. What would you have him say right now?

If it was up to you, and he'd publicly say anything you'd like him to, what would you have him say right now?

[StarfishSaver]

60. I'm not really interested in him saying anything

But I would like to see him show up at a protest or meet with some community leaders or residents or maybe victims of police brutality and listen to what they have to say.

He doesn't always have to do all the talking. He can just be an ally.

[still_one]

71. +++

[George II]

70. He's still sending out fundraising emails.

[0rganism]

58. if he did march, y'all would be shitting on him for campaigning to upstage Biden

seems to me like he's taking a respectfully low profile right now.

[StarfishSaver]

63. Who said anything about him marching?

And no, I doubt anyone would accuse him of trying to upstage Biden if he did make an appearnce. No one else who is publicly shown support has been so accused. I think people would appreciate him being an ally

He's either too old and sick or he's being deferential to Biden are pretty lame excuses.

[applegrove]

65. Letting a new generation of kids lead BLM. Biden can't step back as he is running

for president. But the kids and young adults are doing a great job. Politicians need to listen and learn.

[StarfishSaver]

73. Suddenly, he decided to disappear this month to "let a new generation lead"?

Oh, c'mon. You don't really believe that do you? Two months ago, he was running to be the leader of the free world, but now he's going underground?

Even if he did want to turn over leadership to young people, why isn't he publicly supporting them. Surely he doesn't think that if he can't lead the parade, he won't participate at all ...

[JI7]

66. He believes the answer to all problems is through economic policy

he says social issues get in the way of what really matters.

He also lost big in the primaries .

[betsuni]

67. +1

[Hortensis]

68. This. AND he rightly believes only revolution will create the

giant changes needed to our economic system, i.e., socialize and eventually eliminate capitalism.

He's working with Biden and Democrats to defeat the threat of RW authoritarianism now, but this reminds of another obvious explanation for continuing his low profile on AA/minority issues -- he's still a populist leader, even if he's currently badly disappointed a lot of those.

Not to say some members of our current left and right populist movements aren't committed or sympathetic to issues of racial equality, but majorities tend to reflect varying but defining combinations of economic progressivism and social conservatism. So it seems likely that he's trying to avoid further offending those, both to keep some from crossing to Trump and to be able to draw from Trump, and for the future.

If so, the answer to where's Bernie is where he's always been.

[StarfishSaver]

75. "The answer to where's Bernie is where he's always been"

That may very well be true.

[Blasphemer]

77. +1 nt

[George II]

69. I just checked the Senate website:

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/votes_new.htm

He hadn't voted from March 25 through June 4, but he did participate in a cloture vote yesterday.

[betsuni]

72. Hope Bernie is okay and not ill.

Because he always says Democrats don't fight hard enough and ignore the working and middle classes. He'd NEVER ignore voting unless there was a very good reason.

[StarfishSaver]

74. His silence and absence are strange

Last edited Tue Jun 9, 2020, 09:09 AM - Edit history (1)

And some of the excuses given here don't hold any water.

[betsuni]

76. This is what he said he wanted: a grassroots rallying of young people speaking truth to power.

I guess it wasn't the right kind of revolution? You'd think he'd be a very active participant and ally of transformative change!

[lagomorph777]

78. In Houston, helping the Floyd family.

Exactly where he should be.

[StarfishSaver]

87. You may be confusing him with Biden, who was in Houston yesterday with the Floyd family

Thev only reports I can find of Bernie being in Houston are from when he had a rally there in February.

[lagomorph777]

99. Something's wrong with my brain today.

You are correct.

[StarfishSaver]

100. It happens to the best of us ...

[Happy Hoosier]

79. I'm gonna give Bernie some room here....

I don't like him much, but he has been doing fine since leaving the race. I think he should let Joe lead.

[mucifer]

80. why don't you google?? Jeez his website:

Sanders Calls for Sweeping Reforms in Senate Democrats’ Policy Response to Police Violence
Wednesday, June 3, 2020

WASHINGTON, June 3 – Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) outlined a sweeping set of policy reforms to be adopted in Senate Democrats’ legislative response to police violence, in order to “protect people and communities that have suffered this violence for far too long,” he wrote in a letter addressed to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Sanders listed the following goals “to seriously address an intolerable situation in this country:”

Amend federal civil rights laws to allow more effective prosecution of police misconduct by changing the standard from willfulness to recklessness.

Abolish “qualified immunity,” so police officers can be held civilly liable for abuses.

Prohibit the transfer of offensive military equipment to police departments.

Strip federal funds from departments that violate civil rights.

Create a federal model policing program that emphasizes de-escalation, non-lethal force and culturally competent policing in which access to federal funds depends upon the level of reform adopted. As part of this effort to modernize and humanize police departments
we need to enhance the recruitment pool by ensuring that the resources are available to pay wages that will attract the top-tier officers

we need to do the difficult work of policing.

Provide funding to states and municipalities to create civilian corps of unarmed first responders to supplement law enforcement, such as social workers, EMTs, and trained mental health professionals, who can handle order maintenance violations, mental health emergencies, and low-level conflicts to aid police officers.

Require agencies to make records of police misconduct publicly available.

Require all jurisdictions that receive federal grant funding to establish independent police conduct review boards that are broadly representative of the community and that have the authority to refer deaths that occur at the hands of police or in police custody to federal authorities for investigation. In addition, the boards would be authorized to report to federal authorities other types of abuses by police including patterns of misconduct. This would be supplemental to current federal authority to commence investigations. Enhance federal funding for such investigations.

https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-calls-for-sweeping-reforms-in-senate-democrats-policy-response-to-police-violence

He's working. He's a senator.

[betsuni]

82. "Why don't you Google?" should be said to those who claim not to know what Democrats

stand for.

[StarfishSaver]

84. A week ago he "called for" reforms - all of which many Democrats already advocated for years

That doesn't even come close to answering my question.

[egduj]

86. Looks like he's been pretty busy.

[bluedigger]

81. Probably staying home as much as possible.

You know he flies commercial, right? What point is there for him to fly all over the place being "visible" right now? None. Personally, I hope he is at home mentoring and networking with tomorrow's progressive leaders. There's a lot of revolution left undone.

[StarfishSaver]

85. Who said anything about him "flying all over the place"?

And we all "hope" he's doing something meaningful. But it would be nice if that something meaningful included visibly supporting the movement he claims to be all about. After spending the last several years, up until two months ago, going all around the country portraying himself the leader of a new revolution, now that a revolution is actually taking place, it's surely a strange time for him to suddenly retreat to New England to quietly "mentor" some people in Vermont.

Sorry, I don't buy that excuse. I suspect you don't really believe it either.

And, FYI, he stopped exclusively flying commercial along time ago, and started doing a considerable amount of campaign travel on private planes.

[Devil Child]

89. So the old man should go to a non socially distant protest during a pandemic?

Is COVID still a thing we’re supposed to worry about or is that last news cycle already?

[StarfishSaver]

92. Who said anything about going to a protest?

There are many ways to visibly support the cause without diving into the middle of a crowded protest.

And funny how a couple of months ago he we was the only person capable of leading the country but now he's an "old man" too vulnerable to be seen in public. I guess we should be glad "the old man" isn't the nominee, right?

[BlueLucy]

91. This is who Bernie has always been. This is just proof of it.

All talk no action. He likes to campaign but not work in the Senate and not any community reach out.

[StarfishSaver]

93. That's what I don't understand

Some people here are behaving as if the only thing Bernie could do to support the movement is dive into a moshpit at a protest. But there are so many ways he could be helpful. He could speak or even just appear at a protest, masked and with social distance, as several other senators and congresspersons - including John Lewis, who is older and battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer - have done. He appareny was in DC yesterday- he could have attended the CBC event or even issued a statement or video afterward supporting their legislation. He could meet with victims of brutality and their families. He could talk with African-American community leaders or residents. He doesn't even have to travel - he could do it in Vermont. He could even do a Zoom meeting.

I really don't understand his absence and silence. I doubt he's that uninterested so I do wonder of he's having a health issue.

[BlueLucy]

98. No. He's fine.

He really is that uninterested. Always has been this way.

[marmar]

95. Jesus let it go.

[StarfishSaver]

96. Thanks for the kick

[Odoreida]

97. Cut him some slack, he's on his deathbed. n/t

[StarfishSaver]

103. It's odd that just a couple of months ago, he was touted as the leader of a new revolution

but now his supporters are saying he's too old and vulnerable to show up anywhere to support an actual revolution.

[Odoreida]

104. There's also a good chance Biden won't last until the election.

At any rate, vote for the Democrat.

[betsuni]

101. Kick