Decades of ruthless scheming... calculating... to be President

[MannyGoldstein]

The sheer obsession of it all.

So many years, eye on the prize with a single-mindedness that few can even begin to imagine.

Every position, every vote, a calculation made knowing this day would come.

It's not healthy. It's not human.

Perhaps the earliest sign of the pandering is seen in 1963, participating in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, calling for civil and economic rights for African Americans. Imagine! He knew. He knew that 53 years later, most Americans would think this was a good thing, and he knew it would help his political career.

His record is littered with decisions made with the steely precision of a political automaton.

Voting for marriage equality two decades ago!

Voting against the Patriot Act!

Voting against the liberation of Iraq just because it was an astonishingly dumb idea based on obvious lies!

Filibustering the extension of tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, with his clever (and doubtless poll-tested) "Enough is enough! How many homes can you own?"

Yes, Senator Sanders, enough is enough! Americans can spot a sad little striver like you, a poseur who almost always votes the right way, and we REJECT IT.

NO!

I think I speak for most Americans when I say we want the REAL DEAL, a person we can relate to, someone who occasionally makes mistakes, who sometimes has a hair or two out of place, and who respectfully waits to change their mind on issues until most other Americans have already done so.

So go back to your lofty perch in the Green Mountains, cavorting with ice cream royalty and scheming with that stiff-necked Senator from that pinko Commonwealth on your southern border.

JUST GO AWAY, MR. SANDERS. YOUR EXCELLENCE IS UNWELCOME IN THESE PARTS.

Regards,

Incredibly-Progressive-Yet-Realistic Manny

[DanTex]

1. Some of us just don't want the GOP in the White House.

Yeah, I know, we're not supposed to admit that. But, honestly, I think the country is much better off with a Democratic president.

[JEB]

3. That is exactly why I support Bernie Sanders.

I am not afraid to admit it.

[Vincardog]

13. Some of us don't want any Conservative or Corporatist in the WH. We want Bernie.

[MissDeeds]

25. +1000

Go Bernie!

[Scuba]

46. Bingo!

[Ed Suspicious]

59. Exactly.

[passiveporcupine]

26. And if she wins the primary

we will vote for her.

But...if she doesn't, we will vote for the man who is really for the people and always has been. Will you?

[DanTex]

29. Of course I'll vote for him if he wins. He's great.

I might even vote for him in the primary, as a kind of "send a message" vote.

[thesquanderer]

49. The only way we'll *ever* get what we want is to start actually voting for it.

And who knows. Maybe we'll get it.

[A Simple Game]

55. Exactly, I can't believe the number of people on DU that say

I'll vote for him if he wins. He's great.

So if he is great and you like him why wouldn't you vote for him? If he wins? How can he win unless everyone that likes him votes for him in the primaries? "He can't win in the general election" is another thing many say, well if he can win in the Democratic primaries he will win the general, there is no doubt about it. The one that will not win in the general if she wins the primaries is Hillary. Nobody votes for Republican lite when the real thing is running against them. Ask Ms.(I'm more Republican than Mitch and I don't even know who Obama is) Grimes in Kentucky.

No more lesser of two evils, I'm too old to throw my vote away again.

[sabrina 1]

48. That's exactly why I'm supporting Sanders. There isn't a lunatic currently jumping into the Repub

Primary that Bernie couldn't wipe the floor with and there isn't a single vulnerability in his record that they can attack without looking like the totally out of touch lunatics they are.

The country is ready for Bernie now.

And I know he will be the winner because as he has said himself, 'the people are angry' and he explains why and as always he's absolutely correct.

We ARE angry! And for good reason!

[JDPriestly]

52. Agreed, so let's make it a Democrat with proven GOOD JUDGMENT

who voted the right way even though most others voted the wrong way.

Bernie Sanders.

Proven judgment. Voted the right way even when it wasn't popular.

A strong individual who can lead the country with his proven GOOD JUDGMENT.

[AgingAmerican]

57. Then don't vote Republican

This 'his positions are too good for him to win' argument is silly.

[HooptieWagon]

2. LOL at Third Way Manny.

[Wilms]

4. Thanks for the post. But I was already on to him.

Here he is, a guy from a state with more cows than people, and I've never seen him wear a cowboy hat. He doesn't even have a Vermont accent.

Poseur, to put it mildly.

I'm Third Way, ALL the way!

[hifiguy]

5. I'm getting more than a whiff of this character

?w=650&h=828&crop=1#038;h=1000

but it ain't coming from Bernie.

[Art_from_Ark]

7. I'm getting a whiff of THIS character

and it is coming from Bernie!

[hifiguy]

12. Damn tootin!

My first hero that didn't wear a baseball uniform was Robert Francis Kennedy.

[Change has come]

33. Nice response!

[merrily]

40. .....

Claims that Robert F. Kennedy was a New Democrat

As a harbinger of modern liberalism and progressivism, Robert F. Kennedy has been described as the first "New Democrat".[9][10][11] As former President Bill Clinton described in his book My Life:

"In the 1968 Indiana primary, Bobby Kennedy became the first New Democrat. He believed in civil rights for all and special privileges for none, in giving poor people a hand up rather than a handout: work was better than welfare. He understood in a visceral way that progressive politics requires the advocacy of both new policies and fundamental values, both far-reaching change and social stability. If he had become President, America's journey through the rest of the twentieth century would have been very different."[12]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Democrats#cite_



Then again, when Scott Brown ran, he pretended to be JFK's ideological successor.

[Art_from_Ark]

42. I'm sure that when Bobby visited those wretched migrant farms

where the workers were living in tents and the supervisors were acting like antebellum overseers, he told the workers, "Hey, you guys, work is better than welfare! Get back in those fields!"

[merrily]

44. As you know, if you are able to work and reasonable jobs exist, work is better than welfare.

But, "if" is one of the biggest words in our language.

[Art_from_Ark]

45. There's work, and then there's *work*

I did plenty of minimum wage shit jobs in my earlier days (I'd have to use my fingers and toes to count them all), and just about every one of them was dead-end and demeaning. And I've got to say that, given the choice between getting welfare, and getting yelled at every day by an uptight supervisor for the smallest things and ending up with $0 in the bank at the end of the month to show for my efforts, yeah, I'd rather have the welfare. Of course, I'd still try to look for a decent job, but I also understand that a lot of people don't have that option, or the door to a decent job is always being slammed in their face (been there, done that).

[Fumesucker]

6. I knew this was going to be about Bernie

No one else even comes close to the description in your title.

[Wilms]

8. .

[MannyGoldstein]

17. I should have started with something to throw people off the trail

Use words like "earnest" and "down-to-Earth".

Next time.

[peecoolyour]

9. Those University of Chicago elitists are always occupying the Oval Office...

When are we going to give those poor Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia grads a chance?!

[Paka]

10. Good one, Manny.

Must be my fault that I let my participation in the March on Washington in '63 never promote my political career.

[MannyGoldstein]

21. Unlike the Shifty Socialist from Burlington

You must be a genuine person, intent on helping your fellow humans.

Thank you!

[marym625]

11. Are you sure you are not third-way Manny in disguise?

This smacks of excuses and plain, outright trickery!

But I have to agree! A candidate that knows the workings of the 1% from the inside, that works closely with the author of the End Game Memo, that can work with the banks and Goldman-Sacjs, that has reformed welfare so children go hungry, that has stated unequivocally that then Senator Obama only received backing from certain people because of his race, that helped develop the 600 corporate insider group for the TPP, will be a much better President.

As long as you are still three-way Manny, it's all good

[MannyGoldstein]

14. Shhh! You'll ruin it!

oNay entionmay ofyay ethay irdThay-ayWay untilyay imariespray areyay overyay!

[marym625]

15. OH!

Isyay eethray-ayway OKyay? ecauseBay atthay'say ustjay unfay!

[MannyGoldstein]

16. ameNay ethay imetay andyay aceplay!

ubbaHay-ubbahay! Iyay'llay ingbray ethay eatWhay exChay andyay argelay-alibercay ammunitionyay.

[marym625]

24. okey dokey then

eatGray! Andyay Iyay ightmay allowyay youyay otay eatyay andyay useyay emthay, ifyay youyay areyay eryvay oodgay

[MannyGoldstein]

34. Might be a plan. But

atwhay ifyay Iyay oosechay otay ebay adbay insteadyay? Evenyay eryvay adbay?

[BeanMusical]

36. Hey, this is Murka.

If you wanna talk Gibberish then go back to Gibberishstan!1!!

[marym625]

37. That can work

allyay ethay oremay unfay orfay eMay. youyay, onyay ethay otheryay andhay, illway enjoyyay atwhay Iyay etlay youyay

[MannyGoldstein]

38. Oooh.

illWay erethay ebay andpapersay? aperPay ipsaclay?

[marym625]

39. Love that scene!

aperclipsPay? onWay'tay ebay ippingclay aperpay!

[zeemike]

56. I knew it, we have been invaded by furiners.

You think you can come to this Amurican forum and speak you your furin way.
Speak Amurican if you post here.

I knew it...this new Manny is a furin agent of some kind of commie plot to take away our precious bodily fluids...and you just exposed him.

[marym625]

60. WE WILL TAKE OVER

Youryay ountrycay. Youyay illway oday asyay eway aysay, essdray asyay eway elltay youyay otay andyay aypray otay ethay almightyyay igletPay andyay abeBay!

Furin agent Manny!

You cracked me up

[amb123]

47. We should all speak Pig Latin

and watch the GOP heads explode!

[marym625]

61. omfd! I absolutely love it!

That's like the best plan ever!

I am tempted to do a post on all the Republican candidates all in pig Latin

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. lol. hippy doesnt stand a chance

[edgineered]

19. kick, rec

[hifiguy]

20. Always loved that Blondie tune, Manny.

[MannyGoldstein]

22. Sometimes, when nobody else is home,

I have this Debbie Harry poster, you see, and... nah, never mind.

[joshcryer]

23. IPYRM?

I-pee-onya-arm?

[cantbeserious]

27. Good One Manny

eom

[Thespian2]

28. K & R

Better Be Bernie...

Don't want to think about the future without him in the WH...

[BlueJazz]

30. Hallelujah !! Thank you so much. We all almost made a terrifying, horrible mistake.

We should vote for Crud or Craz (or what-ever his name is...)

[RobertEarl]

31. Not to blow my own horn.. Toot-toot

But the REAL DEAL was my idea.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026719923

But that's fine, Manny, you can steal my stuff anytime, as long as you use it in the manner intended; to smoke out political wannabes like this Bernie guy.

[Nye Bevan]

32. He even had the foresight to vote against the Brady Bill.

And against holding gun manufacturers to account.

Should be handy for picking up delegates in states like Montana and Wyoming.

Scheming, indeed.

[merrily]

41. He thought state law could handle it. That is supposed to be our system. Still, not in the same

planetary system as advocating for the Iraq War, esp. without even having read the NIE.

Address to the Nation on the Invasion of Iraq (January 16, 1991)



George H. W. Bush


Just 2 hours ago, allied air forces began an attack on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait. These attacks continue as I speak. Ground forces are not engaged.

This conflict started August 2d when the dictator of Iraq invaded a small and helpless neighbor. Kuwait—a member of the Arab League and a member of the United Nations—was crushed; its people, brutalized. Five months ago, Saddam Hussein started this cruel war against Kuwait. Tonight, the battle has been joined.

much more at:

http://www.millercenter.org/president/speeches/speech-3428

transcript: President Clinton explains Iraq strike

CLINTON: Good evening.

Earlier today, I ordered America's armed forces to strike military and security targets in Iraq. They are joined by British forces. Their mission is to attack Iraq's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and its military capacity to threaten its neighbors.

much more at:

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/12/16/transcripts/clinton.html

more at:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026211673



Senate vote on 2002 AUMF at:

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/107-2002/s237



House vote on 2002 AUMF at:

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/107/hjres114

10:16 P.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: My fellow citizens, at this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.


On my orders, coalition forces have begun striking selected targets of military importance to undermine Saddam Hussein's ability to wage war. These are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign. More than 35 countries are giving crucial support -- from the use of naval and air bases, to help with intelligence and logistics, to the deployment of combat units. Every nation in this coalition has chosen to bear the duty and share the honor of serving in our common defense.

more at http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/03/20030319-17.html

[arcane1]

53. Nope. Dishonest hyperbole.

Why are you using dishonest hyperbole? There is no evidence that he is "against holding gun manufacturers to account" and tons of evidence to prove otherwise.

This deliberate distortion of his record only serves to derail the discussion.

Why are you deliberately trying to derail the discussion?

[Nye Bevan]

54. Wait.... the OP calls Bernie a "ruthless schemer", a "panderer", and a "poseur",

and I'm the one "derailing the discussion" with "hyperbole"?

[rhett o rick]

58. Ah but the difference. You say that Sen Sanders is "against holding gun manufacturers to

account." without any evidence. Really? Even if it were true it pales when compared to the baggage the other candidate.

[BeanMusical]

35. Now that's a fantastic 11 dimentions chess player!

[merrily]

43. Hey! Manny goes big or goes home. I'm sure he has at least a dozen dementions

and all the neuroses one man can handle!

[heaven05]

50. this one, I understand

I'm really noticing the difference between Se. Sanders and a whole slew of politicians. I'm beginning to hope, one more time. geez Can he really be that different?

[arcane1]

51. Just like Obama: groomed from birth to one day Rule America.