Since Sanders jumped in

[PowerToThePeople]

DU has pulled left quite a bit imo. I am looking at threads from just a year ago and everything was pro-NSA, pro-corporate bailouts, pro-TPP, etc. It seemed there were only a few voices shouting strongly against these things. They were getting shut down as often as possible by the juries at that time.

I have hope that the nation can change if DU can change.

[Thinkingabout]

1. A year ago we did not have candidates who had annonced.

[daleanime]

2. K&R....

[cantbeserious]

3. Right On Bernie - Right On

eom

[NanceGreggs]

4. This IS satire, I take it? n/t

[hedda_foil]

5. It's either satire or seriously strange.p

[Number23]

12. + a million.

But as usual, a few have lapped it up. As they do everything else around here wrong and/or strange.

[sadoldgirl]

6. I don't agree with this at all, but

I understand your point.
It was not Bernie per se, but his arguments, which
are resonating all over the country. People were
upset almost everywhere, but it needed the articulation
to find their voice. Now they understand the problems
they and the country are facing and they react very
clearly.

If other politicians had shown the same kind of courage
to show the country where it can go and where it
could find solutions, it would have worked as well.

But, yes, it took Bernie to tell the truth.

[Betty Karlson]

19. I think you nailed it.

Which is why Mr. Sanders is to be appreciated for his repeated remark: "this is not about me".

[onehandle]

7. I know that I personally worshipped banks and the military industrial complex a year ago.

Now I garden in fields of wildflowers and chant on peace beads and wear hemp underwear.

[sabrina 1]

8. It isn't that DU changed, but the few loud voices you are talking about, simply drove a lot of

people to other venues or not to bother engaging. I was here, saying what I always said, that the NSA spying is a CRIME against the US Constitution, just as we said when Bush was caught doing it. And nothing is going to change my mind about that.

[RobertEarl]

9. True

It was a huge effort to try and make Obama look good. There was a modicum of success in that effort.

Now, Obama is what he is, and DU is looking forward to 2016.

[sabrina 1]

10. I don't think there was any success to be honest. No one I know changed their minds about that

issue. And hopefully one day those who were responsible WILL be brought to justice.

We have a lot of criminals roaming free in this country due to money and power. But people have NOT forgotten, nor do they want it to just go away That is not good for this country.

It was always a small minority here, they just talked a lot so it seemed like more than it was.

[RobertEarl]

11. Throw 'em a bone

They fought hard and lost, but for the most part were just trying to make Obama look good. It wasn't their fault Obama led them astray.

Of course they can repent and be baptized in the Bern, and let's hope they do. <BIG grin on the repent and be baptized line>

[sabrina 1]

13. When I learned that Clinton led me astray, I had no problem acknowledging it. I had fought furiously

on his behalf with right wingers to the point of being threatened by them for years.

I 'trusted' him.

Then one day I saw a photo of him with Bush, (the people I mostly argued with were Bush supporters who were obsessed with Clinton) and suddenly I felt like a fool. I wondered how THEY felt when they saw their hero cavorting around the world with the guy they were so obsessed with.

That ended the 'my team' 'your team' game for me. Now a politician needs to PROVE s/he is what they claim to be. My support for Clinton was based on the fact that he was a Democrat. They were the 'good guys' and the awful Republicans were the 'bad guys'.

Now I realize how well that serves those in power, to see the people divided like that.

So I don't understand why, when a politician doesn't keep his/her promises, seems to prefer the other side over those who put them in power, anyone would even want to defend them.

[rhett o rick]

14. You said it very well sabrina. There are really only two sides to this class war,

the 1% and the 99%. Some say that Obama and Clinton will help the lowly 99%, but that's a fantasy. It looks like only Sen Sanders will really help the 99%. I think, but not sure, I heard Clinton say, "Let them eat cake". She belongs in good standing to the 1% and she represents them.

[sabrina 1]

15. I'm glad we have a choice. The whole election thing was looking like it was already

decided two years before the actual election. We need leaders who get major decisions RIGHT the FIRST TIME, especially when precious lives are at stake.

Bernie got the Iraq War right the first time. I wish we had had more like him and all those innocent people would still be alive today He was able to predict the consequences, he had the same info Hillary and all the others who voted FOR it had. THAT is leadership.

I don't want any more leaders who, ten years after their decisions turn to unspeakable disaster for so many human beings, try to justify the 'mistake' they made. Too late!

[rhett o rick]

16. H. Clinton hasn't really tried very hard to apologize for her "mistake" that lead to the deaths

of ten of thousands of deaths of innocent children. She and George Bush, The Stupid Son, were hand in hand trying to sell that war.

I have a hard time expressing my contempt for those that wanted to kill Iraqi's.

[Art_from_Ark]

20. Me, too

Especially after seeing pictures of retreating Iraqis in Gulf War I who were bombed mercilessly and the highway was turned into a hell that even Hieronymus Bosch couldn't imagine.

[rhett o rick]

22. Hieronymus Bosch? I assume you mean the painter and not the detective or band. nm

[Art_from_Ark]

29. Yes, the painter

[L0oniX]

25. ^^^this^^^

Went through the same ringer with Bill.

[BainsBane]

17. Left?

How do you figure that? We've seen mass justifications for gun control, for telling black voters they "vote based on race," and "agreeing to disagree" on women's reproductive rights. We see a crackdown on discussion of issues in favor of promoting a single politician. How is any of that "left"?

[NanceGreggs]

18. You've GOT to be kidding.

The threads from a year ago were "everything was pro-NSA, pro-corporate bailouts, pro-TPP, etc."

WTF?

Being anti-NSA, anti-bailouts, anti-TPP have always been the prevalent positions on DU. There were "only a few voices shouting against these things"? Seriously?

And those "few voices" were getting shut down by juries as often as possible"?

This has GOT to be satire - or completely outside of reality as most sane people would define it.

"everything was pro-NSA, pro-corporate bailouts, pro-TPP, etc."

[L0oniX]

26. .

[dreamnightwind]

21. Though the clueless deny it, I agree

The dominant views here seemed to me to be as you described, and they have less and less ground to stand on after slinging so much mud. Honestly I couldn't stand this place. And I agree that the emergence of Bernie gave us something to rally around.

[LWolf]

23. As the Democratic Party goes,

so goes DU.

DU was quite a bit further "left" when I came on board 12 years ago. So much so that I felt like a "moderate."

I haven't changed, but DU did. By '08, I was the looney left fringe thrown under the bus.

When a Democrat won the WH...a neoliberal Democrat, no less, DU was suddenly not really "underground" any more; more moderates joined the board, and the board shifted right to support the new Democratic POTUS.

It took 4 or 5 years for it to sink in for most that we weren't experiencing liberal-left renaissance under this Democratic Administration, and for the left-of-center contingent that remained to start talking about it. It's been 8 years since we had real hope, a real candidate to rally behind, and it's energizing.

[uponit7771]

24. This wasn't funny

[ladjf]

27. Good point! nt

[BeyondGeography]

28. You couldn't even criticize Obama here a year ago

[zappaman]

30. Good one!

Ya got me!

[lumberjack_jeff]

31. I agree. n/t