Atlantic - A Sanders Supporter Leans Toward Supporting Trump

[TomCADem]

Great explanation from a very strong Sanders supporters on the dangers of entertaining the fantasy that a Trump presidency might make things so bad that folks would flock to the left. However, before you dismiss the letter writer, his views are no different from those of Susan Sarandon who has flirted with the idea that a Trump presidency might spur positive change.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/06/why-bernie-sanders-supporters-should-reject-donald-trump/485258/

For the last few days, I’ve been reading emails from Bernie Sanders supporters who are thinking about voting for Donald Trump in the general election—and rereading Josh Barro’s excellent assessment of the terrifying long-tail risks Trump poses. The juxtaposition has inspired some thoughts for Democrats who are flirting with Trump. Before offering them, here’s an email from the sort of voter I’m talking about––a progressive who would love to see the fruition of the Sanders revolution, but disdains Hillary Clinton so much that he can’t imagine voting for her:

* * *

That's admittedly optimistic. It's even more optimistic to hope that the country can even survive four years of a Trump presidency. But whether or not I can ultimately stomach the idea of betraying so many of my ideals in order to send a message by voting for Trump, I know that I will not be rewarding the Democratic party for their behavior not just in this primary, but over the course of my life time. It's up to them whether they can redirect their priorities now, or after a disastrous four years with a con man as the leader of the free world. And I do think Trump is disgusting. But he's shown a tendency to call out both sides of the aisle on their bullshit, even if he's hard at work manufacturing his own, at least it's new bullshit.

At least it could shake things up and make both parties have to change the way they do business. There are supposedly checks and balances built into our government to prevent the executive from torpedoing the country. They've been undermined steadily ever since 9/11, but maybe Trump as president is the best argument that they need to be re-strengthened. Can you imagine the tectonic shift that a Congress united against this asshole would bring? Maybe we need a constitutional crisis. Maybe things have already gone too far. We're all sick of being conned by the people we elect to represent us. At least Trump doesn't try to hide it.

* * *

What I want to warn this voter and anyone indulging in the same thought process is that they’re indulging in a dangerous fantasy, one that combines extreme pessimism and extreme optimism in an extremely confounding way. On one hand, the voter would have us believe that electing Hillary and working hard to pressure her from the left to make gains in progressive priorities is pointless or doomed to failure. The system is so corrupt that it’s time to burn it down and start over.

[UMTerp01]

1. If you're a Bernie supporter considering voting Trump you were BS-ing the whole time

Are you freaking kidding me? You were bullshitting the whole time if you were a Bernie supporter who decides to vote Trump. You have lost ALL and ANY credibility you had.

[bravenak]

2. These are not real Sanders supporters, imo

Most of his supporters are not interested inburning it all down. Those people are anarchist who HAPPEN to support Sanders. Nothing in any of Sanders speeches suggest he's be willing to hand the nation over to Trump in hopes of rebuilding from the ashes. It's so Baelishesque.

[AgingAmerican]

3. It's obviously a strawman

And it's my guess that the person is a Brockpuppet.

Sanders supporters don't support any of Trumps policies, and Sanders supporters are all about policy.

[winter is coming]

5. ^^ This. n/t

[TomCADem]

6. Conor Friedersdorf Has Written Several Articles Supportive Of Bernie

Are you suggesting that it was an elaborate smoke screen?

[Peacetrain]

7. ^^^^^

I do not know about being a brockpuppet.. but I agree a Sanders supporter could never flip 180 degrees and become a Trump supporter..

[Rosa Luxemburg]

4. There will be one or two

[Barack_America]

8. Hillary is not moving to the left.

Believing that is the true "fantasy".

Accept the fact that your major party options are a centrist-to-moderate-Republican and a lunatic. Proceed from there. Don't delude yourself that either candidate could be made better.

[bjo59]

10. Nor is she not going to eviscerate national sovereignty by ratifying the

TPP, TTIP, and TISA. Nor is she going to suddenly feel even the smallest pang of conscience over the wholesale mass murder of people in Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen but will, without a doubt, double down and intensify, by way of the current morally bankrupt American foreign policies in the name of global hegemony. The refugee crisis will continue to balloon. Nor will she engage in respectful diplomatic relations with Putin, rather she will continue to make bellicose statements about bringing Iran down and up the ante in the game of chicken with Russia. Nor will she dial down ongoing attempts to bring South American countries to heel. I don't know how anyone could vote for Clinton in good conscience. I certainly can't and won't. I don't even know what centrist-to-moderate Republican means these days. I do know what war monger and corporatist mean.

[840high]

13. ...!100++++

[Luminous Animal]

9. Powerful neocons are lining up to support Hillary.

Neocon John Podhoretz on Hillary's speech: "this could have been Marco Rubio’s stump speech"

Now, there will be untold thousands of words of analysis devoted to this address, and much of it will properly center on the areas in which she factitiously and falsely defended her and Barack Obama’s foreign-policy choices from the Russian reset in 2009 to Syria in 2012 and, most especially, the Iran deal. But in its immediate aftermath, what is most striking is how determinedly Clinton decided to move herself to the center, edging to the center-right, on foreign policy matters and most especially on the complex issue of American exceptionalism.

With a few deletions and emendations here and there, this could have been Marco Rubio’s stump speech. It was many clicks to the right of Barack Obama

https://www.commentarymagazine.com/politics-ideas/campaigns-elections/hillary-clinton-anti-trump-speech/

And, in case you've forgotten what a shithead he is…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Podhoretz#Iraq_War

[Barack_America]

11. This afternoon on NPR, how much neocons just love Hillary...

I struggled not to vomit while driving. Particularly sickening was the obvious coordination between this group and her campaign to co-release her speech and their letter.

http://www.npr.org/2016/06/02/480487315/gop-foreign-policy-hawks-pen-letter-opposing-trumps-national-security-views

Don't listen while eating.

[bjo59]

12. I'm shocked at the number of Democrats who have no problem with this at all.