The Case For Bernie Sanders: His critics Say He’s Not Realistic – But They Have It BACKWARDS

[Segami]

"...I first met Bernie Sanders ten years ago, and I don't believe there's anything else he really thinks about. There's no other endgame for him. He's not looking for a book deal or a membership in a Martha's Vineyard golf club or a cameo in a Guy Ritchie movie. This election isn't a game to him; it's not the awesomely repulsive dark joke it is to me and many others. And the only reason this attention-averse, sometimes socially uncomfortable person is subjecting himself to this asinine process is because he genuinely believes the system is not beyond repair...."

The New York Times published a piece over the weekend about the political prospects of Bernie Sanders, a politician who apparently does not kiss enough babies: "[Sanders] rarely drops by diners or coffee shops with news cameras in tow, unlike most politicians. He hardly ever kisses babies, aides say, and does not mingle much at fund-raisers. "His high-minded style carries risk. As effective as his policy-laden speeches may be in impressing potential supporters, Mr. Sanders is missing opportunities to lock down uncommitted voters face to face in Iowa and New Hampshire, where campaigns are highly personal." The media response to the Sanders campaign has been alternately predictable, condescending, confused and condescending again.


The tone of most of the coverage shows reporters deigning to treat his campaign like it's real, like he has a chance. John Cassidy of The New Yorker, for instance, swore he wouldn't be patronizing about the Sanders run. "Indeed, I welcomed Sanders to the race!" Cassidy wrote recently. But Cassidy's hokey "Welcome to the 2016 Race, Bernie Sanders!" piece from last spring had a small catch. It basically said that Sanders was welcome because he would be a boon to the real candidate, Hillary Clinton. "[Sanders] can't win the primary," Cassidy wrote. "And he will occupy the space to the left of Clinton, thus denying it to more plausible candidates, such as Martin O'Malley." (!) Noting that Sanders held positions that were "eminently defensible, if unrealistic," Cassidy nonetheless said he was glad Sanders was running, because he would "provide a voice to those Democrats who agree with him that the U.S. political system has been bought, lock, stock, and barrel."


This passage he wrote just after arguing that Sanders cannot win and was only useful insofar as he would help the bought-off candidate win. So what Cassidy really meant is that the Sanders campaign was allowing people who are justifiably pissed about our corrupted system to blow off steam, before they ultimately surrender to give their support to the system candidate. And he welcomed that! But he wasn't being condescending or anything. Cassidy referred back to that old piece recently, after he became among the first of many pundits pronouncing Hillary the knockout winner of a debate that most actual human beings seemed to think Sanders handled quite well. Cassidy went so far as to ask, "Did the media get the Democratic debate wrong?" He thought and thought on this, then decided he/it didn't. "Based on Clinton's manner," he wrote, "and her deftness in evading awkward questions, I think she delivered the best performance."

~snip~

Successful politicians today on both sides of the aisle are sprawling celebrity franchises. They seem always to be making piles of money and hobnobbing with Beautiful People when they're finished moving the status quo in some incremental direction, which some hack somewhere will always be willing to call change. Whether it's the Clintons with their foundations or Al Gore with his movies and his carbon-trading interests or the Bush/Cheney axis of hereditary politics and energy commerce, we expect the politicians who make it to the big time to cash in somewhere along the line because, hey, this is America. Donald Trump, if elected, would find a way to turn being the president into a moneymaking operation. Sanders is a clear outlier in a generation that has forgotten what it means to be a public servant. The Times remarks upon his "grumpy demeanor." But Bernie is grumpy because he's thinking about vets who need surgeries, guest workers who've had their wages ripped off, kids without access to dentists or some other godforsaken problem that most of us normal people can care about for maybe a few minutes on a good day, but Bernie worries about more or less all the time.


cont'

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-case-for-bernie-sanders-20151103

[Fawke Em]

1. I find it more than ironic that most of the best reporters out there

are treating Bernie very well.

It's the shills that like the other candidate.

[phantom power]

2. recommended

[daleanime]

3. "Is because he genuinely believes the system is not beyond repair."

Last edited Tue Nov 3, 2015, 04:54 PM - Edit history (1)

And the cry goes up from some......'we must prove him wrong.'

[AzDar]

4. Bernie!!

[phantom power]

5. One of the best examinations of how self-referential and in-bred the concept of "electability" is.

[Enthusiast]

8. +1!

[Locrian]

12. Not just that -

But how calculated the "acceptable" limits of what can be discussed. You can discuss the horse race, some social issues (to distract) but NOTHING about the core problems.


“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum....”

― Noam Chomsky, The Common Good

[cprise]

19. That sums it up very well

That is what the term has become, a defense by the vapid.

[geardaddy]

6. The not kissing babies thing reminds me of that Monty Python sketch...

Where Hitler (Hilter) is running for a seat on the Minehead council.

A woman (Eric Idle) is asked her opinion of him and she says, "I gave him my baby to kiss and he bit it on the head!"

[antigop]

7. k&r nt

[Enthusiast]

9. Kicked and recommended!

Thank you, Segami.

[SCantiGOP]

10. Segami: the MASTER of putting an all cap word in every TITLE

Guess that and the bold letters makes the contents more believable.

[Segami]

15. Another Clintonite who dares venturing.....

away from their sandbox with irrelevant distracting drivel.

So please......don't forget your pail & shovel....or should I say PAIL & SHOVEL?

[chervilant]

11. Yeppers...

She seems rather adept at "evading."

[JDPriestly]

13. Great article.

Compare to Huckabee's concern about the bottom lines of health insurance companies.

What a difference!

[G_j]

14. yes!

[L0oniX]

16. K & R

[Uncle Joe]

17. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Segami.

[Mnpaul]

18. Obviously not realistic

He said invading Iraq would destabilize the region leading to civil war

He said NAFTA would be a disaster

He said deregulating Wall St. would be a disaster

How unrealistic can you get?

Actually he is probably too realistic for many people. Some prefer fantasy talk to a real assessment of our problems.

[cprise]

20. Clinton said NONE of those things

But she will give you a $20 OFF coupon on a Wall St. mugging.