Bjorn Against
Bjorn Against's JournalPhotogate and the new Birthers
I am going to be very blunt about this, the people who are trying to erase Bernie's history in the civil rights movement are every bit as shameful as the Birthers are.
It is a fact that the person depicted in the photo in question is Bernie Sanders, a fact that has been clearly established by the photographer who released more photos that clearly prove it is Bernie beyond any reasonable doubt.
Just as the Birthers continued to question Obama's birth certificate after it was clearly established as being the real thing, some people want to give the Birther treatment to the photo of Bernie. They want is to ignore reality and insist that we are not really seeing the obvious proof that is front of our faces.
Those who are pushing this photo in an attempt to smear Bernie are acting every bit as shamefully as Donald Trump did when he pushed the Birther crap in an attempt to smear Obama.
I have absolutely no respect for anyone who uses Birther tactics, and Jonathan Capehart and Chris Matthews have established themselves as leaders of the new Birther movement. I will consider their followers in the same class that I consider Trump's followers.
Tonight is a truly historic night that will be remembered for decades to come
Bernie Sanders did not just win tonight, tonight he made history. While there is still a long road ahead to the nomination and the final outcome is still far from clear, there is one thing that already is clear and that is Bernie Sanders has made history and won a victory tonight that will be talked about for generations to come.
Tonight a Democratic Socialist won a major primary victory and it looks like when all the votes are counted he may come out with the largest margin of victory ever achieved by a non-incumbent in a New Hampshire primary.
Not only did Bernie win a huge victory as a Democratic Socialist who successfully overcame all odds and won despite the decades of propaganda demonizing everything associated with the word "socialist", but he also became the first non-Christian to win a primary in the United States.
He accomplished this despite the fact that he entered the race with polling numbers in the low single digits against one of the most recognizable political figures in the nation.
He was up against the winner of the last big New Hampshire Democratic primary battle and not only did be prevent her from repeating her victory, but he absolutely crushed her with a huge double digit margin of victory.
Make no mistake about it, this is not just a win it is a historic win that will have long term political implications no matter who the eventual nominee is.
The political revolution has begun and the grandchildren of your grandchildren will be reading about this night in their history books.
Sanders, Clinton Campaigns Agree To More Debates
The details — where and when — remain unresolved, and the Democratic National Committee has not yet agreed to the arrangement, the Clinton and Sanders sources said.
“Once dates and cities are locked down, we are looking forward to four additional debates,” a person close to the Sanders campaign told BuzzFeed News. A source close to the Clinton campaign confirmed that account, saying that aides in Brooklyn have agreed to what the Sanders campaign asked for earlier this week.
Both sides, still in separate negotiations with DNC officials, have agreed to attend the “unsanctioned” Feb. 4 debate in New Hampshire hosted by the Union Leader and MSNBC, should that event go forward, in addition to three others, to be held at later dates.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/sanders-clinton-campaigns-agree-to-more-debates#.huJ7r537d
Does an image of the AARP mailer exist anywhere on the internet?
I have seen a lot of outrage over a Bernie mailer that supposedly included the AARP logo, but so far I have yet to see anyone post an image of this mailer.
If an image of this mailer exists anywhere on the internet please post it so we can all judge it for ourselves.
If on the other hand this ad is so rare that not one person can even find an image of it then please explain to me how an ad that no one can even see could lead people to believe the AARP has endorsed Bernie.
Thank you.
This is not about unicorns, this is about people's lives
Every single day people die in this country because they can't afford health care. These people are not unicorns, they are real human beings who have been failed by a health insurance system that has put corporate profits above people's lives.
Many other nations have been able to provide healthcare to all of their citizens but when Bernie proposes a system that has already been successful in other parts of the world he is accused of promising unicorns.
Has anyone stopped to think how disgusting it is to tell people who are sick and dying but can not afford health insurance that fighting to get a system that works for them is the equivalent of fighting for unicorns?
We can certainly debate the details of Bernie's plan and we might be able to debate the details of Hillary's plan if she would provide us those details.
One thing that should not be up for debate however is the fact that we don't have a problem with unicorns dying from lack of health care, we have a problem with real human beings dying from lack of health care.
I would expect Teabaggers to dismiss calls to ensure that we have a health care system that covers everyone as a wish for unicorns, but I am saddened to see Democrats talking like Teabaggers and dismissing a program like single payer that has already been successful in other parts of the world.
Let me be very clear; anyone who thinks a tried and true system like single payer should be dismissed as unicorns need to be resisted every bit as much as the Teabaggers need to be resisted.
I have never seen a unicorn but I have seen too many people who have needed health care but could not afford it. It is time to stop dismissing the fight for these people as a fight for unicorns.
Tonight I stood in a line of over 20,000 people to see the next President speak
Tonight I stood with over 20,000 people in a line that stretched for blocks to hear the next President of the United States deliver a powerful speech.
I have been to many political events before but I have never seen this many young people at any of them. Thousands of young people turned out to see a candidate that respects their intelligence and speaks to them just like he speaks to everyone else. He is a candidate that realizes you don't win the votes of young people by playing them a Katy Perry or Demi Lovato song, but instead you treat them with respect and engage them on the issues that matter to them.
Bernie's speech was great, it was filled with substance and covered as many issues as he could possibly squeeze into a single hour.
By the time he finished most people in the arena had been on their feet for two to three hours between their time standing in line and continuing to stand through the speech, many people were no doubt sore by the end of it but that did not dampen the enthusiasm one bit.
People are sick of the status quo, we need to move away from the Third Way politics that have left progressives feeling that not even the people they vote for can be trusted.
It is time to reject the people who are so cold that they would tell a family that lacks health care that their desire to see a doctor is as absurd as wanting a unicorn.
It is time to reject a party leadership that seems to value contributions from the big banks more than they value the people who vote for them.
It is time to embrace real change in this country, and it is time to elect Bernie Sanders to lead us in bringing about that change.
David Brock blackmailed a woman by threatening to publicize details of her divorce
The following excerpt is from a piece published by FAIR way back in 1995, but I think it is very clear that this is still relevant today...
Brock’s extraordinary 20,000-word review has already gained some notoriety, since he’s been accused of using methods more suitable to a blackmailer than a book critic. Jamin Raskin, a law professor at Washington, D.C.’s American University, told the New York Times‘ Frank Rich that he received a call from Kaye Savage, one of the sources for Strange Justice, who’s had an encounter with Brock. “She was distraught and said Brock was threatening to reveal damaging information about her from a divorce situation unless she agreed to retract everything she had said to the authors of Strange Justice,” Raskin told Rich (New York Times, 12/29/94). Interviewed by Extra!, Savage confirmed this account of Brock’s threat, and also reaffirmed the accuracy of her appearance in Strange Justice.
Extra! called another Strange Justice source, Bary Maddox, whom Brock quotes as saying, “I was misquoted in the book.” But when Rendall asked Maddox (a video store proprietor who says Thomas rented X-rated videos) if he had any problems with the way he was quoted in Strange Justice, he replied, “Absolutely not.” His account of Brock’s interview with him sheds light on the Brock method of journalism:
Mr. Brock, first of all, would not identify himself. He told me his name but he wouldn’t tell me who he was working for. When I pressed him, he told me he was a “freelancer.” Then he would ask me questions about areas that I would not comment on. When I said “no comment,” he would then say “I’ll take that as a ‘yes'” or “I’ll take that as a ‘no.'”I think he claimed that I was misquoted because when he asked me a question based on his interpretation of the book, I answered, “If the book says that, I was misquoted.” However, when I rechecked the book, I found his interpretation of the book was faulty; I was not misquoted. He had not been reading from the book. It bothers me, because it made it on to Rush Limbaugh and everyone’s claiming that I was misquoted when I wasn’t.
http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/the-real-david-brock/
Let us be clear, David Brock was not just a right-wing liar, he was also an extreme misogynist who set out to destroy the reputation of women who got in the way of him or Clarence Thomas.
This is not just a guy who said stupid right-wing shit, this was a guy who blackmailed women and threatened to release extremely personal information about them to the media if they did not say what he wanted them to say.
We need to demand that Hillary condemn Brock and stop coordinating with Correct the Record immediately. Brock may have switched sides but he is still the same slimy person he has always been.
Hillary campaign uses admitted liar that smeared Anita Hill to accuse Bernie of racism
This is the ad that David Brock claims proves that
“black lives don’t matter much to Bernie Sanders,”
Now I sure as hell don't know how anyone could watch that video and think that it proves that "Black lives don't matter much to Bernie Sanders" but that is what David Brock claims.
David Brock is a former right-wing smear merchant who lied to destroy the reputation of Anita Hill. He has a past history as a racist smear merchant and yet he is the one the Hillary campaign chose to accuse Bernie Sanders of not caring about black lives.
The Clinton campaign is coordinating directly with Brock's Super PAC and so Hillary can be tied directly to these attacks.
We need to demand that Hillary condemn Brock and stop coordinating activities with Correct the Record. The only reason she is allowed to coordinate is because the campaign is exploiting a loophole in the law, generally coordination with Super PACs is illegal, but Hillary found a loophole in the law so she could directly coordinate with the guy who printed vicious lies about Anita Hill.
If Hillary wants to use a white guy with a history of racist smears to accuse Bernie of not caring about black lives she has the right to do that, but she should not be surprised when we call her out on her association with a guy that has a history of racist smears.
We can win single payer if we fight for it.
I am tired of being told that we can not win single payer, we most certainly can win and I am sick to death of being told that it is not worthwhile to fight for it.
Yes, I know the Republicans in Congress will not vote for it. I don't know about everyone else but I certainly don't base the battles I fight on whether or not they get Republican approval, in fact the battles I have chosen to fight in my lifetime have almost always met with Republican disapproval.
I expect the Republicans to disapprove, what really bothers me however is that despite widespread support for single payer within the party our leadership has completely failed to stand up and advocate for an issue that is so popular with the public.
There are tens of millions of single payer supporters in this country and I am sick of a Democratic leadership who ignores these tens of millions of people and refuses to push for the system that so many of their constituents want.
I am sick of seeing the party cave to their corporate donors and the Republicans on the issue, we need a President that will appoint new people to lead the party that will push forward on single payer and fight the Republicans tooth and nail.
Of course the Republicans are going to resist, it is up to us to make sure they look really bad when they fight us.
I know there are a lot of people out there who have suffered both in health and finances because of our extremely overpriced health care system. It is time that the Republicans had to be confronted with these people face to face.
That is what a political revolution can do, it puts ordinary people on the ground that will look the Republicans in the eyes and ask them why they are denying them healthcare when they desperately need it.
A political revolution means that the Republicans will not just have to fight Bernie, they will need to fight ordinary people who are standing up for what is right.
And make no mistake about it, when we have millions of Americans from all across the country stand up on this issue our message will be heard loudly.
We know the message will be heard loudly because many of us have known people who have not been able to go to the doctor because they can not afford it.
Our message will be heard because most people are forced to pay large health insurance premiums for plans that have enormous deductibles and co-pays.
Our message will be heard because we are talking about an issue that effects the lives of everyone, and most Americans know that our healthcare system in this country has failed us.
We most certainly can win single payer in this country in this country but in order to win it we need to fight for it.
It is long past time to replace the current Democratic leadership with a new leadership that will fight for single payer.
We can win this battle.
Political reality tells us that we need to ignore the "political realists" and vote for real change
Too often when I hear the phrase "political reality" it is used to tell us that we can't accomplish real change in this country. People tell us that we are ignoring political reality when we say we want to fight for things like single payer health care, tuition free college, or same sex marriage rights.
Oops you better strike that last example because it turns out the people who lectured us that we would never have same sex marriage because of the "political reality" were actually completely divorced from reality themselves.
It is time to stop these so-called "political realists" from defining reality for us, instead we need to show them what the reality is.
The reality is that wealthy interests have corrupted both of our major political parties in this country. The corruption is certainly worse in the Republican Party than it is in the Democratic Party, but just because one party is worse than the other does not mean we can accept the corruption within our own party.
The reality is that when candidates take large campaign contributions, and even worse large speaking fees which go directly into a candidate's personal bank account, that is going to influence any politician.
The reality is that when a candidate takes $600,000 to deliver a few speeches to Goldman Sachs that candidate is probably going to be pretty happy with that payout and it is hard to believe that it won't influence future decisions that are related to Goldman Sachs' interests.
The reality is that if we want to address income inequality in this country, if we want to have single payer healthcare, and if we want to break up the big banks then we need to take a stand against corruption.
The reality is that we have a Democratic Party that has millions of great people with great ideas. We have millions who want single payer, who want tuition free college, there are millions who want to break up the big banks, and if we choose our leadership from those millions of people rather than the establishment figures that currently run our party then we can fight for real change.
To understand how we can win we need to look at another political reality, and that reality is that if we elect a President that does not fund his campaign with corporate money that President can change the party leadership. We can get a new leadership who will actually fight for things like single payer rather than telling us that it is not "politically realistic" to provide universal health care just like most of the rest of the developed world provides to their citizens.
The political reality is that the status quo is not working, if we want real change then we need to vote to change that status quo and elect a candidate who has not taken large campaign contributions or speaking fees from corporate interests.
The so-called "political-realists" told us Bernie would never make it this far. We have already proven they were divorced from reality when they said that, now let us prove that they are also divorced from reality when they tell us we can never win single payer health care.
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