I still continue to believe Bernie’s only hope now is to explain away the Democratic Socialist/Communist label being pinned on him daily by DJT and his minions. Most uniformed Americans believe that label, and it could be dispelled as easily as uttering two words;
Mixed Economy, It’s how ALL the Democratic Socialist countries roll….
It’s not rocket science.
It’s an uphill battle, why make the road harder?

Posted by: ben | Mar 9 2020 0:56 utc | 104

@ 115 said;”I think he is more focused on getting USians used to the idea than on winning the election.”
Only he isn’t.. He accepts that Communist label without an explanation as to what a Democratic Socialist really is.
ALL major countries on earth roll with a mixed economy, including the U$A and the countries
usually referred to as Socialist or Democratic Socialist.

Posted by: ben | Mar 9 2020 1:14 utc | 106

P.S. Sometimes, I think he doesn’t care about winning the election..

Posted by: ben | Mar 9 2020 1:20 utc | 108

@somebody #112
Thanks for the link. It is the right goal, but we’ll see if desire matches outcome achieved.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 9 2020 3:33 utc | 110

I’ve been noticing the rightward triangulation that lots of Bernbots are already undertaking, turning theirs into a Bernie Panders campaign.
For example this recent campaign against the word “socialism”, assurances to rightist “centrists” that Bernie is just like them and so on.
Of course it wasn’t that long ago that one of the main pro-Bernie talking points was how his mainstream advent was helping to rehabilitate the term and concept of “socialism” in the eyes of at least the younger mainstream. So now we’re to understand that was just a fake ploy to sheepdog some of the more passionate youth, and now it’s time to triangulate?
And of course Sanders continues his idiotic and self-defeating pandering to Russiagate and Putin-Derangement.
“Unlike Donald Trump, I do not consider Vladimir Putin a good friend…”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, 02.21.2020
http://sinkers.org/stage/?p=2941
Well, which is it? Is he a sheepdog who propagates Russiagate on behalf of whatever corporate Democrat eventually becomes the nominee, or is he “sincere” and attempting appeasement, thereby showing Corbyn-level cowardice and political stupidity?
Anyone who tries to defend any of this on grounds of Orwellian “pragmatism” or similar hackneyed lies simply outs themselves as a standard fraudulent Dembot. The whole point of the Sanders campaign, I’ve been lectured so many times, is to break free of these rancid lies and scams.
And of course anyone who’s not morbidly stupid knows appeasement doesn’t work against enemies who are simply out to get you. Bernie Panders on Russiagate will accomplish literally nothing for him.
Or is he a true believer in that absurd lie?

Posted by: Russ | Mar 9 2020 7:57 utc | 112

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 9 2020 3:33 utc | 120
I would say it depends on getting results. Republicans are sure Sanders will not win swing states in a general election. They may be wrong, but Sandernistas should put some thinking into it.
German Social Democrats could never set their foot into Bavaria as their agricultural policy was designed for large estates with an agricultural workforce and not small farmers and small businesses.
Corona Virus could have the effect of making clear that your health gets affected by the person standing next to you. Let’s see.

Posted by: somebody | Mar 9 2020 11:11 utc | 114

Russ, you and your cynical ilk stink as much as Trump! I don’t respect a word you write.
Feeling’s mutual. And I didn’t see a response in there to my citing the fact of Bernie as anti-Russia/Putin propagandist, or the triangulating on the word “socialism”.
I will not support Biden and will REFUSE to write anything good
Or whatever the Party coughs up? I’ll believe that when I see it.
Elizabeth Warren can rant and rave like a banshee about Trump and injustice. She will never have credibility again in her lifetime
Did you ever explain why you were so infatuated and please-love-me toward the pathological liar and right-wing capitalist ideologue Warren in the first place? I’ve never understood how she ever had credibility in the first place.
And one more thing, if Bernie Sanders does lose to Biden, and as he stated previously, supports whomever gets the majority of pledged delegates, and keeps his word in that regard; I will never fault him for that
And there you show how cynical and fraudulent you are to the core. Not only do you know he’s a sheepdog, you support him in his despicable mission. And you don’t mind how many times you’ve told the most bald-faced lies on his behalf. That should be the end of any credibility whatsoever you might ever have had in anyone’s eyes – you openly say you don’t mind being lied to and propagating lies on behalf of a liar.
A real Sanders supporter would regard that as the most vile treachery and betrayal, if he repeated his 2016 sheepdog routine after all the promises that “it’s different this time”, and after they were made to embarrass themselves by parroting the lies so many times.
Of course Sanders did unilaterally, unconditionally promise to support the Democrat nominee and to sheepdog on its behalf. But thruout the campaign it was only we skeptics who were reminding people of that, while the Bernbots always acted like they expected something very different from that to happen, though they never made clear exactly what they thought was going to happen.
Now we’re starting to see that the most vocal Sanders supporters always knew he was a sheepdog, and were always planning to be part of the sheepdogging effort themselves. There’s no other way to interpret “I won’t fault him” for doing the exact thing his entire campaign was allegedly repudiating, Business As Usual.
Well, for the Democratic Party business never gets more usual than being the sheepdog. For those who still fantasize about effecting real transformations through electoralism, an absolutely necessary prerequisite is that the Democratic Party cease to exist, that it break up into powerless pieces.
A real monkey-wrencher would have had the chance to accomplish that in this primary campaign. What we see, by contrast, is a fraud dedicated to keeping the Party cobbled together.

Posted by: Russ | Mar 9 2020 15:02 utc | 116

No one should let Russ browbeat them, or bow to his distortions . He is like the proverbial pickpocket “who meets a saint on the the road and sees only pockets”. Dear old Russ is clearly the diametric opposite of one who triangulates; he is pompous and zealous ass who won’t ever find a person pure enough for him.

Posted by: Copeland | Mar 9 2020 16:05 utc | 118

@somebody #126
Regarding AOC and Greta: the social media-mavens and the PMC have been pushing climate change since the mid-80s. Most people would say that the utter failure to date indicates something is fundamentally wrong with this approach, even disregarding the underlying realities.
Regarding Obamacare: Yes, “no health insurance company” left behind put 13.1 million poor people on insurance company rolls at government expense – but have you asked yourself what the impact was on those who already had insurance? In particular, just how beneficial is an insurance policy which has $5000 or higher deductibles, when so many people can’t find $400 for an emergency?
To me, it is unclear just how net beneficial Obamacare is/was even from the coverage context.
As for “my” GOP: I don’t support either party. I’ve been very clear: Sanders is the only one who openly supports single payer – this still isn’t the right policy but is closer than anyone else. For that matter, the Democrats are far more complicit in pharma and hospital industry shenanigans although both sides are heavily involved. The Sacklers, for example, were prominent funders – 4 of the top 5 are Democrats: Sackler funding of politicians

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman took the most funding from the Sacklers and Purdue and accepted more than $220,000, according to TheDCNF’s analysis. The Democrat-turned Independent served Connecticut, where the company is headquartered and where some of the Sacklers live.
Lieberman ran for vice president on former Vice President Al Gore’s presidential ticket, and chaired the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and a Senate armed services subcommittee. He also voted against legislation that would have reduced drug prices and voted to extend tax credits for pharmaceutical research and development, according to a 2000 Washington Post article.
“In his nearly 12 years in the Senate, Lieberman has been one of the strongest advocates for the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, which employ thousands of people in his home state,” the report said.
Additionally, his wife served as the senior counsel for a lobbying company’s health care and pharmaceutical sector.
…
Former Sen. Chris Dodd — another Connecticut Democrat — took the second most from the Sacklers and Purdue, raking in more than $85,000, TheDCNF’s analysis found. He served on the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) — a panel that’s now holding hearings on the opioid epidemic — and chaired one of its subcommittees. He also chaired the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee.
Dodd sponsored legislation that called for research on pain in America, and a group tied to Purdue spent $19 million lobbying in favor of the bill, according to a joint investigation by The Associated Press and The Center for Public Integrity. Nearly half the experts recruited to author the resulting 364-page report had pharmaceutical industry ties.
The Sacklers and Purdue gave former Republican Rep. Christopher Shays, who represented the district where Purdue is headquartered, the third-most funding with nearly $84,000, TheDCNF found.
Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet took the fourth most, and was the biggest recipient among the legislators currently serving with $54,000 in contributions. Bennet serves on the Senate HELP committee and voted against legislation that reportedly would have helped lower drug prices.
Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut — the Democrat who replaced Shays — took more than $35,000 from the Sacklers and Purdue, making him the second biggest recipient among sitting lawmakers.
The Sacklers and Purdue also gave $245,200 to the Republican National Committee — more than any other recipient, TheDCNF found. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s super PAC created during the 2012 presidential election cycle, Restore Our Future, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee took the fourth and fifth most among political organizations and received $100,000 and $52,000, respectively.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 9 2020 17:32 utc | 120

@ 130
“distortions”
I missed the part where you or your fellow Dembot showed how I distorted anything. Indeed the M. O. of your ilk is to pretend the specific criticisms don’t exist, since you’re incapable of answering them.
I expect to see you both shilling for Hillary.
“he won’t ever find a person pure enough for him.”
But I sure will keep finding illiterates who can’t tell the difference between someone who sees them as a not-sufficiently-pure ally, and someone who sees them as an enemy.
I of course see those who are trying to prop up faith in the Democrat Party, and therefore faith in the ecocidal economy, corporate rule, empire and the police state, and the fake electoral system dedicated to mustering consent to all these evils, among a constituency whose faith may be tottering, as enemies.

Posted by: Russ | Mar 9 2020 17:49 utc | 122

Not an, A bad nightmare…speaking of that and vomit. ⬆️

Posted by: Circe | Mar 9 2020 18:29 utc | 124

Russ you are a slanderer and a hypocrite. All you can do is smear Bernie Sanders and all the good people who support him. You are like a wrecking ball; and don’t seem care whether you bring the whole country down in shambles, as long as your vision of purity is held high. You are a troll with no redeeming value at all.
It’s clear you didn’t take my point about “the pickpocket who meets a saint on the road and sees only pockets”.
You are a hopeless person. You are a stalinist fuck. Go back to the hell from which you were spawned.

Posted by: Copeland | Mar 9 2020 18:33 utc | 126

JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are all represented in Biden’s Cabinet picks; top banks on Wall Street. So what’s Warren doing there too? Looks like Biden’s having fun at her expense. 😉

Posted by: Circe | Mar 9 2020 18:44 utc | 128

Michael Moore should take out a full page ad in top newsprint in Michigan and Washington State with this headline: ACCORDING TO AXIOS, JOE BIDEN CONSIDERS 3 BANKERS OF MAJOR WALL STREET BANKS FOR CABINET PICKS.

Posted by: Circe | Mar 9 2020 19:26 utc | 130

If the democratic nominee is Joe Biden, I am afraid that Trump will win the next term.
If Bernie wins the nomination and has the sense to choose Tulsi as his VP, I will vote for them.
If Bernie wins the nomination and does not have the sense to choose Tulsi as his VP, I will not vote for him and I will write in Tulsi’s name (or just say the h*ll with it and not vote).

Posted by: naiverealist | Mar 9 2020 19:30 utc | 132

Bernie Sanders Rountable on health and coronavirus in Detroit. Live. (It started 1/2 he ago)
https://youtu.be/h6ccigNCsM4

Posted by: Circe | Mar 9 2020 20:08 utc | 134

Another link from the Coronavirus public health forum today in Detroit, featuring Sanders’s remarks — this one via C-SPAN.

Posted by: jalp | Mar 9 2020 20:43 utc | 136

Bernie Sanders and Jesse Jackson together like brothers with a common goal.
Bernie and Jesse
Love that!

Posted by: Circe | Mar 9 2020 21:30 utc | 138

Copeland @145:
You don’t have the foggiest idea how politics works.
Politics is about POWER. Political Parties are a convenient way of organizing power but Establishment political Parties, and the Democratic Party in particular, stopped working for ordinary people more than 30 years ago.
Russ and others recognize this fact and alert others to the danger of unilateral disarmament via relying solely on the ballot box and Democratic Party-connected organizations.
Anyone that doesn’t see recognize the ‘game’ has either drunk the hopium or is pushing it.
=
You have to win the audience first when it comes to Medicare for All
Obama had the “audience” and a Democratic majority for two years that could’ve passed the equivalent of Medicare for All. Instead, he broke his campaign promise (along with many others) and didn’t deliver a “public option” as part of Obamacare.
Party ‘sheepdogs’ steer their “audience” into the two-Party slaughter house.
=
We have educated folks reading these posts …
Yes and these ‘educated folks’ know how Democrats have used identity politics and hopium to screw the people.
=
Bernie Sanders is a good human being … possessing a kind of moral beauty.
So it’s not just that you’ve drunk the hopium Kool-Aid. You appear to be emotionally invested in his campaign. That’s exactly what the two parties want.
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 9 2020 21:58 utc | 140

Bernie Sanders held 2 events already today. At noon he held a rally in Missouri, he held a roundtable on health and COVID-19 in Detroit and tonight he’s holding a Town Hall in Dearborn Michigan. 3 Events in one day! Joe’s lucky to get through one event a day, while Sanders is thoroughly committed to his broad progressive agenda to help all people.
Here is Rev. Jesse Jackson’s full endorsement statement below:
“BLACK FIREWALL” CHANGES THE 2020 CAMPAIGN
Rev. Jackson Endorses Sen. Sanders For President
Statement By Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
Sunday, March 8, 2020
Grand Rapids, Michigan
The “Black Firewall” has changed the dynamics of the 2020 presidential campaign. The question is what has the firewall earned? What will be the return on the black firewall’s political investment? And what difference will the political contribution that the firewall is making, make in the individual lives of African Americans and in the African American community?
When President Abraham Lincoln’s back was against the wall he came up with a meaningful proposition – the Emancipation Proclamation. The issuing of that proposition allowed him to free the “colored troops” to fight to save the Union. And after the Civil War, the colored troops saving the Union allowed the Union to free the slaves and affirm their citizenship with the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. What will the firewall mean for the black community under the leadership of Senator Bernie Sanders or former Vice President Joe Biden in 2021 and beyond?
President John F. Kennedy was slowly gaining concern and understanding of the black community when he was assassinated. Given LBJ’s background and history it was not easy for the civil rights community to trust him.
But under LBJ the black community and the nation got a 1964 Public Accommodations Act, a 1965 Voting Rights Act, a 1968 Opening Housing Act, a War on Poverty, an Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Medicare, Medicaid, an EEOC, Head Start, a functioning U.S. Civil Rights Commission and more.
We have a right to ask and expect candidates who benefit from the African American political firewall to deliver what we need under the potential leadership of Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden?
With the exception of Native Americans, African Americans are the people who are most behind socially and economically in the United States and our needs are not moderate. A people far behind cannot catch up choosing the most moderate path. The most progressive social and economic path gives us the best chance to catch up and Senator Bernie Sanders represents the most progressive path. That’s why I choose to endorse him today.
The Biden campaign has not reached out to me or asked for my support. The Sanders campaign has, and they responded to the issues I raised and the concerns I expressed with the following commitments:
1. Voting rights! We have a states rights and local control voting system with few national standards that’s allowing states to engage in voter suppression. Senator Sanders and Congressman Ro Khanna will introduce a right to vote constitutional amendment in Congress next week. The ultimate irony is that after Heller we have a fundamental right to a gun but not a fundamental right to vote in the U.S. Constitution.
2. Senator Sanders will support reforming and renewing an effective U.S. Civil Rights Commission as called for in HR 4.
3. Senator Sanders supports a wealth tax and at least $50 billion targeted to funding HBCUs
4. Senator Sanders agreed to support aggressive funding for Silicon Valley to create venture capital and hiring programs with HBCUs in order to diversify the lawyers and money managers they do business with. Senator Sanders will task Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley, to push for making the tech economy more inclusive of the black community with concrete deliverables.
5. Senator Sanders supports a single payer health care plan that I advocated in 1984 and 1988 with his Medicare for All plan that will provide every American with universal and comprehensive health care, with extra funds targeting rural and minority hospitals and community health centers.
6. Senator Sanders is committed to a U.S. mediating role in a two-state solution; a mutually negotiated Middle East peace plan that includes Israeli security and Palestinian justice.
7. Senator Sanders supports more trade and fair trade between African Americans, Africa and the Caribbean nations.
8. Senator Sanders has agreed to support a dramatic expansion of Pell Grants, a free public college education and supports forgiving existing student’s loans, where black women have the largest student loan debt.
9. Senator Sanders supports massive new investments in public education generally, including vocational education, but also funding that directly targets the special needs in black, brown and poor communities, and ensuring that every teacher is paid at least $60,000.
10. Senator Sanders supports an end to endless wars; supports reviving the State Department’s role by massively increasing negotiations and diplomatic efforts to bring about peace and justice among the nations of the world; and spending the money saved on rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and launching a job intensive Green New Deal.
11. Senator Sanders will work to create a market for black farmers, given how they faced historic discrimination and were locked out of the agricultural market.
12. Senator Sanders has committed to putting an African American woman on the Supreme Court.
13. Senator Sanders acknowledges Rev. Jackson’s challenge to put an African American woman on the 2020 Democratic presidential ticket and will give it the highest consideration. Senator Sanders has also agreed to make sure that black women are in his cabinet and are at the highest levels throughout his administration should he be elected president.
That’s some of what the firewall needs and that Senator Sanders has committed himself to, and that’s why I can enthusiastically endorse Senator Bernie Sanders today.

Posted by: Circe | Mar 9 2020 22:26 utc | 142

@ Copeland;You’re are wasting your time by debating with Russ & rabbit. IMO, they’re here only to sow discord.
Mixing some truths with “don’t wast your time fighting, it’s useless” BS, is the oldest mole troll tactic in the book.

Posted by: ben | Mar 9 2020 23:35 utc | 144

Copeland @155
I’m sure you’re aware of the Democratic Party changes adopted in the mid-80’s:

The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) was a non-profit 501(c)(4) corporation[1] founded in 1985 that, upon its formation, argued the United States Democratic Party should shift away from the leftward turn it took in the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. One of its main purposes was to win back white middle class voters with ideas that addressed their concerns.[2] The DLC hailed President Bill Clinton as proof of the viability of Third Way politicians and as a DLC success story.

“Third Way” politics ensured that monied interests had a ‘friend’ in the Democratic Party. And ever since the DLC-inspired changes, the Democratic Party has co-opted it’s progressive history to serve the establishment.
There’s no better example of that than faux populist Obama. His hucksterism is clear to any true progressive. 11-dimensional chess? LMFAO!
For a while, Democratic Party manipulations and deceit went unnoticed, or was excused away. When that wore out, they turned to hopium. And now the hopium is also wearing off as history lays bear the game that has been played at the expense of the middle class.
Progressives warned about destroying unions and shipping jobs overseas. They warned about the dangers of Empire. But Democratic Party asshats sung the Republican trickle-down tune and made it clear to their corrupt associates (aka “the institutional left”) that the Party would NEVER object to Empire adventurism – no matter how evil it may be.
The only “revolution” we’ll see from Bernie is his revolting deference to Hillary and the Party. No real anti-establishment candidate would remain silent about the rot in the Party. No real anti-establishment candidate would just play along. No real anti-establishment candidate would expect to wrest control of the oligarch-funding machine known as the Democratic Party.
Any REAL anti-establishment candidate with “socialist” ideals would lead an independent Movement instead of leading his followers into a dead end.
It’s ONLY via a Movement that progressives and the people can make their POWER felt.
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 9 2020 23:59 utc | 146

I really like this letter to Bernie in CommonDreams. I wish one of his advisors would see it and forward him this letter to prepare for the debate of his life! I wonder if the DNC will give Biden the questions before the debate? JUST IN CASE, BERNIE, READ THIS AND DESTROY THAT SUCKER BIDEN!

Dear Bernie,
Provided Michigan hasn’t been a blow-out against you, the debate next Sunday will be your last and best chance to regain the upper hand. You can do this if you disavow your natural tendency to be kind to Joe Biden and his ilk, and remember what brought you to the movement in the first place, and exactly what kind of mortal threat Biden alone now poses to everything you hold dear. To go soft on Biden is to give a free pass to a segregationist, misogynist, anti-worker grandstander who embodies a lifetime of active collusion in the economy of war and exploitation that you abhor. If you don’t overcome your ingrained repulsion toward personal conflict, your followers will feel betrayed for a lost opportunity to take down the establishment at its weakest.
“Despite Biden’s orchestrated and meteoric resurrection from the dead, he is by far the most compromised of the establishment candidates. It’s your job, and your job alone, to knock him over.”
Opening Statement: “I’m going to make the case tonight that Joe is unelectable in a general election, that he’s the weakest adversary we could put up against Trump. When you need a steady leader to fight the rise of intolerance and xenophobia in this country and around the world, the last thing you want is someone who put in place the policies that helped bring about the state of anxiety that caused people to jump on Trump’s bandwagon in the first place. Being a leading supporter of disastrous trade policies like NAFTA and TPP, which my 2016 opponent in the primaries also supported just as vigorously, is the kind of thing that will cause us to lose the Midwest and other vulnerable parts of the country. If you thought that the Democratic party’s firewall collapsed in 2016, wait till you have Joe at the helm; it may be gone for a generation. There’s understandable fear and panic among Democrats about what four more years of Trump might mean, but I want to argue tonight that the least likely way to put Trump out of business is to nominate a candidate with as much personal and political baggage as Joe.”

It’s so comprehensive, I have to stop here. There’s so much more great advice! So, I’m posting the link, and I really hope Bernie gets to see it all (maybe his people will catch it online) and exposes JOE as the weakest candidate the Democratic Party could nominate to go up against Trump! Perhaps, Bernie can’t use all the advice given, but there’s some really powerful ammo in this piece!😉
how-bernie-could-destroy-biden-120-minutes-or-less

Posted by: Circe | Mar 10 2020 0:54 utc | 148

So what other fixing was there on Super Tuesday? Read this.
large-texas-county-seeks-super-tuesday-recount-after-discovery-of-uncounted-ballots
Bernie was polling a win of 5 to 10 points in Texas right before Super Tuesday. He visited the state multiple times.
That’s why I say people must not get complacent and should overwhelm the polls because wide margins are hard to fix.

Posted by: Circe | Mar 10 2020 3:04 utc | 150

jr you don’t seem to know how hard it is to lead a 3d party movement to success in the u.s. as far as i know, it has never happened in 250 years or so. that’s a clue. sanders had to pledge to support the nominee to run in the party in the first place, and he still might win, despite the fixed voting machines, the vote suppression, the coordinated dropouts after he won nevada, the backstabbing by fake progressives like warren, the debate fixing by the dnc (tulsi being excluded from the next debate is just one tactic to protect dementia joe), and the backroom maneuevers of clinton and obama. for anyone to look at all this and conclude it’s kabuki betrays at best extreme naivete about the money rules all of u.s. politics. they wouldn’t be spending this much to stop him if it were kabuki theater. it’s easy to say “lead a movement”, but it took a lot of years and a lot of lives before civil rights was finally passed. you seem to assume if sanders loses the movement dissipates; it won’t because it can’t. people need medicare 4 all, and the powers that b are forced to openly show their corruption to stop people from getting it.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Mar 10 2020 3:43 utc | 152

Posted by: Copeland | Mar 9 2020 22:25 utc | 153
Russ | March 4 2020 9:16 utc | writes:

The fact is that I was clearly referring to Bernie, to his campaign and its values,–and not to the US “political and economic system”–and not to the Democratic Party itself.
That’s not the way any dictionary I’ve ever seen defines “society”. Sure looks to me like you’re the one struggling to change what you said after the fact. If you now disavow your original words and want to say something different, just say so!
Granted, I have no idea what you could possibly mean by the Sanders campaign repairing something but not US political and economic aspects.
Surely you don’t mean rehabilitating the concept “socialism” or something like that? No doubt you noticed some of your fellow Bernie fans here like Ben calling for triangulation against that term.

Posted by: Russ | Mar 10 2020 5:29 utc | 154

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Mar 10 2020 4:24 utc | 167
“Wake me when Bernie threatens to leave the Party.”
That’s always been one of the prime pieces of evidence that he’s a sheepdog, that for 2016 and again for 2020 he unilaterally, unconditionally promised, not only not to mount an independent campaign but to actively support the corporate Democrat nominee and do all he could to deliver his supporters for the Party. That’s the very definition of sheepdogging.
“Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.” – Evidently not for our Berniebots! I maintain they themselves are frauds who really want just a regular Democrat regime, because they’re regular partisan bots within the fake “two”-party system. Just like the “progressives” who voted for Obama (many of them twice!). None of them were fooled. They got exactly what they wanted.
The only alternative, insofar as any Sanders fans are sincere, is that they’re just not very bright. Here they are being fooled for a second time in the exact same way, by a scam which shouldn’t have worked the first time around. At the very inception of the campaign Sanders openly proclaimed his intention to serve as sheepdog. What more need be said among rational people?

Posted by: Russ | Mar 10 2020 5:38 utc | 156

BERNIE SANDERS’S INSURGENT campaign against the Democratic establishment and massive corporate power is in the fight of its life. This week on Intercepted: With Michigan and other states voting in primaries today, the justice movements backing the Sanders campaign are making the case that nominating Joe Biden to take on Donald Trump is a grave risk. Poet Aja Monet and organizer Astra Taylor discuss the mini-manifesto from a multi-generational, multi-racial coalition of feminists: “Rising for a Global Feminist Future with the Movement to Elect Bernie Sanders.” As Biden’s campaign seeks to keep him away from open microphones and limit his public appearances, serious questions are being asked about Biden’s mental health and his decades of right-wing positions and policies. Nathan Robinson, editor-in-chief of Current Affairs, discusses Biden’s record on criminal justice, the climate crisis, women’s reproductive rights, war, and trade. Robinson accurately predicted Trump would defeat Hillary Clinton and he argues it will all happen again if Biden is the candidate in November. His latest article is titled, “Democrats, You Really Do Not Want To Nominate Joe Biden.”

Listen to The Intercepted Podcast.
We need to talk about Joe
Seriously, REALITY CHECK! If Hillary, who I’ll admit is politically shrewd, who had way more leverage than Joe couldn’t defeat at that time neophyte Trump, do you really think same ‘old Joe, who ran previously when he was much younger and was eliminated early, can defeat a way more emboldened Trump with a powerhouse campaign in the works??? Wow! What a risk!!!
The only option everyone keeps MISTAKENLY discarding, BERNIE SANDERS, CAN DEFEAT TRUMP. You need a platform that drives excitement, that represents desperately needed transformation to win! That’s what Trump first won with; turning on the Republican establishment and now they are putty in his hands. A Transformation narrative is what will defeat Trump, and Bernie Sanders has it!

Posted by: Circe | Mar 10 2020 15:44 utc | 158

@Likklemore #157
Michigan is the key. If Bernie doesn’t do another huge upset in Michigan, it is likely over.
Florida is so skewed Biden, it isn’t even funny. He’s RCP polling at +40! This validates that Sanders has lost the old peeps vote.

Posted by: c1ue | Mar 10 2020 16:36 utc | 160

Joe Biden is the FREAKING TITANIC and everyone’s blindly getting on board while the string quartet plays.
Read the Nathan Robinson article and GHelpUsA!

Posted by: Circe | Mar 10 2020 19:10 utc | 162

First I want to say I am very close to CANCELLING MSNBC with my cable service provider!
@163 ben
I’ve got to disagree with you. That socialism issue is not his problem. It would be in the general, but I’m not worried; he did great on Fox in the town hall yesterday.
His problem is that he is still holding back on attacking Biden with everything he’s got, while Biden is riding an artificial high.
I believe Bernie still has a chance at the next debate to deliver a KO and must stay in the race to the end NO MATTER THE RESULT TONIGHT.
Why? Biden is a very weak candidate and Bernie can take him down. Everyone knows Bernie’s platform from back to front and in reverse. He has made his point. Yes, he still must defend it on the financial question and how M4A will benefit small businesses, but right now his biggest challenge is to take Biden down.
Bernie has NOTHING to lose doing so. Yes Trump is a monumental threat and so he’s being soft on Biden in case the latter goes up against Trump, therefore, he doesn’t want to weaken the potential nominee. BIG MISTAKE. Biden is very weak!
Bernie must take down Biden almost like Trump would! Look at how Trump took down Rubio and Cruz. He didn’t give a shet what the party OR the establishment thought! Now, I’m not saying Bernie needs to get that dirty or yell all the time, only sometimes, and he can be very matter of fact too. True, Bernie’s not the kind of person who gets in the mud, but hell, if he wants this as bad as he’s working it, he’s going to have to take Biden down hard, and now that rallies are being cancelled because of Coronavirus (today Bernie and Joe both cancelled in Ohio) he has to exploit the media left and right and demand more debates be scheduled to COMPENSATE for not being able to campaign and get in Biden’s face.
Yesterday, I posted an article that appeared in CommonDreams How Bernie could destroy Biden in 120 minutes or less, see my comment @148 above for link. Today, I posted Nathan Robinson’s, Democrats you really do not want to nominate Joe Biden @161. They comprise an excellent strategy for defeating Biden.
Bernie needs to take those two powerful articles and attack Biden from all sides, like Trump is going to do in the general election. He has to expose Biden for who he really is and how weak he really is!
Bernie must also stay in the race NO MATTER WHAT. He has nothing to lose and everything to gain especially if Biden implodes. Biden is riding a fake high right now, and I suspect that like most fake highs, Biden’s’s going to come down and hard, but Bernie’s got to hang in.
I wrote here early on in this thread, that Ross Perot gave Bernie a sword, supposedly, a replica of Excalibur. This will be Bernie’s last stand; he has nothing to lose because I KNOW, MANY PEOPLE KNOW, BERNIE KNOWS THAT BIDEN WILL NOT DEFEAT TRUMP.
So Bernie has put the meaning of Ross Perot’s gift of Excalibur to the test: Bernie MUST SLAY BIDEN by a thousand cuts on March 15th and onward and then do the same to Trump.
This is the strategy Bernie must adopt from this day forward! MR. ROGERS WAS A VERY NICE MAN, BUT HE WOULD NEVER WIN AN ELECTION.
Bernie is a very good person and the DNC has played very dirty with him. HE OWES THEM SQUAT. If he adopts this strategy, he’ll start winning, cause 70% of people want someone who can defeat Trump; but he must prove it by taking Biden out of the race. He’s the only one who can defeat Trump because he doesn’t have a ton of baggage like Biden has and he has 90% more integrity than Trump or Biden. Bernie can win. I hope someone gave him the two articles I mentioned here. They are on the web on two prominent Left-wing sites. If he turns of all the noise, criticism and pressure and slays the establishment candidate; he WILL WIN. This is a risk he must take that all his supporters are clamoring for.
Sure the establishment will be biting mad, but people will come to realize that taking Biden down now is A BLESSING. Then he will be ready to take on Trump.
It’s a test by fire that he cannot avoid. Bernie, if you’re reading, you know I’m right! Fat chance. 🙂

Posted by: Circe | Mar 10 2020 23:29 utc | 164