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I see a lot of symmetry between Blue Jean Nation and what Bernie is doing. Mike McCabe clarified a lot when he pointed out that the political landscape is no longer “right” or “left” but “up” and “down”. Bernie is helping us put the concept into action.
Let me guess, it all started going downhill starting with Saint Raygun and his Repubtard friends. My father was one of the "greatest genreration". My brother and I were born in the 1930's and have had very successful careers as engineers. I attribute our success to our free college tuition in California and a thriving middle class. We were not poor but our father was one of the hated mail carriers and we would not have had the opportunity to go to college if there had been tuition. We lived at home through college and worked part time. My brother had the GI Bill and used it to go to graduate school, and I - having finished college before I was drafted - used my GI Bill to go to graduate school. We were also very fortunate to have been in the service just after the Korean War and just before the Vietnam War. Thanks to President Eisenhower.
For Christ's sake! I'm 43, born in 1972, and my generation is already way worse off than our parents!!! So millenials, are not the first generation of americans to be doing worse than their parents. My parents had a house, health insurance, single income family, stay at home mom, a labor union, vacation, and a pension)- all that on a blue collar salary. Many of us in our early fourties have none of that, many have just some of it, and almost no one has retirement. At least now people are starting to pay attention, but this is not a new phenomena.
cccccttttt, that's a great idea! Now that Bernie has inured Americans to the hitherto fearsome democratic socialism he could found a social democratic party people would vote for.
I haven't been here in a little while and I find it funny how most everyone has stopped arguing with Queenbee and taken to ignoring her (or him, smacks very much of an invented persona). What else can you do with pages of well known casuisisms and sophistries?
Queen, you must be paid by the post, not for effectiveness.
Queen, I spent part of my youth in a Western European social democracy and I know it works VERY well. Most all of your kvetching is unfounded conjecture. The truth is often quite opposite
I am not going to argue any more, point for point, with a made up person and their obviously made up facts and lame arguments.
There is a reason why the best arguments and superior logic don't make a dent on bloggers like that. They are not paid to discover the truth. They are paid simply to push talking points.
Have you read the book by Phillip Roth, "The Plot Against America?" It is a fictional account of what American life for Jewish Americans would have been like if Charles LIndbergh would have become president in the 1940 election. A very powerful book. Reminds me of the Drumpf candidacy and how similar it would be for Muslim
Americans should he become president. Love your show and watch or record you daily on Free Speech TV. Sandi L of Winthrop HarBor, IL
The outcome of this particular election is not influenced at all by a VP selection. The election is marred already by corrupt, but legal, rules of the DNC, a corporate influenced msm, and voting suppression that is rampant in all states! Bernie is the influence the people have needed and wanted! I will trust him to select a VP after the convention! I am a strong Bernie or Bust supporter and also a 76 yr. old Grandmother! I #FeelTheBern
To Queenbeethatsme --
1. The Social Security system is not bankrupt; it is actually quite healthy and, as Bernie has proposed, raising or eliminating the cap would allow SS to continue to provide assistance to our seniors long into the future.
2. Bernie has never said he could "deliver" many of the programs he espouses. Instead, if you listen to him, he says that a President Sanders (or any other president for that matter) could not create the programs alone. Obviously, Congress would need to be on board and to do that, the people would need to rise up (aka a revolution) and let their Congressional representatives know what would happen if they did not vote for programs (not be re-elected) the people want.
Please do a little more homework on Bernie before dismissing him.
Cruz’s Throw
{… a limerick …}
Cruz, in his throes of woes,
with a “Hail Mary” pass he goes, -
- to raise the odds
that the election gods
will with Carly get him {re-arisen} re-arose.
====================================
Now that Bernie is a national figure, now that Bernie has the money,
now that Bernie has energetic support, now is the time to form a third party
that will endure for many elections.
ct
The Democratic Party adopt Sanders' policies and programmatic goals? Really, Thom? The Democratic leadership is uniformly bought and sold by Wall Street and corporate interests. As Gore Vidal observed, there is only one political party in America, the Property Party. It has a left wing and a right wing. Both of the parties support the U.S. empire and militarism. While Sanders himself backs U.S. imperial adventures, his moderate New Dealesque proposals would raise the bottom line of large corporations, and cutting their profits is not acceptable. Ergo, the establishment's vicious assault against him in the primaries. The Democratic Party is irremediably corrupt. We need a new vehicle for progressive electoral politics.
Hey, Thom! I came across this video last night that truly blew my mind by Sane Progressive on YouTube. The title is "Exposing 2016 Democratic Election Fraud Through Exit Polls Interview Richard Charnin." Since last night, I've been writing to my favorite alternative news programs to request they cover it on their show. Richard Charnin is the author of "Matrix of Deceit" and "Proving Election Fraud" and he's been able to prove through mathematical models that Bernie's votes are systematically being manipulated and stolen. I don't want Hillary Clinton winning the primary, but unless she's indicted, she seems unstoppable. But if Bernie's campaign and news shows like yours can publicize how easily election fraud is being done via this video, hopefully it'll make Bernie take some action against Hillary's team, perhaps demand a manual recount. (In every instance of vote tampering, isn't it curious how it always comes out in Hillary's favor?) Thom, I sincerely hope you or someone on your production team read this in time and bring this out in the open to help save Bernie's campaign. We NEED him to be our president. Thank you. Linda Ferguson
What pure hogwash.
Cruz selects Fiorina.
At first glance Ted Cruz's selection of Carly Fiorina as a running mate was a bit of an eye-raiser. But on reflection, it figures; it is little more than shady calculation and a Hail Mary attempt to win women voters. Also, if Hillary is the Dem nominee, and in the unlikely event that Cruz becomes the GOP nominee, and assuming Cruz doesn't double cross and dump her; having Fiorina on the ticket would be used as a defense against allegations of sexism by Cruz. Fiorina could also freely attack Hillary with no risk of being labeled sexist. Craven but slick.
Concerns about Hillary.
Of late, Hillary has been speaking out in support of some issues that Bernie has championed. The question is whether it was pandering or whether she will act on those issues if she becomes president. I would hope it's the latter; but the Clintons are no strangers to expediency. Consider that they made peace with David Brock and Richard Mellon-Scaife; two members of what Hillary ---rightfully--- termed the vast right-wing conspiracy. And while Hillary has affected a tone of high road and conciliation; my guess is that is only because she is ahead in the primary. If the race was closer; I have little doubt that Brock and his bag of dirty tricks would have been unleashed against Bernie. If Hillary is the nominee, we need to support her fully; but we need to send a message that we won't tolerate being ignored by the party once elections are over; and a way to do that would be to make an example of one person. Wasserman-Schultz might be a good choice; and with a nationwide ---not just Florida--- effort.
Yes, it is what brought McCain's presidential bid to a halt. I have many very conservative, Fox watching news friends who voted for Obama because they did not think Sarah Palin was presidential material should anything happen to McCain.
Palin has said she would like a cabinet position as Sec of Interior which may be what she has wrangled from Trump. What a disaster that would be....worse than Watt ever was.
As an aside, we need Elizabeth Warren in the Senate. Stop trying to deplete our Democratic Senate vote.
I doubt Bernie could win a general.not among baby boomers or Republicans. Why are Democrats trying to self sabotage in a year when the GOP is already self destructing?
I would not vote for Mr. Sanders. I am already getting reamed by Obama care.
This has been the system for decades. Have you always been so vocal about the voting restrictions and parameters or only now are because your particular choice has run afoul of it?
I am an Independent and gave been one for over 3 decades. This is not new. This is the price we pay for a 2 party system, which many people seem to only have a problem when they have a non favored son candidate.
One of the reason people are not allowed in to vote as you wish is the strong possibility of corruption or voting to proffer a losing candidate.
There have been primaries where I registered for one of the parties to ensure NOT MY FAVORITE candidate was chosen..but that the worse candidate was chosen.. In this way, in November.. My real candidate on the other side had an easier time of defeating the opposition.
This happens a lot. It is the reason Republicans were so certain Romney would win in 2012 and it was the reason he did not win. The numbers get padded to ensure a certain candidate.
Most partiesdo not want to be manipulated like this..so in some states we are shut out.
Bernie beats Hillary in three recent national polls......go to "truth dig"!
Pretty damning evidence that closed primaries produce results not representative of the will of the people.
I've been an Independent since 1982. My kids are Indies and so is my husband. Two of my kids were going to vote for Bernie. After I articulated my rationale for NOT voting for him, they both changed their minds.
Both my husband and I were born in socialist countries, both in Europe. A socialist system over time can adopt and prosper under carefully managed capitalism, which often is a nation divesting Central control and relinquishing assets.. But when a capitalist country begins to adopt socialist programs it is a disaster.
People point to both the US social security program and welfare as examples of socialism. Both were failures if for no other reason than unfettered access to public funds leads to mismanagement, corruption and dissolution.
Just look at the debacle of social security and the unpad IOUs that rendered that program bankrupt.
Bernie is an ivory tower idealist but he is not a realist. Not only can we NOT afford many of the ideas Sanders espoused, he steps far beyond the purview of a President and proposes programs no President has the power to deliver.
When a President, no matter how eloquent proposes programs that require a total revamp of State's rights and the educational system and proposes more money at a time of Fiat currency approaching hyper inflation... Well.. Just NO.
So far, I have debated this point with many Indies and young Dems and while all do not stop supporting Bernie, a good many do.
Bernie is like the idea of the helium powered car... On first glance it sounds lovely.. But as we examine the sum and the individual parts.. It is not only not feasible.. But if feasible, extraordinarily dangerous.
For me, if caught between Sanders and Trump I would choose Trump. better a spectacular end on a sure note than the slow ignominy of a poorly thought out choice.
So very well put, Thom. However i have very small faith in the DNC having any intention of change as it is obvious that Wasserman-Schultz et al were rigging it for Hillary from the git-go. Keeping Bernie from gaining name recognition by running the debates against NFL Saturday night playoffs and not allowing Independents to cast a vote are just two examples of what i mean. One reason the Republican establishment dislikes Trump so is because he is bucking the system; so is Bernie. Anybody able to vote should be able to vote for whatever candidate they like and not be required to be a registered party member: one person one free vote. I suspect and fear the DNC organization does not want independents to vote as it diminishes their ability to control who the candidate will be. It is truly a corrupt rigged system that needs to be changed.
I don't think Democratic leaders want more diverse thinking that threatens the status quo. I hope disenfranchised voters care enough to create a third and maybe a fourth (for the Trumpies) party. Future elections would be more fair if that were the case.
Bernie or bust is a movement that's accelerating almost as much as climate change would under President Clinton.
http://BernieorBust.org
"So if the Democratic Party were smart...",
could well have read:
So if the Democratic Party wasn't so (shockingly, even to this former long-time Democrat) corrupt...
I recently ran into a group somewhere, maybe it was featured on the Thom Hartmann Show, called the Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL). They seemed to have a good strategy for getting a carbon tax passed through even this Congress. They are writting letters and meeting with their Congress representatives in person. They want the tax to be revenue neutral. They call it "Carbon Fee and Dividend". I read the details and liked the plan. I am perfectly okay with a straight carbon tax in which the government uses the funds to promote clean energy, but I think the CCL plan might be more effective because it makes it so everyone has skin in the game. If every individual can figure out how to use less carbon, then they can get more money back than they put in. The more people figure out how to use less (cheat the system) the less carbon we all use. The money is a small incentive, but I think it works to motivate individuals.
Has anyone else seen this? What do you think?