Primary Tidbits
Some Comments on the Democratic field of 2019
To everyone who is now cheering for some other Democratic candidate and telling Bernie to “go home” or saying he’s “too old” or complaining about how tired they are of hearing him “saying the same things over and over,” or whatever…Allow me to remind you that in 2016, when Bernie was, in fact, saying all these same things, the entire rest of the Democratic Party was taking the position that these were crazy, radical ideas that nobody would ever support. Well, now we know that the vast majority of voters do in fact support all these policies. So now they’re all falling all over each other trying to prove that they are more Bernie than Bernie. Who moved the debate forward on every issue from health care to immigration to criminal justice to environmentalism and more? Yeah, the cranky old guy who combs his hair with a balloon. Have some respect.
On ever single issue where we have watched the Democratic contenders vie to be the farthest to the left, we have Bernie Sanders to thank for consistently fighting for it over the course of decades and for bringing the Democratic Party kicking and screaming to this point. And for those who are still enraged that he stayed in the 2016 primary after it was clear that the system was rigged to coronate Hillary Clinton via superdelegate votes, THE FACT THAT HE DID THAT IS WHAT GAVE HIM THE LEVERAGE TO FORCE THE CLINTON WING OF THE PARTY TO LISTEN TO WHAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF US WANT TO SEE AS POLICY AND PRODUCE THE MOST PROGRESSIVE PLATFORM IN THE HISTORY OF THE PARTY SINCE FDR. Without that, we would be listening to the exact same gang we have seen for the last two nights arguing over who was toughest on crime, toughest on immigration, strongest in defense and most committed to cutting entitlements and making the US the number one exporter of gas and oil. You’re welcome, I’m sure.
Can anyone who “likes” Joe Biden as a candidate please explain to me why you are ok with a man who is ok throwing Black people under the bus (literally, considering his racist opposition to busing) but to this very day brags about his “civility” with rampant white supremacists, who thinks it is reasonable and sensible to “compromise” on a woman’s right to control her own body, and who is on record assuring the corporate elite that “nothing fundamental will change” (including growing income inequality and the relentless march toward climate armageddon) under his administration? I could go on, but that will do for now. And please don’t tell me about “electability.” We all lived through 2016.
And some “Recommended Reading.”
