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Bernie Sanders for President...
Could he win? He's up against some big odds. Namely America's ownership class and Hillary's potential $2.5 billion war chest. Which will mostly be funded, of course, by the ownership class.
Sanders is in the mainstream... if you look at public opinion polls. But Americans don't decide government policy.
We live in a plutocracy... and Hillary wants to keep it that way. Bernie would like to change that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96XwaVnEXcs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2VYpEEcG84
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
No, Bernie won't win the nomination: not by a long shot. But the contributions he can make to the debates (if there are any) would be of considerable interest. I'd love to see the two of them have an intelligent exchange. Love to see Elizabeth Warren in the mix, but I think she means it when she says she's not running.
And no, we don't live in a plutocracy. Power is not bought. Instead "leaders" spend zillions of dollars to market themselves and their ideologies to a stupid, selfish and uncaring electorate. The electorate still holds the power, but those of us who aren't apathetic, are divided by opposing strains of ignorance (not to mention the gerrymandered borders of our voting distrincts).
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Never heard of him. Is he good with chickens?
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
he seems like a decent enough fellow but as a candidate he's a buffoon. Hillary's people will be joyful if this is as tough as it gets nomination-wise.
and he needs to do something with that hair. most serious negative for an American politician is to look unkempt.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
He seems like a nice guy and very focused on income inequality. If he doesn't know he's not a realistic candidate he should…someone who can liven up the debates and maybe have a bit of grassroots support, but it can't go anywhere.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
trish
No, Bernie won't win the nomination: not by a long shot. But the contributions he can make to the debates (if there are any) would be of considerable interest. I'd love to see the two of them have an intelligent exchange. Love to see Elizabeth Warren in the mix, but I think she means it when she says she's not running.
And no, we don't live in a plutocracy. Power is not bought. Instead "leaders" spend zillions of dollars to market themselves and their ideologies to a stupid, selfish and uncaring electorate. The electorate still holds the power, but those of us who aren't apathetic, are divided by opposing strains of ignorance (not to mention the gerrymandered borders of our voting distrincts).
Is America becoming a plutocracy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3VA2pTI5KE
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Chrystia Freeland: "A Clash Between Plutocracy and Democracy"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp5pCSsRrVM
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
You might just underestimate Bernie...
"Windfall at Bernie's: Sanders raises $1.5 million in 24 hours"
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
People are donating because they realize based on principle he is at a huge fundraising disadvantage since he does not accept corporate donations. It might not be sustainable if people are only donating to compensate for his inherent disadvantage in accumulating funds. Even if his impressive early fund-raising is not merely a temporary spike in enthusiasm and Bernie raises enough funds to run a national campaign, he will then face a disadvantage that's impossible to overcome in a democratic system; that he does not have a critical mass of support for his policies.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
7 Charts Show the Socialist Hellscape America Would Be Under Bernie Sanders:
http://mic.com/articles/117944/7-cha...bernie-sanders
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Bernie has always been the man. I grew up on the Vermont-New York border. He is beloved. Vermont is one of the nicest places one can visit.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Once I was in Vermont and saw cases of Coca-Cola piled up right next to a soda vending machine.
With citizens that honest, Bernie Sanders is the perfect fit.
Just like Barney Fife is the perfect Deputy for Mayberry.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
buttslinger
Once I was in Vermont and saw cases of Coca-Cola piled up right next to a soda vending machine.
With citizens that honest, Bernie Sanders is the perfect fit.
Just like Barney Fife is the perfect Deputy for Mayberry.
So you're saying Americans aren't as good or as deserving as Scandanavians? The only thing we deserve is some shit form of second hand oligarchy?
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
trish
So you're saying Americans aren't as good or as deserving as Scandanavians? The only thing we deserve is some shit form of second hand oligarchy?
No, I'm saying if ABBA ever leaves Sweden, the entire Country will fold. The USA has it's own set of realities, and at the present time, Capitalism does this Country good. The last thing you want is for "The People" to be in charge. People are idiots.
If you put the ten sharpest Senators in Charge of Everything, I think we'd have a much more fairer system than we have, but fair depends on what side of Everything you're on. The minute we stop being World Bullies is the minute we start losing Power. Should we start divvying up all our Nuclear Missiles to the other Countries of the World to guarantee World Peace?
It doesn't matter that it's fucked up, it works. Better than most of the World. The fact that it is so fucked up on the edges is a testament to the resiliency of the core. You have to count your Blessings. Like the Artist who knows when to stop.
If you want people to be truly happy, take their voice away.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
buttslinger
It doesn't matter that it's fucked up, it works. Better than most of the World. The fact that it is so fucked up on the edges is a testament to the resiliency of the core. You have to count your Blessings. Like the Artist who knows when to stop.
If you want people to be truly happy, take their voice away.
But it doesn't work, it does matter that it's fucked up and there are Nations that have a healthier mix of capitalism and democracy than do we.
Tea party republicans (to take one example) suspect that the average American's voice in politics has been diminished and they are not happy about it. You want people to be happy, give them a voice.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
trish
But it doesn't work, it does matter that it's fucked up and there are Nations that have a healthier mix of capitalism and democracy than do we.
Tea party republicans (to take one example) suspect that the average American's voice in politics has been diminished and they are not happy about it. You want people to be happy, give them a voice.
If you want a Utopia, assemble the top 100 Utopians together and get them funding from General Dynamics. No two Americans are going to line up and march together unless it's to a protest march.
The Sanders and Trump people HAVE a voice, they're a year too early, that's all. Elections should last three months. Then people go back to their lives, their families, jobs, interests. If you mind your own business and you're not busy all day, you're doing it wrong.
The countries that are doing better than us aren't doing the heavy lifting that we are. Ever since we saved the World in 1945, we're responsible for it. All Italy has to do is look pretty.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
But we aren't talking about a utopia: the Scandinavian nations actually exist. One man's heavy lifting is that same man putting his fingers into everyone else's pies.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
trish
But we aren't talking about a utopia: the Scandinavian nations actually exist.....
?????
Those are small countries, Bernie COULD actually be elected in one of those countries.....
The USA is roughly the size of all Europe, and they're not one big happy family either.
Vermont is funny because it is rural but Democratic. I'm not sure Socialism would fly down in Texas.
Frankly, I don't think the US Government has any more chance of getting it's act together as the Military, DMV, Amtrak, post office, Police, IRS, Social Security, or any other big bureaucracy. Too big not to fail.
When you talked about countries that were doing well I thought you meant Germany.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
buttslinger
No, I'm saying if ABBA ever leaves Sweden, the entire Country will fold.
After ABBA split up Benny Andersson and Agnetha Faltsog remained in Sweden but Bjorn Ulvaeus lived in London for many years, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad has lived in Switzerland for years. Nevertheless, Sweden still exists as a European state. Funny old world, 'innit?
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Stavros
After ABBA split up Benny Andersson and Agnetha Faltsog remained in Sweden but Bjorn Ulvaeus lived in London for many years, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad has lived in Switzerland for years. Nevertheless, Sweden still exists as a European state. Funny old world, 'innit?
I wholeheartedly apologize for my American sense of humour, Stavros, I guess my point was London has a bigger population than Sweden. Sweden has a two year mandatory stretch in their Military. They had to change their laws to keep Muslim rapists and murders from flooding across their borders.
I am sure there is a tiny spot in reality for American Schools and Medical Facilities to surpass even my imagination, but the President can't just wave his hand and make it happen, the American people would have to get up off their fat asses and basically do it themselves. Intent is not enough. Top notch private schools and spectacular medical service is available if you have the CASH, but there are a limited supply of really fine teachers and doctors. So even if education and healthcare is "free" you still get what you pay for.
♫ ......you are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen.......♫
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
buttslinger
I wholeheartedly apologize for my American sense of humour,
Don't blame us for that.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
broncofan
Don't blame us for that.
I'd like to apologize to Stavros, the entire Denver Broncos organization, the English, the Afro-Americans, all the Americans, Steve Grooby, the Asians, the Fox News organization, anyone who may or may not be African/Asian, two of the Kardashians, some ugly trannys, Sweden, ABBA, IKEA, and I also apologize for talking up Robert Griffin III.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEfjK7HZWDE
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
buttslinger
I also apologize for talking up Robert Griffin III.
By far the most important one. And I apologize for Johnny Manziel:).
Anyhow, it looks like Bernie has a bit more support than I thought. I still don't think he will ever have a broad enough base of support to win, but he's doing better than I thought he would.
I also think it would be difficult to manage a socialist system in a country this large, with both state and federal jurisdictions and the problems that creates for uniform administration of social programs. But I do think it's a more fair system than the one we have here and I would like to see reforms moving in that direction. Yet for the sake of pragmatism and to avoid the worst possible outcome, I would support whoever is most electable in the general election. I don't think that's Bernie.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
As David Axelrod has recently said ( and I paraphrase): Iowa and New Hampshire are just the bathing suit competition. People tend to get weeded out as we move on to the talent portion of the contest.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
broncofan
.....Anyhow, it looks like Bernie has a bit more support than I thought. I still don't think he will ever have a broad enough base of support to win.....
Anyone with a "Hung Angels" heart and soul would like to see the country move towards a more Bernie-type philosophy, he probably could have pulled it off in 2008, but there was this young black phenom named Barack Obama who was going to change the World. In the stranger than fiction file there is this guy named Donald Trump who may do more to advance the Democratic cause than Bernie Sanders. You can't make this stuff up.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
buttslinger
I wholeheartedly apologize for my American sense of humour, Stavros, I guess my point was London has a bigger population than Sweden. Sweden has a two year mandatory stretch in their Military. They had to change their laws to keep Muslim rapists and murders from flooding across their borders.
I am not sure abut your sense of humour, or your knowledge of recent events. Thus:
1) Compulsory military conscription ended in Sweden in 2010.
2) the myth of the beastly Muslim rapist in Sweden, Norway and Denmark might be something you find in the hysterical screeds of Pamela Gellar, but are not met with in the real world. The problem in Sweden (as Julian Assange has discovered) where the statistics of rape appear to show that between 2003 and 2010 the number of cases trebled, is that Sweden revised its definition of rape to include non-violent acts and also records rape by incident so that, for example, if a woman claims to have been raped once a week by her husband that is recorded not as a rape, but 52 incidences of rape. There is no doubt that Muslims have been found guilty of rape, just as there is no doubt that the statistical evidence in Sweden is difficult to unravel with the broader definition but appears to show no dramatic incidence of the crime. You can, if you want to, acquaint yourself with the discussions below.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19592372
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_in_Sweden
The end of military service is discussed here:
http://www.thelocal.se/20100701/27548
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
If old man Sanders could do the things I've listed below - I would vote for him :)
Build a wall
Deport the Illegals
Reform our Free Trade Policy
Lower the income Tax
0% Corporate Tax
Kill the Death Tax
Take care of our Veterans
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Stavros
I am not sure abut your sense of humour[sic], or your knowledge of recent events.
Guilty as charged.
I apologize to recent events, Arabs, and the Swedish Army.
I think that both the Arabs and Swedes were Nazi sympathizers, somewhat, but I'm not positive.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
We need fewer walls and less razor wire, not more.
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Deport the Illegals
Illegals is not a meaningful term. But if you mean exile Cliven Bundy for illegally occupying government land, go for it.
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Reform our Free Trade Policy
Reform in which direction? Does the free market libertarian want tariffs?
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Lower the income Tax
And increase the tax on capital gains.
20 profitable U.S. corporations already pay zero taxes. It’s time they start paying at the rates they paid mid-last-century...you know...when we were great.
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Kill the Death Tax
Sure, we should have a class of people who inherit wealth and never, ever have to know what it’s like to work for a dollar. Better, we should just allow the dead to take it with them: they’re the one’s who earned it.
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MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN
Again? America has always been a land a great promise. Perhaps we should just strive to live up to that promise a little more often. Greatness may follow.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
How come Trump and this cronies never talk about the illegals coming from Canada? What about building a wall up there?
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ben in LA
How come Trump and this cronies never talk about the illegals coming from Canada? What about building a wall up there?
Because they are not Mexicans?
a) Most of the illegal entrants from Canada are not Hispanic, but European, Caribbean or from the Middle East
b) the border in Michigan is mostly lakes and rivers, not solid land on which to build a wall
c) Canada is a nice country, and Canadians are nice people.
I believe this, from US Immigration.com was written in 2011:
The common image of an illegal immigrant sneaking into the U.S. involves a Latin American huddling for cover in the brush of an expansive desert. It’s hot, dry, and desolate. Perhaps they are attempting to swim across the Rio Grande as it meanders through the dusty climes of the southern U.S. or jump a fence in the middle of the night. There is a different, much less publicized form of illegal immigrant—the kind coming from Canada. Many of these individuals are not Latin American—U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have apprehended border jumpers from Albania, The Czech Republic, Israel, and India—and the often cross the many waterways of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and New York by boat, jet ski, or by swimming.
Last year, in an attempt to slow the flow of illegal immigration from Canada, CBP spent $20 million on a surveillance system that monitors 34 miles of the St. Clair River bordering Michigan and Canada—a popular destination for illegal immigrants crossing from Canada. So far, the new system has caught four human smuggling attempts. However, it is sometimes citizens who end up nabbing illegal immigrants by accident. A fishing group on the St. Clair River noticed a man in a Speedo with a backpack swimming in the river recently. CBP was alerted and the man, who hailed from the Czech Republic, was apprehended. The flow of illegal immigration across the U.S.-Canadian border is much slower than that of the U.S.-Mexico border, but it is enough to warrant enforcement. CBP agent Chris Grogan said, "People will continue to try to get in. We can't stop that. But we are doing whatever we can do to stop them. They realize that we're there, and we're going to get them."
Michigan is a particularly popular crossing point. Many lakes and rivers compose the border between the state and Canada and illegal immigrants use the rugged vastness of the terrain to their advantage. Kyle Niemi of the U.S. Coast Guard division charged with patrolling Michigan’s waterways has said, "It's a very complex system. ... You have lakes that are akin to seas—they're humongous. And then there are rivers that in the winter months you can walk across. It's a fragile system." At times, these water crossings have been deadly. A young Albanian boy was attempting to cross the Detroit River with his mother in 2005. His jet ski turned over, drowning him. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Brian Moskowitz has said, "People need to be careful. Not only do they face us, but they face some very real personal dangers."
Many critics claim that border security will do nothing to curb illegal immigration until the incentive to come to the U.S. is removed. That incentive, for most, is the possibility of employment. The sluggish U.S. economy has been responsible for a downturn in illegal immigration but many U.S. lawmakers are pushing for the mandatory use of E-Verify, a federal government database that allows employers to check the residency status and legality of someone they wish to hire. If employers could not hire illegal immigrants, many argue, illegal immigrants would have little reason to risk life and limb to come to the U.S.
https://www.usimmigration.com/illega...gh-canada.html
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
One thing to note is that the article mentions a lot of people from countries other than Canada using the U.S. Canadian border to enter the U.S. The most obvious reason this would be the case is that the economic incentive is much greater for a Mexican immigrant to come to the U.S. than a Canadian citizen since Canada is a wealthy country.
The gdp per capita in Canada is 52,000 dollars per person in 2013 numbers. It's around 10,000 dollars per person in Mexico. Of course even in a wealthy country there are people below the poverty line, but many Mexicans can actually improve their economic status by working in very unattractive conditions in the U.S, which is one reason we see so much exploitation of Mexican immigrants. As a result, there are a lot of illegal immigrants from Mexico and relatively fewer Canadian ones, which is one reason other than racism why there's so much hysteria surrounding the security of the U.S Mexico border.
I am all for border security. I think a wall is a terrible investment because it would be expensive and would harm our relations with Mexico. Better enforcement at the border would be great, but violating the civil rights of hispanic people who have been here for generations is very wrong, and pretending like immigration is an epidemic that justifies a quarantine is plainly xenophobic.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
If HUNG ANGELS held an Art Contest and offered up a prize of ....a date with a TS Honey or something, you'd see a spirited competition, perhaps even a little cheating, and everyone would have a great time and a few laughs and get to know each other a little better through people's artistic entries.
If, however, a million dollar prize was offered, guys would show up from all over the World with paintings that would blow your mind they would be so good.
People come from Mexico because they are dirt poor down there.
The Tea Baggers that were let down by Dubya are about to be let down once again by Trump.
Bernie won't be defeated by Jeb, he'll be defeated by Hillary.
The only way a poor black male will make it in this country is if the cops shoot him, because of Lawyers.
Bernie's fairness doctrine is naïve, because commies only succeed in poor countries.
One day you'll see Socialism in the USA, but it will only be after we've lost all our power and money. More along the lines of Canada and England. All the One Percenters and Ripoff Insurance Companies will be in China and India, making tons of cash. This isn't necessarily wrong, it's just the way it is.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Quote:
The Tea Baggers that were let down by Dubya are about to be let down once again by Trump.
There weren't Tea-Baggers during Dubya's tenure in office. They are an reaction against Obama before he even did anything. They made their appearance (guns and all) at the town hall meetings in 2009-10 throughout the States that convened to discuss health care.
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Bernie won't be defeated by Jeb, he'll be defeated by Hillary.
Highly likely. But the fairness doctrine is not naive, it's simply right. Bernie may not win, but he's shifting the center of gravity to the left and Hillary's rolling toward it.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
They way I remember it is the Rush Limbo crowd was in an uproar before Bush even left office because of his runaway spending. By the end of his term in office, those who would be baggers were hurt and confused that their boy had fiddled while Rome burned. And while New Orleans drowned. Obama in charge was simply the last straw!
Walter Cronkite was proud of the fact that the way he delivered THE NEWS........Republicans thought he was a Republican and Democrats thought he was a Democrat. Bernie reeks of .......white do-gooder, or something. Why the white and black working class don't come together and put Congresses feet to the fire is a mystery to me, I think the one percent must be putting subliminal messages in their commercials.
But to be serious for a minute,
....................
I honestly don't expect any real changes about anything unless some huge unforeseen boon or disaster takes place. By the time you're blaming the government, it usually means it's too late.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
My Buttslinger Las Vegas LOCK is Clinton in 2016, and you can take that to the bank.
Trump, Sanders, Bush, Biden, emails.........all will be forgotten,..... or meaningless... a year from now.
The fact that we've had George W Bush, and then two "novelty" Presidents....a black man and a woman..... is troubling to me simply because I know that there are at least ten thousand more qualified Presidents out there, that we NEED, that for whatever reason, aren't interested.
I think Hillary is a cold fish bitch, but she really does have 8 years experience in the White House, and has been prepping for 16 years. She has the Machine behind her. A Woman in Charge, God help us all.
One reason Bernie Sanders won't fly in the BIGS is because people are superstitious about change, look at the last century, you've had airplanes, cars, antibiotics, and the internet,....but you've also had Hitler, Stalin, atomic bombs, and overpopulation. Every President's Campaign Promise of CHANGE has been diluted by real events, nothing ever changes. It's all been written in the book.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
Although I have contributed posts to this thread I must admit to knowing next to nothing about Bernie Sanders. So I spent a few hours watching the c-span recordings of the Democrat Summer Meeting which was addressed by Presidential candidates Lincoln Chafee, Martin O'Malley, Bernie Sanders, and Hillary Clinton (the links are below but also includes DNC business so you may need to skip that stuff to get to the speeches).
Of the four, Chafee can be instantly dismissed, he has no depth or charisma, he seems like a nice guy but that's about it, and he used to be a Republican which might grate with some people, he was however the only one to refer to the current migrant crisis in Europe, but without offering any solutions. O'Malley sounds like a machine politician, and probably is. What if anything was noticeable is that he went through the check-list of Democrat issues and was followed by Bernie Sanders who did more or less the same thing.
It is a rota that takes in
-maintaining the Affordable Health Care Act;
-raising taxes to shift money from the super-rich to the average American;
-raising the minimum/living wage to $15 a hour;
-equal pay for men and women doing the same job;
-granting citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants;
-dealing with student debt;
-investing in the overhaul of the infrastructure.
Sanders cited issues others did not, such as
-his opposition to the fossil fuels industry;
-the public funding of elections;
-free tuition fees for college students and interest rate reductions on student debt;
-opposed to the Keystone pipeline.
Other than by raising taxes it was not clear to me where any of the money is going to come from to pay for these policies, and as a person he did not come across to me as a man with leadership potential. His opposition to fossil fuels might make sense as a long term strategy, if only because fossil fuels are a finite resource, but he shows no interest in the conventional petroleum industry or shale in spite of it being a jobs and wealth-generating sector of the economy, and presumably he would not get involved in the Arctic which by extension suggests the long term major players there will be Russia, Norway and perhaps the Canadians, to the detriment of the USA, this seems to me to be a lacuna in his policy-making portfolio: he doesn't really say what global role there is for the USA other than not getting involved in other people's wars -easier said than done.
His plea at the end, 'If we stand together there is nothing that we cannot accomplish' is wishy-washy idealism; it would make more sense to tell people in what is evidently a divided society how those divisions can be mended, good luck to anyone who can come with a solution to that one.
Surprisingly or not, Mrs Clinton gave the most accomplished speech and sounded like a leader, although she was high on aspiration and for all her practical examples (one of them about her grand-daughter pinched from Obama's Chicago speech on the night of the election in 200-eight, she too did not say how any of her policies would be paid for, and sometimes it was easy to forget that the USA already has a Democrat in the White House. She also has an irritating habit of nodding in agreement with the cheers her one-liners get, her aides may need to talk her out of that. Her own one-liners were sometimes quite good; when making a fool of Donald Trump (which is not hard) she said of her hair: 'the hair is mine, the colour isn't' and that could not be said of Trump's...
She was also the only one of the four to make a strong statement on gun control, which came across as sincere and compelling.
I think it was Clinton who said that raising income was 'the defining economic challenge of the times' or words to that effect, but in common with the other three, did not say how or where new, and more jobs would come from without which there is no income, unless everyone lives on welfare. The economy may be the key issue in Presidential elections but I wonder if the USA has a similar credibility gap as the UK when it comes to job-creation, I think people here are tired of politicians delivering platitudes, of which there was an abundance at this DNC meeting.
So far I would say Hillary Clinton is way, way ahead of the other three, but it remains to be seen how she would fare when talking to a hostile audience, or being grilled on the details of both her record in office and her aspirations. I see no long term future for Sanders, he is not up to the job, it is as simple as that.
The morning session, with presentations by Chafee and Clinton are here:
http://www.c-span.org/video/?327791-...summer-meeting
The afternoon sessions with O'Malley and Sanders are here:
http://www.c-span.org/video/?327791-...summer-meeting
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
The fine writing skills of Stavros once again remind me that the posts here tell me less about the reality and more about the poster.
And once again raises the question is there a reality out there that truly exists as an entity unto itself, or is the reality in the eyes and minds of the human beholders? And what difference does it make?
There are lots of political newspaper writers out there that have forgotten more than I'll ever know about politics, but in the end they report, they make educated guesses, they stand and watch. What we call change only happens if enough people read their articles or see them on TV, and accept what they say as the truth and trust them. In other words, most people have absolutely no idea what's going on. The people that thought the world was flat now believe the world is round.
It's not enough to actually understand what is best for the USA, first, you have to sell it. In fact, the Presidency has become a combination of Madison Ave, and the Electoral College. Fact and fiction. In some ways this puts us ahead of the rest of the world and in some ways it puts us behind. Hitler thought democracy meant the president was operating with one hand tied behind his back. Saddam Hussein said it took him eight years in office to even begin to understand what he was doing.
I have no doubts that Bernie and Trish are right, in spite of all the Americans that don't know or even care what he's saying, but he may become a Ralph Nader and elect another George Bush, such are the realities of politics. One of my friends doesn't even vote, and he used to have John McCain come over to dinner at his house when he was a kid. When Sarah Palin was governor of Alaska the price of oil was so high she looked like a genius, if the San Andreas Fault ever acts up like it's supposed to, it won't matter who's President, hard times will be inevitable. There are countless factors in play. Sometimes when times are worst is when trust is highest.
Anyway, talking politics on a site devoted to tits and dicks is ridiculous, there is probably something terribly wrong with everyone reading this drivel. I like the read between the lines and try to figure out just how twisted each individual poster really is, despite them pretending to know what they're talking about. Hey, maybe this is a good place for politics after all.
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Re: Bernie Sanders for President...
[QUOTE=buttslinger;1630729]
The fine writing skills of Stavros once again remind me that the posts here tell me less about the reality and more about the poster.
And once again raises the question is there a reality out there that truly exists as an entity unto itself, or is the reality in the eyes and minds of the human beholders? And what difference does it make?
Flattered though I suppose I should be, I don't have a vote in your elections as I am not an American, and have no desire to swim from Thunder Bay to Duluth to become one (before Scott Walker builds a wall across the US-Canadian border); but comment on US politics out of interest and because the USA is still hugely influential -on specific issue such as TTIP, and general matters of politics and economics which has an impact on the rest of the world.
I can understand why you are cynical about US politics, but the candidates did refer to real issues, such as a living wage of $15 an hour, equal pay for equal work, the prison population, fossil fuels, education and health and so on. I think that is where the debate ought to be going. Many of those issues are not so different from what is on the agenda here in the UK. And it is, after all, debate that keeps democracies going.