No, Clinton Allies Did Not Call Bernie Sanders a ‘Communist Sympathizer’

[riversedge]

This sentence from the article is so true. The article created a sh**storm in and of itself-it got passed around the Web as "TRUTH" and got posted on DU as "Truth" --and even worse vile allocations were made. Shameful.

"An article like that undermines both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders by trying to create conflict that isn’t there"


TWEET:
No, Clinton Allies Did Not Call Bernie Sanders a ‘Communist Sympathizer’ January 23, 2016 http://www.forwardprogressives.com/clinton-allies-did-not-call-bernie-sanders-communist-sympathizer/ … #p2

No, Clinton Allies Did Not Call Bernie Sanders a ‘Communist Sympathizer’

January 23, 2016


http://www.forwardprogressives.com/clinton-allies-did-not-call-bernie-sanders-communist-sympathizer/


.................That being said, in today’s political world, a lot of what’s tossed out as “news” is sometimes not much more than highly misleading clickbait.

Not that I’m against certain forms of clickbait, but if a headline is written in such a way that it clearly misleads those who read it, that’s a problem. Because as someone who works in this business, I can assure you, many people (if not most) only read the headline. That’s how a lot of misinformation gets spread in the first place – inaccurate, clickbait headlines that suggest something that’s not actually true.

For example, a headline I saw on Raw Story (a site I typically don’t have many problems with) titled: Bernie Sanders smeared as communist sympathizer as Hillary Clinton’s allies sling mud. Wow, right? That’s rather jaw-dropping, if I must say so myself. Allies of Clinton are actively trying to paint Sanders as a “communist sympathizer”? That’s really low. Well, that’s not what the article (which is originally from The Guardian but was republished on Raw Story) actually says. True, the article does make two claims that Clinton “allies” (David Brock and Chelsea Clinton – though I’m not sure if a daughter counts as an “ally”) have said some rather unsavory and untrue statements about Bernie Sanders. Now, to be fair, Brock did make a rather idiotic statement implying that Sanders isn’t interested in “black lives.” But it should also be mentioned that, previously, when Brock tried to take shots at Sanders’ health, the Clinton campaign was quick to chastise him for doing so. So this guy just seems to be saying a lot of really idiotic things that Clinton isn’t particularly thrilled about. ............


But the article itself has nothing to do with any “allies of Clinton” painting Sanders as a “communist sympathizer,” as the headline clearly implies. The “source” the author promotes is actually just an anonymous person who would only describe themselves as a “Democrat”:

The dossier, prepared by opponents of Sanders and passed on to The Guardian by a source who would only agree to be identified as “a Democrat”, alleges that Sanders “sympathized with the USSR during the Cold War” because he went on a trip there to visit a twinned city while he was mayor of Burlington. (Source)

Yeah, because an anonymous source who would only identify themselves as a “Democrat” is very “credible,” right? Especially considering there are well-known efforts coming from Republicans to undermine Clinton’s campaign by trying to help Sanders defeat her in the Democratic primaries. This is how misinformation gets spread. Many people who come across this article will simply read the headline and assume that Clinton allies are accusing Sanders of being a communist – which isn’t remotely true. Not only that, but all of this stems from a “source” that very well might not even be credible. An article like that undermines both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders by trying to create conflict that isn’t there....................




Read more at: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/clinton-allies-did-not-call-bernie-sanders-communist-sympathizer/

[Kentonio]

1. And of course Claire McCaskill wasn't implying anything at all

With her comments about the GOP running 'hammer and sickle' ads if Bernie gets the nomination...

[Hoyt]

4. Would you like to bet on whether that will happen? I don't think Sanders is, nor

does it matter. But, the GOPers will definitely call him one in derisive terms.

[Kentonio]

9. Put that together with one of her surrogates touting a dodgy dossier around the media

And it's pretty obvious there's a coordinated smear going on. The unnamed Democrat who went to the Guardian was not just a random person off the street. If it had been, we'd never even have heard about it.

[Armstead]

41. Just as they do now to Clinton

[GeorgeGist]

51. McCaskill already has ...

and Clinton supporters are fooling no one by denying it.

[tk2kewl]

2. Right. They only said he would be painted as a Red. They didn't actually do the painting themselves.

[cherokeeprogressive]

13. Right. Shaheen didn't refer to his "Soviet Flag past".

Hillary Clinton supporters make me guffaw.

[hrmjustin]

3. They will say anything to make Hillary look bad!

If Sanders win the nomination the Republicans will not be polite to him.

[riversedge]

8. You are very polite with your words.

[Armstead]

42. And people never say anything to make Sanders (or his supporters) look bad

hooookkkkay. Right.

[hobbit709]

18. Hillary does that all by her lonesome.

[hrmjustin]

20. I think not.

[hobbit709]

21. True believers never do.

[hrmjustin]

24. I'm not a true believer. I know her limitations and faults.

I actually have protestor her offices for her votes.


I am a realist.

[Fawke Em]

28. Better red than indicted. eom

[hrmjustin]

29. I bet you click on drudge report everyday praying for an indictment of Hillary.

[riversedge]

36. I think a lot of them do IMHO

[cherokeeprogressive]

5. That's a shit-ton of words to say his name didn't wind up in the same sentence with

"hammer and sickle" and that Shaheen didn't refer to his "Soviet Flag past".

Camp Weathervane did BOTH and we all know why.

This is a straw man the size of which would thrill even the most ardent Burning Man attendee.

[beam me up scottie]

10. Claire and Jean both indulged in red baiting.

And we're supposed to believe Clinton surrogates are above this kind of behaviour?

2008 anyone?

[restorefreedom]

31. i'll take deja vu for 500, alex. nt

[riversedge]

37. Since neither one of them did that-your statement is all in your mind.

[beam me up scottie]

39. LMAO! Hammer and sickle? Bernie's Socialist days are behind him?

[cherokeeprogressive]

45. Riddle me this: What do you call it when someone mentions a person, then their "Soviet Flag past"?

The only thing missing was the "I'm not sayin'... I'm just sayin'".

[sufrommich]

6. Manufactured outrage is their fuel. nt

[cali]

12. Hill supporters deny the worst crap out of her campaign

[riversedge]

19. and it works so well on DU

[beam me up scottie]

7. And David Brock wasn't going to go after Bernie on his health.

Oh wait...

David Brock: ‘I Was Prepared to Bring Up’ Sanders’s Medical Records

[riversedge]

38. Hillary released hers last summer--and now Bernie said he would. It took some promting but

it is common practice.

[beam me up scottie]

40. Are you trying to miss the point?

When it was leaked that Brock was going after Bernie Hillary supporters were like "Oh no he di'int!!!"

Sure enough the snake admitted to it a day later.

So spare me the 'Hillary surrogates would NEVER go there' indignation, they've gone there and then some.


And no, Hillary didn't release her records, she produced the equivalent of a doctor's excuse.

But points for trying so hard to deflect.

[riversedge]

44. Your post was about health and I responded. bye

[beam me up scottie]

47. No, my post illustrated what Clinton surrogates are willing to do to swift boat Bernie.

It had nothing to do with his health.

[cali]

11. Bullfuckingshit.

[Tom Rinaldo]

14. "The dossier, prepared by opponents of Sanders and passed on to The Guardian by a source"

OK, agreed, this needs to be looked into further. Clinton surrogates and campaign supporters may have absolutely nothing to do with this, so it is a misleading headline at best to assert that they did.

But your headline is misleading as well, because it does not acknowledge that it has been reported by a named source, The Guardian, that a dossier smearing Sanders as a communist sympathizer does exist and has been given to the media. More accurately there is nothing that specifically links the Clinton campaign to the circulation of that dossier. It is wrong to say they did it, but it is wrong also to emphatically clear them of having done so. This one is in the pending further information file.

[riversedge]

15. But it is not my headline--it is from the article.

[Tom Rinaldo]

25. Fair eonugh, But I felt it fair to counter the erroneous message it sends n/t

[restorefreedom]

32. the article is full of it., but they of course know it.

lying and the lying liars who tell them

one and all(no ref to the op)

[jeff47]

49. That's not accurate.

The Guardian identified the source as "a Democrat".

[quickesst]

16. Haha....

"No, Clinton Allies Did Not Call Bernie Sanders a ‘Communist Sympathizer’"

The process from ears to brain of Bernie supporters is in a class by itself. Quite fascinating. On the bright side, it's not as "fascinating" as Sarah's.

[Kentonio]

23. Anyone who has followed politics for more than 5 minutes recognizes a co-ordinated smear

When they see one. When the same little implications start coming from multiple people attached to a campaign all at the same time, then thats a huge red flag. Maybe its a coincidence, but I don't believe in coincidences like that.

[riversedge]

27. website copy other werbsites related to smears on Clinton-then post on DU-that is the

only 'coordination' out there.

[Kentonio]

30. Shaheen, McCaskill and then this unnamed 'Democrat' with a dossier.

[hobbit709]

17. Next will be "I have here in my hand"

[Autumn]

22. I believe they did

[Metric System]

26. Your belief is misplaced.

[Autumn]

34. I believe you are wrong and I am correct in my belief. Yes Clinton

allies, as in dear, dear Claire, the one who wouldn't allow her daughter around Bill Clinton did indeed do just that .

[restorefreedom]

33. i think it goes beyond belief

to verifiable fact.

we have entered the bizarro world...keep your hands inside the car at all times, please....

[Truprogressive85]

35. Sure !!

Just like how Politco story about a Clinton PAc ran by David Brock was going to run ads about Sen. Sander's health

many HRC supporters dimissed it because it was an anonymous source

Than Jonh Podesta told Brock to "chill out"

and Brock finally admit he was actually going to bring up Sander's mrdical record.



Don try to clean the mess uo now !!

[Armstead]

43. This isn't saying the same thing, eh?

Hillary could make Mr., Brock STFU at any time. But she's happy to have him out there stirring the shit.


http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/01/19/clinton-ally-attacks-sanders-on-socialism/

Mr. Brock gave an interview Tuesday and put Mr. Sanders’s socialism front and center.

Appearing on Bloomberg TV’s “With all Due Respect,” Mr. Brock got a question about how to stop Mr. Sanders’s momentum. Rather than mention Mr. Sanders’s voting record, Mr. Brock brought up what he called “the elephant in the room.”

“He’s a socialist,” Mr. Brock said. “… He’s got a 30 year history of affiliation with a lot of whack-doodle ideas and parties. Think about what the Republicans will do with the fact that he’s a socialist in the fall.”

[hobbit709]

46. To the OP denial is just a river in Egypt, facts be damned.

[ucrdem]

48. That campaign HEARTS self-inflicted injuries.

It's getting old.

[baldguy]

50. It only helps the GOP when the RW sets the tone of the debate.

And the Berniestas are falling for it hook, line and sinker.

[Warren DeMontague]

52. hillary supporters: "misrepresenting statements, manufacturing outrage, and trying to create

Conflicts that aren't there, that's OUR job, dammit!"

[GeorgeGist]

53. McCaskill and Shaheen aren't Clinton supporters?