Charles Pierce absolutely destroys the WaPo anti-Bernie editorial
Last edited Fri Jan 29, 2016, 06:10 AM - Edit history (1)
(quite an interesting little backlash developing)
What The Washington Post (and Nearly Everyone) Gets Wrong About Bernie Sanders
It seems that, over at The Washington Post, a once-great newspaper now doing business as an adjunct to the home delivery industry, Fred Hiatt's Workshop For Ghastly Writing is getting a little run for this editorial in which Bernie Sanders is posed as the Lord Mayor Of Munchkinland. There's nothing like the scorn of the Church Of The Savvy. To borrow a comparison from the late Molly Ivins, it's like being gummed by a newt. Folks, leave the snark to the professionals, OK? Anyway, it seems that Fred and his minions find Sanders' proposals to be unrealistic, an insight now shared by almost every putatively liberal pundit, as well as every gas station attendant between Des Moines and Ottumwa. Let's look at the argument,
Mr. Sanders's tale starts with the bad guys: Wall Street and corporate money. The existence of large banks and lax campaign finance laws explains why working Americans are not thriving, he says, and why the progressive agenda has not advanced. Here is a reality check: Wall Street has already undergone a round of reform, significantly reducing the risks big banks pose to the financial system. The evolution and structure of the world economy, not mere corporate deck-stacking, explained many of the big economic challenges the country still faces. And even with radical campaign finance reform, many Americans and their representatives would still oppose the Sanders agenda.
"The evolution and structure of the world economy" is a nice touch, especially coming from folks with sinecures in places like the editorial boards of once-great newspapers. (Talk to a steelworker.) There's no human agency involved. Let us say that the idea that the risk of another collapse due to plutocratic shenanigans has been "significantly reduced" is, at the very least, premature. And, because of the nature of our corrupt campaign finance system, the idea that "many Americans" and "their representatives" are on the same page is downright hilarious. The problem with both the international economic forces and the corrupt campaign system is not that "many Americans" are in favor of them. It's that "many Americans" don't know what they can do about either one. Which, basically, is the reason that Sanders–and He, Trump–are prospering in the first place.
We move along through some completely predictable deficit hawkery and some Euro-bashing. (The Post loves the austerity imposed on European nations, but is uncomfortable with all that icky national education policy and universal health care.) But then we get to the basic creed of the Church of the Savvy.
Snip>
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a41608/bernie-sanders-washington-post-response/
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