Bernie Sanders "subtweets" Hillary. Powerful remarks about coming to fork in the road.

[madfloridian]

I don't watch events like that on TV. I wait and watch the video later or read the transcript. I have just read an article from the Washington Post, and I am so impressed by the words of Bernie Sanders. He is saying some things that needed to be said long ago, and he will catch heat for them.

Many feel like I do....that it is fine, it is okay to take heat for telling the truth.

Bernie Sanders’s speech Saturday was one long subtweet of Hillary Clinton

The writer explains subtweeting, shows some highlights from the speech that illustrate it...then he posts some paragraphs of Bernie's words.

Just a few:

The Trans-Pacific Partnership "is not now, nor has it ever been, the gold standard of trade agreements. I did not support it yesterday. I do not support it today. And I will not support it tomorrow."

People around the world are protesting it. Our media is falling down on the job.

"Today, some are trying to rewrite history by saying they voted for one anti-gay law to stop something worse. Let us be clear. That’s just not true."

This type of "meet in the middle" or take the position of the other side before they can make a worse decision...is absolutely wrong. And not just anti-gay laws. One of the very worst anti-abortion bills ever presented was by the Democratic minority leader, Tom Daschle, with the okay of President Clinton.

This is a Democrat bragging that his bill is stricter than the GOP bill.

SENATOR SPENCER ABRAHAM, (R) Michigan: We should be able to end this process, and we should be able to end it in the context of this legislation, which provides, I think, protections for the life of the mother in sufficient fashion to meet whatever standards society might demand.

KWAME HOLMAN: A Democratic amendment was briefly considered and rejected, giving way to the major alternative of the abortion debate. The bill by Minority Leader Tom Daschle has attracted support of Republicans and yesterday the endorsement of President Clinton.

SENATOR TOM DASCHLE, Minority Leader: That is really the fundamental difference between the two pending bills. We ban abortion; they ban a procedure. They allow all the other abortive procedures available--dilation and evacuation, induction, hysterotomies, hysterectomies--those are still legally available. What we ban are all of those procedures--all of them.

Also last night Bernie Sanders says the Keystone pipeline was a no-brainer.

If you agree with me about the urgent need to address the issue of climate change, then you would know immediately what to do about the Keystone pipeline. Honestly, it wasn’t that complicated. Should we support the construction of a pipeline across America and accelerate the extraction of some of the dirtiest fossil fuel in the world? To me, that was a no-brainer.

Hillary finally announced her opposition to it. Last night Bernie said it was about time.

Bernie talks about the decision to invade Iraq.

"If you go to my website, you can see exactly what I said at that point and the fears that I had about the destabilization of that region if we invaded Iraq. It gives me no joy to say that I was largely right about the war. I am proud to tell you when I came to that fork in the road I took the right road even though it was not the popular road at the time."

The anti-war protestors the media refused to cover were absolutely totally right about the harm done to the middle east.

From a Guardian blogger in 2014:

I have encountered no sense of vindication, no "I told you so", among veterans of the anti-war protest of 15 February 2003 in response to the events in Iraq. Despair, yes, but above all else, bitterness – that we were unable to stop one of the greatest calamities of modern times, that warnings which were dismissed as hyperbole now look like understatements, that countless lives (literally – no one counts them) have been lost, and will continue to be so for many years to come.

....The catastrophic results of the Iraq invasion are often portrayed as having been impossible to predict, and only inevitable with the benefit of hindsight. If only to prevent future calamities from happening, this is a myth that needs to be dispelled. The very fact that the demonstration on that chilly February day in 2003 was the biggest Britain had ever seen, is testament to the fact that disaster seemed inevitable to so many people.

And one more paragraph with Bernie's words last night.

"Those are the choices I made when I came to the forks in the road. I think they tell you a lot about the choices I will make as president. And my message to you today is the same as it was yesterday, and will be tomorrow."

I saw in a thread here today someone was saying that he lied. Things like that are making it painful to even come to this forum. Same with attacking Hillary personally. It should not happen.

Issues are fair game, and I was impressed.

[virtualobserver]

1. Easy choice for us too, that is why he is our Bernie

[MrMickeysMom]

6. Agreed...

Love the signature line pix, btw

[liberal_at_heart]

2. No more compromising. No more meeting in the middle. Democrats have been

meeting in the middle for over 30 years now and the Republicans give nothing. It is time to stop this crap.

[madfloridian]

3. Exactly.

The other side gives nothing, and our party hurts its own people by so much compromising.

[glinda]

11. The other side keeps moving more Right and the stupid ones keep moving along with them thinking

they are "compromising".
I have had it with compromising. It gave us Climate Change.

[bvar22]

72. When OUR side gts nothing of significance,

that is called "surrender" or "capitulation".....not "compromise".

[madfloridian]

80. Well said, bvar22

Well said.

[Andy823]

13. Yeah

Because the "my way or the highway" has worked so well for republican tea party clowns, lets do the same thing and see how much can be accomplished in regards to fixing things like, immigration, infrastructure, continued health care for all, etc. Yep no damned compromise, no way no how!

Do you really think Bernie can accomplish anything, if elected to the WH, if he follows your advice?

[starroute]

21. You do understand that "compromising" has meant giving the store away?

Social Security is probably the best example of the problem. When the GOP wants drastic cuts, you don't announce that you'll accept cutting it slightly -- and send out signals that you might be willing to go even further than that.

Instead, you lay out a case that Social Security needs to be expanded because Boomers are entering retirement without pensions, with the failure of their IRA's to appreciate significantly, and with the value of their homes having crashed out. You also announce that any cuts will be over your cold dead body. And you hold the line absolutely firmly.

Compromise on immigration or infrastructure? Maybe. Those used to be non-partisan issues. But on the stuff that really matters, you never retreat -- and you only compromise on how quickly to advance.

[madfloridian]

22. Thanks for that reply. Yes, we've been giving the store away.

It needs to stop.

[Cassiopeia]

47. Exactly.

[Enthusiast]

55. PLUS ONE, a whole bunch! Trade deals too. The trade deals left a record,

a record of wholesale job loss. The trade deals destroyed a thriving middle class living in once vibrant cities. Now the cities are in decay and living wage jobs are nowhere to be found. The problem is most people have not recognized the scope of the problem because it has not happened to them (yet).

[PatrickforO]

26. He can get a lot done if we all back him up with massive, unrelenting social pressure.

The only thing, the ONLY THING the oligarchs are afraid of is numbers. That's why Bernie's calling for a 'political revolution.' He knows that.

Remember, the oligarchs laugh at:

They send the cops in to bust heads at:

They give in to popular pressure when it's this:

[silverweb]

41. We're a purple wave, building power!

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]And we'll come crashing down, en masse, on the oligarchs!

[senz]

45. Nicely expressed, Patrick.

And that's exactly what we must aim for.

Although, when I learned about the domestic detention camps of the Reagan/Bush years and advanced crowd control weapons developed during Dubya's reign, I began to fear what could happen if we ever took it to the streets. I'm just hoping we can either do it politically, as Bernie wants, or outsmart them in some Anonymous way. Another reason why Bernie must win (and we must throw our political support behind his efforts).

[Enthusiast]

57. +100%!

[kacekwl]

63. YES

[JackRiddler]

36. "My way or the highway" works extremely well for Republicans

Anyway, there are specifics beyond generalities about "compromise." Democrats in power have not compromised, they've basically capitulated to the Republican definition of the issues.

[madfloridian]

67. "basically capitulated"

Yes. Good word of it. They have for a long time let Republicans set the agenda.

[sabrina 1]

78. You forget somethng. The TP clowns ARE WRONG. Unless you think WE are wrong, I don't

get your point. You FIGHT for what is RIGHT. You do not give in to extremists. I KNOW Bernie can accomplish things because he has proven already that he can. And because we know he will FIGHT!

Sick to death of the mealy mouthed 'we have to compromise, with extremists' routine. Where exactly has THAT gotten us? Into Iraq and the rest of the ME AND Africa??? How do you like losing thousands of our troops because Democrats were too scared to stand up and FIGHT the War Mongering liars?

You call THAT leadership?

How about walking in to a bargaining session and starting with MORE than you want, then bargaining down from there? Instead of going in with the 'compromise' and going down from THERE?

Something is very wrong with the thinking here.

[madfloridian]

79. ......

[840high]

18. +100

[Enthusiast]

54. Right you are!

[silverweb]

4. It has to be Bernie.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Or it will just be business as usual, but worse, with a Republican - and business as usual, with a bit more liberalism on *some* social issues, with any another Democrat.


[font color="purple"]Go, Bernie!
Ride the purple wave and join The Purple Revolution!

[madfloridian]

5. That's the way I feel right now.

Love your wave.

[silverweb]

40. We have a purple power wave forming!

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]The smiley wave is available here:
http://cosgan.de/smilie.php?wahl=14&ziel=musik

[madfloridian]

43. Thanks!

Love those smilies. So you have to put the code in each time. Neat smilies.

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[silverweb]

49. I cheat.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]As a transcriptionist, I have a program called "Shorthand," where I can code in almost any text and elicit it with just a couple of keystrokes. I can key in the whole wave/text combo you like with "bwave" with a bracket in front of it.

You could just save a page or email to yourself with the URLs for all your favorite smilies, keep it open when you're on DU, and then just copy and paste them, though. That's free, unlike the program I use.


[font color="purple"]Go, Bernie!
Ride the purple wave and join The Purple Revolution!

[PatrickforO]

25. Where did you get that wave?

I really like it.

[silverweb]

39. Scroll down on this page:

http://cosgan.de/smilie.php?wahl=14&ziel=musik

[senz]

46. OMG - so cute

Thanks!

[img][/img]

[silverweb]

50. You're welcome!

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Love that jig!

[Enthusiast]

58. Hey! I like those!

[mak3cats]

66. A Bernie bounce and "Feel the Bern" together!

[Enthusiast]

68. Cool! Er, hot!

[madfloridian]

7. Choices matter. Words matter.

To me words of truth matter a lot. Clearly spoken.

[Scootaloo]

8. The campaign begins in November.

April-October is just warmup and stretching.

[madfloridian]

10. This is my 4th primary here.

Gonna get worse before it gets better.

[Ned_Devine]

20. Mine too!

Cool!

[WillyT]

9. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[antigop]

12. thanks, mad. nt

[AzDar]

14. No idea why anyone is supporting her...( except Corporations, of course)

[Hoppy]

16. The most common explanation I get... in fact, heard it from my cousin today.... It's a woman's turn.

Well fuck... if that's all it took, we could'a had Klondike Sarah a couple'a years ago.


Yeah, she's a woman, but her Iraq vote and Wall Street support should say it all.

[thesquanderer]

23. I kinda get the "woman" thing, and it doesn't mean they need to defend not voting for Palin

I think for some people, a candidate basically has to pass a certain "good enough" threshold, and once that's passed (say, by HRC and BS, but not by Palin), then they'd like to see the woman get the shot.

[Ed Suspicious]

32. I don't chose my president based upon their plumbing. Ever. I pick the candidate who will represent

my interests and the interests of my family and friends. Also the one who looks out for the little guy who has a hard time looking out for himself. That's it. Penis and vagina never enter the equation, ever.

[thesquanderer]

33. I agree...

...but I also kind of understand why a woman could feel differently. IOW, it's easier to say "it doesn't matter" when you're in the population that has always been top dog anyway. It's another side of the kind of "privilege" you tend not to readily see unless you're on the other end of it.

[Ed Suspicious]

35. I have a mother, sisters, a wife and two daughters. The majority of my loved ones are women.

My interest is their interest. Theoretically if there were two candidates of equal standing in my eyes, only separated by their sex, I suppose I would then make sex a factor. Then and only then would I vote for a woman simply because she is a woman.

[dorkzilla]

65. Yeah, I’ve heard that one too and its the MOST RIDICULOUS argument EVER

If that is their criteria then, as a woman, i say its time for a Jewish Socialist’s turn! See, we can play along too!

“It’s time for a guy who speaks with a strong Brooklyn accent to be President!”

“It’s time for a guy who admits he had a child out of wedlock to be President!”

Stuff and nonsense.

[billhicks76]

52. Hillary=Jeb=Liar

[rhett o rick]

73. Some people welcome the seeming comfort of siding with the biggest bully and the billionaires

are certainly big bullies. Sadly they can ignore the growing poverty rates that are part of their comfortable status quo. I also think some are afraid that if they try to stand up to the bully, they may lose what they have. Studies are indicating that we now live in an oligarchy, but those that support the status quo are in total denial. As long as they are allowed to check a box on a ballot, they will pretend to be free. I wish I could draw. I see a hapless status quo voter dropping his/her ballot into the ballot box, exclaiming that "I'm free, I'm free", while their ballot falls out the bottom into a trash can.

[sorechasm]

77. So well said rhett o rick! Ballots for the Third Way go straight to the circular file.

Don't bother appeasing the bullies. They never back down. (This we should have learned by now.)
We need to face them head on.

Watch them fold!

[FloriTexan]

15. K&R

[MasonDreams]

17. Go Bernie Go! Let Her Know, If You Can't Stand For The People, They Won't Vote For You.

Corporations and Money can't cast a Vote. Only People can Vote.

[madfloridian]

19. Iraqi bloggers like this one are why I am so passionately anti-Iraq-war/invasion.

From 2006

Iraqi letters

But less than an hour ago this evening, and for the first time in more than a year, I listened carefully to what George Bush, the de-facto President of Iraq, had to say! It brought an unfamiliar warmth to my old heart to see that man, who brought so much death and destruction to my country, broken. He couldn't hide that. It was written all over him!

Another of the President's Men going down? Rummy, who had the President's full confidence? Arrogant, murderous, contemptuous Rummy?

.....Can an Iraqi hope now? Perhaps a little.
Time for accountability? Dare we hope? Perhaps too soon for that.
The beginning of the end of a mad era? Perhaps too soon for that too.

To Americans I say: to see the man who has done so much damage to your country in that position in that press conference… I only have one word: Congratulations!

Your democracy may have many illnesses; you have a long way yet to go… but tonight many of you have shown the rest of the world that It and you are not dead yet.

Bernie knows our democracy is all too easily broken when politicians take weak stands.

The Iraq invasion was a huge pivotal point for me. It is still.

[PatrickforO]

24. I've been impressed by Bernie for years, now. I liked him then, and

I like him now.

I want him to be our next president so I'm supporting him all the way.

Go Bernie! Tell it like it is!

[delrem]

27. Thank you.

I don't know what to make of DU anymore.

Visiting DU is not, in general, conducive to my peace of mind.
Only in the last 6 months has that been the case.

The difference is - discussion has gone from focus on issues to wholesale attacks on "supporters". Absolute slander after slander, with no restraints or connection to reason. So I feel flooded in something I can't handle, and isn't good for me to try to handle because there's every sign that it will only get worse.

Remember, madfloridian, that to win focus has always to be on issues.

Issues.
So thanks again for your post, which focuses directly on the most important issues.

[madfloridian]

30. Issues matter more than personalities right now.

Too much is at stake.

Bernie seems like a grumpy old bear, but he's got powerful things to say and stands for things I value.

A sweet grumpy old bear, though.

[delrem]

34. I like him and he'll be a great president.

With issues in mind, and putting the winning spin on those issues, I've been wondering a bit about who would be his best vice-president.

There's so much about US politics that I don't know of! What do you think of Barbara Lee?

[tblue37]

60. Yes, we who support Bernie have been slimed as "Bernie-baggers" and told we are as

Last edited Mon Oct 26, 2015, 11:32 AM - Edit history (1)

thick as bricks. I have never insulted *anyone* here or anywhere else. I have degrees coming out my wazoo. I am a deeply committed New Deal Democrat. Yes, Bernie is a democratic socialist, but he supports the traditional New Deal values, which were undermined by the Third Way approach and its addiction to corporate cash.

I recoiled in disgust at the nasty insults being thrown at people on DU merely for daring to support a decent man who has fought all his life to promote the rights and the well-being of the 99% against the exploitation and greed of the oligarchs.

[tblue]

69. Hey cuz! I could've written that!

Amen. I can't say it any better than you did.

[tblue37]

70. Hi, cuz. BTW, do you keep getting mistaken for me? I keep getting confused with you.

Apparently other DUers don't see the "37" in my DU name.

[madfloridian]

74. I just realized there were two of you.

[tblue37]

75. Yep. We work part time as each other. nt

[stillwaiting]

61. I hear you. I highly recommend a liberal approach to the ignore button.

If I see a poster that is too aggressive in their attacks against Bernie supporters in general (or a Bernie supporter in particular; it doesn't have to be against me) I don't need to be seeing anything else from that poster.

Before this primary I might have had 5 people on ignore. I now have 66 on ignore. I don't see most of the condescending attacks anymore, and my DU experience is so much better.

It's funny when I check "My Posts" and see that one of my posts has received a Reply (by looking at time of last reply) but I don't see that Reply. Every time that happens I realize I just saved myself from a Reply that I would most likely not want to read. And, it feels great. I'm not going to be changing their minds so it's a waste of time to engage. I'm not even sure if I'm going to take ignore off after the Primaries for these posters. They exhibited a level of nastiness and contempt that I am used to getting from right-wingers. I don't need to communicate with people on my supposed side that feel about me the same exact way.

[sabrina 1]

28. Bernie was ON FIRE in Iowa this weekend! It is SO REFRESHING to hear so much truth from a politician

after a week of political theater with zero substance from either side.

[JDPriestly]

29. K&R.

[Duppers]

31. Great post! Go Bernie!

You're an important asset here, so thanks for enduring the pain and continuing to post.

[madfloridian]

38. .......

Kind words. Thanks so much.

[dreamnightwind]

42. Excellent, substantive OP

Bernie did all of ths at a time when Hillary was on a roll. There were calls from various corners that Bernie supporters should just give it up and circle the wagons around Hillary to defeat the Republicans. The Benghazi hearing gave her a national platform to show how strong, competent and presidential she can be (with no relation to issues that help the American people, just a platform to withstand Republican attacks and look good while doing so). She nailed that opportunity, and she nailed the DNC debate.

Bernie's response? Right back to what matters. Issue by issue, making his case. Nothing but resolve and determination. I haven't seen a candidate like this in, oh, forever. Thanks for the OP highlighting some of his statements.

I would like to see him wade more into foreign policy, debunk some of the conventional wisdom and centrist policies about resource wars, U.S. hyperinvolvement in the middle east, reliance on fossil fuels as it relates to foreign policy decisions, making our country more about building a decent and sustainable future for its citizens than about global resource exploration and empire. A lot of the money we need for social policies is being wasted on the military to support corporate resource procurement and extraction.

[senz]

44. Great OP, thanks so much.

His message is to the point, incisive and clear. He comes from a place of logic and morality, both. For me, it doesn't get much better than that.

[pacalo]

48. K&R.

[Enthusiast]

53. Kicked and recommended! Thank you, madfloridian.

These are some of the reasons I am supporting Bernie Sanders.

[newfie11]

56. If the damn MSM would report the whole news

More people would be informed. Thank God for the Internet and Free Speech TV!

[Babel_17]

62. This is the time

Senator Sanders timing for this is spot-on. Secretary Clinton attempts to reframe yet again her changing positions, while being disparaging and dismissive of Senator Sanders.

Secretary Clinton's campaign, feeling her to be on a roll, has overplayed their hand. People are paying close attention to everyone's words. The words from the Clinton campaign are now going to be prominently contrasted with reality. This is going to highlight the issue of forthrightness, and the Clinton campaign is very vulnerable on that. It's going to highlight several key issues for Progressives, and the Clinton campaign is very vulnerable on those issues.

More questions for journalists to ask. Clinton will have answers ready, but they won't help her with Progressives.

[Zorra]

64. Thank you, madfloridian, you for all the research you do to

bring so much relevant fact to DU.

[closeupready]

71. Yes, and if anyone needs further evidence Hillary is not trustworthy,

that hogwash she's trying to sell is yet another piece.

[uberblonde]

76. Bernie Sanders Claims He’s a Longtime Champion of Marriage Equality. It’s Just Not True.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/10/05/bernie_sanders_on_marriage_equality_he_s_no_longtime_champion.html

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders likes to describe himself as a longtime supporter of marriage equality—in sharp contrast to his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, who’s still striving to convince her base that she’s on board with LGBT rights. In May, Sanders famously told New York Times columnist Gail Collins that “I’m not evolving when it comes to gay rights. I was there!” Liberal outlets consistently describe Sanders as a pioneer for marriage equality. As proof of his pro-LGBT credentials, Sanders frequently touts his opposition in 1996 to the Defense of Marriage Act, which barred the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

But Sanders is not quite the gay rights visionary his defenders would like us to believe. Sanders did oppose DOMA—but purely on states’ rights grounds. And as recently as 2006, Sanders opposed marriage equality for his adopted home state of Vermont. The senator may have evolved earlier than his primary opponents. But the fact remains that, in the critical early days of the modern marriage equality movement, Sanders was neutral at best and hostile at worst.

Like his current Senate colleague Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Sanders deserves credit for opposing DOMA—then a popular measure with bipartisan support—while a member of the House of Representatives in 1996. But Sanders’ efforts to parlay this vote into indisputable proof of his marriage equality bona fides ring hollow in light of his statements at the time. Explaining his vote in 1996, Sanders’ chief of staff declared that it was motivated by a concern for states’ rights, not equality. Explaining that he wasn’t “legislating values,” she noted that Sanders believed DOMA violated the Constitution’s Full Faith and Credit Clause by allowing one state to refuse to recognize a same-sex marriage performed in another. “You’re opening up Pandora’s box here,” she said at the time. “You’re saying that any state can refuse to … recognize the laws of another state if they don’t like them.”

Perhaps Sanders’ team used this states’ rights rationale to limit backlash from anti-gay voters. That would be a perfectly acceptable tactic, since his vote—not his explanation of it—is what matters most. Still, if that’s the case, then Sanders should be honest about it. Sanders’ rhetoric leads listeners to believe that the congressman championed gay rights and rebuked Congress’ homophobia during the DOMA debate. But in his statements to the press at the time, Sanders defended states’ rights and made no mention of gay Americans’ dignity. His vote may have been brave. But it was hardly a full-throated cry for equality.