Bernie Blew It: He Sold Out Instead of Confronting Clinton

[BeyondGeography]

By Robert Scheer

Bernie blew it. By embracing rather than confronting Hillary Clinton, Sen. Sanders fell into the trap of sellout mainstream politics, improving his personal brand as an appealing but ultimately non-threatening advocate for the downtrodden while studiously avoiding any suggestion that the smiley-faced woman standing next to him is deeply complicit in Wall Street’s rape of the nation.

In Tuesday’s debate he pointedly ignored the Clinton family’s role in deregulating Wall Street, and in doing so he allowed Hillary Clinton to cast gun regulation as the key issue that divides her from him. Forgotten was Bill Clinton’s selection of Goldman Sachs honcho Robert Rubin to be his treasury secretary, an appointee who with President Clinton’s complicity presided over the dismantling of New Deal limits on financial greed.

The Clinton family tradition of sucking up to Wall Street is why Hillary and Bill and the foundation their daughter heads have been rewarded with millions in lecture fees and donations that are the basis of Hillary’s rags-to-riches fairy tale. When she says she wants every child to have the opportunity that her grandchild has, that presupposes a father set up in the hedge fund business by Goldman Sachs chairman and Clinton buddy Lloyd Blankfein.

Yes, Bernie Sanders has an immensely honorable record of waging the good fight for struggling Americans. On issues of economic justice, he is second to none, but that makes his stumble in this debate so depressing. I have long admired the man, but his failure to directly hold the Democratic leadership accountable for the bipartisan hollowing out of the American workforce was disappointing. The destruction of the hardworking, decently paid middle class was abetted by lousy trade deals like NAFTA and more recently the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Hillary Clinton called the “gold standard” until it became politically inconvenient to insist on that absurdity.

Sanders’ eagerness to forgive Clinton for any malfeasance in her email scandal was the debate’s most celebrated but disgraceful moment. Ignoring her outrageous hypocrisy in endorsing the government’s right to read the personal emails of everyone in the world, including the leaders of Germany and Brazil, but not her own, Sanders absolved the former secretary of state of the kinds of security breaches that have put lower-level government workers in prison...

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/bernie_blew_it_he_sold_out_instead_of_confronting_clinton_20151016

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. Sanders said he would not do that.

So I do not get why people are surprised.

[Scootaloo]

2. "Person," not "People"

I've not seen this claim from anyone except Robert Scheer. and only just now.

[Agnosticsherbet]

7. Sanders has stated that he will talk policy, not attack.

Just by doing th as that he has pulled the party left. I think he will continue to affect the trajectory of the campaign.

But people who want him to fight in the mud will be disapointed. Remarkably, the differences between the candidates are small, on the debate stage.

[BeyondGeography]

5. True, which is why he was never much of a threat IMO

[upaloopa]

3. I was waiting for this. Bernie is going to be

thrown under buss by his own supporters.
It isn't about Bernie it is about what they want. First they wanted Warren but took Bernie as a consolation prize.

[Live and Learn]

6. What a silly response. nt

[Demeter]

12. In a word: fatuous

[LiberalElite]

14. Your concern is noted nt

[darkangel218]

4. I agree that he should have confronted her.

However, there are still 5 debates left. He has time and the opportunity to do it. I just hope it will happen.

[Live and Learn]

8. I disagree. Bernie said we were sick of the email scandal and want to hear about the issues.

I agree with him.

i think it was stupid of Hillary to do but she's done much worse in my opinion. Time to make it illegal to do any WH business on personal email and be done with these scandals. But this is not an issue Bernie should deal with.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

9. Ditto. He didn't 'embrace' her even though he shook hands with her.

His remarks were scathing commentary about the choices the media makes in which issues are 'important'. Hillary's email scandal is far less important than climate change, racial injustice, or even, for instance, the corporate ownership and consolidation of our media.

[charlene4047]

17. Agree

I think Bernie "weakness" actually showed his strength of character. My first impression of him was that of an honest man that I could trust. That's important to me. I think/thought the President had much of that same quality, right up until TPP.

[geek tragedy]

10. Bernie is right to ignore idiots like Scheer. nt

[bemildred]

11. I like the change, Bernie is right, enough with the bullshit, let's talk policy. nt

[appalachiablue]

16. In his 40 year political career Bernie Sanders has never run a negative attack campaign

which he seems proud of as he should. He knows how to be effective in genuine ways like on the issues. Bernie is also no fool and a real fighter for what he believes in, believe it. A person with major skills of perception and intelligence, among many other admirable qualities.

Sheer will just have to cope, or not.

[bemildred]

18. Pretty much..

Sheer has done yeoman work for the left, and paid his dues for it too, so I'm not throwing him under the bus, but he is wrong here.

[Demeter]

13. Since the FBI is still investigating, I'll wait

It seems unlikely that Obama would throw Hillary under the bus and prosecute her, but he's done stranger things....don't get on his bad side!


on edit, further thought:

When Bernie rescued the damsel in distress he showed the world that he was a man of honor, and she was a stupid, foolish, entitled brat who needed rescuing from her own folly.

In short, Bernie's a mensch. Coupled with his brains and integrity, he's a perfect match for the job! I'm sure the prospective employers (we the people) will see it that way.

Bernie will have the nation at his back. Hillary will have some criminally corrupt banksters. Which one will be more effective? Which will sleep better at night? Which one will be on the side of the 99%? Which one will be sleeping with the fishes if she tries to be that kind of president?

[Tumbulu]

15. What an idiotic thing to conclude. Reminded me of what David Brooks was

saying today on PBS Newshour.

Totally weird response.

No, Bernie proved what a real statesman he is.

I already really liked him, but that made him even more impressive.

I honestly think that anyone who wants him to rip into Hilary has some sort of personality disorder. The Repukes have been doing that for over 20 years now. We need not do a thing.

[marble falls]

19. Bernie did not need to tell me what I already knew: I am not voting for Hillary in the primary.