Bernie Sanders Shows What A Real Leader Is

[portlander23]

[Chasstev365]

1. Be Prepared to be Attacked Here on DU

I liked your post, but the way!

[RazBerryBeret]

3. He IS leading the way

and I will gladly follow! thanks for posting!

[LongTomH]

4. K&R Bernie is leading the fight against Republican attacks on the ACA, Social Security, Medicare...

.....and Medicaid!!!!!

Real Democrats need to get behind Bernie, not attack him!!!!

[George II]

6. No he's not, he's following as usual. What specifically has he done....

...that Democrats have not already done?

[elleng]

8. Sanders will lead Democratic drive to organize rallies in every state against Medicare/Medicaid cuts

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028412650

[George II]

13. Nope.

[FailureToCommunicate]

46. Ah George, give it a rest. Our guy lost the primaries, our candidate lost the general

due to no fault of Bernie. What good comes of misplaced bitterness?

[Gothmog]

54. No, The Systems Not Totally Rigged. But That Idea Sure Helped Donald Trump.

Sanders had no chance of being the nominee after Super Tuesday but continued his campaign which hurt Clinton. Here is a good example Sanders really hurt Clinton I am still mad at the number of times that trump used Sanders' claims against Clinton. Sanders' baseless charges that the system was fixed and rigged were used by trump to great effect and hurt Clinton http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rigged-system-donald-trump_us_5855cb44e4b08debb7898607?section=us_politics

And if Sanders’ rhetoric during the primaries started that stew simmering with his talk about the system only working for the rich, Trump brought it to a full boil with his remarks blaming undocumented immigrants and trade agreements that he claimed were forged as the result of open corruption.

I think he was able to thread a certain toxic needle. But he did win, and we’re all going to pay the price.
John Weaver, aide to Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s presidential campaign

The underlying irony for those who sought to end what they perceived as corruption is that they may well have elected a president whose record through the years and whose actions since the election signal it could be the most openly corrupt administration in generations.....

And if Sanders’ rhetoric during the primaries started that stew simmering with his talk about the system only working for the rich, Trump brought it to a full boil with his remarks blaming undocumented immigrants and trade agreements that he claimed were forged as the result of open corruption.

Sanders' bogus rigged process claim hurt a great deal

[George II]

55. Give it a rest? Shouldn't you be speaking to the OP here?

[tecelote]

73. Who is he following?

He's in the news almost daily fighting for "our values".

Isn't this petty whining about Bernie a bit like the Bernie Bros you hate so much? You can't get beyond the election and unite. Instead you must keep building on your hate. It's not productive and it's not helping.

It's time to come together as a team of Democrats and Independents to fight the real foe. The party that could destroy our country.

[George II]

86. He's following Schumer, Pelosi, et. al. He's not "in the news" fighting for our values.

He's being artificially put in the news by some who can't accept that he wasn't the nominee.

Hate? HATE? Just look at the subject line of the OP. Is that "productive"? You should be admonishing that one instead of one who is just reacting to the negative implication of the OP.

[sheshe2]

10. Real Democrats?

What exactly are you implying?

[Chevy]

72. Real Democrats??

Sure when he becomes a Democrat and stops attacking the party. Until then he's just an old man screaming to get off his lawn.

[George II]

5. Just HOW does he show "what a real leader is"?

[elleng]

9. This way:

Sanders will lead Democratic drive to organize rallies in every state against Medicare/Medicaid cuts.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028412650

[George II]

12. No, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi (Democratic leaders of their respective....

....houses) will be leading the Democratic drive.

[Dustlawyer]

16. Bernie is using his surplus campaign money to pay for the rallies.

[sheshe2]

17. Link Please.

TIA

[lapucelle]

20. My guess is that he's saving it for his 2018 senate run.

It would be more than a little awkward for him to expect the same funding that he received from the DSCC in 2012, especially if other candidates like Dean and Giordano are running on the Democratic line.

[sheshe2]

21. I am sure you are right, lapucelle.

[Dustlawyer]

23. Story by Tim Fernholz 12/28 at qz.com

qz.com/873725/senator-bernie-sanders-is-leading-the-democrats-into-battle-against-donald-trump-on-january-15/

You can google if this link doesn't work.

[sheshe2]

26. Does the link show he is using his campaign funds...

to sponsor these demonstrations. That was the question I responded to.

[Dustlawyer]

30. If you bother to read the story you would know that it does.

[Eric J in MN]

92. 'dollars from Sanderss presidential campaign will go toward organizing the Jan. 15 rallies' NT

NT

[NWCorona]

95. For what it's worth

"In addition to his political capital, Sanders' team tells Quartz that they will put the remaining money donated to the senator's presidential primary campaign toward the Jan. 15 rallies."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/dailydot.relaymedia.com/amp/layer8/bernie-sanders-january-15-rallies-donald-trump/

[George II]

71. I really don't think so. Please research that, you'll be surprised at what you find.

[elleng]

19. Chuck Schumer (along with Pelosi) selected Senator Sanders to lead, along with them.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/democratic-leaders-organize-a-day-of-oppostion-to-obamacare-repeal

[George II]

47. No, they selected him to be involved, THEY are the leaders.

[elleng]

49. What's it to you?

[lapucelle]

18. Meh.

He was unable to convince much of his faction to do the right thing on November 8. That would have been true and selfless leadership, and 65,000,000+ would have been grateful now and for a long time after. He missed his moment of greatness.

[George II]

48. But he bought a nice house on Lake Champlain days after the convention.

[NWCorona]

96. And?

[panader0]

101. A larger percentage of Bernie supporters voted for HRC against Trump

than HRC supporters voted for Obama.
In the next Congress, Bernie will be there, fighting for Democratic values,
and HRC will be at home.

[Feeling the Bern]

38. There we go. There's the kind of Bernie hate I expected. He's not a real Democrat. . .

he cost HRC the election with his lies. . .
He's pro gun, anti-woman. . .
And he needs to get the fuck out of "my" party and create his own Democratic Socialist Party
Or, better yet, fade into obvilion.

See, that's the kind of Bernie hate I've seen posted over and over again here on DU.

[George II]

44. Where did I say any of that tripe? WHERE?

[brer cat]

79. If you are attributing those comments to George

rather than stating your own opinion of Bernie, your reply is entirely and astoundingly dishonest. George asked one simple question:

Just HOW does he show "what a real leader is"?

If you are giving your opinion of Bernie, I must say I'm a bit surprised, although people often have a change of heart. If you are trying to claim George made those statements, I can only look at the blank space under George's reply title and conclude that you made them up out of whole cloth.

See, that's the kind of Hillary-supporter hate I've seen posted over and over again here on DU.

[Feeling the Bern]

85. I'm being sarcastic. Look at my name.

[George II]

87. Methinks some "doth protest too much", reading THEIR OWN thoughts into the thoughts of others.

[CousinIT]

7. I agree...

...as much animosity as he inexplicably attracts here, he certainly does.

[TDale313]

66. He dared to point out...

That Dems aren't perfect and have a lot of work to do- and that the status quo leaves a lot of people's needs unmet. He also has always made the point that they're far better than Republicans on basically everything. And always stood firm in supporting Hillary over Trump. Seems perfectly rational to me.

[CousinIT]

67. Seems rational to me too.

Don't exactly understand all the anger about Bernie.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

11. Have the rally places/times been announced yet?

I'll probably attend if there's one nearby.

[elmac]

14. I think the Democratic leadership and Bernie will work better together

then some members of DU, at least I hope.

[elleng]

22. I think you're right, elmac.

GOOD they'll work well together. A true SHAME that DUers don't.

[montana_hazeleyes]

25. But the very title was putting down other leaders.

Who are Bernie supporters saying are not "real leaders". I've seen many Bernie supporters treat President Obama horribly for instance. Many ,many times.

And I'm not against Bernie at all. You could not find one post where I put Bernie down.

I think everyone should fight together.

[elleng]

27. Yes. Unfortunate, that. Comes from the video,

not from the OP poster.

Yes, especially now everyone should fight together.

[montana_hazeleyes]

32. Ok. Thanks for your response.

We are in times like I've never seen and I'm over 65 years old!

[elleng]

36. Ditto,

and Ditto.

[NWCorona]

97. Definitely. That's why I'm not worried about this noise going on.

[elmac]

15. And we all know about that nasty circular firing squad

ready, aim, FIRE!

[elleng]

29. Doing it! DAMN!

Gotta watch a Mystery!

[Tarheel_Dem]

24. "Democrats" beware.

[dhol82]

28. Last I heard he was not a democrat

Does that make any difference to the Sandernistas here?

[TonyPDX]

33. Ask Chuck Schumer if it makes a difference.

[dhol82]

34. Still fighting the primary, eh?

[TonyPDX]

35. Only here.

[LiberalLovinLug]

93. Check the mirror there bud

"Sandernistas"?

[elleng]

37. Don't think it makes a difference to 'Sandernistas,'

but 'others' really like to grab onto labels, it appears.

[Gothmog]

31. Has Sanders changed his FEC filing to run as a Democrat for Senate in 2018?

[Feeling the Bern]

39. Guess he hasn't since he is an Independent and caucuses with the Democrats like Angus King of

Maine does.

Time to tell Bernie to go fuck himself and go away! Come on, everyone, it's fun to put Party over Principle!

[zentrum]

40. K&R

[nini]

41. Should the site be renamed 'BernieUnderground'?

Because it certainly appears someone who is NOT a Democrat rules the roost.

He would win over so many people if he'd actually join the party he wants to control. While his followers don't see that as a problem it is for many. So when you tell us we need to reach out to you and not see why it's important for him to be a member of the party he wants to control - we're not the problem.

I love his ideas.. I just don't like him and his own brand of narcissism.

[Still In Wisconsin]

42. Cue the Hill-bot attack in 3..2..1..

Oh and by the way, I volunteered, contributed, and voted for HRC, so NO all HRC voters are not Hill-bots.

[pnwmom]

43. The same Bernie Sanders who 4 years ago said President Obama should be primaried?

I think President Obama has been demonstrating for 8 years what a real leader is -- and so does a large majority of Americans.

[George II]

45. And said it would be "hypocritical" to run as a Democrat!

[jalan48]

50. Bernie's the future of the Democratic Party.

[NanceGreggs]

52. So he's the future of a party ...

... he refuses to be a member of?

[Gothmog]

57. I agree with your analysis

[NanceGreggs]

58. I have an overwheling distrust ...

... of people who refuse to be part of a group, but at the same time think they should "lead" that group.

[jalan48]

60. I have a distrust of Democrats who are too cozy with big banks and Wall Street myself.

We need to return to our roots-we lost our way and the results of the last election point this out.

[NanceGreggs]

69. Ah, the old "too cozy with banks" BS.

What is that even supposed to mean?

[jalan48]

80. I'm sure the average Democratic voter gets it.

[George II]

88. So not only are you taking a swipe at our candidate(s) but Democratic voters, too?

[jalan48]

89. Let's see-how did we do in the last election? Did we lose even with a huge Democratic turnout?

What? That big turnout didn't happen? I wonder why? Maybe we need to change our approach and message, or are you suggesting we just go full speed ahead with the same thing? Personally, I wan to see the Democrats win, how about you?

[NanceGreggs]

104. In other words ...

... you can't explain what it means. That's what I figured.

[Gothmog]

63. Sanders says he ran as a Democrat for 'media coverage'

Sanders admitted that he was running for media coverage and money http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-dem-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/bernie-sanders-independent-media-coverage-220747

Bernie Sanders on Monday told NBC’s Chuck Todd that he ran as a Democrat to get more media coverage.

During a town hall-style event in Columbus, Ohio, the independent Vermont senator said, “In terms of media coverage, you have to run within the Democratic Party.” He then took a dig at MNSBC, telling Todd, the network “would not have me on his program” if he ran as an independent.

Money also played a role in his decision to run as a Democrat, Sanders added.

“To run as an independent, you need — you could be a billionaire," he said. "If you're a billionaire, you can do that. I'm not a billionaire. So the structure of American politics today is such that I thought the right ethic was to run within the Democratic Party.”

This does not inspire a great deal of trust

[NanceGreggs]

70. Exactly.

He said he'd be a hypocrite if he ever ran as a Democrat, until he decided that he needed to use their resources to further his own ambitions - and then immediately dropped the pretense when they were no longer of any use to him.

[lastone]

82. "further his own ambitions"

That statement is just plain wrong and stupid, anyone who believes that Bernie Sanders ran for his own gain is an idiot and not paying attention in the least...

[bettyellen]

102. It's only "ambitious" when a woman does it! It's a humble act of servitude otherwise!

[George II]

56. Really? Then why doesn't he identify himself as a "Democrat"?

http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/CandidateCommitteeDetail.do?candidateCommitteeId=S4VT00033&tabIndex=1

Name: SANDERS, BERNARD (I - INCUMBENT)
Office Sought: S - SENATE
Election Year: 2018
State: VT - VERMONT, District: 00

Party: INDEPENDENT

If he's such a great "Democrat", why does he refuse to admit he's a "Democrat"????

[jalan48]

59. He works with the Dems and votes with them-except that he is more Progressive.

If Democrats expect to win they will need to be more like him.

[George II]

61. In what way? I don't agree.

[jalan48]

62. Look at the way he financed his campaign. No big corporate donors.

[George II]

64. You really need to dig into the details of his filings.

[jalan48]

65. OK

[BainsBane]

75. Yes, that's now the go to excuse

For ignoring campaign finance reform as a policy. That one popular politician can raise and spend unprecedented amounts of money in a presidential primary does nothing to address the way money--not just " corporate" money but wealth in general--thwarts democracy at all levels, the presidency being the least of it. But thanks to Bernie's successfully distracting from policy in favor of rhetoric about personal attributes, self-proclaimed progressives no loner talk about campaign finance reform at all. They just talk about how Bernie was able to raise enormous amounts of money. That some then voted against policies designed to address the problem by refusing to vote for Clinton confirms how little they care about policy to address the problem system wide. Even Bernie now talks not about changing the law but that all campaigns should raise money like he did, which is of course impossible for lower offices were candidates don't appear on television several times a week.

The net result of the primary and the general election was a massive blow to campaign finance reform.

[jalan48]

81. The "System is rigged" is a very effective and true message about our current political setup.

Citizens get that something is seriously wrong. Trump was the worst and most disliked Presidential candidate to ever run-and we lost to him!

[BainsBane]

99. Calling the system rigged accomplishes nothing.

Legislation and Scotus appointments are what change things. Making it about personal virtue over policy undermines reform, as the results of the election demonstrate all too well.

I don't share the fixation with rhetoric above policy. I'm not an ad exec or a political operative but instead a voter. I can only speak to what concerns me, and that is policy rather than sloganeering.

[jalan48]

103. It's on my website!

[azmom]

94. Wow. I applaud your spinning skills.

That my friend is true talent.

[BainsBane]

100. It's also true

The results demonstrate as much.

[BainsBane]

76. If that's true

The Democratic Party doesn't have many years left. If the future is to be attributed to one man, it should be someone young enough to continue in public service for more than a few years.

Frankly, the fixation on a single individual above any principle or idea doesn't give me confidence for the future of the party or the nation.

All of these threads eulogizing Bernie put him first. They are all about his career, what is entirely absent is any discussion of policy. The most we see is discussion of "messaging," its relation to policy entirely inconsequential. That so many focused on sloganeering and personality leaves me disheartened for our future as a nation. Americans no longer want public servants; they want kings, wheteher Trump or Bernie. Democracy cannot be sustained in such an environment.

[Cryptoad]

51. still waiting for that definition for a "Real Democrat"

[Equinox Moon]

53. I see it like this...

Bernie supporters adapted to supporting HRC. Now, it is time for the HRC supporters to adapt to Bernie being in the outreach leadership role.

Dear ones, we have work to do! We are fighting for the future of the America we envision.

HRC's slogan was "Stronger Together". That means all of us.

I will be at this Jan. 15th rally in my city, and will help with it as well.

[SunSeeker]

68. Why does your post title have to insult Democrats? How does that help us?

[George II]

84. It's not even true.

[SunSeeker]

90. Well yes, that is why it is insulting to Democrats, who ARE leading the pushback against Trump.

In EVERY state.

[NanceGreggs]

77. The "leader" of what?

The "leader" of a party he refused to be a part of - until he admitted he couldn't further his own political ambitions without the media attention being a Democrat-of-Convenience would bring?

The "leader" of the people who he sold himself to as an "outsider" - when he's never had a steady paycheque that didn't have Uncle Sam's name on the payor line?

The "leader" who told his supporters that the Democratic Party (the party he was allegedly running for) was corrupt - and the only person who could "fix it" was his own esteemed self?

The "leader" who doesn't want to BE a Democrat, but thinks all Democrats should defer to his superior knowledge about how they should conduct themselves?

The "leader" who didn't have enough class to concede the nomination looooong after it was obvious that he couldn't win?

The "leader" who told his followers to keep sending money to his campaign because he could "still win this" after he knew he'd lost?

The "leader" who told his supporters that he was "taking it to the Convention" - when he didn't, and knew he never would?

The "leader" who held himself out as "Mister Transparency", but who never DID cough-up those complete tax returns - and then blamed their absence on his wife's incompetence?

The "leader" who some are now claiming could have beat Trump - when he couldn't even get enough votes from the party he was supposedly running for to win their nomination?

THAT "leader"? No thanks. He doesn't sound like much of a "leader" to me.

[BainsBane]

78. +1

[Gothmog]

83. Great Post Nance

[SunSeeker]

91. Well said.

[NastyRiffraff]

98. THANK you, Nance

Every word is true.