Bernie Sanders’ Radical Past

[ericson00]

interesting

In July 1985, Bernie Sanders traveled to Nicaragua, where he attended an event that one wire report dubbed an “anti-U.S. rally.”

The leftist Sandinista government was celebrating the sixth anniversary of the revolution that saw it take power from an American-backed dictator, Anastasio Somoza. Sanders was in a crowd estimated at a half million people, many of whom were clad in the Sandinistas’ trademark red-and-black colors and chanting “Here, there, everywhere/the Yankee will die.”

Sanders was being hosted by the Sandinistas as part of a delegation of American “solidarity groups.” He told reporters their decision to show “support” for the Nicaraguan government was “patriotic.”

“We want to show support for a small country trying to be independent, and we want to tell the truth to the American people when we return,” Sanders said.
...
His actions drew such attention that the “Doonesbury” comic strip infamously nicknamed Sanders’ city the “Peoples Republic of Burlington” after he took office. Along with visiting Nicaragua, UPI reported, Sanders traveled to Cuba and the Soviet Union during his years as mayor. And on Dec. 6,1981, Sanders went to Canada for the policy convention of the Parti Québécois, the separatist party that led the Canadian province of Quebec. At that gathering, which reportedly was also attended by representatives of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the PQ voted to push for independence from Canada even if it required breaking economic ties.

Out of the mainstream

[Dretownblues]

1. Ohhhh nooooo

BERNIES A COMMUNIST!!!!!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. And the red-baiting begins...

[ericson00]

4. communism did kill 100 million people

not that Bernie was a fan of that part, but thinking that communism "could work" under the right circumstances is pure naivety.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Nobody is a communist any more, not even Bernie.

Don't be silly.

[Luminous Animal]

14. He went, as mayor, wih 10 other Burlington officials to kick off a sister city program with a city

Fair distance from Moscow.

[George II]

43. He went to Moscow for his honeymoon.

[Luminous Animal]

50. It happened to coincide with his honeymoon

Jane, Bernie and 10 other people went on a honeymoon together to establish a sister city program. This is a fact.

[TexasBushwhacker]

26. No - DICTATORS killed 100 Million

There are dictators that kill hundreds of thousands now and in the past who aren't communists. There are communist leaders now who aren't killing their people.

[PowerToThePeople]

27. This. ^^

[nashville_brook]

61. and, in Central America in the 80s, we were on the side of the dictators

it's not a secret. people need to learn history. this is recent history. it's not even history. it's like yesterday.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

39. No. But Joseph Stalin did manage to kill several million.

[fleur-de-lisa]

3. Oh noes!

Your concern is duly noted!

[dlwickham]

5. not on DU though

I remember one poster on here either last year or the year before defending the North Korean government

you have people who still think Hugo Chavez was the 2nd coming and the Castros could do no wrong

you also have Putin fans-can't forget those who praise RT!

I'm sure there are posters who think Sanders isn't leftist enough.

[Purveyor]

22. ..

[JRLeft]

7. There a lot of Republicans on this site and they support HRC.

Why because HRC is a Republican with a D next to her name.

[kath]

18. This.

[pangaia]

8. HA HA !!!! I've been waiting for this shit.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Yup. The ghost of Joe McCarthy seems to have started haunting DU.

[pangaia]

10. He also as a younger man, read Marx, Engels, Trotsky, et al.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. I would hope everybody who ever took a world history class

read those same authors. I did. Oh, but don't tell some folks on DU; they might think I'm a communist!

[pangaia]

15. Absolutely right.

[hobbit709]

16. So did I along with Hitler and a host of other books.

Pretty soon The Anointed One supporters will be asking "Are you now or have you ever been..."

[bowens43]

11. hills evil minions are out in force tonight!!

enemies lists, lies, innuendo, scare tactics etc.....for those of us old enough to remember seems like nixon is back.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. Eeek!! A commie!! A RED!! A troublemaker!! A Hippie!!!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. "I have here in my hand..."

"The Sanders campaign is infested with communists. I have here in my hand ... a list of names that were made known to Bernie Sanders as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the Sanders campaign."

[immoderate]

19. You have to admit — Bernie is cool!

--imm

[kath]

20. Rofl.

[in_cog_ni_to]

21. Joseph McCarthy, is that you???

Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visible public face of a period in which Cold War tensions fueled fears of widespread Communist subversion.[1] He was noted for making claims that there were large numbers of Communists and Soviet spies and sympathizers inside the United States federal government and elsewhere. Ultimately, his tactics and inability to substantiate his claims led him to be censured by the United States Senate.

The term "McCarthyism", coined in 1950 in reference to McCarthy's practices, was soon applied to similar anti-communist activities. Today, the term is used more generally in reference to demagogic, reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character or patriotism of political opponents.[2]

McCarthy was born in 1908 in the Town of Grand Chute in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, and attended Marquette University, eventually earning an LL.B. from Marquette University Law School.[3] At age 33, McCarthy volunteered for the United States Marine Corps and served during World War II. He successfully ran for the United States Senate in 1946, defeating Robert M. La Follette Jr. After three largely undistinguished years in the Senate, McCarthy rose suddenly to national fame in February 1950 when he asserted in a speech that he had a list of "members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring" who were employed in the State Department.[4]

In succeeding years after his 1950 speech, McCarthy made additional accusations of Communist infiltration into the State Department, the administration of President Harry S. Truman, the Voice of America, and the United States Army. He also used various charges of communism, communist sympathies, disloyalty, or homosexuality to attack a number of politicians and other individuals inside and outside of government.[5]<snip>

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCarthy


This shit didn't work the last time people tried it and it won't work this time. Bernie has been an eleced official for 25 YEARS. Do you really believe Vermonters would send a Communist to Congress? Better yet, do you REALLY believe Congress would allow a Communist to serve? Do you REALLY believe DEMOCRATS would caucus with a Communist???

Your shit slinging is sick.

PEACE
LOVE
BERNIE

[ejbr]

23. !

[Dawson Leery]

24. kick

[Octafish]

25. Yeah, to help stop the Death Squads Reagan was illegally arming.

Evidently mass murder without end has since gone mainstream.

http://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/sanders-siempre-what-bernie-learned-in-nicaragua/Content?oid=2948191

Before Reagan, Jimmy Carter ordered the State Department to put Human Rights first. Things sure did change.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

28. OMG no!!1!! HE'S A COMMUNIST??? What are we gonna do, FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!11 This is HUGH!!1

Have you no decency, sir?

[earthside]

29. I too opposed Reagan's intervention in Nicaragua.

I too opposed the repressive Somoza regime and the reactionary contras.

Give me some more reasons to support Sen. Sanders.

By the way, the leader of the Sandinistas, Daniel Ortega, is now president of Nicaragua.

In this case, it looks again like Sanders was on the correct side of history.

[choie]

30. You are just fucking desperate...

n/t

[Kalidurga]

31. That is a great recommendation thanks for posting.

Bernie is so much better than I thought he was.

[stone space]

32. When I read stuff like this, I feel unwelcome in the Democratic Party. (nt)

[ericson00]

33. too bad the Democratic Party at the time also opposed Bernie's stance

[stone space]

34. But are we accepted now? (nt)

[Octafish]

36. Ever hear of Tip O'Neill and David Bonior?

https://books.google.com/books?id=4CxZURlgyyQC&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93&dq=david+bonior+opposed+reagan+central+america&source=bl&ots=HOfCD2PdHr&sig=qPmXOENaZtoZnYXSA42R0o8Jm1g&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj-vN7exrLKAhVEPiYKHU9yC8IQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=david%20bonior%20opposed%20reagan%20central%20america&f=false

They stood with Bernie over Reagan re Central America.

[ericson00]

37. they did not actively support the Sandinistas

whereas Bernie did. Just like most opposition to the Vietnam War didn't go the Jane Fonda route of actually supporting the Vietcong.

[Octafish]

44. Are you saying supporting the Sandinistas was treason?

"Jane Fonda route." Good one!

[ericson00]

45. not treason, but certainly unpatriotic

and that doesn't help in a general election

[Octafish]

47. ''Unpatriotic'' as defined by Ronald Reagan.

Who was going against the law -- Constitution -- by arming the Contras when it was illegal to do so.

So, who is unpatriotic, ericson00?

[ericson00]

49. Al Gore and Bill Bradley

would not agree with Sanders:

source on Gore
source on Bradley

[nashville_brook]

60. shall we pull out the whole iran-contra file...?

I'm down if you are

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

56. "Patriotism is the passion of fools and the most foolish of passions." Arthur Schopenhauer

[nashville_brook]

59. actually, the way Reagan's pals supported the Contras WAS unpatriotic

those of us at the time who saw what was going on were on the right side of the fight.

[Armstead]

35. Gosh he Stood Against Reagan and the Right Wing Contras -- How awful

Ollie North will never vote for him

[Rosa Luxemburg]

40. LOL!

[Uponthegears]

55. Oooooh Noooo

I wonder who Ollie WILL vote for?

I have to tell ya, it takes a special kind of sick to side with CIA sponsored miltary dictators supported by SOA trained death squads less than a month after the anniversary of the rape and murder of Catholic nuns in El Salvador.

Mainstream US politicians have NOTHING to be proud of in Central and South America.

[Motown_Johnny]

38. The Democratic Socialist is a.. a...a .... LEFTIST !!!!

Whod a evah thunk it?

[shawn703]

41. Someone who didn't support Reagan's foreign policy

Would be more accurately referred to as a Democrat. Are you on the right board?

[closeupready]

42. Yawn. If that's all you got, lol...

[UglyGreed]

46. the NY Post

article rehashed as an yahoo article clever.

[Live and Learn]

48. LOL, you say out of the mainstream like it is a bad thing.

[TIME TO PANIC]

51. We get it, Bernie's a commie.

and now a song from The Clash.

[Uponthegears]

52. And history

will stand with Senator Sanders.

[fredamae]

53. hahahahahahahaha

Was He the Only one Protesting "something"? Standing up for the oppressed? Or have things kinda always been this way?
http://www.upi.com/Archives/Audio/Events-of-1985/Protest-Against-Aparteid/
http://wagingnonviolence.org/2009/06/remembering-the-1982-rally-against-nuclear-arms/
http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/cornell-university-students-sit-divestment-apartheid-south-africa-1985
http://news.yahoo.com/photos/hull-greenpeaces-rainbow-warrior-pictured-august-1-1985-photo-042330160.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/peopleevents/pandeAMEX89.html

Or should we thank Him for standing Up for those we all see Need Help?

[WDIM]

54. Respect!

We need a revolutionary!

[John Poet]

57. F&% This $hit!

Last edited Tue Jan 19, 2016, 05:37 AM - Edit history (1)

Joe McCarthy is alive and well, and posting on DU!

Better make Bernie disrobe-- I hear tell he wears RED underwear!!!!

[Truprogressive85]

58. Really

So now on DU HRC supporters are saying Reagan is a hero?

Its like conservatives idots saying not supporting the Iraq war was unpatriotic

[okasha]

62. The sad, in fact rather pathetic, truth

about Bernie Sanders is that he has never been a real socialist or a radical in more than name. He plays one on TV, and stands on the sidelines of really revolutionary movements, as he stood at the edge of the crowd at MLK's Washington speech. No marching at Selma, no endangering himself with the Freedom Riders. He talks; that's as far as it goes. He has never acted where more than verbiage might be demanded of him.

He's a sad little capitalist who has been in bed with arms manufacturers from Smith and Wesson to Lockheed Martin.throughout his career. He voted for the Border wall and protected the Minutemen. All those are firmly right wing positions, and he has been thoroughly denounced by actual, real live socialists.

Bernie Sanders calls himself a socialist as part of his public persona of lone wolf rebel. He's just the other face of Donald Trump, which is why libertaians love him almost as much as they do the Turnip.