Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

grasswire

(50,130 posts)
Thu Mar 10, 2016, 11:36 PM Mar 2016

Hillary Clinton, Stalwart Friend of World's Worst Despots....

....Attacks Sanders' Latin American Activism.

https://theintercept.com/2016/03/10/hillary-clinton-stalwart-friend-of-worlds-worst-despots-attacks-sanders-latin-american-activism/?comments=1#comments

..................................

At Wednesday night’s Democratic debate, Hillary Clinton attacked Bernie Sanders for praising Fidel Castro in the 1980s, as well as for standing with Central American governments and rebel groups targeted by Ronald Reagan’s brutal covert wars. “You know,” said the former secretary of state, “if the values are that you oppress people, you disappear people, imprison people or even kill people for expressing their opinions, for expressing freedom of speech, that is not the kind of revolution of values that I ever want to see anywhere.”

To defend her remarks, Clinton’s faithful Good Democratic supporters began instantly spouting rhetoric that sounded like a right-wing, red-baiting Cold War cartoon.

snip

Vehement opposition to Reagan’s covert wars in Central America, as well as to the sadistic and senseless embargo of Cuba, were once standard liberal positions. As my colleague Jeremy Scahill, observing the reaction of Clinton supporters during the debate, put it in a series of tweets: “The U.S. sponsored deaths squads that massacred countless central and Latin Americans, murdered nuns and priests, assassinated an Archbishop. I bet commie Sanders was even against Reagan’s humanitarian mining of Nicaraguan waters & supported subsequent war crimes judgment vs. U.S. Have any of these Hillarybots heard of the Contra death squads? Or is it just that whatever Hillary says must be defended at all costs? The Hillarybots attacking Sanders over Nicaragua should be ashamed of themselves.”

Let’s pretend for the sake of argument that the horror expressed by Clinton and her supporters over Sanders’ 1980s positions on Latin America was all driven by some sort of authentic outrage over praising tyrants and human rights abusers rather than a cynical, craven tactic to undermine Sanders using long-standing right-wing, red-baiting smears. Is Hillary Clinton a credible voice for condemning support for despots and human rights abusers? To answer that, let’s review much more recent evidence than the 1980s:

7 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Hillary Clinton, Stalwart Friend of World's Worst Despots.... (Original Post) grasswire Mar 2016 OP
Well that is going to leave a mark. Kalidurga Mar 2016 #1
crickets, so far. grasswire Mar 2016 #2
Perhaps it was more a mortal wound then. Kalidurga Mar 2016 #3
Hillary's supporters religiously AVOID these threads about John Poet Mar 2016 #7
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Mar 2016 #4
That evil Red Sanders opposed America's friends Batista and Somoza. K&R Tierra_y_Libertad Mar 2016 #5
She stood aside while a right-wing coup threw out the elected president John Poet Mar 2016 #6
 

John Poet

(2,510 posts)
7. Hillary's supporters religiously AVOID these threads about
Fri Mar 11, 2016, 04:17 AM
Mar 2016

her actions as SOS in Central America and elsewhere--

They can make no defense or excuse, so they prefer that these threads sink off the first page just as soon as possible. It almost seems organized.

 

John Poet

(2,510 posts)
6. She stood aside while a right-wing coup threw out the elected president
Fri Mar 11, 2016, 04:15 AM
Mar 2016

of Honduras in 2009, encouraged to do so by right-wing Republican senators.

This is consistent with her apparent approval of Reagan policies in Central America--
policies I spent a considerable amount of time protesting against, in my youth.

Just when I think I can't get even more disgusted with Hillary,
she opens her mouth in this debate...

Avoiding the press is probably a good strategy for her.

Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»2016 Postmortem»Hillary Clinton, Stalwart...