Bernie Sanders Says Hyde Park Made Him a Socialist, Social Justice Advocate

[portlander23]

Last edited Mon Sep 28, 2015, 04:38 PM - Edit history (2)

DNAinfo: Bernie Sanders Says Hyde Park Made Him a Socialist, Social Justice Advocate

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday returned to his alma mater, the University of Chicago, a day after a poll put him closer to Hillary Clinton than ever.

He said Hyde Park was the first place where he met people who had devoted their lives to social justice and civil rights issues.

He said few people during his graduation ceremony in June 1964 would have believed the progress made on many issues or the election of Barack Obama.

"No one in that room in 1964 would have thought it was possible, but it happened and we should be proud of it," Sanders said of Obama, whose home is mere blocks from where Sanders spoke Monday. "It is not Barack Obama, it is the American people reached the maturity that they would vote for the best candidate not just the white candidate."

"I learned here about Democratic socialism," Sanders said.

"Change never takes place from the top down, it always takes place from the bottom on up," Sanders said.

“There is nothing I am telling you today that is pie in the sky, utopian," Sanders said. "We can accomplish that and more, but we will not accomplish that if 80 percent of young people do not vote, if 62 percent of Americans do not vote.”

Sanders was not particularly fond of his classes and preferred to be out in the neighborhood on fair housing actions, sit-ins or working on the local alderman’s re-election campaign, according to reports of the senator's time in Hyde Park.

Click here to watch the speech on Livestream

[AppalachianAmerican]

1. This is history in the making.

[Fawke Em]

5. Love that gif.

Stealing!

[Armstead]

12. I love that -- Having him seen him speak Truth to an empty chamber for years...

it's great to see the difference

[ms liberty]

26. Yes, this!

[raouldukelives]

34. Perfect. nt

[elleng]

2. WHAT A HEADLINE, personally!

Hyde Park was my first neighborhood after college, lived there 10 years including while attending law school (not U. of Chic,) and many informative, fond, life-affirming memories! Bernie and I have SO much in common! (NY/Brooklyn + Jewish, among others.)

[Garrett78]

31. It was my first neighborhood after grad school.

Across the street from the Museum of Science and Industry. I could see a bit of Lake Michigan from my 9th floor studio. I taught at a couple of schools on the south side.

[elleng]

36. Nice.

I could see the lake, from most of the apartments where I lived.

[Gregorian]

3. If we unite. Can we unite? Will we unite? It's our only hope.

I see it happening too slowly. Reagan screwed us. Anslinger and Hearst screwed us. Cheney and Bush screwed us.

There is always a core of us with principals. I don't know how big it is, but it appears to be bigger than I thought. Now we have to unite. It's what they don't want. That's why there were Communist witch hunts. It's why Hillary is being hounded.

They'll kill, or shut Bernie down, especially if he is elected. That's what many people have told me when I share my enthusiasm. We can demand change, if we unite.

[in_cog_ni_to]

32. THAT is my greatest fear.

"They'll kill, or shut Bernie down, especially if he is elected. That's what many people have told me when I share my enthusiasm. We can demand change, if we unite."

It's not hyperbole. It's happened before. The PTB will not relinquish their gravy train without a fight.

[NCTraveler]

4. Social justice advocate?

One of his greatest legislative accomplishments was fighting against comprehensive immigration reform in 07. Standing in opposition to Ted Kennedy, Clinton, Obama, and Biden. He fought to deny over ten million people a path to citizenship for economic reasons alone. He is and always has been economics over human rights. There is not greater display than what his did to hold down over ten million people because of visas. Social justice advocate. lol.

[PADemD]

8. Bernie Sanders and Immigration Reform

Sanders voted against comprehensive immigration reform legislation in 2007 precisely because he rejected the guest worker program. He was not opposed to legalization of illegal immigrants, the centerpiece of the legislation. But he complained that the Senate debate "has centered on illegal immigration and has downplayed the very consequential provisions in this bill dealing with guest workers."

In a passionate statement on the Senate floor on May 22, 2007, Sanders noted that while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce supported the proposed guest worker program, it opposed raising the minimum wage for U.S. workers.

Said Sanders, "What this legislation is not about is addressing the real needs of American workers. … What it is about is bringing into this country over a period of years millions of low-wage temporary workers, with the result that wages and benefits in this country, which are already going down, will go down even further."

Later in the speech, Sanders noted that American business wanted to bring in foreign workers even as it was outsourcing jobs to foreign countries. "In other words, if these large corporations are not shutting down plants in the United States, throwing American workers out on the streets, moving to China where they pay people 50 cents an hour, what they are doing is developing and pushing legislation which displaces American workers and lowers wages in this country by bringing low-wage workers from abroad into America."


http://cis.org/kammer/sanders-immigration-reform

[Armstead]

10. I doubt that'll get read

Bernie hates immigrants. You can't convince me otherwise.

[SoapBox]

16. Uh...what?

Bernie HATES immigrants???

Guess I missed all that.

[Armstead]

17. This

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=630235

and by the way...

[in_cog_ni_to]

33. The new meme du jour.

Pathetic bullshit, as usual.

[dreamnightwind]

37. +1, and thanks for that post

Disgusting meme being pushed, good to push back on it. We're supposed to support the Chamber of Commerce's agenda to insource millions of jobs with cheap unregulated labor that can't advocate for its own wages and benefits because they can be deported if they make any waves. I don't think so, and neither does Bernie.

And most of the "doing jobs that Americans won't do" meme was also bull, it was about getting people to do those jobs at wages beneath what citizens would do that for.

[retrowire]

18. you think that's one of his greatest?

hmmm... so you're against immigration reform?

[pinebox]

19. Meanwhile in Hillary land...

This was from 2014. Twenty. Fourteen.

Hillary Clinton: Unaccompanied Minors 'Should Be Sent Back'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/18/hillary-clinton-immigration_n_5507630.html

"They should be sent back as soon as it can be determined who responsible adults in their families are, because there are concerns about whether all of them should be sent back," the potential 2016 presidential candidate said in an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

We have to send a clear message, just because your child gets across the border, that doesn't mean the child gets to stay," she said. "So, we don't want to send a message that is contrary to our laws or will encourage more children to make that dangerous journey."

/whistling.

[Krytan11c]

27. I think she evolved again

Right around the time when polling agencies told her to.

[rhett o rick]

30. Nice try to disparage Sen Sanders. You must instead choose the oligarchy's candidate.

You must think the oligarchy will take good care of you. Good luck with that.

[mopinko]

6. hey, we dont call it the people's republic of hyde park for nothin.

[Chitown Kev]

9. The only "People's Republic" that I know of in Chicago

lies north of Devon Avenue and south of Howard Street near Lake Michigan

[mopinko]

21. well, yeah,

the people's republic of rogers park. my home.
i think they have a liiiiiiittle more claim to it down there. everything but the u of c economics dept is pinko there.
hell, up here the city gives you shit for having a microfarm. so hard to keep it weird, but i try my best.

(dont tell anyone from here that i said that, tho. we do cherish the title.)

[Snap the Turtle]

23. Great area... have family there too...

[mopinko]

25. yup. great hood. a real slice of the real world.

very proud of the way my kids turned out. not a prejudiced bone in their bodies.

[uponit7771]

7. "Pie in the sky utopian" = a rep congress who cares about what people think vs the few who pay

... them.

I don't believe the Sanders movement is going to move republican voters outside the box enough to vote for dems to get the gerrymandered gop congress not put America first

[Armstead]

11. At first I thought he was referring to Hyde Park, NY

Home of FDR, and all that.

[Smarmie Doofus]

13. Me too.

And Hyde Park, NY undoubtedly produced its fair share of socialists too.

[dorkzilla]

14. Same here!

I thought maybe he was speaking at the FDR Library

[Smarmie Doofus]

20. East Coast bias.

They HATE that.

Esp. in Chicago.

[Bluenorthwest]

22. And I was thinking of London, Hyde Park

[kjones]

15. *Hitches inspirational wagon to Obama*

...*Wanted Obama primary-ed*

Mmmm...how 'bout those politics

[Fumesucker]

28. Pretty good backhand across the chops to Hillary too...

"The best candidate" won.

[kjones]

35. Best for the moment

and he has been, and Bernie still complains about him.
Not when it's expedient though...mmm!

Bernie's pretty good at political expediency.
Like criticizing Obama for reaching across the aisle and then campaigning at Liberty.
Or railing against the M.I.C. and wasteful military spending but rolling out the red carpet for the F-35 in his own state.
Or saying...really anything about gun violence when he has his kind of voting record.

Authentic...so totally not a politician...ride that yuppie wave!

[Uncle Joe]

24. That was a great speech.

Thanks for the thread, portlander.

[6chars]

29. Also home to the Chicago School of Economics

Pretty funny. Bet he got into a debate or two there.