Anderson Cooper’s Claim About Bernie Sanders’ Soviet Union Honeymoon Was Redbaiting and Deceptive

[portlander23]

Anderson Cooper’s Claim About Bernie Sanders’ Soviet Union Honeymoon Was Redbaiting and Deceptive
TIMOTHY LANGE
In These Times

In his follow-up question to Bernie Sanders Tuesday night, after the candidate had explained what he views as “democratic socialism,” CNN's Anderson Cooper returned to the matter of electability and noted, “You honeymooned in the Soviet Union.”

The honeymoon story began at Breitbart in late May, then moved on to other right-wing venues, finally getting play in George Will's August 7 column in the Washington Post.

In 1988, Burlington sistered with Yaroslavl, a city 160 miles north of Moscow. That was the same year Sanders married his second wife, Jane. In fact, the day after they married, they headed out to Yaroslavl. So, one could call it a honeymoon, and the pair have both done so, but jokingly or sarcastically. The reason for that is that they didn't go alone. There were 10 other people from Burlington who went with them. It was a trip dotted with diplomacy, official meetings and numerous interviews. Not most people's idea of a honeymoon getaway.

George Will is a hopeless case of arrested political development, stuck unbudgingly in a past era. But why did Anderson Cooper slip this sneak attack with its bogus implications into the early minutes of the first Democratic debate? Sloppy research? A bogus attempt to prove journalistic toughmindedness? Or malice aforethought?

[restorefreedom]

1. cooper works for cnn

which is owned by t/w, which is one of hillarys biggest supporters

the money tells the tale......

[sufrommich]

4. Or ffs,is there anyone who isn't secretly working

for the Clinton campaign?

[daleanime]

5. Do you dispute the facts?

[sufrommich]

6. What facts?? Do you think Anderson Cooper is

getting marching orders to support Hillary Clinton? How do you explain every negative report on Hillary Clinton?Sanders supporters do their candidate no favors when they constantly attribute every negative thing said about him to conspiracy theories.

[daleanime]

8. Does Anderson Cooper work for CNN?

[sufrommich]

10. Yes he does,what's your point? nt

[rhett o rick]

62. CNN is part of the Wash DC establishment run by the billionaires. I want a change from

the status quo that has brought us 50 million American, poverty. A Goldman-Sachs Admin will assure us that number will grow.

Those that side with the billionaires must recognize that Goldman-Sachs doesn't care about 16 million children living in poverty or our vets living on the streets, etc. They care about corporate profits. A vote for HRC is a vote for higher corp profits.

[daleanime]

17. That if you want, or feel you need to, disagree with someones point....

you should address the logic that they have used. If the logic is faulty, show that. If the facts are wrong, prove it. To dismiss someone as 'tin-foiled' just because you don't like their reading of the facts is kind of small.

Is it possible that where he works has had some influence on Mr. Cooper? Well, yes it is. Could the corporate ownership of CNN by Time Warner have had any impact on CNN. Yeah, it might of. Do we hope it hasn't? Oh, hell yes. But it's a legitimate concern.

[Dustlawyer]

25. Someone not concerned with all of the money Wall Street, oil companies, the MIC, and other

corporations gives to their candidate is not going to have a problem with the MSM. They must not believe that money can corrupt.

[merrily]

29. Why can't we just short cut all that logical stuff and either source shame or post a tinfoil hat?

Or change the subject?

[daleanime]

57. Because most of us are just too damn stubborn.....

for that kind of crap.

[merrily]

58. It's our cross to bear.

[cui bono]

64. +1

[workinclasszero]

42. Conspiracy theories fit right in with

magic internets polls.

[Alittleliberal]

50. No

But his boss knows that they will make a ton of money running political ads. The more money in politics the more they make.

[sabrina 1]

54. 17% of the population trust the Corporate Media. That's a whole lot of distrust for

Fourth Estate in this country.'

We just learned eg, that the Documentary about the Bush gang of criminals who are still free, will not be aired on CBS.

Is Cooper getting marching orders? I am certain they are all getting marching orders.

He and others saw what happens when you 'go off message'. Meaning the Corporate message.

Can you point out for us ANY reason to trust the Corporate Owned and Controlled Media?

Are there any examples of ACTUAL Journalists who report regularly on the FACTS?

I can, Donahue and Dan Rather and Keith Olberman eg.

None of whom are currently, despite their qualifications, working for the Corporate media.

Cooper is. So people are free to come to their own conclusions about your question.

[restorefreedom]

7. ok, lets give him the benefit of the doubt for a second

what do you think his motivation is, absent a clinton loyalty, to ask a question which not only distorts facts, but is specifically worded as if it was written by rove himself?

[sufrommich]

13. I don't know what his motivation is,it's not my job to defend

CNN.Attributing every negative thing said about Sanders to super secret Clinton operatives makes Sanders supporters seem as conspiratorial as Alex Jones.As I said,you aren't doing Sanders any favors.

[restorefreedom]

15. i don't attribute everything to a super clinton conspiracy

some people's motives are obvious, like the GOP for example. But when a journalist who was supposed to be acting in a neutral capacity asks a biased and obvious flame bait redbait question, and when that journalist is paid by a company who is one of the biggest supporters of another candidate, then questioning his motives is appropriate imo.

[sufrommich]

16. What do you think CNN's motive were for reporting the fake

email story was? I mean,if they're in the bag for Hillary,they have a funny way of showing it. Surely you can defend your candidate without the use of conspiracy theories.

[restorefreedom]

18. i am not floating ct's

I am rightfully questioning the motives of a so called neutral journalist who asked a very non-neutral question. i am not familiar with the fake email story, . but to address this before I even know the details, because I think I can take a whack at it, If you are talking about some kind of skewed email story unfavorable to Hillary, my guess would be that the bigwigs at Time Warner prefer Hillary to Bernie, but they prefer a Republican to Hillary. So in a Hillary V Bernie contest, they're going to give the advantage to Hillary. but in the general election, they will be singing it for Trump. They're already doing it now by covering him almost nonstop. so I don't think there's a major conspiracy to take Bernie down, not in isolation. I think it's clear that the corporate masters would prefer a GOP winner. Absent that, they probably prefer Hillary because they know Bernie's going to stop the gravy train.

[merrily]

31. Remind me how the possiblity that your boss influences how you do your job is a conspiracy theory.

[AlbertCat]

44. the fake email story

What fake email story? Is there one other than Clinton used private accounts for government-related emails? ...because that one's not "fake"...she did that. I mean, who cares if no important info was sent on the personal server, but it's not fake.


Saying Sanders and wife went to Russia for their honeymoon IS fake. It wasn't a honeymoon. And even if it WAS their honeymoon? what the hell difference does that make? Or is everyone in that entire group that went a commie?


Are you still gonna pretend to not know the difference?

[sufrommich]

45. This was reported on CNN for weeks:

http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/10/18/rep-elijah-cummings-debunks-right-wing-medias-c/206254

Yeah,it was fake and much more damaging that where a candidate spent his honeymoon.

[AlbertCat]

52. and much more damaging

But I thought the Hilster was winning by a mile!

Couldn't have been too damaging.... among Dems.


In the General, however....


Remember, we're not voting against the GOP yet. But CNN would like for Hillary to be there because they have been gearing up to smear her for about a decade now.

[leftupnorth]

19. Corporatism doesn't require conspiracy.

It's no coincidence that the vast majority of TV commentators, anchors, and politicians are corporatists.

They run the show.

[portlander23]

11. Guessing about motivations is unproductive

The point is the claim Mr. Cooper put forth is factually incorrect.

[whathehell]

21. Not "factually correct" if it was a diplomatic trip with ten people.

Cooper is a Republican and an heir to the fortune of Gloria Vanderbilt, his mother -- I doubt he wants a

"socialist" in the White House.

[MADem]

30. Speaking of "factually correct" I rather doubt the out and gay

Cooper is a Republican. He may not be a Democrat, either. He might be an Independent.

[merrily]

33. And dumbass red baiting. As if going to Russia once, 27 years ago, as a tourist is significant in

any way, shape or form to running for President.

[Alittleliberal]

49. Hmmmmmmmmm

Ignore the conspiracy at your own peril. Large corporations that own the media and the politicians have representatives pass deregulatory bills for them as a return on campaign donations. They don't even hide it anymore.

[brooklynite]

60. I stand solidly with Bernie Sanders...in not worrying about this.

He's not complaining; why should you?

[Duval]

23. Enough said. eom

[Stevepol]

28. Bingo! We have a winner.

[djean111]

2. "Or malice aforethought?" This. And I expect it to be used like this against Bernie, by

supporters of other candidates.

[restorefreedom]

9. yup, that was my pick too

and sadly, i have to agree with your prediction.

[Kalidurga]

3. IIRC it was a some would say question.

Still horrid no doubt, but it left an opening for Bernie to explain it was a working holiday. And I am thinking it was more of a working than a holiday.

[Adrahil]

12. If you support Bernie for the nom, you had BETTER get used to red baiting.

'Cause you ain't seen NOTHIN' yet.

[sufrommich]

14. So much this.But,you know,somehow this is

all Hillary's fault.

[gregcrawford]

43. Throw in the towel, sufrommich...

... you're out of your weight class. Restorefreedom and Daleanime ate your lunch. Deal with it.

The question isn't even about Hillary, or her "super-secret operatives" that you insist on injecting into the discussion. It's about Anderson "Damn, I look GOOD!" Cooper's sleazy misrepresentation of the facts surrounding Sanders' trip to the USSR back in the 80's. Any incidental dots that point to Hillary connect themselves.

The only "conspiracy theory" muddying the waters is yours, and to think for a moment that Cooper would refuse to toe CNN's company line is too ridiculous to warrant credence. His actions speak for themselves.

And I really don't think you're doing Hillary any favors.

[Cracklin Charlie]

20. Ridiculous.

So what?

People are allowed to travel for a honeymoon, a trade mission, or a business trip. What the hell difference does it make if he traveled to Russia?

They just want people to automatically associate socialism with big scary Russians breaking into your house in the middle of the night. Fear, fear, fear...

[bullwinkle428]

22. About as credible as Diane Rehm accusing him of "dual citizenship" with Israel.

K&R.

[sarge43]

24. Yo Coop, cell phone is buzzing

A fair share of the voting public don't even remember the Cold War. Most of us who do are damn glad it's over and think red baiting is pointless and tiresome.

Find another shtick. It's the 21st century.

[Roy Rolling]

26. Of course it is a biased statement

How many other candidates did they state their honeymoon location? How many other candidates had the words "Soviet Union" in one of their questions?

"Soviet Union" is a gigantic negative term. A honeymoon is the choicest vacation spot in a young couple's lives. Implying their favorite place in the world is a communist gulag-state is the lowest and oldest form of smear journalism.

CNN programmers are too old to know that many younger people in 2015 are smart enough to recognize bias and don't nor care for their ancient references. When they hear such "23-skidoo" references they immediately know they are hearing from someone old and outdated.

[MADem]

27. Why do you keep bringing it up?

Sure you're really "outraged" or do you just want to keep that ball in the air?

He got married and he honeymooned in the USSR because he was invited and he was able to combine work and play. The ultimate reasoning here is that he was CHEAP, not a COMMIE.

Back in the day it was not an easy ticket to get to the somewhat mysterious USSR. Even a wingnut would have taken the opportunity if they could have legitimately written it off as a business expense later. The days of few cars on the street and the GUM Department Store being the be-all and end-all are long gone.

[restorefreedom]

32. i can't speak for the op

but I'm glad people are calling attention to the dog whistle that Cooper was trying to blow during the debate. Fortunately millennial's and a lot of other people aren't buying it. and as you said, even a wingnut might've combined a business trip with a personal trip to a place most people didn't get to see at that time. It's actually not a big deal, but Cooper was trying to MAKE it a big deal. That's the story, that's the real story...the continued media bias against certain candidates, in this case a candidate who is the most dangerous to their $$$$...and to be evenhanded towards both of the major Democratic candidates, if Hillary gets the nomination I fully expect them to ramp up the smear machine against her with everything they've got, because she would be more dangerous to their status quo than a Republican buddy boy.

they are protecting themselves plain and simple. And right now Bernie is the biggest threat against them. If he doesn't win the primary, Hillary will be the biggest threat against them. This is why this election is not Democrat versus Republican, it's oligarchy versus the people.

[MADem]

41. I have some bad news for you.

That was not a dog whistle--that was a storyboard for a GOP commercial aimed at the 60+ crowd should lightning strike and Sanders win the nomination.

Do you seriously think the GOP will engage in Marquess of Queensberry rules and keep their hands off Bernie if he wins the nomination..."Because ... BERRRNIE? Yeah!! Feel the BERN!!! Cool, man!!!"

That's just the tip of the iceberg you saw at the debate--and I am quite sure the Sanders team knows it full well. Don't think Clinton is the problem here--the GOP will revisit his salacious writings, AND the ones that people have been too disininterested in to bring up (and they are out there and there's lotsa fodder in them, too), here; they will bring up the timing of the birth of his one child and how his draft priority status changed as a consequence; they will bring up his CO request (touched on in the debate--but notice how no one--not even wounded warrior Jim Webb--stomped on him...don't expect those kid gloves from the wingnuts), they'll bring up his multiple marriages and "non-family values living arrangement" in between, and they will make some HAY out of it. They will turn things that 'you' don't care about (and frankly, most of us don't care about) into the crime of the century. These are the people who turned John Kerry from a war hero into a hippie - dippy whiner in front of Congress and made "Swift Boat" a fricken VERB. And there's a shitload of personal details there that has not been explored. It's not "Ho-hum, asked and answered..." -- to most people, this is NEW STUFF about a NEW GUY and it will eat up airtime.

It's not like we haven't seen them do this kind of thing before. "John McCain has an illegitimate black baby" didn't come from the Democrats--it came from Karl Rove in support of George Bush's candidacy.

If Sanders makes it through the gauntlet, the 'fun' is just beginning. And it won't be just him, either--Jane is going to get "Hillaried" to the point where there will be people in USA who believe she is a bank robber by the time they are done with her.

I'm not saying this to be cruel, but you'd better have your eyes open. It will get WORSE, not better, the longer Sanders is in the game. And you can thank the Republicans for all of it--they invented the art form.

[restorefreedom]

56. i believe you are correct

about the gop smear machine ... it will be in overdrive no matter who the dem NOM is. fortunately people are not going to care at least most people about the fact that Bernie was married twice and is still married to his second wife. its a total nonissue. And I don't think most people will care about the so-called socialism boogie man. will they dredge it up and try to twist it to smear him with it? Does a bear....well you know...But I'm sure I don't have to tell you all the stuff they're going to fling at Hillary too. It's just like with Bernie, it doesn't matter if there's any truth to it. They will spin Benghazi stuff emails foundation stuff, anything they can put their hands on that has any connection to Clinton that they can spin in a negative way.that's the beauty of it for them. They are not constrained to the truth, so they will jump with both feet into the realm of fiction. I do believe that will whoever is the nominee, it's going to be a shit storm like maybe we've never seen.

no matter who the nom is on either side, I do believe it's going to be a very ugly election. sadly, i think we can agree on that.

[AlbertCat]

48. Back during "Glasnost" all sorts of groups were going to the USSR!

Hell, my college roommate and his girlfriend went (with a bunch of other students).

[MADem]

63. They weren't hopping on the red-eye and going to Moscow on holiday.

Discoing till dawn and having breakfast at McDonalds.

They were going in a group, staying in "approved" hotels, shepherded around by KGB minders, and their movements were still controlled. There was more interaction, certainly, but it didn't get Wild Wild West until the 90s, after drunken Boris Yeltsin got in.

It wasn't the free-wheeling "The eXile" days when Sanders and his wife went.

He went on an official visit from an American sister city. I was peripherally involved as a 'herder' in one of those nearly 2 decades earlier--coming the other way. The officials who visited were a bunch of humorless assholes who quite LITERALLY 'toed the party line.' They criticized the 'freedom' that American children had in schools (a teacher was holding a class under a tree on a nice day--blasphemy! and the children did not have uniforms--shocking!) and repetitively lectured everyone as to how much better the schools were in Leningrad!

I'll bet he saw a lot of cowshit and tractors and smiling farmhands with steel teeth, attended a few cultural events, and shook a lot of hands. Meh. Interesting in a goofy/quirky way, but not terribly noteworthy.

Will the GOP try to make hay if they ever have reason to so do? Of course, it's what they do. But no one else cares.

[AlbertCat]

66. Exactly

If this is all the GOP and Sanders' opponents got....




Besides, I thought Sanders was supposed to be a "National Socialist"...like a Nazi. (guffaw!)

OK.... is he an icky Commie Socialist?.... or a yucky Fascist Socialist? 'Cause you can't be both.

[eppur_se_muova]

34. This has NOT gotten enough attention ... thanks for the post. nt

[MBS]

35. Thanks- I figured there was missing context.

When Anderson Cooper threw that Out There, Bernie should have clarified the context, briefly and good-humoredly, himself.

Also - earth to CNN - by 1988, the Soviet Union was near collapse. "Perestroika" had started the year before. This was not your grandfather's-red-diaper-baby Soviet Union by any means.
And I'd wager that Russians were more friendly to America in 1988 than they are today.

[merrily]

36. Gloria Vanderbilt's son befouled himself with that question.

[CrispyQ]

37. My guess: Cooper didn't research the trip & just heard that Sanders honeymooned in the SU.

Then he asked the question, not knowing the entire story. Typical sloppy journalism of today - don't check everything out.

Cooper is a tool.

[MADem]

67. I happen to think Anderson Cooper did a GREAT job on that debate. Why? Because EVERYONE is pissed

off at him.

He absolutely researched the trip. He expected the answer he got. These sorts of questions do two things:

1. Show a candidate thinking on their feet;

2. Produce an "Asked and Answered" card (i.e. if the Koch Brothers tried to make something out of this, it's eye-rolling time--"Oh, that was asked and answered way back in the first debate....zzzzzz!&quot .

Debates are a time when shit gets flung. Why? It's a mere WARM UP for the main event. Sanders did fine with the question, Cooper was right to ask it (it is unusual), not sure why his supporters are getting upset. That's a softball pitch compared to what the GOP will haul out.

[Ron Green]

38. Anderson Cooper is first and foremost an entertainer.

He works for Television. Let's not forget that.

[patsimp]

39. Our media wants to be as stupid as possible

[AlbertCat]

40. Sloppy research? A bogus attempt to prove journalistic toughmindedness? Or malice aforethought?

[gregcrawford]

47. I choose door number THREE!

[BainsBane]

46. Redbaiting will be the GOP campaign should Bernie become the nominee

You can complain about it all you want, but it won't stop it. Bernie calls himself a socialist. He has given them all the ammunition they need to bury him. Of course he isn't a socialist at all, but they won't care about that, particularly when Bernie has used the term.

[AlbertCat]

51. Redbaiting will be the GOP campaign

And every time they bring up some 40, 30, 20 year old meme, the Dems can bring up how much the GOP just loved Putin. When was that? Later this year? Last year?

[BainsBane]

53. The GOP is far from alone in their admiration of Putin

I have seen post after post celebrating him here. Of course Putin isn't a socialist, but that doesn't stop so-called leftists for insisting any opposition to him is "right wing," while speaking out against his invasion of the Ukraine is supposedly "war mongering."

Regardless, Putin doesn't have anywhere near the resonance that the visceral scorn for socialism does in this country, as polling data makes clear.

[portlander23]

61. Accusing Bernie supporters of being fans of Putin in a thread about redbaiting

Last edited Mon Oct 19, 2015, 05:23 PM - Edit history (1)

You win the internet today.

[NCTraveler]

55. Benghazi!!!!!!!!!!!

Feel good about it. It's what corporate media does to those of us on the left who they believe might be significant. Hillary hit their radar decades ago. Welcome to the war with the right. They have never found a stoop too low for their liking.

[Babel_17]

59. The program evolved from the one President Eisenhower started

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

Though he'd be considered a dangerous liberal these days.

“Should any political party attempt to abolish social security unemployment insurance and eliminate labor laws and farm programs you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group of course that believes you can do these things. Among them are a few other Texas oil millionaires and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.”

― Dwight D. Eisenhower

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/153796-should-any-political-party-attempt-to-abolish-social-security-unemployment

TRUE

http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/ikesocial.asp

Save for a few minor details, however, the quote from President Dwight D. Eisenhower cited at the head of this page is in fact an accurate one. It wasn't something he uttered but rather something he wrote, and the version reproduced above omits Ike's reference to a specific Texas oil tycoon (H.L. Hunt), but it otherwise is taken verbatim from a letter President Eisenhower penned to his brother, Edgar Newton Eisenhower, on 8 November 1954:

"Now it is true that I believe this country is following a dangerous trend when it permits too great a degree of centralization of governmental functions. I oppose this — in some instances the fight is a rather desperate one. But to attain any success it is quite clear that the Federal government cannot avoid or escape responsibilities which the mass of the people firmly believe should be undertaken by it. The political processes of our country are such that if a rule of reason is not applied in this effort, we will lose everything — even to a possible and drastic change in the Constitution. This is what I mean by my constant insistence upon "moderation" in government. Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H.L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

[Enthusiast]

65. Malice aforethought.

No question about it.

Anderson Cooper is now dead to me.