Under the Radar

[Jackpine Radical]

As usual the M$M is totally clueless about what is happening in the country. They talk to each other and to their tame politicians and formulate their theories about the political universe without perceiving any actual need to consult with the people whose opinions form that universe.

I do not mean to suggest that this is entirely an oversight or failure on the part of the system. It is in fact largely deliberate and intended to keep the Overton Window as narrow as possible, and it is merely convenient that they can accomplish this purpose without having to dirty themselves through contact with the riffraff.

Hillary is the only acceptable candidate. They all know that, and even Rupert Murdoch long ago announced that he could "live with" Hillary.

The purveyors of Conventional Wisdom (or, as I prefer to think of it, moribund stupidity) will never, can never take Bernie seriously, and they will never detect the groundswell.

The Bernie movement is forming and growing under the radar, following unconventional routes to development. They will never see it until it has already happened.

Here is a particularly idiotic example, written by someone who should not have been given access to a word processor, that perfectly illustrates my point.

U.S. News Home


Bernie Sanders Is No Barack Obama
The Vermont senator's 2016 bid is great news for Hillary Clinton.

By Susan Milligan May 1, 2015 | 12:00 p.m. EDT


Barack Obama was the worst thing to happen to Hillary Clinton in 2008. Bernie Sanders may be the best thing to happen to her as she embarks on her second bid for the presidency.

Sanders, an independent U.S. Senator from Vermont, announced his candidacy this week for the Democratic nomination for president. Like Obama in 2008, Sanders can serve to help define Clinton and make her a stronger candidate. Unlike Obama, Sanders can keep Clinton on her game without getting her tossed out of it. And here’s how:

He’s Elizabeth Warren. But he’s not. Warren, the Massachusetts freshman Senator beloved by progressives, is an important voice on such matters as income inequality and still-too-big-to-fail banks that continue to threaten consumers. If Warren were in the race, she would force all candidates – not just Clinton – to give more than lip service to those issues. The problem for Clinton is that Warren would be a genuine threat. The Bay Stater would not likely win a primary against Clinton (which Warren has made clear she never wanted to do, anyway), but a primary would damage Clinton. Progressives would be wounded over the loss and disappointed with the winner, much as conservatives were unhappy with Mitt Romney in 2012. Sanders can raise those issues and keep them in the news, but without being a real threat to Clinton’s almost certain ascension to the nomination.

He’s not a Democrat. Sanders is an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, which makes him the perfect person to serve the same role in a campaign he serves in the caucus. He can be a rabble-rouser (in the best sense of the word), rallying a certain wing of the party. His role as an independent means he’ll always be an outsider among the Democrats. That gives the Democratic field the veneer of being anti-establishment, without actually dividing the party. You can’t really divide a party if you’re not a member of it.

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/susan-milligan/2015/05/01/bernie-sanders-2016-bid-is-great-for-hillary-clinton

[JDPriestly]

1. So what or who gives Susan Milligan the right to call me "rabble."

That is offensive. If she knew me, she would not use that word for me or for any of Bernie Sanders' supporters.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Sure she would.

"Rabble" is the term for people who are not part of the DC, Wall Street, or corporate executive worlds.

Nothing you think, say, or are is of any significance to her.

[daleanime]

3. Looking forward to when the MSM is forced.....

to take us seriously.

[Ed Suspicious]

4. What a patronizing piece of shit this is.

[Scuba]

5. Thanks to Jackpine, my vast universe of ignorance is now a wee bit smaller ...

Overton Window: In political theory, the Overton window is the range of ideas the public will accept. According to the theory, an idea's political viability depends mainly on whether it falls within that window, rather than on politicians' individual preferences. Wikipedia


Thanks Jackpine!

[djean111]

6. The DNC/Third Way has been pushing the Overton Window to the Right for quite a long time.

Some Democrats would now fucking cheer if King Solomon cut that baby in half - they would consider that a fantastic outcome, because they got to keep half a baby. Even though the baby died. And someone will come around and collect their half later.

[L0oniX]

7. The M$M mostly lives in its own bubble and echo chamber.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. It has never been hard to get under their radar.

I used to say that if it didn't happen in DC, NY, LA, Dallas or Seattle, the press would never know about it.

[L0oniX]

9. "the press would never know about it" ...the exception being the kitteh.

[Jackpine Radical]

11. Kitteh down the well, you mean?

Well, that or all those unruly black people in Ferguson all pissed over something--God knows what.

[Gregorian]

10. Usnews lied. Bernie Sanders is a Democrat. We should force them to retract that!