Althouse: Should I go?

June 29, 2015

Should I go?

"Madison Rally with Bernie Sanders on 7/1 at 7pm."

73 comments:

MayBee said...: Yeeeessssss; 6/29/15, 10:31 AM
Moose said...: Oh yes - he'll be the next candidate you can regret voting for.; 6/29/15, 10:35 AM
damikesc said...: Go see the orgasms of delight from dimbulbs your employer churned out.; 6/29/15, 10:36 AM
Unknown said...: Sounds like a Clash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqH21LEmfbQ; 6/29/15, 10:37 AM
Louis said...: No; 6/29/15, 10:37 AM
alan markus said...: Yes - don't forget to take the MeadeCam.; 6/29/15, 10:38 AM
Beldar said...: Oh, yes, by all means. Take photos and/or video, and share your report with us.; 6/29/15, 10:39 AM
Mid-Life Lawyer said...: Absolutely. If it were happening around here (Canton, MS - never in a million years) I would go. I would love to hear his pitch and see the crowd response. In some ways, I think he is the most honest guy in the race. Of course, he's wrong on so much, but at least he doesn't triangulate like most of them.; 6/29/15, 10:48 AM
tim maguire said...: Sure, it'll be like a Howard Dean rally--a lot of fun but ultimately meaningless.; 6/29/15, 10:48 AM
traditionalguy said...: Yes, and freely speak to us about Bern, the openly Socialist Hillary seeking missile.; 6/29/15, 10:49 AM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: Of course you should. Who better to report back?; 6/29/15, 10:52 AM
Jaq said...: I would love for somebody to ask him about Greece. But they won't.

http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-asks-fed-chief-yellen-to-help-greece-overcome-austerity-policies-which-are-destroying-their-economy; 6/29/15, 10:53 AM
Anonymous said...: He be 'lectrifying.; 6/29/15, 10:54 AM
Ann Althouse said...: It's weird to go to a rally when you are not rallying, but just to observe, but I have done it before -- to at least 2 Tea Party rallies and to see Ron Paul here in town. Too much of a rigmarole to get in to see Obama when he's been in town. Went to see John Kerry in '04. Went to lots of anti-Scott Walker things and one pro-Walker march. Saw Romney and Paul Ryan when they were in town. Anything rally-like heightens my sense of being un-included.; 6/29/15, 10:55 AM
Tank said...: Normally, I would say don't make a "rally" look bigger than it is by going, but for blogging purposes, ... go.; 6/29/15, 10:56 AM
CarlF said...: Any Democrats campaigning in Madison?; 6/29/15, 10:57 AM
Rusty said...: Should I go?"

Why not? Could be entertaining. I've always found the promises made by socialists amusing. But then I have the capacity to reason.; 6/29/15, 10:57 AM
victoria said...: Yes!!!!!

Vicki from Pasadena; 6/29/15, 10:58 AM
Drago said...: Remember, the dems are common sense centrists.

Not socialists.

Nope. Not socialists.; 6/29/15, 10:58 AM
B said...: Yes. Your blogging from the Madison protests was great.; 6/29/15, 11:01 AM
The Bergall said...: I like his chicken...........; 6/29/15, 11:02 AM
M Jordan said...: "Too much of a rigmarole to get in to see Obama when he's been in town."

I always thought it was "rigamarole." Did I just add an extra "a"?; 6/29/15, 11:03 AM
mccullough said...: No. It's Fourth of July week. And the Mallards are playing at 7:05 on Wed night.; 6/29/15, 11:04 AM
mezzrow said...: Must see Bernie... Is he this year's Gene McCarthy?; 6/29/15, 11:21 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "I always thought it was "rigamarole." Did I just add an extra "a"?"

Yeah, I'd thought so too, but the last time I wrote it someone denounced me as illiterate.; 6/29/15, 11:22 AM
Known Unknown said...: Don't forget to get a press badge.; 6/29/15, 11:25 AM
garage mahal said...: Feel the Bern. See you there!; 6/29/15, 11:36 AM
Larry J said...: Blogger tim in vermont said...
I would love for somebody to ask him about Greece. But they won't.

Or Venezuela, or any other of the many examples of socialist failures. Someone should also ask him what he would do once he ran out of other peoples' money. He'd probably just print some more.; 6/29/15, 11:44 AM
Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...: if I go there will be trouble
and if I stay it will be double...; 6/29/15, 12:00 PM
sunsong said...: Yes!; 6/29/15, 12:07 PM
Rusty said...: Larry J said...
Blogger tim in vermont said...
I would love for somebody to ask him about Greece. But they won't.

Or Venezuela, or any other of the many examples of socialist failures. Someone should also ask him what he would do once he ran out of other peoples' money. He'd probably just print some more.

People like to point to Denmark as being a successful socialist country. I don't think it is.
But we're a lot bigger than Denmark.; 6/29/15, 12:12 PM
Unknown said...: Ask him about his plan to put 100 Million unemployed or under-employed Americans back to work when we have millions of illegal aliens competing for jobs in America? How does he intend to return the unemployed and the under-employed to work when are economy is not growing and it is falling back into a recession?; 6/29/15, 12:16 PM
jr565 said...: Should u go? Are you intersted in pure socialism? Then go.; 6/29/15, 12:20 PM
Tank said...: Better leave now, should be a massive crowd.; 6/29/15, 12:22 PM
Etienne said...: Bernie, being anti-war, is a breath of fresh air, in a war torn country.; 6/29/15, 12:25 PM
Brando said...: I say go--just for the spectacle of it. You'd be witnessing the Democratic Left in its distilled form. Plus, if by some long shot Sanders takes the nomination, you'll have seen it in its ground floor.; 6/29/15, 12:32 PM
Graham Powell said...: To echo everyone else, YES! And document the journey.; 6/29/15, 12:37 PM
Sam L. said...: Absolutely! You NEED the laughs.; 6/29/15, 12:38 PM
Etienne said...: M Jordan said...I always thought it was "rigamarole."

It can be, it is an alternative American spelling to the foreign word. You can also say "song and dance".

We had to do a song and a dance just to get our tickets, there being a fear that some non-communists might try to get in and challenge our dream.; 6/29/15, 12:38 PM
MadisonMan said...: but the last time I wrote it someone denounced me as illiterate.

News to me too, but I see I've learned something today.; 6/29/15, 12:38 PM
damikesc said...: I say go--just for the spectacle of it. You'd be witnessing the Democratic Left in its distilled form. Plus, if by some long shot Sanders takes the nomination, you'll have seen it in its ground floor.

I seem to remember an Obama visit to Madison was the real launching pad of his success.

The world is currently running out of money due to absurd social policies --- and the elites want to do MORE of it.

They remind me of Enron execs at the end. The company had gone broke, it was paying bonuses to keep some employees from leaving when they needed to close up stuff and only one bank would even hold their money. And they had to tell one of the guys to not go there because he'd freak them out and they'd toss their money out also.

His answer: But I never got paid the big money.

It didn't matter how badly they fucked over people who, literally, did nothing wrong: They were going to get theirs.

Enron is incredibly enlightening as we watch governments use their same accounting schemes.; 6/29/15, 12:55 PM
Owen said...: Yes, go! Your reporting will be a treat.

I doubt that Bernie will allow himself to be pinned with questions about Venezuela, Greece, etc. And if the questions are asked, I expect the crowd will boo: Boring! Hater!

As for your concern about feeling un-included ("Anything rally-like heightens my sense of being un-included"), take a videocamera. Use that feeling.

Should be a great time.; 6/29/15, 12:55 PM
bwebster said...: Yes! On-the-ground reporting with photos! Is Bernie for real, or is he just a flash in the pan! (Another increasingly archaic metaphor.); 6/29/15, 12:56 PM
285exp said...: Since you'll be voting for him if he gets the nomination, why not?; 6/29/15, 1:15 PM
Jason said...: Isn't that kind of late for his supporters? I would imagine most of their meds would kick in about 4pm.; 6/29/15, 1:19 PM
Known Unknown said...: Anything rally-like heightens my sense of being un-included

Cruel. And neutral. Or something akin to that.; 6/29/15, 1:31 PM
President-Mom-Jeans said...: I think you should go fuck yourself.; 6/29/15, 1:43 PM
Skyler said...: Communists should never be encouraged.; 6/29/15, 1:54 PM
ken in tx said...: Are the Koch Bros secretly funding him? They should be, as long as they can keep it really secret.; 6/29/15, 1:57 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @Garage,

Feel the Bern.

Professor Althouse is a lady, garage, and a married woman to boot! She is not "up" for those sorts of shenanigans, young man!; 6/29/15, 1:57 PM
Fernandinande said...: My scoial is already expanding.

"The context of the amazing outpouring and response to Bernie Sanders campaign is the uprising underway for a more just society. Across the country, pressure is mounting and social movements are building for a livable wage, to end racist attacks and police brutality, to stop fast track for TPP in the interest of jobs, the environment and democratic rights over corporate rule, to expand Scoial Security and end student debt.

Bernie Sanders is attracting thousands at each event because he presents a specific program squarely on the side of the 99%, challenging income inequality and financial domination of the country and of politics."; 6/29/15, 2:03 PM
Big Mike said...: About this time last month Bernie said the following:

"You don't necessarily need a choice of 23 underarm spray deodorants or of 18 different pairs of sneakers when children are hungry in this country."

Considering that the deodorant problem is vastly worse than he imagines (N.B., WalMart alone lists 1876 different deodorants on its web site) you might ask him what the "right" number of deodorants really is and how large a bureaucracy he thinks he'd need to regulate the number of underarm deodorants offered for sale in the United States. And would the same bureaucracy be responsible for regulating sneaker sales, or would that be a different one?

If you get the chance to ask him, that is.; 6/29/15, 2:32 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: Go and have a good time. In the People's Republic here, all right-minded members of the collective are nearly apoplectic in their excitement about Mr Sanders-- I'd go, if given the chance. Hope they all write his name in on the ballot next year.; 6/29/15, 2:43 PM
Jaq said...: "You don't necessarily need a choice of 23 underarm spray deodorants or of 18 different pairs of sneakers when children are hungry in this country."

Next he will declare that we need a car for "de Volk" [de Volt, maybe he will say ;) ] but don't you dare say that fascism is an ideology of the Left.; 6/29/15, 2:46 PM
Jaq said...: We need maybe one deodorant factory in each district, with a five year plan outlining production goals and scientifically aligned to population studies.

Jobs will be guaranteed but not mandatory!

If production falters, no problem! We will just put out propaganda that B.O is patriotic!; 6/29/15, 2:49 PM
Jaq said...: The communists have everything figured out except where to find the oppressed masses angry and ready for revolution.; 6/29/15, 2:50 PM
garage mahal said...: Professor Althouse is a lady, garage, and a married woman to boot! She is not "up" for those sorts of shenanigans, young man!

:-); 6/29/15, 2:52 PM
Drago said...: tim in vermont: "The communists have everything figured out except where to find the oppressed masses angry and ready for revolution."

They usually don't do well in planning for where all the bodies get buried so the next generation of leftists can claim everything went pretty well but will certainly be even better next time!; 6/29/15, 2:54 PM
David said...: "Jobs will be guaranteed but not mandatory!"

Perfect.; 6/29/15, 3:01 PM
luagha said...: The desperation of Democrats to not vote for Hillary is truly something to behold.

Heartening, too, considering her vast corruption.; 6/29/15, 3:56 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Maybe someone will ask Sanders about his personal brand of socialism. It certainly sounds as though he believes in central economic planning to a very fine level, if he thinks that you can trade variety of deodorants for food.
In the socialist Soviet Union, the Soviets starved millions of peasants who opposed collectivization by declaring all food to be state property and then denying the kulacs ration cards. The peasants were clever, though, and had been through famines before. They could live on almost nothing. So the socialists setup watch towers throughout the countryside, manned by young socialist volunteers. They would scan the countryside with binoculars and telescopes. If they saw a starving peasant so much as chew a blade of grass, he or she was shot. The stories that are told are horrific. Famine enforcers killing all the men in a village and trading the remaining women and girls a morsel of food for sex, things like that. The socialists believed that they could do anything because history was on their side.
As long as I breathe I hope. As long as I breathe I shall fight for the future, that radiant future, in which man, strong and beautiful, will become master of the drifting stream of his history and will direct it towards the boundless horizons of beauty, joy and happiness!
Socialists have a lot to answer for.; 6/29/15, 4:43 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: The reason so many Democrats do not want to vote for Hillary is they feel that she represents the centrist Democrats of the 1990s. She needs to be repudiated. The Democrat party of 2015 is far, far to the Left of the Democrat party of the 1990s.; 6/29/15, 4:46 PM
Clyde said...: Socialism for America 2016!

Because it's worked so well for Venezuela and Greece!; 6/29/15, 4:50 PM
Clyde said...: mezzrow said...
Must see Bernie... Is he this year's Gene McCarthy?

More like this year's Eugene V. Debs.; 6/29/15, 4:53 PM
Original Mike said...: Sounds like you can catch a ride with garage.; 6/29/15, 4:58 PM
Jaq said...: The stories that are told are horrific. Famine enforcers killing all the men in a village and trading the remaining women and girls a morsel of food for sex, things like that. The socialists believed that they could do anything because history was on their side.

In the Ukraine, the peasants saw the Nazis as saviors, and as abhorrent as that seems, it is sort of understandable. That's why it doesn't bother me that much to see Nazi tatoos on Ukrainians. What was their choice? It is heartbreaking to think that we made a deal with Stalin to put them back under the Soviet boot though.; 6/29/15, 5:12 PM
Michael said...: Tim in Vermont

A long dead friend had come here from the Ukraine where to survive he had been aligned over a few decades with Whites, Reds, and Nazis.

There is so much to be grateful for; 6/29/15, 5:19 PM
Be said...: Bernie Sanders is from my neck of the woods, isn't he. Generally tend to just ignore him, like I do the normal parties to the left of the rank and file dems here in my part of New Englandistan.

Another commenter mentioned that a band was playing at the same time. Which would be more interesting to you personally? The music (and that band sounds good!) or drinking in Sanders's Show?

You'd be doing a Great Service reporting on this, like you have done in the past. The question is, would it be enjoyable to you?; 6/29/15, 5:31 PM
Michael K said...: "Too much of a rigmarole to get in to see Obama when he's been in town."

You don't even have to go in. Didn't you interview Obama voters before the rally there ? I remember kids saying that Obama should have a TelePrompTer for the debates. I think it was after his first disastrous debate.

It would be fun to ask Sanders voters a couple of questions about economics.; 6/29/15, 7:31 PM
Moneyrunner said...: Bernie Sanders in Madison. It has a certain symmetry to it. Coals in Newcastle. Ice and Eskimos. Stalin and the Kulaks. Academia and Socialism.; 6/29/15, 7:48 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Maybe someone could ask Sanders if he thinks that socialism should be adopted world-wide or if he is more comfortable with the idea of socialism in one country?
It would be great if the hall was decorated with pictures of famous socialists from history. Trotsky, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Kim Il Sung, Castro, Che . . .; 6/29/15, 8:39 PM
Anonymous said...: By taking the quote out of context, it is very easy to spread the lie that Sanders wants to create an agency to regulate the number of underarm deodorants offered for sale in the United States. For those who are more neutral and less cruel, here is the actual question and the actual answer from the interview:

HARWOOD: If the changes that you envision in tax policy, in finance, breaking up the banks, were to result in a more equitable distribution of income, but less economic growth, is that trade-off worth making?

SANDERS: Yes. If 99 percent of all the new income goes to the top 1 percent, you could triple it, it wouldn't matter much to the average middle class person. The whole size of the economy and the GDP doesn't matter if people continue to work longer hours for low wages and you have 45 million people living in poverty. You can't just continue growth for the sake of growth in a world in which we are struggling with climate change and all kinds of environmental problems. All right? You don't necessarily need a choice of 23 underarm spray deodorants or of 18 different pairs of sneakers when children are hungry in this country. I don't think the media appreciates the kind of stress that ordinary Americans are working on. People scared to death about what happens tomorrow. Half the people in America have less than $10,000 in savings. How do you like that? That means you have an automobile accident, you have an illness, you're broke. How do you retire if you have less than $10,000, and you don't have much in the way of Social Security?

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102694365; 6/30/15, 3:03 PM
Big Mike said...: @madfella, it's pretty clear that quote is entirely in context.; 6/30/15, 3:20 PM