April 13, 2019

Bernie Sanders, yesterday, on the shore of Lake Mendota: "Today, I want to welcome you to a campaign which says, with confidence, optimism and love, that the underlying principles of our government will not be greed, kleptocracy, hatred and lies."

Screen shot. Check it out. That's my lake:



Here's the full video.

The day turned out to be cold and blustery.

Here's the full text (as shared by the campaign, with some boldface by me):
Thank you all very much for being here today and thank you for being part of the political revolution.

This weekend, I will be visiting not only Wisconsin, but Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Four years ago, despite losing the popular vote by 3 million votes, Donald Trump carried all of those states and won enough electoral votes in the midwest to win the presidency. Together we are going to make sure that that does not happen again. We're going to win here in Wisconsin, we're going to win in Indiana, we're going to win in Ohio, we're going to win in Michigan and we're gonna win in Pennsylvania. And we're going to win the election.

Obviously, in our country, there are political differences - here in Wisconsin, in Vermont and all across the nation. That's what democracy is all about. But I happen to believe that, whether you are a progressive, a moderate or a conservative, you are not proud that today we have a president of the United States who is a pathological liar – who has literally told thousands of lies since he was elected and when he was on the campaign trail. Thousands of lies.

And the biggest lie of all was when he said that he would stand with the working class of our country, that he was on their side and that he would take on powerful special interests to protect working families. What a monstrous lie that was.

As many of you will recall, during his campaign, Trump said he would provide "health insurance for everybody.” As president, Trump did exactly the opposite of what he said. Today, under Trump, 7 million people have already lost health insurance and, even more frighteningly, he supported throwing 32 million Americans off the health care they have by trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Mr. President. Standing up for working families does not include trying to throw 32 million people off of the healthcare that they have, ending protections for pre-existing conditions, raising premiums for senior citizens and doing away with the health insurance that young people receive on their parents plans. That is not standing up for working families. That is lying to them.

Trump promised he would not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. But the budget he proposed in March would cut $1.5 trillion from Medicaid, $845 billion from Medicare, and the last 2 budgets he came out with proposed cutting Social Security by tens of billions of dollars. In America today, Medicaid pays for more than two-thirds of all of the nursing home care in our country. What happens to senior citizens with Alzheimer’s and other serious illnesses who have their nursing home coverage paid for by Medicaid, if that program is cut by $1.5 trillion? Standing up for working families does not include taking away nursing home coverage from some of the most frail and vulnerable people in America.

Trump promised the American people that “the rich will not be gaining at all” under his tax plan. But as president, Trump’s tax plan provides 83% of the benefits to the top one percent, while raising taxes on 92 million Americans by the end of the decade. How much did Amazon pay in taxes last year? That’s right zero. And the same is true with General Motors, Chevron, IBM and Eli Lilly. Standing up for working families does not include allowing multi-national corporations to make billions in profits, but pay nothing in federal income taxes.

Trump promised that he would substantially reduce the trade deficit and prevent the outsourcing of American jobs abroad. But since Trump has been president the trade deficit has gone up by $120 billion and his own Labor Department certified that 185,000 American jobs have been shipped overseas under his watch. Standing up for working families does not include providing companies like General Motors and United Technologies billions in government contracts while they are sending American jobs abroad.

Trump said he was going to stop Wall Street “from getting away with murder” and re-instate the Glass-Steagall Act. But as president, Trump signed legislation into law to deregulate Wall Street and provide large financial institutions with a massive tax cut. Trump's tax plan increased bank profits by nearly $29 billion - allowing them to make record breaking profits. Standing up for working families does not include deregulating the same Wall Street banks that caused the economy to crash ten years ago.

Thank you for being part of a campaign which is not only going to win the great state of Wisconsin and the Democratic nomination, which is not only going to defeat Donald Trump, the most dangerous president in modern American history, but with your help is going to transform this country and, finally, create an economy and government that works for all Americans, and not just the one percent. Today, I want to welcome you to a campaign which says, with confidence, optimism and love, that the underlying principles of our government will not be greed, kleptocracy, hatred and lies. It will not be racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia and religious bigotry. Those ugly anti-American sentiments are going to end, and end soon.

The principles of our government will be based on justice: economic justice, social justice, racial justice and environmental justice.

Donald Trump and his friends want to divide us up based on the color of our skin, our gender, where we were born, our religion or our sexual orientation. Well. We're going to do exactly the opposite. We're going to bring our people together: black and white, Latino, Asian American and Native American. Men and women. Gay and straight. Native born and immigrant.

And let me tell you what justice means:

It means that we will no longer stand idly by and allow this country to move toward an oligarchic form of government, with massive levels of wealth and income inequality, where a handful of billionaire families control our economic and political life.

Justice means that we will not allow 3 families in this country to own more wealth than the bottom half of America while, at the same time, more than 20 percent of our children children live in poverty, veterans sleep out on the streets and 30 million Americans have no health insurance. That's not justice.

Justice means that we will no longer accept 49 percent of all new income going to the top 1 percent, while millions of Americans are forced to work 2 or 3 jobs just to survive and over half of our people live paycheck to paycheck, frightened to death about what happens to them financially if their car breaks down or their child becomes sick. That's not justice.

Justice means that we will no longer accept CEOs of large corporations making over 300 times as much as their average workers, while 134,000 people are homeless in California alone and so many of our people live in despair and life expectancy in America has gone down for a third year in a row.

Justice means that we will no longer accept a situation in which the top 25 hedge fund managers on Wall Street make nearly double what all 140,000 kindergarten teachers in America earn - while millions of kids go to over-crowded and under-funded schools.

And when we are talking about injustice this country we are talking about racial injustice. At a time of overall massive levels of disparity within the United States, the situation is much worse for black families. It is not acceptable that black families own one-tenth the wealth than white families, that the infant mortality rate within the African American community is 2 1/2 times the white community, that red-lining in housing continues to exist, that black businesses cannot get the loans they need at affordable rates, that black school districts are under-funded and that a great deal of racism exists within our criminal justice system. Let's be clear. When we talk about justice we mean ending institutional racism in all its ugly forms.

And let me say a word to the young people of our country. At a moment in history in which we have seen an explosion in technology and huge increases in worker productivity, we will no longer accept a situation in which our younger generation will likely have a lower standard of living than their parents - lower wages, higher personal debt, unaffordable housing, less mobility. I have 4 kids and 7 grandchildren. Downward mobility is not acceptable to me, and it's not acceptable to the American people. This campaign is about moving our people up, not down.

But it's not just economic justice we are fighting for. It is political justice. Together, we are going to create a political system which is based on the democratic principles of one person - one vote - and end a corrupt system which allows billionaires to buy elections. Yes. We are going to overturn Citizens United, move to public funding of elections and end racist voter suppression. We will make it easier for people to vote, not harder.

As many of you will recall, when we first launched our campaign in 2015, very few people took our campaign seriously. The ideas that we were talking about then were considered by establishment politicians and mainstream media to be "radical" and "extreme" - ideas, they said, that nobody in America would support.

Raising the minimum wage to a living wage. Too radical. Guaranteeing health care to all as a right. Too radical. Creating up to 15 million jobs by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure with a one trillion dollar investment. Too radical. Aggressively combating climate change. Too radical. Legalizing marijuana. Too radical. Reforming our broken criminal justice and immigration systems. Too radical. Not having a super PACs or being dependent on the rich for campaign contributions. Too radical. Ending the power of super delegates at the Democratic Convention. Too radical.

Well, a funny thing happened. In 2016 we won victories in 22 states around the country, 13 million votes, over 1700 delegates at the convention and more votes from young people - black, white, Latino, Asian American and Native American - than Trump and Clinton combined.

And, by the way. Those ideas that we talked about 4 years ago that seemed so very radical at that time. Well, today, virtually all of those ideas are supported by a majority of the American people and have overwhelming support from Democrats and independents - and they're ideas that Democratic candidates from school board to president are now supporting.

We've come a long way in the last few years. Now we are going to complete what we started. We're going to turn our vision and our progressive agenda into reality. We are going to bring the beautiful concept of justice back to America.

And that is why today, we say to the private health insurance companies, whether you like it or not, the United States will join every other major country on earth and guarantee healthcare to all people as a right, not a privilege. We will no longer accept the absurdity of paying almost twice as much per capita on health care, while we have a lower life expectancy and worse health care outcomes than many other countries.

Yes. We will pass a Medicare for all single-payer program. Health care is a right, not a privilege.

Today, we say to the pharmaceutical industry, that you will no longer charge the American people the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, the result being that one out of five Americans cannot afford the prescriptions their doctors prescribe. The outrageous greed of the pharmaceutical industry is going to end. We are going to lower prescription drug prices in this country.

Today, we say to Walmart! McDonalds and other low wage employers: Stop paying your workers starvation wages. Yes. We are going to raise the federal minimum wage to a living wage - $15 an hour. Nobody who works 40 hours a week in this country should live in poverty. And yes. We're going to make it easier for people to join unions, not harder.

Four years ago, when we talked about the idea of a $15 an hour minimum wage, it seemed like an impossible dream. Well, since then, we have successfully pressured Amazon and Disney to raise their minimum wage to $15, and just today Costco raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour. We have also seen 6 states, including California, pass $15 an hour legislation and, just a few weeks ago, the U.S. House Committee on Labor and Education reported out a bill that will raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to ------- $15 an hour. And, I believe, that bill will pass the full House within the month.

Today we say...
The speechwriters like repetition, as my boldface above shows, but I'm not going to boldface all the repetitions of "Today we say"...
... to the American people that we will rebuild our crumbling infrastructure: our roads, our bridges, our rail system and subways, our airports, our water systems and wastewater plants - and when we do that we create up to 13 million good paying jobs.

Today we say to the parents in this country that you and your kids deserve quality, affordable childcare. The children are our future, and they deserve the best possible head start in life with a high quality, universal pre-K program.

Today, we say to our young people that we want you to get the best education that you can, regardless of the income of your family. Good jobs require a good education. That is why we are going to make public colleges and universities tuition free, and substantially lower the outrageous level of student debt that currently exists.

Today, we say to our senior citizens, that we understand that you cannot live in dignity when you are trying to survive on $13,000 or $14,000 a year in Social Security benefits. My Republican colleagues want to cut Social Security but we have some bad news for them. We're not going to cut Social Security benefits. We're going to expand them.

Today, we say to Donald Trump and the fossil fuel industry that climate change is not a hoax but is a massive threat to our country and the entire planet - and we intend to transform our energy system away from fossil fuel and into energy efficiency and sustainable energy and, in the process, create millions of good paying jobs.

Today, we say to the prison-industrial-complex that we are going to bring about real criminal justice reform. We are going to end the international embarrassment of having more people in jail than any other country on earth. Instead of spending $80 billion a year on jails and incarceration, we are going to invest in jobs and education for our young people. No more private prisons and detention centers. No more profiteering from locking people up. No more "war on drugs." No more keeping people in jail because they're too poor to afford cash bail.

And by the way, when we talk about criminal justice reform, we're going to change a system in which tens of thousands of Americans every year get criminal records for possessing marijuana, but not one major Wall Street executive went to jail for destroying our economy in 2008 as a result of their greed, recklessness and illegal behavior. No. They didn't go to jail. They got a trillion-dollar bailout.

Today, we say to the American people that instead of demonizing the undocumented immigrants in this country, we're going to pass comprehensive immigration reform and provide a path toward citizenship. We're going to provide legal status to the 1.8 million young people eligible for the DACA program, and develop a humane border policy for those who seek asylum. No more snatching babies from the arms of their mothers.

Today, we say to the military-industrial-complex that we will not continue to spend $700 billion a year on the military. We want and need a strong defense, but we do not have to spend more than the next ten nations combined. We're going to invest in affordable housing, we're going to invest in public education, we're going to invest in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure. We're not going to invest in never-ending wars.

Today, we say to the top 1 percent and the large profitable corporations in this country - people who have never had it so good -- that under a Bernie Sanders administration we're going to end the massive tax breaks and loopholes that you currently enjoy.

We will no longer accept the absurd situation where large corporations like Amazon, Netflix and General Motors pay nothing in federal income taxes after raking in billions in profits. We will no longer tolerate the situation in which the wealthy and large corporations stash billions in tax havens throughout the world. In our administration, that will end and the wealthy and multinational corporations in this country will start paying their fair share of taxes. We are going to end austerity for working families, and provide some austerity for large, multinational corporations.

Brothers and sisters: There is going to be a lot of campaign rhetoric over the next many months. Let me take this opportunity to be as specific as I can be about what a Bernie Sanders presidency means.

When We are in the White House...
This is the next repeated phrase, "When We are in the White House." Get ready.
... we will enact a federal jobs guarantee, to ensure that everyone is guaranteed a stable job. There is more than enough work to be done in this country. Let's do it.

When We are in the White House we will not only end the decline of rural America, but attack the problem of urban gentrification and rising rents in urban America. We need a massive effort to build the affordable housing this country desperately needs, and that's an effort I intend to lead.

When We are in the White House, we will move aggressively to end the epidemic of gun violence in this country and pass the common sense gun safety legislation that the overwhelming majority of Americans want. People who should not have guns, will not have guns.

When We are in the White House, we are going to protect a woman’s right to control her own body. That is her decision, not the government's.

Make no mistake about it, this struggle is not just about defeating Donald Trump. This struggle is about taking on the incredibly powerful institutions that control the economic and political life of this country. And I’m talking about Wall Street, the insurance companies, the drug companies, the military-industrial complex, agri-business, the prison-industrial complex, the fossil fuel industry and a corrupt campaign finance system that enables billionaires to buy elections.

These powerful special interests are going to spend a lot of money to try to defeat us. But we have something they don’t have: the power of the people.

Brothers and sisters...
This is the second appearance of  "Brothers and sisters." It might be too gender-exclusionary for present-day American, I'm thinking. (And I'm not trying to be sarcastic, just observing the developing norms.)
We have an enormous amount of work in front of us. But this what I believe. If we stand together, if we don't allow Trump and his friends to divide us up;

If we stand together as black and white, Latino, Asian American and Native American. If we stand together as gay and straight, men and women, native born and immigrant. If we stand together as rural and urban - north, south, east and west.

While it is true that the powerful special interests have unlimited amounts of money, thousands of lobbyists and the ability to buy and sell politicians - we have something they don't have. We have the people.

If we understand that there really is no such thing as blue state or red state, but states throughout the country where working people are struggling to survive.

If we stand together, this country has an extraordinary future. Let's make it happen.

116 comments:

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The hypocritical government whore hath spoken. with love.

Big Mike said...

Well you can’t have the modern Democrat Party without hatred and lies. And socialism is the very definition of a kleptocracy.

Shouting Thomas said...

Bernie Sanders will deliver us from sin!

We will be cleansed and purified!

Fernandinande said...

the underlying principles of our government will not be greed, kleptocracy, hatred and lies

So Bernie has ditched the socialism spiel?

Bay Area Guy said...

Nice Lake with a Crazy man!

n.n said...

Losing his Pro-Choice religion, maybe.

Original Mike said...

I thought he was going to be at Olin Park. Guess I misheard.

Rob said...

Bernie may say "Brothers and sisters," but you know he's thinking "Comrades."

Birkel said...

Shorter Bernie:
Justice means less freedom for you and more power for government.

Me:
Free people.
Free markets.

Bay Area Guy said...

I honestly believe Bernie has a very good shot to win the Dem nomination (after Biden).

Indeed, to his credit, he's consistently been a lazy socialist for 50+ years. To their eternal discredit, the Dems have tragically migrated to the same political place.

Like Trump and the GOP in 2016, the 20-candidate field splinters the votes, while Bernie's loyal 25% keeps him ahead of the pack.

If Hair-Sniffer Joe bails out, I say Bernie gets the nod.

traditionalguy said...

When a Stalin loving Communist calls a bourgeois loving real estate developer a liar and the University students fall for it, the higher education system is kaput.

Lewis Wetzel said...

I have never gotten the impression that Sanders is a man free of hatred.
I do not believe that I have ever seen him smile. Is "humorless old socialist" a cliche? Because he fits the role.

tcrosse said...

Mayor Pete got a big promo on Ellen yesterday. There must be some Big Money behind him.

Nichevo said...

Blogger Bay Area Guy said...
I honestly believe Bernie has a very good shot to win the Dem nomination (after Biden).


Almost certainly. He is the only D candidate with even the appearance of being his own man or even being human. The others are doctrine-fueled, donor-controlled robots. I look forward to him losing to President Trump on a fair and open airing of his issues vs. what is good for America. Let's have it out in the open at last. I want to see Chuck sweating like the NPC with the two buttons.

Nichevo said...

tcrosse said...
Mayor Pete got a big promo on Ellen yesterday. There must be some Big Money behind him.

4/13/19, 1:07 PM


I jave popcorn stocks on standby awaiting his self-immolation.

Roughcoat said...

Bernie has mean-old-man preacher backwoods-killer Scotch-Irish Presbyterian bottom teeth.

Very disturbing.

Nichevo said...

Sweating over two buttons meme:



https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/daily-struggle

Temujin said...

It's good to repeat simple phrases when selling. People will remember those. And I won't forget the phrase 'Political Justice'. Sounds very Game of Throne-ish. Just one look at Bernie's face- pretty much all the time- tells you he's full of love, and has a raging desire to work together with...Bolsheviks. They also believed in 'Political Justice'.

He needs to be returned to the 20th century.

mockturtle said...

So he's talking about Hillary?

Bay Area Guy said...

I do give credit to Bernie for being authentic. The other Dems share many of his ideals, but they hide them in order to "look" and "sound" palatable to suburban, soccer Moms.

I wish I was Inga said...

Excellent speech. Go Bernie and take Buttigeig with you, straight to the White House!

“Donald Trump and his friends want to divide us up based on the color of our skin, our gender, where we were born, our religion or our sexual orientation. Well. We're going to do exactly the opposite. We're going to bring our people together: black and white, Latino, Asian American and Native American. Men and women. Gay and straight. Native born and immigrant.”

mikee said...

Just to pull one quote and comment on it:
"Justice means that we will no longer accept CEOs of large corporations making over 300 times as much as their average workers, while 134,000 people are homeless in California alone and so many of our people live in despair and life expectancy in America has gone down for a third year in a row."

California has been ruled by a Democratic Senate and Assembly since 1997.
Even considering Arnold S as a Republican rather than a RINO, California has had Democratic governors since 2011. Why is California such a cesspool of hopeless homeless under Democratic rule? And will any reporter ever ask such a question when Bernie spouts his foolishness?

Phil 314 said...

Bernie would be one candidate that would make me vote for Trump.

Wince said...

The repeated phase that caught my eye is "we will no longer accept".

What does that mean from a governing standpoint?

Anything from "continue to tolerate" to "outlaw completely" would meet that criteria.

chuck said...

Same old BS. Bernie isn't even entertaining.

I Callahan said...

Bernie would be one candidate that would make me vote for Trump.

There is no difference between Bernie and any other Dem candidate. Bernie is just more honest about his intentions.

Francisco D said...

Bernie does not believe that you are capable of running your own lives.

It takes a big, controlling bureaucratic government to do it. Given that we already have such a government, Bernie is really a Communist who wants even more control.

Batko Bulba said...

"The day turned out to be cold and blustery."

Much like Bernie's speeches.

mockturtle said...

Phil 3:14 asserts: Bernie would be one candidate that would make me vote for Trump.

Interesting. I was just thinking that, of all the Dem candidates, Bernie is the least objectionable. But of course I hope Trump will win.

The important issue is restoring the House back to a GOP majority and letting Trump appoint at least one more SCOTUS justice. [Is RBG really still alive??? Now that impeachment is a dead issue let's have the truth about Ruth!

I wish I was Inga said...

Bernie will get the Democratic base out, so would Buttigieg. As a ticket, they would be formidable. I’d love to see a debate between Buttigieg and Pence. I predict that Trump will not debate Bernie, he’s too cowardly and knows old Bernie would run circles around the lumbering lickspittle.

Bilwick said...

"Instead, the underlying policies will be coercion, coercion and more coercion."

Sorry, Grandpa Gulag, you won't get rid of "kleptocracy" by calling the "kleptos" commissars rather than CEOS. You'll only increase it.

"'Evil' capitalists make lots of money. Virtuous 'liberals' steal it."--David Friedman.

I wish I was Laslo said...

I can't wait for Bernie's government to take what's mine because it doesn't trust me with it. I have my suitcase full of toilet paper at the ready just in case.

RichardJohnson said...

Bernie's support of Latin American Marxist despots, beginning with Fidel in the 1960s, is what turns me off.

When Bernie Sanders Thought Castro and the Sandinistas Could Teach America a Lesson.
Sanders had a hunch that Cubans actually appreciated living in a one-party state. “The people we met had an almost religious affection for [Fidel Castro]. The revolution there is far deep and more profound than I understood it to be. It really is a revolution in terms of values.”

An "almost religious affection" for a dictator who never tested that "almost religious affection" with an election. Tell me another one, Bernie.

From the link:
“Vermont could set an example to the rest of the nation similar to the type of example Nicaragua is setting for the rest of Latin America.”
According to Bernie, as Latin America should follow Marxist-Leninist wannabe Sandinista Nicaragua, Vermont should set a similar example for the US that Nicaragua was setting for Latin America.

Just like in 2011, Socialist scold Bernie was informing us proles that the American dream could be better realized in Chavista Venezuela than in the United States. funny thing is, Bernie isn't saying the same thing in 2019.

Sanders in the Vermont Freeman. Cuba: The Other Side of the Story. (1969)

John Ray said...

Bleachbit at 12:59. You are wrong. He is a fully committed Marxist-Leninist. As he did while a city's mayor, he will openly and brazenly fly the Soviet flag at the WH. As he did in 1985, he will board a plane to go to any country that has been taken over by communists to kiss the asses of the victors. There, fixed it.

Jim at said...

A socialist millionaire with three houses is lecturing me on greed.

That's perfect.

Rick said...

Instead our underlying principle will be demagoguery.

mikee said...

I remember Nixon v McGovern, from back when the news media had total control of the message for the Democratic party, against the Republican candidate. God have mercy on the Democrat socialists this time around, because voters won't.

Bobb said...

I missed in the transcript where Bernie gave two of his three houses to families that had none.

Oso Negro said...

Go ahead, young people! Vote Socialist!!!’ It’s just never been done right! But YOU are the special generation! YOU can do it!

mockturtle said...

The problem is that history isn't taught in schools any more. Just PC stuff. So no one younger than 40 could possibly know how socialism destroys not just economies but the human spirit.

RichardJohnson said...

Bernie dodged questions about Venezuela during his 2016 campaign. His "Democratic Socialism" was about Scandinavia, NOT about Venezuela, he and his followers informed us. If there is that much difference between Bernie Sanders and Maduro, then why did he dodge the a question to him asking Bernie if Maduro was a dictator? (At the same time, Bernie DID admit that Venezuela's Presidential election last year was a sham.)

If there is that much difference between Bernie and Maduro, then why did Bernie and Maduro both view the impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff as a "coup?"

Sanders Condemns Efforts to Remove Brazil’s Democratically Elected President.
BURLINGTON, Vt., August 8 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday issued the following statement calling on the United States to take a definitive stand against efforts to remove Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff from office:
“I am deeply concerned by the current effort to remove Brazil’s democratically elected president, Dilma Rousseff. To many Brazilians and observers the controversial impeachment process more closely resembles a coup d’état.

Note that Bernie doesn't explicitly say that HE considers it a "coup" He fudges it by informing us that "they say" it is a coup. Rest assured, if Bernie didn't consider it a coup, he wouldn't have brought it up.

Venezuela's Maduro: Rousseff Impeachment Trial 'Made in the USA'.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro condemned Thursday impeachment proceedings against Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff, describing them as an attack on Latin America's left.
“Today, the first phase of a coup to end the era of popular leaders has begun,” Maduro said during a televised speech.


Apparently following the Brazilian Constitution's procedures for removing a President constitutes a "coup."

mockturtle said...

Regarding socialism, I really liked the GPA experiment. Some conservative guy went out to interview college students about what they they thought of socialism. Many, if not most, approved. So he asked them if they would give up part of their high grade point average to someone with a low one, 'just to even things out'. One student bristled at this notion, exclaiming, "It wouldn't be fair! I earned that GPA!". Self-knowledge has never been more scarce than on university campuses.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

This old fool is particularly detestable with his socialist demagoguery and calls for revolution against the very government that he has been part of for 40 years. This useless worthless thief has been given 4 decades to effect change, to do something positive about all these issues- what's he done? What good has he done? What good work has this asshole done in his forty fucking years in power?
It's disgraceful that an American politician call for the upheaval, destruction and killing that a revolution would bring. Of course the people who like this shithead are fucking spoiled brat trust fund babies and brain dead anti-American Democrat party members.

mockturtle said...

PS: And, of course, not one student agreed to the proposal.

mockturtle said...

The reason I think a socialist candidate should win the Dem nomination is so we can have an actual debate on the subject of capitalism vs. socialism. A learning experience. Maybe. Put them on the ropes. Ask them where capital comes from, for instance.

sinz52 said...

"The reason I think a socialist candidate should win the Dem nomination is so we can have an actual debate on the subject of capitalism vs. socialism. A learning experience. Maybe. Put them on the ropes. Ask them where capital comes from, for instance. "

It's not as easy to win those debates as you think.

HINT: If all the defenders of capitalism can come up with is mantras like "Liberty!" while their opponents keep making specific proposals on health care, education, crony capitalism, etc., they will lose.

sinz52 said...

One more point. Too many folks here keep reaching back to *the Cold War* to find ways to oppose socialism. That's not going to work.

A 30-year-old voter today was born in 1989. He or she has no memory whatsoever of the Cold War. It's just a chapter in some history book that he or she studied to pass their midterm exam and then sold back to eBay for a few bucks.

walter said...

"cold and blustery"
Fitting!
Good to see the public sector drones outside with nice signs.

Anonymous said...

More young people will be eligible to vote in 2020, they aren’t pro capitalism, they aren’t xenophobic, they aren’t homophobic and they won’t be voting Republican.

rehajm said...

It would be funny if the Democratic nominee wasn’t a Democrat.

walter said...

sinz,
Can we look at Venezuela? Too soon? Or not Nordic enough?

Anonymous,
Young people not voting Republican? Get out!

rcocean said...

How Did Trump CUT 1.5 Trillion from Medicaid or CUT Social Security? More Democrat Lies.

Bernie may be a socialist, but he's also a globalist. How is he going to have Medicare for all, when he's inviting the whole world to America? What is going to do about H-1B's or outsourcing? Where's his attack on TPP? What's he going to do about NAFTA.

Trump has tried to get together with the D's and R's in Congress and put together "the greatest Healthcare plan ever, ever" but the D's don't want to join him. All Bernie has done since Jan 2017 is delay and obstruct.

Drago said...

sinz: "Too many folks here keep reaching back to *the Cold War* to find ways to oppose socialism."

LOL

Lefties are impervious to any and all reasoning.

Thats why they are lefties.

But I take your point. It is a shame there are no "today" examples of failed socialism that conservatives point to......(snort)

rcocean said...

I can tell you how a Bernie Administration will go. The Uni-party will have 51% to block any of his "Working class" reforms. And he will just govern as a globalist, Left-winger. We've already lived through Clapper, comey, and Brennan. Imagine the "Hate America First" types Bernie would appoint to head the intelligence agencies. As for Foreign Policy, he'd be your typical Lefty. He'd try to gut the defense budget and gone isolationist, and then would overreact to any foriegn policy crisis and get us in a war.

Plus Bernie will be 80 in 2021. Do we really want a POTUS who graduated from HS when Ike was President?

Big Mike said...

Today, we say to Donald Trump and the fossil fuel industry that climate change is not a hoax

And this mathematician says to the hack politician that climate change due to CO2 certainly is a hoax. Your speech was given on a cold and blustery day. Will there ever come s time when you pay attention to what Mother earth is telling you?

walter said...

Bernie too old?
RBG says "hold my beer".

cronus titan said...

His supporters behind him are whiter than snow. If you look closely, you can see their spleens. Almost all men, too. Who is supposed to be the white nationalist again?

Achilles said...

tcrosse said...
Mayor Pete got a big promo on Ellen yesterday. There must be some Big Money behind him.

They are pushing him for veep.

They can't contrast him really with Trump. Trump has supported gay marriage longer than pete has been alive.

They want to run him against Pence.

walter said...

"In an op-ed published Saturday in the Barre Montpelier Times Argus titled “Don’t run,” members of the board said “we beg him” to avoid throwing his hat in the ring for 2020.

“That is an unfavorable opinion, especially among most Vermonters and progressives who support the platform that has come to define him,” the board acknowledged. “But at this point, there are more things about another Sanders run at the White House that concern us than excite us.”

One of the board’s gripes with Sanders, the writers noted, was that during his 2016 presidential run, he was absent dozens of times for votes on key matters they felt were important to his constituents.

Taking issue with his laundry list of past media appearances, the board added, “you are more likely to catch Sanders on Colbert, CNN or MSNBC than you are to see him talking to reporters here in Vermont.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-2020_n_5c32923ce4b0d75a9831f27e

walter said...

Did Mayor Pete shake his Booty-gig at Ellen?

Achilles said...

sinz52 said...

It's not as easy to win those debates as you think.

HINT: If all the defenders of capitalism can come up with is mantras like "Liberty!" while their opponents keep making specific proposals on health care, education, crony capitalism, etc., they will lose.


Health Care: VA

Education: Our public schools

Crony Capitalism: BushClintonBushObama "Free" trade deals.

All of those systems suck and are run in a socialist manner. There are plenty of easy examples there.

Achilles said...

sinz52 said...
One more point. Too many folks here keep reaching back to *the Cold War* to find ways to oppose socialism. That's not going to work.

A 30-year-old voter today was born in 1989. He or she has no memory whatsoever of the Cold War. It's just a chapter in some history book that he or she studied to pass their midterm exam and then sold back to eBay for a few bucks.

Venezuela is dying right now right in front of them.

Achilles said...

I wish I was Inga said...
Bernie will get the Democratic base out, so would Buttigieg. As a ticket, they would be formidable. I’d love to see a debate between Buttigieg and Pence. I predict that Trump will not debate Bernie, he’s too cowardly and knows old Bernie would run circles around the lumbering lickspittle.

This is actually entertaining in it's stupidity.

I wonder if Bernie the millionaire is ready to answer questions on live TV about his 3 very large houses and his wife's bank fraud. Trump wont respect the millions Bernie has made because it was all government graft.

I am sure he knew nothing of his wife's bank fraud and never wrote any letters of support for her college.

Maillard Reactionary said...

Back to the rat pictures again, I see.

mockturtle said...

People who fear Bernie getting the nomination seem to think he'd beat Trump and impose socialism on our country. I'd say that's very unlikely.

mockturtle said...

Back to the rat pictures again, I see. Grin.

Drago said...

I'll bet Mayor Pete enjoyed the pics of shirtless Bernie yucking it up with his shirtless Soviet amigos.

mccullough said...

That lake looks like the one where Bernie has one of his three houses.

Socialist Millionaire.

Why didn’t Bernie give his book away for free on-line?

Why does he fly by private jet?

He won’t make it through the primaries with photos of his three houses and his private jet travel.

This is how Socialism is. The King and his Court live in luxury while everyone else scrounges for food and shelter.

Anonymous said...

A good counter image to Bernie’s three houses would be Trump’s gilded apartment in Trump Towers, or maybe Trump sitting on his golden throne in one of his Mar a Lago bathrooms, followed by the slogan “Trump is for the working man”.

LA_Bob said...

"Back to the rat pictures again, I see. Grin."

Yep. Who knew Althouse was schlepping for BS with all those sketches!

Anonymous said...

What was Melania’s role in the Trump Inauguration fundraising and expenditures of said funds?

Seeing Red said...

Greed is owning 3 houses.

His wife blew thru was it $12 BILLION?

StephenFearby said...

In honor of Bernie, the lake may be renamed Lake Mendacious.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tommy Duncan said...

The Republicans need to begin to educate Americans on the brutality of the Bolshevik Revolution, the 100 million who died under Lenin, Stalin and Mao, the repression under Castro and the massacres under Pol Pot. Socialism has not only failed repeatedly, it has claimed millions of lives through torture, starvation and death squads. Those who embrace socialism ignore the plain truth that stands before them.

n.n said...

Trump has tried to get together with the D's and R's in Congress and put together "the greatest Healthcare plan ever, ever"

Affordable care for all in lieu of Medicare or Medicaid (i.e. "Obamacare") for all. Perhaps his medical reform plan triggered the acute phobia of 1%ers, their national socialist, and socialists without borders brethren, and justified the conduct of warlock hunts and trials, and selective-child's progress to liberal heights of spontaneous human conception under the Twilight Amendment and planned parenthood protocol

JPS said...

"I predict that Trump will not debate Bernie, he’s too cowardly and knows old Bernie would run circles around the lumbering lickspittle."

In fact, that's why Hillary's people were just praying Trump would be the nominee. They knew she'd mop the floor with him.

Tommy Duncan,

Robert Conquest chose this, from Joseph Schumpeter (on a very different period in history) as an epigraph for the western Left's blind spots toward socialism:

"They went to work with unsurpassable efficiency. Full employment, a maximization of resulting output, and general well-being ought to have been the consequence. It is true that instead we find misery, shame and, at the end of it all, a river of blood. But that was a chance coincidence."

BernieBabe said...

“Greed is owning 3 houses.”

How many houses does Trump own?

chickelit said...

Just imagine Larry David and Alec Baldwin going at it mano a mano on Saturday Night Live.

Much better entertainment than watch Warren and Harris go at it tête-à-tête

chickelit said...

Bernie doesn't have three houses -- he has three dachas.

Kevin said...

Shorter Bernie: Vote for me and I’ll end greed!

Hahahahahah.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kevin said...

Has Bernie stopped to consider moving all that power to Washington and handing it to him might be the greediest move in recorded history?

tim in vermont said...

“My voters aren’t greedy, all they want is free health care, free college, and a basic income for doing nothing.”

“A job will be guaranteed! But not mandatory."

Unknown said...

> the underlying principles of our government will not be greed, kleptocracy, hatred and lies

EXCELLENT quote.

How do we have a government with far greater centralized power without attracting "bad people", also known as politicians?

Adam Smith called the action of capitalism "the invisible hand", in which self interest is harnessed for common good by trade, rather than by nobility. The founders created checks and balances to pit factions against each other, rather than seek to eliminate factions.

Now we hand power over our lives to "good" people like Brother Bernie.

What happens when "good" Chavez bites it and "bad" Maduro gets the socialist machine? Or the centralized power is grabbed by Social Justice Warriors or "Fundamentalists" (an '80s boogeyman which died decades ago?) or Muslims (import 100 million Omars and you will have Sharia like Brunei)

On second thought, who needs govt to control when tech giants and banks have "deplatforming"?

Kevin said...

Hindsight is 2020 refers to Venezuela, right?

Unknown said...

> How do we have a government with far greater centralized power without attracting "bad people", also known as politicians?

As Obama said, "at some point you have enough money"

and Bernie said "You don’t necessarily need the choice of 23 underarm spray deodorants or 18 different pairs of sneakers when children are hungry in this county".

Obama used a mere letter to do away with due process for men accused of rape on college campi. After all, there was a rape epidemic at the time, and every man has an abuser inside...

The power to "boost" the favored is the power to "limit" the unfavored.

We'll need "political shepherds" (thanks, Mario Cuomo) with the Saintly Energy of Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, and Mother Teresa not to misuse the gun we put in their hands at Bernie's urging.


Unknown said...

> “Trump is for the working man”.

Not only did the Midwest pick him in 2016, but they knew about him flaunting success. He'd been on TV for years!

And the base sticks with him, approval above 50% now.

I sure hope the Dumb-o-crat Losers run on "who Trump is" - after the constant and ferocious press attacks must be the most settled question in the universe.

Unknown said...

> Dumb-o-crat Losers run on "who Trump is"

Bernie says Trump lies! Oh, that is gonna be a devastating position... who will help him spread this "news"?

narciso said...

that's about right:


https://babalublog.com/2019/04/13/ex-chief-of-venezuelas-spy-network-faces-extradition-to-u-s-could-reveal-much-about-cuban-malfeasance/#comments

tim in vermont said...

Adam Smith called the action of capitalism "the invisible hand", in which self interest is harnessed for common good by trade

Lefties don’t believe in any “invisible hands” but they do believe in natural selection, which is almost exactly the same thing.

chickelit said...

Lefties believe in the "invisible hand" to the extent that they don't want us to see their hands picking our pockets.

chickelit said...

Anonymous sources say that not only did Inga take the day off attend this event in Madison, but she also invited the Bernie crew to her own lakeside Dacha.

rehajm said...

Sources say Trump once put a dog on the roof!

Unknown said...

Perhaps the Millennials like Socialism

because they grew up with helicopter parenting and a distorted history focused on "social justice"

They believe the govt will "take care of them" like Mom and Dad took care of their college or the Feds gave them $150K for women's studies.

If WW2 was the Greatest Generation, this '60s rehash bunch is the Worst Generation.

Unknown said...

> Lefties don’t believe in any “invisible hands” but they do believe in natural selection, which is almost exactly the same thing.

But the prefer "unnatural selection", like selecting wind power when natural gas is dirt cheap because science.

narciso said...

no, they aren't anything like the turbas or the dergue,


https://twitchy.com/dougp-3137/2019/04/13/attn-media-guardians-of-the-1st-amendment-aocs-lending-a-hand-to-reject-sales-of-the-ny-post/

MadisonMan said...

I don't see a big Black/Hispanic vote going for Bernie over Trump.

narciso said...

no, his is a niche audience:


https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/tim-blair

Hey Skipper said...

[Big Mike:] And this mathematician says to the hack politician that climate change due to CO2 certainly is a hoax. Your speech was given on a cold and blustery day. Will there ever come s time when you pay attention to what Mother earth is telling you?

Silly you.

When are you going to learn that weather isn't climate unless it is?

Sheesh.

Bay Area Guy said...

Bernie will get trounced by Trump in the General. Nobody with a job is gonna vote for an aging socialist. That's why I want Bernie to win the Dem nomination.

Seeing Red said...

Greed is owning 3 houses.”

How many houses does Trump own?

Socialists should walk their talk and not follow evil capitalism. He should give 2 of those houses to the poor.

And support them. He should share his wealth.

Seeing Red said...

How come IC only pasty faces surrounding Bernie?

Sebastian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sebastian said...

"a campaign which says, with confidence, optimism and love, that the underlying principles of our government will not be greed, kleptocracy, hatred and lies."

Of course, progs don't believe their own BS, but it's still a bit rich to claim to campaign on "love" while oozing hatred for half the population.

By the way, why do Dems allow a non-Dem to run as a Dem, someone who changed right back to (I) the last time?

BUMBLE BEE said...

That crowd fairly screams diversity. White kids can believe in a Communist millionaire. cracker fools.

Nichevo said...


MadisonMan said...
I don't see a big Black/Hispanic vote going for Bernie over Trump.

4/13/19, 5:50 PM


Sanders/Harris 2020

Dude1394 said...

Anyone have a wide angle shot? Were there about 20 people there?

The Gipper Lives said...

The Obama DOJ opened a grand jury on his wife in 2016. It's still insurancepolicy open.

Bob Loblaw said...

If Bernie was really interested in a government without "greed, kleptocracy, hatred, and lies" he would never have thrown his support behind Clinton in 2016. Words. Just empty words.

Gary said...

I can't disagree with him. Especially most of what you bolded.

Amadeus 48 said...

Bernie has the homunculus vote wrapped up.

Nichevo said...

Blogger Gary said...
I can't disagree with him. Especially most of what you bolded.

"I wonder how much more than half-crazy I am."

Yeah, so do we.

Leland said...

I read some of the text. I'll say this to Sanders supporters; forcing millions of Americans to buy healthcare insurance coverage that is too expensive and they cannot afford did not help them. All it did was take their money and hand it to the insurance lobby, while doing nothing to improve the situation for healthcare providers.

Trump didn't lie when he said he would get rid of Obamacare. Trump has done all that he can do and is on the cusp of completely overturning the law. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed workers is at a 50 year low. American workers are more likely to find a job today than 3 years ago, and because of that, they can also seek higher wages and better conditions. Oh, and the American worker can also afford to pay healthcare providers directly, skipping the insurance lobby, if they so choose.

TJM said...

LOL, says the millionaire socialist. Epic fail

Bilwick said...

" Lefties don’t believe in any 'invisible hands' but they do believe in the Mailed Fist." FIFY.