Monday, February 01, 2016

Steady in the Polls, but Sinking in the Human Decency Arena


by Dick Mac

Wow!  I didn't think anyone was going to say it quite as directly as this article:

The “Bernie Bros” Narrative: a Cheap Campaign Tactic Masquerading as Journalism and Social Activism

I have been irritated by Clinton supporters and their press corps complaining about name-calling. Most of the Clinton supporters I read are name-callers who insist that their name-calling isn't name-calling because it is just statement of facts.  It's like a collective brainwashing, "folie a mob."

Then the scuttle-butt about Sanders supporters being sexist somehow managed to squeak-by with nary an objection raised, even though it was clearly a tactic to marginalize and embarrass Sanders supporters.

Now, the Clinton supporters and their press corps have coined the phrase "Bernie Bros" to imply that all male Sanders supporters are immature, homophobic misogynists.

At this point it appears that Hillary Clinton is running a more right-wing campaign than any Democrat since LBJ, it's really quite on the order of Nixon's 1972 campaign.

Take your pick of her regressive policies:  economics, war, health care?

Sure, in the past she had a good position on health care.  She probably had the finest position in the nation, and certainly worked harder than anyone EVER on the doomed Clinton health care policy. Those days are long gone and she now says it is impossible to fix the health care system, and we will never have a single-payer solution.  Well, if the nation's greatest advocate of Universal health care has abandoned that movement for her own gain, then I guess it might just be dead.

She has never had an acceptable position on economic policy, domestic or international.  She is actually more of a supply-sider than her husband.  She has no intention of attempting the regulation of de-regulated industries (like finance and telecommunications de-regulated by her husband).  She is in the same cesspool of begging form the bankers as Ted Cruz.

She has never met a military campaign she couldn't learn to love (even it means condemning it after the money is spent and profits are made).  Nor has she ever met a military contractor with whom she could not find common ground and enjoy a nice meal.

The argument of many liberals, as usual, is that she is the lesser-of-two-evils when choosing between her and any Republican. I used to laugh at liberals who voted for candidates like Andrew Cuomo, because he was the lesser of two evils.  Now, I am frightened of liberals who support Hillary Clinton, and reading their excuses and tirades is now embarrassing.

Yes, she is a better choice than any GOP candidate currently in the mix; but that does not mean that she is the best Democrat for the country or party; and she isn't any more electable or un-electable than Sanders.