So right now, this is where we stand.
– Hillary has won an outright majority of pledged delegates. She has won 2184 of them to Bernie’s 1804.
– Hillary has won an outright majority of the votes, She has, as of right now, 15,571,64 to Bernie’s 11,888,779, a margin of 3,682,864.
– She has won the majority of primaries. Bernie has most of his wins in caucuses.
– She has an overwhelming majority of Superdelegates.
And yet we are met daily with a barrage of “the system is rigged,” pissing and moaning about closed primaries, and mentions about the kids and the future.
I’m sick of it. The future is the future. This is about here and now. She’s won. End of story. Anything else is just delusional.
But let me get back to the god damned kids. I honestly don’t care if a bunch of political neophytes have a sad because Bernie isn’t going to win. I don’t care if they hold a hissy fit. It’s time for them to grow the fuck up, and I am tired of the Bernie or Busters trashing the Democratic party because they don’t get their way.
Here’s the deal. I was a republican for years. I was a member of the party. I donated to them, voted for them, and worked to elect Republicans. I then realized I was an idiot and all the things I thought they stood for they don’t, and I beat a hasty retreat.
I looked around. I thought about just going independent. I nixed the idea because I realized this is a two party system, and if I want to be an effective part of the process, I had to be involved. So I joined the Democrats. I donate to the DNC, the DSCC, the DCCC, to individual candidates, to Democratic causes. I went and will go door to door. I phone banked. I helped raise money for Democrats. I feel a bit of ownership in my party. And my party chose Hillary Clinton, and that is who I am going to support in the fall.
I am also an adult, and realize that you take the good with the bad in a party. For every Sherrod Brown and Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar, there is a Ben Nelson. But that doesn’t change the fact that overall, the Democratic party has and continues to be, overall, a force for good. I’m proud to be a Democrat. I like putting the sticker on my car and the sign in my yard, because I am proud of the party. I feel a sense of ownership an d personal pride because I have helped to make the party what it is.
So it really fucking pisses me off when I hear a bunch of kids who just recently even became old enough to vote, or a bunch of disaffected independents who could never bother to commit to a party because they are just above it all or too special to fit into the confines of the two parties or angry bitter old leftists screaming that Nader was right and the Democratic party is no different than the Republicans screaming that their guy, who has been a Democrat for a year, doesn’t get to win because they have really strong feels.
I want to kick puppies when I hear the whining about closed primaries. I wish they were all closed primaries. I think Democrats should choose the Democratic candidates. Fuck you, you special flower. Go join the Greens and vote for Jill Stein. In the general, you can vote for whomever is on the ballot. But in the primaries, you have to choose a party. Fucking deal.
I’m sick of the bullshit. Every time I hear the whining about the kids- “They love Bernie. They are the future!” – all I can think is well, maybe the can join the Democrats, put in the money, blood, sweat, and tears, and in a couple cycles they will create a movement within the party large enough that someone like Bernie Sanders will win. And you know what, if they do, loyal Dems like me will phone bank and go door to door and work to elect that person.
Basically, what we are dealing with when we hear about the kids not getting their way with Bernie is the political equivalent as the same annoying entitled fucks who at the age of 22 go on House Hunters and demand granite countertops and stainless steel appliances and his and her en suite bathrooms and wood floors and a big deck because “they like to entertain.” Go earn that shit, and until then, go fuck yourself. Here- a bunch of old dudes wrote a song about this before you were born, you obnoxious little shits.
Your drum circle entitles you to zero votes. Also, get off my grass.
PS- Richard and Tom are far more mature than me. But we all knew this.
muddy
“Back in my day, young people were never ill-informed and full of themselves.”
Oh wait, you totally were. Hope your onion is hanging in a comfortable spot, Gramps.
Villago Delenda Est
Please proceed, our ranty blog host!
And as for Nader, the blood of over 4,000 American service men and women and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis is on his hands.
Served
Pretty much this. My first of-age election was Kerry/Bush, so I remember back when Bernie was Howard Dean. There was a very good series of tweets by a woman in the Obama administration about how hurt and betrayed Dean staffers felt in 2004, but that they didn’t quit or run off to be indies or greenies or whatever. They doubled down, worked in the DNC, and four years later, emerged as major players in the Obama campaign and administration. I wish I could find them right now.
It’s hard for some people to realize that our two-party system just means that coalition-building skips a step compared to mulit-party democracies. The change cycle within a large coalition and bureaucracy like the DNC is longer than just a single presidential election, but only if you continually pound the pavement.
Emma
This is why I visit this site, you know. Tom and Richard (among others) may provide the adult nuances but you provide the reality boot.
germy
Stop holding back. Stop beating around the bush and being so oblique. Just say what you mean.
I’m looking forward with a mix of excitement, dread and curiosity to the debates.
Trump vs. Clinton. Any predictions, other than “he’ll back out”?
aimai
OMG I need a cigarette after that rant. And I don’t even smoke. I adore you, JC.
The Golux
On the way home from the gym this morning, I said to my wife, “I’d rather register as a sex offender than register as a republican.”
schrodinger's cat
I am with you on this. BS is to blame for the current situation more than his worshipful minions, though.
Meanwhile, enough about Bernie, today I am going to celebrate Hillary’s win, because she is the champion, who has had sand kicked in her face but has come through.
Davebo
Bernie and Bros don’t like the Super Delegate system. I can sympathize with that.
But the eve of the convention is no time to start complaining about the SD system.
The eve of the Iowa primary is no time to start complaining about the SD system.
If Bernie felt it was an unfair system he should have been pushing for change since at least the end of the 2012 election.
He didn’t do that. BECAUSE HE WASN’T A FREAKIN DEMOCRAT!
Miss Bianca
@aimai: @Emma: Seconded and thirded. We heart John Cole!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I finish that sentence with “show me a Senate campaign where their passion and enthusiasm are making a difference”
I like and donated to Al Franken, who supported the Iraq invasion. I love Sherrod Brown, but people have made the case that he is Unclean on coal issues. I generally like (but haven’t paid much attention to) Amy Klobuchar but I think it’s some Minnesotans here who have said she has a tendency toward fiscal blue-toggery
and stainless steel appliances look great when they’re all polished and unscratched, I highly recommend them to Felix Unger types and people who don’t use their kitchens.
Mike J
@muddy:
This is not a claim he ever made. But there’s no more reason to put up with it now than there was then.
Schlemazel Khan
I may not have said it as forcefully but you are absolutely right.
Except for a short break when I was young and stupidly voted for an independent I have been a member of the Democratic party for 50 years. Not always able to donate money but worked every election, attended every precinct caucus, held local party jobs and generally fought for what I want the Dems to be.
I made this rant weeks ago here. You actually want to change the party? Get off your dead ass and grab an oar! No, it is not much fun all the time but it is the only way change is going to happen. If you can’t convince the majority of voters then you lose no matter how pure and earnest or even right you are. Get to rowing
Yutsano
*applause*
The DNC was already more than gracious allowing Bernie to run when he has done zero work for the party in the first place. The fact that neither he nor his supporters could convince enough of the party membership to vote for him is not the fault of Hillary Clinton nor the DNC. Fuck this “rigged” bullshit. Start your own party if you want to change the world.
Gelfling545
I just said as much, though without quite the same…..verve to some of my younger friends on FaceBook. Their actions right now will determine the possibilities for another Bernie type candidate emerging in the future.
germy
@Davebo: Tad Devine – Bernie’s Top Advisor – Is The One Who Came Up With Super Delegates
rikyrah
I loved the entire piece, but this in particular.
I, too, am tired.
Especially, since he didn’t drop out last night after folks assured me that he was going to, and that we should play nice because we don’t want to hurt anyone else’s feelings.
For me, this election is about THE SUPREME COURT.
I shudder to think how many decades back we will be thrown if there is a President Trump.
Got millions of Americans already affected by Voter Suppression/Poll Tax/Jim Crowe, Esquire.
Have no time to enable a situation that would create millions more.
I am a woman and I want these muthaphuckas out my uterus.
I don’t know why this isn’t clear to others.
Good post, Cole.
srv
Eight years ago, BJ was more loving and open-minded:
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Mike J: Froooostillicus and I would rather have danced with a saber-toothed skunk than not tipped our primitive caps to Ogg and Moog when we met them coming out of the cave. Now let me tell you about when all music started to suck….
Corner Stone
“Which was the style at the time!”
FarmerG
It’s my birthday.
While I was pulling for Bernie, the Bernie of bust thing is pissing me off also. Thanks for the righteous rant.
Kay
Well, I’m glad they’re so liberal. Come on. It’s a gift. If a political Party can’t take a group of people who agree with them and bring them in then it’s not much of an organization.
Republicans would be freaking drooling over a million hard Right young people who…assemble (if not always vote).
Democrats are insane if they pass it up, and they’re not insane, so they won’t. They were all kumbaya last night and that will be the approach. Punch UP. Go after Sanders or that horrible Weaver. Go crazy. It just never makes sense to go after voters, IMO.
Schlemazel Khan
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
My complaint with my sr senator is that she voted with the Bush administration for 2 years and then lied about it to my face. I no longer trust her. I might have forgiven her had she stood up and justified her votes but she didn’t. I put several hundred hours into her election campaign and a couple hundred bucks. I did neither last time but I did vote for her.
Corner Stone
I am so fucking tired of this primary, and the inevitably infuriating ending is not doing much for me either.
Shell
I love you!
Marjowil
Needed to be said. I’m getting closer and closer to the “get off my lawn” phase myself. After a while, one’s patience for shit just evaporates. I have a son graduating high school tomorrow. He wasn’t exactly a Bernie supporter — voted for him in the primary — but never hesitates to tell me that Hillary something-something Honduras, etc. Yesterday told me that HORRORS Hillary made a speech about poverty while wearing a 14K Armani jacket. I told him, she’s rich, get over it. It’s not like she can go around with her clothes rumpled and shirt untucked like Bernie; everything she does and does not do is under scrutiny.
I have to remind myself that my son, who hates Libertarians and freely admits that there are plenty of misogynist Socialists, is on the right side (left, I mean) and didn’t rebel by going all Republican, thank god. He says he is a Communist but doesn’t flaunt it because he knows this doesn’t go over well in general conversation with strangers. At least he is passionate about social justice; I must have done something right. With the modulation of a few years, hopefully he will be a good leftie Dem one day. Either way, I’m proud of him.
Temporarily Max McGee (Soon Enough to Be Andy K Again)
@Robin G.:
I was talking to one of those young sulkers today who has Bernie Sanders confused with Cliven Bundy. Another one- not so young- says that he’s voting for Gary Johnson. Not Jill Stein. Gary Johnson.
Corner Stone
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Not in MN but I am also not a fan of Klobuchar.
Mike in DC
It’s time for Sanders to cut a deal. Taking it to the convention would be counterproductive to his stated goals. He can declare victory and then endorse and work to get Democrats elected. Or he can be remembered as that grandstanding prick who cost us the election and gave us President Trump.
Earl Hathaway
Metamucil will help.
Also I had to donate and I’m going to have to have to sell fucking Hillary to my family in WI.
That venal weathervane who doesn’t owe as much of the butcher’s bill as as Bush, but helped get 3 of my friends killed in Iraq. For fucking what? Because she thought it would play better in Iowa when she ran for president. I’m not over it.
B
I joined a local LGBT SF Democratic club around 1990 because they’d endorsed someone who was not only monumentally stupid, but turned out to be anti-gay as well. I wanted to know how such a thing could happen, and I learned a lot about the process , and stayed active for a couple of years, just long enough to be accused of being a member of Bill Clinton’s corporate monopoly trying to screw a pro-marijuana candidate of two fucking delegates (even though the delegates had been awarded to other regions a full year before almost anybody had heard of Bill Clinton).
I recently had to explain this to two Bernie supporters who are about my age (early 50’s) and I could see them squirm as I defended closed primaries and said of their complaints about delegates: “Where have you been for the past four years? You show up just as the game is starting and decide you don’t like the rules?”
Mike J
The primary/caucus distinction is true, but not needed. Clinton won 32 contests. Sanders won 22.
Trollhattan
@germy:
There has to be at least one, and I fully expect Donny to ape Sarah ™ and refuse to answer their gotcha questions, deliver several soliloquies and yell over Hillary’s answers. There won’t be another, after that.
srv
Back when Hillary was the Bern:
The Dangerman
8 years ago they were called PUMA’s, now it’s the BernieBros. Nothing new to see here.
schrodinger's cat
@Kay: That’s what I said. Bernie needs to be the bigger man, comb his hair and accept the mathematical inevitability.
germy
change.org petition:
https://www.change.org/p/senator-bernie-sanders-drop-out-of-the-primary-2016
Gin & Tonic
@The Golux:
Doesn’t have to be either/or, it seems.
Betty Cracker
@Kay: I’m tip-toeing around my millennial brother’s feelings. But if he doesn’t stop pouting eventually and join the Trump Busters squad, I swear to Christ I’ll upend him over a toilet and give him a swirlie, even if he is six-foot-four now!
Jeffro
@Davebo:”If Bernie felt it was an unfair system he should have been pushing for change since at least the end of the 2012 election.”
Seconded. And on a similar note, for all the Bernie dead-enders who think going third party at this point (even if it results in a Trump win) is going to ‘change the system’ or bring Dems & Inds around to your side, you’re nuts. Whining doesn’t change anything, and throwing the election to the GOP means most Dems (myself included) will never forgive you.
Start a 3rd party on Nov 9, 2016 if you want (although if you’re smart, you’ll give it a day or two, as there will be yet another history-making Democratic president-elect being celebrated). Work for it like all heck and keep making your case. Accept the results in 2018 and 2020 and keep going…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
One of our Latin American policy experts recently explained this issue by saying that Hillary is said to have had extensive contacts with the right wing party in Honduras, which struck me as the political equivalent of “friends of the star say her drinking and spending is out of control! “We’re really worried!” said a family member….” S/he also posted with a bloggy straight face a link to a story about Oscar de la Renta’s Christmas party as proof that HRC is just a puppet for Henry The K.
How much did FDR’s cigarette holder cost?
Trinity
@aimai: Ditto!
Larime
Can we please be called Hilldoes instead of Hillbots? I like it much better.
zzyzx
I got told to fuck off this morning on Facebook for telling someone, “It’s a lot easier to declare that no one is pure enough for you and not play than to do the hard work of joining forces with imperfect people to get the changes you can.” I’m fine with that.
aimai
@Kay: I’m glad they are so liberal, and I’m glad that Bernie gave them voice and an organizing principle. But when, since the Reagan Democrats left, have the rising cohort of potential democratic voters not been more progressive than the older generation? Or,when they were more conservative, weren’t we happy to have the old hippy generation trying to pull the party left? The question isn’t whether kids these days are more left than their parents (hard to tell, actually) but whether they can become more serious political actors and thinkers and get themselves to the polls enough to become a serious voting block. AA voters know they have to vote to be heard–what is the excuse of young white millenials that they don’t know this and that the party has to rely on random enthusiasm generators like Bernie to get them to do their civic duty?
JPL
@Davebo: This..
dmsilev
I still think he’ll withdraw by the middle of next week (i.e. a day or so after the DC primary). If nite, he’ll find out pretty quickly that the hard core Bernie-or-Bust contingent is actually pretty small. Maybe not PUMA small, but only a fraction of his current support. There was a CA poll this weekend which basically asked Sanders supporters if they were Busters, and less than a third were. That number will shrink rather than grow now that Clinton’s win us actual rather than pending. Ditto his superdelegate support; that’s wavering already.
schrodinger's cat
@Marjowil: Do you remember the shit she got because she used a butterfly clip to put her hair up when she was the SoS. Can you imagine if she showed up with a bed head for a public event.
Starfish
Every time you post like this, it reminds me that a) you really were a Republican and b) the relevant Will Rogers quote:
Gin & Tonic
@germy: Tad Devine, primary adviser to champion of the middle-and lower-class Americans Bernie Sanders, has a primary residence on Block Island (RI), where the median home price is well north of $1M.
NickM
A couple of weeks ago I think John posted a picture of a hippie guy with the caption reading something like “My vote is precious and I only share it with people who make me feel special” or something like that. Aimed at people who are so morally righteous that they can’t bring themselves to vote for Hillary over Trump because neither one makes them tingle with righteousness.
I’d like to share that with someone who really needs to see it very badly. I can’t find it amid all the other stuff. Does someone have it or can someone who can figure out where it is post a link? Thanks – it’s for a good cause – if I can’t show it to this person I’m going to have to kick their ass instead and I’d prefer the peaceful way, even though I’m planning to vote for history’s greatest monster.
germy
@Trollhattan:
Maybe he’ll take a page from Mitt’s playbook and lie his ass off during the first debate. (While the moderators smile and stare quietly without factchecking.)
aimai
@Betty Cracker: I’ve been kicking around things to say to that kind of white guy for a while and all I came up with was “suck it up, buttercup. You can join the winning team or throw your support to Trump like the rest of the mouth breathing right wing neo nazis. Oh, what’s that you say? You are not a neo nazi? Then get with the program because we are going to win with or without you.” Its not the saint crispin’s day speech, but you can have it if you like.
Kay
@schrodinger’s cat:
But what if he doesn’t? I don’t even really see that as connected to his supporters. They’re not disloyal. They were never IN the Democratic Party. I haven’t interacted with that many, but telling them they’re bad Democrats doesn’t mean that much since they’re not Democrats. It’s an accusation/criticism that doesn’t even apply.
To be clear, I’m not telling you to stop. This is just my take. Well, also the take of the Democratic Party judging by what I heard last night :)
I don’t know- to make a bad comparison- it’s like a giant crowd wanders into your store and you rant at them to “buy something or get out now!” I would be “look at this giant crowd who wandered into my store! Yay!” :)
Starfish
@Marjowil: Tell your son that the Armani jacket is now on sale and that he can use his vast fortune to buy one for himself.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Gin & Tonic: his previous most high profile job was running a campaign for John Corzine, who got rich running a company that I think makes shopping bags. Silverton Sacks, or something like that.
Major Major Major Major
Your Bernie-Or-Bust Sticker Won’t Get You Into Heaven Any More
Trollhattan
Could be utterly coincidental but I have yet to hear an interview with a Berniesis who’s now jumping to Trump, and yet that’s after a couple dozen Berniebros saying exactly that. They will never vote for Hillary, no matter what. They’d go Kodos.
Related, we should mock all the California polls showing a dead heat:
Precincts reporting–100%
Clinton–1,940,580, 55.8%
Sanders–1,502,043, 43.2%
Talk about screwing the pooch.
germy
@NickM: “My vote is imbued with the spirit of magic…”
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2016/06/dont-be-a-human-tire-fire
glory b
@Temporarily Max McGee (Soon Enough to Be Andy K Again): Fivethirtyeight had some horrifying stats that said Gary Johnson hurts Clinton more than Trump and actually puts her behind Trump (with the usual admonishment that polls now are notoriously unreliable).
Anyway, their polling shows Gary Johnson getting 10% and the Jill Stein party getting 4%.
Alison Rose
I <3 you JC
C.S.
@Davebo: I heart this comment with all my hearts
germy
@Gin & Tonic: things I will never say to Tad Devine:
“Great job on the campaigns you’ve been involved with!”
“I’m thinking of running for office. Will you run my campaign?”
“Hi, neighbor!”
JPL
This picture is all over the internet, so I thought that I’d share it. If I saw Trump in a piece of tile, I’d smash it. link
Keith G
I guess if this rant makes you feel better fine, but my general feeling is that there’s not that much to complain about. The kids are right, but they’re not geniuses.
The system is absolutely rigged and always has been. And guess what, it always will be. A key questions seems to be, is the system getting better and it certainly seems as if it is… by fits and starts. So let them beat their drums, and let them complain, and let them rend their robes and shout to the heavens. It’s what some people, especially the younger ones, do.
By October if not a whole lot sooner, this is all going to be forgotten about – except for those folks on both sides who are well-established grudge holders. There’ll always be things to whine and complain about, but I see very little utility in giving them any further attention.
Here is where Hillary can do her part. She and her people need to bang their own drums and turn up the sound systems and make this process about policy and not about personality.
The media won’t be very helpful but they can be pushed around into something approaching compliance. I’ve been listening to a few Clinton interviews over the last 36 hours and nearly every damn question is about process and horse race issues. I would like her to stop answering those questions and just start exhorting policy and policy differences.
This will go a long way in bringing more of the uncertain on board. At which point many of the current noise makers will grok that the train is leaving the station and they too will scramble to find a seat.
Plantsmantx
By the way, who were the Greens’ primary candidates?
andy
Here here!
Gin & Tonic
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Well, he’s also worked to elect Viktor Yanukovych, who so loved his countrymen that he took 40 million euros of their money to buy a chandelier for his house.
tweedstereo
You all set frothing for now Cole? Serenity now…
Bill
So fucking tired of people my age bitching about “those damn kids.”
As the parent of two voting age millennial Bernie supporters, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to interact with “those damn kids.” To a person I’ve found smart, passionate people, deeply dedicated to the idea of a liberal future for America. I’ve also watched almost every one of them (there are a few stragglers hanging on) come to the realization that Secretary Clinton is the next best choice for their vision of the future.
Yeah, some lacked an understanding of how the primary system worked and got a real time education. But in my experience that’s hardly a problem limited to “the kids.”
If your memory goes back that far, take a few minutes to remember how younger you felt watching the candidate you thought was going to “change everything” go down in flames. FSM help me, but I was downright depressed and enraged when Dukakis got his ass handed to him by Poppy Bush. I may have even said a few rash things along the way. But I lived an learned, and these kids will too.
We alienate the next generation at our peril. And that’s not treating them like “special snowflakes.” It’s just acknowledging that being young is different than being old.
schrodinger's cat
@Kay: I agree with you, I am critical of Bernie not his supporters. He lost, the Democratic party does not need to give in to his vindictive demands regarding DWS or Barney Frank.
Emerald
John, you are usually right about everything, but you’re wrong about this. According to my political hero, future Senator Al Giordano, it was never the kids who were the problem. Every poll that has asked them directly has shown that young voters have no problem with Hillary and will happily vote for her in the fall.
No, the Bernie Bros, as they came to be called, were mostly angry white men in their 40s, some of whom came directly from Gamergate.
It’s not the kids, John. The kids are alright.
Lev
A whiny post complaining about whiny kids. One would almost think the preferred candidate of most writers on this blog didn’t just win yesterday. In any event, this bit of leadership by example should sure inspire them.
MazeDancer
Righteous rant!
And if I may add – First Woman Wins Nomination for President of a Major Political Party and what is she supposed to do at this historic moment? Take care of some man’s hurt feelings, of course.
Even the NY Times won’t give her nothing but history – Bernie’s feelings must be considered.
No more. No more placating bloated male egos. Like the rant above outlined – she won. Completely. And switching hundreds and hundreds of Super Delegates for no factual reason, overturning the will of the actual Democrats to soothe some not really a Democrat’s ego? Not ever going to happen. Not even one of them will change. And enough making sure Bernie isn’t feeling hurt.
(Tomorrow, I’ll be political and practical about Sanders. But today, fed up with angry white male delusional egos. Maybe POTUS will, as he usually does, handle the situation for everyone’s good.)
Gin & Tonic
@efgoldman:
Emphasis on “all” – even the Communists aren’t communists anymore. Just go to Shanghai and take a look.
Iowa Old Lady
@Trollhattan: If I were in charge of the debates, I’d do them with no studio audience and I’d shut off all mics except when the candidate or moderator is supposed to be speaking.
cokane
Nobody has trashed the Democratic party Cole. You’re being quite histrionic. Seriously, take a breath. In literally ONE month, the overwhelming majority of Berners will be supporting Clinton. A handful won’t, but as Lincoln said, you can’t fool all the people all the time.
And seriously, you’re mad because a bunch of 18-25 year olds are diehard Berners? When you were a fucking Republican at that age? Have some patience, jeeeeeeezus
tweedstereo
@Keith G: If Cole stops seeing red long enough to see your comment I hope it doesn’t trigger another rage rant.
dollared
John Cole, former authoritarian Republican, now would like all the Youngs to fall in line with The Democratic Party.
Apparently he never heard of Will Rogers….or of the concept of Democracy. It’s only the Party and the Party Line.
Major Major Major Major
@MazeDancer:
This.
I also saw some supposed liberals bashing her for the cost of her clothes.
rikyrah
@Temporarily Max McGee (Soon Enough to Be Andy K Again):
you do realize that don’t make no damn sense.
there isn’t a path of logic out there that goes Bernie Sanders ——Gary Johnson
Sinfonian
This is great. Thank you.
My first vote in a presidential election was cast in 1984 for Ronald Reagan. I was not quite 19, my parents were Republicans and raised me as such, and I didn’t know any better. One year later, after an, um, eventful sophomore year of college, I renounced the GOP and gradually moved farther and farther left. Still wasn’t terribly active, though, other than voting and maybe a bumper sticker (Gore/Lieberman got me quite a lot of shit in the conservative Florida town where I then lived).
Howard Dean changed that — I was very active in his campaign. I see a lot of similarities between Bernie ’16 and Dean ’04 (I won’t comment on my concerns about Dean ’16 here), and indeed I voted for Bernie in the Florida primary (when it didn’t really matter) even though I was pretty much 50-50. (I’d have voted for HRC a month later, though.) This election is far too important to hang one’s hat on ideological purity. Mostly I’m still trying to live down my vote in 1984.
This morning I saw a Facebook friend, who already has libertarian tendencies anyway, vow to vote for Gary Johnson — in North Carolina. That irks me, but I think we’ll see a good bit of that between now and November.
aimai
@Bill: But do we really alienate them? I mean–I don’t remember paying any attention to things old people were saying when Carter lost, or Dukakis, or Gore. People have to learn their own political lessons. And they do. They don’t take any harm from learning that other people are somewhat sceptical of their commitment to politics. Or don’t support their candidate.
divF
@Earl Hathaway:
Bullshit. She was one of 77 Senators who voted to give Bush the authority to use force “as he determines to be necessary and appropriate”. It may have been a mistake, but the lies and the acts were entirely Bush’s.
ETA: As to your attribution of her motive with respect to the Iowa caucuses, you have no evidence to that effect.
Major Major Major Major
@rikyrah: Sure there is. “I hate Hillary almost as much as I hate Trump.”
Kay
@schrodinger’s cat:
He should be criticized for telling his supporters that things like excluding DWS and Barney Frank matter. The platform doesn’t matter either. The platform is like “opportunity for everyone”. The convention doesn’t even matter. What matters is the President saying Social Security should be expanded, which happened. Bernie is just incompetent in every way, even claiming credit :)
rikyrah
@Marjowil:
Does he expect a Presidential Candidate to get her clothes at Walmart?
sigh.
EZSmirkzz
“You Shouldn’t Take It So Hard”, John.
Some of us were Democrats when McGovern was the candidate, preferred Bernie to Hillary, and still managed to build the party during the dark years when Republicans with sense were hard to find.
Try not to be a sore winner, buddy, losing is hard too. And not to leave out “What Digby says:”
Of course anyone that supported Obama in 2008 should have at least some understanding of Hillary’s chops. Might want to read Kos too.
You’ll understand how I am not quite sure how yelling at the kids is going to help with that.
As an old coot I fully understand that many of the challenges facing us Americans today belong to the future, just as I understand that the last ten years has brought the future my youth to fruition, and in that vein, I leave the future to your generation, but I must caution you that the kids are your future inheritors, and not your bricks in the wall.
This isn’t about you or I, it is about us.
And finally, in the words of Janis Joplin, “So how’s your ass, anyway?”
Archon
@glory b: For the life of me I don’t see how and why anyone who considers themselves on the left could vote for Gary Johnson. Voting for Jill Stein is ridiculous too but at least I can understand that from the “purity” angle.
cokane
@divF: Im voting hillary but this is a major whitewash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkS9y5t0tR0
NCSteve
@srv: Well, yeah. Except for the part where he was never going to win it, never once ahead in the polls or delegate count, hasn’t been as close to her in the pledged delegate count as Hillary was to Obama when he clinched for weeks, where he was originally only running to “make a point,” and then, after it should have been clear to anyone with a room temperature IQ and the math skills of a raccoon, that there was no way in hell he was ever going to pull ahead, he and Jane got it into their heads it was winnable and turned ugly, this is just like that.
Gin & Tonic
@efgoldman: I have no idea, and no interest in finding out.
Suzan
Am cross posting at Bitches for Hillary. It was a cross post of John’s “fuck it I registered Democratic” post that got me started here. I don’t remember anyone holding our hands when Gene McCarthy lost.
The Dangerman
@divF:
Please. If Iraq had become nothing but Wine, Roses, and Song, Hillbots would be giving her unending credit for a tough vote (perhaps rightly so). It didn’t; it went full CF and Hillary gets appropriate blame.
Temporarily Max McGee (Soon Enough to Be Andy K Again)
@rikyrah:
Of course it makes no sense if you’re rational. These aren’t rational people. They want change for change’s sake. Following that internal logic, there’s little difference between Sanders and Johnson.
Kay
@NCSteve:
I like him and he even gets on my nerves now. This superdelegate argument is ridiculous. It’s the most anti-democratic thing I’ve ever heard, overturning actual votes and delegates with polls. WTF? How can he say this with a straight face?
opiejeanne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Magnets don’t stick to stainless steel. My collection of magnets from my kids’ trips around the world are in a box.
And I yell at the damned tv whenever some twit of an American embarrasses us on the international version of that show, whining about how small the apartments/kitchens/bedrooms are in Paris and announce that their budget is under $500.
God.
Damn.
realitybites
The first big storm is over. But a bigger one is on the way.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Agree about the closed primaries. The Democratic Party was taken for a ride by a man who has no intention of ever joining it, much less helping it out, and we allowed him to use our name and money to try and become president. That is not acceptable.
geg6
This is why I love you, John Cole. This, and Lovey.
opiejeanne
@Robin G.: I feel that I can’t celebrate openly on Facebook because of people I love who may take a few more days to process their grief, and they really are grieving. Thank goodness there is a private group of Hillary supporters that invited me.
Bill
@aimai: It’s easy as a young person to turn away from a group if loud members of that group are screaming “you young people suck.” When 19 year old me was venting frustration about politics, the internet was barely an idea. But if I surfed the web on politics and found post after post basically saying “screw you young guy” I would have been sorely tempted to tune out. I worry that pieces like this play in to the meme – that’s easy to accept when you’re young – that the generations ahead of you don’t want you involved.
Alienation is not a foregone conclusion, but I think this kind of rant against “the youngs” increases the likelihood of future Naders rather than party unity.
Punchy
Can’t we all just skull-fuck a kitten or two, just for old-time sake?
geg6
@Villago Delenda Est:
I couldn’t agree more with this.
Starfish
@NickM: This one is good too.
divF
@cokane: Hindsight is 20-20. At the time, I remember clearly that we were being told that he had these capabilities by the Bush administration, and that Saddam had already waged multiple wars in the region. I didn’t trust Bush, but I also couldn’t imagine that he would massively cook the books on this and go to war without compelling reasons. Not that he was an angel, but that he was not a fool. I was wrong.
Persia
One of the things I’ve found interesting around me personally is most of the young people around 20 and younger support Bernie or Clinton but are, as far as I can tell, doing it in a really positive way. The Bros don’t really show up until the 20-30 range.
sherparick
I can tell you what can give you the a real case of the sads. On early morning of June 5, 1968, shortly after a victory speech in the California primary, Robert Kennedy was shot and died 24 hours later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Robert_F._Kennedy
Later that summer, I was 13 years old with a ringside seat as my hometown of Chicago had its biggest, worst, moment since the fire that burned the place down. A lot of people went home and did not vote and we got Tricky Dick Nixon, War Criminal Kissinger, and 4 more years of the Vietnam War, primarily because it served Nixon’s reelection goals. Then watch a repeat and do it again cycle in 1972, 1980, and 2000 when one bunch of Democrats or another got so mad with each other that to preserve their precious snowflake essence to work for a candidate they detested, the greater of two evils was preferred. Apparently despite Nixon, Reagan, and George W. the contradictions were not heighten enough and in the meantime the 20% bat shit crazy part of the population is now the 40% bat shit crazy thanks to talk radio, Fox, and their internet spawn. But if you are 30 or under, you barely remember 2000 and the Nixon and Reagan are ancient history.
Suffragete City elftx
His ‘Wagging Fingerness’ will probably be told tomorrow to get with the program. I suspect he’ll say Sure no problem, then go out and tell his Participation Trophy winners once again just how fkng corrupt the D’s are.
He wants mayhem at the Convention, it will assuage his peevishness and cement in the phonebooth of his mind just how pure he is.
dmsilev
@opiejeanne: Sure they will, you just need stronger magnets.
(I work with Magnets Of Unusual Strength, and they’ll happily latch on to stainless steel)
Donna
With the exception of the kicking puppies part, I feel exactly the same way.
BS is seriously sick in the head He’s made every excuse in the world to not get out, moved the goal post so often it looks silly. If he wants to retain any respect he needs to fold the tent gracefully.
He should have done that last night. Pundits and pols talking about give him time, he’s had weeks already. They are just enabling. Time to unite the party.
Emma
@Major Major Major Major:
And if she showed up in polyester pantsuit from J.C.Penneys they would accuse her of pandering to get the working class vote.
She looks good in de la Renta, though. The dress she wore to her daughter’s wedding was his design iirc.
chopper
…i think ‘get back to me when they start getting off their asses and vote’.
Persia
@Starfish: You can tell a guy started this whole fracas because they apparently don’t realize women don’t buy that shit unless it’s on sale.
Also some of us remember there being eight solid years where the Clintons were endlessly derided as uncultured Arkansas hicks. If she’d worn something from Kohl’s she’d be treating poor people with disrespect. There is literally no way to win that game.
FlipYrWhig
@Kay:
I think it’s more like a giant crowd wanders into your store and then says you don’t sell anything worth buying and your playlist is terrible and the lights run at a cycle that irritates their eyes and it doesn’t stay open late enough, and by standing in the store complaining they make it impossible for people who want to shop there to pick out what they like and make it to the counter.
realitybites
was trying to link photo to post 101. Maybe this time.
opiejeanne
@rikyrah: In case I haven’t told you this before, I adore you! That was awesome.
JPL
@Emma: Al Gore was criticized for his clothing. I doubt that Hillary paid retail for her jacket, but even if she did, she can afford it.
Cacti
A common, head-scratch inducing refrain I’ve heard from da youts on the interwebs is: “All you care about is winning!”
Of course I care about winning. Damned hard to see preferred policies enacted when you lose elections.
Politics is a zero sum affair. An election will have a winner and a loser. Ergo, winning is good, losing is not.
Bill
@divF:
Powell was the one who made me question all that I knew about the Bush administration. I thought they were feeding us bullshit (particularly in light of what the UN inspectors were saying) until Powell spoke up.
I thought he was a man of integrity.
I was wrong.
Persia
@rikyrah:
Yes there is. It’s “I’m a dumb white male asshole who likes to smoke pot.”
(ETA: Usually 40+)
divF
@Persia: The clothes thing is more sexism. No one ever comments on whether men’s suits are high-end or low-end, complete with brands and prices.
schrodinger's cat
@rikyrah: If she did, then peeps would say that it was a stunt.
dogwood
@aimai:
Bernie’s young voters might be liberal, but 57% of his voters overall identify as moderates. You don’t start a leftist revolution with that data staring you in the face. The truth about the Sanders campaign is that it was a place for these white moderates to express their Clinton and,perhaps to a lesser degree, their Obama hatred. People who think there is some great gold to be mined from the Sanders campaign are delusional. If anything, the Sanders campaign has sent a signal to other potential democratic grifters that a populist campaign with a long set of grievances and a decent list of enemies who need to be purged will be gold for the consultant class and the candidate him or herself.
Lynn Dee
@The Golux: Lol! That is fabulous!
Stacy
@Marjowil: I have one of those too, except in the form of a 16 year old daughter. Hard for me to swallow that she’s not the least bit fazed by HRC’s glass ceiling breaking. At least she’s a lefty!
opiejeanne
@aimai: This.
burnspbesq
Once upon a time (1972, to be exact), I was one of those God-damn kids, stuffing envelopes for McGovern. Some old coot explained to me that the only effective way to work for change was to do it from within the system. Against all odds, I was somehow smart enough to listen.
Now I’m the old coot, and it frustrates the shit out of me that today’s God-damn kids think our knowledge is worthless.
glory b
@Major Major Major Major: Hah!!
Lynn Dee
@Gin & Tonic: Also good. And true!
negative 1
@aimai: Sanders also won Hispanic millenials while you’re into race based complaints. I suppose that doesn’t fit into your any [race here] support doesn’t count or their concerns are whining, but ya know…
chopper
@Earl Hathaway:
as has been pointed out here before, so did people on the last three democratic tickets. kerry, edwards and biden all voted for that POS, yet hilz ends up taking the most blame for it.
Kay
@FlipYrWhig:
If there were a Right wing politician drawing big crowds of young people Republicans would already have an alternative organization for them to join with a financial backer and a slate of candidates. Charles Koch dreams about this.
Aimai
@Bill: oh for fucks sake. Give the youth a little more credit than that. Also they really read stuff in their own demographic. Doubt they are getting their political education from balloon juice.
Aimai
@chopper: all of the blame for it. As far as I can see.
SFAW
@efgoldman:
Ocean State Job Lot also has some
niceinterestingnot-completely-ugly sweatpants and sweatshirts.Marjowil
@MazeDancer: THANK YOU
Betty Cracker
@aimai: If that doesn’t work, there’s always the dynamited whale!
les
@EZSmirkzz:
Well, somebody needs to yell at them that it doesn’t happen without work and supporting good senate/house candidates and strengthening a party so that group goals get achieved. And the Bernster obviously has no interest in promoting any such thing, so John might as well yell at ’em.
Cacti
@Trollhattan:
I thought the true state of the race was actually buried in those polls.
The ones that polled early voters showed Hillary with anywhere from a 9-18 point lead among those who had actually voted.
She banked a big enough early vote lead that an election day split at the polls didn’t matter.
MD Rackham
@dmsilev: Yeah, but keeping the liquid helium system going is a real pain.
Fair Economist
@dmsilev:
He’s going to get absolutely clobbered in DC and he’ll look a lot weaker if he withdraws after some 70%-30% blowout than after the 55-43 decisive loss in CA, even if it’s not reflecting any real difference.
The Thin Black Duke
@negative 1: Bottom line, more people of color voted for Hillary than Bernie. Math is a harsh mistress, dude.
gvg
@Earl Hathaway: See now I consider this a valid reason to not want Hillary. I have accepted her apology but I don’t think everyone has to reach the same conclusion. What drives me nuts are the people who have absorbed the nonsense negativity about her and Bill from hearing it for decades and don’t realize they have been propagandized to nonsense. The Clintons have actual real flaws that we could discuss but instead we have lots of endless years of nonsense. Stupid conspiracy mindsets etc. It’s not just them that have been attacked either, it’s the whole liberal mindset.
The other troubling thing to me back around 2004 I realized that some people had locked themselves into being loyal to Bush/GOP/ Iraq war good because they were unable to face saying my friend or brother died for no reason and then they attacked people who said we were lied into that war. Such pain they felt, but were denying the uselessness because that was just too much. Reading some history I think that is pretty common but at the time I found it shocking. They felt an attack on the war was an attack on their dead friend. It wasn’t, but emotions are real.
I don’t think the Bernie obnoxious people are really the real young. they seem to be a bit older than that and should have learned better before now. Maybe it’s just that a few of every generation are selfish and this cycle Bernie attracted those too along with others of more varied reasons and better manners.
Marjowil
@rikyrah: Considering he is a teenager who cares nothing for clothes and is very cheap to boot… I’d say yes, but then there’s the cheap Asian labor to consider so… I’m not sure. I’m sure he stopped thinking shortly after his outrage engaged. But, what do you want, he’s 18.
Persia
@dogwood: My personal low point was after Puerto Rico when some BernieDouche remarked that “Latins” were notorious for corruption. Um.
Richard Mayhew
@Robin G.: Yep, give everyone a couple of weeks to get their heads on straight and look on with abject horror at the Trumpkins
negative 1
@burnspbesq: So clearly telling them their elders, who so far have discounted the fact that we start out with a mortgage-level amount of college debt and no jobs, have the only good ideas and listening only to them is the right way.
The irony of the rant above is that John talks about formerly belonging 100% to a political party and working for them, and then switching affiliations because they didn’t stand for his beliefs. Then he yells at them, and so does the commentariat.
What makes me sad is that somehow rather than end racial and gender based complaints we just subbed the races and genders and somehow it’s better. But I suppose it doesn’t matter because I’m a white bro, and everyone in here is a political insider who can tell me how the party *really* works and the hard work yadda yadda yadda.
dmsilev
@MD Rackham: Welcome to my life….
Actually, you can buy pretty damn strong rare earth magnets for a few dollars that stick hard to any steel or iron surface.
Trollhattan
@The Thin Black Duke:
I infer from the 12+% California drubbing that Clinton likely won in every demographic; hopefully some exit polling will parse the details so we know more.
Applejinx
Sounds good. Let’s!
All I ask is this: just like this time, let’s please end up with the idealistic platform of the Bernie Sanders but a candidate who is more likely to get it done.
Don’t go full Bernie. Never go full Bernie. 80% or 90% Bernie is the correct amount, and then leave off before you say the word ‘superdelegate’ D:
negative 1
@The Thin Black Duke: More people in general, and more white people too. Even white males. But the supposed reason it’s OK to hate Bernie’s supporters is because they’re bros, or white males — just read above.
Tribal identification politics is gross to me, no matter who we hate, but we don’t have progress just winner take all.
Marc McKenzie
(Stands up and applauds)
All I can say is…damn, John–you just kicked a whole lot of ass and took a whole lot of names.
And I can also add to those who still want to sit over in a corner diddling themselves because of “corrupt Hillary” or a “rigged system”–either get in the fight or get the hell out of the way. There is too much at stake in November and your idiotic hard-man posturing is only going to help Trump and the GOP.
les
@negative 1:
Really, being able to read should be a prerequisite for posting comments. Fuckin’ idiot.
Matt McIrvin
@Emerald:
My social-media feeds are probably a biased source, but this is what I’m seeing. The Busters are my age or older. GenEx guys who have always been completely cynical about electoral politics and have been hearing that Hillary Clinton is somehow a bad person since they were young, or even old Boomers who usually go around telling people voting only encourages them.
Kay
@les:
But no one in the official Democratic Party is yelling at them. Instead they’re all making soothing statements about letting them have their process, or whatever.
They’re either really nice people or they see no upside in yelling at potential voters. Team Democrat is not on board with this. It’s not at all unprecedented either. John Edwards had few voters and delegates and they had that “summit” or whatever it was.
dmsilev
@Fair Economist: True, but he gets to tell his supporters that he fought for every vote in every contest, or some such. Clinton did essentially the same thing in 2008, and bowed out the day after the last primary (privately to Obama, and then publicly by email a day later, and finally a speech a couple of days after that).
Trollhattan
@efgoldman:
We all know damn well Donny has bespoke suits from Savile Row and wherever else he damn well chooses, and maintains yoooge closets of the stuff in several locations, organized by color and shade spanning the Pantone library in minuscule steps. This B.S. is a non-starter.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
In fairness, it’s not just the YOungs:
Has he always been this stupid?
@Applejinx: When your gibberish is short enough to bother with, I find myself wondering, again, if you’re not a parody of a Bernista
gvg
I still have a lot more concerns about Bernie than I did with Hillary and I was always bothered by his clear using the Democrats at the last minute. At the beginning of the campaign I would guess maybe a third of us were anti Bernie because of that. that means he started with a disadvantage built in. I also recall not being that upset in 2006 when some republicans switched from GOP to Dem and ran as Dem. I have been thinking about it and those guys clearly understood the use of party. Some of them paid a price and lost their seats and clearly always knew that was possible. Bernie has stood alone for a long time and has not built enough connections. I don’t like socializing much myself so I can understand that but President can’t work like that infact I don’t think he can be the best Senator with that attitude. I don’t see him as having good judgement now.
Cacti
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Cenk is the epitome of the middle-aged, obnoxious Bro phenomenon.
Matt McIrvin
I suspect we are going to see a substantial chunk of the Greenwald/Ed Snowden fandom opining on how a Trump administration would be preferable to Hillary all the way to November.
Elie
Late to the thread. THANK YOU John…. What you said….
We all have to put our shoulders to the wheel on the struggle coming up — no whining — just doing. No one is owed to have it all their way. We have Democracy and politics are necessary to achieve consensus to get anything done. No one gets to dictate from on high… We have to work for the change we want then keep working to keep it. We don’t get to keep some illusion that perfection is a natural state and that we don’t have to work to keep it and that sometimes our efforts don’t work but we gotta keep trying. That’s it. No magic. Just work and good will amongst those of us who are working on OUR government…
les
@Kay:
No, and maybe they shouldn’t–they should and do want the votes. But, as far as I see, anybody who’s really going from Bernie to Trump or Johnson because corruption and rigged and establishment (and I doubt there are really all that many) needs to be yelled at. With fee fees that delicate, a good yelling will get them out of politics, where they have no business anyway.
negative 1
@les: Sorry I couldn’t read that comment, I’m too much of an idiot. To me, burns comment was that the millenials didn’t listen to their elders much, when in my opinion that’s laughable — Baby Boomers never heed the millenials input, after all wasn’t that Cole’s posts point?
Big Picture Pathologist
@Villago Delenda Est: seriously? You’re going to fucking ignore the roles of Jeb Bush,the Supreme Court and Katherine Harris? Fuck you.
The Thin Black Duke
@negative 1: Oh no, I don’t hate all Bernie supporters, just the hateful assholes who phoned death threats to journalists or called Barbara Boxer a “bitch”. But let’s talk about your hurt feelings some more.
glory b
@Archon: The Green Party fakes purity. Jill Stein agitates for open Dem primaries, but hers are closed. They took upwards of $100,000 from the repubs (and funded by Haliburton) with the knowledge that they were being used to split the liberal vote and give a win to Santorum.
negative 1
@les: Polling would indicate that the people who were voting for Sanders who are now voting for Trump or [other] would fit in a Greyhound bus.
Bill
@Aimai: Probably not specifically from Balloon Juice (although some do), but the net is absolutely loaded with this sentiment. Social media in particular.
I find it ironic that we “olds” constantly bitch that young people don’t participate in politics. And then when they do, we bitch to high heaven that they do it wrong.
Not exactly a warm reception for the people we claim to want n the tent.
geg6
@FlipYrWhig:
THIS!!!!
And, honestly, it’s not the youngs who are making me want to go out and buy a gun (and no one is more anti-gun in their personal lives as I am). It’s the men 30-50 who are the biggest asshole Berniebro whiners. I want to punch every single one of them in the neck.
Kay
@les:
Okay. John Edwards had 18 delegates and they were both vying to get him based on his supposed appeal to the “white working class”. So, you know, expect “summits” and all kinds of diplomatic wrangling because they want to win.
FlipYrWhig
@Matt McIrvin:
Yup, same here. Basically the people who came of age when Bill Clinton was president and thought he turned out to be too conservative for their tastes, and many who had faith in Barack Obama and thought _he_ turned out to be too conservative for their tastes. Of course this could be because their tastes aren’t shared that widely, or, alternatively, because there was a big corporate-media-Wall St. conspiracy to spite them and wreck their dreams.
Reggie Mantle
Ah, there’s the hate-filled, spittle-flecked, old- man-raging-at-clouds BJ I know.
At least Clinton’s indicated she’s a damn sight smarter that you vis a vis Bernie and the now almost 12 million who didn’t vote for her.
negative 1
@The Thin Black Duke: That’s right bro, kick ass and take names! There are no valid policy complaints, only hurt feelings!
Does anyone ever look in the mirror and see they’ve become what they hate? By the way for those of us on the fundraising side we still have to hope they’ll donate to our PAC for those other downticket democrats on the state and local levels, but continuing to say that their policies have yet to be addressed is ‘whining’ doesn’t really help.
NR
@Kay: It’s the Democratic party’s fault for having superdelegates in the first place. Get rid of the fuckers.
gbear
I love cranky Cole, and I feel the same way when I’m on Facebook or read blog comments.
If you like Klobuchar and Franken, you’re more than welcome to move to MN, but you’d probably hate it here.
El Yoni
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: That is funny, the Honduras thing, because Sander’s advisor worked for Zelaya.
http://dailycaller.com/2016/05/02/bernies-fans-wont-be-pleased-his-top-adviser-has-worked-for-these-people/
Reggie Mantle
@Kay:
I’m not so sure some here would rather lose than make a single concession to the Man They Love to Hate.
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Jesus chicken-fried Christ, what a moron.
Kay
@glory b:
The Green Party in Ohio are terrible. They file ridiculous voter protection lawsuits based on conspiracy theories and screw everything up. I’m convinced it’s 100% internet fund-raising. It is actually harmful to voter protection.
exregis
@Kay:
So how is the Democratic party supposed to gather its young? How about the energetic outreach by the Obama team in 2008? How did that work out in 2010 and 2014?
Nope. Until their pre-frontal cortexes catch up with their amygdalas, until they gain some understanding of how hard it is to convert idealism into realism, the Democratic Party can only wait for these younger voters to accept its invitation. And certainly the invitation, with carrots, is out there right now.
burnspbesq
@negative 1:
You really are determined to avoid getting it at all costs, aren’t you?
Matt McIrvin
@NR: I will agree with you about superdelegates! I’m not even convinced that they could fulfil their stated function of spiking a bad nominee in an emergency. Anyone they’d install would probably be unelectable anyway, and the personal political cost to them would be high. It’d just be a suicide pill. (Do you think that if the Republicans had superdelegates, and they were numerous enough to oust Trump, they’d actually do it? I don’t.)
glory b
@efgoldman: Or Marshall’s or TJ Maxx.
EZSmirkzz
@les:
Obviously you are not on his email list or you wouldn’t make that assertion.
Cool you jets.
Kay
@NR:
No, Sanders should stop making ridiculous arguments where he contradicts himself. You don’t throw out actual votes in exchange for polls. Jesus Christ. Let’s just skip the voting and install based on polling.
Mike J
If Bernie had won, what parts of Clinton’s agenda would he have adopted? How would he have won us over?
Barbara
@Marjowil: A $14K Armani jacket? My antennae are pretty finely tuned to that kind of thing so I went and looked at the retailers I know who sell no-discount Armani, and the most expensive jacket is a perforated lamb leather long “coat” that retails for just under $5K. At $14K, you start seeing things like hand sewn crystals and gold thread. Not to say that $5K is a steal, but still, nice jackets are pricey. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Clinton has some things made to order (or altered) because she is relatively petite. She is around 5’4″. If she weren’t spending a lot for good clothes people would accuse her of being frumpy. Women can’t win. That’s the order of the world and there are way too many people willing and vested to keep it that way.
However, my kids are like this too though (except they don’t hate Hillary Clinton).
singfoom
I think you’re being a little rough on the “kids” John, but that’s cool, you do your thing. The majority of them will come around. When you’re really young you don’t think a lot about politics, you feel about it. I’m sure 95% of them will vote for HRC and help take Drumpf out in November.
Looking forward to this being wrapped up and helping with the GOTV effort in my neighborhood.
@FlipYrWhig:
Hey! I’m one of these. Except that I think Barack Obama is an awesome president except for his actions / non-actions around the mortgage fraud / housing collapse / fraudpocalypse in 2009. But I was never a Bernie or Buster, he lost me to HRC back in late March. The only BoBs I know are a little younger than me, but my circle is small, so who knows.
Regardless, it’ll be nice to get this bullshit out of the way and train our sights on the asshole that has to be defeated.
Reggie Mantle
One minute to go in the second half and the home team’s up by 20. Do you start berating the visiting team’s coach and quarterback because they don’t just hang their heads and walk off the field? Do you bitterly denounce them because by continuing to hit hard, they might damage your team for its big game against Riverdale next week?
negative 1
@burnspbesq: So explain it to me? From what I saw “Now I’m the old coot, and it frustrates the shit out of me that today’s God-damn kids think our knowledge is worthless.” you’re complaining that millenials don’t listen to their elders enough. If not, I don’t get it.
Kay
@exregis:
These people came to my store and bought my wares and then they didn’t come back! I’m outraged. Unless they commit to a yearly purchase I don’t even want them in here looking around, or even other, totally different people who are around their age.
burnspbesq
@Big Picture Pathologist:
The exit polling of self-proclaimed Nader voters in FL clearly showed that if Nader was not on the ballot, Gore would have carried the state by approximately 70,000 votes. In that scenario, there are no roles for any of those folks to play.
Knowledge is power. Become more powerful.
Barbara
@B: @Jeffro: Or since 2008, when I think most of us first learned of these creatures called super delegates. At that point, if it really offended him, he should have joined and started working to change the rules.
Reggie Mantle
@Mike J:
Most of it, most likely. Just not the part where she coddles the big banks until they crash the economy again and the part where we end up in another stupid overseas intervention because reasons.
singfoom
@NR:
I think superdelegates should be removed too, but you play by the rules of the game at the time. It’s a point that’s sure to come up at the convention and they might actually go away…. I would just say, if you remove super delegates, better transition to closed primaries for EVERYTHING, because ratfuckery could seriously mess up the party otherwise. YMMV
geg6
@Bill:
I work with young people every day. The exact Bernie demographic. A few of them are Bernie or busters, but I expect they’ll get over that much as I did when Jimmy Carter beat Ted Kennedy when I was their age. The worst of the worst are older and almost exclusively men. Hmmmmm, I wonder what it is about Hillary that they hate so much?
rikyrah
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
True that.
singfoom
@Reggie Mantle: This isn’t football. Poor analogy. Listen, Bernie’s got every right to continue all the way to the convention if he so chooses. I would prefer that he didn’t even though I supported him until the end of March.
It’s not about him, it’s about the party and country. From http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/09/us/politics/bernie-sanders-campaign.html –
Bernie is in the same place that Dean was in.
burnspbesq
@negative 1:
Your response made my point for me. It started at irrelevant, and went by the shortest available path to dismissive. You are the ur-Berniac. You know everything worth knowing. No one other than you has ever had a valid experience.
Big Picture Pathologist
@burnspbesq:
Gore WON Florida OFFICIALLY,dumbass. This was announced after the SC decision, and had nothing to do with Nader and everything to do with the SC.
Barbara
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: How much did Bernie’s trip to Rome for his entire extended family cost? Or Susan Sarandon’s very evidently highly skilled hair magician? Or the dresses that Rosario Dawson wears to her various red carpet events (oh, that’s right they are “loaned” to her for her use as a walking billboard.) Or the Kennedy family “compound” in Palm Beach Florida?
We could play this game until the end of time.
Barbara
@aimai: Well, speaking for myself, I yell at my kids if they don’t vote.
MomSense
@Larime:
I prefer Hillzilla myself.
Reggie Mantle
@geg6:
I imagine at least some of them know people who were killed or maimed in Iraq, others have kids who are of an age to get sucked into the next meatgrinder an interventionist foreign policy will inevitably land us in, and more than a few saw their jobs go south because of NAFTA.
negative 1
@FlipYrWhig: Or conversely because during that time no one has done anything about this:
http://jobenomicsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Historical-US-Income-Inequality-Current-Dollars.jpg
Obviously it’s easy to point at the other side and say ‘you made this worse’ but in my lifetime neither of those two presidents or any of the previous or interceding republicans have done anything about it either. If you’re poor, or broke, or in crippling amounts of debt, that chart represents a real problem that you can see the tangible effects of. In my opinion, Bernie won the message war on that early. I wish that the democratic party in general would message more around how that chart gets fixed. I don’t disagree that Hillary will largely continue Obama’s policies, and that’s a good thing as I like him, but Obama’s policies are on that chart also.
negative 1
@burnspbesq: Hey look I’m made of straw!
Matt McIrvin
@singfoom: Indeed. I see the argument against superdelegates, and certainly the argument against caucuses, but Sanders’ most prominent complaint of late has been against closed primaries, which just seems self-serving.
Joyce H
@sherparick:
I watched the news coverage of the RFK assassination as it was happening. Man, was THAT a crazy year! I was fifteen and had got all into politics, so stayed up late to hear the returns from the California primary, though everyone else had gone to bed. I think I was a Kennedy girl, though the McCarthy crowd was all bent out of shape that they’d done the hard work of proving that there was a viable path for an anti-war candidate and now this rich kid comes waltzing in, all ‘thanks, I’ll take it from here’. (And they’d actually cut their HAIR to canvass in Iowa and New Hampshire, all ‘neat and clean for Gene’!)
But Bobby won CA, gave a rousing speech and then left the podium and went back to the service area, and the on-site reporter was just wrapping up and I was about to go to bed when all the ruckus started. Think I stayed up most of the night that night.
Trollhattan
@Big Picture Pathologist:
With that 70k, no recount and no SCOUS theft. Capisce?
glory b
@negative 1: link?
My Truth Hurts
Whining about whining.
Reggie Mantle
@efgoldman:
“We have a majority so shut the fuck up” was the Republican message post 2004. Hopefully the new boss won’t be the same as the old boss.
dmsilev
@Reggie Mantle: Or, better, this is a marathon and the lead runner just crossed the finish line with the runner-up roughly three miles back. It’s hard to blame people for looking askance when that second-place guy insists that he can too win this thing.
Aqualad08
@srv:
Eight years ago, the pledged delegate count was very thin, the popular vote was even thinner, and the delegations from Michigan and Florida were still in doubt. That didn’t happen this time.
Stop being so fucking obtuse.
Tripod
@Temporarily Max McGee (Soon Enough to Be Andy K Again):
No chicks. Duh.
Reggie Mantle
@dmsilev:
Do you berate the guy in second because he keeps running?
Reggie Mantle
@Aqualad08:
Shorter Aqualad: It’s different now, so we’re totally justified in a Republican level of dickishness.
glory b
@negative 1: And my African American young brothers and sisters can’t get accepted into college, but will have to subsidize your education with their burger flipping/call center jobs.
A study in Scotland showed the free college thing was a windfall for the upper and upper middle class and a burden on the vast majority of the poor.
European colleges are more easily subsidized because it’s MUCH HARDER to get in and many fewer kids go. The same way it was when some states had free college here a few decades ago.
The real problem is that we did away with the good paying union jobs that allowed people to forego college and still make a decent living.
negative 1
@glory b: Ask, and ye shall receive:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/clinton-campaign-must-turn-winning-sanders-backing-latinos-n588101
I have admittedly no idea about Calif as they won’t publish it, but I’ll use my primary evidence as Clinton’s spokesperson saying that Latino millenials have “by and large supported Sanders”.
Tripod
@Trollhattan:
It’s all evidence of the conspiracy, man….
negative 1
@glory b: I agree with the union jobs comment, but my biases are well known.
I disagree with your comment about free college, though, as in this country minorities and poor families make up the brunt of the college debt crisis:
http://www.demos.org/publication/debt-divide-racial-and-class-bias-behind-new-normal-student-borrowing
Edited to add — there is my longstanding (biased) belief that the attack on public sector unions is somewhat racially motivated. For years public sector unions represented an excellent stable income to minorities, even in areas where racial hiring bias was the norm. Now, they get portrayed as ‘lazy’ and ‘unable to hold a real job’ as if their career in public service was a handout.
dogwood
@Reggie Mantle:
Good grief. This is an obscure blog. No one here has the power to make concessions to anyone. Tomorrow Bernie will go into the Oval Office and make his demands to the POTUS who will calmly and graciously listen to his complaints and insults then tell him what the White House plans are for endorsing and campaigning. I wouldn’t be surprised if the President agrees to hold off one more week. But he’s itching to get going and won’t put up with this longer than that. It will be Obama, Clinton and the rest of the party and convention leadership that will iron out concessions with Sanders, not the BJ commentariat.
Aqualad08
@Reggie Mantle: Shorter Reggie Mantle: My father either hugged me too much or not enough, so please fill the gaping hole in my soul with constant attention.
Oh, and FYI, it is different now. The scrappy underdog got his ass kicked. If you think me pointing it out makes me a Republican-level dick, that’s your problem. I have to go stop a madman now…
Tripod
Fuck you clowns. I’ll be down with Bernie or Bust once they let Jerry speak.
geg6
@Reggie Mantle:
And that makes them different from me, how? I know numerous people or their kids who were killed and maimed in Iraq/Afghanistan. I have relatives, friends, children of friends and students who are in the military or reserves/NG who might be called up for service should there be a shooting war. I live in fucking Western PA. There aren’t many places in America that has lost more jobs to outsourcing, with the exception of Michigan. I didn’t support Hillary in 2008. But I never hated her. I didn’t like her AUMF vote, but I understand it. And she didn’t have anything to do with NAFTA since she was only First Lady at the time. She had no power to do anything about it all, so there’s no reason to blame her. And funnily enough, none of the people I’m talking about who are Bernie or busters are women, who are equally or even more affected by all of these things, whether for themselves or their children. Zero. Zilch. So what is it about Hillary that these 30+ year old men hate? I’m all ears.
Tripod
@efgoldman:
She also has to wear something that can hide a bullet proof vest.
geg6
@negative 1:
Maybe not everyone’s priority is yours, which is obviously your own debt. Maybe their priority is bodily autonomy. Or maybe gun control because they’ve lost someone to gun violence. Maybe, just maybe other people have other priorities.
glory b
@Reggie Mantle: Does this mean we’ve gotten you to agree to vote for her/
Wanna phone bank? How can we make that happen??
geg6
@efgoldman:
He’s a GOPer troll. Been saying for days and days and nothing he’s said has made me doubt my own judgment on that one bit.
boatboy_srq
Perhaps a better retort to Bernistas would be: “So, you want to change the world? Get behind your preferred candidates for House, Senate, state legislature, and school board. Those are the races that matter.”
Preznit-or-bust is a recipe for failure.
Reggie Mantle
@geg6:
Being wrong over and over “for days and days” is nothing to brag about.
Calling someone who disagrees with you “A GOP Troll” and handwaving away any statements to the contrary is the equivalent of putting your hands over your ears and going “LALALALALA I’M NOT LISTENING”. But, with a few exceptions, most of your are just bratty children anyway.
Predicted response: some variant on “I know you are but what am I?”
negative 1
@geg6: Why guess when you can poll:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/188918/democrats-republicans-agree-four-top-issues-campaign.aspx
Just because neither party is effective at stopping it doesn’t mean it isn’t important to democratic voters
chopper
@Reggie Mantle:
look! up in the sky! it’s CAPTAIN BUTTHURT!
Fair Economist
Neither Bill Clinton nor Obama ever started a military intervention that caused substantial American casualties and Hillary Clinton won’t either.
chopper
@efgoldman:
…in the tryouts, yet he keeps trying to injure her so she can’t run in the official race.
Reggie Mantle
Basically, Cole saw two reasonable, non confrontational, we’re-all-in-this-together posts below and decided that just wouldn’t do, so he had to try and divide the liberal electorate once again by shitting on Sanders supporters.
And I’m supposed to be the Republican agent?
chopper
@chopper:
or, to use another sports analogy, bernie is basically tonya harding at this point.
nutella
@Barbara:
$617,920
And Sanders claimed it with the FEC as a campaign expense. They will nail him for that. Personal vacations and pope-stalking trips are not campaign expenses.
chopper
@Reggie Mantle:
yet i’m sure those people had no problem voting for kerry/edwards and twice for biden.
les
@negative 1:
Ah, I see–so your “point” is both comments are correct, so Burns is laughable? Actually, you overstated and misunderstood Burn’s point, misstated and misunderstood Cole’s point, and said something stupid. Which, at least is consistent. And hence my wish that reading comprehension came before commenting.
Miss Bianca
@geg6: @Reggie Mantle: Creature shows up here, nyms itself “Reggie Mantle”, invoking the snotty privileged rich kid of a dorky comic, and like its nymsake exhibits plenty of attitude but contributes nothing useful to the broader community – neither thoughtful analysis, passionate conviction, nor wit. (I’m going to posit that merely being a contrarian jerk is not “useful”, despite its protestations.) And then says “I am not a troll.”
Hmm…*maybe* it’s not a troll. As my friend Kerry Reid used to say, “pigs *might* fly up my butt. It’s *possible*.”
Jonathan Holland Becnel
At least you’re not drinking, Cole!
The young people are wayyyyy more organized. And they loath the corporate, warmongering politics of Neoliberalism.
Do you like it when civilians are bombed, jobs shipped overseas for cheap labor, and immigrant families divided?
Cuz it sure as hell sounds like you do!
Young People! Drum Circles! Woooo! Listen to your elders who sold out a long time ago!
Down here in the shitty fucking south we don’t have that luxury. They literally want poor people to die. Hell, we can’t even afford a drum.
Reggie Mantle
@chopper:
As long as there’s a choice between a Presidential candidate who voted for that disaster and one who didn’t, I’m picking the one who didn’t.
Miss Bianca
@chopper: yeah, but he doesn’t look *nearly* as good in a sparkly costume.
les
@EZSmirkzz:
Jesus dude, non-sequitur much? Or is reading comprehension right out the window? Your link showed me exactly zero down ticket dems that Bern supports or urges his followers–which is all too descriptive–to support. Which is within an order of magnitude of the number he’s actually supported. Which is what I said. I don’t give a shit when Bern realizes reality.
NR
@singfoom:
Sure. And the rules of the game say that Hillary doesn’t have enough pledged delegates to win an outright majority, and the superdelegates can change their mind at any point before the convention. Sanders is playing by the rules. They’re terrible rules, but he is playing by them.
Maddie Gavel-Briggs
You know what, you fucking fucker, you can go fuck yourself in the sand. You rant about those that deserve and those that don’t. Well, Hillary don’t. I can’t even begin to noodle out how a supposed democrat gets behind Hillary when you have a candidate soclosetomakingrealchange you can fucking taste it. Who the hell are you, just because you gave money and knocked on a few fucking doors? Oh, ownership, you mentioned that more than once – so you get to own this now because you have put your work in and these young snot nosed kids that you spit on because they try to change their world – they’re shit because you have earned your stripes and they have only just come into the political world? Sorry kid, take your goddamn consolation prize and go the fuck home? You make me sick you decrepit old fucker, who told you age means an automatic gimme? The same stupid fuck that told Hillary just because she put up with untold years of bullshit from Bill and did her time as a fucking senator and no doubt fatiguing secretary of state that she gets to be president just cause she earned it? Crap peddlers like you make me want to throw any common sense to the wind and say hellyeah, I’m fucking boycotting this shit PRECISELY because of douch bags like you who think Bernie kids and nearly 12 fucking million people in this country think he is the way this country should go. Get the fuck off your lawn? Get the fuck off my street, out of my goddamn state – fuck you and your candidate.
les
@Big Picture Pathologist:
Dear Bernie followers: a classic example of the deluded, impotent anger and denial of reality you will be forced to live with for decades if you enable a Trump victory. Not that I think you will, but…
chopper
@Jonathan Holland Becnel:
as i said before, come back when they start to actually vote.
Major Major Major Major
Wow, this got trolly fast. At least I think it did. My filter seems to have eaten the last third of this thread.
@Jonathan Holland Becnel: That would be the same people in the South who voted overwhelmingly for Hillary, if I’m not mistaken.
FlipYrWhig
@Reggie Mantle:
Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye (Wiki): “The song’s chorus remains well-known, and is frequently used as a crowd chant at many sporting events generally directed at the losing side in an elimination contest when the outcome is all but certain.”
les
@negative 1:
Unfortunately, he lost the “here’s the solution” war, the “here’s how we implement the solution” war and the “win the nomination” war. And you became a giant WATB.
Big Picture Pathologist
@Big Picture Pathologist:
Let’s see, I’ve got the facts:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/ballot_box/2001/11/gore_wins_after_all.html
What do YOU have, shithead?
FlipYrWhig
@les: This. Bernie Sanders ran saying “Shit is fucked up and bullshit.” And a lot of people said, “About time! Go get ’em, Bernie!” And then he said “Shit is fucked up and bullshit.” And a lot of people said, “Um, so, we heard that part, we get that, and what comes next?” And then he said “Superdelegates are either terrible or necessary, and also non-Democrats should have more input in picking the Democratic candidate, and I raised a lot of money, but from good sources not bad ones, which qualifies as a political revolution.” And a lot of people said, “So, no ideas about what comes next, then?” And then he said “BRING ME THE HEADS OF DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ AND BARNEY FRANK!”
Chris
@Bill:
I take solace in the knowledge that my generation will produce exactly as many cranky old farts when it’s our time. Heck, I already see it on Facebook. (“We’re the last generation that [insert-cultural-marker-here]! Isn’t that awesome? Can you believe that little kids these days [yadda yadda yadda]!”)
But you have to admit, the entertainment value of a man who had his head up his ass until he was, what, forty years old, more? bitching about kids who “just recently even became old enough to vote” not having figured everything out yet is… worth the price of admission.
Reggie Mantle
@NR:
Exactly.
Sanders: “Superdelegates are undemocratic and should be done away with.”
Hill-bullies: “Tough shit, old man, those are the rules! Suck it! You’re not even a real Democrat! ”
Sanders: “Okay, I’ll play within the rules and appeal to the superdelegates.”
Hill-bullies: “How undemocratic! What an asshole! He must have dementia!”
Fellatio Alger
@chopper: Bernie Sanders is the Tonya Harding of politics.
Stratplayer
There is nothing better and more satisfying in all the blogosphere than a truly righteous, impassioned John Cole rant, and this one is a classic. I’m going to share this with all my Bernie-or-buster friends, with whom I am rapidly running out of patience.
Betty Cracker
@Big Picture Pathologist: I’m guessing you didn’t mean to call yourself a shithead. Oopsie!
SophieCT
@Davebo: I find it annoying that he raged against the SD system. He lost anyway. By every single metric. Meanwhile, the Republicans would give their left you-know-whats for a superdelgate system now! For that reason, I am not willing to give it up.
Fellatio Alger
@chopper: Dang it! You beat me to it.
columbusqueen
@Jonathan Holland Becnel: Fuck off, jackass. I’m with Cole on this one–after laboring in the Democratic trenches for 30 years as volunteer, committeeperson, & candidate, I believe the younglings only get to bitch after they invest the blood, toil, tears, & sweat we party regulars have. Til then, they need to shut up.
Major Major Major Major
@Fellatio Alger: Your nym wins.
les
@Chris:
Solace, indeed. There’s gotta be some compensation for the really annoying crap your body comes up with after the years. I even got to yell at my daughter to get offa my lawn the other day. ‘Cause she parked her car on my lawn. It was great.
les
@Betty Cracker:
Gotta be right occasionally.
Big Picture Pathologist
@les:
Let’s see, I’ve got the facts:
http://www.slate.com/articles/…..r_all.html
What do YOU have, shithead?
FlipYrWhig
@Reggie Mantle: Sanders: “Anything that contributes to my losing, like the ‘more votes wins’ standard and the ‘alienating potential allies is a bad idea when one needs favors later’ standard and the ‘states with people of color in them count’ standard, is unfair and must be changed.”
Miss Bianca
@Reggie Mantle:
So, you’re admitting that you’re voting for Trump? What a nicely-principled little troll it is!
Fellatio Alger
@Major Major Major Major:My nym thanks you :)
Chris
@les:
I have to admit, she set that one right up for you. Sometimes, it’s just wrong not to go for the cliche.
John Cole
@Maddie Gavel-Briggs:
It’s douchebag, not douch bag.
Big Picture Pathologist
@Betty Cracker:
Yes, that was embarrassing.
Big Picture Pathologist
@les:
It’s alright, I still kicked your ass.
Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader
@Kay: OMFG Kay, you are so hardheaded. That crowd isn’t there to shop. Those thugs are going to shoplift you out of business and then burn your store down. And they probably like the assistant manager better than you because he’s too lazy to follow them around the store to make sure they can’t steal stuff.
les
@Big Picture Pathologist: Thanks for the 404 page, my man. See, Bernsters, living with a fuckup and not being able to admit it makes you incompetent on top of angry and delusional. Please don’t go there. Not that I think you will.
les
@Chris: It’s true. And she knows I never can resist the obvious; can’t believe she handed it to me.
Raven Onthill
@Maddie Gavel-Briggs: here, have a box of paragraph breaks.
chopper
@Reggie Mantle:
so you’re voting for trump then. you sure are a better democrat than the rest of us all right.
les
@John Cole: Nicely done.
Big Picture Pathologist
@les:
Huh, worked on my phone. Anyway, Jacob Weis berg argues convincingly that Gore won, proving my point.
I’m sure you can Google the appropriate keywords and find it.
But keep on living in your bubble… I’m not even a Bernie Bro, you imbecile, but it’s nice to know someone who actually knows his history gets challenged by someone who doesn’t.
Patrick
It’s a good thing your readership is limited. This is an awful way to get people to actually make the Democratic Party work better. I don’t need to lecture anybody about what I think would make it work better but I’m sure that your ass-handed way of expressing your frustration with magical thinking newbies may have given you satisfaction but undermined the very party you claim to love and support. Sad.
chopper
@Miss Bianca:
besides which, it’s bullshit. if this year the GOP was putting up someone who also voted for the war i’ll bet reggie here would still be saying the same stuff about clinton’s vote being a dealbreaker.
les
@Big Picture Pathologist: Anyway, Jacob Weis berg argues convincingly that Gore won, proving my point.
But keep on living in your bubble…
les
@Big Picture Pathologist:
Jesus, can nobody read? No, you’re not a Bernie Bro, you’re a living example of what they do not want to become. That’s, ya know, different.
Raven Onthill
Some of the staunchest Sanders supporters I know aren’t children; they are women aged 25-35. One of them, IIRC, has children herself. Another is a naval nuclear engineer.
If you think of the these people as children, you are doing yourself and your party a disservice.
Big Picture Pathologist
@les:
Fucking intelligence, how does it work?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Jonathan Holland Becnel:
Who are ‘they’?
Lyn
@Marjowil: Is your son my daughter?
les
@Raven Onthill:
Can you remember the last time you got outside your direct experience? “Some” is doin’ a lot of work even in that there anecdote. Also too.
les
@Big Picture Pathologist:
I’m not shocked you have to ask.
BillinGlendaleCA
@John Cole: Thanks for setting them straight John, (snorts).
Raven Onthill
@les: “Bush won if the recount that Gore requested would have been finished (four counties). Gore won if you recounted the whole state.” — http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?address=203×107750&az=view_all
So yes, Gore won.
The slate links:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/ballot_box/2001/11/gore_wins_after_all.html
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/kausfiles_special/2001/11/everything_the_new_york_times_thinks_about_the_florida_recount_is_wrong.html
Raven Onthill
@les: so, can you cite extensive unbiased statistical data?
Amir Khalid
@NR:
If Sanders is playing by the rules, he must realise that he is even further away than she from the nomination.
cinesimon
@The Dangerman: Which is, in your estimation: MURDERER!!!
geg6
@Reggie Mantle:
So you’re voting for Trump then since he didn’t vote for the AUMF. You prove my point.
cinesimon
@Maddie Gavel-Briggs: Oh, you poor thing.
Temporarily Max McGee (Soon Enough to Be Andy K Again)
@Raven Onthill:
And there would have been no need for a recount had Nader not run. No Nader, no recount, no SCOTUS interference. See how that works?
henqiguai
@Larime(#43):
Not all of us are female…
Johnny Coelacanth
@Earl Hathaway: You know Sanders voted to authorize too, right?
patroclus
@Maddie Gavel-Briggs: Wow, I was going to do my usual mild-mannered half-hearted pseudo meta quasi weak defense of Bernie and his supporters shtick, but that was just too epic of a comment to even try.
eemom
@Maddie Gavel-Briggs:
Fuck you, you sick fuck.
amk
@Maddie Gavel-Briggs: so, trump then?
Dalai Rasta
@Temporarily Max McGee (Soon Enough to Be Andy K Again): Why is anyone defending Nader at this point? The man just gave an interview in which he complained that you can’t buy “Negro joke books” in bookstores anymore.
SiubhanDuinne
@John Cole:
Sometimes I love you so much I want to take up all my old bad habits again.
SiubhanDuinne
@henqiguai:
Okay, Hillbucks? Hillstags?
Jeanne
HAHAHA!!!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!! That is EXACTLY how I feel about it, right down to the song!!! “Deal with it and shut the fuck up”
Miss Bianca
@SiubhanDuinne: Oh, well-played, you. Now I’m with child to know what all “your old bad habits” were, but modesty forbids my asking…
JWR
@rikyrah:
This, this and this!
Also, too… Great post, Mr. Cole! (and Bravo!, also, too.)
Southern Beale
I realize I’m late to the game here but this was an AWESOME rant and I agree with everything you say. Thank you, John.
Temporarily Max McGee (Soon Enough to Be Andy K Again)
@Dalai Rasta:
You got me. I was never a fan.
Carolyn Kay
@Villago Delenda Est: “And as for Nader, the blood of over 4,000 American service men and women and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis is on his hands.”
And on the hands of the twerps who voted for him, allowing W. to get close enough to a win that the Supreme Court was able to select him. Those purist lefties, who were Bernie supporters this time around, all scream about Hillary being a murderer, but they are the real murderers because they helped put that war criminal in the White House.
exregis
@Kay:
Perhaps I wasn’t clear. You want the Democratic Party to work hard to absorb young Sanders’ voters. You don’t say how. Do you have any ideas? The Obama team worked really hard in 2008 to absorb young voters. But then they disappeared in 2010 and 2014 (youth vote dropped precipitously). My conclusion is that those young voters were not really committed; their judgment wasn’t ready for the hard political slog — like voting.
These kids (and we were all kids once and still remember what it was like) are a valuable resource once they decide that they are a valuable resource. And that takes time. Meanwhile, we, who recall our own youthful stupidities, hope in vain that we can explain how stupid it is to be stupid. And we get really annoyed by people like Sanders who are just pandering right now.
Bill Brennan
@muddy: Are you talking about the kids who will be paying for 2 wars, medicare part D and tax cuts that the “greatest generation” dumped on their grandchildren? You certainly aren’t talking about me – I’m a registered democrat since 1984, was a democratic candidate for public office 8 times and currently serving as a County Committee member for the Democratic Party. I can tell you without hesitation that the Deocratic party of New Jersey is corrupt. My “seniority” in this party does not give my vote greater weight than any one of a million college kids who joined our party to vote for Bernie. I am disgusted with you for dismissing without investigation, the plethora of election “irregularities” that inured to Clinton’s benefit at the hands of the establishment. She doesn’t have 3 million more votes than Bernie because the Caucus states were not tallied. Don’t shove rules down their throats in one breath and then piss on about caucuses being unfair in the next – If you don’t like caucuses then go fucking change the system. If you think “time in the party” entitles you to anything other than a vote then you can take your snide condescending self entitled ass straight to hell. The future of this party was bright until assholes like you formed the world’s worst welcoming committee.
AG
@The Golux: sadly, one rarely has to choose between the two anymore.
Cory Frye
@FlipYrWhig: And they lobby to replace you with a less experienced proprietor.
B.Gleed
@Gin & Tonic: It is nice out there, though.
Penedonoshand
Oh cry me a river. Get those ingrate hoodlums out of your special club! So I take it if you would support an independent run by Bernie Sanders then? What utter hypocrisy. Happy to have us but only on your terms. Typical. Youth always wins in the end, everyone else runs out of time. Try not to leave us in too much of a mess ok?
Adam L Silverman
@Bill Brennan: Please stop reposting your comment. I’ve now cleared one of these and deleted two. I’m going to delete the one you just submitted. And no, I do not know why they keep winding up in moderation.
ETA: your comment is now #327.
Bob Harrison
@The Dangerman: PUMA here. And I never knew anyone who acted like a complete ass, which seems to be normal mode for a BernieBro.
062014
I’ve voted Democrat since 1972. This is the first primary I followed because I always “voted blue no matter who”. I’ve actively campaigned and canvassed for the Democratic party. I’ve done my research. I’m no “God damned kid” and sick and tired of the threats and insults. #Bernieorbust.
satby
You’re too young for me, but this is why I love you John ?
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Bill Brennan:
We’re all paying for that.
That’s an extraordinary charge, it will require extraordinary evidence. Please provide it.
Have some pancakes.
Lisa
@Earl Hathaway: Doesn’t the blame really go to Bush & Cheney & Rumsfeld & Powell & Rice – all who lied to get us into that war for reasons that still aren’t clear?
Larry
I actually almost voted for Bernie, but Bernie or Bust supporters became so arrogant I went back to Hillary. What’s really annoying, they see no difference between Hillary and Donald, even after their savior himself, Bernie Sanders declared “No Trump”
Larry
@Jeffro: Agree, to this day I can’t forgive those Naderites from 2000
3am
It’s so true though…
ByteGoddess
@chopper: Also, HRC was a senator from the state that took the heaviest losses in the 9/11 attacks; she had at least a small duty to follow the will of her constituents, many of whom were screaming for revenge. It cannot be laid solely at her feet that she did her duty and voted based on the intelligence she was given, when the overwhelming majority of her colleagues in the senate concurred at the time. I see this as holding her to a higher standard out of a desire to take her down… VERY few senators voted against the authorization, and also remember this was supposed to be an authorization ONLY, to be used only if the evidence supported such an action. We can argue after the fact that everyone should have known that Cheney was in no way going to allow any other outcome, due to his enormous profit motive, or any number of other things that came to light later… but we can’t judge HRC for not being psychic and place her in a class by herself when apportioning blame. I’m not saying she isn’t more hawkish in general than I would like, and I’m not discounting the fact that she probably felt pressure to be “strong” and “decisive” because of her gender… I just do NOT believe that she was only thinking of Iowa when she cast her vote. That kind of accusation reeks of hatred looking for a reason to justify itself, and I cannot let it stand unchallenged.
Scotian
@ByteGoddess:
This. Yes. This. I’m a freaking Canadian who is a Nova Scotian from birth onward, I well remember the impact of 9/11 and how many American travelers were kept in my home city, including several I met over the days afterwards, and I well recall the rage and anger that came out of it and was stoked by Bush/Cheney into creating the push for the Iraq War. As I saw it Clinton was not happy about the request being made, but she didn’t have a good counter-argument, or at least a good enough one at the time for her constituents, to oppose it. After all, Saddam did have a fairly ugly history, including the use of chemical weapons not just against Iran but his own populace, while the nuclear argument was clearly insane (a point I was making contemporaneously), the chem/bio was not so obvious, those could have been cloaked and retained far more than they turned out to be, and that was something that could have been a real problem. After all, let us also not forget what happened shortly after 9/11/, the anthrax attacks, now, those look to have had a domestic source, but they underscored just how dangerous just a little of this weapons tech could be in the wrong hands.
She also had no way of knowing that the Cheney Administration would be as reckless as they were with this authorization, it was after all being sold at the time as a way of putting pressure on both Saddam and the international community to make sure of Saddam’s compliance on WMDs. But OK, let’s speculate for a moment she did know how crazy Cheney was and how willing GWB would be to accommodate. In that case they would have done so with or without the vote, probably using the AUMF as their cover instead, and risked a Constitutional clash/crisis over the separation of powers issue that could have raised, so which is worse, that vote as it was, or that combined with the same damned war outcome to begin with? That’s hypothetical of course, but it underscores your point that to think this vote was all about her political ambitions and for how it would play in Iowa does a massive disservice to the woman, and is clearly an argument made out of that hatred looking to rationalize itself and not anything resembling serious thought.
Jenny
So we’re supposed to join corrupt parties that do not represent our political beliefs because otherwise we’re not valid? Nice rant to try to force people by anger into supporting a corrupt two party system that has effectively disenfranchised the American people. It’s not “laziness” that has 39% of American refuse to join either the Democrats or Republicans. It’s because they do not represent us anymore. In fact, people are leaving the parties (especially moderate Republicans) because the parties have drifted so far from what they originally were. Sander is what the DEmocratic Party was 30 years ago. It’s not anymore. The Democratic Party is it’s neo-liberal. And Clinton made it abundantly clear she is *not* going to take on any of Sanders/Progressive platform issues. The DNC has made it clear they have no interest in the ideas of the Modern Progressive movement because they are entrenched in a system they they profit from too much. I mean DWS just launched a Democratic party attack to defund Warren’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Does that sounds like a group who is ready to reign in the banks? Many existing Democrats are disappointed and disaffected by the party’s move to the right (which is why they voted for Sanders) and are leaving the party as well. Being “loyal” to a group who no longer represents you, that is utterly corrupted, is not…well, it’s not admirable. (And BTW – 44, fully employed. None of Sanders programs would affect me in the slightest, beyond freeing our government from the iron handed grip of big business through control of the two party system. “Wse men plant trees in whose shade they will never sit.”)
Ignatz
@germy: “Trump vs. Clinton. Any predictions, other than “he’ll back out”? ”
Trump will yell and scream like a lunatic while Hillary stays calm, and talks to him like an adult talks to a kid throwing a tantrum. She may even call him “Donnie”: “Are you done with your little fit, Donnie?”
Jenny
And BTW, all those accusing “BerniesBros” of Nasty attacks?
I found this on Hillary Clinton’s facebook page (not a supporter, her own page):
It’s the, fourth comment down: https://www.facebook.com/hillaryclinton/posts/1124909180898943?comment_id=977152615726036¬if_t=like¬if_id=1460865737520079
I’ll quote if for you: “Luciana Bassoli I believe that every women that is voting for Bernie Senders is afraid that Hillary will actually open that door and they would not know what to do outside their kitchen, laundry room. #reality It’s very scary for man and woman if the system changes and women are in a leadership position. Why women vote for Bernie:
Whos cooking dinner?
Whos raising the kids?
My husband needs a supporting system to make his career dreams come true.
I would not know what to do oustide kitchen/laundryroom
My husband only makes $40k/yr for a corporation why is she making $200k per 2 hour speech? Whats so impresive about a woman giving a speech at Goldmansachs?
It’s not the norm to see a women in a leadership position
I prefer white male born in 1941 creating laws about my reproductive system
Woman take other women down
I’m jealous of Clinton’s OVERqualifications
I dont like her hair style
Hillary needs eyelashes extensions…..little birds dont like Hillary speeching
#whitemaleignoranceisbliss”
The only way that attack could have been more misogynist if is Lucinana had told husbands to beat their wives into voting for Clinton.
And do you know what I saw? 152 “likes.” Know what I did not see? One single Clinton supporter telling her that she was out of line, that her comments were sexist and inappropriate. NOT ONE. Many of them defended her remarks.
If it was Elizabeth Warren, I would vote for her in a hot second. That’s because I’m smart enough to look at a a candidate’s platform, record and professional integrity when I cast my vote.
Something the Clinton camp doesn’t seem to think possible for anyone who does not vote for her. If we don’t vote her her, we’re “sexist,” we’re “ignorant,” we’re “stupid,” we “just want free sh%t,” we’re “uninformed.” And now, we’re “lazy.” That’s just childish name calling. (There is also the assumption we’re all millennials. We’re not.)
And this has not just come from Clinton supporters, this has come from Clinton herself and her husband. https://youtu.be/nw9H4uDoAnc She seems to forget there is this thing called ‘The Internet” http://www.factcheck.org/2015/12/clinton-and-fossil-fuel-money/ It’s interesting in the original video she stated, very plainly, that “I have not taken money from anyone who works in the fossil fuels.” http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/04/03/clinton_i_feel_sorry_for_young_bernie_supporters.html Whoops Hillary.
And there is no call from her camp to stop the abusive, and sexist, language. (Meanwhile, Bernie himself publicly told one person who made a speech calling her a “corporate whore” to knock it off. And many of his supportesr, myself included, *also* posted they found the comment had no place in civilized debate.) And then Clinton supporters have the unmitigated gall to claim to be the “victims of attacks” by “Bernie Bros.” No. Not after that. Not after Clinton supporters (who seem to spend more time attacking Sanders’ supporters than they do attacking Sanders policies, etc.) considered *that* to be a legitimate response to female Bernie Sanders supporters.
Jenny
@Kay: Can you show me where Sanders said such a thing?
Jenny
@geg6: She said no such thing. Not voting for Clinton is not an automatic vote for Trump. There are other people in the race.
Jenny
@Temporarily Max McGee (Soon Enough to Be Andy K Again): Libertarians have some points in common with Sanders campaign: They also resent the corporate take over of the American political system. They want to audit the Fed. They want to break up the big banks because they see them as interfering in Free Trade. Rand Paul wanted the last two. So despite being their most viable candidate, the GOP shoved him offstage as quickly as possible.
Jenny
@Ignatz: Clinton has already showed what her campaign against Trump is going to be about: Two kids on a school yard throwing insults at one another. Even her supposed speech on foreign policy quickly became and anti-Trump rant.
Blue Girl
A. Fucking. Men.
I am a 53-year-old woman with a lot of sore knuckles and worn-out sneakers invested in rebuilding my party after the 1972 and 1980 debacles, and I ain’t giving up what I built without a fight.
I actually had one of the snot-nosed punks tell me that we screwed up with Clinton in 92 — sorry we selected a standard bearer who could, yanno, **win** and appoint Breyer and the Notorious RBG to SCOTUS. Yes, they say, but he wasn’t “pure enough.” Let me say this: Fuck purity. Purity and five bucks will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
Reggie Mantle
@Jenny:
A-men, sister. One of the things that’s most galling about the Hill-Bullies is their insistence that their supporters are all just put upon victims of those nasty attacks by those awful Bernie-bros, when they themselves are just as condescending and nasty as anyone I’ve ever seen on the Internet–which they of course justify by crying “WAAAAH THEY STAAARTED IIIIT!”
Reggie Mantle
@Blue Girl:
i
And, apparently, a nearly bottomless reservoir of bile stored up for anyone younger than you who dares try and take the party left.
Good luck with the future.
Blue Girl
I don’t hate the younger generation…three millenials — who were raised better than to be taken in by a huckster like Bernie — call me “Mom”…or “Mommy” when they need financial help.
Big Mike S
Did you use your kidneys to produce this balloon juice? Smells like it. I read this because a friend posted it on FB and having read it, and having read it recognized it for what it is. This is not humor. This is anti-millennialism–the equivalent of racism, but against the young. I have been teaching college age students for over 40 years, they are the best, and continue to be the best after graduation.
Tilda Swinton's Bald Cap
@Jenny:
@Jenny:
@Jenny:
Jenny this is for you. Read it.
Blue Girl
I don’t read it as anti-millenialism; I read it as anti-naivete and pro dues-paying.
Robert H. Pike
Can we stop with the profanity to express strong emotion? Why are these kids “God damned”? You “want to kick puppies” ? You act like you haven’t got a clue about what “idealism” means, or that you never were ever young and idealistic. Oh yea, you were….and that’s when you were a Republican? Oh…in that case, continue with your profane, hateful rant.
…and get off my property, you hate-filled, bitter old man.
Elizabeth
@Shell: Me too!
djean102
@Served: Well it’s too damn bad they didn’t because if they had, maybe we’d have a viable 3rd party instead of this corporate owned republicon/dimocrat lesser-of-two-evils (guess what, that’s no choice) system, that’s rigged, and WE LOSE~! I hope you’re comfortable with a fracked, war torn world, ’cause THAT’S what SHE stands for.
Fledgy
Yes Jon, by all means acquiesce… I mean, after all, the status quo is such glorious thing of beauty!
Jenny
@Tilda Swinton’s Bald Cap: Ooooo. Another expletive filled blog with the same message of this one: “Vote for Hillary you lazy punks! Signed, an animal abuser.” (Because that’s really going to progressives vote for her.) And it’s combined with the “No True Scottsman” argumentative fallacy. Hillary and the DNC are not liberals. They are neo-liberals. Liberal on social issues (when it’s not inconvenient to them), but conservative/right of center economically.
No, liberal progressives would not vote for a mainstream Democratic candidate.
marleen schiessl
@The Golux: Great comment! Sharing that!
Rome Again
@Earl Hathaway:
Actually, she thought it would play better in New York, a state she was representing and a state where her constituents actually dealt with two buildings coming down and destroying the lives of thousands of their husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, friends and neighbors. In retrospect, your three friends (while I’m sorry to hear about their loss) pale in comparison.
Martin
Maybe it would help if we actually brought Civics classes back to High School, and educated kids on how our system of government actually works?
Sane Voter
“Yes, we do agree on a number of issues, and by the way, on her worst day, Hillary Clinton will be an infinitely better candidate and President than the Republican candidate on his best day.”
–Bernie Sanders
Yep. Point taken.
Rome Again
@Rome Again: @Betty Cracker:
Please take pictures!
David Carrington Jr.
If Trump ends up beating Hillary, the Berniebots will be partially to blame. Also to blame will be the condescending pricks who treat Bernie supporters like naive, uninformed children and drive them further away from the big tent.
Christie
So GENERALLY I agree with you, but I will say this:
I have no problems with closed primaries. I have a problem with taxpayer-funded closed primaries.
People who think a party should welcome independents voting for them in a primary don’t get that the party is a club. If you join a club, you should be able to choose whoever you want to lead that club without having to worry about people coming in and usurping your choice.
And it’s not like Bernie supporters who were independents couldn’t switch to the Dems. They just had to do it by a certain time. Sanders people knew they needed every vote, they knew they had independents, if the party wasn’t smart enough to reach out to those people and make sure they got everything done ahead of time, then sorry, you’re SOL. I’m not a Clinton supporter, there’s a lot about Bernie I like, but this and Supporters whining about it makes me want to punch the screen. You play in someone else’s treehouse, you play by their rules!
Still — taxpayers shouldn’t be paying for primaries.
dennis bussian
what really suck is now I have to vote that freak Donald Trump because I would believe ANYONE before I would believe Hillary. I don’t think she would know a truth if it was a stick and hit her right in her ugly face.
Rome Again
@Jenny: Hillary and The DNC are Democrats. When is the last time Bernie Sanders rang doorbells to elect down-ticket Democrats? Your “Neo-Liberal” BS argument is just a feel good “I’m better than they are” bit of crap. The No True Scotsman is YOU! Take your Neo-Lib psychobabble and shove it up your ass.
Miss Bianca
Wow, the butt-hurt is strong with this thread, and it’s suddenly full of a lot of folks I’ve never seen here before. Did this post get industriously circulated abroad?
Rome Again
@David Carrington Jr.:
Because they are such immature children that they would allow someone to influence their vote away from danger and direct them to it instead? So, what you’re saying is “Look what YOU made ME do!” is a reasonable argument?
Rome Again
@Miss Bianca:
Allow me to introduce myself, Bianca… I’m Rome Again. I’ve been here since 2005. I don’t post much these days. I see a lot of other names that used to be active back then too. It appears the Newbie is YOU.
Jenny
@David Carrington Jr.: Trump is a sick joke. If your candidate can’t drum up the support on their own merits to defeat a joke, they were the wrong candidate.
Jenny
@Miss Bianca: Yes. It was posted to Facebook by Democrat supporters who also want to bash Sander supporters into voting for Clinton.
Jenny
@Rome Again: Sanders has been contributing and promoting down ticket Progressives: http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/24/sanders-endorses-down-ticket-democrats-running-bold-change
It would help if people tried to be informed instead of accusing others of not being informed.
Shelley Belsky
@dollared: @Starfish:
I am now, after 40 years of voting, and Independent.
I hope lots of others follow suit.
No more of this “party line” garbage for me.
Rome Again
@Jenny:
Do you have a picture of him knocking on doors for Democrats? Supporting the party by canvassing? He is a NEW Democrat, only became one in time to join the top of the ticket, the NEO in your “Neo-Lib” argument is Bernie and his immature children.
Oh, and how many down-ticket candidates is he supporting, THREE, maybe FOUR? I have contributed to more than that myself.
“It would help if people tried to be informed instead of accusing others of not being informed.” – it would help if people who accuse others of not being informed would actually LEARN HOW TO READ!
Rome Again
@Jenny: “No, liberal progressives would not vote for a mainstream Democratic candidate.” – because Trump is so much more to their liking.
Have you heard that Hillary and her supporters are also progressives? Actually, Bernie’s Radical Progressives came AFTER the Rational Progressives: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/two-progressivisms/
Actually, the Bernie holdouts are more like anarchists, which would make their voting for Trump much more sensible.
Jenny
@Rome Again: He’s running for the Nomination of the Democratic candidate of the United States, where the heck would be find the time to be “knocking on doors” for his own campaign, let alone someone else’s? Did Clinton “knock on doors” to promote down ticket Democrats? What a ridiculous premise for criticism.
Sanders was not merely supporting any Democrats. He was supporting Progressive candidates.
Jenny
@Rome Again: Again, with the accusation that Sanders supporters will vote for Trump, which it nothing more than baseless vilification. No Sanders supporter I know will vote for Trump. If Sanders does not do a Third Party run, we will write him in or vote for Jill Stein.
Sanders is merely the current standard bearer for the Modern Progressive movement begun by Occupy Wall Street years ago. The Democrats stopped being Progressive in the 1990’s when Bill Clinton moved the party to the Center to capture the moderate vote, taking on Republican platform planks like Welfare and Criminal Justice “reform,” deregulating the banks and pushing treaties like NAFTA.
Rome Again
@Jenny: “He’s running for the Nomination of the Democratic candidate of the United States, where the heck would be find the time to be “knocking on doors” for his own campaign, let alone someone else’s?” – well, the way most Democrats do it (or should I say, ALL Democrats except for Bernie and some of his inspired followers who are choosing to run) is BEFORE he joins the top of the ticket. That is to say BERNIE DOESN’T DO ANY WORK FOR THE PARTY BECAUSE HE IS NOT FROM OR OF THE PARTY, BERNIE IS ONLY OUT FOR BERNIE. And interestingly, the only candidates he is supporting are those who chose to support HIM first. he’s a self-centered, selfish, self-important prick! I know someone else who is running to be president who also can be described in many of the same terms. Go join the Trumpster movement.
Rome Again
@Jenny: “Sanders is merely the current standard bearer for the Modern Progressive movement begun by Occupy Wall Street.” – which was born about 7 years ago by disaffected radicals from the left wing who created their movement LONG AFTER I BECAME A MEMBER OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY (and Hillary too!) Hell, that movement started after John became a Democrat as well. When I started posting on this site back in 2005, John had just given up the Republican party (the day he wrote his post explaining why he was leaving the Republican party is the day ThymeZone and I both started posting here.)
Bernie is the NEO-Liberal, not me, not John, not ThymeZone, not Hillary. Get the Hell out of my party, it doesn’t belong to you. I actually work for it, like John does. I canvass and make phone calls. I work to get the voters to the polls. I am a member of the “Party Faithful” and I don’t give a damn who you vote for. Join OUR movement or go cry in your pillow because your usurper failed.
Miss Bianca
@Jenny: And so now you’re coming to shriek at us here for offending your little ideals? Oh boy, lucky us. So, let’s see..you have a problem with being told that as Democrats we sometimes have to compromise our purity in order to win elections. You apparently have a problem with Democrats being put into positions where they actually have to compromise to be able to govern. And you have a problem with being told that if you want to make change within a party, it helps to join that party and actually do the work of organizing that it takes to advance your agenda. Well, I can see that voting for the Greens might be an attractive option for you under those circumstances. Have fun voting for purity candidates who will be able to stay pure forever because they won’t ever, you know, get elected. Yay for you that you won’t actually vote for Trump. I guess.
@Rome Again: you know, I’ve been lurking here for a long time, bud. Maybe not since 2005, but certainly since 2008. Certainly long enough to have seen your name, thanks. So…your point is…?
Jenny
@Rome Again: Really, when did Obama or Clinton “knock on doors?”
And Sanders campaign organized thousand of volunteers to knock on doors (I did three neighborhoods in my area) and phone bank.
I’m sorry, but this criticisms smacks of desperation.
The current system of legalized corruption has made viable Third Party runs next to impossible. The last one was Ross Perot, a billionaire, and that was before the Citizen United ruling that let SuperPACs and Dark Money into politics. (Even the parties themselves try to kick out candidates that do not “follow the program” like Buddy Romer in the last election and Rand Paul in this one.) Sanders would have *never* gotten the exposure (I don’t see Gary Johnson of Jill Stein in any debates) he would not have otherwise. He exploited the existing system to get national attention, and did so despite an initial media black-out on him. He tapped into the people directly with his record, his platform and his integrity.
Again with the idea that Sanders is equated with Trump. If you really think that, if you think any Progressive Sanders supporter would ever vote for Trump, you know nothing about Sanders or this election.
Either that, or you are just reduced to childish insults.
Rome Again
@Miss Bianca: New names aren’t always new.
Susan Kopicki
@Served:
Rome Again
@Jenny:
https://m.hrc.onl/images/24493353559_38ca8ebab1_o.original.jpg
http://a.dilcdn.com/bl/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2012/12/door-to-door.jpg
You don’t understand our movement very well.
Sanders campaign organized people ONLY to help HIM. He is NOT a real Democrat. He only joined the party to usurp it.
Jenny
@Miss Bianca: “: And so now you’re coming to shriek at us here for offending your little ideals?” I’m so sorry for interrupting you expletive filled hate rants filled with lies about Sanders supporters and how angry you are with them, so angry you want to kick puppies, for sticking with their ideals.
Some of us have spent the last twenty-plus years “voting for the lesser of two evils,” and we’re sick of it. We found a candidate that actually represents us. I’m sorry (not sorry) that makes you angry to point of spitting obscenity filled venom filled with misrepresentations of who Sanders supporters are.
Susan Kopicki
@Served: The reason Dean supporters went to work like they did was because that’s what Dean told us to do. He gave explicit instructions to work within the party – and we did. He set the example with his leadership as DNC chairman. He brought good people into the party and kept them there and we’re all better off for that.
Rome Again
@Jenny:
You’re the one who was making attacks, stating that Democrats are “Neo-Liberals”. Look in a mirror.
Oh, by the way, you DO know that President Obama was a Community Organizer before he went into politics? He was closely associated with Democrats even back then.
Rome Again
@Jenny: “I’m sorry, this smacks of desperation”
Why would I be desperate? My candidate won the nomination. I don’t give a crap who you vote for. I am not “desperate,” I’m merely pointing out your lies that your movement is the true Democratic Party, because it isn’t. Your Occupy Wall Street movement is filled with disaffected people who didn’t get their rainbow farting pony from Obama and hate Democrats now. Your movement attempted to take over and usurp our party and YOU FAILED.
You have one more chance to join our movement and vote for progressive values or get out of the way. – https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/ (Learn about her before you lie about her.)
smintheus
This is asinine. Sanders’ support among Democrats nationally topped out at approximately the same as Clinton’s support. There appear to be as many smug Clinton supporters as there are smug Sanders supporters.
Rome Again
@smintheus: Can you show me three reputable sources that prove that? I can show you three that don’t.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-sanders-does-better-with-independents/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-hanley/when-independents-can-vot_b_9834224.html
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2016/04/clinton-sanders-close-in-ctpari-trump-headed-for-big-wins.html
nevada mike
@andy: i couldn’t agree more, private groups should be allowed to choose their own rules and representatives, but first all public funding to these private organization must be removed. the laws regarding this topic, passed by the politicians in these parties, undermine our constitutional republic.
Jenny
@Rome Again: Sorry, but that’s the truth. Bill Clinton started moving them towards the center in the 1990’s, and they are now right of center economically. Bill deregulated banks and put through NAFTA, Obama put through the TPP and attacked Teacher Unions http://www.alternet.org/education/why-obama-administration-attacking-teachers-unions As Secretary of State Clinton her State Department involved suppressing raising the minimum wage in Haiti so American companies/sweat shops would not have to pay their Haitian employees another $0.22 an hour. http://www.politifact.com/global-news/statements/2016/apr/21/lee-camp/did-hillary-clintons-state-department-help-suppres/ And DWS just launched a Democratic Party attack to defund Elizabeth Warren’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/debbie-wasserman-schultz-paylenders-cfpb_us_56d4ce38e4b03260bf77e8fc And Clinton is completely owned by the big banks. They are four of her six greatest lifetime donors. https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cid=N00000019&cycle=Career (BTW- Citigroup is writing the legislation that governs them: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/05/23/banks-lobbyists-help-in-drafting-financial-bills/?_r=0 ) And yes, she changed a vote for them. https://youtu.be/12mJ-U76nfg
Does any of that sound “Progressive” to you?
Jenny
@Rome Again: She does not represent Progressive values, and she made very clear that she has no interest in taking them on:
https://youtu.be/W7wCK41gqMU
Rome Again
@nevada mike: The end result of a party preference nomination process is the intention to run in a general election which has federal government consequences. It’s all wrapped up in the same yarn.
Rome Again
@Jenny: @Jenny: @Jenny:
Gee, I’m so sorry that you still haven’t learned how to read, Jenny. You make yourself look foolish: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/wall-street/
By the way, do you reward losers? Maybe that’s your problem. Did you receive awards just to participate? I didn’t. Winners get rewards, not losers.
Oh, and this is embarrassing: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/transcript-bernie-sanders-meets-news-editorial-board-article-1.2588306
You should read what bankers think of it: http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/bernie-sanders-bank-breakup-plan-is-simply-cuckoo-1078732-1.html
Bernie doesn’t understand the process to break up banks at all.
Rome Again
I’m in moderation. I hate to ask for assistance, but, someone is wrong on the internet. :P
Amirage
@Villago Delenda Est: So … with your argument,. why are you not going after all the other Senators that voted for the war? I don’t hear you with this inclusion. Sounds like you are attacking one person instead of all involved. That’s called scapegoating.
Alison
My son just voted for the first time and any enthusiasm in that age group is just fine with me!
I think you might still be a republican deep down…
Miss Bianca
@Jenny: Where am I “spitting out obscenity-filled rants”? You’re apparently confusing me – or wilfully conflating me – with John Cole.
In case you haven’t noticed, “the lesser of two evils” is how shit gets done in the real world. Bernie Sanders ran and lost. Honestly, legitimately, lost. Now, also in case you haven’t noticed, HRC’s stands on the issues are not that far removed from the candidate who blew your dress up. I am sorry you apparently can’t see that, or that’s not important to you, because you see her as somehow an “evil”. Fortunately, enough people are going to disagree with you that she will be our next President. And some actual good is going to get done because of that -with you or without you – as opposed to real and active harm,
nevada mike
@Rome Again: @Rome Again: if i am understanding your comment correctly, you believe that if there is an intention for a candidate or a political party to run or enter a representative for their party in the general election then it is just to allocate tax dollars to the private political party? i can understand the origin of your logic, but where that logic breaks down:
http://www.fec.gov/press/bkgnd/fund.shtml
“Since no third-party candidate received 5% of the vote in the 2008 presidential election, only the Republican and Democratic parties were eligible for 2012 convention grants, and only their nominees were eligible to receive grants for the general election once they were nominated. Third-party candidates could qualify for public funds retroactively if they received 5% or more of the vote in the general election.”
as i see it, at best you could argue that all voters should be given a tax credit that they can donate to any candidate in any party of their choice (but to be honest, voting is a right and not a requirement, even though i do wish all were compelled to vote — i will avoid getting into private campaign funding and individual limits, etc.). that would at least represent the voter, which is fundamental to a constitutional republic. what we have now is a system that favors those currently in power, which are political parties instead of the populous. sprinkle how our media covers politics because of the influence of these parties and i hope you can understand why i believe that wrapping it in the same ball of yarn is counter to a constitutional republic:
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_republic
“A constitutional republic is a state in which the head of state and other officials are representatives of the people.”
what we have instead is a system that is funneled through two major political parties. i am not sure what the term is for that system of government, maybe a “bipartisan republic-lite”?
Rome Again
@Miss Bianca: Radical anarchist types aren’t afraid of harming the nation. Apparently they think it is “progressive” to make people suffer so that the anarchist radicals can finally get their wish.
Rome Again
@nevada mike: Do you think those who don’t collect social security should stop paying for those who do because they don’t receive that benefit? Do you think those who don’t drive over a certain bridge should not pay for the maintenance because they live in another area of the state? Do you think those who receive VA Benefits should be the only people whose taxes go to pay for the hospitalization of soldiers?
So what you’re saying is that if you don’t participate in a certain thing, you shouldn’t pay for it? I wonder, do you get any benefits of the government that you don’t pay for yourself?
Miss Bianca
@Rome Again: Yeah, well…I remember my 20s too. I just don’t choose to live there for the rest of my life. : )
Point taken about nym changes, etc. But good Lord…if it’s old wine in new bottles we’re seeing, was it always so thin and sour?…
Rome Again
@Miss Bianca: It has ever been thus. I met my guy (ThymeZone) on Balloon Juice back in 2005. He often likes to reminisce about the arguments he had with lefties, even more than his arguments with Darrell. :P
nevada mike
@Miss Bianca: i disagree. “the lesser of two evils” is how people without conviction justify their actions. that path of thinking is about winning at any cost instead of doing the right thing. i understand that with the topic of politics people feel the importance of the results, and because of this it becomes easy for them to justify compromise. opposed to that, i was taught that what was important was to do the right thing, even if that wasn’t the most popular or easiest path. there will be more than two parties with candidates in the election, so you have more than “two evils” to choose from. that person might not win today, but change happens over time. the question becomes, do we want to shape the world out of fear of the other side or out of aspiration (which might include one of the two major political parties that you term “evil”)?
Miss Bianca
@nevada mike: I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that you’re white and male, right? So, nothing really bad is going to happen to *you* if there’s a President Trump whom you have, by taking your principled stand, inadvertantly helped to elect. Try talking to some of the women and minorities who comment here – people who will actually be damaged by a Trump presidency – and see how much applause you get for your “principled stand”. Some of us can’t AFFORD purity.
Thymezone
Cole, you just channeled my recent rants. Fuck, I say fuck with prejudice, Bernites and the horses they rode in on, unless they grow up and join the only team in town that can save this country from the ignominy of a Trump presidency. And by that I mean, join the team and play, not join and bitch and moan. Play, work, contribute, register voters, put in yard signs, organize GOTV carpools, man the phones, and all the other shit that people who really care about politics do to win the elections that have to be won. The same things we old timer Dems were doing for John Kennedy in 1960 when earned our stripes. Sanders worked hard, he gave it a shot, he raised a lot of things that need fixing (even though he has no idea how to actually fix them), he woke up a lot of people, and good for him. But, he lost. He lost big time, he was outplayed in every aspect of the contest, he lost fair and square, and it’s time to move on.
I am nominating you, Cole, for a Nobel Prize for this post. Normally, I’d say something nice here, but really, given your talent and experience, I have to chide you for taking eleven fucking years to finally reach Nobel Prize performance standards. :)
Rome Again
@nevada mike: Idealism is so cute. Unfortunately, it isn’t practical.
” i understand that with the topic of politics people feel the importance of the results, and because of this it becomes easy for them to justify compromise.” – We live in a country that includes many people of all different political stripes. Compromise is the only way to try to do right by ALL of the people. What you want is a monopoly on decision making, which is directly opposed to the opinions of many who pay taxes and live in this country alongside you. How selfish!
tonym144
So you chose the Democratic party because the Republican party didn’t really stand for what they claimed. Time for you to wake up. NEITHER party stands for what they claim. Both parties have destroyed what this country stands for. BOTH of them. Look at it another way, the rich want to stay rich. That’s an obvious statement, and I’m sure you can agree with it. Keeping this in mind, why do so many rich people contribute to BOTH sides of the equation? Simple, both sides are there to keep the rich making money. Neither side is wanting to help the poor. Let me give you examples, Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) is supposed to help the poor pay for health insurance. How do they do this? By making the insurance more affordable for them. How do they make it more affordable? By charging those who can afford insurance on their own more money. The problem is, with so many people in the poverty level, there’s too many people on Medicaid instead of getting insurance and Medicaid is funded through taxes, not the extra money tacked on to insurance. So the only people affected by ACA is the middle class. The middle class has to pay more money so the lower middle class can get a discount. To me, that’s extremely stupid. It doesn’t solve a damned thing. Next example, foreign trade policies. There are a select few Americans that, due to health or other issues, can only do certain jobs. For example, call centers, customer support, etc. Jobs that aren’t high pay, but still give them the opportunity to make a living. Then the politicians decided, “Hey, let’s allow businesses to bid out contracts overseas so they don’t have to pay as much money.” Here’s where things get really bad. First, Americans lose their jobs because of it. Second, American money is now leaving the country and not being spent on things in America. Third, we are giving other countries a very detailed look into how American business is run which gives them a chance to run our country into the ground in the market. With their own cheap labor, lots of capital and knowledge of how to make a business work, why would they need us anymore? There are more examples, but you can see where I’m going with this. The who government, Republican AND Democrat alike, have stopped representing the American people. Either we need to remind them of their duty, or we need to remove them from power and begin again, this time with people who AREN’T lawyers and doctors and investors…
nevada mike
@Rome Again: i am sorry, your comparisons are not ones that i see as valid. none of those examples of public entities are relatable to the funding of only the private political parties who receive at least 5% of the popular vote.
Rome Again
@Thymezone: “I am nominating you, Cole, for a Nobel Prize for this post.”
I second that motion. :)
Rome Again
@nevada mike: I fail to see how your particular argument is important at all. Presidential elections effect EVERYONE. A party preference process will eventually turn into a General Election. Out of that General Election – a member of one of the parties will become President of ALL OF US!
nevada mike
@Miss Bianca: your comments are sexist and racist, but i will still respond. i am male. i am white. my life is not made better when other groups are hurt because i was raised and believe that all are equal, that animals are not objects, and that the earth is not simply for our consumption (hippie?). i was also taught that sometimes it is hard to do the right thing, but that it was important to stand for what i believed was right.
“I’d rather die on my feet, than live on my knees.”
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emiliano_Zapata
Rome Again
@tonym144: “So you chose the Democratic party because the Republican party didn’t really stand for what they claimed. Time for you to wake up. NEITHER party stands for what they claim.”
Obamacare was the Democratic Party not standing up for what they claim? It may not be perfect, but it’s a great start to getting affordable healthcare for regular Americans. Both Sides Do It is a right-wing troll tactic.
nevada mike
@Rome Again: i definitely do not want a monopoly on decision making, but i am capable of making a decision from more than two choices. not all decisions must come with a +50% majority of 100%, they could come with a simple majority. can you help me understand why you seem so set on two choices as the right number?
Rome Again
@nevada mike: LMAO Pointing out privilege is sexist and racist. Apparently having a national organization to advance the opportunities of a minority group is sexist or racist too, apparently. Or so I’ve heard from those who are privileged.
Sean
“maybe the can join the Democrats, put in the money, blood, sweat, and tears, and in a couple cycles they will create a movement within the party large enough that someone like Bernie Sanders will win”
Um, that’s exactly what they have done and are doing. You call it annoying whining. They would call it “blood sweat and tears.”
Mark
LOL, exactly what I expected from the no-class, sore winner Clinton people. You can’t even enjoy your historic victory you’re all just soooooo damn angry. You’re not sure at what exactly, independents, young people, anyone not in the Clinton Cult. How sad! You’re more angry about Clinton winning than I am about Sanders losing! The whole thing would be quite laughable if it weren’t for the fact that you’re alienating MILLIONS of voters that Clinton will NEED to succeed in the general election. If she loses to Trump, it will be due to low turnout, and part of low turnout will be due to people deciding they’re not going to vote for someone who constantly insults and lectures them. So that makes you angry and clueless, and that is losing combination. But by all means, please keep doing what you’re doing. Would love to see you have to live with the consequences of your toxic aggression. Cheers!
Rome Again
@nevada mike: I don’t want a 27% Tea Party making decisions for my nation. Maybe you do. It would destroy this nation. We live in a two major party system and I think that’s best. I want more than 50% to make decisions for the rest of us. If you want a multiple party system. go to Europe.
Miss Bianca
@nevada mike: Oh, I see. It’s “sexist and racist” to point out to Mr. White Male Privilege that a Trump presidency would have some real-world damaging consequences for women and minorities that you, yourself, are not likely to face. Well, fine – because pointing out the sexism and racism implicit in your smug little principled stand is the REAL sexism and racism. Got it. Well, go volunteer to die on your feet somewhere else, bud -some of us would rather LIVE ON OUR FEET, rather than die on our knees subject to the forces that der Drumpf is actively calling out. Some of us have had guns stuck in our faces defending a woman’s right to choose, or not live in fear with their batterers. Some of us choose to acknowledge that there are a lot of people who are just waiting for a chance to kill or otherwise seriously fuck up people who look and talk like me. But that’s all just heightening the contradictions to you, isn’t it? Jesus Chicken-fried Christ, get over yourself.
nevada mike
@Rome Again: yes, @miss bianca asserting that my comments were based on my race and sex is both racist and sexist.
nevada mike
@Rome Again: so i guess instead of a constitutional republic you are for a constitutional majority?
nevada mike
@Miss Bianca: calling me “Mr. White Male Privilege” is racist and sexist, how are you not seeing that?
i hate sharing personal stories on comment sections, because we all know how “truthful” people can be, but, assuming you will believe me, i have been pepper sprayed, bloodied and detained by the police for standing for the rights of others. i am sorry that some people in this world are scum, but i am doing what i can to correct that. i personally think trump is scum. i personally think the tea party is not a good choice (replying to @rome again). and, just to be clear, i am not voting for hillary or bernie, because i do not agree with either of their stances the most of ALL of the candidates running. yes, i am well aware that who i am voting for will not win, but i feel that it is important for me to support the best person possible so that the world still believes in ideals.
nevada mike
@nevada mike: …and i have an issue with my tax dollars going to support the republican and democratic parties in their selection of a candidate for the general election. (full circle)
Perry Logan
I’m so glad Bernie is out of the picture. The Democratic Party under Sanders’ rule would clearly be an endless series of purges.
nevada mike
@rome again @miss bianca wow, looks like i killed the party. #crickets
PS – this article/rant is exclusive and demeaning. question for the author, how do you feel this language contributes to our shared future?
smintheus
@Rome Again: Here’s one of several such polls showing the race to be even:
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-03-24/democrats-evenly-split-over-clinton-sanders-in-bloomberg-poll-im63yb0w
Leona Garrison
@srv: I love your comment. I am a retired high school teacher after teaching 35 years and know teenagers pretty well. I think that the rants putting down these newby voters will do a great deal of damage their enthusiasm. We need them and their votes more than they need us at this time. I think that, as you say, it is a disappointment that in your very first political involvement that your views and your feelings are so disrespected. It is only normal for anyone, especially neophytes, to need some time to get their emotions in check and see the entire picture as it relates to our futures. I hope people will not be so judgmental and be thankful that these people care about who leads our country. It is only a few protestors (as is almost always the case) who turned the peaceful demonstrations into any violence. The media, of course, showcased the exception instead of the many respectful demonstrations. We live in America where it is lawful and appropriate to show our disapproval of things which we believe to be against our best wishes.
Hart Williams
@nevada mike:
It must be quite a burden, being omniscient. Not only because you know it all, but because you also know how everybody else doesn’t know all the stuff you know. Funny thing, though. If you know so much, how come you ended up picking the loser, and how come you’re so mad about it? Doesn’t seem so omniscient after all.
Seems rather fallible.
Jim Beaver
@The Golux: May I steal?
Patrick Nance
I have been a Democrat since I could first vote in 1972. Before that, as a 14 year old, I worked for Democratic candidates. And never before have I seen such narcissism by voters who support Bernie Sanders. And then Tuesday night, Donald Trump made his play for your support. “We welcome all of you who feel disenfranchised by the super-delegates”… in other words, come get in bed with the devil.
If you are truly that stupid, that you would skew the Supreme Court for years, collapse the economy again and watch fascism begin to grind its boot heel on the neck of the poor, then maybe you do belong with the Trump campaign.
But you cannot organize for one election and expect everyone to roll over for you. Some of us started this revolution way back in 72 when we demanded an end to the back room, cigar fueled, “good old boy” deals. We made a party responsive again but we did from within, and not by whining about what we didn’t get. I’ll bet most of “twenty some-things” don’t even know that the delegate count gives you a voice on the platform committees in developing planks for the future of the Democratic party. It isn’t all about the candidate. But no… you would rather pout, stomp your feet, hold your breath and stay home in November. And when you do, you guarantee that Trump gets closer to the White House and the TEAParty gets more legitimate.
Your candidate is not the first to lose. I supported Eugene McCarthy but he lost to RFK. And I supported RFK. And so on and so on and so on… it is called the art of compromise. It is how you build a party. Compromise and coalition building…
I voted for Sanders in the California primary. I wanted to say that I don’t agree with all of Mrs. Clinton’s ideas or the baggage that will be thrown in her path. But I have always intended to support the candidate of my Democratic party. I have invested too much time in anti-war protests, hours spent knocking on door’s to guarantee the right to vote, ponying up time and money to fight corruption to see it all pissed away by a horde who are upset because their independent candidate didn’t win, even as a Democrat.
Suck it up, buttercup. Don’t show up and allow T-rump and the TEAPArty an even larger voice and there may be NO more elections to win. Your choice… screw this up and you will pay for it for the rest of your lives.
CapnD
@Villago Delenda Est:
CapnD
Well – the indelibly bloody hands are Mooncalf Bush’s, Dick “dick” Cheney’s, and PNAC’s. Lotsa hands, lots of blood to go around. Nader had a culpable role, albeit less of one. So did Hillary, for that matter. How freaking stupid did one have to be to believe Bush?
CapnD
@Villago Delenda Est: Well – the indelibly bloody hands are Mooncalf Bush’s, Dick “dick” Cheney’s, and PNAC’s. Lotsa hands, lots of blood to go around. Nader had a culpable role, albeit less of one. So did Hillary, for that matter. How freaking stupid did one have to be to believe Bush?
nevada mike
@Hart Williams: i have shared an opinion that is counter to others with justifications for my opinions, it is called civil discourse and is the value that we as a society can hopefully derive from social commenting. i will never understand what drives people like you to try and devalue what could be constructive conversation with sarcastic and presumptive statements. i hope that you, like i, want to leave this world better than it was given us, and that you would find more productive ways to challenge people in their opinions.
Jewelz
Love this. Thank you.
Grace
@Villago Delenda Est: Lesson learned and never to be repeated
Matt
This has to be the most entitled thing I’ve ever read, the basic principal of politics is that candidates and politicians ATTRACT voters, they are not entitled to them due to vaguely being a “force for good”.
As such it is to politicians and parties to convince voters that they best fit the voter’s interests and if the voters they are able to pick the other side or not vote.
While I would argue that in general trump is bad enough to overcome a lot of issue adherence, strong adherence to your issues combined with being a sizable group is what gives politicians incentives to match your positions.
The democratic party isn’t entitled to their votes, it is their obligation to convince them to vote for them.
Jack
Here is the issue. Most of us Bernie supporters are not out right Democrat supporters. We were never going to vote for Hilary in the first place. We are sick of the two party system and the hold it has over our choice as President. Bernie running on the dem ticket was to your benefit!
You said it yourself in this article. You wish all primaries were closed. That mean citizens have 0 say in who they choose to run for them and it’s all up to a privilege few who have “pounded the pavement” as political cheer leaders.
Well I’m sorry, but I cannot vote for someone I don’t believe in. My vote will slip back to the 3rd party because I choose to exercise my right to. I will not be scared or humiliated in order to fall back in line and pick between red and blue. That’s not what this country is about.
Hillary is a two-face. Trump is an idiot. Whoever wins, it won’t really matter. The government is bought an paid for. Nothing changes.
When the government is given a chance to do something, they screw it up. When it’s left to private industry, they get greedy. This country, this world, is full of power hungry, inept a-holes.
#GFY2016
Doug Molitor
Cole claims he was originally a Republican. This explains volumes about him…and about how the establishment Democrats now sound. I have always been a Democrat. Unless this guy is a lot older than me (and is that even physically possible?), his first party has always been the party of pro-corporate racist red-baiting oligarch-toadies going back to the days of Nixon, Goldwater and Reagan. That the Democratic Party is his current home, and he’s still got a mad on about longhairs and hippies, is an ominous sign for MY party.
But if the goal is to further turn off Bernie voters and help Trump…well played!
James Wehde
Hillary represents a party that has sold as much of its souk to corporatism and cronyism as the GOP has. Bernie sparked the imagination of this elected delegate for Romney in 2012, and there isn’t anything I value in Bernie that I find in Hillary that isn’t pollutedz or a position of convenience.
Be as sick as you want; I don’t sell my soul to any party.
Abby
I recently turned 18, so this was the first time I voted in an election (or shall I say primary). Originally — this was back in October or so — I supported Bernie because I, like many people in my generation, lean very far left. But over the course of the primaries and caucuses, I started doing looking at the facts. I changed my stance because I knew who could REALLY win the White House: a strong, empowered woman who has had DECADES of congressional experience and actually FEASIBLE plans to improve this country. I went to see Hillary speak back in April and she was fantastic — it was evident in her eloquence, poise, and evidence that she is more than qualified and ready to be president. I get it, she has her flaws and has made mistakes, but hi, welcome to the world of politics and politicians.
What drives me up a wall is my peers. For months, I wasn’t able to voice my support for Hillary because my Bernie-loving friends would have roasted me. “Hillary should be put in the Big House, not the White House. #feelthebern” one said. Coming from a pool of mostly Bernie Bros, I can tell you that most of the kids that support Senator Sanders haven’t really researched and are instead getting riled up on a shit ton of rhetoric.
It’s ridiculous. They scream and put others down but don’t look for real solutions. I get it — everyone in this country should have an opportunity to vote — but if you’re going to cast your ballot, please get yourself informed, like REALLY informed.
I really hope some of my peers will get their heads out of their asses and realize that a unified Democratic party is the best and only way we’ll ever defeat the monster that is Donald Trump.
Bob Case
I know there are a lot of comments and I don’t know if anyone will read this, but I want to share a perspective I have.
I was a Sanders supporter up until a 1-2 months ago, when I gradually came around to Clinton on the reasoning that the party is best served if the primary is sewn up as quickly as possible. I just voted Clinton in the California primary 2 days ago, and I plan on voting for her in November. While I was a Sanders supporter, I met a couple others who I’ve stayed in touch with. They are both “Bernie or Bust” people right now. I’m trying to convince them to vote for Clinton in the general election and posts like this are making my job way, way harder.
I was in active email exchanges with both of these people last week. Since then, they’ve stopped returning my messages. I could tell from what they wrote that they were very much effected by the way they were being treated by people they had once read and admired, including Paul Krugman, and including Balloon Juice.
They’re people who invested a lot of themselves in Sanders campaign and they’re dealing with the frustration of that, plus being showered with contempt from all sides. They and I read the same blogs, including this one, and I’m about 75% sure they’ll have read this very post. Can you not imagine yourself in their position at all? Not even a little bit? If you can’t imagine yourself in their position, can you imagine it in mine? These are people I consider friends you’re insulting and belittling. When people insult my friends, it hurts me too.
Ranting is a habit. Drawing satisfaction from anger and contempt is a habit. The more you indulge in habits, the more deeply ingrained they become. When I look at the Donald Trump phenomenon, I see people that have made a habit out of anger and exclusion. I don’t want to see that in the Democratic party as well.
tonym144
@Rome Again: You are SO wrong there. It was a horrible mistake from it’s beginning until now. When it was implemented, it cost far more than agreed upon and it didn’t even work. Then, once they finally got things figured out and started implementing it, it took away insurance from most people who were part time on the grounds that the insurance that part time employees had was “not good enough.” That’s brilliant logic for you, bad insurance is worse than NO insurance. I personally was without any insurance for 6 months thanks to that fiasco. When I finally was able to get insurance, guess what…it wasn’t insurance. They told me I HAD to be on Medicaid. If I wanted to get my own insurance, I had to pay FULL PRICE. Translation: “You can’t get a discount on insurance, you have to take free Medicaid.” How stupid of a failure is that? I either have to take free Medicaid or pay full price. So no, it’s not a “…great start to getting affordable healthcare for regular Americans…”, it’s a complete failure at what it was SUPPOSED to be. Instead, it’s more of what they MEANT it to be, a way to exert more control over our lives. The government is becoming too invasive and needs to be trimmed down.
Carolyn Kay
@Jenny: Admittedly, Democrats have been cowed for a very long time by the seeming invincibility of the right-wing juggernaut. Bernie’s candidacy shows us that those days may be over. I think Democrats are well on the road to being Democrats again.
Carolyn Kay
@gvg: There may also be a lot of false flag stuff going on. On both sides. We need to be very careful from now until November about anything causing outrage on either side. It’s very likely to be coming from the bowels of the right-wing hatemonger and dirty trickster, Roger Stone (http://bit.ly/224NZrM).
And then we’ll need to keep a close eye on the same kinds of shenanigans when Hillary takes office.
Carolyn Kay
@Jenny: Bill Clinton only moved toward the center when THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY ABANDONED HIM, and lost the majority in the House. Give Hillary a progressive Congress, and she’ll do us proud.
CLe
YES, John Cole!! I wish you were in the room when I read this so I can give you the most enthusiastic high-five ever!! Thank you!
Snoogie Woogie
@The Golux: Now you can do both!
C
Seems to me that the “adults” on here are whining more than the kids.
nevada mike
@Abby: i don’t like making accusations, but i want to ask if you are in any way employed by or volunteer for hillary clinton’s campaign, or the democratic party, or an affiliated organization? i ask because of the odd similarity in content and timing between your and @bob case’s posts.
either way, may i suggest to those like you who are hillary clinton supporters trying to bring others into their flock to avoid statements like:
“I changed my stance because I knew who could REALLY win the White House: a strong, empowered woman,” emphasis on the “woman.”
and
“I really hope some of my peers will get their heads out of their asses”
yes, it is important that all people are able to attain the same jobs, and yes, it is significant that the united states potentially/most likely has its first cisgender female major party presidential candidate, but there is a difference between the importance of that significance and hillary clinton’s qualifications to be president. i am not making the argument that she is not qualified in any way shape or form, i am simply saying that her being a female has nothing to do with her qualifications to be a better leader than any other person, unless you believe that one sex is superior to another (think of how upset it makes you, and me, when someone says a man is more qualified simply because he is male).
and second, you attract more bears with honey then telling them to “get their heads out of their asses.”
Gina Westbrook
I am not 22, this is not my first election, far from it. I have never been entitled. Raised in a tar paper shack, going to school in a one room schoolhouse in Northern Callifonia, I have never known a day where I did not have to worry about how I was going to put food on the table for my children or send them to college. And now at the end of my working life, with the pittance from social secruity, I still can just barely make it. I love Bernie, he offered hope, he offered a furture for me and my children, but Hilary is just politics as usual. A member of the entitled class she will never understand how I feel or what life has been like for me. Nor will she ever understand that a $15 minimum wage is still not enough to live on. I’m not voting for her, I can’t, she doesn’t offer me any hope. We now still only have a choice between the lessor of two evils.
Rebecca Mashaw
@Davebo: Exactly! All that whining about the “rigged system” had me thinking, Did the Sanders campaign NOT CHECK THE DAMN RULES before they got into this?!
Mark
“Fuck you, you special flower. Go join the Greens and vote for Jill Stein.”
I’ll pass on the first offer, however I’ll accept the one to join the Greens and vote for Jill Stein.
https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=OIP.Md859e5843164fffa41fb2c2b183c145ao0&w=300&h=200&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0&r=0
Hannah Cady
@muddy: I love the simpsons reference! “Back in my day they used to wear an onion around their belts, as was the fashion”
John Maenpaa
@muddy: When old people vote, it’s like they’re farting just before leaving a crowded room… Rude…
Voters who want free stuff… http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1socdit?new_post=true
Charles W Taylor
@Villago Delenda Est: why?
Garrett Browning
Sir, YOU could grow the f*** up — which is NOT the same as being an “Old Fart.” I walked to and from school 10 miles in the burning sand both ways up hill on the mean streets of Santa Barbara, CA, and the kids today are just fine. Bernie was a GREAT option — you don’t just turn off values because the candidate is getting the nod. Let’s keep the values that Bernie stands for our goal. FEEL THE BERN while defeating Trump with Hilary. Show the young voters the grace and wisdom of maturity.
amanda
No, allow ME a moment to rant. And believe me, considering I am paying into social security so you can have what won’t be there for me I think you owe me the moment to rant. So sit down and shut up while I have my moment.
You are ABSOLUTELY correct Hillary wins all the delegats and super delegates. How is that democratic?! That is by it’s very definition a rigged system when EVERY vote is not counted. Now, I will give you she would win even if every vote were counted just by a much smaller margin than she is winning by now. But she would still win.
NO you asshat, this is NOT about here and now. This is about a world that will no longer exist in 100 years because of global warming. This is about climate refugees. It is about building a future that doesn’t look like the past. Oh I realize you like the here and now because all your needs are met and you don’t have a future full of college debt. You won’t be here when the water rises and people start dying from lack of clean water and lack of food or when we have to start living under ground like moles. Yes, of course the future won’t be important for someone too small minded to think beyond his own comfort in today… Which begs the question, maybe we need to stop letting everyone vote? Because voters like you are a danger to us all going forward.
I too donate to the DNC. You are not the only one.
Kids today get screwed with all the baggage you leave while you live high on the hog today. So don’t tell me they are the generation of me. Take a look in the mirror then sit the **** down and shut up. I am so sick of hearing this crap. While you will still get your old age subsidies we will not. We are taking care of your future. What do you do for us? The least you could bloody do, is start listening when we say it is time for a new deal and support us with your vote you ingrateful ancient old whiners.
And I remind you again, you do NOT own the party. We ALL do. And what is more you do NOT own the future. So you can’t just decide and declare it a delusion. It doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to those kids that pay for your social security. Remember that every time you bash the kids you are bashing the people who make your retirement and old age possible. How bout a new system where we just shoot the bitchy elderly rather than allowing them to have golden years? Now that would make us the generation of me. Killing others for our own greed. Oh WAIT! That was YOUR generation again! Sending all those kids my age and younger off to iraq to die for oil and money that we would never see because we are too young and too far down the totem pole.
I want to kick anyone who says they want to kick puppies. Because puppy kicking is cruelty and that tells us a lot about who you are as a person and trust me, Hillary Clinton, who scores VERY high with the animal rights and welfare crowd doesn’t want the support of some nasty person that wants to kick puppies.
I just might vote for Jill. But would you really want me and others like me to split the party so you wind up with that basterd Trump? I can only imagine how you would react to him winning and who you would be blaming after telling us to just sod off like that I am sure you would then hold us accountable for Trump’s win too? I mean we are already responsible for dying in the middle east to line your pockets and for paying for your old age programs that won’t be there for us when we are old. Because someone needs to take some responsibility. Funny, I was always told that someone was supposed to be the grown ups. So why don’t you stop bitching about the kids and start taking some personal fucking responsibility hmm? Why don’t you do that by making votes that will ensure these things will be there for us in the future. But no? You are too selfish. So shut up about this generation me garbage already. Because the only time you are looking at it is when you are looking in the mirror.
Entitled?! I suggest you shut the fuck up right there Mr. So entitled that he doesn’t need to worry about the future because the future is paying into the program that will be there for him but won’t be there for them.
We DID start a movement. But it needs support. We want your guidance. You have so much experience that we can benefit from if only you would get on board with the movement and work with us. But no. You are too selfish. And the sad part is, you OWE us your support for all the money we pay to social security so that you can have a retirement. You have betrayed us. And you yell at us as if we are the criminals here?! WHERE do you get off?! If you aren’t going to support the revolution then give me back the money for your old age welfare please and pay for it yourself. Oh? You can’t you need that money? Then do your damn job of being supportive of the group that provides it for you and stop bitching like a spoiled child.
Go earn that shit??? Like you did working half of the length of time in life that we will wind up working? Like you did risking your life in Iraq? Like you did making a reasonable wage in a time when the cost of living wasn’t so high? Like you did when your education was subsidized? Yeh seems to me everything has been handed to you on a plate and now you are bitching because you are being asked to share the last piece of pie when you have already eaten all the other pieces. So shut up about earning it. Did you earn the money I worked for that will pay for your retirement??? Hmmm? Did you??? Right. You didn’t. But it will go to your retirement rather than to mine. And it is you looking to take and take and take from the future while giving nothing back. So don’t sit there and call anyone other than yourself entitled.
And just a question… have you ever heard Ironic by Alanis Morrisset? Perhaps you should have a go at it. Because I find your position while you retire on my tax dollars completely fucking ironic.
Sorry people…. This article of drivel just sent me over the edge. I couldn’t help myself.
amanda
@Patrick Nance:
A couple little things….. First, I am a Bernie supporter. I am also world traveled I speak numerous different languages and I understand what will happen in this country if we don’t embrace a different way of doing things and let go of our corrupt system and if we don’t support our youth rather than making unending wars for the profit of a few.
I too agree that unfortunately, we have no recourse but to suck it up. However….. I think if we do that and if politics is the art of compromise than you need to compromise with us recognize the problems in our system. And start working to correct them. Because Hillary, is not what this country needs. She did however win the election so…. That is that.
Next, I don’t care what Trump says or does and I think many in my age group and younger feel the same way. None of us is supporting an ignorant fascist fuck like him. Not for all the college tuition in christendom.
But I would point out, we do have other options. Like Jill Stein, and if you hope to keep beating these more and more fascist dumb fucks offered to us by the republicans in the future, you are going to have to start standing with your youth voters who you bitch don’t vote enough and the moment we do you won’t support us so we go sit down again unimpressed. This is not a problem with us. This is all you. So, what will you do about it?