Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

T R E 4 5 O N

We still have time to mess this up!

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Consistently wrong since 2002

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

A Senator Walker would also be an insult to reason, rationality, and decency.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / 2020 Elections / {Eye Roll} Open Thread: Sanders’ Team Preps for His Fox News Town Hall

{Eye Roll} Open Thread: Sanders’ Team Preps for His Fox News Town Hall

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… by threatening (actual) Democrats, of course — with the assistance of the NYTimes:

One of the “digs” on Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the 2016 presidential campaign was that he was all about himself — insufficiently attuned to concerns about unity, quick to lash out at critics and exceptionally thin-skinned. Those concerns surfaced again in Democratic ranks when he hired a rabid social media hit man, David Sirota (who hadn’t initially disclosed his affiliation with the Sanders camp).

Now he has gone into full attack-and-destroy mode, targeting in a vitriolic letter the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank that has advanced, for example, a health-care plan that expands Medicare but is distinct from the Sanders Medicare-for-all plan, and CAP Action Fund, CAP’s political arm…

CAP’s spokeswoman responded in writing, confining her comments to the attacks on Think Progress. “The Center for American Progress is a research institution focused on ideas and policy,” she wrote. She explained that Think Progress is part of CAP Action, not CAP, which “do not suggest, edit, approve or see their stories before publishing. And, in this particular instance, no one at CAP or CAP Action knew about this article or video’s existence before publication.” The statement continued, “Indeed, ThinkProgress publishes articles with which we disagree. We cannot and will not muzzle ThinkProgress, an editorially independent journalistic enterprise, and we believe it’s wrong for any political leader to demand it do so.”

… A Democratic veteran of many campaigns (not associated with CAP) observes, “This is disgracefully Trumpian, as Sanders desperately tries to create a fake controversy to change the subject on the eve of the release of his tax returns. … If he can’t take some accurate, fairly lighthearted ribbing from a progressive source, he’s proving that he’d be incapable of weathering the general election hurricane that Trump would unleash.” …

Reader Interactions

134Comments

  3. 3.

    eemom

    So his strategy for beating trump is to out-whiny ass crybaby him about the big bad media meanies. Interesting.

  5. 5.

    banditqueen

    Well Bernard, it looks like you’re right, you can become a millionaire by writing books about socialism–or by giving speeches about socialism (or other topics such as Hillary did) for that matter. I guess you found out how easy it is to become a millionaire by doing the above. After all, you could have sold your books at cost or given them away for free if millions don’t really matter. And frankly, we shouldn’t have had to beg for your tax returns either.

  8. 8.

    Chyron HR

    Come on, you whiners, it’s not like he’s leading his crowds in their chants of “FUCK HILLARY!”

    You know, yet.

  10. 10.

    mrmoshpotato

    Ugh. See my ‘war on two front’ rant from the other day. Can’t insert an emoji on my computer so……*EYEROLL!*

    Oh, and with regard to the ‘rationality’ topic this is filed under, I don’t think there was a time when Wilmer’s pie-in-the-sky campaign could be discussed rationally.

    Time for more season 10 of Bones.

  13. 13.

    burnspbesq

    If you judge Bernie by his actions rather than his words, it’s easy to conclude that he is working to re-elect Trump.

  15. 15.

    Brachiator

    Bernie Sanders Tax Returns here.

    Going back to 2009

    Kinda boring at a quick glance

    @banditqueen:

    After all, you could have sold your books at cost or given them away for free if millions don’t really matter.

    Bullshit. And I detest Sanders. But nobody needs to take a vow of poverty in order to be a Democrat. Or even a shitty Democratic So— or whatever Sanders calls himself.

  16. 16.

    Kathleen

    So his strategy for beating trump is to out-whiny ass crybaby him about the big bad media meanies. Interesting.

    @eemom: Throw in Hillary, DNC, and Democrat big bad meanies and if you the entire Slanders’ victimology oeuvre.

  19. 19.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    A brokered convention is pretty likely IMHO. Any candidate who wants to win the Dem nomination in 2020 will have to win over delegates from competing campaigns, and win over a good percentage of the super delegates. It’s time for our candidates to build bridges and play nice together. Those who can’t play nice are less likely to be successful. It’s baked into the process!

  22. 22.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @Brachiator: Sure – we don’t think that way. But those are the BS arguments against Obama and Hillary that our “progressive betters” trotted out in the past.

    I think folks are pointing out the hypocrisy, not suggesting that the BS arguments were correct.

  23. 23.

    Chris Johnson

    @Brachiator: I dunno. I was already turned off and want my money back but the man REALLY lost me with the ‘if you too want to be a millionaire, just write a best-selling book!’ now that what I’ve long suspected is front and center: he’s a millyunaiuh.

    The NERVE. The fucking nerve. First of all it’s absolutely a lie, and second of all back in those early days when I was helping him he was NOT spouting ‘prosperity gospel’. A little shame might help. Or a pledge to Bill Gates it up and donate heavily to hard-left causes that aren’t him. I guess Jane wouldn’t like that much.

    Enough. That dog has had his day. I can’t forgive him taking THAT particular tack. He cares enough to be ashamed he raked in unreasonable wads of cash as a politician (or do you think he EARNED that and deserves it? He is that much better for the world than some coal miner or wal-mart greeter after the things he’s done?) but not enough to relinquish his hold. Dead to me.

    He would have been useless HAD he won… if that’s his attitude.

  25. 25.

    Brachiator

    @Chris Johnson:

    I dunno. I was already turned off and want my money back but the man REALLY lost me with the ‘if you too want to be a millionaire, just write a best-selling book!’ now that what I’ve long suspected is front and center: he’s a millyunaiuh.

    I don’t give a fuck. Anybody who makes a big deal of this is a Republican or a fool.

    Or both.

  27. 27.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    But nobody needs to take a vow of poverty in order to be a Democrat.

    Tell that to the Wilmer supporters who threw an enraged protest outside of George Clooney’s house when he held a fundraiser for Hillary in 2016. You would have thought that Clooney was one of the Koch brothers, not a liberal actor/director.

  28. 28.

    Kent

    @Baud: because somehow they believe it’s not misogyny if they are screaming about crooked Hillary.

    The Bernie Bros haven’t quite worked themselves up to getting all misogenist against Warren and Harris and the others. But they will get there. Just give them time.

  29. 29.

    Mike in NC

    Waiting for Shouty Old Man to call media “Enemy of the People” for daring to ask about his tax returns.

  31. 31.

    Mnemosyne

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon:

    Also, this. Sanders and his supporters are saying that he shouldn’t be held to the standards that they themselves came up with.

    They want one standard for Sanders and his minions, and a different standard for Democrats.

    This is what makes them hypocritical assholes.

  32. 32.

    banditqueen

    @Brachiator:

    Bullshit… nobody needs to take a vow of poverty in order to be a Democrat.

    Well OK. I was actually more interested in the way Bernard had castigated Hillary for making millions in the same way that he’s made his money. It really is easy to make millions by writing books if you’re famous, Bernard himself pontificated. It just wasn’t OK for Hillary.

  33. 33.

    MisterForkbeard

    I have a much better view of CAP than Bernie, tbh. Nothing they said was out of line – speculating that the guy who spent all of 2016 yelling about “millionayuhs” doesn’t want to release his tax returns because it would be embarrassing.

    @Brachiator: Oh, he release 9 years or so? Neat. I wonder if this is another case of “put his stuff in his wife’s name to avoid disclosing his full financial situation.” Did he file singly or as a joint filing?

  35. 35.

    Mike R

    Can we hope that Bernie will become a victim of alien abduction or would that be unkind.

  36. 36.

    Mnemosyne

    @banditqueen:

    And this.

    It’s the hypocrisy that’s making me want to vomit. Sanders made his money the same way Hillary Clinton did, by writing books and making speeches, but it was Bad when she did it and Good when he did it because shut up, that’s why.

  38. 38.

    JaySinWA

    @Brachiator: Hey, if he earned the money from legit book sales, more power to him. OTOH I wouldn’t be surprised to learn much of that was laundered or fraudulent, given what we see from right wing publishing shenanigans. And the just sell a best-selling book line is a bit glib. At least he paid taxes on it, so there’s that.

  39. 39.

    Mnemosyne

    @Adam Geffen:

    Well, thank you for linking to that completely objective and unbiased piece of bullshit propaganda:

    By the end of the day Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered a mild rebuke of Trump that didn’t mention Omar and asked Capitol Police to “safeguard” her.

  41. 41.

    Chyron HR

    @Baud:

    Well, yeah, for Trump it’s just about riling up his goons for fun. Bernie’s the one who’s spent every day for the past three years consumed with rage at the “whore” who denied him the presidency.

  42. 42.

    Anne Laurie

    @JaySinWA: Anybody else old enough to remember Rep. Jim Wright?:

    … In 1988 Wright became the target of an inquiry by the House Ethics Committee. Their report in early 1989 implied that he had used bulk purchases of his book, Reflections of a Public Man, to earn speaking fees in excess of the allowed maximum, and that his wife, Betty, was given a job and perks to avoid the limit on gifts. Faced with an increasing loss of effectiveness, Wright tendered his resignation as Speaker on May 31, 1989, the resignation to become effective on the selection of a successor. He was the first Speaker to resign because of a scandal. On June 6, the Democratic Caucus brought Wright’s speakership to an end by selecting his replacement, Tom Foley of Washington, and on June 30 Wright resigned his seat in Congress.

    The incident was controversial and was a part of the increasing partisan infighting that has plagued the Congress ever since. The original charges were filed by Newt Gingrich in 1988 and their effect propelled Gingrich’s own career advancement to the Speaker’s chair…

    For the sake of the actual Democrats who’d be tarred if the Repubs find a loose thread, I hope Sanders has all his royalty-related paperwork in order!

  44. 44.

    Brachiator

    @Mnemosyne:

    Tell that to the Wilmer supporters who threw an enraged protest outside of George Clooney’s house when he held a fundraiser for Hillary in 2016. You would have thought that Clooney was one of the Koch brothers, not a liberal actor/director.

    Fuck Wilmer and his supporters. They were asswipes. Still are.

    Fuck people who bash Kamala Harris because she was a prosecutor. I got a long list of fuck yous to give out.

    But I will never give shit that a Democrat is a millionaire. Can you say FDR or JFK?

    Rail against the Sanders hypocrisy. Fine. These people are idiots. I don’t have time to indulge it. If someone finds something significant in Bernie Returns, cool.

    @MisterForkbeard:

    Oh, he release 9 years or so? Neat. I wonder if this is another case of “put his stuff in his wife’s name to avoid disclosing his full financial situation.” Did he file singly or as a joint filing?

    He can’t file singly. He filed Married Filing Joint. I think McCain filed Married Filing Separate, but his wife was an heiress, so it was somewhat understandable.

    Again, link to his returns: Bernie Tax Returns

  45. 45.

    Mnemosyne

    @Adam Geffen:

    Next question: when a House member and her family are receiving death threats, should the Speaker of the House’s top priority be to tweet about it, or to make arrangements with the Capitol Police to protect the Congresswoman and her family.

    Personally, I think that getting police protection in place is more important than immediately Tweeting, but you obviously disagree and think that Tweets are more important than actual physical protection after receiving death threats.

  48. 48.

    Adam Geffen

    @Mnemosyne:

    Oh precious, did I hurt your feelings with too much truth? Engaging capital police is a given. The weak-ass response by centrist dems ought to be called out. I’m glad my representative has a platform from which to do so.

    “They put us in photos when they want to show our party is diverse. However, when we ask to be at the table, or speak up about issues that impact who we are, what we fight for & why we ran in the first place, we are ignored. To truly honor our diversity is to never silence us.” Rashida Talib

    Damn if that doesn’t give me chills and make me smile. The

  51. 51.

    Mnemosyne

    @Brachiator:

    Just to be clear, I don’t really give a shit who is or isn’t a millionaire, either.

    I just want Sanders and his minions to explain in small words why it’s A-OK for Sanders to be a millionaire but no one else.

    That’s the beef. When he was claiming to be fighting the “millionaires and billionaires,” his minions hated all millionaires and billionaires. Now that Bernie is revealed to be a millionaire, it’s okay for him to be one, but all other liberals and Democrats will still be attacked.

    It’s the hypocrisy of Sanders and his minions that people are pissed about, not the dollar amount.

  52. 52.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Brachiator: fuuuuuuuuck that guy. After all of his blatant character assassination of Clinton and Obama over the lecture circuit, he gets held to the same standard he applied to everyone else.

  57. 57.

    Mnemosyne

    @Adam Geffen:

    Oh precious, did I hurt your feelings with too much truth?

    Try telling the truth first, and we’ll see. You haven’t managed to tell the truth yet, so I’m not holding my breath for you to start.

    Engaging capital police is a given.

    So since you claim to know, exactly how long does it take to come up with a comprehensive security plan for a Congresswoman, her spouse, and her children at their schools, workplaces, and in public places? A nice round number should be sufficient, since you clearly think it only requires a 10-minute phone call.

    And if you didn’t know that the Speaker of the House is personally involved in making those security arrangements when you decided to spout off, then I’m embarrassed for you.

    The weak-ass response by centrist dems ought to be called out.

    Go back and read your own link again. Did you notice that Nancy Pelosi was the one and only Democrat actually named in the article?

    Did you follow the link to the New York Times article? If so, please name from memory at least three Democrats named in the NYT article who denounced the threats prior to Sunday night, before Nancy Pelosi did.

    Hint: Bernie is not a Democrat.

    You linked to a propaganda piece that lied about its own links and now you’re strutting around claiming to be a “truth-teller”?

    You’re done here, little boy. Go run home to your mommy. Bring some real ammunition next time if you want to play in the big leagues.

  58. 58.

    banditqueen

    @Brachiator:

    Rail against the Sanders hypocrisy. Fine.

    That’s what I’m doing–I can’t stop him from being a millionaire nor do I wish to. It’s Bernard who’s stated that millionaires are bought and sold, but for him it’s “not a crime” to write a good book. I don’t believe it’s a crime that the Obamas or the Clintons write good books that sell either. But then, they aren’t wagging the finger at Bernie. Bernie just found out how easy it is to make millions–own it, Bernard.

  59. 59.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @Adam Geffen:

    Oh precious, did I hurt your feelings with too much truth?

    Mansplain much? You’re not doing your esteemed Rep’s position on this topic any favors with that approach.

    And do you think Rep. Tlaib’s comments were really aimed at Speaker Pelosi specifically? That’s the media’s spin, but I don’t see any real evidence of it in Tlaib’s actual words. It plays into their storyline, though, so they’re sticking to it…

  60. 60.

    Adam Geffen

    @JR:

    If by troll you mean a BJ reader since about 2012 and a passionate progressive Democrat who canvased for Talib in the primary here in Detroit, then yes. I freely admit to being a Talib fan.

  69. 69.

    burnspbesq

    @Adam Geffen:

    Is that like Klingon or something?

    It’s Russian, dumbfuck. “How’s the weather in Chelyabinsk?” Implies, quite correctly, that you are out of touch.

  70. 70.

    Jay

    “Right-wingers on Twitter stopped their incessant attacks on congresswoman Ilhan Omar long enough to notice that Notre Dame was on fire, apparently (according to police) because of a construction accident. And then they started tweeting again, with many of them simply incorporating the devastating fire into their attacks on the congreswoman and Muslims in general.”

    http://www.wehuntedthemammoth.com/2019/04/15/right-wingers-are-using-the-notre-dame-fire-as-an-excuse-to-attack-ilhan-omar/

  72. 72.

    Mnemosyne

    @Adam Geffen:

    Hey, if pushing right-wing propaganda belched up from the the Daily Caller and Twitchy swamps makes you hot, I’m not one to judge, but don’t try to pretend you’re some kind of leftier-than-thou crusader taking on the establishment.

    Go get your shine box. You know, the one with the Trump stickers on it.

  73. 73.

    Adam Geffen

    @Mnemosyne:

    So explain to me why the progressive newspaper here in Detroit (the metro times) is reporting as they are. Is the local reporter getting the story wrong?

  74. 74.

    Adam Geffen

    @Mnemosyne:

    Oh my god. With people like you in the Democratic Party we don’t need enemies. Here I am trying to agree with you. Realizing I may have been wrong in my understanding of the situation and you are still throwing bile. Are you ok?

  75. 75.

    SteveKnNKY

    Bernie, Prosperity Gospel evangelical, doesn’t realize his campaign is over. He will whine and cry and scream unfair unfair shaking his fists to the sky. He isn’t a democratic nor a progressive. Just a small white state old white guy senator who protected his taxes and the gun manufactures for far too long. This is a change election again and Bernie thinking he is next in line, isn’t the point of inflection.

  76. 76.

    burnspbesq

    @Adam Geffen

    I’m a gay Jew in Detroit. How would I know that?

    You might have had enough intellectual curiosity to (a) go to a school with an undergrad language requirement and (b) satisfy that language requirement with two semesters of Russian.

    Guess not.

  77. 77.

    Mnemosyne

    @Adam Geffen:

    Yes, it’s quite curious when outlets that claim to be leftier-than-thou turn out to be getting their news straight from the Daily Caller.

    Perhaps you might want to ponder how that could be and why they would be so very interested in dragging down elected Democrats, especially given how the 2016 election went down in your state.

  78. 78.

    Amir Khalid

    Hypocrisy and a thin skin. This Wilmer fellow doesn’t look like he belongs in a demanding executive job.

  79. 79.

    Chyron HR

    @Adam Geffen:

    It’s amazing how the self-proclaimed left have been throwing shrieking fits non-stop for the past three years, and yet remain totally convinced that they’re being “silenced”.

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne

    @Adam Geffen:

    Telling me that the article made you hot so you were going to ignore what I said about it was you agreeing with me?

    Yeah, you may need to work on your writing skills. And you may want to think about why you love bashing Democrats so much that you’re willing to gobble up every morsel of right-wing propaganda and beg for more.

    Bored now. Goodbye.

  84. 84.

    Adam Geffen

    @Mnemosyne:

    So it is disturbing the colorlation between the right wing news outlets that you pointed out.

    But what I was noticing is that Talib’s own tweet links to another one that calls out democratic leadership (generally). So it seemed to me like the ew progressive cohort was/is unhappy with how the leadership is handeling the threats.

    Regardless of what this or that news source is reporting is seemed clear to me—just based on my reading of her statements—that Tlaib was unhappy with the leadership’s response.

  87. 87.

    matt

    I’d love to see him turn some of this wrath against the right wing media that’s actually wiping out US democracy instead of fragging other left of center folks.

  88. 88.

    Adam Geffen

    @Mnemosyne:

    First. Come on. Some empathy please. I’m thumb typing on a phone.

    Second. What made me “hot” (an attempt at self-depcractating humor that clearly fell flat) wasn’t the news article but YOUR very thorough initial critique. I was trying to humorously signal that I was beginning to believe I was in the wrong and agreeing with you.

    That clearly didn’t work.

  91. 91.

    Baud

    Man, Vox has such a hard on for Bernie. I’m going to have to avoid them until them until the primary is over.

  92. 92.

    Adam Geffen

    @Bobby Thomson:

    I took French. Though, I waited to the last possible moment and had to do an intensive language summer whereby I did four semesters in one semesters worth of time. The class met every weekday for four hours.

  97. 97.

    chopper

    @Adam Geffen:

    did I hurt your feelings with too much truth?

    jesus you sound like an incel who was put together in a lab from parts of lesser incels.

  99. 99.

    Brachiator

    @Baud:

    Beto O’Rourke releases 10 years of tax returns

    I didn’t think he was old enough to have ten years of tax returns.

    I want to see the idiot press turn this around and keep asking Trump for his tax returns.

  100. 100.

    Adam Geffen

    @different-church-lady:

    I am definitely more left of center than many here but I always vote a straight Democratic ticket damn it! ?

    And I recently started getting involved with my local Democratic Party (hence the canvassing for Talib during the primary).

  101. 101.

    Adam Geffen

    @different-church-lady:

    Re not the droids.

    We’ll see. I actually believe everyone here is much better (more empathetic) than they let on in the comments. Otherwise they wouldn’t love pets so much.

  104. 104.

    J R in WV

    @Adam Geffen:

    Yea. Thumb typing while in a car really sucks.

    So you’re confessing to committing a crime right here. on-line, huh?

    Wise, Adam, wise! Don’t comment from your car, please~!!~ Actually, don’t comment at all, ever, thanks!

  105. 105.

    Adam Geffen

    @chopper:

    Yea that wasn’t my finest response. ? (Bad Adam.)

    Mnemosyne’s quickness on the attack got my dander up. I shouldn’t have let it.

    @Mnemosyne I apologize for my response to you.

  109. 109.

    different-church-lady

    @Adam Geffen: Eh, I was just making the joke I was set up for.

    Trolls don’t usually apologize, so I guess that says something or other.

  111. 111.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @chopper: jesus you sound like an incel who was put together in a lab from parts of lesser incels.

    hee hee

  113. 113.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Adam Geffen: he has been slammed here for that.

    Pro tip: when you are an unknown quantity, don’t come in so strong, especially to people such as Mnemosyne, a long time, frequent, and beloved poster, or burnsie, a long time and frequent poster.

  114. 114.

    Adam Geffen

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Nods. Like I said I freely admit it was not my finest moment. I honestly didn’t read the article as negatively divisive as Mnemosyne did. I was taken aback by the strong response.

  115. 115.

    Adam Geffen

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Re slammed. I kept expecting to see something here so I must have just missed it. Given time limitations and how proflic this blog is I think I miss some stuff.

  118. 118.

    Ruckus

    @Kent:
    At the end of the article they had stories about a couple of Trump voters. They were supposed to get a tax cut, it seemed to be one of the reasons they voted for him. Lying lier lied to them. They believed lying republican sacks of shit. Pity.

  121. 121.

    B.B.A.

    Bernie’s tax returns are just a distraction from Bernie’s refusal to release his tax returns.

  127. 127.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Raven Onthill: He also embarrassed Fox’s Brett Baier on health care.

    Cool. I guess that makes up for peeing in the Democratic pool all through 2016 and being one of the three people who did the most to put trump in the White House.

  129. 129.

    Ruckus

    @matt:
    The right wing media is working the same side of the street, that’s why he’s not saying anything against them.

  131. 131.

    Adam Geffen

    @different-church-lady:
    Eh this is just comments on a blog. In the grand scheme of things, an amusement. Now getting my two year old to stop feeding the dog from the table, *that* shit ain’t easy. ?

  134. 134.

    No One of Consequence

    @Adam Geffen: Dood, just lurk. You ran out of your oxygen ration on your second comment. The audience here is critical at best. Near an election season and in light of recent Russian Fuckery, new voices are viewed with suspicion. New voices espousing a primary candidate versus another will be viewed with suspicion. Any voice sewing (real of perceived) discord will be greeted with dripping canines, little patience, less compassion and no quarter.

    As your replies start to taper off, the effect you are experiencing is the Cleek Pie Filter Law of Diminishing Returns. Unless you are the keeper of the Long Lost Mustard, you’ll get more mileage from reading than posting.

    Your mileage may vary, of course.

    Peace,

    – NOoC

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