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You are here: Home / Elections / Election 2020 / Election Year Open Thread: ICYMI

Election Year Open Thread: ICYMI

by Anne Laurie|  February 20, 20206:22 pm| 101 Comments

This post is in: Election 2020, I Can No Longer Rationally Discuss The Sanders Campaign, Open Threads

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Bloomberg wasn’t the only elderly white guy had a bad night, last night…

Who hasn't had to angrily point out one of their three houses is just a summer home while fending off charges they're a millionaire cosplaying as a socialist? pic.twitter.com/yvjBd8ct4m

— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) February 20, 2020


(A $600K ‘summer camp’, incidentally — we’re not talking outhouse & oil lamp level, people.)

Bernie Sanders after being criticized for his supporters' online behavior: “99.9% of them are decent human beings…if there are a few people who make ugly remarks, who attack trade union leaders, I disown those people.”

Catch up with the 9th #DemDebate: https://t.co/G5euYQHPJQ pic.twitter.com/BFyTKLKT8X

— POLITICO (@politico) February 20, 2020

WATCH: "The only companies we can't go after are gun manufacturers, because of my buddy here," Joe Biden says while gesturing to Sen. Sanders. #DemDebate pic.twitter.com/PJDnHnQ7Cz

— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 20, 2020

Bloomberg kicked Bernie’s ass. Warren is the one who gutted Bloomberg https://t.co/BWHGuZVXwc

— Armando (@ArmandoNDK) February 20, 2020

Bernie getting so angry over that Bloomberg punch is a great example of one of Bernie’s greatest weaknesses: he’s thin-skinned and has never faced a negative campaign. And I’m not talking about debates, I’m talking about every ad, every every press story, everything.

— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) February 20, 2020

Look! Over there! A new poll!

Strange how, after last night’s debate, in which Bloomberg was eviscerated and Biden was virtually invisible, and Warren was the clear winner, all the Never Trumpers are pumping a Quinnipiac poll in Wisconsin as proof that none of that matters. Panic! Secure the water supply!

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) February 20, 2020

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Next Post: The Limitations of a Never Trumper »

Reader Interactions

101Comments

  1. 1.

    debbie

    February 20, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    Huh. BS’s comment about his supporters “99.9% of them are decent human beings” is not so different from Trump’s comment about his (white supremacist) supporters “Some are very fine people.” This is not an encouraging sign.

  2. 2.

    guachi

    February 20, 2020 at 6:31 pm

    One or more people need to go after Sanders and highlight what a failure he is at rallying support for his positions. Point out he was 0-22 in 2018 on endorsements in Republican-held districts in a year the Democrats flipped 43 seats, the most they’ve flipped since 1974.

    How unpopular do you have to be to go 0-22 in one of the biggest Democratic waves ever?

  3. 3.

    JPL

    February 20, 2020 at 6:32 pm

    CBS News begins with Russia interference in the election to help trump win. Someone’s gonna be mad about fake news. I stopped watching CBS news so it’s a surprise to see them lead with that

    Now saying trump was furious that they told the house.

  4. 4.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 20, 2020 at 6:34 pm

    Unfortunately Bernie hired the 0.1% to staff his campaign.

  5. 5.

    Jude

    February 20, 2020 at 6:34 pm

    Well, I’m in WI and sweating that Q poll. It doesn’t make sense though. People who voted for Evers aren’t going to vote Trump and Dems are more engaged than ever here. I met swoons of people while canvassing that voted Walker/Baldwin, sure, but not the other way around.

    I even have a few Republicans working in my local County Dem group. They’ll vote blue no matter who.

    (wish I could say that for the extreme-left people I know)

  6. 6.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 20, 2020 at 6:35 pm

    @JPL: Yeah, I got a news alert on my computer about that.

  7. 7.

    Cheryl Rofer

    February 20, 2020 at 6:38 pm

    For those of you who were disappointed that Warren didn’t go after Bernie last night: This is now happening.
    Much better for her to let these two duke it out. Much.

    The NRA put Bernie Sanders in Congress, And Other Inconvenient Facts.

    A thread:

    — Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) February 20, 2020

  8. 8.

    debbie

    February 20, 2020 at 6:43 pm

    @JPL:

    Now saying trump was furious that they told the house.

    OMG! People are obeying the Constitution again! How could they? //

  9. 9.

    Jeffro

    February 20, 2020 at 6:45 pm

    @JPL: yup

    I think Nancy Smash said it best, “with [trumpov] all roads lead to Putin”

    let’s have that third article of impeachment toot suite, eh House?

  10. 10.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 20, 2020 at 6:45 pm

    Like Bloomberg, what the heck does Sanders think is going to happen to him if he gets the nomination?
    Also, watching Sanders with sound off, Sanders looked quite old and frail, that is not good in a debate with Trump.
    It’s like Warren is the only in the top four who gets this whole thing about the POWN the libertard thing from the Right.

  11. 11.

    Jeffro

    February 20, 2020 at 6:47 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: let’s hope that in the end, the purpose of Bloomberg’s candidacy was to unmask Sanders and then drop a s-load of funds on the eventual Dem nominee

  12. 12.

    Kent

    February 20, 2020 at 6:47 pm

    In Today’s New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/us/politics/russian-interference-trump-democrats.html

    Russia Backs Trump’s Re-election, and He Fears Democrats Will Exploit Its Support
    A classified briefing to lawmakers angered the president, who complained that Democrats would “weaponize” the disclosure.

    WASHINGTON — Intelligence officials warned House lawmakers last week that Russia was interfering in the 2020 campaign to try to get President Trump re-elected, five people familiar with the matter said, a disclosure to Congress that angered Mr. Trump, who complained that Democrats would use it against him

    And they sure as hell better fucking use it against him.  The House Intelligence Committee needs to open permanent hearings on Russian Interference during the entire 2020 Election campaign.  Every example that pops up they need to amplify and highlight for the American public.

  13. 13.

    Sab

    February 20, 2020 at 6:47 pm

    OT been with verizon since we got married in 2002. Have had various flip phones since then. All okay. Flip phone I got last week is totally unacceptable. Twerps on the customer service line are fine with me leaving Verizon.

    Where do I go? Customer cellular is ATT which is worse.

  14. 14.

    Cacti

    February 20, 2020 at 6:47 pm

    @guachi: One or more people need to go after Sanders and highlight what a failure he is at rallying support for his positions. Point out he was 0-22 in 2018 on endorsements in Republican-held districts in a year the Democrats flipped 43 seats, the most they’ve flipped since 1974.

    But my progressive betters here have assured me that what the public is really pining for is a Democratic Socialist economic revolution…

    At a time of 4% unemployment, and when Trump has a 57% approval rating on his handling of the economy.

  15. 15.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2020 at 6:48 pm

    Bloomberg was good against Sanders in that clip.

  16. 16.

    Ohio Mom

    February 20, 2020 at 6:50 pm

    I don’t know what to think anymore. I’ve always been a fan of Warren’s, I appreciate her decimating Bloomberg last night, I know she is warm and wonderful on the selfie line, but to the average, not-paying-too-much-attention voter, is she coming off as too, I don’t know, too wound-up?

    I used to think people wanted a steady hand on the tiller in a president but maybe Trump has proved me wrong?

    I still think Warren would make a great president, that she is far and away better than anyone else on last night’s stage, but I am feeling more and more the need to skip the voting with my heart and go straight to voting with my head, strategically. Which might mean Biden?

    I have almost another month before Ohio’s primary, which is plenty of time to stew and fret, and hope that tne parh is clearer then.

  17. 17.

    debbie

    February 20, 2020 at 6:53 pm

    @Kent:

    I’m hoping Adam Schiff is preparing an invite for the just-fired DNI director to come visit him and his committee.

  18. 18.

    Kent

    February 20, 2020 at 6:53 pm

    @Cacti: A polite more urban Trump who didn’t do so much hating of the gays, and did some big bipartisan infrastructure projects with his name on them around the country, would probably be at 60% approval.

    That is the scary thing.

  19. 19.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 20, 2020 at 6:54 pm

    Wilmer said, “thousands of people in Vermont have a summer camp”

    Really?

    The proletariat have a luxury lake side home in a gated community?

     

    Just imagine if Warren had a luxury lake side home in a gated community, Wilmer would have been screaming day and night about it.

  20. 20.

    trollhattan

    February 20, 2020 at 6:55 pm

    Warren, 2 hours ago:

    Since I stepped on the #DemDebate stage, our grassroots campaign has raised more than $5 million. We’ve not only reached our critical goal of raising $7 million before the Nevada caucuses—we’re now raising it to $12 million. I’m so grateful. Keep it up!

  21. 21.

    Kent

    February 20, 2020 at 6:55 pm

    @Sab: OT been with verizon since we got married in 2002. Have had various flip phones since then. All okay. Flip phone I got last week is totally unacceptable. Twerps on the customer service line are fine with me leaving Verizon.

    Where do I go? Customer cellular is ATT which is worse.

    I don’t think your main problem is Verizon.

  22. 22.

    Cheryl Rofer

    February 20, 2020 at 6:57 pm

    @Jeffro: I have had that thought. I am beginning to doubt it, but let’s see how things go.

  23. 23.

    Baud

    February 20, 2020 at 6:58 pm

    @Jeffro:

    That would be worth half a billion dollars of someone else’s money.

  24. 24.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2020 at 7:00 pm

    I also saw a really good online Bloomberg ad with Twitler calling other people “losers” and then listing all the money, court cases, etc., he’s lost.

  25. 25.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2020 at 7:00 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    He is really almost as loathsome as Twitler to me. What anyone sees in him, I cannot say!

  26. 26.

    J R in WV

    February 20, 2020 at 7:00 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

     

    Vote for the candidate you think would be the best president!

    I think, right now, that’s E. Warren. We are contributing to her, we are supporting her, we intend to vote for her, even tho our state is red bloody red right now…

    Come fall I expect to be able to travel to work for her, too!!

  27. 27.

    Thaddeu

    February 20, 2020 at 7:00 pm

    Berniebots are out in full swing on social media – “The person withe the most democratic votes should be the Democratic nominee” — seeding the idea that even if Bernie has no majority support, he should be the Dem candidate based on plurality.

    Bernie must win even if 60% does not support him !!!!

  28. 28.

    Chyron HR

    February 20, 2020 at 7:01 pm

    @Cacti:

    But my progressive betters here have assured me that what the public is really pining for is a Democratic Socialist economic revolution…

    Yes, Balloon Juice, that famous Berniebro blog.  You’ve sure got our number.

  29. 29.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2020 at 7:01 pm

    @Thaddeu:

    God help us. And I mean that most literally.

  30. 30.

    MomSense

    February 20, 2020 at 7:02 pm

    I know all about going upta camp – and that’s no camp, Bernie.

  31. 31.

    Kent

    February 20, 2020 at 7:02 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: As long as the Bloombergs of the world are inside the tent pissing out we will be fine I think.  I mostly trust the voters.  If he decides to pull a Ross Perot then we are utterly fucked.

  32. 32.

    Incitatus for Senate

    February 20, 2020 at 7:04 pm

    @Sab:

    Seriously, a flip phone? None of these companies care about an individual user, particularly one who uses their cheapest service.

  33. 33.

    Kent

    February 20, 2020 at 7:04 pm

    @Thaddeu: Berniebots are out in full swing on social media – “The person withe the most democratic votes should be the Democratic nominee” — seeding the idea that even if Bernie has no majority support, he should be the Dem candidate based on plurality.

    Bernie must win even if 60% does not support him !!!!

    Who gives a fuck.  Twitter isn’t party of the nominating process.  We have rules.  They want to win the nomination with less than 50% then they need to CONVINCE the remaining delegates.  It’s called democracy.

  34. 34.

    Baud

    February 20, 2020 at 7:06 pm

    @Kent: Exactly right.

  35. 35.

    Chyron HR

    February 20, 2020 at 7:08 pm

    @Thaddeu:

    Berniebots are out in full swing on social media – “The person withe the most democratic votes should be the Democratic nominee”

    Oh, whew.  I thought they were going to try to claim that all the Republicans voting for Bernie in the primary should actually count for MORE than Democratic voters again.

  36. 36.

    satby

    February 20, 2020 at 7:09 pm

    @Thaddeu: wait, they’re supporting Pete? (///)

  37. 37.

    Peale

    February 20, 2020 at 7:11 pm

    @Kent: yep. They don’t want to have to ask for our votes. It’s beneath them. Socialist supremacists.

  38. 38.

    Chyron HR

    February 20, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    @satby:

    No, Bernie got more VOTES.  Pete only has more DELEGATES under the unfair rigged shitlib rules that Bernie demanded the DNC adopt or else he’d run third party.

  39. 39.

    Baud

    February 20, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    @satby:

    Heh.  The funny part is that if Biden wins the plurality, they’ll make an appeal to the superdelegates to make Bernie the nominee.

  40. 40.

    Sally

    February 20, 2020 at 7:12 pm

    @debbie:Be that as it may, it’s not true of 99.9% of his hatchet staff

     

    @debbie:

  41. 41.

    Baud

    February 20, 2020 at 7:13 pm

    Chris Matthews said that the NYT story about Russian interference says that the Russians are interfering with the Dem primary.

    OT? You decide.

  42. 42.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 20, 2020 at 7:14 pm

    @Kent: Today, six years to the day after forces allied with then-President Yanukovych of Ukraine fired on peaceful protesters on Instytutska St., killing dozens, there’s a banner hanging from a pedestrian bridge over the street saying “Russia Began The War Here.” The wounds are still raw. Large numbers of people out in solemn commemoration of those who gave their lives.

    It is instructive to note the difference in the political climate between Russia and Ukraine after these six years have passed.

  43. 43.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 20, 2020 at 7:14 pm

    @Thaddeu: Berniebots are out in full swing on social media – “The person withe the most democratic votes should be the Democratic nominee”

     

    And yet Hillary won the nomination by a clear majority of nearly 4 million votes and Wilmer and company said she should be the nominee

  44. 44.

    smintheus

    February 20, 2020 at 7:14 pm

    @Ohio Mom: Why are you trying to guess what other people you don’t know may think of a leading candidate? You couldn’t know that even if you had the best possible polling. The point of primaries is for everyone to vote for the candidate they like best, then count up the votes and you will find out who is most popular.

  45. 45.

    Martin

    February 20, 2020 at 7:15 pm

    If Bloombergs intentions are as he states, to just have any Democrat beat Trump (big if, I concede) then his sub-strategy must be to defeat Bernie at all costs so that if he loses its to any of the other candidates. Bloomberg only went after Bernie.

    I’m not saying that he won’t take blows from Warren and not respond, but I think he’s aware of what helps Bernie and Trump and what doesn’t and going after Warren helps Bernie. He was extremely clear that Bernie as candidate is a win for Trump, and I don’t disagree.

    Pete really pissed me off with how he went after Amy. She not my #1, but that was unfair. I didn’t think any of the attacks on Bloomberg were unfair – he’s got the big mouthpiece, he needs to learn how to use it better.

  46. 46.

    Duane

    February 20, 2020 at 7:15 pm

    @JPL: When everyone and his sister knows that the Russians are doing everything possible to help Trumpov win, this election will be a fraud. He shouldn’t be allowed to run, let alone serve a second term. In the event he should be elected again, there has to be means to stop what would be an illegitimate government, or we truly are no better than a banana republic.

  47. 47.

    Baud

    February 20, 2020 at 7:15 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:

    Shouldn’t.

  48. 48.

    WhatsMyNym

    February 20, 2020 at 7:17 pm

    @Sab: I think Consumer Cellular offers T-mobile as well (though AT&T is best in my neck of the woods). Otherwise look at other flip phones that work on Verizon that are available online. You are not limited to what Verizon sells.

  49. 49.

    Peale

    February 20, 2020 at 7:17 pm

    @Chyron HR: the way Pete got more delegates is that he made sure his people showed up in those small precincts. In other words, he mobilized voters in the right location. It’s not a good sign that Sanders team couldn’t do that.

  50. 50.

    TS (the original)

    February 20, 2020 at 7:17 pm

    Nothing like the media – only democrat left on the WaPo front page is Bloomberg. I thought they were better than the NYT – beginning to have my doubts. Given as I managed to get a $19 subscription, I am loath to cancel as I doubt I will ever get that rate again.

  51. 51.

    smintheus

    February 20, 2020 at 7:18 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Sanders inherited a vacation home. This is supposed to be a mark against him?

  52. 52.

    HeleninEire

    February 20, 2020 at 7:18 pm

    So I am thinking about leaving here. I’m bored. There is nothing new here. I used to post a lot. Not so much now. I’m exhausted. And I thought I had an out.

  53. 53.

    Kent

    February 20, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:And yet Hillary won the nomination by a clear majority of nearly 4 million votes and Wilmer and company said she shouldn’t be the nominee

    Those were mostly black Confederate votes.  They only count 3/5ths in Bernie math.

  54. 54.

    Cacti

    February 20, 2020 at 7:20 pm

    @smintheus: No, we’re talking about the Lake Champlain house he purchased after enriching himself from the people’s revolution.

  55. 55.

    Baud

    February 20, 2020 at 7:21 pm

    @HeleninEire: I’ll miss you, but be happy.

  56. 56.

    Chyron HR

    February 20, 2020 at 7:25 pm

    @smintheus:

    HA HA HA holy shit!  This is the best excuse Bernie’s Revolution could come up with?  “I-i-i-it was his INHEWITANCE!”

  57. 57.

    smintheus

    February 20, 2020 at 7:27 pm

    @Cacti: You’re talking about the house he bought in VT using the money he got from selling the house he inherited, which was remote and a long distance away. It was effectively swapping an unsuable vacation home for a usable one. The fact that you think this is a mark against him suggests to me your political opinions need to be taken with a granary assault.

  58. 58.

    Geminid

    February 20, 2020 at 7:28 pm

    @Sab:      I have a smart phone that I bought myself and $30/ month AT&T service. The phone constantly outsmarts me, but I have no complaints about AT&T’s coverage or customer service.

  59. 59.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 20, 2020 at 7:28 pm

    @smintheus: Not. True.

    When his mother law passed they sold the small condo she lived in, but they had paid for the condo in the first place.

    Even it was true, why would a Socialist who argues against wealth and accumulation of resources hoard luxury real estate.

  60. 60.

    misterpuff

    February 20, 2020 at 7:29 pm

    Get it right. The cabin  is a dacha.

  61. 61.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 20, 2020 at 7:30 pm

     

     

    @Baud: Thanks.  I’m trying to do multiple jobs while my cat yells at me.

  62. 62.

    geg6

    February 20, 2020 at 7:30 pm

    @Cacti:

    Heh, yes. The man of the people, right?

  63. 63.

    debbie

    February 20, 2020 at 7:30 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Are you surprised Russia hasn’t tried to take more in the six years since?

  64. 64.

    Cacti

    February 20, 2020 at 7:31 pm

    @smintheus: I feel you, comrade.  Every working class hero has a 7-figure net worth and owns 3 homes.

  65. 65.

    smintheus

    February 20, 2020 at 7:31 pm

    @Chyron HR: So he needs to “excuse” inheriting a vacation house? Some of Sanders’ harshest critics here however have been surprisingly enthusiastic in the past about Buttigieg, whose chief political achievement was seizing hundreds of houses from the poor and destroying them just because he could.

  66. 66.

    Ksmiami

    February 20, 2020 at 7:32 pm

    @Ohio Mom: I’m there with you- Warrens been obsessed with the economy and barely talks about in a calm voice the need for America to rebuild trust in government and strong institutions- I think she’s brilliant etc but I want a healer /rebuilder rn. I dunno

  67. 67.

    smintheus

    February 20, 2020 at 7:34 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Because much of the value of the inheritence would have been lost if they had not invested the money from the sale in another property. This is not hard to understand, if you’re not looking for an excuse to hate on Sanders.

  68. 68.

    Cacti

    February 20, 2020 at 7:35 pm

    @smintheus: How many proles live in Bernie’s gated community?

  69. 69.

    smintheus

    February 20, 2020 at 7:36 pm

    @Ksmiami: That probably sounded better in the original Russian.

  70. 70.

    chris

    February 20, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    If only there was a google or something. FFS

    https://www.snopes.com/news/2016/08/10/bernie-sanders-buys-summer-home/

  71. 71.

    Jeffro

    February 20, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: sorry…I didn’t mean his purpose, I mean the cosmic purpose ?

  72. 72.

    smintheus

    February 20, 2020 at 7:40 pm

    @Cacti: You’re ever the voice of reason with regard to Sanders. I recall for example your comment describing Warren as having “beaten wife” syndrome because she didn’t attack Sanders enough during the debate to suit your taste.

  73. 73.

    HeleninEire

    February 20, 2020 at 7:43 pm

    @Baud: ❤

  74. 74.

    Bill Arnold

    February 20, 2020 at 7:45 pm

    @Baud:

    Chris Matthews said that the NYT story about Russian interference says that the Russians are interfering with the Dem primary.

    It does. No details in the piece though, just this:

    Though intelligence officials have previously informed lawmakers that Russia’s interference campaign was ongoing, last week’s briefing did contain what appeared to be new information, including that Russia intends to interfere with the ongoing Democratic primaries as well as the general election.

    I/we need to be better at reliably recognizing Russian influence ops. It’s getting harder; they’re being more second-order about it, influencing Americans to amplify their messages.

    Rather than impersonating Americans as they did in 2016, Russian operatives are working to get Americans to repeat disinformation to get around social media companies’ rules that prohibit “inauthentic speech.”

  75. 75.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 20, 2020 at 7:48 pm

    @Cacti: No one here has told you that.

  76. 76.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 20, 2020 at 7:48 pm

    @smintheus: Not. True.

    here’s his financial disclosure form (photo) where he lists his mother-in-law’s condo as his own asset.  you can’t inherit an asset you already own.

  77. 77.

    Bill Arnold

    February 20, 2020 at 7:50 pm

    @HeleninEire:

    The world is a trashfire and debate coverage is making me nervous (but by all means, please continue bashing Bloomberg) so here’s someone helping a tiny octopus trade a plastic cup for a shell: https://t.co/Zb1rzaLNJp pic.twitter.com/oQklSw61Fa
    — Shannon/S.A. Chakraborty (@SAChakrabooks) February 20, 2020

    Octopus fan here. (to say the least.)

  78. 78.

    FelonyGovt

    February 20, 2020 at 7:50 pm

    @Thaddeu: My Bernie-crazy friend is claiming that we should all get behind Bernie NOW because he’s “in the lead”. I pointed out that so far he’s won and tied in 2 tiny unrepresentative states.

  79. 79.

    John Revolta

    February 20, 2020 at 7:52 pm

    @Sab: Mrs. Revolta & I are still hanging on to our flip phones. We’ve got TracPhone which lets us buy minutes as we need ’em. Works out great for us.

  80. 80.

    HeleninEire

    February 20, 2020 at 7:54 pm

    @Baud: Thank you Darling.

  81. 81.

    Ohio Mom

    February 20, 2020 at 7:59 pm

    A clarification: Usually I agree with “Vote your heart in the primary” but this is not a typical election. My goal is winning against Trump, which I believe requires blocking Bernie, and I want to use my vote toward those efforts, rather than my dream. At this point in my life, I am used to compromising.

    HeleninErie@52: What Baud said, and me too. We are running after our tails here on these threads the primaries and it does get tiresome.

    Not that I don’t get pulled into it but I have to pace myself because the panic and gloom is awful for my mental health. I need reminders that life is bigger than politics. Because it is.

    So I get why you would want to step away. If you do, hope you’ll come back for the occasional visit after this storm of Trump has passed.

  82. 82.

    smintheus

    February 20, 2020 at 8:01 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Did you even bother to read the Snopes report linked above? Yikes.

  83. 83.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 20, 2020 at 8:08 pm

    @Sab: Consumer reports has a good article on this (link)

  84. 84.

    LC

    February 20, 2020 at 8:11 pm

    @Kent: The irony of that, of course, is that the votes in red states are already marked down in the delegate math.  The system already took the complaint that votes in States that don’t vote dem should be less represented in the dem nomination.

    But that messed with the message that it was unfair to Bernie, so my friends working for his campaign told me to stop mentioning it

  85. 85.

    Bex

    February 20, 2020 at 8:19 pm

    @Martin: Yeah, nobody can call Amy out on her cheap shots and distortions.  Unfaya unfaya, as Trump would say.

  86. 86.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 20, 2020 at 8:24 pm

    @smintheus:

    Provide the evidence.   Her saying she inherited property doesn’t make it true, especially when her “mom” died in 2005 and her condo was in a different state.  Especially when she has changed her story, first saying it was from a condo sale, then saying it was from a mystery inheritance, which just happen to coincide with their new multi millionaire status.

    The larger point is why is he hording luxury real estate and the accumulation of resources when he spent 50 years denounced such practice, including during the 2016 campaign.   Why not donate the money to the needy and take the tax deduction.  after all, under Socialist doctrine he specifically espoused in 2016, he already had more then enough.   Of course the answer is he’s a fraud.  Which why he now travels in an obscene luxury private jet – just like Marx intended.

  87. 87.

    Peale

    February 20, 2020 at 8:26 pm

    @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: ok this is dumb. I’m going to be buying my mom a condo because she can’t keep up her house. She’ll be keeping her house and renting it out. This does not make me a mogul.

  88. 88.

    Jim

    February 20, 2020 at 8:29 pm

    Well, anyone with an ounce of intelligence and integrity knows it’s a cheap shot to describe BS as a socialist without adding the “democratic” part given that it’s common knowledge he’s never advocated for the gov taking over the means of production, etc.  It’s really not that much better than the “communist” tag the oligarch used last night. But hey, those suffering from long term cases of BSDS just can’t help themselves.  https://bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/what-is-socialism-bernie-sanders

  89. 89.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 20, 2020 at 8:34 pm

    @Peale: nobody said that.

    they’re criticizing him for buying a luxury beach house in a gated community, while he denouncing accumulation of assets, in an era of vast income inequality, where most people don’t even own one home.  Even his own supporters said it was a bad look.  That’s why he’s so defensive about the matter, as shown in the above clip.  Lord knows if this was another candidate, Sanders would be raking him or her over the coals.

    Nobody cared about his mother’s condo. He’s the one bringing it up to use it as a shield to deflect the criticism for the purchase of his beach house.

  90. 90.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2020 at 8:38 pm

    @Sab: I like Google Fi, but I use very little cellular data.  My full-up bill is routinely less than $30 a month.  It’s great if you travel overseas – your phone Just Works™ without any extra fiddling or extra cost.

    You do need a smart phone, though. (There are only a couple of flip smart phones now, but that’s up from zero about 6 months ago.) And they’re very spendy. They have reasonably priced smart phones, and you can bring your own smart phone, too.

    Fi uses T-Mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular towers.

    HTH a little. Good luck.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  91. 91.

    CliosFanBoy

    February 20, 2020 at 8:48 pm

    @Ohio Mom: FWIW, I already voted absentee in Virginia for Warren.

  92. 92.

    schrodingers_cat

    February 20, 2020 at 8:55 pm

    @Ohio Mom: @Ksmiami:  Me three.

    I am just not seeing what others here see in her. I have tried to like her because many people here who I respect are Warren supporters, but I just can’t. She is too close to BS. My goal in the primaries is to stop BS from becoming the nominee.

  93. 93.

    Geminid

    February 20, 2020 at 9:07 pm

    @Jim. Well, Sanders was a Vermont presidential Elector for the Socialist Workers Party in 1980, and they certainly advocated for the government taking over the means of production. He campaigned for their presidential candidate that year, and in 1984 also.

  94. 94.

    Cacti

    February 20, 2020 at 9:14 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: No one here has told you that.

    Au contraire, counselor. I was told that just this morning, as the explanation for why EW continues to be a soft touch with BS.

    Don’t gaslight me, bro.

  95. 95.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 20, 2020 at 9:15 pm

    @Cacti: Link?

  96. 96.

    Anne Laurie

    February 20, 2020 at 10:34 pm

    @smintheus: Sanders inherited a vacation home. This is supposed to be a mark against him?

    Not true.  Jane and her five siblings inherited the ‘family’ vacation home after their parents died.  She bought the others out, in cash, using funds from her ‘golden parachute’ running a small Vermont college (into the ground).

    Or so she claimed, at the time.  Questions were raised about her partnership in Olde Towne Media, which made outsized millions doing ‘advertising’ for the 2016 Sanders campaign, but Jane *said* it was just her college money that funded her ‘camp’ purchase…

  97. 97.

    Anne Laurie

    February 20, 2020 at 10:37 pm

    @HeleninEire: So I am thinking about leaving here. I’m bored. There is nothing new here. I used to post a lot. Not so much now. I’m exhausted. And I thought I had an out.

    If you need a respite, you won’t be the only one!

    We’ll miss your contributions… but (I hope) we’ll still be here, once you’ve had a chance to refresh / rejuvenate…

  98. 98.

    Geminid

    February 20, 2020 at 10:50 pm

    @Anne Laurie:     I wish someone could get to the bottom of the Olde Towne Media deal. The Vermont Digger got partway. The customary 10-15% fee to media buyers seems designed for kickbacks and corruption. TV and radio stations have salespeople working on salary or commission who will beat a path to any advertiser’s door. Hard to see what a “media buyer” does except rake off money.

  99. 99.

    FlipYrWhig

    February 21, 2020 at 12:30 am

    @Geminid: I hesitate to say this because I know it’s also a sexist stereotype, but I get an extra hinky feeling about Jane O’Meara Sanders. I feel like he’s a boringly conventional arrogant academic Marxist and she’s a scam artist whispering in his ear and egging him on.

  100. 100.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    February 21, 2020 at 2:37 am

    @FlipYrWhig:

    I know what you mean when you say “academic”, a lot of academics are blowhards, but academics have a Ph.d in their field and  produce scholarship.  Sanders on the other hand is stunningly uniformed (remember his clueless editorial board meeting with NYDN in 2016) and is famously lazy and a non-reader (I bet he hasn’t read a book since 1960).

  101. 101.

    Brohonestly

    February 21, 2020 at 6:27 pm

    @Kent: You can make fun of Bernie’s black support when Liz Warren polls at higher than 0% among black people ;) For all the talk about how Pete has no shot with black people, it’s amazing that nobody talks about how poorly Liz is doing with anyone who isn’t a white college-educated upper middle class voter.

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