Bernie disclose anything anybody wants to know. How he's voted going back to his House of Representatives is all public and accessible information. He has worked his entire career as a "PUBLIC SERVANT". He has no ties to big corporations or very wealthy individuals. BERNIE IS FOR CERTAIN NOT FOR SALE. That what will get us Campaign Finance Reform which is the the foundation of the mountains of corruption going on in DC between our ELECTED OFFICIALS and BIG INDUSTRIES like BIG PHAMA. ENERGY (OIL), BANKS and INSURANCE etc. Let's not forget to include the 10 WEALTHIEST FAMILIES IN THE COUNTRY. Follow the money!!!!

...and get toddler-in-chief re-elected. How genial.

I don't get it! We're supposed to vote to rank the candidates?
Who should be second choice?
Last place choice?

What a pathetic slate of candidates... a senile old pedophile, a socialist grifter, a fake disgraced indian, and a spook fa**ot. How can America survive allowing this level of depravity to be pushed on us as legitimate leaders? Would you want your children following any of these corrupt losers?

One could throw darts into:
1. An NFL playoff crowd.
2. A ladies bridge game
3. An LGBTQ orgy.,

and come up with better candidates, other than BERNIE,..
who whipped what's-her-names butt, but was cheated out of the nomination by one of the MOSSADS US dem agents, and would now be our President.

You can't be too hard on common people for looking for political saviors , for " magic people ". Not for nothing for many centuries they accepted THE KING as a solution to internal strife.
For the past 100 hundred years self-appointed VANGUARD sectarian Marxist parties - very out of touch with THE PEOPLE - have offered them BIG BROTHER ( dictator or bureaucracy ) as described by socialist writer George Orwell in " 1984 ".
I see the FREE SPEECH , FREE THOUGHT tradition of Western Civilization losing passionate defenders on the Left and on the Right.
Without science and technology there can be no CIVILIZATION and without CIVILIZATION there can be no foundation for EQUALITY or social justice AND a collapse of science and technology.
Also, I doubt if the sensitive social conscience can survive in an " officially atheist " culture.
19th century OPTIMISM founded on a naive idolatry of SCIENCE & PROGRESS has been discredited by the nightmare 20th century.
For the human race LIFE on this side of paradise will always be a grim struggle for existence.
" Democratic Socialism " will just make survival a COLLECTIVE struggle. It will end forever the lonely and often pathetic atomized, alienated , individual struggle for existence- the perfect symbols of which are THE CAR THE HOUSE , THE DIPLOMA, THE JOB, THE SPOUSE and THE COFFIN .
To be sure , Democratic Socialism will not bless us with more THINGS and a higher and higher STANDARD OF LIVING ( but that is blasphemy to a dogmatic Marxist ) .

PRIMO NUTMEG #205: Investigating TYT w/ Robbie Jaeger
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

This board is purely rhetorical. Sanders won't be chosen to run by the DNC because he wasn't part of the club to begin with, and hasn't paid all the dues necessary for that position. If he wants to run, he'll have to run as a third party candidate or on his own. That will split the Dem. vote and Trump will be reelected for another 4 years of absurdity. Besides, Sanders will be eaten alive in congress if on the outside chance he's elected. He'll have more enemies than Kennedy and Nixon had, not only in gov. but also in business opposing his policies. And, please don't forget the ongoing flip flop syndrome of politicians after election, as both Obama and Trump are guilty of.

Bernie Sanders - if elected - would face constant opposition from both the rich Republicans as well as the rich Democrats. Neither of which want to pay higher wages or higher taxes. It is all about the Benjamins.

still you got no one better. that's my point. you grouse a lot but have no solutions, no one you can name that is better than Sanders on the issues and since YOU are not running, there's no way there can be a candidate that meets your expectations because only YOU can.

I don't want a candidate. I'm against centralized gov. which is the source of the problems here in the USA, not the solution.

The problem isn't centralized government; it is centralized power. That includes private, corporate power and the extreme wealth that accompanies it.
But a certain form of centralized government--which is slightly less totalitarian in structure than corporate power BTW-- is necessary to stop forms of neofeudalism from developing; the issue is what sort of authority it should have, and how it can be made accountable to the people.

The problem is that the centralized government is the law enforcement arm of Wall Street.

i'm still waiting for a solution from you and others or the name of a candidate that you think is better on the issues than Bernie. your talk of decentralized government presently is fantasy and you can't build progress off of fantasy. we have to work with the best that we have on hand now, not in some decentralized government future that you fantasize about. if you don't want to work with what you have in the present and prefer to wait for a future that others will build for you, that's fine I suppose but please stop being an obstacle to others who are trying, however erroneously, to take us into a future that we are trying to make better for those that come after us. lead, follow, or get out of the way.

Bernie would have been the party's first choice last time - if they cared about winning. Now if we want to give them the benefit of the doubt, and say that last time they thought they could get away with it - again and failed. But this time the choice is clear - if they care about winning.

Maybe it is a CIA troll.

It's already borken up into states, counties and cities. Just bring power back to those places is a good first step of decentralizing power out of the hands of the few in Wash. who have their own agenda, which has nothing to do with the people who elect them. Note Obama and Trump for examples. They both betrayed their base and voters.

My solution is decentralization of gov. back to the local and state level. The fed. gov. takes in our stolen wages and then bribes or extorts the state and local govs. with those funds to advance the agenda of whatever party is in Wash. You idealists amaze me thinking you can change one person and he/she will save America. Political idealism is just a product of the imagination, and what is imaged is usually unworkable in real time, as state socialism is. The US is way too diverse and has too many crooks ready to exploit any social programs as Medicare and Medicade are right now.

And what would you do with the US Constitution? Abolish it?

the Bush's Clinton's and Obama were all sexual freaks and liked small children. They were all a cult and has destroyed America to the point all most of no return.... Then the President of Russia warned the U.S. desire for world domination through the sole lead. Instead, Putin proposed to ensure global security through international law as derived from the moral foundations of humanity. Another approach will not work. "I think that for the modern world unipolar model is not only unacceptable but also impossible. And not only because if there was individual leadership in today's — and precisely in today's — world would not suffice military-political and economic resources. More importantly, however, the model itself is flawed because at its basis there is and can be no moral foundations for modern civilization," — said the head of the Russian state.

That is not working then that is immoral. A seemingly simple idea, but it turned out neither George Bush nor Barack Obama. For world domination, they got involved in the shameful war and lost them. The price for this failed policy has paid the United States. Now I'm not talking about wasting resources. The country was split, having lost moral unity. Fee — lying American press and hate walking across America. Actually, exactly the same result ten years ago predicted Putin, speaking about the destructiveness of a unipolar world.

"No matter how decorated this term, it ultimately means only one thing: one center of power, one center of force, one centre of decision-making. It is a world of one master, one sovereign. And it is ultimately destructive not only for all those within this system but also for the sovereign itself because it destroys itself from within"

bottom line is, if there is anyone better on the issues than Bernie Sanders, stop talking poppycock about the man and tell us who this other person is. people here are nitpicking and that is what keeps the left divided. just stop talking the "I have the correct political perspective" BS and tell us who you think is better than Bernie Sanders. otherwise, STFU.

Bottom line is, those who will not address the fake leftist Bernie Sanders' support for the war criminal Hillary Clinton should kindly FATWO. That's f3ck all the way off, in case you were wondering.

Mensch59 -- I lost the notes I made to remind me to read a couple or more essays you mentioned, all of which had some relation to Exiting the Vampire Castle, by Mark Fisher. There was another author.... Could you provide a reminder so I don't have to look through hundreds of posts in search?

Thanks!

May I have your email address? It might be nice to talk sometimes off the "boards". Just send me a note at jrivermartin at g mail dot com .

Lol

Your line of "reasoning" is very persuasive- My candidate is the best. Support my candidate or STFU!

there's no one better is there?

Yes, you have the Sanders blinders on and your Sanders is the best! The Green Party is to the left of Sanders and hence better from a progressive standpoint.

For example, Howie Hawkins is running for the Green Party nomination. In his platform, he is calling for a 75% reduction in "defense" spending. Can your much-vaunted Bernie Sanders match that? Can you even quote Sanders giving a proposed percentage by which to cut the bloated military budget?

We want to cut the military budget by 75% in order to increase our security. The biggest security threat we face is climate change. A $250 billion military budget will still be the world’s largest. It is far less costly in terms of personnel and weapons to defend a home territory than to invade and occupy foreign territory.

https://howiehawkins.us/why...

Sanders:
In 1995, he introduced a bill to terminate America’s nuclear weapons program. As late as 2002, he supported a 50 percent cut for the Pentagon. And he says corrupt defense contractors are to blame for “massive fraud” and a “bloated military budget.”
https://www.politico.com/st...

BTW, I have several times voted Green.

I'm not asking you to quote Bernie Sanders 20 years ago. I'm asking someone to quote him recently calling for a certain percent reduction in military spending.

If I find a recent statement about Sanders wanting to cut the military budget by a certain amount, I'll post it. Chances are that he still wants to make a substantial funding reduction in the military, though I can't say by how much. I think his prior statements about this issue indicate it.

(I seem to remember him saying in an interview recently that the US military budget is 700 billion and that a third of it is waste or corruption. I wasn't able to locate that remark and I can't say for sure there was a reduction amount mentioned.)

The point is moot, my friend. If any presidential candidate became president and proposed a 50% reduction in "defense" spending, that president would likely be impeached in bipartisan fashion for being "insane" and for endangering "national security." The point I try to hammer down thread after thread is how useless it is to try to work within the system that created the mess in order to fix it.

You may argue that gains were made in civil rights in the 60s, but that was different. It was difficult for the ruling class to continue to justify their racism. The ruling elites have copious arguments against cutting military (national security), M4A (can't afford it), free college etc. In other words, with the political parties we have today, progressive values are stillbirth.

Say I am wrong about everything I say about Sanders, your hurdle is not to convince us "purist" leftists, your first hurdle is convincing the majority of Democrats that aren't supporting Sanders to support him. You folks supporting Sanders must get him elected.

I believe that if meaningful change is ever to occur, it will occur in spite of the Democratic Party not because of it.

i'd vote greens if I thought it would do any good. like I've said before, you have to work with the best you have presently. we can't afford to wait for the perfect candidate that will do everything and make everything right. Bernie is not the one to do that, i'm under no illusions of that V4V, but he is the best that there is right now and hopefully he has a chance. i'm working for Bernie because I believe that he is the best that we have now, green party candidates notwithstanding.

Fair enough, work for Sanders, you'll get no beef from me. I am not voting for any Democrat because they and their policies don't represent me. For me, Sanders has two redeeming qualities- universal health care and free college, and fatal flaws; support for imperialism, anti-BDS, supports neoliberal warmongers like Obama/Clinton.

Having said that, he has a snowball's chance in Hades. For starters, all the leaders of the Democratic Party are against him. Obama said that if it looks like he'll be the nominee, he'll campaign against Sanders. So he has that against him.

Next, the DNC argued in court they have the right to rig primaries because they are a private corporation. Then you have the superdelegates who will likely support Biden. Because so many Democrats ran for president, it's unlikely anyone will get a majority that's where the superdelegates will weigh in.

Lastly, Sanders did very, very well in 2016 but some of his sheen wore off when he campaigned for Hillary Clinton. If the polls are to be believed, he is trailing in just about every state. It appears he isn't as popular with Democrats as he was in 2016. That's my take.

I am an advocate of a complete break with the Democratic Party and either work with an existing 3rd party or create a new one that represents the people not the corporations like the Democrats and Republicans do.

I agree with you on many parts of what you have said and would add, the smart thing for Bernie to have done was 1. walk away from the agreement to endorse Hilldog in 2016. F/DNC. 2. Bernie should have not gone into the fold with the wolves again, instead he should have taken Tulsi, gone to the Greens, refreshed their slate, (Jill has been the candidate for 14-16 years and only drew +/-5% in 2016) and began to build a populist movement to rival trump's. but I think that we can agree that if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

Say it again.

Bernie is the best we have got. And better than we deserve.

Let's get him elected, and then get busy.

10 years left, Scientists are saying.

Unless we get Bernie, we'll have just another neoliberal POTUS, as we've had since Reagan.

If he is the best we really are in trouble

I'm done with Bernie. He's not against the wars and he actually thinks America should be a refuge for climate migrants.

I'm voting third party with hope that four more years of Trump will teach Dems a lesson.

That used to be my theory about voting, and I routinely nulled my vote by voting with my conscience, hoping that the worst possible president would force a public backlash. That won't happen here in America, so, as our social system nears the end and our planet will no longer support the weight of 8 billion people, I'm hoping Bernie can make some sort of positive difference.

Solid points!!

I was scolded by partisan Democrats for voting for Ralph Nader back in 2000 . There is a human right to vote for people who don't disgust us with lies and phoniness.
I have concluded that two much of our constructive spiritual energy goes into rather vicious political passions. On the far Left myself- an independent democratic socialist , a sometime " critical supporter " of Bernie Sanders , I could easily see how Donald Trump- after a weird , shocking but LEGITIMATE 2016 election - was SMEARED as a moral monster , another " Hitler ", which is hysterical nonsense. Where is the evidence of the racist , the sexist , the shameless" White Supremacist -in-Chief , BEFORE Trump became the Republican Party candidate for president in 2016 ? Is it enough to contrast a party full of virtuous Democrats, all virtual saints of political correctness, with VERY NASTY Trump and those nasty- nasty Republicans ?
You have to be naïve to think that a cabal of corrupt Democrats can save what is left of " OUR democracy ". The 2016 presidential campaign was all about disgust with " OUR democracy " !
What is so " OUR democracy " about the HATE RUSSIA , New McCarthyism ?
The Kafkaesque Trump impeachment hearings sound and look like a 2019 remake of the infamous Moscow Trials . The leading characters seem right out of old Yiddish Theater soap opera.
Is not " Greater Israel " meddling in " OUR democracy " ? Why are " progressive " Democrats now slobbering over the unelected shadow government of the United States , the FBI , CIA , OUR Pentagon War Crimes Machine ?
It is the Democrat Party that is self-destructing, making Trump seem the LESSER EVIL in the 2020 presidential election.

"The Kafkaesque Trump impeachment hearings sound and look like a 2019 remake of the infamous Moscow Trials "

Then it's not just me.

It is NOT just you . The mainstream news media is smothering OUR impression of the Kafkaesque Trump impeachment hearings .
How will THEY channel all that hate and resentment for the mainstream news media AFTER impeachment fails , after the 2020 elections ?
Make us hate Russia , hate China, hate North Korea, hate Iran, hate Venezuela ? Hate the European Union ? Hate one another in the WORKING CLASS ?
God help us if WE end up hating " Greater Israel " and its meddling in " OUR democracy " !

Here's what our stolen wages are supporting: "Christians in the Gaza Strip will not be allowed to visit holy cities such as Bethlehem and Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas this year, Israeli authorities said on Thursday. Gazan Christians will be granted permits to travel abroad but none will be allowed to go to Israel and the occupied West Bank, home to many sites holy to Christians, a spokeswoman for Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians said. https://english.alarabiya.n...

Hey!!! You're not supposed to notice the power of Israel and the Israeli lobby.

It's forbidden to notice it and it's considered blasphemy to mention it.

They beat it into your skulls every day - the mainstream news media : " anti-Zionism = anti-Semitism ". There can be no benign criticism of Jews as an ethnic group . But idolatry for Apartheid Zionist Israel has corrupted the once sensitive Jewish social conscience.
Today you must say that THEY are all the salt of earth , the still CHOSEN PEOPLE . And every time Zionist Israel begins to really STINK Hollywood producers -like Harvey Weinstein - come out with yet another violin music Holocaust movie . We rarely hear from anti-Zionist Jews like Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky , Norman Finkelstein . They too are blackballed!
Said Harvey Weinstein upon receiving a Humanitarian Award : We Jews can learn from the Mafia how to fight our enemies . And they did!