Now the question to be asked and answered is: “Who is on first?”
Richard
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 18, 2019, at 1:13 PM, Carl Jarvis <carjar82@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm going to believe that Frank spoke with tongue in cheek.
While I would vote for Bernie again, and while I think he has a good
chance at pulling off top spot this time around, and while I actually
like Elizabeth Warren a bit better than Bernie, my problem is actually
focused on the Democratic Party. In fact, my bottom line problem is
with the exclusion by both major political parties of a widening
number of Other Political Parties. Since both Democrat and Republican
parties have been taken over by the American Oligarchy, excluding most
of those who are not White, over 21, Land Holders or of great wealth,
supporting any of Their candidates seems to be a Fool's Mission.
We are all under the control of the MC Party. MC stands for,
Militaristic Capitalism. It's a tongue twister of a label, but that
pretty much lays it out.
Capitalism or Militarism are neither one compatible with democracy.
Neither one allows for Free Enterprise. Neither one tolerates Free
Speech, nor free press. Both rule from the top down.
While most religious institutions are structured with the same top
down rule, they cannot coexist with the MC, either.
Capitalism and Militarism cannot exist without one another, they are
in constant battle for dominance. So long as they maintain a balance
of power they are nearly invincible. But eventually one or the other
gains the upper hand and the system falls.
Carl Jarvis
On 4/17/19, Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
You can tell Bernie has no chance of getting the nomination because folks
haven't even bothered to accuse him of sexual misconduct.
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2019 3:12 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Bernie Sanders Removes the Gloves
Bernie Sanders Removes the Gloves
Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at
a rally in Warren, Mich., this month. (Paul Sancya / AP)
On Saturday, the Center for American Progress (CAP), one of the country's
leading liberal think tanks, received a letter from the current favorite for
the Democratic nomination in 2020. "Dear members of the Board," it began. "I
write to express my deep concern and disappointment with the role that the
Center for American Progress and its affiliated Action Fund arm are playing
in the critical mission to defeat Donald Trump."
The letter's author was none other than Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who
blistered CAP's affiliate site ThinkProgress for a recent op-ed that
disparaged his physical appearance, as well as a separate video that
suggested that his calls for economic redistribution were fundamentally
hypocritical-this because his book royalties have made him a millionaire.
Sanders also took aim at the organization's president, Neera Tanden, for
preaching solidarity while "belittling progressive ideas," openly
speculating that "corporate money . is inordinately and inappropriately
influencing the role [CAP] is playing in the progressive movement."
Sanders' letter was likely years in the writing. As the New York Times'
Kenneth P. Vogel and Sydney Ember observe:
"
Mr. Sanders's criticism of the Center for American Progress, delivered on
Saturday in a letter obtained by The New York Times, reflects a simmering
ideological battle within the Democratic Party and threatens to reopen
wounds from the 2016 primary between him and Hillary Clinton's allies. The
letter airs criticisms shared among his supporters: that the think tank,
which has close ties to Mrs. Clinton and the Democratic Party establishment,
is beholden to corporate donors and has worked to quash a leftward shift in
the party led partly by Mr. Sanders.
CAP has been an inextricable part of Democratic politics since Hillary
Clinton's future campaign chairman, John Podesta, founded the organization
in 2003. As the Times' Vogel and Ember reveal, the think tank helped draft
policy proposals that Barack Obama would ultimately use for his 2008
campaign, and later served as a feeder of sorts for his administration. The
think tank was expected to serve the same function for Clinton had she
prevailed in the 2016 election; Podesta and Tanden were among her top
choices for White House chief of staff.
Last year, CAP partnered with the American Enterprise Institute on a project
titled "Defending Democracy and Underwriting the Transatlantic Project,"
ostensibly to study how we can preserve free and open societies amid a
rising tide of authoritarianism. In the process, the think tank donated
$200,000 to an organization whose most prominent members include
neoconservative Bill Kristol and racial eugenicist Charles Murray, leading
some in progressive circles to wonder "why is the Center for American
Progress betraying the left?"
In a 2013 investigation for The Nation, Ken Silverstein revealed that CAP
has accepted contributions from the likes of Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo,
Coca-Cola, Citigroup, BlueCross BlueShield and weapons manufacturer Northrop
Grumman, not to mention hundreds of thousands of dollars from the United
Arab Emirates-among the world's most brutal and oppressive regimes. Tanden,
who regularly rails against Russian President Vladimir Putin as a
"proto-fascist," has herself come under criticism online for cozying up to
such strongmen as Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and India's Narendra Modi.
ThinkProgress claims to enjoy editorial independence from CAP, and
Editor-in-Chief Jodi Enda asserted as much in a statement to the Times,
insisting that the group and its action funds "had nothing to do with the
article or video about Senator Sanders or articles related to any other
political leader." She also added that the site "will not take sides in the
Democratic primary." Tanden, for her part, has called the matter
"unfortunate," claiming that "we share the goal of unity." Still, it's not
difficult to imagine the think tank has a vested interest in preventing
Sanders from becoming the party's nominee. The self-proclaimed democratic
socialist is unlikely to rely on CAP as Obama and Clinton have before him,
and so the threat he poses to Tanden and her ilk is existential: their grip
on power, within the party and the country, is at stake.
Last December, as rumors swirled about Beto O'Rourke's possible run for
president, Tanden accused several prominent Sanders backers of coordinating
attacks against the moderate Texas official. Responding to an op-ed from the
Washington Post's Elizabeth Bruenig, she tweeted: "Feels a bit orchestrated
and clearly they are worried." But as Sanders cements his frontrunner
status, her words increasingly look like projection. And after watching
Democrats lose the White House in grotesque fashion to a glorified game show
host, he refuses to let bad-faith criticism from purportedly liberal media
go unanswered.
Sanders' supporters have not forgotten 2016's contentious primary, with
ample evidence that Democratic elites helped seal his defeat. While his
campaign says he will honor his pledge not to go negative in ads for 2020,
the Vermont senator nonetheless appears determined to prevent history from
repeating itself.
Update: Tanden has since issued the following statement:
"
The orientation of CAP is to positively engage with all political leaders
about the country's future.
ThinkProgress is editorially independent of CAP and CAP Action, which is
what has made it valuable as a news outlet. Similarly, we at CAP can form
our own opinions of their work. We believe the content of the ThinkProgress
video critiquing Sen. Sanders is overly harsh and does not reflect our
approach to a constructive debate of the issues.
Jacob Sugarman
Managing Editor
Jacob Sugarman is the acting managing editor at Truthdig. He is a graduate
of the Arthur L. Carter Institute of Journalism whose writing has appeared
in Salon, AlterNet and Tablet, among other.
Jacob Sugarman
