Bernie disavows the "whore" remark. Do you?

[Renew Deal]

"Dr. Song's comment was inappropriate and insensitive. There's no room for language like that in our political discourse."

https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/720590717706506240

Bernie says that the use of "whore" is "inappropriate and insensitive." Will Sanders supporters continue to defend something Bernie will not?

[Bohemianwriter]

1. Nope!

When the shoe fits.

The fact that Hillarybots immediately make it an attack on their candidate only shows that the corporate whore remark and Hillary is on their cape. Not the Bernie camp.

[Renew Deal]

6. Bernie thinks you're being inappropriate and there's no place for your comments in his campaign

[2pooped2pop]

12. Oh, that will scare us.

[anigbrowl]

90. Interesting glimpse into your mindset

No punitive sentiment was expressed but you chose to employ the language of confrontation and fear. Many a true word is said in jest, though not always intentionally.

[2pooped2pop]

113. you should start with Hillary if you like to analyze

especially based on your attempt to "glimpse into my mindset" based on less than one sentence. You guys are too fucking HILLarious.

[Hortensis]

38. +1. Simple truth. Sanders can't associate with this stuff.

[scscholar]

76. Well he does have a problem with women...

so it is valid to bring-up this serious issue.

[Bohemianwriter]

106. Only in your head does he have a problem with women...

And tell it to all the women who supports him.

Your candidate have far bigger problems than whatever triggers over sensitive Hillarybots who love their own smear jobs and love to play the victim when it comes back to them like a boomerang

It's more valid why Hillary calls herself a leader with full transparency when she wants others to lead by example and foreclose whatever transcripts they have from and speeched they have given.

She alligns herself with the republicans in this matter. The faux outrage and the disgusting accusations of Bernie being a misogynist is an echo from the dirt campaign against Obama.
I mean, don't you people get tired of acting like mental patients, expecting a different result using the same tactic?

[TM99]

107. You might want to look up the

exit polls and number of voters that are women for Sanders before you post another lie.

[morningfog]

2. I do, it's too loaded. I prefer "shill."

[Hortensis]

42. No more accurate than whore however.

Any perjorative in a political storm will do, the uglier the better -- as long as it doesn't come back and smack the user? You are right though, shill is safer than whore.

[Renew Deal]

10. Bernie disagrees with your apologia for sexist language

[2pooped2pop]

15. And Hillary thinks all of her supporters are someone to use

I would be more concerned with that.

[Renew Deal]

24. Gender has everything to do with that

It is basically slut shaming when you use it on a woman.

[TheFarseer]

83. I've heard men called corporate whore or attention whore lots of times

So I disagree with your assertion that whore is automatically sexist but I agree with Bernie that the phrase does not belong in our political discourse.

[Politicalboi]

89. No one used it on a woman

You guys did that all by yourselves. Congratulations. And I feel it fits too, so you're not alone.

[bettyellen]

94. No one used it..... so you're not alone. LOL, okay then.

[2pooped2pop]

4. Yes I continue to defend

And laugh at those who are whining about it. Hillary once again goes from " I am woman, hear me roar" to "don't pick on me, I'm just poor little girl" , as the weathervane turns.

[Bonobo]

5. Not at all. It is a perfectly fitting pejorative description of political scumbags. nt

[FSogol]

7. Get your popcorn ready, part of DU denies it happened & another part justifies the use of the word.

[2pooped2pop]

11. Really? That's a popcorn situation for you?

Perhaps you need to get out more?

[Renew Deal]

17. Of course it is

Because now Bernie supporters are denouncing their candidates denouncement. Mr. Perfect is wrong about something.

[2pooped2pop]

36. Lol. Did they say he was wrong or that they simply won't follow in lockstep?

Last edited Thu Apr 14, 2016, 11:46 AM - Edit history (1)

[Renew Deal]

40. So he's right?

But they are hypocrites?

[2pooped2pop]

45. No, they just don't follow in lockstep.

He is right for what he needs to to and they are right for what they need to do.

[Renew Deal]

48. You can't have it both ways

And be considered reasonable.

[2pooped2pop]

53. by you? who gives a shit what you think?

Bernie supporters are individuals.

[Renew Deal]

54. That should be Bernie's slogan

It's all "you're with us or against us" in his camp

[2pooped2pop]

66. lol. your desperation is showing

As you try to give Sanders the attributes of Hillary.

[Marr]

97. They can't seem to grasp that.

It explains a lot, really.

[TM99]

109. No we are denouncing your edict of perfection.

Last edited Thu Apr 14, 2016, 03:41 PM - Edit history (1)

He is right within the national context of his campaign. He has to disavow this because of the Clinton/Brock Machine faux poutrage and backlash.

We supporters don't march in lock step with our candidate of choice. It is not a cult of personality for us. Therefore, many of us will continue to use the vernacular phrase 'corporate whores' because it describes in gender neutral terms what they are, on both sides of the aisle. It is a phrase that was used here at DU from the beginning of the site. Media Whores Online was a prominent linked to site between 2001 and 2004.

So you can stop your condescending, authoritarian preaching. We are not buying it. We could care less how you feel or what you think further on this matter. Your hypocrisy and rat-fuckery is more than apparent.

[PeoViejo]

8. I prefer 'Political Barfly'

..always looking for the Big Score.

[Autumn]

9. No. I'll pass. nt

[bigtree]

13. k&r

[jmg257]

14. I would...he's not the boss of me. Nt

[hobbit709]

16. Unlike Hillary supporters, I don't blindly and unquestioningly agree with whatever my candidate says

So not only no but HELL NO!

[Renew Deal]

21. Don't you think it's time to admit you're wrong

Now that Bernie has denounced it and Song has apologized?

[hobbit709]

25. I see nothing wrong with calling corporate Dems persons of easily negotiable virtue.

[LuvLoogie]

26. Such a Rebel! Such a Revolutionary!

[hobbit709]

39. "Don't follow leaders. Watch the parking meters"

And this

[Bobbie Jo]

18. Not bloody likely.

I'm not buying his remarks either, frankly.

No, this is kind of thing we've seen from day one. It will continue to the bitter end, which thankfully will be soon.

[George II]

19. Good OP, I think we're learning a lot about his supporters from the responses. Thanks!

[noiretextatique]

22. Bill doubles down on superpredator concept

No polls.

[ScreamingMeemie]

23. My response is that I had better not see a single use of "media whore," "corporate

whore," or "attention whore" going forward here on DU.

This whole thing was really, really silly, and I don't care who you support. Let us discuss real issues.

[IdaBriggs]

27. Bernie is a classy guy. I think she is a Corporate Whore

and can't be trusted to look out for interests of the citizens of this country.

[Renew Deal]

35. Bernie says there is no place in our politics for comments like yours

[ibegurpard]

65. Good for Bernie

I'll continue to use the word in situations I find the comparison to be appropriate.

[Puglover]

88. It seems you expect other posters

to set their moral compasses according to what a politician thinks or does.

Whether they support that politician or not that idea is patently absurd.

[Marr]

98. Not for Hillary supporters. They reset their moral compasses every day, to match their candidate's

ever-shifting 'principles'.

[IdaBriggs]

112. Why do you care? Suddenly his opinion matters to you?

I appreciate he is a classy guy. This isn't a cult; I am comfortable disagreeing with him about this because I am not a statesman and he is. The standard is different - tact and diplomacy are required for him. I am an Internet poster with a "finally somebody said what I've been thinking all along!"

[alarimer]

28. No. If the shoe fits....

When will Hillary disavow her supporter calling Bernie's "Nazis"?

[hereforthevoting]

29. Word politics, again

Sorry I am more about judging people by their actions. But I don't really see much in this situation anyway.

[Hiraeth]

30. Jury duty brought me here. Is there room for CP time?

[RiverLover]

31. No.

Corporate whores are corporate whores.

A light needs to be shone very brightly on the FACT that our govt has been taken over by Moneyed Interests.

Its at the root of almost every problem in the US.

What a phenomenal country this could be if our "representatives" actually represented "We The People" again.

[restorefreedom]

32. as usual, bernie takes the high road

and as usual, his critics on twitter, who have unleashed a torrent of antisemitic bilge, have not.

[CrowCityDem]

34. Good for Bernie. Shame for those continuing to defend this.

[messiah]

37. Fascist thought police out in full force

[Renew Deal]

47. Would you say that it's "political correctness run amok?"

[SidDithers]

41. Yes, they will...nt

Sid

[Betty Karlson]

43. Yes; surely everybody understands that Sanders' supporters may disagree with him on specific matters

we are not all spin-addicts like a certain other camp, which proclaims to always have considerd the sky green as soon as their preferred candidate "misspeaks".

[mcar]

44. Good question

[Armstead]

46. IN a political campaign I disavow it. But in normal conversation, in general terms....

doesn't bother me a bit.

For most people (except those who are being sincere in their honest distaste for the word) it is a great term to describe the practice of selling one's political position (or media influence) for money.

[JonLeibowitz]

49. There is no need to defend it. It's an accurate statement of our Democracy.

[Iliyah]

50. Additionally, WTF another surrogate said only" hard workers" support BS

Another slap in the face to workers all over America and beyond who supports HRC. UGH.

[frylock]

73. "...hard-working Americans, white Americans"

[randr]

51. I would not choose the word myself

but I am at a lose as to what to call those who would vote against Health Care for all while taking money from Big Pharma.

[Renew Deal]

55. Corporate "stooges"

We can come up with lots of stuff. But using that word in a campaign when talking about a female candidate is wrong. I think Armstead explained it well in one of these threads.

[cyberswede]

52. I don't have a problem with the term; I think it was inappropriate to use it in this setting.

When making public remarks, I think additional sensitivity is in order.

[CentralCoaster]

56. I've decided to just let it go. Will you let it go?

[pinebox]

57. Nope. The shoe fits.

Does the dose of reality from America bother you how most see Hillary?

[Triana]

58. Yes I disavow the use of the word "whore"

However I stand by the substance of Song's comment which was that we need a President and a congress who will represent US (the 99%), not corporations. We need a President who is NOT beholden to big money, big corporations, and Wall St. And BERNIE SANDERS IS that candidate.

[Tarc]

59. Thank you, Senator Sanders

Once again, you prove to be more honorable than some of your followers.

[MadCrow]

60. Who originated the phrase?

I bet it was some man using language derogatory to women to make a point. I haven't heard any objections to the term until now, but now that we have a woman Presidential candidate who is part of the corporate establishment suddenly it is offensive. Why do so many offensive words always refer to women (you know the ones I mean I don't have to list them here). Now suddenly we have the word police telling us what words or phrases are or are not acceptable because they refer to a specific individual; but when they are demeaning to women in general they are perfectly acceptable. I think we have a double standard here.

That being said, I agree with the premise of Dr. Songs statement.

[ibegurpard]

61. Bernie does not control me nor do I control him

Politicians who trade access and votes for campaign contributions and support are whores.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

62. I do not. I agree with Dr. Song that corporate whores are a huge problem.

They've corrupted the nation and its political system. I fail to see how any person of conscience is ok with this. Meantime, we're playing puritanical word games while the rest of the world uses salty language as a matter of course. This is how the world works, and we're beginning to look like some kind of weird religious cult that keeps itself separated from the world. So to answer your question, no, you won't be browbeating me into feeling guilt about a statement I agree with.

[Broward]

63. Absolutely not. If the shoe fits...

[Starry Messenger]

64. They don't care. Only some of us are not allowed to disagree with him, you see.

[PADemD]

67. P. J. O'Rourke wrote a book about the subject.

Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government Paperback – January 7, 2003

http://www.amazon.com/Parliament-Whores-Humorist-Attempts-Government/dp/0802139701

[Joe the Revelator]

68. I do not. At all. We, as Democrats, have been calling out corporate whores for decades

and unless we elect one as our party standard, I hope that we keep on doing it.

[lumberjack_jeff]

69. Disavow? Not really, but it did give an opportunity for righteous indignation...

... and yet another day to refuse to answer questions of allowing the release of state secrets and payola from Wall Street from the comfort of the fainting couch.

In that sense, I'd prefer that he'd said "vile, lickspittle, sellout corporate tools". But they'd have continued to vitriolically demand to see Sanders' irs worksheet on student loan interest.

[Orsino]

70. In practice, though not in principle.

The shoe fits certain feet rather alarmingly well, but I agree that the terminology lends itself far too readily to distraction threads like this one.

The trigger word has been used by the fringe right to describe women for decades, and in particular Sanders' primary opponent. One should step carefully through that minefield. If one really wants to talk about corruption by corporate money, one shouldn't make it easy for one's opponent to derail that discussion.

[one_voice]

71. I think the problem with using

it is, if you use it with a group and there are women it becomes inappropriate and could be hurtful.

There are other words that aren't loaded. Shill, sellout, lackey etc.

I've seen people say 'whore is gender neutral' & that it means a 'dirty person' <<-- everyone knows what whore means, let's not rewrite the definition.

In real life I use the 'b' word. I call the lawn mower the 'b' word when it's not working right. My best friend and I call each other that word. I have a tee shirt that has an awesome saying with that word on it. I don't say it here. Even if it were allowed, I wouldn't use it here because I know it's hurtful to some and I don't *need* to use that word. I'd rather not hurt people. there are plenty of other words I can use. So I choose not to hurt people.

Anyway that's my take.

[cherokeeprogressive]

72. Nnnnnnnnnnnnope! I understand context.

[phleshdef]

74. No, I don't. I didn't when Randy Rhodes got in trouble for saying it. I don't now.

I would not call Hillary Clinton that word. But I don't disavow the word itself. I will NEVER accept the notion that its sexist in modern context. I WILL use the word myself if I think it applies to someone.

People need to toughen the fuck up, just a little bit.

[DrDan]

75. doubling-down seems to be a common trait among some here

[bkkyosemite]

77. ....................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................
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[Kalidurga]

78. No

[AgingAmerican]

79. I dont

Corporate whores (bought and sold politicians) have no place in the Democratic party

[revbones]

80. Nope.

"corporate whore" is fitting.

Corporate whore:

One who has sold more than their labor to the corporation; one who has forsaken personal values and constitution for corporate $$; meaning of "whore" belittled when preceded by the word “corporate”; person who will sell their soul for $$.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=corporate+whore

Basically it does apply to Hillary and many Democrats as well as most if not all Republicans...

[islandmkl]

81. NO

Bernie has bigger fish to fry than this modern instant-tempest-in-a-chatroom...

he's done what he needed to do...

we, on the other hand, only have to deal with Hillary folks here on DU...

it's a fucking sport, don't you know?

[berniepdx420]

82. What word should we use instead ? What other word would you agree to... so the phrase is

Corporate whore... what word could we substitute that would convey what is happening in Congress... or do you support Citizens' United ?

[Buzz Clik]

84. Thank you for this thread. It reaffirms what we already knew about Sanders's supporters.

[My Good Babushka]

85. I don't have to disavow it

I'm only responsible for the things I say. We still have free speech, and I don't expect to be protected from other people's ideas or speech. If you want to talk about realism, that is unrealistic, to have everyone talk in a way that you agree with.

[snot]

86. Gladly. Ready to move on, now.

[Politicalboi]

87. No, nothing wrong was said

Can't help it if Hillary people think it was about her. I guess her actions resemble that word.

[guillaumeb]

91. Yes. Sometimes the truth is uncomfortable. eom

[Marr]

92. No, I do not.

"Corporate whore" means 'someone who takes money from big business and shills for them'. And that speaker was right-- so long as we keep electing corporate whores, we're not going to get anywhere.

Sanders can apologize if he likes-- he's his own person. I don't see a problem the phrase, I don't see a point in kowtowing to the petulant screams of the perennially 'outraged', and I don't, and this may be hard for you to understand but give it a shot, just mindlessly adopt the positions of my chosen candidate.

[jonno99]

93. Bernie is simply choosing not to take up this fight. It costs him nothing to

disavow it, and he looses nothing by not fighting it - so why fight it?

For everyone else? It must be a slow news day - cause this is a non-issue...

[redstatebluegirl]

95. Evidently not

I just served on a jury where I was in the minority voting to hide it due to the use of the word whore. It is more than inappropriate and insensitive but at least the candidate made a statement. His followers rarely are as classy as he is.

Let the feeding frenzy begin.

[CBGLuthier]

96. I found the use of the term to be apt. Even though it was not directed at Clinton it sure fits her.

She is in the pocket of big business. What better way to describe it than corporate whore.

[leftinportland]

99. No

If the shoe fits...

[Hell Hath No Fury]

100. No.

If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck...

The Clintons INVENTED the "Democratic Corporate Whore", fer fucks sake. I am not going to pretend the last 20+ years didn't happen to the Democratic Party -- which is EXACTLY what I have been fighting against.

[longship]

101. Not the metaphorical meaning, though.

However, in context of Hillary being a woman, it was a bit insensitive.

Instead, I would have said, "Hillary Clinton has sold her soul to the devil."
There! A much better metaphor.

[polichick]

102. It was fine to apologize since the Clinton campaign jumps on stuff like this...

But I will continue to call elected officials - men and women - who sell out this country WHORES. It is the perfect word for them.

[Beowulf]

103. I think I will stick with corporate democrat or

third way democrat. Adding "whore" or "prostitute" is redundant.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

104. Nope. Would Corporate Princess be more acceptable?

[elana i am]

105. no.

because a lot of dems and ALL repugs ARE corporate whores, and there couldn't possibly be a more apropos and direct term.

[Kittycat]

108. Corporate Whore 9/28/2003

No, but unlike Bernie - I don't have to worry about responding to people's delicate ridiculousness when they refuse to look at context, and focus on a single word rather than the entire statement and it's full contextual meaning. Further, it wasn't Bernie who said it, nor I.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=corporate+whore

One who has sold more than their labor to the corporation; one who has forsaken personal values and constitution for corporate $$; meaning of "whore" belittled when preceded by the word “corporate”; person who will sell their soul for $$.
My efforts are not driven by my passion for work, but by my own gluttony, my addition to money. I have become what I once despised—forsaken myself, sacrificed my values at the corporate alter of greed. I am a corporate whore.
by Syllabus September 28, 2003

[bahrbearian]

110. No, "You lay with dogs..."

[ieoeja]

111. No. You must have loved "media horse online".

The folks at mediawhoresonline.com had a great deal fun laughing at people who intentionally "mispronounced" their name as "horse" because, "mercy, me!"

So would you be happier if we all just called Hillary "a corporate horse"?

[loyalsister]

114. Absolutely!

"Whore" most commonly references an alleged permiscuous woman or a prostitute.

That meaning is agreed upon, and it is offensive that it is used as a metaphor for corruption and coziness with corporations.

I am glad that Bernie is honorable and courageous enough to apologize.

[Blue_In_AK]

115. Perhaps in "political discourse," whatever that is,

but just between you and me, corporate whores do exist. The Alaska legislative majority fits the bill.