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Mufaddal

(1,021 posts)
Mon Jan 25, 2016, 03:59 PM Jan 2016

Liberals Aren’t Amused By Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Anymore—They’re Terrified

In recent weeks, major liberal pundits are putting in overtime to freshen their case against Bernie Sanders, urging citizen’s to ignore their conscience and quit screwing with the interests of the moneyed elite.

The objective of the week for liberals appears to be to make clear Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is some kind of pariah. Despite how his candidacy has transformed into a phenomenon over the past months, establishment liberals maintain the U.S. senator from Vermont should not be considered a “serious” candidate. They believe it would be a huge mistake if a Democrat with unapologetic socialist leanings won the nomination, especially over Hillary Clinton.

But these cases against Sanders are really arguments against citizens voting their conscience. The uncertainty and dismissiveness toward Sanders serves to silence any critics of the corporate-driven politics entrenched in the Democratic Party. It suggests a fear that Democrats might actually stand against corporate power for a change. …

Democrats, along with President Obama’s administration, have spent the last eight years protecting capitalism from populist calls for reform, which would diminish the power and influence of corporations. The Affordable Health Care Act was a prime example, where Medicare for All was immediately taken off the table, and the political party manipulated citizens into believing requiring private insurance companies to offer insurance to all consumers was the best that could be accomplished.

It is one thing to vote for Hillary Clinton and other Democrats, who are more than happy to serve the moneyed elite, if you actually believe in what she stands for as a presidential candidate. But it is quite another thing to delude people into voting for her simply because it is your view that Bernie Sanders’ vision is difficult to make a reality. That position accepts the status quo and embraces a politics of low expectations, where the best elected officials can do is triage the effect of wealth and power becoming more and more concentrated in the hands of the few.


Full article: http://inthesetimes.com/article/18798/liberals-election2016-Sanders-Chait-Leftism
26 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Liberals Aren’t Amused By Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Anymore—They’re Terrified (Original Post) Mufaddal Jan 2016 OP
"embraces a politics of low expectations" is a perfect description. arcane1 Jan 2016 #1
DLC/New Democrats work to get progressives to have low expectations like it's their job. stillwaiting Jan 2016 #10
They aren't liberals, they just play them on TV. Erich Bloodaxe BSN Jan 2016 #2
Here we go again with the confusing usage of the word 'Liberal' Trajan Jan 2016 #3
OP should have put the word in quotes to distinguish then from real liberals. Cleita Jan 2016 #8
It's true...I've been a Liberal for nearly 50 years. Then I was out of politics during the libdem4life Jan 2016 #16
If 'liberals' means the same as 'capitalists' they should be terrified. immoderate Jan 2016 #4
They got the memo in the email, "Burn the Bern." Pretty disgusting. eom Cleita Jan 2016 #5
We've regrown a crop of entrenched establishment Warren Stupidity Jan 2016 #6
"First the media ignores Bernie Sanders, then the media mocks Bernie, now they fight you... GreatGazoo Jan 2016 #7
It's happening right before their eyes and they still ignore it, at their perill I might add. litlbilly Jan 2016 #18
The BOO! campaign continues. SoapBox Jan 2016 #9
K & R !!! WillyT Jan 2016 #11
K+R!!! draa Jan 2016 #12
K & R ! TIME TO PANIC Jan 2016 #13
NO WE CAN'T! NO WE CAN'T! NO WE CAN'T! valerief Jan 2016 #14
Or more neurotically... Helen Borg Jan 2016 #17
These Are Centrists Not Liberals billhicks76 Jan 2016 #15
If they are the establishment they are centrists Rosa Luxemburg Jan 2016 #19
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Jan 2016 #20
The title confused me. I agree these people are not liberal. leftcoastmountains Jan 2016 #21
Most liberals are Democrats, not all Democrats ar liberal. Half-Century Man Jan 2016 #22
The only kind of liberals these pundits are is neo. Jack Rabbit Jan 2016 #23
They aren't "liberals" in any sense of the word Lorien Jan 2016 #24
I'm a liberal, and I'm not terrified. ladyVet Jan 2016 #25
Yeah, the author is talking more about "liberals" in the sense of the classic Phil Ochs song Mufaddal Jan 2016 #26

stillwaiting

(3,795 posts)
10. DLC/New Democrats work to get progressives to have low expectations like it's their job.
Mon Jan 25, 2016, 04:25 PM
Jan 2016

Because it is. Literally.

They aren't working for our best interests at all.

They actively work AGAINST our interests as a matter of fact. They spend far more time telling left-wing voters what we CAN'T do than fighting established monied interests and telling them why we SHOULD do the things that would actually help most of us.

Erich Bloodaxe BSN

(14,733 posts)
2. They aren't liberals, they just play them on TV.
Mon Jan 25, 2016, 04:06 PM
Jan 2016

I think a lot of masks are slipping, as people among the power and wealth crowds start to worry that the 'infotainment' and 'red vs blue' mock battles aren't keeping the populace sedated any more, and that their own personal lackey positions might be threatened if they can't keep us fighting amongst ourselves, rather than against the gentry.

 

Trajan

(19,089 posts)
3. Here we go again with the confusing usage of the word 'Liberal'
Mon Jan 25, 2016, 04:07 PM
Jan 2016

I don't view Hillary or the DLC as Liberals .... AGAIN this author conflates the current meaning of the term ...

It is degrading to REAL Liberals to have them compared semantically to those persons in the Democratic Party who are doing their damnedest to overturn ANY "Liberal" policy they can find ....

Screw that ....

Cleita

(75,480 posts)
8. OP should have put the word in quotes to distinguish then from real liberals.
Mon Jan 25, 2016, 04:18 PM
Jan 2016

I do get his meaning though.

 

libdem4life

(13,877 posts)
16. It's true...I've been a Liberal for nearly 50 years. Then I was out of politics during the
Mon Jan 25, 2016, 06:09 PM
Jan 2016

child-rearing/PTA years. Somewhere in there Progressive came in, then Left Liberals, then True Liberals and now Liberals for HRC and crew ande the Third Way? OMG.

I thought the Third Way means Corporatists...those who are willing to join the Oligarchy. So it would be a useful thread to have a discussion on this very important point.

What defines a Liberal? When you were raised by John Birchers, one knows the difference. Today, not so much.

 

Warren Stupidity

(48,181 posts)
6. We've regrown a crop of entrenched establishment
Mon Jan 25, 2016, 04:17 PM
Jan 2016

liberals. We had us a crop of those in the 60s doing their best to sabotage the potential for serious reform. They're back.

GreatGazoo

(3,937 posts)
7. "First the media ignores Bernie Sanders, then the media mocks Bernie, now they fight you...
Mon Jan 25, 2016, 04:17 PM
Jan 2016

then Bernie wins" - Gandhi

Look like we made it to stage 3.

SoapBox

(18,791 posts)
9. The BOO! campaign continues.
Mon Jan 25, 2016, 04:19 PM
Jan 2016

From an article...

Elites usually treat social democracy with disdain, but when pressured by its broad and powerful appeal, they can reverse themselves and blur the differences between it and neoliberalism. That is part of the blurring strategy Clinton has adopted in response to Sanders’ unexpectedly strong campaign.


The Entrenched Establishment Elites.

Rosa Luxemburg

(28,627 posts)
19. If they are the establishment they are centrists
Mon Jan 25, 2016, 06:29 PM
Jan 2016

or people worried about their own congressional or governors seat.

Half-Century Man

(5,279 posts)
22. Most liberals are Democrats, not all Democrats ar liberal.
Mon Jan 25, 2016, 07:02 PM
Jan 2016

Calling corporate Democrats liberals; you could with greater accuracy, simply list them as primates.

Leaning liberal on specific issues doesn't make you a liberal.
Anyone who wields the word as an insult, lacks credibility in accurate identification of actual liberals.

Jack Rabbit

(45,984 posts)
23. The only kind of liberals these pundits are is neo.
Mon Jan 25, 2016, 07:12 PM
Jan 2016

A neoliberal is not a liberal, although a neoliberal may take a liberal stance on racial or gender equality. When it comes to what needs to be done to revitalize the middle class, to bring justice to Wall Street criminals or stop trying to use force in the Middle East to secure oil for ExxonMobil or Shell, they're on the wrong side and that will do more harm to this country than anything.

Lorien

(31,935 posts)
24. They aren't "liberals" in any sense of the word
Tue Jan 26, 2016, 02:06 PM
Jan 2016

They're corporate handpuppets and Reagan era Republicans.

ladyVet

(1,587 posts)
25. I'm a liberal, and I'm not terrified.
Tue Jan 26, 2016, 02:42 PM
Jan 2016

Maybe those turd way folks are shaking in their boots, but I'm doing the happy dance in my chair. Bern it down!

Mufaddal

(1,021 posts)
26. Yeah, the author is talking more about "liberals" in the sense of the classic Phil Ochs song
Tue Jan 26, 2016, 07:50 PM
Jan 2016

"Love Me, I'm a Liberal"

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