Wil Wheaton: I’m feeling the Bern, in part because I just don’t believe Secretary Clinton.

[Lorien]

Last edited Fri Mar 4, 2016, 10:43 PM - Edit history (1)

(snip)

And I saw an article yesterday that summed up my fundamental problem with Hillary Clinton. Paraphrasing, the thesis was that she lacks political courage, and won’t take a stand on something unless is politically safe for her. From marriage equality to the war in Iraq to ensuring that the poorest Americans have opportunities to have a better life, she has never supported a law or policy that was politically risky or would threaten her chances to advance her political career. Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, has taken principled and politically risky stances, not because they would advance his career, but because that’s what he believed in. As it turns out, his values and my values match up very well, and that’s why I can enthusiastically and passionately support him:

Hillary’s Iraq Vote Lacked Courage, Not Judgment

The decision to go to war in Iraq was a major failure of judgment by the Bush administration and the people who implemented the war. But the Democrats in the House and Senate who had to choose how to vote were not really facing a test of judgment. They were facing a test of political courage. And pretty much every single one of them who had presidential ambitions failed it miserably, including Senator Hillary Clinton.

(snip)

More: http://wilwheaton.net/2016/01/im-feeling-the-bern-in-part-because-i-just-dont-believe-secretary-clinton/

[Ilsa]

1. Kick. nt

[zentrum]

2. It's been reported

….that HRC was so indifferent to what her decision to go into Iraq would really mean for Iraq, American soldiers, and the unanticipated results we see tragically every day—that she would not even read the complete Presidential briefing that Congress was given. Had she read the entire report, she would have seen how unlikely it was that Saddam had WMD.

Apparently the senators that read the entire thing—did not support the war. But she didn't care. She saw only how it would advance she herself in readiness for the election of 08.

How could you not lose sleep and study every bit of information you could over a war vote? How?

In fact, she made a speech that went even a step further than Bush—directly linking Saddam to Al Qaida —which was absolutely untrue. She was hot for war.

[Cassiopeia]

7. yep

It was a lot more than just a vote, she gave an impassioned speech pushing for it.

[Hydra]

8. It was a calculated move

And we see the quid pro quo today. The Clintons have been adopted into the 1% and into the Bush Family.

I'm sure it's because the Bush family is so generous, and has nothing to do with previous and future support.

[Raster]

13. HILLARY CLINTON KNEW IRAQ DID NOT HAVE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.

She didn't need to study. She did not need a briefing.

SHE ALREADY KNEW: (1) That Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction; (2) Iraq had NO CONNECTION TO AL QAIDA; and (3) Iraq had NOTHING TO DO WITH 9/11.

How did she know: Hillary Clinton has been essentially running for POTUS since at least the early 1990's. She has been the most hand's on and involved First Lady this country has ever seen. She was privy to just about everything Bill was privy to, including the in-depth CIA briefings that ex-POTUS are entitled to, and I GUARANTEE YOU, she made sure Bill got those briefings so she would have access to all that information.

NO, Hillary Clinton's vote to illegally invade Iraq and involve this country into Bush*'s Middle East folly was a calculated effort to yield the best political return for Hillary Clinton...NOT THE UNITED STATES, but for Hillary Clinton.

[stupidicus]

16. that's exactly right

That's why I've long thought and argued that she's a tad different than the others that voted for it, and that Bush wouldn't have sold his lies so easily to those that bought them if not for all the BS coming from Clinton before him

[zentrum]

17. Damn Right.

Made no difference—she already knew.

Wish Bernie would take off the gloves and really spell out more vividly how her vote and advocacy of this war has hurt the country. Not just soldiers and families of soldiers, but the entire economy for all of us who aren't war profiteers. He needs to paint the picture really clearly —it's connection to why we can't "afford" national healthcare, free public education, infrastructure jobs.

Be sure to see Michael Moore's "Where To Invade Next". People walk up the aisles staggering, afterwards.

[TexasBushwhacker]

18. FWIW, she was a senator from NY

Chuck Schumer voted for it as well. I'm not sure their constituency would have accepted a No vote.

I voted for Bernie in the primary.

[Raster]

21. That's where COURAGE of conviction comes in. Imagine if Hillary had said...

..."from everything I have seen, this is not what we should be doing."

She probably would have been elected in 2008. Instead, she, like so many others, followed Cheney*, Bush* and the NeoCon circus into madness.

HOWEVER, THERE ARE MAJOR DIFFERENCES between Hillary and the rest of the crowd: (1) Hillary is a Brilliant woman, with a superb head on her shoulders, and had access to restricted data that few persons had. She was an ultimate insider... I do not believe for one minute that Hillary thought that Iraq had WMD. NOT FOR ONE FUCKING MINUTE. She knowingly and willingly chose to vote for the Iraq War because of political gain. She was willing to sentence innocent men, women and children to death because she thought it would look good on her resume.

[JDPriestly]

25. Sorry, but I don't think Hillary is all that brilliant.

She has been wrong on so many things, even simple things like gay marriage.

She got good grades in school. She may even have received top grades in law school. Those accomplishments do not mean that she is brilliant. Not at all. They mean she was a good student.

Bill Gates is brilliant.

Einstein was brilliant.

Werner von Braun was brilliant.

Ghandi was brilliant.

The list of brilliant people is very long.

Hillary isn't on it, not by a long shot.

What has she done or said that demonstrated that she was any more intelligent than any other political hack?

[A Simple Game]

22. Not sure their constituency would have accepted a no vote? Why not, I knew there were no

WMD's in Iraq as did most of my fellow New Yorkers, much of this Country, and most of the world.

Unless by their constituency you mean Israel which is Schumer's true constituency.

[silvershadow]

24. And *that's where character and convictions come into it.

I knew what the game was, sitting in my recliner watching it on tv. She had to have known. Bernie did. And we saw him on the tv in Congress, telling us almost daily what was going on and why he was voting the way he was.

The correct thing is to vote every single time the correct way, regardless of whether or not it would get you thrown out of office. A person who only thinks about the next election is a rather selfish person to me.

[Raster]

30. Speaking of selfish people on thing about the next election...

...why do you think Hillary ran for a cushy Senate seat from New York? Was it to benefit the citizens of The Empire State? Oh hell no! It was just another election stop in her quest to be the first female POTUS.

EVERYTHING HILLARY CLINTON DOES IS CALCULATED TO ACHIEVE THE BEST RESULT THAT BENEFITS HILLARY CLINTON!

There is no altruism, there is no "public service." There is only self-aggrandizing and the quest for power.

[silvershadow]

31. She had to carpet-bag: There's no way she could go back to Arkansas and win.

They were done with them by then, at least enough she'd never have won. nt

[Raster]

33. You are so correct. Back to Arkansas would mean Hilary being just another housewife...

[A Simple Game]

35. I think the separation between the Clintons and Arkansas was by mutual agreement.

As a lifetime New York resident I have always called Hillary a carpetbagger. If you can't be truthful about your politicians you get the politicians you deserve. If Hillary somehow makes it to the Presidency many of her supporters will find that out the hard way. Sadly they will take those of us that realize the truth about Hillary along with them.

[zentrum]

29. Schumer is a super-NeoCon, with

….. huge Wall Street backing but there are and were tremendous liberal forces in NY too. I live there and the demonstrations in the street were huge, on-going and never reported.

But, that's her "political calculation"—she wanted to be on the 9/11 jingo bandwagon and the number of dead and maimed be damned. There is a strong case she could have made with the bully pulpit of a Senator about all the evidence there was against invading and been just fine. Even the Senatorship was just a stepping stone for her in her resume as she marched back to the WH.

Thanks so much for your primary vote. Can't wait to cast mine.

[rhett o rick]

23. And her fans love her for it. They like her toughness. Sadly the 99% suffer from that "toughness",

but her fans don't care. They won't even discuss how she will turn things around. They simply don't care. It's all about worshiping the American Aristocracy.

[roguevalley]

3. some people only feel alive when others suffer. She also is a great

friend of Kissinger and vacays with him so no one should be surprised that this is stuff that Kissinger practiced for decades. I love will wheaton and always have.

[Bubzer]

4. That's a real good endorsement! He's got quite the following!

[basselope]

5. WHEAAATOOOOON!!!!!!

[progressoid]

6. ...

[Babel_17]

9. Wheaton is pretty sharp

I used to read his recaps of ST:TNG episodes, and they were funny and insightful. He had a clever role in The Guild, the web series starring Felicia Day, and his wit and intelligence showed throughout. Basically the same character he plays in The Big Bang Theory (himself) lol.

http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2006/12/the_2006_best_o.html

http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2007/01/encounter_at_fa.html

The recaps are mostly gone from internet, but I see now that he compiled them.

http://www.amazon.com/Memories-Future-Vol-Wil-Wheaton/dp/0974116041

Amazon lets you preview the Kindle version.

[Paulie]

32. He's currently in Dark Matter

Season 1 is on Netflix and they ar filming season 2 now.

[Babel_17]

36. Cool, I have Netflix so I'll check it out

Thanks for the heads-up.

[Paulie]

37. It's a great show.

Though probably won't be able to see the next season until this time next year since we only stream in our house.

[PeaceNikki]

10. It's spelled "Wil", FYI

[SoapBox]

11. Thank you Wil!

[kristopher]

12. K&R

[Enthusiast]

14. Kicked and recommended to the Max!

[Duval]

15. Kicked and recommended. nt

[TIME TO PANIC]

19. K & R!

[dreamnightwind]

20. Great, +1 re disbelief, but lack of courage is IMHO too kind

I think she's quite courageous, never bought the weathervane meme either. It's just an appearance of lack of courage or a weatthervane, because what she has to present to the people to get their votes is not what she truly represents, which is global corporatism.

The global corporations were onboard and fully behind the war on Iraq, it was no accident and the people supporting it were not deceived by Bush.

More of the same if she is elected. See Libya and Syria for previews of what we can look forward to, and the people in latin america aren't safe either.

[haikugal]

26. K&R!! He always struck me as a bright kid!!

K&R!!

[Lorien]

27. 43 years old now. Time does fly! nt

[haikugal]

28. Yeah...you had to remind me...he and my son are about the same age.

[me b zola]

34. Me too, Will

And I do seek out your talking orbs in ToEE