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If the Democratic Party was truly an opposition party, they would sound more like Bernie Sanders – the independent Senator from Vermont. If this explanation of the class war – and I’m not ashamed to use the word since it is scandalously being waged against us by the rich – was on the chalkboards of Glenn Beck’s television program, then those searching for the answers to their anxieties would be well informed instead of being manipulated. If there was an independent media that played this clip over and over to the mass audience it is denied through consolidation as opposed to the foolish soundbites that corporate media for the corporate state regularly feast upon, then there would be real hope for real change.
If our political establishment fails us, as they likely will, in this crucial moment, historians may look back to Mr. Sanders’ speech as a that of a lone voice in the wilderness that is the halls of power…
Bernie’s the greatest, and very few Democratic Senators deserve to be in the same room as him. I’d name Al Franken, Sherrod Brown, and the tragically defeated Russ Feingold. Then, on a lower rung, with some reservations: Whitehouse, Boxer, Bennet, Leahy, Durbin, Wyden, maybe Merkley… from there it fades into might-as-well-be-Republicans.
I don’t know if Al Franken deserves to be in the camp. The Senate is at a loss, though, with the defeat of Feingold. That’s a damn shame.
Did Feingold lose? How sad. Not really! I only wish we had a better result in CA
I like him too. He’s also got a great article about the Fed right here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-bernie-sanders/a-real-jaw-dropper-at-the_b_791091.html
A democrat with some backbone … wish we had one in the whitehouse.
He’s not a Democrat. He’s an Independent 🙂
A Socialist actually! Who caucuses with the Democrats.
Wow, I had no idea. That’s interesting because his views on the Federal Reserve seem to be on par with Ron Paul. They are both against corporate welfare (or corporatism as Ron Paul would say). Good ideas often have nothing to do with political parties.
Technically he ran for Senator as an Independent. But for years he served as Vermont’s Congressman with Vermont’s Socialist Party. And he still refers to himself as a “Democratic Socialist” in the Scandinavian mold.
Yeah, Scandinavian countries seem like pretty nice countries to live in. Most European countries seem pretty nice to live in though. They tend to be more sustainable and have great education and health care institutions. They don’t have to spend 1/10th of what America spends on its military which helps them pay for all of those services. The downside is higher taxes but they definitely receive way more benefits to make up for that. They are also much thinner than Americans and tend to live longer healthier lives with more quality time with their families.
And they spend MUCH LESS on health care but get MUCH BETTER outcomes, because they all in one way or another leave out the for-profit insurers.
Most Americans just can’t seem to wrap their heads around that. We need single payer; until then we’re throwing more and more of our money down the tubes while living less healthy lives.
Yeah, Sanders is a “Democratic Socialist” or “Social Democrat.” It’s odd he doesn’t really get the “boogey man” treatment President Obama gets as the latter is nowhere near the Senator’s politics.
I’ve often wondered what the political dynamics of Vermont are that have allowed for this political anomaly to rise all the way to the Senate. I say he should mount a campaign for presidency in 2012.
I think in Europe they call their form of government a social democracy. I’d vote for Sanders. He’s smart, honest, and believes in what he says. He reminds me a lot of Ron Paul who I would also vote for. Ron Paul wants less military spending, the end of the war on drugs, and no corporate welfare or Federal Reserve. The modern GOP wants to deficit spend on things America can’t afford, escalate the war on drugs, give out as much corporate welfare as they possibly can and have the Federal Reserve computer add more zeros in the accounts it controls (they actually don’t print more money anymore, it’s all done by computer).
@ Gabriel
“I’ve often wondered what the political dynamics of Vermont are that have allowed for this political anomaly to rise all the way to the Senate.”
Maybe this will give you some insight into what makes the state of Vermont what it is. Should they do what they say they want to do in their manifesto, I may just pull up stakes here from the Orange Curtain and join them. And yes, I have donated money to this worthwhile, non-violent movement.
“Imagine….Free Vermont”
http://vermontrepublic.org/imagine-free-vermont
It all started with the Green Mountain Boys and Ethan Allan. Even during the Revolution they danced to their own drummer.
Actually there’s been a healthy “Progressive Party” there since I think the 80’s, although I know Bernie came from that and served several years in the Congress as a proud “Socialist.”
I’d LOVE to be able to vote for Bernie Sanders for president! If I had my druthers, though, I rather see Anthony Wiener run. Of course you realize I’m a dreamer…