Krugman: Sanders over the edge
Bernie is starting to sound like a Bernie Bro, says Paul Krugman.
And then there was Wednesday’s rant about how Mrs. Clinton is not “qualified” to be president.
What probably set that off was a recent interview of Mr. Sanders by The Daily News, in which he repeatedly seemed unable to respond when pressed to go beyond his usual slogans. Mrs. Clinton, asked about that interview, was careful in her choice of words, suggesting that “he hadn’t done his homework.”
But Mr. Sanders wasn’t careful at all, declaring that what he considers Mrs. Clinton’s past sins, including her support for trade agreements and her vote to authorize the Iraq war — for which she has apologized — make her totally unfit for office.
This is really bad, on two levels. Holding people accountable for their past is O.K., but imposing a standard of purity, in which any compromise or misstep makes you the moral equivalent of the bad guys, isn’t. Abraham Lincoln didn’t meet that standard; neither did F.D.R. Nor, for that matter, has Bernie Sanders (think guns).
Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2016 Liberaland
10 responses to Krugman: Sanders over the edge
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Obewon April 8th, 2016 at 09:25
Paul Krugman Nobel Laureate in economics proves why HRC leads her rival +11 in key primary states of NY (April 19), CA, NJ, etc (June 9). Most Dem voters don’t want to get Berned by a guy who wrote 1 bill signed into law, plus renaming one Vermont post office. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/2008/krugman-facts.html & http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/paul-krugman-wins-economics-nobel/
mistlesuede April 8th, 2016 at 10:16
According to Sanders ways of determination on qualifications, no one in modern political life is qualified for anything, except him. Not even our highly intelligent and qualified President Obama.
In other news, Sanders is going to be nominated for sainthood in a week.
mea_mark April 8th, 2016 at 10:19
And Krugman is starting to sound like a Hillarybot … politics 2016.
Jill Stein in the Green Party sure is looking good.
jybarz April 8th, 2016 at 11:24
SO GLAD this thread came up because it made me do a quick research on Sanders and found his EXCELLENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS all the way from as MAYOR of Burlington, Vermont, as US REPRESENTATIVE and as US SENATOR.
His contributions were SIGNIFICANT, VERY PROGRESSIVE and VAST that have VERY POSITIVE IMPACT benefiting people and country.
From the article in link at the bottom, here are few excerpts (please make sure you go to the link and read the article because it is an eye opener and you can’t help but admire Bernie more):
——————–
BIG MISTAKE TO UNDERESTIMATE AND BELITTLE BERNIE
“I’m a progressive, but I’m a progressive who likes to get things done,” Hillary Clinton said at the first Democratic debate, in response to a question from moderator Anderson Cooper about whether she defines herself as a moderate or a progressive.
The implication was that progressive Bernie Sanders is too far to the left to accomplish anything—all of his ideas are pie-in-the-sky. You have to be able to find the bipartisan, “warm, purple space” as Clinton said earlier this year, to get anything done. Slate’s Jamelle Bouie was super-impressed by this rationale, saying Clinton has “skilled use of bureaucratic power.”
The problem with this narrative is that it is COMPLETELY FALSE. Not only has SANDERS GOTTEN A LOT MORE THINGS DONE THAN CLINTON DID in her own short legislative career, he’s actually one of the most effective members of Congress, passing bills, both big and small, that have reshaped American policy on key issues like poverty, the environment and health care.
——————–
BERNIE the “Amendment King”
Amendments in the House of Representatives are often seen as secondary vehicles to legislation that individual members sponsor, but they are an important way to move resources and build bipartisan coalitions to change the direction of the law. Despite the fact that the most right-wing Republicans in a generation controlled the House of Representatives between 1994 and 2006, the member who passed the most amendments during that time was not a right-winger like Bob Barr or John Boehner. The amendment king was, instead, Bernie Sanders.
—————–
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
When the Affordable Care Act was in danger of not having the votes to pass, Sanders used his leverage to win enough funding for free health treatment for 10 million Americans through Community Health Centers. This gutsy move—holding out until the funds were put into the bill—has even Republican members of Congress requesting the funds, which have helped millions of Americans who otherwise would not have access.
——————
His Theory of Change, From Burlington to the White House
The big question is, can Sanders translate his time as an effective senator into an effective president? After all, a legislative job is different than an executive job.
But Sanders has a theory of change, in order to be an executive who can pass progressive policy even in the face of a recalcitrant Congress. He frequently talks about a “POLITICAL REVOLUTION” that means vastly increasing voter turnout and participation in political activities so conservative lawmakers and Big Money are unable to overwhelm public opinion.
When Sanders was mayor of Burlington, Vermont, one of his big accomplishments was to increase civic life in the city. During the course of his terms, voter turnout doubled. In his eight years as mayor, he rejuvenated a city that was considered by many to be dying, laying out progressive policies that cities around the country later adopted, and he did all this without particularly alienating Republicans. As one former GOP Alderman noted, he implemented ideas from the Republican party that he felt were not particularly harmful to working people, such as more efficient accounting practices.
———————-
http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/bernie-gets-it-done-sanders-record-pushing-through-major-reforms-will-surprise-you
mea_mark April 8th, 2016 at 12:11
Careful now, too many facts will upset the narrative and paradigm that the Hillary supporters are living in.
jybarz April 8th, 2016 at 13:03
I know and I’m worried they’ll get nightmares.
I don’t know what more to do to convince people that Bernie is the right candidate… almost, if not 100%, perfect.
mea_mark April 8th, 2016 at 13:39
They are going to have to convince themselves. Too many people have attached their ego to the establishment democratic party and Hillary and are not seeing everything clearly, because they don’t want to.
jybarz April 8th, 2016 at 11:35
Here’s proof of Bernie’s legislative accomplishments:
https://www.congress.gov/member/bernard-sanders/S000033?page=2
jybarz April 8th, 2016 at 11:43
More?
https://pplswar.wordpress.com/2015/10/21/fact-bernie-sanders-got-more-done-in-the-senate-than-hillary-clinton/
robert April 8th, 2016 at 17:00
What probably set that off was a recent interview of Mr. Sanders by The
Daily News, in which he repeatedly seemed unable to respond when pressed
to go beyond his usual slogans.
———————————–
i guess trump can promise a mexican border wall every week and the daily news has no problems figuring out who’s actually going to pay for it