Nixak*77* • 5 hours ago
See BAR's Margaret Kimberley's Piece: 'Bernie Sanders' Conservative Foreign Policy' [@ http://blackagendareport.com/fredom_rider_sanders_foreign_policy ]: } Bernie Sanders and his supporters claim he is different. Yet he “won’t state for the record how his foreign policy differs” from [Billary] Clinton's [& Obama's] and the Republicans. “He repeats the same discredited mantra" as Obama on the nuclear threat from Iran – a threat that even the CIA has declared never existed. Socialism? He won’t even say the word... {
Also see 'Foreign Policy, Sanders-Style: Backing Saudi Intervention' [@ http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/08/27/foreign-policy-sanders-style-backing-saudi-intervention/ ]: } Several writers have noted that Bernie Sanders has been scant in terms of his foreign policy. - But a thornier problem is that the little that he has articulated in terms of foreign policy — the foreign policy issue that he’s been most passionate about really — is extremely regressive and incredibly dangerous. That issue is the role of Saudi Arabia. Sanders has actually pushed for the repressive regime to engage in more intervention in the Mideast... {
It appears Bernie does NOT even hi-lite foreign policy issues, even on his own web-site. So just how serious of a POTUS candidate can he really be? Cause I've never heard of a 'serious' POTUS, without both a FOREIGN as well as domestic policy agenda!
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PS: It was NOT just 'Bro' Prof West that sold 'progressives' Obama 'Hope & Change' hype back in 2008. If I'm not mistaken Jeff Cohen also 'sold progressives plenty of Obama-laid' in 2008!
PS-2: Did Mr Cohen really say Bernie's foreign policy agenda & record is comparable to Rev Dr ML-King Jr's? Oh Really? So when has Bernie as US Senator &/or congressman, stood & declared on the record that the US is 'The Greatest Purveyor of Violence in the World Today' & that the US has 'Gone Mad on War', &/or that because the US spends more on its military "Than on Social Up-lift, It is in danger of 'Spiritual Death'??!!..."
Dr King also said these 3 'Triplets of Evil Must be Conquered': 1} Racism -2} Economic Exploitation / [excessive] Materialism -3} MILITARISM. Bernie's talks a lot about pnt 2, & after the BLM incidents he's starting to speak a bit about pnt 1- But to-date he's said almost ZIP about Pnt 3!!
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On Bernie as [white] 'Progressives' New 'White Hope'-
Submitted by Nixakliel on Wed, 08/26/2015 - 08:43
They've Bought Into & are Trying to Sell the HYPE!
IMO the fact that so many 'liberals & even so-called 'progressives' are so hyped-up on Bernie, shows just how pathetically empty, weak & lazy [& NOT just politically but even intellectually] so many 'progressives' have become! Bernie's getting so much hype at supposedly 'progressive' alternative web-sites [IE: TRNN, DN! & AlterNet] that GP Party candidate Jill Stein is barely even mentioned [let alone others even to the 'left' of her]. Over @ TRNN when Paul Street critiqued Bernie as 'No White Hope for Black People' in an interview w Bro Jared Ball, most TRNN commenters responded w knee-jerk criticisms or even out-right ridicule of Mr Street- for even daring to criticize 'St Bernie'!!! And let's be clear- Mr Street clearly stated that on domestic policy, Bernie's record & what he says is good- but re his foreign policy track record & re: the US Military Empire State, it's lacking [In fact he's NOT really even talking about those issues]. Typical response from the 'Go Bernie Go' crowd: 'That's the problem w guys like Street, there's NEVER going to be a candidate 'perfect' enough for him / them. Bernie's the most progressive candidate we've had in decades w a 'real' chance of winning'... [OH Really?]
Some so-called 'socialists' are even falsely claiming that Bernie's running as a 'socialist', when in fact he's obviously NOT. He's NOT even running as an independent. Bernie's running as a [corp] DIM, w a populist flavor! As such Bernie's obligated to endorse the Dim's POTUS nominee which will most likely be Billary / Killary Clinton- NOT Him-& he's already on record for that commitment! IMO this explains why Bernie won't critique Billary's & Obama's records, even re: issues which he articulates 'passionately'!
Another so-called 'progressive' Bernie fan claims his anti-war record is 2nd to none. But Paul Street, Chris Hedges & others [IE: BAR's own Sis Kimberley here] beg to differ w that. Sis Cynthia McKinney, Barbara Lee, Jill Stein, Dennis Kucinich, Ralph Nader, & even Ron Paul clearly have better anti-war / anti military-industrial- surveillance-security state / empire records &/or positions than Bernie's. And most of their records [except for Ron Paul] on domestic policy issues is just as progressive as Bernie's- if NOT even more so. And as Sis Kimberley states Bernie's NOT even mentioning foreign policy &/or US military empire issues, NOT even on his web-site! So how serious of a candidate can he really be? I've never heard of a 'serious' POTUS candidate who's Failed to articulate any position(s) on FOREIGN as well as domestic Policy!!! But based on what Sis Kimberley has outlined above there's NO real difference to speak of between Bernie's foreign policy positions & Killary's NOR OBomber's!!!
Thus- As BAR's own Bro Bruce Dixon says, we know what Bernie's real role is once he decided to run as a Dim- that as 'sheep-dog' to keep 'progressives' from straying from the Dim's corral. One would think that after 2 terms of being snookered by 'Slick Willy' & Drone-Bomba's 'False Hope & Change, You Can NOT Believe In', progressives would be wary of the 'Ole Okee Doke' again from someone who sounds 'progressive' while ducking certain key issues [IE: foreign policy & rolling-back the US Military Imperial State]- especially if he's running as a DIM [NOT a 'socialist'- DUHH]!
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Hedges vs West re Sanders' Candidacy...
Submitted by Nixakliel on Wed, 08/26/2015 - 22:18
I seriously doubt Chris Hedges will [publicly] endorse Bernie. Unlike 'Bro' West who NEVER said unequivocally he would NOT endorse Bernie [West just stated he thought 'Bro' Bernie was good on a lot of things, but had issues w his foreign policy record especially re Israel vs Gaza]- Chris Hedges has said definitively he can NOT support Bernie due to his position re the IDF assault on Gaza!
[Note: Noam Chomsky has also sorta endorsed Bernie, even though Chomsky's also a well known Critic of Israeli policy vs Palestinians, but Chomsky apparently is a long-time {'personal'} friend of Bernie's.]
PS: Nader & Stein have NOT 'faded' off the scene. In fact GP Party's Ms Stein is running for POTUS again! But many 'progressives' don't seem to know this, due in part to so much HYPE around Bernie. If Bernie looses, which he most likely will, he's already commited to endorsing whomever the Dims nominate- which will most likely be Billary / Killary!!! [IMO Dean but especially Edward, ain't worth mentioning- they were just 'left' enough of Billary & Lurch Bow-Tox Kerry, that they 'seemed' 'progressive'- but almost anyone except the most hard-core FOX Noise Repug would 'look' 'progressive' vis-a-vis Killary!]
PS-2: What ever you think of him, Ross Perot was RIGHT about NAFTA, & Slick Willy & Mr 'Green-Jeans' Gore were just [paid?] salesmen / pitchmen selling the public a lousy product call NAFTA!!! Yet some 'liberal' talking-head wrote a piece last yr [the 20th anniversary of NAFTA] on how [Mr 'Green-Jeans'] Gore 'WON' the NAFTA debate [on style over substance] vs Perot [Huhh WTF]!!! IMO this kinda of psuedo-intellectual BS-CRAP is just why the US' [& else-where] so-called [political] 'Left' is in such miserable shape that it's in!!!
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More Re "Bro' West's Endorsement of Bernie vs Hedges Position
Submitted by Nixakliel on Thu, 08/27/2015 - 06:38
There're some key differences between Chris Hedges' & ‘Bro’ Prof West's Track-Records on matters such as this- IE: If I’m NOT mistaken Hedges did NOT endorse Obama in 2008, & I know for sure he did NOT in 2012. Yet ‘Bro’ West enthusiastically endorsed Obama in 2008, & I think [if I’m correct] he ‘reluctantly’ did so again in 2012. My point- Just cause ‘Bro’ West now endorses Bernie, does NOT mean Hedges will, especially when Hedges is on record for saying he won’t!!!
Some Questions for ‘Bro’ West re His Sanders’ Endorsement:
1} Since Bernie is unlikely to win the Dim’s POTUS nomination, which most likely to go to Billary / Killary Clinton, & then Bernie endorses her [as he’s obligated to do],-will you ‘Bro’ West follow Bernie’s lead & also endorse Billary??
2} I can see what Bernie gets from your [key] endorsement [see below], but what do you hope to get from it? Did he get your endorsement ‘on the cheap’ [so to speak], & do you plan to do some key campaign events w &/or for him??
IMO you should have insisted he made you his Running-Mate w the up-front understanding that you would continue to publicly articulate the very same issues you’ve been publicly articulating, & w the agreement that you’d do so w his full support [& also w the understanding you would NOT be obligated to endorse Billary, if Bernie’s {& your} run fell short]!
What Bernie gains from ‘Bro’ West’s endorsement: As a hi-profile Black intellectual & activist, ‘Bro’ West can ‘sell’ Bernie as the ‘New White Hope’ to Black folks [IE: helps Bernie deal w his ‘Black Problem’]. And Consider the Timing- Within the last month or so, Bernie’s been blind-sided twice by BLM activists at fairly hi-profile events. The first time Bernie did NOT handle it w a lot of ‘finesse’ & the 2nd time he did just marginally better. But ‘Bro’ West has a lot of currency w the BLM ‘movement’, so he can run ‘interference’ for Bernie as his surrogate vis-a-vis Black [& Brown] Folks.
Back to Point-1: When Bernie ends-up bowing-out & then endorsing Billary [which most likely will happen], what ‘bro’ West will you do then? Will you follow suit? If ‘Bro’ West ends up endorsing Billary / Killary based on his endorsement of Bernie, IMO he’ll loose a lot of credibility!!! IMO Already w his endorsement of Bernie ‘Bro’ West’s got some questioning ‘What’s Up w That?’ IMO ‘Bro’ West must know about GP candidate Jill Stein, & as a comrade of Carl Dix he also knows about other socialist(s) &/or independent party candidates as well. -But- The one thing that both Obama’s & Sanders’ candidacy have in common- They both ran / are running as {pseudo}’Progressive’ sounding DIMS!!!
‘Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice & the shame is on me!’
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The Imperial Sham that is Bernie Sanders
Submitted by Orwellian Ghost on Thu, 08/27/2015 - 15:53
Let's not forget that Bernie supported and supports the US aggression in the Ukraine where Obama was lending material support to outright fascists (not rhetorically these are real live Nazis).
Well let's see so this latest Great Hope lends his support to fascists and openly speaks out against China and supports Israel and supports the US Military and supports any number of US interventions but hey he's trending with the liberal hipster class of fashionable know-nothings so it's all good.
Here is Bernie Sanders:
"We need a strong military, it is a dangerous world. But I think we can make judicious cuts.”
- University of Iowa 2-19-15
"ISIS clearly is a brutal, dangerous organization, we all agree that it has got to be defeated."
- Bernie Sanders
On authorization for Obama to go to war with ISIS:
"I support, have and do, support the President using airstrikes, he has the right to do it, I think that they are working. I support that."
Sound familiar?
So that's what people support when they support Sanders. Continued hyper-militarism in The Homeland.
Even in his auditing pledge he equivocates in that he says "the first thing I would maybe do..."
DESPITE HIS own claims, Sanders has not been an antiwar leader. Ever since he won election to the House, he has taken either equivocal positions on U.S. wars or outright supported them.
His hawkish positions--especially his decision to support Bill Clinton's 1999 Kosovo War--drove one of his key advisers, Jeremy Brecher, to resign from his staff. Brecher wrote in his resignation letter, "Is there a moral limit to the military violence you are willing to participate in or support?"
So outraged were peace activists over Sanders' support of the Kosovo War
that they occupied his office in 1999. Sanders had them arrested.
Under the Bush regime, Sanders' militarism has only grown worse. While he called for alternative approaches to the war on Afghanistan, he failed to join the sole Democrat, Barbara Lee, to vote against Congress' resolution that gave George Bush a blank check to launch war on any country he deemed connected to the September 11 attacks.
Ever since, he has voted for appropriations bills to fund the occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, despite their horrific toll on the occupied peoples as well as U.S. soldiers.
Even more shocking, Sanders scuttled any action on a wave of Bush impeachment resolutions that swept Vermont towns in 2006. Like House Majority Leader-to-be Nancy Pelosi, who has promised not to impeach Bush, Sanders argued that impeachment was impractical, and that activists should put energy into electing Democrats.
Interviewer: “You mentioned wasteful military spending. The other day ... I’m sure you’ve heard about the F-35 catching fire on the runway. The estimated lifetime expense of the F-35 is $1.2 trillion. When you talk about cutting wasteful military spending, does that include the F-35 program?”
Bernie Sanders: “No, and I’ll tell you why – it is essentially built. It is the airplane of the United States Air Force, Navy, and of NATO. It was a very controversial issue in Vermont. And my view was that given the fact that the F-35, which, by the way, has been incredibly wasteful, that’s a good question. But for better or worse, that is the plane of record right now, and it is not gonna be discarded. That’s the reality.”
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