END TO END BERNERS: The Official Bernie Sanders 2020 Crew thread

simplify, reduce, oversimplify, boil it down to numbers and ignore the distinct possibility that georgia's elections do not necessarily meet a standard under which they could be called free or fair

voting a Dem for prez instead of DJT will improve odds of having free and fair elections in Georgia in the future

yeah i think i should probably take a break from here, i feel like everything i say gets treated like i'm asking for help with a particularly difficult math problem

i'm just saying

That's also not necessarily true. Voting for a bad Democrat for President - one who doesn't take necessary steps to secure elections in meaningful ways (ie not giving a shit about RUSSIA) could make free and fair elections in Georgia less likely.

Even in the short term, establishment Democrats, as evidenced by voting issues in California and New York over the last four years, are no guarantors of free elections.

I’ve never heard a Democrat defend the actions of Gov. Kemp

One possible good side effect of Biden having almost no agenda (aside from magnanimously offering to be Trump's slayer and coincidentally becoming POTUS) is that he would perforce adopt his domestic agenda from Congressional Democrats, most of whom are bursting with impatience to accomplish their own legislative goals. I think he'd sign whatever Congressional Democrats could pass. Where he'd assert himself is in foreign policy, not domestic policy. I think that's where progressives would be least happy with a Biden presidency.

i'll readily admit that if i lived in a blue state where Democrats have entrenched power i'd most likely be a lot more frustrated with Dems, but my state is under the boot of the GOP so they are the target of my ire

Still utterly bizarre that "Biden has no agenda/ideology/principles" has taken such strong root, like even Democrats have internalized every flip-flopper argument the GOP made from 1995-2008 and reforged it into a defense.

Joe Biden has an agenda and an ideology, one he actively pursued for almost four decades in the Senate.

(and, of course, there's no evidence that Pelosi or Schumer have any interest in passing anything good)

How would you describe the items on Joe Biden's agenda?

The same way Joe has described himself - a 'third way' Democrat, a neoliberal.

That's an ideology. I know he has an ideology. What about the items on his agenda?

Foreign policy hawkishness, financial deregulation, drug warrior, crime bill, welfare reform - the agenda he's had for fifty years in politics - the expression of that ideology you agree he has.

Even if we accept the fiction that Biden is a political tabula rasa, the defense that he can be a Presidential non-entity just signing whatever is politically ridiculous on its face. The President is required to set and promote an agenda.

i'll readily admit that if i lived in a blue state where Democrats have entrenched power i'd most likely be a lot more frustrated with Dems, but my state is under the boot of the GOP so they are the target of my ire

― crüt, Saturday, April 11, 2020

Florida here, blowing kisses at you.

Thanks for clarifying, milo. It's easier now for me to more fully interpret the thinking behind what you were saying.

The idea that we treat health care as an employee benefit is totally absurd.

As millions are losing their jobs, my bill with @RepJayapal says: We will take a burden off your shoulders. In this crisis, you will get all the health care you need for free. https://t.co/jTmzx60DLm

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 11, 2020

We are not endorsing @JoeBiden.

— DSA 🌹 (@DemSocialists) April 12, 2020

excellent responses here

Good on them.

This is just terrible, can't wait to re-open America and kill more people.

As we prepare to reopen America, we have to remember what this crisis has taught us: The administration’s failure to plan, to prepare, to honestly assess and communicate the threat to the nation led to catastrophic results. We cannot repeat those mistakes. https://t.co/SkfH3U792L

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 12, 2020

Where does Biden (or, rather, his ghost writers) mention when the United States will reopen? It's a harmless article with the usual platitudes, like:

If I were president, I would convene top experts from the private sector, industry by industry, to come up with new ideas on how to operate more safely. Perhaps offices and factories will need to space out workers and pursue other solutions to lessen risk of spread of the virus on the job. Restaurants may need new layouts, with diners farther apart.

That isn't harmless, a restaurant has kitchens too, are you going to re-model those?...and again what if that restaurant isn't able to have enough customers per day to make enough of a profit, does it go under?

Why not just cover it's costs and make sure that it can re-open when a vaccine is found. It sounds easier to me.

It's not so much a matter of what's there, it's a matter of what's not. Faced with a sea of despair, misery, suffering, the literal response of Joe Biden or his ghost-writers is to say "let's rearrange the furniture".

Joe, what vessel do you think we're traveling on?

clue: deck chairs

yeah, that was what i was sort of going for, sorry if i was too oblique about it!

The Titanic is passé. We're all on a Carnival cruise ship!

there's a biden-bernie livestream going on right now. biden just said he'll need bernie's help not just winning the election but governing. now he's talking about how we need to raise the min wage to $15 and help workers during the coronavirus time.

joe just said "we can't just build back to the way things were before we need to build to a better future"

and now he's asking bernie for more advice for how to make the economy work for more people

hard to imagine this message lasts the entire campaign in every venue but biden is sounding a lot like bernie atm

Biden making a stump speech in front of a friendly crowd at a state fair would sound a good bit different from Biden online doing a livestream sit down with Bernie. Different audiences, different messages. This tete a' tete does not mean Biden will morph into Bernie, but it is evidence he's been briefed and he is taking it in. He's making an effort to include Bernie's voters as an important part of the mix, and he knows he'll have to adopt parts of Bernie's agenda to win them over.

yea this is the first time I've actually felt a small glimmer of hope about a Biden administration

he knows he'll have to adopt give lip service to parts of Bernie's agenda to win them over

I mean yes, to "win them over" in terms of getting votes, but obviously if you think a President Joe Biden would ever "adopt parts of Bernie's agenda" I hava a Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act to sell you

With the utmost respect for Bernie Sanders, who is an incredible human being & a genuine inspiration, I don't endorse Joe Biden.

I supported Bernie Sanders because he backed ideas like #MedicareForAll, cancelling ALL student debt, & a wealth tax. Biden supports none of those.

— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) April 13, 2020

Not like Biden ever could adopt any such policies if you're to believe the "President has no real power under a Republican congress" take that gets deployed on cue to denigrate that agenda as delusionally unrealistic/radical whenever bad faith discussion of "HoW iS hE gOnNa PaSs AnY oF tHiS??" comes up ;)

so that's two prez elections Gray will sit out, eh?

Well done her.

That kind of messianism does have a childish ruthlessness which works beautifully on social media, for sure.

The Titanic is passé. We're all on a Carnival cruise ship!

Lucky we're not on a Princess ship

where does she live?

Gray's reasoning is ruthless, yes, and also soberly clear. She is not following Bernie which you'd think she would -- if as many people think of Bernie as a messianic sort.

If she'd kept it to herself, well and good. But of course she wants to make her decision public, thus signaling to millions of other minorities that it's okay to sit out this election. She's signaling it's okay to doom themselves. As a POC, I find this disheartening and gross.

For Briahna Joy Gray:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iALyrLFJjlE

This, however, is good news: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/12/politics/virginia-election-day-holiday-early-voting/index.html

If she'd kept it to herself, well and good. But of course she wants to make her decision public, thus signaling to millions of other minorities that it's okay to sit out this election. She's signaling it's okay to doom themselves. As a POC, I find this disheartening and gross.

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn),Monday, April 13, 2020 1:54 PM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

fair enough, but also: fairly certain no one outside of the twitter wonkaverse/current affairs readership even knows who she is or will ever hear her opinion

I thought Sanders supporters on social media would also follow his campaign secretary on Twitter?

thus signaling to millions of other minorities that it's okay to sit out this election.

What were you saying like two days ago about depriving voters of agency when you talk about the effect of leaders and endorsements?

yeah what

anyway, if she’s not in a swing state good for her.

and if she is, welp that her business.