So, what exactly has Bernie done this Friday? It seems to depend who you are: if you're Bernie-or-Bust, the headline over your latest newspaper story or blog post probably says: Bernie's Revolution Continues! If you're really tired of waiting for Bernie to endorse Hillary, it seems it's much more likely that your headline is, in effect: Bernie Says He'll Vote For Hillary!
Bernie actually said both of those things this morning: he said his campaign and his "revolution" (*severe eyeroll*) are continuing, and he said once that he'll vote for Hillary, and then a little later that he'll probably vote for Hillary. But I'm seeing very few headlines which mention both the continuing campaign and the voting for Hillary, and point out that both together don't make sense. I've seen exactly one headline saying that Bernie had been revealed as a Wall-Street Shillery sell-out, but that was not from a diehard Bernie-or-Bust source, but from a news-parody website. Most of the headlines saying that he said he'll vote for Hillary leave out the "probably" part.
I was about to say, as I have been saying often in this blog, that fewer and fewer people are paying attention to what Bernie says, and thank goodness for that, but I just caught myself: I don't actually know for sure that fewer people care what Bernie says and does. I should have been saying: I hope fewer and fewer people are paying attention to him and his meshugganah campaign, but I don't know that that's true. Just like both the Bernie-or-Busters today exulting that The Revolution Continues! and the people more focused on the reality of Trump vs Hillary who have taken exactly the same material, the same two interviews today and said that their message is: Bernie Will Vote For Hillary! I have been indulging in wishful thinking when I was purporting to be reporting the news. Sorry about that, I'll try to do better.
So what exactly did Bernie do today? Two things which tend to cancel each other out: he said that he's voting for Hillary, and that his campaign continues. Where is Bernie going from here? Good question! Who knows?
Showing posts with label bernie says he'll vote clinton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bernie says he'll vote clinton. Show all posts
Friday, June 24, 2016
Bernie Almost Endorses Hillary
Bernie says he'll vote Clinton, doesn't suspend campaign.
Wow. Think of the clear and decisive leadership we could have had.
Well, that's sort of an endorsement, even though Bernie, who dropped the I'll-vote-for-her-grumble-grumble-bomb on "Morning Joe" this this morning, then walked it back to a "I'll-probably-vote-for-the-grumble-grumble" a matter of minutes later on "CBS This Morning," implying that if she took his positions on minimum wage, free college and universal health care, he might then also endorse the grumble-grumble for whom he will, probably, vote, dedicated, as he is, to doing everything humanly possible to defeating Donald Trump.
Well. So. It appears that Bernie is in the process of gradually grasping a math problem just about as simple as any math problem can be: either Hillary or Donald will be the next President. It will be this one, or that one, the most any other one can do is to screw things up for this one, or that one. Which leads us directly to the math problem of turnout and its role in deciding who the next President will be, as it decided the UK's vote on Brexit yesterday -- that problem, too, seems exceedingly plain and simple to me, as does Bernie's potential role in the turnout in November. But by now it has become completely obvious that I, along with millions of others, am on an entirely different plain of mathematical comprehension than the Bro-in-chief.
One of the things which has annoyed me most about Bernie's campaign is its success in selling the bullshit about him being way, way to the Left of Hillary. On minimum wage, on college costs and on health care, Bernie isn't all that far to the Left of Hillary. And Hillary has constantly been focused on what she thinks can be done, and not just on what she wants. Holding positions that will get tens of thousands of idiots to come out to a rally and scream undying loyalty to you is completely different than taking positions which you actually plan to get through a Congress voted in by tens of millions of Murrkins. Really making changes is completely different than just yelling about what you want changed. If you want to measure how much better Hillary's supporters understand this than Bernie's do, look at the number of each one's supporters who plan to vote for Trump if their candidate isn't nominated.
Hillary would love for the US to have a $15 minimum wage and free college and universal health care. But she looks at the Republicans who are going to get close to half of the votes in November, and has decided that, in spite of all of those Republican votes, $12.50 an hour, major reform of student loans and major expansions of Obamacare, not to mention major expansions of Social Security and Medicare, and 500 million solar panels in place and working by the end of 2020, are all do-able, and she has detailed plans for doing all of the above.
There's nothing wrong with being realistic. There's a direct connection between realism and actually accomplishing things.
You want an example of something that's not realistic, that's not reality-based? Continuing to run for President, and at the same time saying that you're going to vote for someone else for President. That's not realistic. Claiming you want to do everything possible to defeat the Republican Presidential candidate, and at the same time continuing to be a huge pain in the ass to the Democratic candidate, is not reality-based action. It's not clear and decisive.
And it shows why we're fortunate that Bernie is not the Democratic Presidential nominee and will never be President.
You go, Bernie. Say you will or won't vote this way or that. Endorse or don't endorse whoever you want. Fewer and fewer people care what you do or say.
Wow. Think of the clear and decisive leadership we could have had.
Well, that's sort of an endorsement, even though Bernie, who dropped the I'll-vote-for-her-grumble-grumble-bomb on "Morning Joe" this this morning, then walked it back to a "I'll-probably-vote-for-the-grumble-grumble" a matter of minutes later on "CBS This Morning," implying that if she took his positions on minimum wage, free college and universal health care, he might then also endorse the grumble-grumble for whom he will, probably, vote, dedicated, as he is, to doing everything humanly possible to defeating Donald Trump.
Well. So. It appears that Bernie is in the process of gradually grasping a math problem just about as simple as any math problem can be: either Hillary or Donald will be the next President. It will be this one, or that one, the most any other one can do is to screw things up for this one, or that one. Which leads us directly to the math problem of turnout and its role in deciding who the next President will be, as it decided the UK's vote on Brexit yesterday -- that problem, too, seems exceedingly plain and simple to me, as does Bernie's potential role in the turnout in November. But by now it has become completely obvious that I, along with millions of others, am on an entirely different plain of mathematical comprehension than the Bro-in-chief.
One of the things which has annoyed me most about Bernie's campaign is its success in selling the bullshit about him being way, way to the Left of Hillary. On minimum wage, on college costs and on health care, Bernie isn't all that far to the Left of Hillary. And Hillary has constantly been focused on what she thinks can be done, and not just on what she wants. Holding positions that will get tens of thousands of idiots to come out to a rally and scream undying loyalty to you is completely different than taking positions which you actually plan to get through a Congress voted in by tens of millions of Murrkins. Really making changes is completely different than just yelling about what you want changed. If you want to measure how much better Hillary's supporters understand this than Bernie's do, look at the number of each one's supporters who plan to vote for Trump if their candidate isn't nominated.
Hillary would love for the US to have a $15 minimum wage and free college and universal health care. But she looks at the Republicans who are going to get close to half of the votes in November, and has decided that, in spite of all of those Republican votes, $12.50 an hour, major reform of student loans and major expansions of Obamacare, not to mention major expansions of Social Security and Medicare, and 500 million solar panels in place and working by the end of 2020, are all do-able, and she has detailed plans for doing all of the above.
There's nothing wrong with being realistic. There's a direct connection between realism and actually accomplishing things.
You want an example of something that's not realistic, that's not reality-based? Continuing to run for President, and at the same time saying that you're going to vote for someone else for President. That's not realistic. Claiming you want to do everything possible to defeat the Republican Presidential candidate, and at the same time continuing to be a huge pain in the ass to the Democratic candidate, is not reality-based action. It's not clear and decisive.
And it shows why we're fortunate that Bernie is not the Democratic Presidential nominee and will never be President.
You go, Bernie. Say you will or won't vote this way or that. Endorse or don't endorse whoever you want. Fewer and fewer people care what you do or say.
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