Carl,
I suspect that that was Frank's way of telling us that he supports Joe Biden
and that he thinks it's unfair that poor Joe is being accused of touching women
without their permission. And I wonder why you like Elizabeth better than
Bernie when she is much more a supporter of Capitalism and of Israeli policies
than he is.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2019 3:13 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Bernie Sanders Removes the Gloves
I'm going to believe that Frank spoke with tongue in cheek.
While I would vote for Bernie again, and while I think he has a good chance at
pulling off top spot this time around, and while I actually like Elizabeth
Warren a bit better than Bernie, my problem is actually focused on the
Democratic Party. In fact, my bottom line problem is with the exclusion by
both major political parties of a widening number of Other Political Parties.
Since both Democrat and Republican parties have been taken over by the American
Oligarchy, excluding most of those who are not White, over 21, Land Holders or
of great wealth, supporting any of Their candidates seems to be a Fool's
Mission.
We are all under the control of the MC Party. MC stands for, Militaristic
Capitalism. It's a tongue twister of a label, but that pretty much lays it out.
Capitalism or Militarism are neither one compatible with democracy.
Neither one allows for Free Enterprise. Neither one tolerates Free Speech, nor
free press. Both rule from the top down.
While most religious institutions are structured with the same top down rule,
they cannot coexist with the MC, either.
Capitalism and Militarism cannot exist without one another, they are in
constant battle for dominance. So long as they maintain a balance of power
they are nearly invincible. But eventually one or the other gains the upper
hand and the system falls.
Carl Jarvis
On 4/17/19, Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
You can tell Bernie has no chance of getting the nomination because
folks haven't even bothered to accuse him of sexual misconduct.
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2019 3:12 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Bernie Sanders Removes the Gloves
Bernie Sanders Removes the Gloves
Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.,
speaks at a rally in Warren, Mich., this month. (Paul Sancya / AP)
On Saturday, the Center for American Progress (CAP), one of the
country's leading liberal think tanks, received a letter from the
current favorite for the Democratic nomination in 2020. "Dear members
of the Board," it began. "I write to express my deep concern and
disappointment with the role that the Center for American Progress and
its affiliated Action Fund arm are playing in the critical mission to defeat
Donald Trump."
The letter's author was none other than Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.,
who blistered CAP's affiliate site ThinkProgress for a recent op-ed
that disparaged his physical appearance, as well as a separate video
that suggested that his calls for economic redistribution were
fundamentally hypocritical-this because his book royalties have made him a
millionaire.
Sanders also took aim at the organization's president, Neera Tanden,
for preaching solidarity while "belittling progressive ideas," openly
speculating that "corporate money . is inordinately and
inappropriately influencing the role [CAP] is playing in the progressive
movement."
Sanders' letter was likely years in the writing. As the New York Times'
Kenneth P. Vogel and Sydney Ember observe:
"
Mr. Sanders's criticism of the Center for American Progress, delivered
on Saturday in a letter obtained by The New York Times, reflects a
simmering ideological battle within the Democratic Party and threatens
to reopen wounds from the 2016 primary between him and Hillary
Clinton's allies. The letter airs criticisms shared among his
supporters: that the think tank, which has close ties to Mrs. Clinton
and the Democratic Party establishment, is beholden to corporate
donors and has worked to quash a leftward shift in the party led partly by
Mr. Sanders.
CAP has been an inextricable part of Democratic politics since Hillary
Clinton's future campaign chairman, John Podesta, founded the
organization in 2003. As the Times' Vogel and Ember reveal, the think
tank helped draft policy proposals that Barack Obama would ultimately
use for his 2008 campaign, and later served as a feeder of sorts for
his administration. The think tank was expected to serve the same
function for Clinton had she prevailed in the 2016 election; Podesta
and Tanden were among her top choices for White House chief of staff.
Last year, CAP partnered with the American Enterprise Institute on a
project titled "Defending Democracy and Underwriting the Transatlantic
Project,"
ostensibly to study how we can preserve free and open societies amid a
rising tide of authoritarianism. In the process, the think tank
donated
$200,000 to an organization whose most prominent members include
neoconservative Bill Kristol and racial eugenicist Charles Murray,
leading some in progressive circles to wonder "why is the Center for
American Progress betraying the left?"
In a 2013 investigation for The Nation, Ken Silverstein revealed that
CAP has accepted contributions from the likes of Goldman Sachs, Wells
Fargo, Coca-Cola, Citigroup, BlueCross BlueShield and weapons
manufacturer Northrop Grumman, not to mention hundreds of thousands of
dollars from the United Arab Emirates-among the world's most brutal
and oppressive regimes. Tanden, who regularly rails against Russian
President Vladimir Putin as a "proto-fascist," has herself come under
criticism online for cozying up to such strongmen as Israel's Benjamin
Netanyahu and India's Narendra Modi.
ThinkProgress claims to enjoy editorial independence from CAP, and
Editor-in-Chief Jodi Enda asserted as much in a statement to the
Times, insisting that the group and its action funds "had nothing to
do with the article or video about Senator Sanders or articles related
to any other political leader." She also added that the site "will not
take sides in the Democratic primary." Tanden, for her part, has
called the matter "unfortunate," claiming that "we share the goal of
unity." Still, it's not difficult to imagine the think tank has a
vested interest in preventing Sanders from becoming the party's
nominee. The self-proclaimed democratic socialist is unlikely to rely
on CAP as Obama and Clinton have before him, and so the threat he
poses to Tanden and her ilk is existential: their grip on power, within the
party and the country, is at stake.
Last December, as rumors swirled about Beto O'Rourke's possible run
for president, Tanden accused several prominent Sanders backers of
coordinating attacks against the moderate Texas official. Responding
to an op-ed from the Washington Post's Elizabeth Bruenig, she tweeted:
"Feels a bit orchestrated and clearly they are worried." But as
Sanders cements his frontrunner status, her words increasingly look
like projection. And after watching Democrats lose the White House in
grotesque fashion to a glorified game show host, he refuses to let
bad-faith criticism from purportedly liberal media go unanswered.
Sanders' supporters have not forgotten 2016's contentious primary,
with ample evidence that Democratic elites helped seal his defeat.
While his campaign says he will honor his pledge not to go negative in
ads for 2020, the Vermont senator nonetheless appears determined to
prevent history from repeating itself.
Update: Tanden has since issued the following statement:
"
The orientation of CAP is to positively engage with all political
leaders about the country's future.
ThinkProgress is editorially independent of CAP and CAP Action, which
is what has made it valuable as a news outlet. Similarly, we at CAP
can form our own opinions of their work. We believe the content of the
ThinkProgress video critiquing Sen. Sanders is overly harsh and does
not reflect our approach to a constructive debate of the issues.
Jacob Sugarman
Managing Editor
Jacob Sugarman is the acting managing editor at Truthdig. He is a
graduate of the Arthur L. Carter Institute of Journalism whose writing
has appeared in Salon, AlterNet and Tablet, among other.
Jacob Sugarman