Well, it's important to understand where Yasha Levine is coming from. He's an
incredibly smart guy and as such, he's also very irreverent. His parents were
Russian Jewish immigrants to the US. He came from a country with a system that
promised the workers a lot and gave them work camps in Siberia where they were
disciplined for thinking the wrong thoughts and which had shortages of
everything for the common man while the elites had more than enough to eat and
some luxuries, as well. He came to a country that promised freedom and civil
liberties and discovered that his new country told as many lies as the one he'd
left. He wrote a book, Surveillance Valley, which is on BARD and which I read.
In it, I discovered some things I never knew, including some rather unsavory
facts about Edward Snowden. So, I think that Levine is a disappointed and
frustrated idealist. But I also do think that his questions about Bernie
Sanders are valid. Yes, Bernie has done a great deal that is positive, in that
he motivated a generation of young people to become engaged in politics. But he
also gave people false promises. I hear young journalists on podcasts who are
very disappointed and frustrated. I don't know what Bernie's motives are, but I
can understand why so many people feel that he has sold out, or that the
Democratic Party leadership has used him to keep people in line, to prevent
them from starting a new, vigorous people's party. And I'm sure that Chris
Hedges agrees with that sentiment.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2020 11:56 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Bernie Sanders keeps licking that boot
Okay Yasha Levine, you made your point. You're damned mad at Bernie.
As for me? I'm damned mad at a political system that is owned by the Upper
Class, for the Upper Class and paid for By the Working Class.
You and Bernie and me all swim in the same pool. We are all products of a
contaminated pond. Some of us are contented to swim and accept the tainted
waters for what they offer. Some of us struggle against the contamination, but
nonetheless, we are also tainted. We are never going to see another Jesus rise
up from the water, walking on the surface, pure and untainted. So rather than
bitching about who failed us, and who did not come up to the mark...which none
of us come up to, how about we get off criticizing the other fellow, and roll
up our sleeves and in our own imperfect way, go forward.
Carl Jarvis
On 8/12/20, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Bernie Sanders keeps licking that boot From raising money for a senile
bully to endorsing a cop in the midst of anti-police riots...you've
come a long way, comrade!
Yasha Levine
Aug 12
Gotta say it's been quite a journey watching Bernie Sanders go from
revving up a grassroots campaign that energized young people in
America in a way that hadn't been seen in several generations.to
shilling for a drooling bully and, now, a spiteful cop.
Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders
Congratulations to @KamalaHarris, who will make history as our next
Vice President. She understands what it takes to stand up for working
people, fight for health care for all, and take down the most corrupt
administration in history. Let's get to work and win.
August 11th 2020
23,844 Retweets191,743 Likes
It was clear back in March that Bernie didn't have what it takes to
lead a real political movement in a time of massive uncertainty and
political upheaval. He wasn't flexible enough - and in the end, he
simply didn't have the fight in him. After getting stomped by a
juiced-up Joe Biden in the last Democratic debate, he sold out his
supporters at the snap of the finger - even as the pandemic was
starting to rage across America. It was depressing to watch then, and
it gets more and more depressing every time he does it.
My only comment on Bernie's total capitulation to the neoliberal
Democratic Party is this: Imagine if Gennady Zyuganov didn't just lose
to a clinically deceased Boris Yeltsin in a clearly fixed election
back in 1996, but actually went out campaigning for him. Imagine
Zyuganov telling all the starving pro-Communist Party pensioners that
had been impoverished by Yeltsin's neoliberal shock therapy to go to
the polls and vote for Yeltsin because Yeltsin can be pushed to the
left. That's Bernie. That's what Bernie's been doing.
Don't worry, grandma. Biden will get us out of this. Bernie says Biden
is leftwing!
________________________________________
To be honest, I'm not even sure why Bernie does it. No one's
threatening him or his family. Why not keep pestering the assholes?
Why not stay in the race until the very end? He's an old man, what
does he have to lose? Does that Senate seat mean so much to him?
I'm certain that history will judge Bernie harshly. But in the
meantime, we're all screwed. Our only hope for salvation, they say, is
a senile jock and a cop who loves threatening single moms with jail.
-Yasha Levine