In an otherwise fine video response to the last night's vapid, flag-waving State of the Union address, Bernie Sanders once again promoted the neocon think tank-generated and unproven claim that Russia interfered in America's 2016 elections via "cyberwarfare", and repeated the completely baseless insinuation that they colluded with Trump to do so.
"How can he not talk about the reality that Russia, through cyberwarfare, interfered in our election in 2016, is interfering in democratic elections all over the world, and according to his own CIA director will likely interfere in the 2018 midterm elections that we will be holding?" asked the Vermont Senator. "How do you not talk about that unless you have a very special relationship with Mr. Putin?"
This is not an exception to the rule for Sanders, but one more addition to an already consistent and deliberate pattern. In February of last year Sanders delivered a widely viewed video message to his massive online audience solely geared at promoting the Russiagate narrative. At the end of March, he did it again. In May, he did it again. Over and over and over again, month after month after month, Sanders has been using his immense platform as the most popular and trusted politician in America to sell these world-threatening cold war escalations to the millions of Americans who adore him.
This is a big deal. This is not some petty quibble with Sanders' policies like disagreeing with the specifics of his stance on free trade or fracking. This is not some minor detail which can be dismissed with accusations of purism and impracticality and "Hey, no politician is perfect." This is the single most pressing issue of our time, and Bernie Sanders is currently, actively marching our world in the exact opposite direction of where it needs to be heading. There is no threat to our species more imminent and dangerous than the threat of annihilation in a nuclear holocaust, and Sanders is helping to manufacture consent for escalations which make that possibility more and more likely. This is a huge problem, and we need to talk about it right now.
I keep getting shushed and dismissed by American progressives whenever I try to bring this up, and that pushback is getting a lot more heated now that Sanders is preparing for the possibility of a 2020 presidential run. As an aggressive promoter of Bernie-or-Bust in the Democratic primary contests, I must say that some of the "DO YOU WANT TRUMP TO WIN??" responses I've been getting have been giving me flashbacks, and they aren't coming from the direction I'm used to.
I sit in a weird space on the political left with regard to Senator Sanders because I have never been one of the nasty, vituperative lefties who constantly shit on Bernie and call him a "sheepdog" or anything like that, but I also haven't been able to look past his dangerous capitulations to the establishment, so I tend to catch flak from both sides of the debate. I recognize how pervasively toxic the US political climate is and how sane Sanders is in comparison, but at the same time his relentless promotion of a blatant psyop designed to manipulate the public into consenting to geopolitical agendas which have been in place since long before Russiagate is a very big problem that needs to be addressed.
It's like if you found the perfect boyfriend with a great personality, a rockin' bod, and an amazing lifestyle... who also happens to murder a prostitute once in a while. All the other truthful and undeniable things Sanders said in his State of the Union response were eclipsed by his promotion of an extremely dangerous agenda like a tiny piece of cat poo on an expensive French cuisine. It's absolutely unforgivable, and it should be loudly and aggressively resisted by every clear-eyed rebel on earth.
I'm not even saying I'll oppose Bernie's presidential run if it comes down to that in 2020. If that's the direction the American people want to take this thing as part of the awkward two-steps-forward, one-step-back shuffling movement that any shove toward freedom will necessarily look like, I don't imagine that I will try and stop them. As horrible as Sanders' foreign policy is I understand that Americans are in an abusive relationship with oligarchy, and if they genuinely feel he's their best shot at sane domestic policy and a real healthcare system I don't at this time think it's my place as an Australian to tell them not to go that route to escape the abuse.
I can however promise that I will never, ever stop aggressively fighting the Russiagate establishment propaganda that Sanders has been consistently promoting. The further into cold war escalations we get, the more likely it is that a nuclear weapon could be discharged in the chaos and confusion. There are too many small moving parts to be able to predict and control how these escalations will unfold, which is why we came within a hair's breadth of total annihilation on more than one occasion in the last Cold War.
Stephen Cohen is easily the leading expert on US-Russian relations in America, and he recently sounded his ongoing alarm in an interview with Jimmy Dore that everyone should watch. Cohen is not a Trump supporter, not a conspiracy kook, and not a Russian agent, but a gifted and learned scholar who says that the political pressures being placed on Trump by the Russiagate narrative have placed us in a uniquely dangerous place in our species' history which we may very well not make it past. He makes a very solid argument, and I strongly encourage everyone to heed his warning.
Make no mistake: our species absolutely has the freedom to fail this test. We absolutely have the freedom to fail as a species and go the way of the dinosaurs. There is no divine hand shielding us from this fate enabling us to behave as unconsciously and recklessly as our still-evolving primate brains desire without the natural consequences that come with it. Our biggest and most trusted voices should be pointing us toward life, not toward extinction. We must all do better, and we must all demand better.
Friends don't let friends Russiagate, Bernie. Do better. Be better.
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Exactly what I have been thinking since the Convention!!!
Bernie is Good Domestically... But I have a Huuuge problem with him on Foreign Policy!!
My support will be dependent on how deep Bernie digs himself into that Hole.... "Fear of Trump" is still not an Argument I'm buying!!
Agree. Since Bernie Sanders intends to work within the establishment, so he has to tow the line. The Russiagate narrative has been run too long for the Democratic Party/MSM/and plenty of Reps to spike it now. It's a mixture of Beltway think and American exceptionalism that allows them to convince themselves that they can continue along this course with no serious consequences . . . Is it any wonder that our self-defeating foreign policies are a reflection of our dysfunctional domestic political relations?
I supported Bernie when he was running against Hillary, but I will never support him again. He bent the knee, and is now pushing their lies.
CIA v Trump continues. Sanders is just another vehicle for the CIA media machine. They have to keep the Russia narrative alive in order to distract from the corruption going on within the CIA, FBI, NSA, and the Clinton camp.
Truly disappointing that Sanders keeps pushing the Russiagate conspiracy. And I'm starting to think its not a "3-D chess move" to keep dem support for 2020.
They always say it's 3-D chess. Obama's supporters were saying it at the beginning of his term.
ya Bernie is a shill, hes in bed with Hillary and the dems for 2020
Bernie should have ran as a third party candidate he had tremendous support from the American people and he probably would have won the general election if he had gone head to head with Trump. But you point out an important fact and that's that Bernie supports the current US foreign policy abroad.
It's rather sad to see him peddling the party line on Russian Hacking. If he's bothered to sift through the Wikileaks documents he'd know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the DNC nomination was rigged by Hillary and co.
Another thought that crossed my mind reading another comment here was the idea that Bernie had been blackmailed or threatened. I remember that he appeared onstage at the DNC convention with some sort of bruise or cut on his face.
The whole FBI was beholden to the Clintons,and there was a phony FBI investigation of Jane Sanders,maybe they just used it as blackmail,I don't know,but it still doesn't justify promoting the death of all living organisms.
Jeez. Why is it that so many otherwise-serviceable American politicians always end up going down the warmonger road?
Why I cannot support Sanders, among other reasons.
And what about Joe Kennedy huh? He didn't even bother wiping Brian T. Moynihan's cum from the sides of his mouth before going up to give his rebuttal....
Seriously though, when Sanders said that - my heart sank :(
last night's vapid, flag-waving State of the Union address,
if that's the way you think then you not only do not deserve a vote.
I probably should not waste bandwidth on you.
-unfollow-
Did you happen to catch the Korean guy waving his crutches around?
What do you suppose that was about? The guy was nothing more than a prop for war.
It's actually quite a juxtaposition as Trump increases the war rhetoric with NK and at the very same time the North and South Korean Olympic teams are joining together in a symbolic gesture of peace.
You are SO wrong..so very, very wrong.
but since you are obviously anti-american
I see no point in talking to you.
What's to say? Bernie is an advocate of the American Empire and a cold warrior. I supported him in 2016, but I can't in 2020 with this dangerous rhetoric.
When the alphabet agencies have more or less conceded that there was no such collusion, coupled with the fact that America has intervened on and influenced many an election with its regime change policy, I believe Bernie is skating on thin ice here - with dangerous consequences. Cold War 2.0 will not be for the faint hearted. Peace.
I agree Caitlin. I'm an American & I tirelessly campaigned for Bernie before the primaries. But Bernie needs to stop lying about Russia. There's a number of things I wish Bernie would address, but It's time for Bernie to own up to this one. Trust is precious and this matter is way too urgent to ignore.
Just wanted to add: I recently read Gilbert Doctorow's warnings and comments on our decades-long ill will for Russia and found him to be moving and insightful. Just wondering if you & others have come across any of his interviews and found them valuable too.
Let's see... Bernie endorses the DNC and Hillary. Why would he not also do their bidding in regards of propping up the MIC?
It's really hard to wrap my head around any member of the Federal Government entertaining this insanity, let alone actively promoting it. I'm still undecided as to whether the Democrats actually believe this nonsense or they're just hoping their audience does.
Caitlin, I followed your journey from Facebook to here so we are about equally new to steemit but you have an edge in your understanding of stuff - such as posting the Q thingy with a key for Bitcoin donations. I am not up to speed on that (yet) but curious as to the key - is this a special key for donations only - I seem to recall some FAQ about different keys for different purposes. You also have a greater edge in that you are truly a journalist whereas I am merely a "poet posing on a prose platform".
Sorry, it went without my saying I endorse your views on Sanders.
Ever since he's been shilling for establishment Dem-standpoints, it makes me wonder if he's been compromised by deep state.
It bums me out, and half the time when I watch him speak now, I expect to see "help me" written on his eyelids. Positions he's been against for 30 years...just soundbite fodder.
I loved Bernie,I did everything I could to help him during the primaries,but this is very disappointing. On the positive side,the Russia narrative will be completely demolished soon,when Trump releases the FISA memo and they start prosecuting the Clintons and their minions.There will be a clear proof,how the Clinton camp and its associates fabricated this bs,and Mueller will be fired too.How did they break you Bernie?HOW?Plus the Trump administration already said enough with the sanctions.
As much as I like Bernie, you are spot on; he needs lots of pushback on talking about Russiagate. It doesn't have to mean rejecting him entirely, but we can't look the other way on this either-- down that road lies the lesser evilism that hounded the country through the election.
Sorry to spoil the party, but Bernie was compromised from the beginning. He was put in front of the public as a puppet candidate, and he knew that....The establishment has completely rigged the system, so all you have left is a vote for 'hope'. This is the case in all western countries by the way. They all preach fake goodness and prosperity for all domestically, while supporting murder and destruction in all corners of the world.
I actually thought he was rocking it until he trotted out the Russia meme. I find myself wondering just who Bernie is. I have a theory that he was sold the Russian interference lie prior to the DNC convention preventing him from going rogue. He is blindly holding on to that lie, for his own sanity...just a theory
Anyone who denies that Russia has interfered in the american election and media, and is also a decades long financial backer of the current sitting president, is simply one of them, and I can't have any respect for someone who completely dismisses it as if there were no evidence.
Do you not recall that trump refused to release his tax records and finances, which are known via the panama papers and paradise papers, to show that Alfabank and Blackrock finance his hotels and casino's, and that he is himself personally in debt up to his eyeballs while he gauges the american government for every $5000 golf cart rental and $24 million dollar refrigerator he can?
The truth is that america interferes in a lot of elections too, it is a normal thing. I am not particularly angry that russia financed thousands of fake accounts in american social media.
I am, however, deeply suspicious of anyone who comes along and says 'muh russia, putin does no wrong it's all made up'
You do realize that several of Trump's inner circle have resigned and are facing charges? That Trump himself is now known to have attempted to end the investigation by firing mueller, reported by members of Trump's own staff?
I mean, you can repeat this 'russiagate is fake' nonsense as much as you want, but your view on the matter is so wildly unbalanced that it calls everything about you into question.
First the bush dynasty, then the attempted clinton dynasty, now the pushing of the kennedy. By the way just how strange is that? A kennedy repeating the lines from the company that has made a game out of eliminating his family members. Jeeez
Agree completely. I think it's also worth noting that another politician who's popular with many Bernie supporters, Tulsi Gabbard, voted FOR sanctions against Russia.
That is the point... They are ALL compromised from the start... The establishment always chooses the candidates for you. If you don't play by club rules you will just be a low level stooge. They give the public a choice of candidates that they control from the start and then they let you vote for them. What do people think George Carlin really meant, when he said "It's a big club and you ain't in it."
When this is all over the USA really needs to take a step back and respect the laws of 'the rest of the world.' Once the USA can do that then maybe try a step forward again.
In an earlier post you referred to "America's deliberately constructed partisan enmity and culture wars to fan the flames of mass hysteria." I started my last series on sustainability here on Steemit by discussing how Freud's nephew invented the art of propaganda via his uncle's study of behavior and the mind and I see, like you do, how incredibly orchestrated this all is. Anti-war sentiments tend to come from the left, but right now the MIC needs the left because a majority won't buy into any aggression floated by Trump. In fact, right now the only way to swing some pro-war sentiment is to tap into the pro-war sentiment libs are feeling toward Trump, himself.
The thing is this, Bernie now says ..do not build that wall.
BUT if Trump would back away from that stupid wall, then Bernie would mos likely find a reason to turn that around and.
The next President needs to be one with a clean sheet of corruption.
And how ever bad Trump will be, he will make history as the President who tried to fight corruption. Tried since we can be 100% sure that it is impossible to get rid of the corruption since the US broke all records of how corrupt corruption can be.
Every Nation that dares to say that they trust the US government will be showing how corrupt THEY are.
So Bernie, if you ever become POTUS then I can only hope that you can kill the corruption. Since there will be no way that the rest of the world will ever trust the USA government any time soon.
I know great people in the USA, and i have nothing against them. But the corrupt people in politics need to be cleaned out.
The problem is that they will most likely continue their corrupt way of life in the industry. So that only shifts the problem and creates yet another danger to the entire planet.
Trump should distroy as much as corruption as he can, and he seems to be trying, but at this pace it will take an entire generation to only get half of the corruption out of the way, and yet another generation to get the USA in a healthy position again.
That's way to slow it you ask me.
Trump need to stop rowing around in the swamp, he has to move out of the swamp and drop a few nukes in the swamp.
For me, it's never ever been about Bernie. I have no faith in him and never did. His policy positions showed me what I want government to look like. It's fine he has faults, and if we, his biggest fans, aren't honest about them, we're just playing personality politics like Trump and Clinton supporters.
For me, it's never ever been about Bernie. I have no faith in him and never did. His policy positions showed me what I want government to look like. It's fine he has faults, and if we, his biggest fans, aren't honest about them, we're just playing personality politics like Trump and Clinton supporters.
Lol at this post. Europe's been dealing with Russian election interference for decades, and we still can't catch on. Look at the tech moguls, not the politics. Regardless of whether or not the Orangutan of a President had something to do with it or not.
da podcast..love hearin' the aussies talk..and Jimmy interviewing Steven Cohen the contrast in speaking styles/temperment..was interesting..goes without saying @caitoz can write her ass off!!!!
bernie is a scam artist