HBO The Circus: Bernie's Empty Press Plane

[stopbush]

Ouch!

John Heilemann as the only reporter on Bernie's campaign plane heading to Utah after getting blown out by Hillary on Tuesday. Contrasts with still shots of the same plane with reporters and TV cameras everywhere.

Heilemann says it's over for everyone but Hillary and Trump.

One of the surest signs you're done - the press has moved on.

[George II]

1. Of course, the corporatist M$M want to make him look bad....

.....in 3, 2, 1....

[stopbush]

2. If they thought he had a shred of a chance, they'd still be covering him.

Look at the massive coverage he got post-MI.

Amazing what a difference a week can make.

Bernie's chances of winning? Right back at ya:

[Treant]

4. They've ignored him!

Nobody knows who he is! If only the message got out, he'd be getting 99.9% of the vote!

I hate to break it to them, but he's a household name. Unfortunately, the household name they call him isn't printable in decent media.

[KittyWampus]

42. That was quite an amusing turn of phrase there...

"he's a household name. Unfortunately, the household name they call him isn't printable in decent media."

Channeling your Rodney Dangerfield.

[William769]

3. Ouch.

Good!

[shenmue]

5. Hee hee

[NanceGreggs]

6. Uh oh!

Not a good sign for Bernie.

[Hekate]

7. I'm genuinely glad Bernie got his message out, and pushed Hillary more to the left....

He's done a good thing with that.

Now, if we could only rely on his more agitated supporters to get over themselves enough to help GOTV for the Democrats, I would be seriously grateful and might even believe in the revolution. It's really hard to tell from the sample that posts on DU.

The next couple of months are going to be painful for them, and as someone who lived through many cycles of supporting also-rans, I feel their pain.

[stopbush]

9. How far left has Bernie pushed Hillary?

Not much. She's always been a progressive. She hasn't really moved left since the campaign got going in earnest. What she has done effectively is hijack parts of Bernie's message and worked it into her own message where appropriate.

[Hekate]

12. I should have added "publically." She's always so guarded in what she says, so measured....

It comes from being beaten up so much by the media and the VRWC over 25+ years, imo. I know she's a liberal/progressive and has the accomplishments to prove it. Having her appropriate parts of Bernie's message is fine by me.

[DURHAM D]

14. I am curious.

What "parts of Bernie's message" did she use that helped her?

[fleabiscuit]

15. Umm.... ya ah...... hmmmm.... just a min.... I think she said "percent" once.?

[stopbush]

39. I remember Hill adopting some Bernie-ish language in one of her victory speeches,

maybe after SC. I commented on it at the time.

But I'm old, and my memory isn't helping with the specifics.

[DURHAM D]

40. I remember many overwrought BS supporters on this site

claiming that she was using his language but it was an emotional, not fact-based response.

[KittyWampus]

43. Maybe she actually did use the word "Wall Street" which is a Bernie Word!

Bernie has all the best words.

[pandr32]

48. Not to mention Bernie claims to have called for everything else first!

[stopbush]

50. Here's a few lines from the transcript of her victory speech in SC:

"Today, grassroots donors are powering this campaign. And to the millions of people watching across our country, please join us by making a donation to hillaryclinton.com. And here’s why. Because together we can break down all the barriers holding our families and our country back. We can build ladders of opportunity and empowerment. So every single American can have that chance to live up to his or her God-given potential. And then, and only then, can America live up to its full potential, too. (snip)

"Today, too many people at the top, too many corporations have forgotten this basic truth about what makes America great. Prescription drug companies that increase the price of … drugs for no reason than greed and then double and triple bills overnight. Corporations that use shell games to shift their headquarters overseas for no other reason than to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Companies like Johnson Controls, an auto parts company in Wisconsin, that we taxpayers helped to save with the auto rescue in 2008.

"Now, let there be no doubt in any board room or executive suite across this country, if you cheat your employees, exploit your customers, pollute our environment or rip off the taxpayers, we will hold you accountable. If you turn your back on America, you’ll pay a price. But if you do the right thing, if you invest in your workers and in your country’s future, then we will stand with you. Now, together, we have to break down all the barriers. Not just some. It’s important that Wall Street never threaten Main Street again; no bank can be too big to fail, and no executive too powerful to jail. But America isn’t a single issue country, my friends. We need more than a plan for the biggest banks. The middle class needs a raise."

More here: http://egbertowillies.com/2016/02/28/hillary-clintons-south-carolina-victory-speech-video/

[KitSileya]

26. I'm genuinely glad she tried to push him to the left on guns and immigrants.

However, he is beholden to the NRA, and don't want immigrants because he thinks they will push down wages for Americans. (Which is better than not to want immigrants because they are brown, which is where Trump comes from.)

You are right that the next few months will be painful for the Sanders supporters, but this idea that Sanders ran to push the discourse to the left is not completely true. Both candidates have areas where they are to the left of each other, only no one on the Sanders' side want to acknowledge that.

[Hekate]

27. >sigh< I'm trying to be conciliatory...

....but without much success. On the one hand, Hillary couldn't run all by herself without anyone to even be her foil. On the other hand, Bernie's acolytes have gotten on my last nerve.

[KitSileya]

29. I know what you mean.

I disagree with those that claim that Hillary was expecting a coronation - I see much more of that kind of entitlement from the BS camp. (I mean, they expect the Dem convention to give the nomination to Bernie, disregarding the votes, the pledged delegates, the superdelegates and the process itself, just for a hypothetical poll in the newspapers.)

However, it is bad for the Dem party if there's no competition. Of course, we didn't realize just how bad the Republican side was going to be. I am glad Hillary at least is working to get people elected at state and federal level. Those will be the candidates for 2020, 2024, 2028 (not to mention, 2018, 2022 etc!) It is one of the greater disappointments with Bernie that he isn't helping down-ticket races. Never mind that his whole platform is dependent on it, it's like he doesn't care what happens at any political level but where he can gain victory. The system in the US is first-past-the-post, which means that third parties aren't viable - in fact, are even less viable than in the U.K. with its parliamentary model of government. If Bernie and his supporters wants to change the Democratic party, they cannot just throw it out. They need to start getting people elected from the bottom up, not the top down. However, that is too much of a commitment from a group that cannot even get their own delegates to attend beyond caucus day in some places, let alone be elected to offices in the party.

[72DejaVu]

30. Nobody ever expected a coronation

Seems like everyone forgets the long drama over whether Biden was running.And no one knew that O'Malley would do so poorly, and he started his campaign before Hillary started hers.

[pandr32]

49. Yes--that "coronation" stuff was a bit much

A slam from the very get-go.

[Hekate]

8. Wait! Did you say he has a campaign plane? When did he stop flying coach in a jumbo jet?

Fascinating.

[NastyRiffraff]

11. I think that happened once

to much sound and fury.

[DURHAM D]

13. I think that he had to fly private after he

received Secret Service protection.

[Hekate]

17. I kind of assumed that from the outset, but....

....his acolytes here made such a freaking fuss over Hillary's flights being on par with Imelda Marcos's shoes, and how Bernie always flew coach -- well I kind of accused them of believing the only way to show one is a good Dem is to wear sackcloth and ashes and walk barefoot carrying a pilgrim's staff.

Someday I'm going to pay for my sarcasm.

[KittyWampus]

44. You forgot, the only way to be a good Dem is to kick Kissinger in the balls

any time you are in his presence…

[Hekate]

46. Oh yeah, that too

[livetohike]

37. I wondered that too. He was flying all over the place this

week end. There is no way he could be catching flights via coach and get there on time!

Part of the Bernie mythology.

[Walk away]

10. Even sites like Huffington and C & L are finally posting news about Hillary...

I had been noticing that, even after the 5 state blow out, they were putting up articles like "Sanders waiting for Missouri results" with a big photo and nothing at all about Hillary. Day after day it was a big love fest for Bernie. Now he is disappearing and they are slowly starting to cover her again.

I'm sure he will get coverage again when we get past Arizona. He should have a few good weeks until New York where his story will end.

[Historic NY]

16. So thats why they been having a sad because of no media attention...

I thought POTUS took them all for a holiday in Old Havana.

[Tarheel_Dem]

19. Why would you think it appropriate to post BS stuff in the Hillary Group? Did you lose a bet?

[mahina]

20. Responding to the OP about Bernie and the press.

I did not say anything negative about Hillary and never have. I like her and respect her.

[Tarheel_Dem]

21. I'm not a host, but I just don't think you should be back here. It's a protected group. If I....

wanted to be smacked in the face with BS propaganda, I wouldn't have trashed his group & GDP.

[Treant]

23. But if you HEARD the MESSAGE

you'd be SURE to become a Sanders supporter! It's only the lack of media coverage from The Man that's kept him down.

[Tarheel_Dem]

24. Do they really still think that? Really? There has to be some escape from this madness. Even safe

havens aren't safe from it.

[Treant]

25. Obviously.

I've started to re-engage under my alter ego at Daily Kos as the primary is winding down and have been advised that if I'd just read his record/listen to his speeches/watch this town hall the scales would fall from my eyes and I'd be converted to the light.

Everybody's always aghast when you tell them you're not an uninformed voter, you just don't like his record, find his speeches banal, and think he's a terrible debater.

I think I'm disengaging over there again for a few more weeks until the arrival of Primary Spring, which should be about the time I plant the gardens in May.

[Rose Siding]

38. Either you don't understand the message or you are...

Either you don't understand the message or you are an oligarchic warmongering lover of the billionaire Wall Shtreet illuminati. But I'm a woman so word is that I'm just voting with a particular body part.

[KittyWampus]

45. Well, there's that and now they are claiming voter suppression and other CT's.

The conspiracy theories started in earnest over this weekend.

He's drawing YUGE crowds to his rallies, HOW CAN HE BE LOSING!

[Hekate]

28. Hi Mahina. I'm sorry things are a bit tense -- I like and respect you too.

Before saying I'll see you in GD, let me just say that from my perspective what the media wants is not so much a blackout as a good brawl. "Let's you and him fight" seems to be their motto. It's why they've been such suckers for Trump.

Sometimes -- well, often -- the media does behave unfairly. I Was hoping for more from Jim Webb because he's so bright and experienced, and was absolutely appalled at the rude way he was shut out during the first debate. He was incandescent with fury, and I Can't say I blame him.

Hope I run into you in better times soon. I likely won't be in GDP though, as I have trashed that forum.

Cheers.

[Treant]

22. Loser stench, mostly

Sanders is now so far behind that he's not much competition, and not putting on the circus that Trump is.

There's really nothing much to cover any longer. He's not a factor in the nomination--Clinton won't need his delegates and Sanders has no significant superdelegates.

At this point, he's yesterday's news. He could break it by winning all three contests Tuesday, but even that just delays the inevitable.

[72DejaVu]

31. Same guy says same thing to the same people

Not news.

[Cha]

33. Aloha mahina.. Group host here.. Tarheel is right.. this is our group and we really don't want

any BS in our face in here.. it's the one place to get away from him.

If I went into the BS group and posted something like that in defense of Hillary I would be Blocked in a New York second.. and would expect to be. It doesn't matter that you didn't say anything negative about Hillary.. the same goes for coming here with sanders defense.

Please don't do anything like that again or sorry.. one of us will have to block you.

Mahalo~

[mahina]

34. Aloha Cha, I appreciate your thoughts.

That's a different perspective than I had and I read you.

Will remove my post after you've had a chance to read this. Hui hou

[Cha]

35. Mahalo, mahina~

yes, if you would please self-delete your previous post that would be most appreciated.

Thank you!

[mahina]

36. E kala mai.

Thanks Cha, aloha.

[Cha]

32. Kick.. Mahalo stopbush!

[stopbush]

41. Mahalo!

BTW - I just booked our next family vacation at Aulani, where we own a timeshare.

Can't wait until January 2017!

[mcar]

47. Ouch is right