Let's set the record straight on this "socialist" thing Hillary fans yell out loud

[pinebox]

It's amazing how many of you sound like Republicans on here with "OMG teh Socialisms!"
Let's set this shit straight.

[libdem4life]

1. K & R ... especially the last one. Thanks for the dose of common sense.

[pinebox]

4. You're welcome :)

[Maedhros]

2. Their understanding of 'socialism' is as stunted as their understanding of Hillary's shortcomings.

They see only what they want to see.

[pinebox]

3. I think it's more like this

What a few choice Hillary supporters think of with Socialism



What Bernie supporters think of Socialism

[libdem4life]

6. I wish your posts would get read and recced...but

these days on DU inconvenient facts can't be bothered with. Hope this thread stays up long enough...you're clearly not "with the In Program".

[redstateblues]

10. Don't let the door hit you. It starts to sound like Trump/Cruz complaining about

how crappy the United States is.

[pinebox]

12. Oh? You're little exclusive club has fallen

to like number #24.
Yeah we know, you and your ilk defend the status quo and throw around your pom-poms with a rah rah chant of "Patriotism! America is awesome!"

Tell that to the vets sleeping under the bridges or the 89 Dems who voted to gut SNAP http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/1/29/1273428/-These-89-Democrats-Voted-to-Cut-8-7-Billion-from-Food-Stamps

Your candidate helped build that.

[NewImproved Deal]

5. Thank you. Bernie is the legitimate heir of the New Deal Democratic Party...

...opposed to the sinister Rainbow Oligarchy of the "New" Democrats.

[link:|

[Demsrule86]

17. He is no such thing

pres. Roosevelt would never have done what Bernie Sanders has done...he was a Democrat...Bernie is in it for Bernie.

[MisterP]

7. he supports what was mainstream in the GOP until Ford and in the Dems until, uh, Clinton

ironically both times they dumped policy permanently over a brief and conjunctural crisis--OPEC and Vietnam bills causing stagflation, and then Dukakis and maybe McGovern's losses

[redstateblues]

8. It's ridiculous that you call anyone who doesn't believe in pure Socialism

a Republican. I realize it's the latest insult aimed at those of us who don't support Bernie. Like it says in your laundry list you should join the Socialist Party if that is something you strongly believe in. Surely there is a website called Socialist Underground.

[pinebox]

13. No it's ridiculous that Hillary supporters red bait constantly

while not understanding what Socialism is. We see it daily on here. Take your head out of the damn sand.
Example 1 http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1970804

[brooklynite]

9. If only Bernie would SAY he's a Social Democrat...

...HE'S the person who insists on calling himself a Socialist, requiring his supporters to twist themselves into knots trying to explain why "Socialist" isn't a bad thing...

[Faux pas]

11. Kicketty Kickin'

[pinebox]

14. Danke!

[Kip Humphrey]

15. HERE are your only choices: CORPORATE SOCIALISM or DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISM - CHOOSE

[NuclearDem]

16. Social democracy and democratic socialism are not the same things.

Social democracy is a system involving a regulated market economy with a strong welfare state; this is the basis of the Nordic model and most of Western Europe's economy. Democratic socialism involves entirely replacing a market economy with a centrally-planned economy; it's called "democratic" because it's a form of evolutionary socialism that preserves the current government, as opposed to the revolutionary socialism that overthrows it.

[ContinentalOp]

18. Yeah, that's the part that rankles the most to me. He doesn't even get the terminology correct.

I consider myself to the left of Bernie and would much rather have a candidate that was even more of a socialist than him but was savvy enough not to call themselves a "democratic socialist". It's just bad politics. Especially considering that most of his policies are just retreads of things we've already done in the US in the past or on the state level. Taking fairly moderate and traditional democratic positions and trying to sell them as a "revolution" is just dumb. It clearly works for some voters but I think it's about the worst strategy possible for a general election.