Anyone else think it is really ironic how the status quo center is weaponizing social justice.

[Kurska]

The same people who have done nothing for minorities. The ones who expanded the prison industrial complex, the ones who implemented mandatory minimums and tough on crime laws as "compromise'. The ones who were complicit in keeping all people, especially minorities, in economic bondage are talking about how Bernie Sanders and supporters have trouble with minority issues. Ya know the same ones that got rid of the banking regulations that kept predatory loan companies from targeting minorities with sub-prime loans.

They are the ones who are attacking Bernie Sanders on issues of social justice. The guy who has been on the right side of those issues for decades.

[cali]

1. it's a tried and true tactic.

[Kurska]

2. Attack em where they are strong

Right out of the Rove playbook.

[billhicks76]

104. Amazing Isn't It? Hypocrisy Unlimited

Yes the Rove playbook. But it's Clinton supporters employing it now? It's not about winning. It's about what's best for our country and Bernie offers that hope.

[fasttense]

115. 100% correct. N/T

[catnhatnh]

47. Attack him on his strong point?

I thought that was a Republican tactic....

[A Simple Game]

110. Probably got a lesson from Rove when they were all at the Bush "ranch" having a BBQ. n/t

[tecelote]

105. 'May have backfired.

They started too early giving Bernie a chance to set the record straight before the primaries.

[Ed Suspicious]

119. Nervous and kneejerk. Not good at the political game part of politics. I wouldn't expect that from

political strategists on the establishment candidate's team. I think they've lost control of their careful messaging. I think it's Hillary's supporters are now driving the campaign bus and they have no map. Very dangerous for her, to her controlled and triangulated candidacy.

[HerbChestnut]

131. It had to start early...

Or Bernie would have gained a foothold in the AA community. Then it would have been too late.

[cantbeserious]

3. Who Benefits From Strife - Oligarchs, Corporations And Banks - All Profit Flows To The 1%

Oligarchs, Corporations And Banks Are The True enemy Of The People.

[Kurska]

4. Divide and conquer

Turn minorities against white progressive and white progressives against minorities.

The way things are just too profitable to let go. They'll rip this nation apart at the seems before they allow a dollar to disappear.

[cantbeserious]

5. Absolutely - Agree Completely

eom

[daleanime]

9. +1

[Gman]

11. Seems to me white progressives have done a pretty good job

of turning away minorities without any help.

[PotatoChip]

17. Could you provide some examples? (nt)

[Gman]

18. Unless you haven't been paying much attention

You'd know.

[PotatoChip]

23. I guess I haven't been paying much attention then.

Could you please enlighten me?

[Gman]

32. I don't see any point in it

Minds are not going to change. White progressives will still think they are the best thing that ever happened to minorities. Minorities will still say WTF are you talking about.

[PotatoChip]

43. This white progressive does not think that way.

I have sincere sympathy for all the travesties of justice that minorities have historically, and still endure to this day.

But I don't, nor have I ever, claimed to be "the best thing that has ever happened to them". I don't know any minorities IRL. But if I did, I would help in any way I could on a personal level.

On a broader level, the best thing I can do is support their causes, as well as political candidates who I think are the most likely to help.

So please, I humbly ask again... could you give me some examples of progressives who have turned minorities in need of help away? TIA.

[cali]

79. what a steaming load. broad brush that's ridiculous.

I've never read or heard progressives say anything of the sort. I'd hazard a guess that most white progressives do consider themselves allies in minority struggles for justice, but that's a far cry from your tendentious crap.

[nikto]

98. No---Give us examples---or be considered not worth talking to

[A Simple Game]

111. I'd like some examples too, please. n/t

[1StrongBlackMan]

39. There are several just on DU ...

Bravenak, for one.

[AtomicKitten]

97. Oh you mean the one who posted

... "So, you marched with ML King. What do you want, a cookie?" - probably the nastiest bit of swiftboating posted in all my time at DU?

[1StrongBlackMan]

114. Yes! Her ...

and if you don't understand the relevance of that statement, then Bernie still has much work to do in informing his fan base.

[AtomicKitten]

117. Swiftboating is bullshit distortion of truth

Last edited Mon Aug 24, 2015, 09:16 AM - Edit history (1)

... perpetrated as a tactical assault on behalf of an entrenched political ideology that can't win on the issues.

[1StrongBlackMan]

128. Yeah? Okat. n/t

[Romulox]

130. Hillary's monied backers and their sycophants. nt

[RoccoR5955]

6. This is the oldest ploy in the book

Our job has got to be to refute this and other tactics that these bastards have up their sleeves.

[Kurska]

7. Dirty politics scares the jesus out of me to be honest

I'm no fan of McCain, but the south carolina adverts about his adopted daughter still disgust me. The swift boat attacks on John Kerry. That is how they treat politicians that are rather mainstream. Imagine how viciously they'll attack a real reformer.

[SoapBox]

28. The good and the bad...

The very good these days is that we have social media, to react immediately to lies and attacks.

The bad remains MSM that is biased and tabloid, having what appears to be no interest in truth.

I'll be waiting for the ultimate attack on Bernie...but they are going to have a hell of a time finding a lie to stick.

Go Bernie!

[pocoloco]

123. Won't work against someone with big balls

and a backbone!

[boston bean]

8. Black people and minorities and women are so easily played, aren't they?

WTF???

Dear goddesses, please help people to discern what it is they are really saying and reflect upon it.

[Kurska]

10. No both sides are being played against each other

To keep the same old same olds in power while our country rots.

Your assertion is disingenuous and you know exactly that I didn't mean anything close to what you implied.

"People are trying to manipulate the narrative to keep the political status quo and they are using real problems to do it. Meanwhile, these same people haven't done anything about the problems they claim to suddenly care about."

"OMG ARE YOU CALLING BLACK PEOPLE AND WOMEN STUPID?!!? WTF"

Utterly transparent. Why don't you ask me if I still beat my wife?

[boston bean]

12. That's quite conspiratorial, is it not?

I've heard Bernie say it too, but he usually just means the republicans do it.

I still don't agree with him there and even more so don't agree with you here in regards to Democrats.

People who are fighting for their lives and rights are not dividing you from anything.

It is implicit in your OP that people are being used to sow divisions. I'm sorry, but black persons and women are not dumb. They aren't being used. They are fighting for their lives. Get on board, or get out of the way.

Now it may be some who disagree with my last sentence above, who feel divided over that, but that is their issue. They should be joining with. Not pointing to some conspiracy that people who care about these things are out to divide everyone against themselves.

[whatchamacallit]

13. Give it a rest

Usurp much?

[boston bean]

16. Not sure? What am I usurping? nt

[whatchamacallit]

21. Maybe I should have asked

Exploit much? Nobody's buying what you're selling. You, and many other HRC supporters, use social justice to divide, not unite. Anyone who honestly cares about these issues know that's not productive.

[boston bean]

31. Who am I exploiting? Myself? nt

[whatchamacallit]

37. I know you're a woman

but I didn't know you were a person of color. My apologies if that's the case. Still, no matter who you are, I believe much of what you do here is divisive for political gain.

[boston bean]

41. I am not a person of color. Does that make a difference?

Secondly, fighting for social justice is divisive? Ok.. Not in my world...

What I find to be divisive is telling others that fighting for social justice or being vocal regarding it is divisive. Obviously YMMV.

But maybe I'm just way off base... I don't think so though.

[Kurska]

51. Fighting Bernie Sanders is not fighting for social justice

That is where the disconnect between you and reality is.

[boston bean]

60. Who is fighting Bernie Sanders?

You seem to have it all backwards.

People who fight for social justice are fighting for their issues. If people think that fighting for social justice is fighting against a favored politician, it reinforces the feelings of those who think those people supporting that politician don't care about their issues.

What would be more helpful is to not get themselves in a dither and actually support social justice, versus trying to make them out to be the bad guy for dare bringing up issues.

Standing up for oneself and speaking out about issues groups want addressed is NOT fighting against Bernie.

No, you don't get to make those types of assumptions.

[Kurska]

64. You literally you

No one buys this facade of neutrality, we all know the horse you back. You've made it clear yourself.

Look at your posting history.

Look at your avatar.

Come on.

[boston bean]

69. I do not support Bernie in the primaries.

I've been a long time Hillary supporter. That is not a secret.

But I do like Sanders. I do like many of his ideas.

I don't support him in the primary. And I do support social justice issues as well.

And I don't think that social justice issues are a ploy to divide us all from each other from getting our just reward.

I simply disagree with you and I do also disagree with Bernie on that. Doesn't mean I don't like him or wouldn't vote for him if he were to win the primary.

[MannyGoldstein]

108. So #bowdownbernie and #berniesoblack weren't about Bernie?

Ok, my bad.

[whatchamacallit]

70. Regardless of the cynical projection

there are few on this site who are not committed to social justice (trolls excluded). It's the good whites (Hillary supporters) constantly lecturing and castigating the bad whites (Bernie supporters) about issues both know little about, that smacks of exploitation. It's dishonest and manipulative at its core, and does little to advance the cause.

[artislife]

87. There are many PoC who support Bernie

on this site, but our words hold no weight in this debate. Only the H camp can say anything that is given merit.


Funny thing, that.

[cui bono]

92. Yes, and any PoC that support Bernie are called "outliers" by one of the most prominent AA posters.

He also practically (may have actually said it) said that another PoC was a traitor to his own race because he was defending and supporting Sanders.

So anyone who disagrees with him is an outlier and very possibly a traitor to his own race. So I guess this prominent poster believes that PoC are a monolith then? I thought PoC could think for themselves. I thought it was wrong to think of any group as a monolith.

How is that not insulting to PoC?

I forgot to ask you... are you one of the white supremacist Bernie supporters?

[Kurska]

19. One line of attack didn't work, going to pivot to the next one?

No I wasn't calling black people and women stupid. I was saying that DLC types are using issues they haven't done jack about for years to keep the profitable status quo and come at Bernie Sanders from the left. This is despite the fact that Bernie has the best record on social justice of ANY VIABLE CANDIDATE.

It is transparent and obvious. People keep trying to invent a "Bernie Sanders race problem", when in reality he has been to left of the party on those issues consistently.

Saying some people are trying to cynically use an issue they don't care about for political gain is not the same thing as saying everyone who cares about those issues are gullible. You know that, I know that. Lets quit pretending okay?

But keep on pivoting, maybe you'll find another emotionally laden way to twist what I'm saying.

Don't presume to tell me what is "implicit" in what I said. Try debating me on the merits of my argument, not whatever subtext you want to desperately squeeze of it to avoid addressing the larger point.

[boston bean]

25. Am I a DLC type?

I've been a feminist and a Democrat my entire adult life.

I see something off base and I will comment.

I saw a problem with Bernie focusing to much on Econ issue and not enough on Social issues in this campaign.

Was fought tooth and nail on that even before net roots and seattle.

I was berated and told that economic issues would solve misogyny. I still get those comments from Bernie supporters today.

Also, I told you how I felt that implicit in the argument was that some were being used as pawns against others. That in fact is quite insulting and also self defeating.

The way to counter that is to be 100% vocal in support of social justice issues and not try to use them to divide those who care about them from the group by basically calling them pawns. That argument basically asks persons to please not be so vocal about your issues because we can't get other stuff done.

Sorry, not going to do that. BLM, feminists and every other civil rights group gets to let their issues be known and to also let others know when they are falling short.

In this case, I am letting you know that your conspiracy of sowing divisions is harmful to unity and to social justice goals.

[Kurska]

33. Lets not do a ridiculous dance here

We both know the reason you're pushing Hillary is not her exemplar record on social justice issues. She has been a step behind most democrats on them. She certainly has been consistently behind Bernie Sanders on them.

Behind on gay rights, behind on transrights, behind on prison reform, behind on drug reform (where drug laws are used to disproportionately attack minorities), behind everywhere it counts.

So don't tell me your favor for Clinton is vested in some notion of voting for the most social justice oriented candidate out there.

[boston bean]

36. I was very clear in my comments. But thanks for trying to rephrase, however

incorrect you may be.

That is not a nice thing to do. And is usually only attempted when one has lost the argument.

[Kurska]

42. Keep on dancing

We both know why you're doing this whole so concerned about Bernie Sanders position thing. It ain't that Bernie Sanders doesn't have the right positions. He has consistently had the right and better positions than her.

[boston bean]

44. I'm not dancing. I've been typing well thought out responses to what I

think is a divisive conspiracy theory of yours that makes those who are discriminated out to be pawns in a game and that they don't know what is good for them.

Believe me it isn't a game. No one fighting feels like they are playing a game, nor do they feel like they are doing TPTB bidding to keep us all down, ok?

[Live and Learn]

132. +1 nt

[beam me up scottie]

133. ^ ^ ^ THIS ^ ^ ^

You nailed it.

[Dont call me Shirley]

83. To quote a famous presidential candidate "It's the economy, stupid". He didn't say " It's social

issues, stupid". Remember, he won because of that first quote.

[Utopian Leftist]

85. The Notorious Daddy Bush, AKA GHWB, wasn't it? n/t

[Dont call me Shirley]

86. William Jefferson Clinton 1992

[Utopian Leftist]

89. Oh, I see, thx.

So it was the line that brought down Bush Daddy.

James Carville must be proud. Especially since it's still true, today!

[Dont call me Shirley]

93. Poppy didn't want to take credit for nafta anyway, so no big loss to him.

[JDPriestly]

24. " Get on board, or get out of the way. "

Seems to sum up the arguments for supporting Hillary.

Thoughtful people are not persuaded.

Why do you support Hillary rather than Bernie?

I support Bernie rather than Hillary because I don't want four more years of either Obama or Bill Clinton. I support Bernie because of his stances both on race and economic issues.

Bernie is right in saying that of all the candidates, he is the one who will reform our police and justice system. Won't take much from Congress to do that. He can do that, and he will.

And then we have to ask why the system was not reformed under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama? Why are we at the point that Black Lives Matter proponents even have to say that Black Lives Matter? Why when during 16 of the past 24 years Democrats have been in the White House is police brutality still happening so frequently? And why are so many Americans in prison? Hey! Our Democratic presidents even had Democratic majorities in Congress during some of those 16 years.

As for misogyny, why don't we have equal pay for equal work for women already??? Why are the opportunities for women especially in management fields other than HR still so limited? Why did no bankers or mortgage company managers go to prison when so many petty thieves and people caught with small amounts of drugs are still in there rotting away? Fraud is a form of theft, and we had fraud on a massive scale. Have the laws been changed so that in the future, potential criminals at high levels in the financial world will be deterred from their lives of crime? Why not?

Enough really is enough. Enough excuses for the past Democratic presidencies that have not done enough.

We need Bernie to turn a new page and take a fresh look at a lot of our social and economic problems.

Maybe that is why Bernie Sanders supporters don't want to "get on board, or get out of the way."

We need change, not just from the old, tired, crabby Republican non-solutions, but also from the smug, "what's wrong with you, why aren't you happy with what you have got, you worthless hangers-on" attitude of the Democrats who have enjoyed so much power and done so little for the people with it.

16 of the past 24 years, the White House has been the home of Democrats. But Black people are still bludgeoned and butchered before they get their fair trial. That says it all, right there.

That's why we are not on board. That's why we won't get out of the way.

[boston bean]

26. You have a problem with me wanting you to join

me in the social justice struggles of our time?

[JDPriestly]

53. Listen to the Bernie crowds roar and applaud when Bernie talks about the social struggles

of our time. Neither Bernie nor his supporters have a problem with the social justice struggles that Bernie has promised to wage with all his strength.

When I attend Bernie meetings or meet with Bernie supporters, I am amazed to discover how many of them have been fighting for social justice all their lives -- nurses, teachers, social workers, psychologists, lawyers . . . . Those are the people who are backing Bernie in huge numbers at least from my subjective take on the matter.

So the meme about Bernie not being engaged in social justice struggles betrays a certain lack of knowledge about who Bernie is and what he is saying. Videos of his speeches are readily available right here on DU. They will tell everyone what everyone needs to know about his stands on social lissues.

Bernie supporters support Bernie precisely because of his engagement in support of social and economic issues.

Interestingly, I see on DU that it is the Hillary supporters who repeatedly nag Bernie supporters about how Bernie can't possibly achieve his goals, that Congress won't go along, that Bernie has no support in the Democratic establishment. Because Bernie is too liberal, too progressive on social and economic issues.

It isn't possible to have it both ways. When Hillary supporters claim that Bernie is not strong enough in his support on social issues, they can't then criticize Bernie for being too optimistic about social and economic issues. Either Bernie is weak on social issues or he is asking for too much. Which is it?

For me, universal healthcare, including that nearly 50% of Texans who are not insured according to my Google results, is a social issue.

So is ending police brutality and reforming the justice system so that our prisons are not full of people convicted for non-violent crimes. So is equal pay for equal work for women. So is free or nearly free post-secondary education for our kids.

The only reason that anyone could think that Bernie is weak on social issues is that they haven't listened to his speeches or his crowds' responses to the speeches -- or maybe they are being paid to support Hillary? I don't know.

Even in South Carolina, the Bernie audience went wild with applause and support for Bernie's strong support of Black Lives Matters issues. It's incomprehensible that anyone is still posting on DU that Bernie is weak on social issues. What social issues is he weak on? And what is the evidence that he is weak on them?

There is a disconnect between what Hillary supporters say about Bernie and what Bernie is doing and saying. It's as if Hillary supporters have constructed some image of Bernie that isn't Bernie or Bernie's supporters at all. Very strange. Are Hillary's supporters so scared of Bernie that they have detached themselves from the reality of who Bernie is?

Listen to Bernie's speeches, and then post about who you support in the primary. Bernie is not who Hillary supporters think he is. Neither are Bernie's supporters. It is dishonest to paint a picture of Bernie and Bernie's supporters that does not in any way reflect reality. Just dishonest.

Let's get back to the reality of Bernie as revealed in his speeches and interactions and leave the Hillary fantasies about Bernie behind us.

[delrem]

100. Your exchange here has been a tour de force!

You made my day.

[Kip Humphrey]

125. Hillary because... woman holds little water when issues are discussed. They can't attack Bernie so

they attack Bernie's supporters. Episode #147.

[cui bono]

84. Bernie supportes are already there. We don't have to join.

It's only Hillary supporters who try to paint us as not being there and as being racist.

[artislife]

88. It may be their way of deflecting

that the candidate Hillary supports
Monsanto---ruining and capitalizing of food. Patent seeds...they are bigger effers than Big Pharma.
--Agratoxins and other bs that runs along using the Big Pharma scheme. It devastates the land, the water, the wildlife and the people. You see the birth defects in Argentina, for one example? Does Hillary even care?


That alone makes her anti social justice.

Then you have the meekness on how to handle the climate and environmental issues that is quickly destroying this earth.

The Banks, the jobs being shipped overseas, the overseas being shipped in to take good paying jobs here....

The issues.

There are more, but those are enough to make any humane person wonder if she even has a vision for the next century.

I won't even get into her personal character defects...the RW is all over it. But she has invited it in by her behavior.

[Kurska]

48. Might want to edit or self-delete before the hide train comes into station.

Some people want an emotional reaction, deny them that.

[ibegurpard]

55. I don't care

My life does not revolve around my ability to post here.

[Kurska]

59. Fair enough

Godspeed.

[rhett o rick]

90. No. Why would you even say that? nm

[JDPriestly]

14. K&R. Thank you for pointing this out.

They don't talk about why they are voting for their candidate. They just diss Bernie. What is wrong with that picture?

They aren't really for their candidate.

They are just against anybody else.

[seabeyond]

15. are you talking about sanders who voted for the crime bill?

[Kurska]

20. You mean the one championed by the Clinton Adminstration?

Which Bernie has rejected as having horrible consequences and wishes to do undo? Something Clinton hasn't done.

[seabeyond]

27. ah ha hahah. totally amazing, the ability to ignore reality. so, you wrote an OP dissing sanders.

[Kurska]

34. I like someone who can own up to a mistake made 2 decades ago.

Something Clinton hasn't done.

How bout some actual positions on solving the problem

http://mic.com/articles/124229/bernie-sanders-plans-to-introduce-a-bill-banning-for-profit-prisons

Tell me when Clinton has promised something similar.

She won't, words are easy. Words don't cost her buddies in big business money. Words don't end the prison industrial complex that is propped up by Hillary Clinton's corporate friends and donors.

Only Bernie Sanders is willing to actually draw a line on the sand on this issue.

[seabeyond]

62. of course she has. as has bill. as has omalley, that was his bad in the 90's and criminalization,

while bring crime down too.

[Kurska]

66. Tell me where she said she'd end for profit prisons

The largest cancer eating away at the justice system, besides institutional racism and bias.

Show me when she has sided with the concerns of minorities IN OPPOSITION to the desires of corporate america.

[seabeyond]

68. way back at the beginning of her campaigned she had a speech dedicated to it, well before

sanders and before omally got in the race. tweaking here and there, all three stand in the same place.

[Kurska]

74. Got a quote?

Meanwhile

https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/07/23/private-prison-lobbyists-raising-cash-hillary-clinton/

[seabeyond]

76. google is your friend. if you are seriously wanting to be informed, you will take the steps.

all that crap thrown at clinton can be researched. i did it over the last couple months and will continue to.

[Kurska]

80. Show me where she promised to abolish for profit prisons

Either back up your claim or don't make it. You're the one asserting it, support it and own it.

[Kurska]

82. Crickets EOM

[Bonobo]

99. Don't fight with her Kurska, she has sworn she is a Sanders supporter like you!!!

I am positive she won't be like the others who said they were Sanders supporters only to, later, change their mind and say it was the result of the Sanders supporter behavior (TM) as it appeared on DU.

[Kurska]

122. There is a lot of obvious concern trolling about sanders.

Really obvious stuff to anyone who has spent 5 minutes on the internet.

[SoapBox]

30. Link please...

To the specific bill, date and vote...thanks.

[SoapBox]

22. Yup.

Thanks for posting.

[jeff47]

29. They gotta stop the economic battle somehow.

So, talk up the "social justice" angle now.

Then when in power, allow economic resentment to block it. Like LBJ's "lowest white man" quote.

Results in a nice, comfortable and exploitative status-quo. And when either group of "those people" get "uppity" again, use the other to shut them down.

Which is why we need to fight both battles at the same time.

[sabrina 1]

35. Not ironic, cruel imo. To give false hope, to actually BACK and vote for policies that HARM

minorities, then during election cycles make more false promises, while NOTHING changes for the better in between, is simply cruel imo.

Which is why I support the only candidate whose record shows that when he speaks during campaigns, it isn't just rhetoric, he means it, he has lived by it, and as more people see this, more are and will be supporting him.

[Renew Deal]

38. You have trouble with minority issues

People here have been looking for examples of posts that are dismissive of African American concerns. And your post is a great example. You saw what happened in Ferguson, Baltimore, Staten Island, and elsewhere and thought that the "status quo center is weaponizing social justice." That's insulting and dismissive of the fears of people that feel they are under siege.

[Kurska]

45. No, I saw the cynical attacks on a man on the right side of those issues

And thought that.

Bernie Sanders is not putting anyone under siege and you know that. I'm talking about the attacks on him, not the justified anger at the out of control police we have.

[Renew Deal]

49. Most of the attacks I've seen are on Sanders supporters.

And I think they're justified. I don't agree with the people that think economic justice excludes social justice or that we have to have one or the other.

[Kurska]

50. You mean the progressive wing of the party?

That is Bernie Sander's base. Oh yeah, those are the people who don't care about minorities the progressives. If only those darned progressives would get out of the way, we could have had social justice by now.

[Renew Deal]

63. No. The "progressive wing" supports Hillary

I mean some of Sanders supporters. According to the CNN poll the "progressive wing" of the party finds Hillary more favorable than Bernie.

Hillary 64% Favorable with "Liberals"
Bernie 60% Favorable with "Liberals"

Hillary 85% Favorable with Democrats
Bernie 53% Favorable with Democrats

Regardless of how you plan to vote, do you think [INSERT NAME] would do a better job as
president than Hillary Clinton, would do a worse job than Clinton, or would there be no difference
between the two?

Bernie Sanders
Better than Clinton: 31%
Worse than Clinton 36%
No difference 28%

But Bernie is more popular with Republicans. 14% to 9%

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2015/images/08/18/rel8b.-.democrats.2016.pdf

[Kurska]

65. What page is that on, can't find it.

Anyways liberal/=/progressive

[hay rick]

75. Nice straw man

You said "I don't agree with the people that think economic justice excludes social justice or that we have to have one or the other." I don't see anybody here making those claims- and certainly not Sanders supporters.

[Renew Deal]

77. I threw a curve ball at you there

Some in the Hillary camp have been making the argument and I disagree with them. The problem isn't every Sanders supporter or every Hillary supporter.

[sibelian]

94. No, it isn't. It's accusing the principle-free third way of being insulting and dismissive

of the fears of people that feel they are under siege by telling them whose side they're supposed to be on without detailing why.

[Zorra]

40. Yes, it is Orwellian. “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength"

More authoritarian big brother MIC establishment propaganda designed to help prevent democracy, justice, and equality in America at all cost.

[GoneFishin]

57. Don't forget "poverty promotes social justice"

[hay rick]

52. The "social justice" attacks on Bernie Sanders are a nice bookend for

the media's relentless attacks on Hillary's email server problem. The oligarchy is entertained.

[TBF]

54. The goal for the wealthy is to split us -

in any way they can to take the focus off themselves.

It works remarkably well for them.

[nashville_brook]

56. yeah, b/c the NEED those privileges for their donors to stay in place

and fight hammer and tongs to keep them there...as long as it's other groups fighting.

[Uncle Joe]

58. I forgot who it was, maybe it was Karl Rove that proposed the strategy

of "attacking your opponent's strength."

Thanks for the thread, Kurska.

[GoneFishin]

67. Yes. It is Rove.

[Kurska]

71. Rovian tactic to the core. EOM

[Uncle Joe]

72. Perhaps that's one of the reasons, they want to stall and limit the debates in order

to allow their false meme to jell first?

[Android3.14]

61. The Hillary supporters?

Yup, those are the ones.

[Babel_17]

73. It's nothing personal, it's just cut throat politics

If Sanders was running neck and neck then the Democratic referees would be calling foul. But the current logic for many of them is that "Clinton is inevitable" and if low blows against Sanders help keep all the ducks in a row for Secretary Clinton to proceed to win the nomination in an orderly fashion, and then get elected President, then low blows it is, "no foul here".

Yes, this is disastrous to the process of nominating a candidate and getting a good platform representative of our values. But for them it always boils down to just gritting their teeth and getting a win for the party. That this "winning attitude" has helped earn us a minority in the House and Senate mustn't be thought about. Thinking about that takes your mind down a scary path where you have to reevaluate the wisdom of our party constantly tacking to the right, searching for just the right distance to the left relative to the Republicans.

[TheKentuckian]

78. I don't know about ironic but it is sure predictable, the message must be destroyed at all cost

and a message sent that anyone daring to push it will be opposed, marginalized, slandered, and cut off at the knees.

Anything but being from the secular wing of the Republican party minus the southern strategy will be met with extreme pushback.

[Catherina]

81. It's laughable. Strong rec n/t

[TheFarS1de]

91. Simple...

Divide and Conquer , however that has not held true in the digital age due to instant information .

[Enthusiast]

95. K&R! This post should have hundreds of recommendations!

[MisterP]

96. since 2013/4 we've had the term "social justice warrior" that's by its nature ironic

it means a Tumblr resident who leverages obscure academese, claiming to be "radical" but whose policies always end up something like "the races are best kept at arm's length," "transwomen are infiltrators," and "sex should be through a hole in a sheet--if at all"

it's oddly appropriate for our bass-ackwards Zeitgeist, I guess

[Smarmie Doofus]

103. Surely you mean Geitzeist.

And, ok. I'll stop calling you "Shirley".

[Betty Karlson]

101. Stunning irony indeed. n/t

[Smarmie Doofus]

102. TPTB *want* the election to be about race.

They know how to *do* race.

Virtually every pres. election since Goldwater has been... at least LARGELY... about race.

What they DON'T like is all this talk about wealth and income disparity.

That's new. That's scary.

[Ken Burch]

106. Absolutely. Brilliant analysis.

On another, unrelated point, what is your new avatar?

[Kurska]

121. Gay pride Phipaw

Furry fandom symbol + gay pride symbol.

[Ken Burch]

134. Cool. n/t.

[joshcryer]

107. The center always "weaponize" the current thing.

Whatever it may be they know that to stay relevant they must leverage the moving currents.

Social justice and identity politics are the internet's own weapon and that's why it's being catered to at this point in time.

Whether this is a bad thing I can't say. It really depends on the resulting actions that are taken.

I don't think it's insincere.

[blackspade]

109. I agree for the most part.

However, while Sanders himself is quite good on minority issues, a vocal minority (ironically) of my fellow supporters are not.

[beam me up scottie]

112. Every time they exploit race, gender and class issues I realize I made the right choice.

Enough is enough.

How many more reasons do we need to vote against business as usual?

[Garrett78]

113. Southern Strategy

Let's also remember that Clinton employed the Southern Strategy against Obama in 2008. There is no doubt that Sanders is well to the left of Clinton, on social justice issues and everything else. His big problem is that 25% of registered voters still haven't heard of him and he doesn't have the backing of the neoliberal establishment.

[Chathamization]

116. It's obvious when people who claim to care about BLM don't post at all in threads about major BLM

protests, but keep bringing up much smaller BLM protests against Sanders. The much larger and much more important BLM protest that happened a couple of days later were largely ignored on DU, and completely ignored by the people who claim the cause is important to them in primary threads.

Also kind of obvious when people say that we have to listen to and respect Marissa Johnson, despite her other beliefs, because she's a BLM activist, but then openly insult and encourage people to ignore BLM activist Cornel West.

There are DUers who care about the Black Lives Matter movement, have been following it, and posting about it. Their threads fall off the main page pretty quickly, though. If you want to get rid of the people whose only interest in the movement is using it as a rhetorical bludgeon against internet enemies, just start a substantive discussion about it. Flamewarriors seem to ignore anything of substance.

[bread_and_roses]

118. +1000s

Concise, succinct, and so true.

[zentrum]

120. +10000

Minorities may come to realize that Bernie's economic analysis is at bottom a way to begin enacting the reparations that never happened.

Does BLM really want to just reform the police and yet still never have equal access to neighborhoods, income, education, jobs? I just don't believe it.

[KittyWampus]

124. The OP and the recommendations of this thread are so OFFENSIVE it disgusts me.

"Weaponizng social justice".

NO.

It's the ignoring of social justice and pretending Bernie's 50 year old economic schtick will fix cops shooting black people.

[beam me up scottie]

126. Straw man.

[Kurska]

127. Poverty and racism are like peanut butter and jelly.

You don't get rid of one without getting rid of the other. A huge number of issues that minorities face in America are economic.

Bernie Sanders is also THE BEST candidate for out of control police. He is for ending the drug war (one of the main hammers that pound African American communities). He is for ending the prison industrial complex (a system that gives monetary and political reasons to lock up minorities). He is for mandatory body cameras. He is also for general police reform.

That is why it is indigenous. Attacking Bernie Sanders doesn't advance social justice. People are merely using it as a weapon against him. It is the classic rovian tactic of attacking someone where they are strong and it should be pointed out.

[Romulox]

129. Your post is itself a disgusting distortion. nt

[Ken Burch]

135. Neither of which Bernie ever did. As you know perfectly well. n/t.