July 28, 2015

A Sincere Tribute To DUers Who Kept US Sane During the Bush Era. Will Pitt For One. Add Others!

You had to be there, I suppose, those awful years when the Bush War Criminals, after grabbing power with the help of the Supreme Court.

The Media was unbearable to watch. Cheney, Rice, Rummy et al lying to the American people with not a single one of our so-called 'journalists' with the courage, or will to challenge them.

I know that many people stopped watching the Corporate Media during that time, and turned to the Internet instead to try to find some truth about what was really going on in this country.

When I found Liberal Forums, like DU at the time, it was like finding an oasis in the desert.

I thought I was the only one for a while who KNEW they were lying.

So to find people like William Pitt on DU saying publicly what many of us wanted to say, was, to say the least, like being rescued from a horrible nightmare.

He took a lot of abuse from the RIGHT for his public stand against the crimes of the Bush Administration.

Still does actually!

Not many people wanted to put themselves in that position at that time.

He went to War Protests and reported back to us what he saw and it gave us hope, not that we could STOP the War Criminals, but that there were GOOD PEOPLE, a lot of them, in this country who were not on board with the 'program'. Something you did not know if all you had was the Corporate Media.

There were many others, but WP stands out to me from those days because his writing was compelling, impassioned and it was so badly needed.

I just found out that Will may be leaving DU.

It will be our loss if he does, but I understand.

He has a wider audience now than he had when we first came to know him.

But selfishly I hope he changes his mind.

I also remember the relief that there WAS a Forum like DU where I read for a while before signing up, and laughed at the humor of many of those DUers who mocked Bush, Fox, Freepers et al.

I hadn't seen too much of that until then. And I felt better. The Right wasn't totally in control.

So to Will Pitt, thanks for keeping us sane during those awful years, and whatever you decide, I hope you and your family are happy, that is the most important thing in the end.



I know I have not named so many other DUers who at that time, helped keep us from total despair at the state of the country, H20 Man comes to mind.

I guess I just wanted to let Will know that many, many DUers SINCERELY appreciate all you have done for this community, helping to make it what it became.

Please feel free to name other great DUers whose posts and comments contributed to keeping you sane during those awful years.

PS:

I want to add an appreciation for the Administrators who provided the place where we got to meet and read all those great people, and I will always remember the night of the 2004 election and EarlG's analysis of the returns. That night was one of the worst but again, DU made it bearable! I guess you had to be there to fully understand. Anyhow, thanks to the Admins and to all those great DUers who probably have no idea what their words meant to people who had never felt so hopeless.

Will Pitt belongs on DU! Even if it is his choice not to be here!

July 28, 2015

Bernie Draws 4 Times the Crowd Jindal's Presidential Announcement Drew in Louisiana!

He's SHATTERING the Myth we've been fed for years that a Progressive Message won't work in Red States. Which, we were told, is WHY we had to put up with Third Way/Blue Dogs in those states.

Looks like his MESSAGE is what is drawing the crowds. Who would have thought all that Conventional Wisdom could be so wrong?

Did Someone Say Bernie Can't Defeat Republicans? When a Virtual Unknown Democratic Socialist Draws 4 Times the Crowd the Gov. of Louisiana Drew for his Presidential Election, I Say, Whoever Said That is Wrong

Bernie stated that the Dem Party is wrong to 'write off' half the country:






Same Venue as Jindal.

Bernie 4 - Jindal 1.

Jindal is the Governor of the State!

And Louisiana isn't the ONLY Red State where Bernie is packing in the crowds.

Bernie Sanders Delivers A Lone Star Smash As 13,200 Supporters Rock Texas Swing



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He drew huge crowds in Arizona also!

It's all about ISSUES. Across the political spectrum, that is what people care about.

Bernie is tuned in to the People.

July 27, 2015

As Far Away As London, They are 'Feeling the Bern'!

The WORLD needs new leadership in this country.

Sometimes other nations know more about our government than Americans.

Because what happens here has adversely affected not just Americans, but other parts of the world.

Go Bernie!

July 22, 2015

A Question Hillary is Going to be Asked since her Campaign raised it in the First Place:

Maybe before you start slamming Civil Rights activists with demeaning comments like 'who cares what he did 50 years ago' you should consider the fact that maybe a LOT OF PEOPLE care and they might then want to know what YOU were doing at that same time.

I know that was the first question that occurred to me when I saw people dismissing the Civil Rights Movement: 'Hillary was there back then too, what was she doing'?

And yet another popular AA rapper, author, composer with over one million followers #FeelingTheBern!

I don't know, what I read here at DU sometimes seems like we are on another planet here.

Meantime, the world out there is just moving along, oblivious to all the 'concerns' here.

July 21, 2015

'A Moment of Shame' ~ Bernie V Hillary on the DLC/Republican 'Welfare Reform Bill'

In 1996 in what Marian Wright Edelman called a 'A Moment of Shame', Bill Clinton signed into law, what many predicted would plummet, mostly Minority Women and Children, into poverty.

It was the dream legislation of the right wing 'Pull Yourselves Up By Your Bootstraps' crowd, who for years were the proponents of the mythical, but without a doubt Racist, 'Welfare Queen' imagery of single minority women, pushed and promoted relentlessly, until finally, they got their way in one of those now sadly familiar Bi-Partisan efforts against the poor and minorities.

A Republican Bill Signed By A Democratic President.

Edelman's husband, Peter, then Clinton's Asst Secretary of Health & Human Svces, resigned from the Clinton Administration in protest after the bill was signed.

The DLC and Republican policies on Social Programs are so similar it's hard to tell the difference. And that is a huge issue that needs to be addressed as the results of these policies combined with DLC/Third Way economic policies, see Deregulation and the Economic Collapse, but that's for another OP, become the reality for the poor and especially for minorities, that was predicted by those who opposed them.

Fast forward to the 2016 Presidential Campaign where we have two candidates for the Democratic Nomination who were present when that Bill was passed.

Where did they stand then?

Bernie Sanders voted against it.

Of course he did because Bernie Sanders has always stood up for the poor and disenfranchised, for Civil Rights and for the most vulnerable members of this society.

But what of Hillary Clinton? She SAYS she is for the poor, for minorities, for children etc, but what does her record say?

Hillary Clinton, First Lady at the time FULLY SUPPORTED her husband's Welfare Reform Bill. (she uses her time as First Lady as part of her resume so we must look at that to see where she was on these issues)

We know the poverty statistics of children in this country SINCE the passage of that Bill. We know the economic situation of Single Mothers and their children, in particular Minority mothers and children.

But that was 20 years ago. And we know that Hillary's record shows her constantly having to reverse her position on some pretty major issues, issues that affected the lives of millions of people.

So, where does Bernie Sanders stand on that Welfare Reform Bill now?

Exactly where he stood when he voted against it, BECAUSE HE WAS RIGHT showing the amazing foresight and good judgement he displayed over and over again.

And where does Hillary Clinton stand on the bill she once supported so strongly?

Well, it's hard to say. But here is what she herself said in 2003:

Will Hillary Run Against Her Husband's Welfare Legacy?

Note the 'Pull Up Your Bootstraps, Poor People' lingo there!!

The latest we have on where she stands now is from 2008 when she ran for the WH.

When asked if she had any second thoughts about her husband's Welfare Reform Legislation, which she fully supported, she stressed that she did not:

Hillary Clinton Wants to Help Families at the Bottom. So Will She Change Her Mind About Welfare Reform?



Bernie, RIGHT on the issues, fighting for the poor and minorities, using his position in Congress to VOTE AGAINST Legislation he had the foresight to see would be harmful to Minorities and to children.

Hillary, wrong on an issue that has greatly harmed untold numbers of minorities economically, still wrong in 2003, still wrong in 2008.

We'll have to wait and see if she no longer views those on the Left, as she more or less said at the time as 'naive' and 'purist' on issues like Welfare.

Or will she finally acknowledge, that maybe it was SHE who was wrong?

Bernie never worried about how things would look 'politically'. He voted for what was RIGHT.

Hillary, we know, due to her own words, makes and has made decisions for political purposes.

From the Bloomberg link above:



And she was wrong.

And they were right.

When people are entrusted with great power by the people, they should do all in their power to do what is right for the people, regardless of politics. Politics should never enter into a decisions as important as that one was.

And this is yet another reason why I support Bernie Sanders. Because over and over again when decisions had to be made, Bernie Sanders consistently made the right decision.

Bernie, right on the issues ....

Hillary, not so much ....

The only way to judge a candidate who is asking for the highest office in the land, is to study their records on the issues.

All the rest is noise which will be gone once the election is over.

July 20, 2015

I felt strange rec'g this thread, but then I always rec your threads Manny so

it's just a habit.

I didn't see this thread until this morning, and didn't quite know what to say so I guess all I can say is, thank you, and return the compliment.

I didn't know that three of my OPs were on the FP either, still don't know what the third one was. So thanks for telling me.

And btw, now YOU have TWO OPs on the Greatest Page! Lol! Good for you!

July 19, 2015

Memo to my Fellow Bernie Supporters!

First, I know you all know this, but I just like saying it because it is the truth.

We have an AMAZING candidate, someone that we can TRUST when he talks about what he will do when he wins this election.

We KNOW this because of his long, long record that proves, this is not the usual Politician telling voters what they want to hear during a campaign.

This is someone who has the BEST RECORD of ANYONE in this Campaign on:

CIVIL RIGHTS (check out his long history on this and his voting record, simply indisputable)

WALL ST CORRUPTION (see his voting record on this)

WOMEN'S RIGHTS (again, see his record on this and his voting record)

WAR (check for yourselves, I know you have already but it makes you wish we had had more of him when those votes were so critical)

CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS (so few stood up when the draconian Patriot Act came up for a vote, but Bernie was there again, among the few, doing the unpopular but the RIGHT thing when it was needed.

THE ENVIRONMENT (his long record on fighting for the environment is one of the best in Congress)

LABOR (need I go into detail on this issue? There's a reason why he has always had the support of Unions to keep him in office and just got the endorsement of the VT Teachers' Union)

Read his speeches and listen to them and see the consistency of his record going back throughout his entire career.


There is so much more for us to look at when choosing who we want as a leader for this country, FAR MORE than ANY OTHER CANDIDATE in this race.

So why, you may be asking, is there a single Democrat trying to derail, though failing spectacularly, his campaign?

Every other candidate in this campaign is compromised by taking Corporate Money.

Bernie has refused to be beholden to Big Money Donors and Special Interests.

THAT IS A DIRECT THREAT TO THOSE who have a vested interest in buying our candidates.

Free from the chains of corporate money, he is free to tell the truth.


You have noticed I am sure, one of the most persistent and FALSE Rovian Talking Points aimed at Bernie.

Money is spent on this kind of negative campaigning so when they think they've dome up with something, naturally they are going to keep on trying to make it stick.

But here's why Bernie and his growing number of supporters do not have to worry one bit about these feeble efforts we have been watching.

YOU CANNOT TURN THE TRUTH INTO A LIE!

The Fact is Bernie Sanders has the BEST and LONGEST Record on Civil Rights of anyone in this campaign, and no amount of repetition of the lie is going to change that.

So USE it, if corporate money is going to be spent on negative campaigning, we should take advantage of it.

SHOW those you are talking to about Bernie in order to sign them up for his campaign, examples of what his opponents are focusing on.

Let them see what passes for campaigns among corporate funded candidates. Money is corrupting our entire system and it's a big issue for voters in this campaign. So show them examples of what that money is buying.

SHOW voters 'this is what his opponents are doing', and then show them what Bernie is doing and I can tell you, it is amazing how it works to draw that contrast between him and those who spend their time NOT talking about issues, but trying to get people to believe a lie hoping that is going to help their candidate.

PEOPLE WANT TO TALK ABOUT ISSUES!

Bernie continues to soar among the people because that is what he does.

And the TRUTH cannot be turned into a LIE no matter how hard someone tries to do.

THANK YOU Bernie, for being so honest, for refusing to engage in negative campaigning, for sticking to the issues that matter to the people.

Just wanted to say how proud I am to have a candidate like this.



It is so very refreshing to have such a candidate in this race!

July 19, 2015

Liberals Roar As Bernie Sanders Joins Elizabeth Warren On Bill To Reinstate Glass Steagall

Liberals Roar As Bernie Sanders Joins Elizabeth Warren On Bill To Reinstate Glass Steagall

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From Jason Easly at Politicususa:



Bernie was RIGHT then and he and Warren are right now. Let's hope all Dems will join Warren and Bernie to get this done.

He has been right on almost every important issue over the past decades and didn't need to look at polls to decide how to vote on this issues. He voted as he did, no matter how unpopular it may have been at the time, because it was the RIGHT thing to do.

Leaders need to have that kind of good judgement and the courage to act on it.

Bernie will be a great president! Someone who will always do what is best for the PEOPLE.

July 19, 2015

Bernie Sanders Largerst Turnout Yet in Phoenix! Reports say 11,000!

Will post more photos as they come in!

#FeelTheBern

July 19, 2015

When Hillary Clinton Gave a Talk at a Black Church and Insulted BLM

Recently, shortly after the tragic terror attack that killed 9 wonderful AAs in Charleston, Hillary went to speak at a Black Church not too far from the tragedy.

After speaking about racism, poverty etc, she spoke about her mother's struggles as a young woman when she says, she asked her mom how she dealt with her challenges. Her mom, Hillary stated, told her that 'all lives matter'.

No sooner had she used that phrase than the Internet exploded with reaction from AAs who accused her of being insensitive, unaware, and 'just trying to get our votes' which they stated was clear when she refused to use the phrase BlackLivesMatter alone, without 'qualification'.

Some of the comments on blogs and on Social Media were very explicit, accusing Clinton of 'pandering' for 'our votes' without 'having a clue' what the needs of the AA actually were. Many of the commenters expressed an interest in Bernie Sanders who has a long history of fighting for Civil Rights for AAs and for Economic justice.

Clearly Hillary had 'stepped in it bigtime' according to those who were outraged by her use of the three letter phrase.

Airc at the time, Sanders was asked to condemn Hillary's speech. Being the decent person he is, he refused to do so.

'She won't get my vote' 'I'm looking at Bernie Sanders' became familiar comments after that speech.

So is it any wonder that if her campaign was made aware of the planned 'demonstration' at Netroots Nation that Hillary decided to not to show up???

Netroots Nation, which was started by Kos from DK, changing its name after many controversies erupted re Kos himself and his founding partner, has never been the 'Liberal' forum it is touted to be.

Bernie is a real threat right now to the Status Quo, so we can expect a lot more of this kind of dirty trick.

But some of us were around when some very disturbing exposures of the founders of what is now known as Netroots Nation started this event.

And we are not at all surprised at ANYTHING that happened today.

Go Bernie, first they ignore you, then they mock you, and then, when you clearly are making a dent in the status quo, the ATTACK YOU!

And then YOU WIN.

I was a witness to the founding of what is called Netroots Nation AND to many of the disturbing facts surrounding the founders of DK itself. So unlike others, today's events were no surprise to me and the thousands of other Liberal Dems who witnessed what I witnessed also.

I hope this political dirty trick will now renew calls for transparency on who these people really are. WE know a lot, but not enough, thanks to one AA Lawyer who went on a mission to expose the facts AFTER he was banned from that supposed Liberal Blog.

And yes, I can back up everything I am saying here and MORE.

But my main goal is to acknowledge that a lot of money is going to be spent to try to stop Bernie Sanders, AND O'Malley should he too become a threat to the status quo.

And it's up to us to not allow that to happen.

Go Bernie!