Endorsement: Bernie Sanders for Democratic Nominee

As longtime readers know, I am a life-long Democrat.  The part of the party to which I was attached was the oldest part, but it has largely ceased to exist in the current generation.  It was Jefferson's part, in other words, and Jackson's; lately it was Sam Nunn's and Zell Miller's.  Jim Webb (war hero Marine, former Senator, former Secretary of the Navy, former Assistant Secretary of Defense, diplomat, scholar, author) made a run at the nomination in 2016 and failed, to the sorrow of the nation whether it knows it or not. His departure from the field led us into the contest in which our options were Clinton and, well, you know the rest.

At this time the Democratic contest has narrowed to Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, with the other candidates seeming to be also-rans.  I could hardly agree less with Bernie Sanders on public policy or political philosophy.  Nevertheless, he is the better man.

He is the better man because he is a man of his convictions; Biden, as far as I can tell, has no lasting ones.  Bernie was arrested with the Civil Rights marchers in the 1960s, visited with the Soviets on his honeymoon, and has been a self-declared Socialist since the era when most Americans viewed that as a synonym for both "Communist" and "Satanist."  Bernie really believes what he claims to believe.

You may not be impressed by his convictions insofar as you think that the convictions are bad, since it will reliably mean that he will attempt bad things.  That is a strategic error.  Even if you are unalterably opposed to his convictions, an enemy of conviction is to be preferred.  A man of conviction can be predicted; on the principle of 'know thy enemy as thyself,' per Sun Tzu, he is the better choice of an opponent.

But also, he is the better man because he does not seem to despise anyone.  Jim Webb and he became friends, and supported each other at the first debate in 2016.  Bernie took fire in that debate and elsewhere for being willing to avoid gun control; he said, rightly, that coming from Vermont he had to respect the wishes of the rural population.  That sentiment will serve him and the nation well should he happen to be elected.

Finally, he is the right man to lead the Democratic field in 2020 because he is the purest advocate for their animating vision.  They need to know now whether or not that vision can in fact take root in America; we all need to know it.  The answer to that question will determine a very great deal of future history.

For all of these reasons, then, I endorse Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary. 

16 comments:

raven said...

Certainly his nomination would restore clarity. His clan seems to want me dead. Focus is fine. My family spent a lot of years fighting communists. He never pretended to be anything but a communist. So be it.

Anonymous said...

I can't fault your logic. He also clearly supports the part where the connected become rich through means unavailable to other comrades.

-Stc Michael

douglas said...

Well, when Grim decides 'burn it down' (what's left of the Democrat party)is the path he must take, things have gotten pretty dire.

I hadn't really thought about it before, Raven, but my family has as well (my grandfather was a Nationalist in China). As you say, so be it.

Anonymous said...

But also, he is the better man because he does not seem to despise anyone.

For the last 50 years, Bernie Sanders has defended Latin American despots. When it comes to Latin America, Bernie Sanders knows a lot less than he believes he knows. At the same time, Bernie has often condescended to those who disagree with his support of said despots- calling them ignorant, for example.

I, for one, am not pleased at someone who calls me ignorant when he knows a lot less about the subject than I do. Which would also make him pretentious, as he doesn't know Jack about Latin America,
Maybe ignorant, condescending- and pretentious Bernie doesn't despise me for disagreeing with him on Latin America. But I despise him for his condescending, ignorant, pretentious preaching preaching on Latin America.

I could see Bernie as the Demo candidate, in the hope that Trump would wipe the floor with him. Like you say, better to have it all out and run the commie.

Gringo said...

That was my comment.

MikeD said...

He's a scoundrel, no doubt. But at least he's an honest scoundrel.

raven said...

In terms of damage control,
Figure who , Biden or Sanders , is Lewis's moralizing busybody meddler, and which is the ruthless robber baron.

Ben Wyman said...

My father-in-law was a lifelong Democrat. A very decent man. A Roosevelt Democrat, maybe, but he hung on in Massachusetts not only through Kennedy but through Studds, and Barney Frank as well. A devout Catholic , and I wondered over his last decade whether there was anything that could turn him from the Democrats. I decided that no, there wasn't. His emotional attachment that the Democrats were ultimately "for the little guy" and the /Republicans were not proved impermeable to any facts, in the end.

Even the tail-end, last-gasp Democrats you hoped for are gone these many years. The Republicans, including the Trumpsters in general, are typical corrupt grifters, narcissists, and used-car salesmen. (Actually, used-car sales is a decent profession, which only incidentally has corrupt individuals. I apologise.) You are no longer a Democrat of any sort, you are undeclared. Embrace it. You will find that not taking sides is the only position of power left.

I agree that Sanders uis at least a true believer. That is something. But it's not enough. Elections are about what is good for the district/state/country over the next few years, nothing more. In the first 50 years of the Republic people switched allegiances every fews years as they sorted things out, ewhile generally being loyal to their core principles. We are back in that mode again .

I'm not an anything today, and glad of it. Come to the Dark Side. We have cookies.

Grim said...

I don’t want cookies. If the party cannot be saved, perhaps the Constitutional vision can; and if not even that, then perhaps liberty can. At least in the hills, where men have rifles.

Or perhaps it can be made new. We should think on it.

ymarsakar said...

I think people should be concerned about which path humanity will take, and how things can be saved. Things have gotten far bigger than just whether the Demoncrat party can be saved...

Maybe if Jackson comes back with Jesus, that may happen.

Knowing humanity, the Leftist alliance, Deep State Cabal, and Demoncrat party will have 2 torture stakes ready and able to get the cisgenders into some FEMA concentration camp full of IRS Lois Lerner enforcerers and interrogators.

That's usually how the story goes. Some elohim, angel, or spirit decides to come to Earth against all common sense advice, and finds a willing audience.... willing to watch them being burned alive that is by the local authorities. It is so predictable, that it is by now comical in the spiritual realms. They know that is what happens. Yet they still Descend.

And that is why physical manifestation of spirits and angels have decreased. Because of the folly of mankind. And because they got tired of people making service to self religions and states out of them.

Knowing what I know now, hating the Demoncrats or the demons or whatever, has now become meaningless. ALthough given my knowledge of Demoncrat shenanigans, nobody over there, including Sanders or Webb, gets a pass unless they can demonstrate against my personal standards, that they are clean.

I did get caught in a neat little propaganda trap though when they exposed the issue of Webb's novel. I thought that was rather non sensical, although I figured out the trick later on. More psionic and empathy filters and shields were needed against human propaganda operations. I was still quite unaware of the different skill disciplines back then.

As for the point Grim made, it is better to have a fanatic as an enemy than a puppet. That's because fanatics can be negotiated with, but puppets merely do as the Cabal tells them to do.

ymarsakar said...

Web wrote an article supporting John Kerry's contest against the Swiftboats.

Big example there.

Web's emotions at the time weren't particularly hot for Kerry, he saw it as a kind of duty or perhaps favor owed. Web's real emotions were negatively directed against Bush II for some reason.

Whether the Cabal interviewed him and decided he was too risky to use or not, I cannot say.

ymarsakar said...

Maybe ignorant, condescending- and pretentious Bernie doesn't despise me for disagreeing with him on Latin America. But I despise him for his condescending, ignorant, pretentious preaching preaching on Latin America.

To be fair, Gringo, Bernie would have to spend half a life time to match up to your Mensa quality IQ, as well as the boat loads of work you have done in research and analysis of facts. You can even pick up the research clues that I drop to synthesize relatively well informed results.

Against that, Bernie has little chance. He is merely a child, so treat them as such, even if legally and human standards wise, he is your so called equal.

"Equality" though, is not something I tolerate given the inequality of the spirit manifested through flesh.

ymarsakar said...

If the party cannot be saved, perhaps the Constitutional vision can; and if not even that, then perhaps liberty can. At least in the hills, where men have rifles.

It no longer matters. The old ways will die off and new and better ones will replace it.

The fate of humanity divided in 2012, and not for any particular reason or event. It divided because everyone's minds and thoughts and behaviors were tallied and quantum wave front locked to a reality of their choosing.

For those that want a zombie apoc and survival horror show, they will get it.

For those that want utopia, they will be tested further to see if they qualify.

Those that hope for the Kingdom of God may be granted admission, if not, they can at least wait outside the walls, free of the zombies.

Humanity's fate has already been decided and decreed. Not by demons, devils, spirits, or gods... but by a Democratic Direct Vote Tally of everyone, living or dead, baby or adult, crippled or vegetable. All have been assessed.

If it is the founding principles of this nation you long to preserve, Grim, then you must see it destroyed, for that is the very thing holding back the spirits of Jefferson and the Founding Fathers. Many volunteered to incarnate here to create a nation that is different from the old Earth corrupt history. But it in itself was a mere facsimile, Plato's cave, of the true spirit.

Grim said...

Yes, I know that. In the meantime I have only to navigate my duty.

Ben Wyman said...

That was AVI on my son's account down in Spring, TX. I'll be home tomorrow.

Grim said...

We will be glad to have you back.