2w ago

Democrats Appear Paralyzed. Bernie Sanders Is Not.

jacobin.com Democrats Appear Paralyzed. Bernie Sanders Is Not.

Since Donald Trump’s election, his opposition party hasn’t acted much like one. The same cannot be said of Bernie Sanders, who hit the road this weekend in red states in an effort to stoke pushback to Trump’s slash-and-burn plutocratic governance.

“Trumpism is not going to be defeated by inside-the-Beltway politicians,” he said.

News @lemmy.world

Democrats Appear Paralyzed. Bernie Sanders Is Not.

jacobin.com /2025/02/trump-democrats-opposition-bernie-sanders

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politics @lemmy.world

Democrats Appear Paralyzed. Bernie Sanders Is Not.

jacobin.com /2025/02/trump-democrats-opposition-bernie-sanders

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124 comments

People like AOC and Sanders that are going around to different states and online, explaining to people how to stand up and resist, how to say: "this is not normal, but it is also not the time to feel helpless and defeated", should be emulated by the entire Democratic party.
- AOC is definitely doing what you've said. But while some of what Sanders is doing is that, I think the important difference is that he's actually going around to people who have historically disagreed with him and saying, "This is how the people you voted for are betraying that vote. We need to work together to stop them." We need both from the DNC, especially depending on their constituents.
  
  But I was told that the Harris campaign trying to court traditionally Republican voters was a mistake.
- LOL

Bernie is a great speaker. He’s very direct and speaks plainly. It’s effective.
- I love Bernie, but he isn’t effective… hopefully this time he will be, but I don’t see anything he says being shared online
  
  He's one person, you can't change the system without the people being on your side. After the Watergate scandal, and subsequent ~~Regan~~ Nixon resignation and evisceration in the media, fox News showed up.
  Between Fox News and all the other misinformation floating around today, the landscape is much different than when people like Martin Luther King Jr. were involved in the civil rights movement.
  Basically, it's easy to lie and sling mud, but much harder to fight with facts when the internet can spread lies at a blistering speed around the world through social media.
  
  You're seeing it right now. That's what we're doing here
  
  He won over a crowd of Fox "News" fans.

Could have had two terms of this guy now
- Two terms with him not looking for a 3rd...
  
  Or he wouldve been so wonderful, the people pushed to have him for a third. Roosevelt stayed in so long so we're not opposed to keeping someone for more then two terms.

Bernie is right; politics needs to focus on the socioeconomic ("tangible") difference for the people. Generating income for the people is what's important.
- He gives us focus on a problem so we can focus on the solutions. This is what populism is supposed to be, someone uniting us under one call to action, one message, and we all link arms and say with one voice that we want a better world.
  The problem: wealthy robber-barons have taken over the country and rampant capitalism is undermining literally everything about our society and won't rest until there's nothing left to extract from a population.
  The solution: https://guillotine.dk/pages/drawings1792.html
  edit: the single, stinging downvote reminded me that even mocking threats against our oppressors isn't "civil" and that if we really want to actually benefit from the wealth we generate for others, we should just sit down, shut up and appreciate the fact that literally everything is going to be a paid-subscription model designed to make sure you don't keep a dime of your own work and effort. I promise I will be a better servant for the landowners and just work the fields like a good serf.
- Didn’t Trump win because of “the price of eggs”? Seems to me that people are struggling and voting for whatever they think may help them, so there is probably a huge group of people who could be swayed by Bernie, right? One can hope lol

My, my! It's good to see so many younger Americans ripping on an 83 year old man who has lived his socialist beliefs since high school, regardless of cost. Bernie has been outvoted, dragged, beaten, arrested, and then gone right back out to the front lines and done it all again: what, pray, are you doing , now, when it is needed, to compare? Aside, I mean, from waving your keyboard at the big, bad socialist who is at least still out there trying to push the stone up the hill once more, because it's what he can still do?
I thought the fascists were the problem.

Someone needs to take a page outta VP trumps book and start dog shitting on how bad hes making it for the every day person. Direct the hate those people have to the ones fucking us all and a revolution will happen. Itll be an uphill battle for sure, but the big trumpers are small minded and once they are negatively affected and are given a new target, they'll jump at it if you can convince them they'll benefit.
Edit: forgot the word 'it', oops.
- There needs to be a voice organizing this! Bernie would be great, however i dont think he has it in him to be like that. Thats why AOC (Alexandria Ocasio Cortez) needs to become a firebrand and galvanize any forward thinking person to push for change and not to accept anything less than better.
  No more lesser of the two evils. We need to become better than we are.
  
  A giant "fuck you" to every movie and TV show that's had a character based on/inspired by/parodying AOC and keep putting that character up against the protagonists in some way
  Is she a perfect politician? No, and I wouldn't trust anyone who came across as a perfect politician. But it definitely feels like she's intentionally being at best turned into comic relief and at worst villainized at every opportunity

We really need to start developing ways to primary the hell out of any of the democrats in Washington who continue to do nothing, or rather who are actively being passive because all they care about is the rich donor money. If they started feeling the heat from the chance they could lose their position to a challenger they’d start to change their tune.

There’s some people who just hate on Bernie regardless of what he says or does. He if makes no comment in this time of authoritarianism, you’ll say he’s useless. If he does speeches like he’s doing, you’ll say he’s useless- as many comments here currently reflect. He typically says things that have a moral core or decency to them. He’s of course not perfect. He also has to politically function within a broken two party bullshit system which, unless there’s a significant change to how it functions, limits how he can try to enact laws. But to many here he’s clearly damned if he does and doesn’t. I’ve read through all of the comments here so far and none of the people critiquing Bernie have offered up a tangible suggestion for what Bernie should be doing instead, rather just pointing out how ineffective they feel Bernie is. Bernie made a huge national culture shift to the left through his historic runs for president. He was stifled by the DNC and ultimately lost, but the enduring left of center message continues in many politicians running in the country on the Democratic side. I am not defending the Democrats as a party at all, but I’d argue Bernie successfully used the Dems to get his message across during his presidential runs, and now as an Independent continues to have a platform for left of center messages. Whether he’s sufficiently left enough or effective enough is the eternally tired debate with some on the left who, besides shitting on Bernie, don’t themselves offer solutions.
- none of the people critiquing Bernie have offered up a tangible suggestion for what Bernie should be doing instead, rather just pointing out how ineffective they feel Bernie is.
  People reacting to activism, in a nutshell.
  
  Defense mechanism
  That way they feel less bad about doing nothing themselves
- This reply is exactly my point. And…? So he’s not sufficiently left and/or effective enough for you. What is the solution? It’s easy to dump on others, and a hell of a lot harder to actually produce answers. I’ll also add that there’s a lot on the left who propose pie in the sky answers that resemble little in the way of constructive, real world, “how does this get done in real life” type answers. I’m on the left, too. I’m all for solutions. Let’s hear them. I’m beyond “Bernie is a shill” and “Bernie is useless”. Let’s hear your genius plan then for how to better this country. Be constructive.
- He's less than useless. His moment passed. He had two chances. The first time, him and his supporters failed to see the lengths that the Democrats would go to to subvert his candidacy. Cool. I get it. It's understandable when building ground support and frankness and sincerity are the essence of what guides your success.
  But then they failed to adjust to that reality in the interim and leverage that for a successful 2020 run. I can't imagine being owned so hard by the DNC and then just falling into line. Not just once from 2016-2020 but again from 2020-2024. His time came and went twice.
  I don't give a shit if he's left or not. He's politically feeble. The left may not be dead, but it's worse off than basically everyone else including the Dems. And in no small part due to the strategic decisions of the Bernie campaign and the left's decisions to fuel it.
  
  It is super easy to say Bernie is useless and then offer zero solutions yourself. I genuinely ask- who’s out there doing it better? What should he and others be doing instead? The left needs constructive organizing, not negative take downs with no counter points or real world solutions as alternatives.

I heard them described as 'Limp Dick Democrats' today.
And that's pretty fitting.
- Yes, when you equate it to a fear that men understand, then you get the “ah” moments of enlightenment

Some are getting enthusiastic, but if you look at the past decades: one realizes that it’s the same small group/ type of people being motivated and excited again and again, with zero effect seen years later.
The federal government and many states are not democracies; any strategy that assumes this will not work. Any movement that will not fix bad voting systems will fail.
- Some are getting enthusiastic, but if you look at the past decades: one realizes that it’s the same small group/ type of people being motivated and excited again and again, with zero effect seen years later.
  Big changes that become extremely popular and supported by the public and are largely looked back on by future generations as positive or even necessary are often instigated and initiated by small groups of passionate people who are genuine in their desire for a better world.
  Do not underestimate the power of small groups of passionate people who want to make the world a better kinder place. You can't bribe these people, you can't distract these people, you can't silence these people, you have to jail and kill every single last one to stop them from agitating the shit out of the general population to get normal people to fight for better treatment for themselves and others. Every single one of these people is from the perspective of an authoritarian dictator a nightmare to deal with since like a catastrophically deadly virus, it only takes one of these people spreading the contagion uncontrolled and unnoticed to tear the body apart.
  The federal government and many states are not democracies; any strategy that assumes this will not work. Any movement that will not fix bad voting systems will fail.
  Agreed, I don't mean to downplay the gravity of this situation, but on the other hand I think many people are comfortably past the point of needing to hold on to the structures that define the status quo. Government does not exist once the majority of people stop believing in it a basic level. Violence and control still exist, and they yet may win the day, but no matter what happens in the realm of physical bodies struggling against other physical bodies in the realm of ideas they have already lost and that means that no arrangement of threats or violent systems of control will truly ever be stable.
  I take hope in that.
  
  are often instigated and initiated by small groups of passionate people who are genuine in their desire for a better world.
  These people have either a working democratic system already, a plan to force that to change, or the ability for organized violence.
  The main problem with this sort of movement, and indeed most of the liberal USA online political community is that none of those apply.

Thats because he is an antifascists while most Democrats are not.

Bernie cooking as usual

It is good to see Bernie out there active. The only issue is where does this all go? Harris lost and no leadership changes has been made. Dems are actively throwing their hands up saying they can't do anything.
- The only issue is where does this all go?
  I can only hope to people not looking to the DNC for answers and we break their duopoly with some sort of working class / labor party.
- Bernie lines up all the people who thought of leaving the Democrats and prevents them from organizing around an alternative.
  Then when the next election comes Bernie tells them to unconditionally vote Democrat because they have no other choice.
  Pied Piper Sanders.
  
  So then we vote in the next milqtoast neolib who doesn't meaningfully improve things in enough time to stop people from voting R again?
  We need a leftist party and as long as the Neolibs are in control of the Democrats they will never allow that to happen.

Most of them are totally fine with most everything that's happening. They have all the tools to keep their stock portfolios stacked, they never cared about poors, and they get to campaign on "omg look how awful." They're gonna whine performatively and not do a damn thing to actually stop a single thing. If they had half a collective spine and a fractuon the moral fortitude Bernie does, we never would have gotten here to begin with.

Bernie Sanders needs to start a leftist party

well that is Bernie's role.
Act the part full of piss and vinegar and eventually tell you to vote for the fimal corporate dem.
- Don’t get mad at Bernie because the people won’t act. He can say the most correct, moral and ethical things imaginable; it doesn’t mean shit until people stand up and fight for it.
  And since we’re considering roles, what’s yours? To piss on any and every semblance of progress because it doesn’t meet your exact moral criteria? lol
  
  Bernie did not have to capitulate. But he did.

It's just SSDD for Bernie

The perma stun proceeds as planned

He's also an 83 year old white man, and we learned with Biden that the democrats don't like that.
- I don't think he has a huge base of people asking him to run for president again. Even being a Bernie bro, I know his chance for that passed back in 2020. Hopefully, we as a society will be ready for the next person who takes up the fight.
  
  Between the two, I like Sanders more...but I want to see AOC on the ballot, not him. And I won't pretend it's not ageism - I am so tired of old people running the country.
  If AOC was president, Sanders would surely get an important role and continue to do great work. The presidency is a LOT of work, it ages you fast.
- If you can't see the cognitive differences between these two then... You might be Joe Biden.
  
  Yeah, but where will he be in 4 years? Age only goes one way.
- Age is just one of so many things the DNC needs to focus and do better on when running candidates.
- Oh look. Age suddenly matters again now that we're talking about an old progressive.
  
  Biden won because he wasn't progressive in the slightest. It's a sad truth.

Come on, he's almost gone. I admire him, but it's sad to watch.

Hate being that guy, but going to be anyway- as much as I like Bernie, he always seems to talk a lot and yet, never manages to do anything. It’s always, “Bernie doesn’t like this thing,” or “Bernie had stern words for this person,” but nothing ever happens from it.
He’s like if Anonymous was a government employee.
- This is more accurately a right wing talking point about Bernie. A quick search will turn up many articles such as this one from the 2016 elections. One thing to keep in mind is that he doesn't introduce as many bills as some of his peers, but has had great success in passing amendments to bills.
  Perfect? No. Unaccomplished? Absolutely no.
  
  I wasn’t trying to say he’s unaccomplished. Not at all. But the news always likes to prop him up as the one true savior, and nothing ever comes from it.

Bernie has been mobilized to do what he always does: re-direct activist energy into the Democratic Party so they can snuff it out (and bring in donations).
He is actively working against progress, while pretending to work for it.
- This dude is 100% right.
  It may not be why Bernie does it but it's why they allow him to exist. He is a pressure release valve so people angry enough to do something can follow him instead of Luigi.
  Then, when the primaries are rigged against him the DNC leadership can say look, you lost fair and square! voters don't want progress and continue serving the rich.
  Meanwhile, liberals, progressives, leftists, and everything not pro fascists blame each other for losing an election that was stolen.
  https://electiontruthalliance.org/clark-county%2C-nv
  https://www.kkoh.com/2025/01/21/nv-sos-launches-investigations-into-election-fraud/
  Around 3/4ths of theft in this country is wage theft by corporations that will never be punished. They steal trillions from us while we would be jailed for a loaf of bread in some jurisdictions.
  Inflation paired with wage suppression is class warfare in a battle of attrition. Liberals that refuse to raise taxes on corporations or wages for workers just legitimize exploitation.
- Ascribing malice to Bernie is a very dubious (read: wrong) claim, but unfortunately in terms of results that's basically what's happening. Working within the two-party system is never going to produce material results.
  
  the problem with ascribing ignorance over malice is that for all intents and purposes when it comes to politics, the effects are still the same
  
  Then you should look up footage of how Bernie treats people to his left, and attacks activists for asking him why he’s not keeping his promises.

124 comments