Seeking Betrayal

Published by

Clarissa

January 14, 2016

A brilliant comment on the differences between Bernie and Hillary:

Sanders, right now, is riding a wave of unrealistic expectations. People want him to come in and “fix everything”—though without a clear explanation of what precisely is broken, and how it can be fixed. When I look at America, I see a country that’s done pretty dang well, except for the glaring problems of median wage stagnation and income inequality.

This is so true. People have a fantasy that a kindly white-haired Santa will bring them a huge sack of gifts and make the complex and scary world look simple and manageable. They know it’s a silly fantasy that will be disappointed:

If Sanders is nominated, I’m not sure whether or not he can withstand the harshness of the general election. But I expect his presidency would be a disappointment, because the expectations are so unrealistic. He won’t fix everything. He’ll have to compromise. He’ll have to ignore promises, or break them. And it will be a betrayal to his supporters. It’s a recipe for gridlock, or a GOP win in 2020, or both.

I suspect that the goal of Bernie’s supporters is precisely to get disappointed. They want to feel apocalyptic, dramatic and betrayed and are setting themselves for a fresh supply of this entertainment. And that’s a sign that, basically, they are OK with everything and opt for fun and enjoyment over any actual change.

Rate this:

10 responses to “Seeking Betrayal”

David P. Bellamy

January 14, 2016

“I suspect that the goal of Bernie’s supporters is precisely to get disappointed. They want to feel apocalyptic, dramatic and betrayed and are setting themselves for a fresh supply of this entertainment”

This is not true at all. If that were my motivation, I would support the candidate I really agree with. Bernie is a compromise for me, but I support him because I think he can accomplish at least some of what he wants to accomplish.

I am being pragmatic and giving up my ideology to do this; I really believe the Green Party is the one with the best ideas, by far.

A friend of mine once said: “It is better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don’t want, and get it.” I admit to feeling that I am betraying this principle, but the hope that Sanders can accomplish some important things is too strong in this case.

I did not vote for President Obama when he first ran for President; I voted Green, since Obama was too far Right politically for my sensibilities.

LikeLike

Reply
1. Dreidel
  
  January 14, 2016
  
  For better or worse, third-party Presidential parties will NEVER elect a U.S. President under our rigid two-party system with its mostly winner-take-all electoral votes structure. It would take a constitutional amendment to change that to a popular-vote system, and the smaller states will never vote to allow that.
  
  I believe that this (our present system) is for the “better,” because it keeps the loonies on both sides of the U.S. political spectrum far away from the national halls of power.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
  1. David P. Bellamy
    
    January 14, 2016
    
    Voting for a third party candidate is a long term strategic play (decades long) which looks to a time when one of the current parties fizzles and we still have a two party system, but they are two different parties from the ones today.
    
    LikeLike
    
    Reply
2. Clarissa
  
  January 14, 2016
  
  David: I know that you are exceptionally unapocalyptic, so this was not about you. However, the strain of apocalyptic thinking in the US is very very strong and knows no partisan divide. ISIS is “an existential threat”, “We need to get our country back”, “New York is about to slide underwater”, “millions of Americans are starving” – this all sounds very overwrought and meaningless but people don’t seem to get enough of it.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
Barbara

January 14, 2016

Well, how effective has Bernie been as a senator? Did he introduce lots of bills that made it into law? I don’t know but my impression is the answer is, Not really. If you can’t convince your fellow legislators to go along with you, are you going to be better able to convince them if you are president?

Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of affection and respect for Bernie. He is undoubtedly the presidential candidate of all the candidates of all the years I have been aware of candidates that I agree with the most.

But at this point, I am getting worried that he won’t step aside in a manner that helps the other, less attractive to me but much more likely to be effective as head of the executive branch, candidate succeed.

LikeLike

Reply
1. Clarissa
  
  January 14, 2016
  
  I agree completely. There’s nothing for me to add because this is exactly what my position is.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
2. Shakti
  
  January 14, 2016
  
  Well, how effective has Bernie been as a senator? Did he introduce lots of bills that made it into law? I don’t know but my impression is the answer is, Not really. If you can’t convince your fellow legislators to go along with you, are you going to be better able to convince them if you are president?
  
  By this standard, Cruz is even worse because his fellow legislators hate him as a person and he has a party caucus to work with that has a majority in both houses of Congress.
  
  Trump would also be poor because he really doesn’t know how to deal with people as equals. He’s never really been in that position.
  
  Per Congress.org, laws and resolutions that were sponsored or cosponsored by people during their entire time in Congress:
  Hillary 75 laws, Bernie 205, Cruz 5, Rubio 19.
  
  Honestly, my impression is that Sanders didn’t go for obvious and effective attacks on Clinton at all, and he tried absolutely to present an air of collegiality. So, I’m not worried about him stepping aside. No Democratic president is going to be effective (pass laws) in Congress without some kind of majority. If the Republicans control even one branch of Congress, the best that can be hoped for is gridlock.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
  1. Clarissa
    
    January 14, 2016
    
    Hillary is a real candidate who has a shot at winning. And Bernie is a fantasy candidate who doesn’t. Every Republican in the country is dreaming about Bernie winning the nomination because that would turn a hopeless ,for them, election into a certain win.
    
    LikeLike
    
    Reply
    1. Shakti
      
      January 14, 2016
      
      Oh, I agree that Hillary has a much better chance than Bernie and is more “electable”. The word “socialism” scares the horses and Bernie really doesn’t want to deal with foreign policy as it bores him.
      I’m just arguing against “look at how many laws I cosponsored” and “people can’t get anything done” as some kind of reason. Bernie has no party base behind him and simply caucuses with the Democrats. The people who’d vote for Bernie in the primaries are either independents or not super active voters. In most states you have to be a registered member of the party to vote so I just don’t see him winning the nomination.
      
      LikeLike
      
      Reply
      1. Clarissa
        
        January 14, 2016
        
        I just want all this nonsense to end and for everybody to concentrate on getting Hillary into the White House. With both houses in the hands of Republicans plus so many Republican governorships, also to have a Republican president will be an unmitigated disaster.
        
        LikeLike
        
        Reply