Bernie Sanders: Hero Of The Ruling Class, A Greedy Thief Who Is Good At Plundering

Documented: Comments by dmarks (AKA Dennis Marks) regarding 2016 potus hopeful Bernie Sanders.

JULY 4, 2011 AT 4:02 PM. Negative.

Will: Bernie Sanders voted as if bin Laden had slipped him a check. We need less of that, not more. [In response to Willis Hart writing "Oh, and, just for the record, PL 107-40... the joint resolution for use of force in Afghanistan 9/14/2001... passed 98-0 on the Senate... its sponsor was Tom Daschle, btw... and 420-1 in the House... I think that the one NO vote was cast by your hero, - your hero's a politician, I still can't get over that - Bernie Sanders LOL"].

[Note: PL 107-40 was a "joint resolution to authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States. "Those responsible" was the language used because we had not yet decided that al Qaeda in Afghanistan was the responsible party. The resolution was NOT a "joint resolution for use of force in Afghanistan". Also, the no vote Willis refers to was made by Barbara Lee, not Bernie Sanders... See SWTD #244].

JULY 5, 2011 AT 2:42 AM. Negative.

Bernie Sanders is a hero of the ruling class, but not the ruled. He's a man for that segment of the population that gets a warm and fuzzy feeling when they hear "We're from the government, and we're here to help you". The folks who DON'T want to question authority. The folks who believe that absolute power does not corrupt absolutely.

JULY 5, 2011 AT 7:36 PM. Negative.

WD said "534 more Congresspersons just like Bernie Sanders = Heaven".

A lot more of us would be in Heaven now if there were more Sanders voting to let the terrorists have their way and to keep lauching more and more 9/11's with no consequences. That is exactly what Sanders was voting for. Thankfully every single other Congressman and Congresswoman gave a lot more thought to their vote than Sanders.

Rusty asked: "Who is Bernie Sanders?" He's a representative who consistely votes to take more and more power away from the people and concentrate it in the hands of those who rule us. As for Olbermann, he fell of a map and ended up on a failed cable TV network.

August 8, 2011 AT 10:30 AM. Negative.

Reality: The W tax cuts were mostly for the middle class. Not the rich. But anyway. As for Bernie Sanders, it's a shame he isn't home gardening instead of being in Washington. He's a hardline economic fascist, and can be counted on typically to vote in favor of the ruling elites and against the people. A 20-year younger would still be no more popular than Ron Paul: if you, like Paul, campaign in the interests of a tiny number of people, you will get the support of a tiny number of people.

As for Tom's main point toward the end: “If you jump-start this economy you won’t have to worry..."

I think with Obama what you see is what you get. I don't think it's likely he is going to make some big change, and he will probably just keep doing what he has been doing so far.

SEPTEMBER 4, 2011 AT 12:47 PM. Negative.

[Dervish Sanders said] "My dream presidential team would be Bernie Sanders/Dennis Kucinich".

That's also the dream team of all of the Republican candidates. Romney, Perry, etc would struggle against Obama, but Sanders/Kucinich would make these Republicans salivate over very sure prospects of an 80%+ landslide.

SEPTEMBER 4, 2011 AT 2:10 PM. Negative.

Also, Sarah Palin, Bachmann, and the most fringe Republicans vying for the party nomination don't have a chance against President Obama. But they would against your "Dream Ticket" one example of it. So go ahead, run your pair of joke candidates/spoilers. The GOP would thank you for it. And their own joke candidates would be much less of a joke against them.

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011 AT 8:55 AM. Negative.

WD asked: "dmarks, you are misunderstanding or misrepresenting what I said".

Neither. Any problems had to do with your own lack of clarity. You said: "My dream presidential team would be Bernie Sanders/Dennis Kucinich". "I ...they won a presidential election....I never said I thought they should run".

How else do you win a Presidential election but by running? I made no misunderstanding or misrepresentation. The assumption is always that to get to the Presidency, there's a dream "ticket" before the dream "team".

[Dervish Sanders said] "So you can shut the hell up about that now".

How mature of you.

[Dervish Sanders said] "Why would the American people be so much more willing to vote Republican crazy over Democratic crazy?"

No. They would easily choose the popular leader-of-the-pack non-crazies Republicans over the fringe crazies that you proposed as your dream ticker *cough* dream team. In a battle of crazies vs crazies (the hard fringes), it's anyone's guess as to which side would use. Both sides would have a fighting chance.

[Dervish Sanders said] "Europe, IMO, has proven that Democratic Socialism works".

Democracy works. Socialism (economic fascism) does make the trains run on time, but it is rather unjust. Mid 20th century Central Europe and Eastern Europe of most of the 20th century are typical results of socialism, not abberations. People who are too easily given to having the ruling elites make personal decisions for them (as in the case of single payer) have been proven historically much more likely to goose-step and work for Final Solution, 5-year plans, Great Leaps Forward, and other such atrocities. It all has to do with the mindset of "government always knows best", one which critical minds reject.

MAY 23, 2012 AT 10:22 AM. Negative.

Bernie Sanders, whose politics represent the interest of a tiny percent of Americans, would hardly get any votes if he ran for President. Sanders might have an initial burst of strength in the polls, but this would rapidly plummet down to the single digits of his base once people realize his first name isn't Harland and that voting for him wouldn't automatically mean free fried chicken.

MAY 24, 2012 AT 3:07 AM. Negative.

As someone who is wealthy and is one of those who rules, Sanders meets the definition of plutocrat. How could he be destroyed by himself? [Response to Dervish Sanders saying "I said Bernie Sanders would be an awesome president, not an awesome candidate. He'd be destroyed by the plutocrats and their fascist super PAC money"].

'Fascist' super pac? You [Dervish Sanders] use the word without regard to meaning. This example of free speech has nothing to do with strong centralized government... and if the super pacs end up speaking out against Sanders' efforts to concentrate and centralize power, they end up actually being anti-fascist.

JULY 15, 2012 AT 1:12 PM. Negative.

WD said: "Real world correction: Bernie Sanders supports economic policies that would benefit 99 percent of Americans. Whether or not they agree is another matter".

Whether or not they agree is the important thing here. These people know their own lives, not you. I trust them; and most of them do not agree with the "Occupy" movement and know that the economic policies they support are not in their interest.

RN said: "Other than that 'ole' Bernie should retire before he causes real damage to the 99%".

If he [Bernie Sanders] had his way, there would be great damage indeed.

JULY 16, 2012 AT 4:53 AM. Negative.

WD said: "The economic policies the Occupy movement supports ARE in their interest... in my opinion, of course, but unlike you I'm honest about it. I don't BS about "trusting the people"."

MOST of the 99% (the people, not the Occupy movement which represents a fraction of them) disagree. Their opinion trumps yours. As I am not arrogant, I side with them. You may think that trusting the people is BS, but I don't. To do as you do is extremely arrogant. You would make a terrible politician, with your extreme arrogance. You would be a lot like General Zod.

From his 2008 campaign web site: "When I first came to your planet and demanded your homes, property and very lives, I didn't know you were already doing so, willingly, with your own government. I can win no tribute from a bankrupted nation populated by feeble flag-waving plebians. In 2008 I shall restore your dignity and make you servants worthy of my rule. This new government shall become a tool of my oppression. Instead of hidden agendas and waffling policies, I offer you direct candor and brutal certainty. I only ask for your tribute, your lives, and your vote."

Yeah, this fits in completely with your arrogant attitude, and the condescension of the Occupy movement in claiming to represent 99% of the people.

[Dervish Sanders said] "Also, if Bernie Sanders had his way the wealthy might become a little less wealthy, but everyone else would become significantly more prosperous".

I doubt that very much, and if he [Bernie Sanders] ran for President, probably only about 3% would agree with him.

JULY 17, 2012 AT 3:42 AM. Negative.

Will said: "And if he, AN AVOWED SOCIALIST, has a lot in common with these other "progressives", then I want absolutely nothing to do with the lot of them".

That is wise of you. Sanders is an extremist who has looked at the ideology of Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, and Stalin, and said "yes, I want this in the US". It is an ideology that is all about top down control and centralization and diminishment of freedom.

JULY 17, 2012 AT 10:57 AM. Negative.

European socialism, WD? That is what Hitler and Stalin were. Though Mao was not. Fascism is a left or right ideology. Yes European Socialism 'works' if you want to kill and oppress people at unprecedented rates. Fortunately, most people reject Sanders and his ideology, because it is not in their interest at all.

APRIL 22, 2013 AT 8:27 PM. Negative.

He [Kim Jong-un] is the face of socialism in its purist form. Now that Pol Pot is dead, anyway. But isn't North Korea more advanced according to the standards of the American hard left anyway? After all, it has single-payer healthcare, no corporate (private-sector) mass media, and no profiteering capitalists. Bernie Sanders paradise.

MARCH 1, 2013 AT 1:25 PM. Negative.

Bernie Sanders (I - Pyongyang) could be the third stooge. He's always jonesing for a super-state to rule us all. [In response to Willis Hart writing "I don't know who I want to slap more right now, Reid or Boehner. Maybe I could do like Moe of the 3 Stooges and clock 'em both in one swoop"].

MAY 6, 2013 AT 3:36 AM. Negative.

Did Chairman Mao take over your blg? Or his reincarnation Bernie Sanders?

MAY 6, 2013 AT 5:06 PM. Negative.

And speaking of Bernie Sanders, the greediest member of Congress, he has announced plans to steal the contents of the Social Security trust. No lockbox is safe from a greedy thief who is good at plundering.

Tue Dec 31, 2013 AT 08:17:00 AM EST. Negative.

Will: Those who use "fictional" to decribe free markets generally are using it as a meaningless pejorative. These people generally oppose economic matters truly controlled by "we the people" and instead want those who rule (the State, the rulers) to command and control the economy. The state claims that these trespasses on the people's affairs are "beneficial to society", and they do fool some of the gullible and uncritical. But let there be no doubt: this corruption, this crony capitalism, this keystone of fascism, benefits the oligarchs first and foremost.

About Warren. There is indeed a hunger for true left-of-center candidate. After all, we have elected one for 13 of the last 20 years. However, there is very little hunger for a hard left, Progressive candidate. While Progressives succeed due to regional popularity, or a sneaky politician's ability to preach Progressive rhetoric while engaging in corrupt pork barrel politics, nationally the Progressive cause is rather unpopular with the people.

According to a poll by Think Progress of all places, while a lot of people do support near-left liberalism (the politics of Clinton and Obama), progressivism is the ideology of a mere 16%.

Yeah, America hungers for progressive politics about as much as it hungers for brussels sprouts. Less so, in fact. Which means that we won't ever have a President with politics like that of Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren will have to move strongly to the center to gain any traction.

Tue Jan 28, 2014 AT 04:43:00 PM EST. Negative.

RN, I've got a freshly printed $3 trillion bill with Bernie Sanders face on it. Poverty is over, thanks to MMT (million monkeys theory, as in solving budget problems by giving a million monkeys money-printing presses). [Note: dmarks refers to an earlier comment by Dervish Sanders concerning the Modern Monetary Theory].

JUNE 25, 2014 AT 5:58 AM. Negative.

Will: The Vermont comment was due to Bernie Sanders being there, the person in Congress who most openly embraces extremist ideology.

Fri Dec 26, 2014 AT 03:10:00 PM EST. Negative.

His candicacy, which will win the hearts and minds of between 10 and 20% , will wreak havoc on the Dems' primary process, drain money from other candidates, and give more moderate, near-Left Dems a nice contrast to point to boost their own attempt to win the center.

Fri Dec 26, 2014 AT 11:16:00 PM EST. Mix of Positive & Negative.

Curious about Sanders' votes on such issues as the taxpayer handouts to the banksters (TARP) and the many billions handed to the auto industry in corporate welfare also. Looking.... Looks like he was against TARP? Good for him! I've not found the answer to what he did, or supported on the auto industry bailout, though. But I found an interview with Thom Hartmann in which he did appear to argue in favor of the massive taxpayer handouts to the auto corporations.

If Mr. Sanders did oppose all of these bailouts/handouts/corporate welfare, then he deserves credit, and it gives much him more of a leg to stand on. Because those who supported the bailouts, the transfer of money from our treasury to the fatcats, were directly creating those circumstances "to overwhelmingly favor the uber weathy and stratification". I also find myself in agreement with much of what Mr. Sanders said about the supposed "banks too big to fail". As long as his solution made for smaller, decentralized private banks, instead of Stalinizing banks by bringing them more under direct Federal control.

Tue Dec 30, 2014 AT 07:48:00 AM EST. Negative.

RN said: "the thought of a Sanders or Warren presidency gives me the shudders".

No worries. They represent a rather small percentage of the electorate, and certainly can't capture the conservatives, or even the middle. If they do moderate their views, and tilt toward speaking of the public interest rather than just that of the State's top elites, that would be a good thing.

Thu Apr 30, 2015 AT 10:16:00 PM EDT. Positive.

There's a line that divides real candidacy from the clowns who run vanity campaigns for an ego trip or cash (Sharpton, Keyes, etc). Bernie Sanders is on the right side of that line, I believe. It's a real candidacy, and like Les here, I believe it is good for the election overall.

Fri May 01, 2015 AT 07:25:00 AM EDT. Neutral.

We've been doing the liberal thing for half that time, Jersey, including the last 6 years.... But anyway, let Sanders get his message out. The result of his candidacy will be a yay or nay vote on democratic socialism.

[Note: There are 2 additional positive comments in the thread not presented here... 5/2/2015 AT 09:18:00 PM EDT & 5/4/2015 AT 08:00:00 AM EDT].

Fri May 15, 2015 AT 01:06:00 PM EDT. Positive.

Personally, I tend to agree with Rep. Bernie Sanders on Israel more than I do about West, who is now a failed politician. I simply don't equate recognition of a Palestinian state with endorsement of the extermination agenda of Hamas/etc.

Tue May 19, 2015 AT 05:18:00 PM EDT. Neutral.

Jerry, at this point I am willing to at least listen to Bernie on this, also. [re Jerry saying "Bernie is probably the only presidential candidate willing to say this". "This" being Bernie saying Citizens United needs to be overturned].

Mon May 25, 2015 AT 04:16:00 PM EDT. Neutral.

If Hillary won, the Presidential pendulum would swing from left to left... which is, not at all. If Bernie won, it would swing from left to deeper left. If Trump won, the pendulum would bounce around like Daffy Duck. (No, Jersey... i don't think it is likely to happen).

Tue Jun 09, 2015 AT 11:03:00 AM EDT. Positive.

The hounds are already treating Sanders seriously. Perhaps funded by, Hillary, famous for her "destroy anyone" campaigning. I read a report of Sanders writing something outrageous about women and sex, more than 40 years ago. That was what the headlines were. I found his actual writings... if anything, he was guilty only of writing silly musings long after he should have put the pen down. If that's all they can get on him...

Tue June 09, 2015 AT 01:20:00 PM EDT. Positive.

I didn't know about Walker's foreign policy agenda... but looking it up, I see it now. I'm a fairly recent convert to opposing the wars and entanglements of the neo-cons and also of the left (Obama, with his new wars and expansion of old ones and all-time record military spending).

As for Walker's agenda and unions, I think it should be easy to effectively bargain.... and also easy to choose not to participate in the bargaining. I would agree with you that's clear that Walker only wants one of these. I also think that unions would become more popular if they didn't routinely throw the dues into a slush fund used for very partisan campaign and lobbying purposes. That's not bargaining at all.

Back to Sanders and his reputation....and those of his opponents. When I read of the phony claim of sexist writings against Sanders, I immediately thought of the scorched-earth tactics of the Clinton campaign. (see my Tue Jun 09, 11:03:00 AM EDT comment).

When I read of the ridiculous and sexist condemnation of Hillary by Ralph Nader (the reality matched the claims of what Nader was doing), I didn't think even for a second that Rep. Sanders was behind this attack. He just doesn't have that reputation. He just seems like a straight shooter. And whatever I think of the majority of his agenda, that's good.

Tue Jun 16, 2015 AT 01:01:00 PM EDT. Neutral.

Flush the dynasties. How would you like, say, a Rand Paul vs Bernie Sanders matchup?

Thu Aug 20, 2015 AT 08:39:00 PM EDT.. Positive.

Ideology aside, Bernie Sanders is great campaigner, sincere, energetic, has a strong resume, and is fighting like the underdog. All in contrast to Hillary. I'm not counting out Dervish S' s hope at this point.. if Biden or someone else major doesn't jump in. ["hope" comment in response to Dervish Sanders saying "Me, I'm hoping Sanders wins the nomination and the presidency"].

AUGUST 22, 2015 AT 7:00 PM. Positive.

In his favor, Sanders is refreshing among candidates. Regardless of ideology (My principled opposition to him in all of the points you mention has been discussed elsewhere). Where else do you find a candidate who is direct, honest about his beliefs, and apparently without guile? You certainly won't find anything of the sort in the Hillary camp.

AUGUST 23, 2015 AT 3:01 AM. Negative.

Yeah. true. The surface thing goes along with "Regardless of ideology". He's riding a bubble, like the Occupy Movement did, of support that is still only going to be very small. [In response to Willis Hart calling Bernie Sanders a "surface thinker").

AUGUST 23, 2015 AT 8:35 AM. Negative.

So, Will. how many of Sanders' more extreme points will vanish if he does persist in a lnog term campaign and ends up moving to the moderate pragmatic center?

AUGUST 28, 2015 AT 10:03 AM. Negative.

Q. What do you call someone doing $9 an hour worth of work but the employer is coerced into giving them $15 an hour?

A. a thief. (Or "unemployed", because this coercion will strongly encourage the employer to abolish this position). [In response to a post on the Libertarian blog "Contra O'Reilly" concerning Bernie Sanders' support for a $15 an hour minimum wage].

Sat Sep 12, 2015 AT 05:59:00 AM EDT. Neutral.

I think Dervish Sanders is correct, or at least has a sound prediction. I looked at my first poll numbers after a couple of weeks, of seeing how (in my view) weak the Hillary campaign is, and how strong the #FreelTheBurn is going, at least in the media. And HRC is still way ahead of "Bern" in the polls. [Note: Dervish Sanders predicted that Biden would not run].

Wed Sep 16, 2015 AT 01:18:00 PM EDT. Positive.

I gotta say, that despite my disagreement (principled and informed) on several issues, I am liking his candidacy more and more.

Thu Sep 17, 2015 AT 06:30:00 AM EDT. Neutral.

If RN wants to turn this discussion into purely crunching of old bones (which at least WD knows he is doing), I am sure he will let us know. However, he has been quite clear on this subject...and it is not a "cop out", but instead respecting the explicit demands of the blog host..... this is "Rational Nation" after all, and not a place where every post must be seen as an excuse to continue off-topic grudge matches from other posts, other blogs, or imagination.

I could refute the lies and false assumptions in the above comment, but like the above comment itself, it would be off-topic in regards to the statement that RN wants to discuss. The blog host has made it clear he doesn't want 60 off topic comments hijacking his threads. Respecting this wish is not "bootlicking", but it is instead good manners. And not insisting that you have the right to go into someone's house and soil the living room rug. Back to the post subject. That's what we are here for, right?

[Comment made in response to Dervish Sanders saying "Hmm... I thought Bernie Sanders was the senator from Pyongyang and a thief who is good at plundering. Old bones, dmarks may say. I say cop out. Either he believes what he writes or he doesn't. If not, then why should anyone read anything he writes? Whatever he writes we should all assume he doesn't really mean it"].

Thu Sep 17, 2015 AT 05:15:00 PM EDT. Neutral.

Les, in light of Bernie Sanders' comment, which candidate would you most like to see Sanders debate? I already have one name in mind myself. [Note: the name is Randal Paul].

Fri Sep 18, 2015 AT 04:13:00 PM EDT. Positive.

Yeah, Jerry... Front runners really don't to like rock the boat. And in politics, if someone is a front runner, apparently it pays to go out in public very little or say very little, lest it jeopardize the lead. I've seen this in race after race. I'm pretty sure Hillary is still ahead, and she likes it that way. Bernie is surging ahead, and of course he wants to debate to keep his momentum. Bernie seems like he has better character than most of them. I hope that means that, once he is far ahead (if that happens) that he won't refuse to debate others also.

In regards to your question, Jerry. Worded that way it is fair enough. There are some paragraphs in his statement I strongly agree with. And some I don't agree with so much. All of them, though, would be good for a candidate debate discussion, I think. I have changed my mind about him in some ways, which, as you said "warrants a question". Especially when the question is worded in an intelligent fashion, and not in a "gotcha" mode that attempts to divert the subject of the post into ongoing battles between two commenters, regardless of the topic I am very impressed at how he is running his campaign and conducting himself, regardless of my views of him on the issues. And this aspect of him (a national campaign) is rather new.

(RN: the last paragraph is intended for Jerry, and not to bait Dervish Sanders. But if you disagree, feel free to refuse to refuse to post. delete the comment).

Sat Sep 19, 2015 AT 09:45:00 AM EDT. Positive.

I also thought Bernie showed bravery by going to Falwell's college like this.

Tue Mar 08, 2016 AT 07:32:00 PM EST. Positive?

So, there you have it. A primary today. I cast my ballot for Bernie. Yeah. there you go...

Posts that link here [SWTD #136] Severe Conservative Delusions: Democratic Socialism Dissembling Edition, 4/23/2013. [SWTD #145] Stooge For Plutocrats Slanders Defender of Social Security Senator Sanders, 5/7/2013. [TADM #82] What Is Dennis Marks' Agenda Re Bernie Sanders Positive Comments When He Previously Spoke Negatively About Sanders? 10/5/2015. [SWTD #316] Chris Christie As Preznit Would Be A "Greedy Thief Who Is Good At Plundering" Re The Social Security Trust Fund, 11/1/2015.

DSD #13