The Covid19 virus was a game-changer that undermined Bernie’s campaign strengths and his chances of overcoming the battery of establishment cannons arrayed against him, the pressure of which would buckle most people half his age. And unlike Perez and Biden, whatever the latest tune they whistle, Bernie wouldn’t have people risking lives in primaries in a game of Covid19 Russian roulette.  Biden has a minefield of banana peels before him, but waiting for him to slip from the grasp of his army of handlers and do a face-plant is not a political strategy that inspires. It’s understandable that someone with Bernie’s integrity would focus instead on his ideals and proposals, which to anyone not in a coma or a special interest pocket make more sense with each passing day.

As Naomi Klein has observed, “…during times of crisis, people also are risk-averse. I think the timing of this was such, with the inability to continue campaigning in person, with people just reaching for something that looked and felt safe, I don’t think it was possible to translate that shift in openness to these kinds of policies with a huge electoral swing from Biden towards Bernie, although I was certainly hoping for it up until Bernie’s announcement last night. But while hoping for it, I was keenly aware that the polls were not reflecting it, that it wasn’t happening and that people are not up for that kind of political seesaw in this moment of tumult.”

There’ve been logical, solid analyses, as by the anchors of the online political show Rising, Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti, that the Democratic establishment will eventually blow off anyone not brandishing a ball bat with nails in it, that whatever promises Bernie might elicit from making nice, they’ll be written in sand washed away by the high tide of big donors. And no matter what Bernie says or does, he will be blamed again if Trump wins, as CNN is already about the business of. As in 2016, how dare Bernie practice democracy and provide the country with a choice and an awareness of issues best left concealed from view.

Some might despair that with Bernie stepping back, the progressive movement has lost its lynchpin. Bernie countered that nicely with accomplishments noted in his statement that he was suspending his campaign, (not cremating it, as many in the media have implied), while staying on the ballot to hold and earn delegates to influence the party. Progressive candidates inspired by Bernie certainly aren’t fading away. Charles Booker, running against Mitch McConnell, stated “…make no mistake: our fight for Medicare for All, racial justice, a Green New Deal, and an economy that works for all of us is nowhere close to over.” Mark Gamba, the mayor Milwaukee, Oregon, running against incumbent Blue Dog, Kuirt Schrader, reaffirmed his goals of changing the healthcare system, boldly addressing climate change and holding corporate interests accountable for damage they cause. The grassroots movements supporting such candidates aren’t fading away either.

Here’s Biden’s statement on Bernie stepping out of the race. Pre-canned by strategists for sure, but I’d have to say it’s not a bad statement from the point of view of conning people to fill in the blanks with whatever they hope Joe is saying about health care, etc…. Trump was masterful at letting people hear what they wanted. If he’s not too addled, he may be again. But maybe Joe can limp along for awhile on a lack of specificity and a media tossing him softballs, until Biden figures out the peril of not making solid, substantive commitments and standing by them.

Maybe Biden can ride to victory atop a platform of low expectations other than not being Trump. But if Biden wins with wishy-washy, he’ll have nothing resembling a mandate, only a load of disappointed people when he turns out to be Mr. Cellophane, moved about with puppet strings by big donors to whom Bernie, with his small donor cornucopia, must have looked like one of Eliot Ness’s Untouchables. Spurning the money of big donors and owing them nothing made Bernie a dangerous man.

Howie of Down with Tyranny has repeatedly contrasted Biden’s weaknesses and Bernie’s strengths, so I’ll just offer a couple glimpses that glare out.

Recently the Biden camp conferred with Eric Holder about Biden’s campaign and his vice-presidential pick. Holder who ushered, covertly from colleagues who’d have been aghast, the pardon of finance criminal fugitive Marc Rich for Bill Clinton’s signature on Clinton’s last day in office, after which Rich’s ex-wife donated huge sums to the Clinton library. Does anyone doubt that had that happened a year earlier Clinton would have been impeached, and properly so? Holder, who prosecuted whistleblowers like John Kiriakou, a top counterintelligence agent who exposed CIA torture, just to ruin him and to send a message to others, putting this hero in prison, initially with an effort to throw away the key. Holder, who let bankers off the legal hook laying the groundwork for his law firm, and therefore Holder, to reap fortunes servicing those banks. Read what Holder did to bank whistleblower Brad Birkenfeld on behalf of foreign banks hiding Americans’ money. That’s the short list.

Holder was Wall Street’s early Manchurian candidate for President. He fizzled like a wet fuse, but he’s been waiting in the wings if opportunity knocks, raising his profile with an anti-gerrymandering organization that’s run like a campaign. If Biden hadn’t already committed to a female vice-president, I’d bet Holder would pull a Cheney and recommend himself. He’ll certainly be influential in a Biden administration, again looking out for protecting his client bankers from facing serious consequences for misdeeds and greedy maneuvers that are again setting Americans — and the world — up for another fall.

My point is that no one had to worry about Bernie consulting with Eric Holder. Instead Bernie would be throwing a wrench in the revolving door to keep Holder’s ilk out of his administration. Bernie would never have floated the idea of Jamie Dimon as a swell potential member of an administration, perhaps Secretary of the Treasury, as Biden’s camp did. Want some intriguing reading? Read a bit on Dimon here, and on JPMorganChase, courtesy of Wall Street on Parade. I’m confident that after the election, when the revolving door starts spinning, Bernie will be shouting the dangers loud and clear, channeling public anger that Biden would be a fool not to pay attention to.

By the way, Wall Street called the shots on many of President Obama’s picks, including Holder for Attorney General and Hillary for Secretary of State. That insight came courtesy of WikiLeaks, so one can sense the establishment fervor to destroy Julian Assange. And Wall Street on Parade reports that in the 2020 presidential primaries one Wall Street firm was an instrumental supporter of five different Democratic candidates. Should that leave us wondering at the impressive orchestration of the Super Tuesday endorsements, that maybe some candidates, beyond shooting for Veep or major posts, were being jockeyed to derail progressives and elevate Biden?

Both of Bernie’s presidential campaigns laid bare the hapless state of much of mainstream, corporate media. Take the Washington Post. Does anyone think Jeff Bezos bought that paper because, like Citizen Kane, he thought it might be fun to run a newspaper. The man has a Washington agenda. The Bezos Brigaiders on the editorial pages and covering the campaign are well aware of how many newspapers have hit the skids, with major staff layoffs that leave many journalists scrambling to find public relations work. They don’t have to be geniuses to figure out what the world’s richest man doesn’t like. Bezos doesn’t like antitrust enforcement and close scrutiny and regulation of monopolies. He doesn’t care much for paying taxes. He doesn’t like to be embarrassed and pushed by potential legislation that would penalize him if he doesn’t raise wages and improve working conditions for expendable workers toiling in warehouses and grocery stores and delivering his goods. He doesn’t like unions. So none of the Bezos Brigaiders needs to be told he doesn’t like Bernie Sanders, whose major supporters include Amazon workers and who throws a spotlight on that company’s excesses. And so these members of the press decided squashing Bernie is worth shredding their journalistic credibility, continuing a pattern Thomas Frank wonderfully described in 2016 in a Harper’s magazine article, Swat Team.

The New York Times opinion page and campaign coverage has been as relentless whacking Bernie. One can only marvel at how the Gray Lady has become so in the tank for the Wall Street establishment it still won’t acknowledge the folly of Bill Clinton and Robert Rubin eliminating the Glass-Steagall Act, that had separated commercial and investment banking since FDR, becoming a major cause of the 2008 economic debacle. Both Clinton and Rubin were richly rewarded for that, from speaking fees and foundation contributions for Clinton to a job for Rubin with stunning compensation. In Washington, quid pro quo often takes its time, but it gets there.

Did it ever look to you like a contest between those two papers to find the most deranged and angry looking images they could of Bernie? Propaganda 101.

We’ve been treated to the comic spectacle of Comcast media players like Chuck Todd, putting their Orwellian knives into Bernie and his health care proposals between commercials for health care insurance and pharmaceutical companies. And a number of NPR reporters and analysts behaved as if they’re auditioning for Comcast, putting words in interviewee’s mouths and cutting them short if what they said wasn’t supporting the narrative. They all ought get plaques engraved with “But How Will You Pay For It?” Particularly if the big banks start tumbling economic dominoes that most media has routinely ignored.

So we can thank Bernie for making the media fix so apparent that many of us now seek out alternative media voices, voices that often represent a much better use of one’s time.

Consider corporate media’s willingness to avert its gaze from a foreign power meddling in American elections. I’m not speaking of Russia, the influence of which on the 2016 election I think greatly over-played, to the detriment of focus on critical issues and on what the Trump grifter class is up to. Whatever Russia did I doubt it had much impact next to the tabloids in the grocery store checkout line, let alone our home-grown dark money networks of the Kochs, Mercers and others from the oligarch rogues gallery. More attention should have been paid to the influence of foreign companies’ American subsidiaries, including banks.

No, I’m speaking of Israel, whose confederates and advocates in the US spent fortunes running ads attacking Bernie in the primaries, supporting the narrative of Bernie being unelectable. Just imagine if it had been Russia, how quickly those covertly undermining our democracy on a behalf of a foreign power would earn the accusation of betraying our country. Just because Bernie called for decency and morality in the treatment of Palestinians systematically oppressed in every way imaginable. That oppression was often done with American indifference or complicity, which Bernie was perceived as a threat to.

Predictably, media was then complicit with ludicrous and flimsy intelligence claims — intelligence loosely defined — that Bernie topped Russia’s wish list.

Ironically, Bernie went along a bit with the Russia narrative, something for which he’s been criticized. I’ve no idea how much he really bought into that party orthodoxy. Some purists won’t like what I’m about to say. Things are relative, and running a presidential campaign isn’t the same as seeking sainthood. Look how fast media stood Bernie before a firing squad for giving a harmless nod to educational and medical accomplishments in Cuba, painting him as a fellow traveler to discredit him, particularly in Florida.

On balance, Bernie has given it to us straight more than any other candidate. Pardon what’s almost become a cliché, but his consistent drumbeat really has changed the conversation. On healthcare, 55% of voters now support single payer health care, only 35% oppose it. Major programs to counter climate change and develop related jobs are now a top priority of many, particularly younger voters. Bernie provided an articulation of the growing wealth gap that helped people better understand what they already sensed going on around them, and the campaign finance fix behind much of it. He provided hope that there was a way to do something about it. Where would the conversation be were it not for Bernie?

While I like and respect some of those who’ve been critical of Bernie over dis and dat, no offense to them but I think Noam Chomsky is better than most in assessing the immediacy of the big picture. (Here’s some of his comments on Bernie ending his presidential run.)

Chomsky on Democracy Now:

If Trump is reelected, it’s a indescribable disaster. It means that the policies of the past four years, which have been extremely destructive to the American population, to the world, will be continued and probably accelerated. What this is going to mean for health is bad enough… It will get worse. What this means for the environment or the threat of nuclear war, which no one is talking about but is extremely serious, is indescribable.

Suppose Biden is elected. I would anticipate it would be essentially a continuation of Obama — nothing very great, but at least not totally destructive, and opportunities for an organized public to change what is being done, to impose pressures.

It’s common to say now that the Sanders campaign failed. I think that’s a mistake. I think it was an extraordinary success, completely shifted the arena of debate and discussion. Issues that were unthinkable a couple years ago are now right in the middle of attention.

The worst crime he committed, in the eyes of the establishment, is not the policy he’s proposing; it’s the fact that he was able to inspire popular movements, which had already been developing — Occupy, Black Lives Matter, many others — and turn them into an activist movement, which doesn’t just show up every couple years to push a leader and then go home, but applies constant pressure, constant activism and so on. That could affect a Biden administration.

In the end, we should appreciate Bernie for the enemies he’s chosen, domestic and foreign. And we should appreciate him for the voice he’ll provide as interesting times compound.

The post Appreciating Bernie in Our Era of Hobson’s Choices appeared first on Traveling Archive.

The News Conspiracy

I have a conspiracy theory about the news organizations. Have you ever wondered why there are never-ending intrigues when it comes to politics?

I think I figured it out. Step back from all that noise and you will see there is a strategy in the madness. Follow the money. The media thrives on sensationalism. The more intrigue, the more anger and frustration, the more people hunger for justice … a sense of justice and a narrative that they shape in our minds.

They sensationalize to sell newspapers, magazines, TV talk shows, Late Night comedy, etc. They did it with the OJ Simpson trials, the terrorist attacks, the Meuller investigation, the Kavanaugh hearings and now they’re doing it with the impeachment proceedings. The tabloid formula of the National Inquirer works.

What if all this bickering was all an act? I remember a conspiracy theory between Coca Cola and Pepsi where both companies got into advertising wars. The two soft drink giants were always in the spotlight and In the process, all the other soda were forgotten. Do you see the same thing happening in the news?

Of course you know I’m just kidding. Unfortunately, those media people really hate each other. But you gotta admit that they’re good at polarizing the citizens and earning a lot in the process.

At least, that’s how I see it. You’ve gotta be really stupid or really intelligent to draw different conclusions from the same facts. What do you think?

TGIF people!

Joke of the Week

Thanks to Peter Paul of S Pasadena, CA for sharing this joke.

Don’s Puns

Funny Video

Italian for President

Sent by Mike of New York City

WARNING: Foul Language

Parting Shot

Thanks to Don of Kelowna, B.C. who shared this:

The post A Fly Feels A Bug on Its Back appeared first on Traveling Archive.

If you haven’t seen it, Matt Taibbi’s withering critique of journalistic folly over Russian election collusion, “It’s Official – Russiagate is This Generation’s WMD,” then trust that it is well worth your time as an exercise in grappling with media herd instinct and the folly of putting our grand papers of record at the head of the herd. It’s also a great contemplation of the journalistic ethics and cautions that have been cut adrift, the sort the Columbia Journalism Review and journalism schools across the country might take note of.

Long and carefully documented, for this slow reader, it was a pleasure hanging-in. It’s much more richly detailed than this still worthwhile summation Taibbi recently published in Rolling Stone, “As the Meuller Probe Ends, New Russiagate Myths Begin,” which also updates the next round of folly.

The one encouraging item in that piece is that the median age for CNN viewers is 60 and the median for MSNBC is 65, so I feel more youthful just for not having cable.

Coming after he set the stage with this piece on unaccountable media that enabled the WMD con that waltzed us into invading Iraq, I think Taibbi ought to earn a Pulitzer or some such for media criticism.

If you didn’t catch the Democracy Now! debate between Glenn Greenwald and David Cay Johnston, “Watch a Contentious, Constructive Debate on the Media and Political Humiliation from the Mueller Report,” it’s also sobering. It does come with the guilty pleasure of sideswiping MSNBC and Rachel Maddow  who’ve used their hot pursuits of Russia collusion to challenge FOX in taking up the task of proving Orwell’s enduring wisdom on propaganda.

I’m now bracing under forty lashes administered by this Intercept podcast which includes Ali Abunimah of the Electronic Intifada, Taibbi and Naomi Klein, a good wrap-up perspective with a transcript option, if the unseen voices of a Beckett play are unsettling.

I’ve certainly had my fun with Trump, such as Inauguration Day Weather Forecast: 54 Degrees, Cloudy, Light Wind, Chance of Golden Showers (scroll down at the link). But like many who’ve dipped into journalism, I know the comforts of having it both ways, so I also took such occasions to work in skepticism over the Russian election collusion narrative. I’ve always been of the mindset that even if true, I didn’t care what snake hands me an apple off the Tree of Knowledge as long as it gives me the straight poop. Other than interesting intrigues, I don’t much care if truth comes via a hack or a walkaway thumb drive. After all, which more greatly damaged our Eden’s already fractured democracy, the DNC’s anti-democratic thumb on the scales during the 2016 presidential primaries, or providing the public with proof confirming the weight of the thumb? I’m picking door number one. If media had been doing its job, no such choice need apply. Instead we were left to wonder at mainstream media’s devotion to the Divine Right of Queens, and if it went so far as to grease the skids for the ratings-meister who was conveniently also the opponent Hillary most desired.

I’ve also never bought into the significant impact so many claim Putin’s Nightriders had on the election. Whatever they might have done, I could never imagine that results from their puny efforts were anything but miniscule next to impact of Internet mischief and other dark deeds fueled by millions in dark money expenditures by America’s homegrown election vandals.

If something later comes along regarding explorations I’ve long thought had greater potential, such as if there were violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or, as Howie Klein has often underscored, potential money laundering via real estate portals and other foreign players, etc…, then great, to the ramparts. But should they occur, most enlightenments would be better left to the remedy of elections, not coveting President Mike “End of Days” Pence.

Meanwhile, I hope the Democrats can now fully focus on explaining the dangers of galloping venality in this godforsaken presidency, of which Howie has supplied a cornucopia. Topping the list is the risk that the financial sector is again exposing the country to after those trusted with oversight again willfully take their eyes off the ball. Catch up on that queasy feeling by perusing the topics at Wall Street on Parade, I’m pleased to note that after a brief absence that site has fired up again. It is not a cure for insomnia.

Given the invasion of Iraq, the current drumbeat on Iran by the usual suspects and the weird alliances with Saudi Arabia which 60 Minutes alleged uses Israeli spy technology to monitor dissidents like murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Israel’s and Saudi Arabia’s influence has always seemed more of a fright than Russia’s. But we’ll not likely see either party’s leadership seriously push investigations of those actors. The bipartisan construction of a pillory for Rep. IIhan Omar at the recent AIPAC extravaganza in Washington was as disgusting and as disheartening a political spectacle as I’ve ever seen. Stop it. Apart from the injustice of it, the politicians who partook looked like a parade of frightened fools.

By the way, last Friday there was a uniquely contrarian conference, on the Israeli lobby’s influence on American policy, for which video, and audio are now available, with transcripts coming along. Which is a great thing, because you won’t hear a peep out of mainstream media. I scribbled on it here (scroll down at the link). Take a breath and consider that in adjusted dollars we’ve spent far more on foreign aid to Israel than we spent under the Marshall Plan rebuilding Europe after WWII. Now tell me it’s not all about Benjamins flowing freely.

Beyond her undeniable cat-wrangling skills, one of the big selling points for Rep. Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker was her fundraising ability with big donors. For me her fundraising prowess was a red flag about whom she might be quietly mortgaging worthy Democratic Party values to, from Big Money to Big Tech to those looking to gloss over America’s soul-numbing complicity in the plight of the Palestinians. And what can one say about Chuck Schumer, Wall Street’s Manchurian Senator? For too many Democratic politicians, and for those in the growing military-industrial-fundraising-consulting complex that enables them, Russia was a great distraction from attending to issues on which those politicians and enablers are as for-sale as Trump. Trump is not Washington’s only distraction artist.

The silver lining is that maybe Russia’s creaky ship and the poisoner/kleptocrat at its helm will now stop sucking the air out of the room. That will enable Bernie and the like-minded to better spotlight their critical issues and keep coaxing the party to sail on better currents. And as important, they can now step out of the background noise to make their case to the independent voters they will have to win over to succeed at the ballot box. That goes hand in hand with beating back America’s worst impulses as embodied by Trump and the Republicans, now busy about the game of whittling down health care and all aspects of government that diminish inequality and the wealth gap. Highlighting the contrast has always been the best route to take Trumpster to the dumpster. It’s the cure for the Mueller hangover

So bon voyage, Russia, and for now, good riddance.

The post A Cure for the Mueller Hangover appeared first on Traveling Archive.

In the cold war of the 70s the U.S. and Russia pointed nuclear missiles at each other. Fortunately, there was a sober FEAR that  no one would survive after a single launch. A healthy respect for each other’s strength held them at bay.

I was in a breakfast meeting last Tuesday and someone reminded me of a destructive epidemic in society today. I too had been noticing this phenomenon but I didn’t realize how fast it is spreading. I felt I needed to address this. Disagreements and debates have always been the hallmark of a free society but today the respectful  exchange of ideas has been replaced by a juvenile shouting match. This modern warfare may not have a nuclear payload but it is just as destructive and should be prevented from spreading.

Where did all this hostility come from? I blame the Puppet Masters of hate. They’re in the news media who gives us a daily dose of new reasons to hate and be angry … and they rarely admit their mistakes because scandals sell advertising. They’re among our leaders who model the way to bratty behavior. Many live on THEORIES and faulty stereotypes rather than HISTORY. They’re in the schools that do not prepare their students to respect other opinions. The students were taught to question but they were never taught to provide concrete answers. What good is complaining without a solution? They’re in the courtrooms that emphasize subjective justice over kindness and common sense. Puppet Masters walk among the greedy tech giants who experiment with people’s lifestyles. Remember, not everything NEW is good and not everything OLD is bad. And Puppet Masters are the hypocrites who only see things from their side of the telescope. News flash! We ALL can play the victim. That’s why I admire those who just work harder with the challenges they are given.

Have you ever seen male animals battle for their females? First come the beating of the chest, or the display of colorful feathers, or the resonating arias. Then come the heckling. Then the push … the interlocking of horns. The macho contest crescendo until one of the males wakes up from the spell and looks at the giggling Female Puppet Master in the sideline and realizes how she has been manipulating the confrontation. What’s really  interesting is animal fights rarely lead to death. Only man, with his huge dangerous ego, does this. Think of Helen of Troy and the 1000 ships launched to satisfy one Puppet Master’s testosterone.

The pride of man (and woman) mixed with immaturity prevents common courtesy. Are we blinded by hate? Is it hard for us to listen to other opinions? Let’s snap out of it! Let’s listen to the other side. Look up and see the giggling Puppet Manipulator above us!

Of course, this is just me.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourself.” 
— Philippians 2:3

TGIF people!

One Day at the Nunnery

Shared by Tom of Pasadena, CA

Oops! There Goes the Ball Boy
Sent by Don of Kelowna, B.C.

I admit I found it funny at first but then I realized it could have been a serious accident. I love how he composed himself and pretended that nothing happened. Glad he’s okay.

WATCH VIDEO

They May Be Seniors But Boy They Can Still Boogie
Sent by Debbie of Moreno Valley, CA

I can only guess how many parties over the decades these two have danced with each other. They put the young dancers to shame. No arthritis here.

WATCH VIDEO

Just When You Thought Your Day Was Going So Well
Sent by Don of Kelowna. B.C.

Some days you should have just stayed in bed. Better still, don’t go to a bull ring.

WATCH VIDEO

Don’s Puns

From Don’s collection of puns

Parting Shot

Thanks to Naomi of North Hollywood, CA who shared this photo

The post Tired of Chardonnay appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Allow me to offer a few additional thoughts on the recent Economic Inequality Town Hall that triggered Howie’s post on job guarantees.

The event, “Inequality in America: The Rise of Oligarchy and Collapse of the Middle Class,” took place on the 19th in the Visitor Center at the US Capitol before an overflow crowd. Its panel included Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren, filmmaker Michael Moore and economist Darrick Hamilton, with input from thoughtful experts, interspersed with short films of people describing their economic realities in ways that fracture stereotypes. I watched it here, thinking what a great resource it is for candidates and others exploring progressive values. Over 1.7 million viewers watched online, a figure I hope rises as it’s sent about and if astute teachers make it a homework assignment.

Smack dab in the center of the swamp, this should have been a top drawer political story. Those wondering why so much of mainstream media is being deserted for alternative media offerings might do a search trying to find coverage of this event in publications like WaPo and the NY Times, and in the All Things Lightly Considered-type shows at NPR. To be fair, the following day was a crowded news day at NPR. For example, a gorilla in Philly walked upright to keep his hands clean.

What does this lack of MSM attention tell us? Unless we start making noise, we’re going to see corporate media continue to use its coverage, or withholding of it, to damp down the prospect of truly progressive contenders who might exorcise the demon leeches from America’s executive branch and the rest of government.

One wearies of media’s frequent lumping together of all stripes of populism as if they make up a uniform monolith. As if Berlusconi and Bernie are cousins, with Trump the missing link. It’s hard not to suspect some of an effort to tar Bernie’s brand of egalitarianism. Let journalists, commentators, editors and any remaining of the vanishing ombudsman species know how dopy it sounds. It might eventually shame them into making the distinctions one hopes those in their profession are capable of. If they aren’t capable or willing to end such media malpractice, they’d best continue on to their more promising careers in propaganda.

Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren sure looked to me like an amiable presidential ticket. Mitch McConnell and Republican strategists who once dissed Warren in order to elevate her status, hoping she’d land on a presidential ticket, might be rethinking their wish list. You know wish lists. Like Hillary had for running against Trump. But as Hillary points out, she had the cool, prosperous, dynamic places in her pocket. What’s to worry about places where people are hurting from neglect, from opioids, war casualties, unaffordable education and foaming the runway with people.

I marvel at what Bernie has done. Distilling his themes and pounding away at them, he’s helped sort our confusion over what’s happening around us, giving us focal points. He might have had to run for President to do it, but with apologies to Ralph Nader, Bernie has had more success than anyone in recent memory to substantively change the political dialogue across the political spectrum. You probably have to go back to Clean Gene McCarthy and Uncle Ross Perot for contenders. Reagan of course, but he moved us toward the dark side. Bernie’s provided a legitimate framework that Everyman can use to interpret what is going on behind the scenes in those places where public viewing is verboten, like forbidden meetings of lawyers for colluding banks. Despite his label as an Independent, never mind democratic socialist, he is the vanguard for reforming the Democratic Party, in the near term the only real game in town. That is one hell of an accomplishment. Even when it seems Bernie’s about to stretch our attention spans by smacking our hands with a ruler, he’s coming off as darn likable. Smiling more and dressing dapper, if he wasn’t so worried about the country cracking apart – worry that seems written on his face – he might enjoy himself. No one can accuse Bernie of sticking his finger in the wind before he speaks. How many politicians can you say that about?

There’s nothing I’d change in this kitchen sink pitch for Bernie during the primaries. It begins with an example of the media knives out for Bernie. A National Press Club election post-mortem on the media is here. True, Bernie now gets invited on the Sunday shows, for short segments. Producers figured out the most popular politician in America is a ratings booster.

For a thicker slice of Bernie unbound than the Sunday shows carve, here’s a twenty-five minute symposium keynote I heard him give last November to the Economists for Peace & Security, warming up on the bought-and-paid-for levers of inequality.

A quick digression on when I became aware of Micheal Moore’s work. I knew former Congressman Jim Corman, a terrific guy, gone now, whose family was kind enough to host my wedding in their backyard, with Jim giving my wife away. Jim’s father was a silica miner in rural Kansas who died of related lung disease. Jim was always batting to hit long balls for the downtrodden. The GOP targeted him for his support of the Supreme Court’s decision to tackle desegregation with busing. Next in line for Ways & Means chairman, he lost by a hair when Jimmy Carter conceded defeat while the polls were still open in California. Jim was dismayed by what Reagan was doing to unions, starting with the air traffic controllers. He predicted a downward spiral for those who’d achieved middle class status with the help of unions.

Through Jim, I met Dale Kildee, a Michigan congressman who grew up in and taught school in Flint. I took him to see (Hyperlink) “Roger and Me,” a 1989 film in which Moore explores the impacts of General Motors laying off Flint union workers, replacing their labor with that of non-unionized workers in Mexico. Roger is Roger B. Smith, then chairman of GM. The late, great Roger Ebert discusses the film’s controversies here.

Two of the film’s scenes involved women trying to make ends meet for their families by raising rabbits, necessary to supplement their job wages. The first had a sign offering customers the choice of rabbits for pets or meat. In the second, a woman shows her affection for a rabbit then whacks it in the head and skins it for her family’s dinner that night. Both matter-of-factly discuss their lives while demonstrating the critical role their rabbits played. I glanced at the Congressman and saw tears rolling down his cheek. I then understood what was happening in his home town. And this was long before Republicans decided to save money with hot and cold running lead.

Sanders made the point, there was more discussion on inequality issues in this single town meeting than the networks ever present. Indeed, think of the rarity of gems like Harvest of Shame, Edward R. Murrow’s final program for CBS. If you haven’t seen the riveting 1960 documentary on the lives of American migrant agricultural workers it can be seen here.

I did see a decent piece on the town hall event in The Guardian, a British owned-paper with an American edition, and a media partner for the event.

The Guardian occasionally risks losing its MSM card by publishing Thomas Frank’s essays. Here’s a worthy batch.

To its credit, FOX News took note of the event. Except that it did so with goofballs claiming middle class shrinkage is from so many moving up. Comedy Central gets a run for its money.

The Hill initially focused on quips Moore and Sanders made about Stormy Daniels, along with Russians, being among the shiny keys to distract us.

Some irony there, the lesson that if you want media notice, at least give media a chance to quote mention of Stormy as a shiny distraction. I guess if one really wants coverage, put her on a panel.

Thankfully, I am above such cheap tricks.

The post Inequality Topics Are Out of Vogue… Except for a Growing Majority of Americans appeared first on Traveling Archive.