Starting in the US where stupidity remains a hallmark of campaigning for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
Let's set the scene. Senator Bernie Sanders, as of weekend polling, looked to do well in Iowa and New Hampshire. He looked to do so well that many could argue it was over for Senator Elizabeth Warren. In politics, anything can happen, but there was a good chance that in a matter of weeks, Elizabeth would be shutting down her campaign. If that had taken place, what would be the next step?
To ensure Bernie won the nomination by picking up her supporters.
It's not difficult. It's just his supporters who are.
Yes, Virginia, there are such things as a Bernie Bro.
Yesterday, MJ Lee (CNN) reported that a meeting took place in December 2018 at Elizabeth's DC apartment. She met with Bernie. They agreed they didn't need to go negative on each other in their planned campaigns for the nomination. They agreed to a number of things. At some point, as reported by Lee (based on four sources telling her), Bernie stated he did not believe a woman could win in 2018.
And all hell broke loose online.
Bernie shares part of the blame because his campaign is insisting that he didn't say it.
Did he say it?
It's his word against her word. Do we really want to make that the battle?
Apparently, we do.
And out came the Bernie Bros proving just how stupid and toxic they are -- Jimmy Dore, we're looking at you. Mainly, we're looking at the hideous Michael Tracey who the world should step away from now. He gets more aggressive and more toxic with each damn day. Who's he going to dox next?
In 2008, Hillary Clinton endured real sexism. David Shuster (I don't care if that's spelled correctly or not) tried to lie last week about his attack on her in 2008. He said, in 2008, that her use of Chelsea in the campaign was as though she was pimping out her daughter. MSNBC rightly suspended him. He was far from alone. All male panels on FOX NEWS and MSNBC regularly attacked Hillary in sexist terms. Chris Matthews was so bad with sexist attacks on Hillary that when Rachel Maddow mentioned the sexism to AP, MSNBC immediately moved to make her more than a guest to try to save their brand. She was attacked day after day with sexism. Bernie Bros came before Barack Bros. Barack Bros showed up Hillary rallies and screamed "Iron my shirts!" at her. Barack Bros included Jon Favreau who would molest a cut-out of Hillary at a party for the amusement of his fellow Barack Bros. He would be rewarded for that and, even today, no one calls him out on that. Barack himself would give speeches where he would say that "periodically" when Hillary was "feeling blue" that the "claws come out."
Sexism was all over the place. In 2016, not really. In 2008, many of us still have the scars from that battle.
Some people -- the Michael Traceys -- can't learn.
They spent yesterday attacking Elizabeth Warren, Jimmy Dore making jokes about her claiming that she was a Native American when she wasn't.
How is that helpful?
If the boys could stop playing with their crotches for a minute or two, could they explain how any of that is helpful?
Is that beastly behavior going to pull Elizabeth Warren supporters to Bernie if she drops out of the race?
I don't see how.
It might make them go to Joe Biden.
Not all, but a segment of Hillary supporters went with John McCain in 2008 because of the sexism from the Barack Bros.
So Michael Tracey and Jimmy Dore and the other dumb asses are trying to ensure that Bernie doesn't get more supporters?
Is that their goal because that's what their loud mouth attacks are going to do if they don't stop immediately.
In 2008, at a New Hampshire event, Hillary eyes welled over. The sexist media response was that she cried. No, she didn't. And we saw the 'fair' Bill Moyers and the lying hag Kathellen Hall Jamieson discuss this on Bill's PBS show which, thankfully, is no more.
Ava and I covered that moment over and over at THIRD because it demonstrated that journalism wasn't being applied, fairness wasn't being applied and PBS wasn't enforcing their own standards. This is only one piece Ava and I wrote about that nonsense.
If you missed it, they didn't play the clip. Not the clip of Hillary's eyes welling up. Dr. Kathy and Bill did play a clip. That clips didn't make the transcript but it did make it on air. It was Jesse Jackson Jr. attacking Hillary for "crying" for herself, he insisted, not for the victims of Katrina, not for this, not for that. Little Junior screaming his head off. When, shortly after, Little Junior had to juggle his prison term with his wife's so that one of them could be home with the kids, we had our laugh.
That one-sided coverage happened over and over.
You do not want to tap into that rage. You do not want to bring it back.
Keep doing what you're doing and you will see an uptick in support for Elizabeth Warren.
2008 can be seen as a victory year for women. Hillary, Sarah Palin, Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente all sought national office. Cynthia was the Green Party presidential candidate and Rosa was her running mate. You have four very distinct women running for office. They represented different views and that's good. There is no cookie cutter woman. We come with differing opinions, differing values. But all four women were the targets of sexist coverage in 2008 and not one of them was destroyed. They were four strong women. And, looking back on 2008, a lot of us took that for a win. What women endured in 2008 was awful but it has not been that bad again. Hopefully, it never will.
But then you have the Michael Traceys.
They really need to go off Twitter. They are not helping Bernie one bit.
In a he-said/she-said, no one's going to win. The easiest thing to do would be for Bernie to say, "I said it." Then we could have all moved on.
Because, reality, if he said it, it wasn't sexism. Not as it was reported on Monday.
Two friends met, both planning to seek the same nomination in the new year. They spoke face to face about their views. One view, according to four different people, was that Bernie stated he did not believe a woman could win the presidency in 2020. That's an opinion.
The statement attributed to him is not: "I don't believe a woman should be president."
The statement goes to the landscape, as he saw it, and what he believed.
If Elizabeth had responded back (and maybe she did), "Well I don't believe a man can win in 2020 against Donald Trump," that wouldn't have been sexism either.
I have no idea why the report surfaced on CNN on Monday. Was it Elizabeth herself? It might have been? Was it someone high up in the campaign? Maybe so. Was it some idiot -- the equivalent of Michael Tracey, but a Warren supporter? Probably.
The story didn't have any real traction and wouldn't get any.
Until Bernie Bros decided to huff and puff and be bullies online.
Now it's an issue.
If you're supporting Bernie or Elizabeth, you should just walk away from it right now. Insults of either candidate will not help anyone -- except maybe Joe Biden -- or even Mayor Pete who may use the issue to grandstand in tonight's debate -- "We're all sick of this," I can hear him saying in his best attempt to be above it all.
One of the candidates will most likely be dropping out in the next few weeks -- Elizabeth or Bernie. If they don't drop out, their supporters will still begin to drift to the other candidate. Unless? Unless you've got the Michael Traceys leading non-stop attacks online and creating a toxic environment that makes people wipe their hands with both of them.
It's not enough that Michael and his ilk trash Elizabeth, Michael then has to attack Anand Giridharadas.
One of the dumbest and most annoying Twitter accounts
Considering that Michael Tracey strikes many as a White nationalist, I'm not really sure that his attacking people of color is the way to go either.
Here's another lovely from Michael.
Could we end you right now by Tweeting two words?
"Maxine Waters."
I mean you're the idiot who claimed you were assaulted by Maxine. And we all saw the tape and, Michael, elderly Maxine did not assault you. You're now doxing people. Where does it end with you and when does your toxic behavior become enough for you to be kicked to the curb permanently?
You're not helping Bernie Sanders one bit.
The smart thing -- for Bernie and for Elizabeth supporters -- is just to let this issue now die.
The remark by Bernie was not going to become a rallying cry (and he may not have said it but, as reported, it's not a sexist remark). However, if the Michaels keep piling on, it will become an issue.
And as they pile on, they ignore the issue getting traction. THE HILL notes:
Hill.TV host Saagar Enjeti warned Monday that former Vice President Joe Biden’s support of the Iraq War would undoubtably be an issue in the general election if he becomes the Democratic nominee.
“This is not just an issue to be litigated in the Democratic Primary,” Enjeti said. “If Biden is the nominee, it will be a general election issue.”
“Trump savaged Hillary Clinton’s vote for the war in Iraq, her role in the decision to withdrawal from Iraq in 2011 and the decision to bomb Libya," he continued. "Well guess who was also at the Situation Room table when all those decisions were made and arguably bears even more responsibility for them: [former] Vice President Joe Biden.”
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL has a column this morning advising War Hawk Joe how to handle the 'attacks' from Bernie over Joe's Iraq actions. This is a real issue. If you're a supporter of Bernie's, you should be amplifying it. Bernie is.
Both @RepRoKhanna and I got involved in politics as young people because of our shared opposition to unjust war.
We cannot let this generation experience horrors akin to Vietnam or Iraq. This is how we stop a war with Iran: http://www.cnn.com/2020/01/13/opinions/stop-iran-war-sanders-khanna/index.html …
BREAKING: As @JoeBiden pretends he didnt back the Iraq War, CNN's @JakeTapper just aired '08 video of @BarackObama slamming politicians who "rewrite history" about their Iraq War votes
Obama: “You cant undo a vote for war just because a war stops being popular"
WATCH & retweet
BREAKING: Hours after NY Times’ major report on @JoeBiden boosting the Iraq War, @BernieSanders & @RoKhanna publish big oped slamming lawmakers who “went along with these unjust wars, cheered them on, voted for them & blocked efforts to stop or limit them”
As Vijay Prashad notes, "The Iraq War never ended." It's years later and it still hasn't ended. So, yes, Joe's Iraq actions matter and its past time that the Democratic Party had a presidential ticket that didn't have anyone on it who voted for the Iraq War. It was very poor judgment. And there's no exemption of "My son went to Iraq." Yes, you are that stupid, Joe, that you risked the lives of Americas sons and daughters -- including your own son. Stupid.
Sarah Jones (NEW YORK MAGAZINE) observes:
The public may not be calling for a reckoning on Iraq, but one is due nonetheless. The Trump presidency only amplifies a truth that should have been obvious to Democrats a long time ago: America’s foreign policy needs to be dramatically reset. If Biden won’t consistently tell the truth about his record, he undermines his own credibility on one of the most crucial issues a president can directly control. He promises inertia, not accountability and certainly not change. Biden clearly hopes his role in recent history makes the case for his presidency. His Iraq revisionism suggests his past should disqualify him instead.
Friday, journalists Ahmed Abdul Samad and Safaa Ghali were killed for covering the protests in Iraq.
I demand the United Nations and the Human Rights Commission to investigate the killing of Iraqi journalist Ahmed Abdel Samad, who was killed in Basra, and photographer Safa
The Michael Traceys ignored that as well. Michael was busy that day doxing someone because of who the person was related to.
- https://www.theepochtimes.com/2-iraqi-journalists-assassinated-while-covering-anti-government-protests_3201248.html … Correspondent Ahmed Abdel Samad & cameraman Safaa Ghali were covering protests in the Iraqi city of Basra on Jan. 10, when unknown gunmen opened fire on their vehicle, killing them both. @TuckerCarlson @LouDobbs @PatriotsSoapbox @DiamondandSilk
- Märtyrer Ahmed Abdel Samad führt ein Interview mit dem Märtyrer Hussein al-Madani, fotografiert von dem Märtyrer Safaa Ghali! Alle sind während den Protesten #Irak ermördert worden! #IraqiRevolution
- Children of Ahmed Abdel Samad. The journalist that was assassinated days ago in #basrah #Iraq May their faces hunt the ones who chose the power of gun over humanity.
أطفال الصحفي المغدور احمد عبد الصمد
#العراق_ينتفض #احمد_عبد_الصمد
Ahmed Abdul Samad and Safaa Ghali mattered. Their work mattered, their lives mattered.
Mina Aldroubi (THE NATIONAL) reported late yesterday:
The results of an inquiry launched in to the assassination of two journalists in the southern Iraqi city of Basra will be made public soon, the country's state news agency said on Monday.
Iraq’s Journalistic Freedoms Observatory (JFO) said Ahmed Abdul Samad, a 39-year-old correspondent for local television station Al Dijla, along with his cameraman Safaa Ghali, 26, were shot dead on Friday.
The two were covering the government crackdown on the country’s mass protests, documenting the arrests of anti-government demonstrators in Basra.
The government has not specified when the final inquiry results will be announced.
"Armed men attacked them and sprayed them with bullets on Friday night, which killed Abdul Samad. His cameraman was taken to the city hospital, where he died," the JFO said in a statement.
For three months, Iraq has been rocked by anti-government protests that blame the political elite of corruption and failing to provide basic public services and employment.
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